Trails in the Pod

Colin discusses how his life is like in Philly and why the podcast will be changing its release schedule.

Colin explains what is going on in his life and why the podcast is taking a month or so break.

Colin and Kevin talk about the Fragments chapter, including the following: The international situation/Crossbellian imperialism.  Analyze the factions current present in Crossbell.  Talk about the literary effect of having García join your party for the prison break.  The revelation about Zeit being a holy beast  What he's talking about with Demiourgos (including what the fuck a demiurge IS in reality, and why they're using it here to talk about a plot to overthrow Aidios) Wazy as a gralsritter  

Colin and Kevin sit down to discuss their experiences playing Dragon Quest 5.

Colin and Kevin discuss the big plot points of Chapter 3.

Intro 00:00 Chapter overview 5:20 Counterfeit Caper 6:30 Armorica Quest 8:30 Crossbell Dining 27:00 Capua Delivery Quest 33:35 Mishy Quest 39:10 Inside Scoop 43:15

Colin and Kevin have some hot takes about the current state of discussion around the question "Where should I start playing Trails."

Kevin and Colin discuss the beach intermission at MWL.

Kevin and Colin conclude their read through and discussion of Thucydides' Melian Dialogue and discus how it can help us better understand Crossbell's political situation.

Colin and Kevin sit down and start a close reading of the Melian Dialogue, Thucydides' master work of political theory, in order to understand better the position Crossbell finds itself in during the Trade Conference.

Intro 00:00 Pre-Orchis Tower Quests 3:15 Orchis Tower Background and Preliminary Discussions 14:45 Close Readings 28:00 Future of Crossbell 59:00

Colin and Kevin sit down to discuss the first two days of Chapter 2 in Trails into Azure.  Also Colin is tired as shit and Kevin reacts to the fact that he makes shit up sometimes.

Opening 00:00 Chapter impressions 2:00 Lechter and Shirley 6:40 Sigmund Orlando 17:00 Hidden Quest 23:00 Car 28:45 Ries 30:45 Wazy 34:00 Side quests 38:15 Doll studio 42:40 Abandoned mine quest 46:30

Colin and Kevin sit down to talk about their shared love of Paradox Grand Strategy games.

Kevin and Colin sit down to discuss a tie-in light novel that gives more insight into the backstories of Elie, Lloyd, Tio, and Randy.  Colin also gives an update on his job search.

Kevin and I sat down to talk about Road into the Future, a drama CD that sets us up for Azure.  It's... not great!

In the shortest episode in Trails in the Pod history, Kevin and Colin sit down to talk about the wet fart that is Back Alley Dr. Glenn.

Kevin and Colin sit down to discuss their experiences playing their first game challenge game for 2024, Ys Books 1 + 2.

Kevin and Colin sit down to discuss their thoughts and feelings on Trails from Zero as a whole.

Intro: 00:00 Overview 1:45 Introductory cutscene: 4:15 Hospital 9:30 Crossbell and the coup 22:00 Working inside vs outside the system 23:30 IBC HQ 25:00 Final Dungeon 31:00 Denouement 52:30

Kevin and I sit down to challenge each other to play certain retro JRPGs, as well as taking a challenge from the community.

In this episode, Colin and Kevin discuss the entirety of Chapter 4.  Don't do drugs, kids!

Intro: 00:00 Overview and Dissent: 3:50 Reviewing a game and issues: 6:45 Unhinged rant versus levelheaded discussion of a perfect game 13:30 2024 game challenge 49:00

Colin and Kevin discuss their 2023, their gaming goals for the new year, and announce a new game challenge!  Please give us your suggestions for classic/foundational games on Twitter (@TrailsInThePod) or via email: trailsinthepod@gmail.com.

In this episode, Colin and Kevin use Aristotle's Poetics to discuss what makes a good plot twist.

In this episode, Kevin and Colin discuss the intermission to Trails from Zero.  KeA is so adorable!

Kevin and I sit down to discuss the second half of Chapter 3 in Trails from Zero.  This is the fixed version.

Kevin and Colin discuss the side quests and main plot of the first half of Chapter 2, complete with a Homeric rendition of the race at the end of Day 1.

Colin and Kevin sit down to discuss the Great Game, a term used to describe the manipulation of buffer states in central Asia between Britain and Russia in the late 19th century.

Kevin and I talk about the main story of Chapter Two.

Kevin and I sit down to discuss our thoughts about Trails from Zero, Chapter Two.  This first part is us talking general impressions and side quests.

No time stamps because Colin is in a rush and also has a headcold, but here we talk about the main plot of Chapter 1.  Can Kevin call Shizuku by her real name!?  Previous version was broken.

No time stamps because Colin is in a rush to get this edited but we cover our general impressions and the side quests.

What is the Buffer State Project? 1:07 Crossbell's foundation: 4:17 Soveireingty 9:52 Definition of buffer states 15:15 Crossbell's monopoly on violence 31:28 Is Liberl a buffer state? 38:17 What are small states? 43:00 Strategies used by great powers and buffer states to manage each other 48:00

Intro: 00:00 Dream 2:50 Opening 5:00 SSS Members 11:45 New combat 24:45 Bracers vs police 33:00 Crossbell the city 40:00 Downtown 45:00 Side characters 53:00 Predictions 1:00:00

Intro 00:00 Overview 00:30 Story 5:00 Grinding 12:00 Impressions 25:45

This audio drama is bad 00:00 What is it 4:00 Plot summary: 8:43 Joshua's Feelings: 11:00 Ourobouros 14:10 Tita 17:00 Erika fucking Russell 21:13 Estelle and Tita 27:25 What could have been 28:59 Kevin's Predictions 30:18 Announcement of the Buffer State Project 38:30

Colin's Amazon Drama 1:20 Why Attack on Titan? 5:10 Military Competence 7:45 Protagonist Death and Tropes 9:40 Mikasa 12:50 JEAN is fucking cool 16:00 Questions Rather than Answers 18:00 Flashbacks in Media (FINAL FANTASY VII SPOILERS) 24:47 END Final Fantasy VII Spoilers 29:50 Omidirectional movement 31:14 Armin 35:20 Titans can time travel??? 37:58 Intelligent Titans 38:16 Kevin Won 39:12 Captain Levi 42:12 Use of German 42:53

What is Ring of Judgment: 3:00 Cars in Crossbell: 7:00 Erebonia: 9:40 Toval: 11:50 Arts in Reality: 14:00 Bracers and Killing People: 18:00 Toval as Toby from Carnelia: 20:00 Hot Nuns: 22:00 Tila and Kai: 26:10 Digestion/Ring of Judgment: 29:20 The role of Rings in literature: 32:00 Renne: 39:00

Intro and overarching thoughts: 00:00 Kevin Graham: 13:00 Ries: 17:30 Doors 24:45 Gameplay 35:30 Story 42:00 Kevin's predictions 45:00 Rankings 58:00

Intro and plot: 00:00 Gameplay: 7:00 Building final party and bosses: 17:30 Game ending 27:15

Intro: 00:00 Star Door 9: 1:30 Star Door 12: 16:40 Star Door 13: 26:30 Star Door 14: 33:50

Intro and overview 00:00 Joshua and Estelle Moon Door 3:45 Mary/Orphan Moon Door 14:00 Renne's Star Door 22:15 Phantom Thief B 28:45

In this special episode, Colin and Kevin went live on Twitch and reacted to Kevin's first viewing of Star Door 15.  This is a lightly edited version of that.

Intro 00:00 Chapter 6: 2:30 Loewe and Black Ark 20:45 Lord of Phantasma and Rufina 28:00 Chapter 7 46:30

Intro 00:00 Schera's Moon Door 2:00 Ravens' Star Door 34:30 Anelace Star Door 45:00 Orbal Revolution Star Door 55:15

Intro 00:00 Chapter 5 cutscene 2:45 Lord of Phantasma 9:00 Chapter 5 units 12:30 Renne and Richard 17:15 Chapter boss fight 26:30 Agate and Tita's moon door 30:30 Kloe's Moon Door 36:00 Olivier and Mueller's door 55:35

Intro 00:00 Story of Path of Radiance 6:45 Laguz and race-relations 12:15 Ike as a character 21:00 Permadeath 23:45 Game mechanics 37:30 Supports 40:15 Best units 44:00 Replayability 49:30 Art style 51:15 Overall impressions 55:15