Retrograde Amnesia: Comprehensive JRPG Retrospective

Retrograde Amnesia
  • 5.0 (175)
  • Video Games
  • Updated Weekly

A chapter by chapter, beat by beat analysis of classic Japanese Roleplaying Games (JRPG). We delve deep into the story, dialogue, game mechanics, music, influences, and themes. We've covered Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy VIII, Suikoden, Suikoden II, Xenosaga Episode I, Final Fantasy Tactics, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Phantasy Star IV, and Skies of Arcadia. Yes, we will kill god.

  1. 1d ago

    Skies of Arcadia | E7: A Good Barbara [Pirate Isle, Part II]

    People will notice how you behave in certain situations, which is why we're slandering Nancy Reagan, rifling through our dad's office, accessing the secret bookshelf, learning how to be a swashbuckler, raiding the emergency supplies, freshening up to reboot the day, yup'n it up, having a Vector-off, playing hide-and-seek, seeking a pervert hole, wondering if we have electricity, consuming pickled turnips, dressing up the set, knitting on the bed upstairs, realizing this kid is granny, eating berries so we can know something, leaving papers all over the place, and drinking alone at the tavern. My dad always takes the good stuff. 00:00:00 Where Did You Come From 00:02:07 Intro 00:03:24 Exploring Dad's/Dyne's Office 00:13:50 Outside on Sky Pirate Isle 00:32:07 Pirate Isle Houses 00:47:28 Mom's House 00:50:08 Dusk 00:56:42 Real net 01:01:31 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  2. Jul 13

    Skies of Arcadia | E6: Sensual Pans Around the Treasure [Pirate Isle, Part I]

    If you believe anything that I say, please believe these topics of discussion: stomping in through the dirt door, admiring all of our booty, coming to count and value belts, sliding down the pole, yearning for the home port, turning that bottle upside down, being a good-for-nothing husband, buying crystals from a crystal lady, seeking dad's back door, having night-water on standby, realizing Mom has no name, forcing the mystery woman to meet my dad, and "just testing" someone with the threat of death. There's nothing wrong with drinking with friends after a hard day's work. 00:00:00 Trade In Value  00:01:55 Intro 00:03:01 Pirate Isle Underground 00:14:26 Pirate Isle Underground - Second Level 00:17:43 Tavern 00:28:41 The Rest Of Pirate Isle Underground 00:33:44 Dyne's Office 00:43:31 Real Net 00:47:23 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  3. Jul 6

    Skies of Arcadia | E5: Flashback to Future World [Albatross]

    You don't have to worry about us, we're Blue Rogues. Free yourself from your anxieties as we're disconnecting our sleeves at the elbow, further refining the Codes of the Blue Rogues, telling a lady her name sucks, wearing weirdass clothes, waking up in Solaris, experiencing a concussed vision, connecting advanced texture patterns to apocalyptic scenarios, sucking in the year 2000, explaining Air Pirate factions, utilizing the speaking tube, calling dad "dad," yearning for Deep Sky's embrace, charting territory in real time, yearning to nap on the ship, and touching fish for numbers. That's what separates us Blue Rogues from the Black Pirate. 00:00:00 Life's About Having Things 00:03:55 Intro 00:06:35 Alfonso's Escape 00:13:28 Mystery Flashback Scene 00:16:57 Wake Up, Fina 00:29:55 Exploring the Albatross 00:32:52 Albatross Bridge 00:37:09 World Map 00:47:52 Approaching Sky Pirate Isle 00:52:19 Real Net 01:00:38 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  4. Jun 29

    Skies of Arcadia | E4: Failson Motherboy [Alfonso's Dreadnaught]

    Where there's treasure, there will be Air Pirates. And there we'll be, loading boot screens, gathering the juggalos, indicating the implications of mismatched beard and hair, propelling an airship with magic, dramatically floofing hair, issuing a concussive blast, swinging across ships like Tarzan, changing weapon colors, bringing a gun to a sword fight, taking inventory or JRPG Dynes, roping in from off screen, hating the cherished son, misusing a ladder (non-pervert), killing a guy to cover our tracks, and looking straight into Antonio's eyeballs. To keep my glorious reputation from being tarnished, you must be sacrificed. # 00:00:00 Lizard Man 00:03:15 Intro 00:05:00 Power On 00:13:13 Title Screen 00:15:00 Air Pirates To The Rescue 00:35:10 Standoff 00:38:39 Dungeon of Military Facilities 00:47:40 Alfonso: Motherboy 00:53:24 Real Net 01:00:35 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  5. Jun 22

    Skies of Arcadia | E3: Earnest Good Stuff [Contemporary Reception & Legacy]

    Hi. For our third and final Background Information Episode, Ty and Aidan, the hosts of Fun Factor, join us for an hour to flip through magazine reviews of Skies of Arcadia! All four of us are capping out RPG visuals at 8/10, receiving Golden Man location information, misunderstanding Duke Nukem's wants and needs, running the triple negative olympics, borrowing ideas from Final Fantasy, gibbering like mad fools, doing british accents, lamenting 128 bits, harkening back to early days, forecasting typos signaling prestige, disenchanting sourpusses, teetering on magnificence, creating Scott Steiner, and wondering if Nintendo Power was on the take. The remainder of the episode features your normal hosts hacking out random battles, cameoing in other games, teasing a modern release, learning some optimization tricks, sharing memories, laying out expectations, counting stuff, and wondering if Nintendo Power was on the take. Skies of Arcadia was easily the best RPG in the year 2000 for Dreamcast. Please check out Ty and Aidan's podcast Fun Factor, either here (https://funfactorpod.com) or wherever fine podcasts can be downloaded to the telephone. 00:00:00 Meeting New People 00:02:52 Intro 00:04:30 Contemporary Reviews (Featuring Fun Factor) 01:04:48 Modern Takes 01:07:11 Fan Fiction 01:08:23 MODS 01:12:17 Sequels & Cameos 01:21:44 Memories 01:23:53 Expectations 01:26:32 How Are We Playing This In 2026? 01:30:32 What Are We Counting? 01:34:09 Acknowledgements 01:34:38 Real Net 01:43:38 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  6. Jun 15

    Skies of Arcadia | E2: A Well-Known Ninny [Promotional Media]

    Well, it's time for part two (of three!) of our background information blast for Skies of Arcade. To become legends, we're detailing Skies of Arcadia's promotional media, finding a romantic and unreadable font, changing our reputation, kicking ass by the boatload, debating the pronunciation of "Valuan," riddling the skies with danger, adapting the story into manga, producing a $460 figurine, selling an elaborate music box, desiring a Skies of Arcadia candle, recruiting up to 22 crew members, censoring content for the ESRB, and begging you not to put this Dreamcast disc into your CD player. Everyone will respect you. 00:00:00 Patreon Promo 00:01:19 Intro 00:03:14 Commercials 00:06:20 Print Ads 00:14:57 Strategy Guide + Manga 00:20:17 Light Novel 00:22:47 Radio Drama 00:25:25 Toys 00:27:10 Soundtrack(s) 00:29:00 Demo Disc 00:31:52 Dreamcast Game Box 00:39:24 GameCube Game Box 00:43:41 Cut Content 00:49:25 Real Net 00:54:01 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  7. Jun 8

    Skies of Arcadia | E1: Chasing Romantic Dreams [Development History]

    Hello and welcome to season nine of Retrograde Amnesia, featuring Skies of Arcadia. In the first (of three) background/information episodes, we'll be talking about the game as it relates to shipping on two GD-ROMs, refusing to appear on modern digital storefronts, becoming crushed by reality, combining World War I & II military ships with the Age of Discovery, communicating with wind, citing influence from Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Dragon Quest III, building the world around six colors, refusing a travel budget, blatantly referencing Moby Dick and Robinson Crusoe, forming the Hottie Production Committee, dynamically adjusting the music, eliminating baby talk, "throwing away the Japanese text," and un-mysterying the misdirection. Realism may not be acceptable for an RPG just yet. 00:00:00 Lost Time  00:01:55 Intro 00:02:54 What Is This  00:04:47 Release Information 00:09:31 How to acquire and play Skies of Arcadia in 2026 00:12:13 Atsushi Seimiya 00:18:15 Shuntaro Tanaka 00:27:20 Reiko Kodama 00:49:31 Soundtrack 00:53:37 Localization 01:03:28 Unsubstantiated Claims 01:09:04 Real Net 01:14:09 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

  8. Jun 1

    Phantasy Star IV | E30: Perfect Cosmic Horror [Finale]

    This is it! Now we determine Algo's future... our future! Before we sleep in peace, we'll be jumping into the hole, replicating a sick 1994 screensaver, appreciating an efficient end game dungeon, fighting differently colored jobbers, producing a disgusting sound, inventing Lavos, predicting a god-christ form, blowing it all at once, breathing in sword dust, entering a protective bubble, speculating the genesis of Phantasy Star V, demanding a hopeful ending, saying everyone's name, and deciding to stay home. And now the curtain rises on a new age. Join us next week for season nine: Skies of Arcadia. 00:00:00 Is This it 00:01:01 Intro 00:03:09 The Edge 00:09:45 The Profound Darkness Phase I 00:16:07 The Profound Darkness Phase II 00:18:15 The Profound Darkness Phase III 00:20:37 Victory 00:28:49 A More Promising Future 00:34:54 Epilogue 00:38:57 Staff Roll 00:46:39 Real Net  Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com

    Phantasy Star IV | E30: Perfect Cosmic Horror [Finale]
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A chapter by chapter, beat by beat analysis of classic Japanese Roleplaying Games (JRPG). We delve deep into the story, dialogue, game mechanics, music, influences, and themes. We've covered Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy VIII, Suikoden, Suikoden II, Xenosaga Episode I, Final Fantasy Tactics, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Phantasy Star IV, and Skies of Arcadia. Yes, we will kill god.

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