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CW: Therapy, Mental Illness Castlevania's lore is focused on the Belmont family and their duty to protect the world from monsters and vampires. Generations of Belmonts have served to defeat Dracula and we highlight Simon in his journey from Castlevania 1 & 2. Maria and I discuss Simon's trauma, the unique narrative of men sharing emotion when societal narratives deeply discouraged men showing emotions other than anger. This has changed a little in the past 30 years but we still have a long ways to go. If you need emergency help with mental illness, please contact the National Suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Also, please seek therapy if you are noticing any symptoms. Life is very difficult and our circumstances as a society are steadily becoming more stressful. We also know there is a lot of privilege in this statement as mental health care is not easily accessible for everyone. However, we want to provide a base reflection from our own experiences and work with the community on how we actually create better conditions for people to access the care they need. This is the beginning of a conversation, not the end. Phenomena Gaming has a lot of goals for 2024 and we are excited to meet you as we start going to some local conventions. Our dream of a gaming focused worker cooperative will take all of us to want better conditions in gaming employment. We hope you will join this journey with us in 2024. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Maria is back for a series about Castlevania! This will be a 3 part series. Episode 1 highlights Rondo of Blood briefly and then spends the majority of the time on Symphony of the Night. We discuss lore, lost love, and Alucard. We love Alucard. Poor man trying to sleep and keeps being woken up by his father. Part 2 will focus on Castlevania 1 and 2 while Part 3 will be an overview of the themes throughout the entire series. You can reach Maria at Space-Kitty00. We are signing up for Convergence con this summer in Minneapolis where listeners can meet Maria and I. This will take place July 4th-7th. We're also developing a plan for social media and email engagement. Please sign up at www.phenomenagaming.com to stay posted on our episodes, blog posts, and future plans. 2024 is going to be an exciting year! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Maria is back! She guest stars on the podcast to talk about platonic male/female relationships in video games and the importance of seeing representation in gaming. We talk about social cues and how to build a philosophy. We didn't think we would teach that in this episode but we had a lot of fun. Maria is Space_Kitty00 on Discord. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

No More Heroes is an apt title for a game when we think about how literature has evolved to include more anti-heroes and mixed motivations in character development. Maria gives a great breakdown of Travis Touchdown and how his development through the course of the No More Heroes series teaches us all about growth, goofy antics, and dispositional change over the course of one's life. I learned a lot about the series. Heavy spoilers are in this episode. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

@HighleyGinger is back to talk about death in Death Stranding. Death is often uncomfortable and challenging and @Highleyginger covers it with grace. We discuss the beach, Heartman trying to find his family, and our pondering about Death Stranding 2. We are building our thoughts with a number of unknowns but it is a reflective and fun episode. Find Aly: Twitter: @HighleyGinger Bluesky: @HighleyGinger Discord: @MrsAlyCat --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Twitter @HighleyGinger Discord @MrsAlyCat Bluesky @HighleyGinger Please support the podcast at patreon.com/phenomenagaming or subscribing on your favorite podcast service. Heavy spoilers for Death Stranding in this episode!!!! In this episode we will delve into the importance of critical engagement, connection, and navigating an apocalyptic world in Death Stranding. We have a good mix of science, ethical reflection, and deep dives on the characters of Death Stranding. Aly has some unique expertise and her reflection shone throughout this episode. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Amy comes on the Pixelated Plato Podcast to talk about horror and finding her own identity and interests in a challenging situation. We think about horror as a genre, I try my best to build atmospheric horror and Amy reflects on empathy and reading social cues as a person with ADHD. This was a really brilliant discussion and I learned a lot. Her Twitter is sillibean_ https://sillibean.com/ Her website has all of her links to social media. Unfortunately we lost the last few minutes to an upload error which was removed and explained in the editors' note. Hopefully we can get Amy back soon! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Ulana and I had a great discussion about Final Fantasy, friendship, and the inspiration of gaming for our lives. Ulana has become a great fantasy writer because of her grounding in Final Fantasy. We also talk a bit about Ulana's creative process and the game writing course she took. We have a link to the Narrative Department where you can register for the six week course Ulana mentions in the podcast. If you like the Pixelated Plato Podcast, support us on Patreon. www.patreon.com/phenomenagaming If you want to access Ulana's writing or interact on social media, see these links below. Website: https://www.ulanadabbs.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ulanadabbs Link to my latest book on Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Lumis-Legacy-Epic-Fantasy-Fiction-ebook/dp/B0C71WBWHS This is the link to Susan O'Connors website and the writing course Ulana mentions. https://www.thenarrativedept.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

A great discussion on gaming as relationship building, growing in social awareness, and development of empathy. This episode is also promoting Ellie's half-marathon for SpecialEffect! Ellie shared her story about coming to know SpecialEffect and her passion for supporting the organization. We talked a lot about the good development of the heart and the mind and getting them to move together. To donate to support Ellie's half-marathon for SpecialEffect go to: https://www.justgiving.com/page/ellie-hayden-1683357460228?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=one_page&utm_content=page/ellie-hayden-1683357460228&utm_campaign=pfp-tweet&utm_term=eead0c58b5ca4eed923dafb29e85dcc8 Follow Ellie on Twitter: @ellieminimay --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Come join Nathan and I for a conversation about Persona 4 Golden! We talk about Naoto and Kanji and reflect upon the journey to deal with the collective unconscious and our individual journeys of coming of age. Life can be exceptionally difficult and Persona 4 does a good job of highlighting the importance of authentic presence. You can find Nathan on Twitter: @nathanl75 Nathan's piece on Persona 4 Golden is below. https://medium.com/@nathanlamb75/acceptance-is-the-price-of-freedom-in-persona-4-6b3c7dcad82f --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

Maggie Jones Lutey, staff writer from Nintendo Force Magazine, comes to the Pixelated Plato Podcast to talk about her journey into games writing, the Trails series, and how Trails games have made her a better person. Some spoilers for Trails Games are present because we are using Trails for reflective purposes. Phenomena Gaming will also have a Spoilercast for Trails at a later time. Maggie's Contact information Twitter: @AvengerMags www.nintendoforcemagazine.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support

We had a great conversation about representation in video games, PR work and a surprise mini conversation about Elden Ring. She gave a lot of great reflections on toxicity in video game communities and her story and intelligence is something you don't want to miss. Kaitlyn also had a game she wanted to promote called Raji: An Ancient Epic. https://rajithegame.com/ This game takes place in Ancient India. Featuring acrobatic combat, deep storytelling featuring Hindu Gods, and an embrace of Indian culture, this game I had not heard about before this interview but is definitely on my list. You can find Raji on Switch, PS4, XBOX and Steam. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-fitzpatrick0/support