It's time to close out our The Last of Us Part I episodes with the Left Behind DLC. Sam Greer returns to talk about Ellie's past, how video games survive in the apocalypse, and how TLOU as a franchise handles the preservation of queer culture. 

Enjoy the show!

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Glass House Games: @GHGShow

The Last of Us, Episode 8: Gals Being Pals feat. Sam Greer

The Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is here, so that means Normandy FM is headed back home to talk about all three games again with a roundtable of great guests.

First up, John Warren and Kat Bailey join us to talk about the first Mass Effect, how well the foundations of the series have aged, and why Kenneth had to play through the game twice. 

Enjoy the show!

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Eric: @seamoosi
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John: @FloppyAdult

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Roundtable feat. Kat Bailey and John Warren

It's time to jump four years into the future and see how Joel and Ellie's life in Jackson panned out. In our first episode covering The Last of Us Part II, Natalie Flores returns to talk through what American culture looks like in the apocalypse, how Ellie and Dina's relationship is introduced, and the instigating incident that throws our heroine's life into a spiral.

Enjoy the show!

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Eric: @seamoosi
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Natalie: @heartimecia

The Last of Us Part II, Episode 1: If I Ever Were To Lose You feat. Natalie Flores

Ellie's first day in Seattle sets up the conflicts going on beyond her revenge tour, but it also is full of some memorable, quiet moments along the way. Janet Garcia joins us as we contend with The Last of Us Part II's OWBS and also how the game tries to humanize the members of the WLF we fight along the way. 

We also take a trip down memory lane as Ellie thinks back on a birthday gift from Joel she'll never forget.

Enjoy the show!

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The Last of Us Part II, Episode 2: Liftoff feat. Janet Garcia

Riley MacLeod joins us as we walk through our final day in Seattle.

This week we talk Abby and Lev's respective disillusionment from their factions, the goals of defining what is "good" and "bad" representation, and how the game turns us against Ellie in a real, tangible way.

Enjoy the show!

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The Last of Us Part II, Episode 7: The Stage Play feat. Riley MacLeod

HA HA HA HA HA.

We're in Luca. John Warren returns to help us talk through Blitzball, Tidus' daddy issues, Seymour's bad vibes, and the laughing scene that is perfect, actually.

Enjoy the show!

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Final Fantasy X, Episode 4: Laughing Out Loud feat. John Warren

Hana Kim joins us as we check in with all the Hotspots of Final Fantasy X-2's first chapter. 

Wakka and Lulu are navigating parenthood, the Youth League and New Yevon are fighting, and Cid turned Zanarkand into a goddamn theme park. There's a lot to unpack.

Enjoy the show!

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Hana: @_hanatwothree

Final Fantasy X-2, Episode 3: There and Back Again feat. Hana Kim

It's finally time to talk about the man in our head. It's the Johnny Silverhand episode.

Tim Rogers joins us as we talk through Johnny Silverhand's relationship to those in life and in death, discuss how Cyberpunk 2077 handles V's autonomy as Johnny starts to take control, and finally meet Ken's boyfriend: Kerry Eurodyne.

Enjoy the show!

Send questions for our upcoming Q&A to normandyfm@gmail.com

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Action Button's Cyberpunk 2077 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnBKX_vdYQI&t=1885s

Cyberpunk 2077, Episode 12: The Ghost of You feat. Tim Rogers

Now that we've reassembled our party, it's time to get back to trying to save Yonah. This episode we start our grand re-introduction tour as we search for missing pieces of a device that may help us reach the Shadowlord's lair. But we'll also be revisiting some old friends, learning stuff about the team, and dealing with some of the new stuff added to Replicant. 

Enjoy the show!

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Nier Replicant, Episode 8: [H]appy Together

We're back in the trenches of Nier, but things look a little different this time. It's time to start Nier Automata and unpack the apparent genre shift between the sequel and Replicant, 2B and 9S' dynamic, and how much better the game feels to play.

Enjoy the show!

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Nier Automata, Episode 1 - This Ca[n] Continue

Oh, hey. Don't know if y'all heard but a little game called Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out on October 31. Ken and Eric both got review copies for the game, and so we had to come together for a (spoiler-free, except for what BioWare has already talked about) review. We talk Rook, the party, the game's limited carry over from previous games, and the action RPG combat. Enjoy the show!

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Read Ken's review on Kotaku:

https://kotaku.com/dragon-age-veilguard-4-review-dreadwolf-rook-action-rpg-1851681954

BioBit: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

It's time to head back down to Earth as we learn more about what's happened in the world of Nier since the events of Replicant. This episode we talk the beginnings of the connections between games, how Automata uses UI for storytelling, and how we're feeling about the game's genre-blending. Enjoy the show!

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Nier Automata, Episode 2: M[o]del Behavior

Now that folks are rolling credits on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we wanted to take some time to break down our spoiler-filled overarching thoughts. Ken and Eric are joined by returning guests Ash Parrish and James Whitbrook as we talk about Rook, the ending, Varric, Solas, and all the other big reveals in The Veilguard. Think of it as an appetizer before our full season covering the game next year. Enjoy the show!

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James: jwhitbrook.bsky.social

BioBit: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Spoilercast feat. Ash Parrish and James Whitbrook

As we make our way through Nier Automata's post-apocalyptic world, we stumble upon an amusement park. Here we find some interesting wrinkles in how Automata frames its android vs. machine war and ponder if it succeeds in some of the ways we felt The Last of Us didn't. Enjoy the show!

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Eric: @seamoosi
Ken: @shepardcdr

Nier: Automata, Episode 3: A Walk in the [P]ark

Another PAX East, another Video Game Tinder panel. Well, until they stop letting us make fools of ourselves. This year we're joined by Michael Higham, Jenna Stoeber, Asa GreenRiver, and returning swiper Anya Combs as we swipe left and right on fake dating profiles for real video game characters. We've also included a Google Slides link of the presentation so you can follow along and see the profiles Eric made. Enjoy the show!

Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rdr4Oa2P6Ui5fvcPOTg_ThOhXDR6azk_7HlrCmCUbvg/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

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Asa: @agreenriver.bsky.social

PAX East Video Game Tinder III Panel feat. Anya Combs, Jenna Stoeber, Michael Higham, Asa GreenRiver

As 2B and 9S explore more of Nier Automata's desolate world, we find new ways that robots try to imitate humanity and speculate about what it all means.

Enjoy the show!

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Normandy FM: @normandyfm
Eric: @seamoosi
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Nier Automata, Episode 4: May [Q] Think

This episode we close the book on Adam and his attempts to roleplay humanity. We head down to the Copied City and pontificate on Nier's vision of synthetics trying to figure out what humanity was all about long after the humans are gone from this world.

Enjoy the show!

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Eric: @seamoosi
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Nier Automata, Episode 5: Simulac[r]a

We finished Nier Automata. The credits rolled, so it's over. Right? Riiiiiight?

Nah. We finished Route A and returning guest Sam Greer joins us to talk about Automata's first closing chapter. Enjoy the show!

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Eric: @seamoosi
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Sam: @sammgreer

Nier Automata, Episode 6: Become A[s] Gods feat. Sam Greer

We did all of Route A over again...as 9S. This episode covers the broad strokes of Nier Automata's Route B, so if you haven't played through the whole thing, come back later. Moises Taveras returns alongside first-time guest Sam Greszes as we talk about 9S, the reveals of his hacking abilities, and wonder what the **** those asterisks are. Enjoy the show!

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Moises: @platanoranger
Sam: @sam.robotsfightingdinosaurs.com‬

Nier Automata, Episode 7: [T]ake Two feat. Moises Taveras and Sam Greszes

The reigning guest champ Natalie Checo returns after a long hiatus as we talk about the beginning of Nier Automata's Route C. We talk about passing the torch to the final playable character, unpack the surprisingly timely themes of Automata, and somehow find a way to talk about KPop Demon Hunters. Enjoy the show!

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Nier Automata, Episode 8: Confl[u]ence of Worlds feat. Natalie Checo

It is getting worse for our android heroes as we keep going through Route C. Diego Argüello returns to talk about A2 learning to care and 9S falling into madness. Enjoy the show!

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Nier Automata, Episode 9: [V]iolent Ends feat. Diego Argüello

Before we head to the end of Nier Automata, we have to go check up on an old friend. It's the Emil episode as we talk about the game's secret boss and all it implies about the state of the world.

Enjoy the show!

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Nier Automata, Episode 10: [W]ish You Were Here

All roads lead to Ending E. In our Nier Automata finale we talk about the final endings, Devola and Popola's big hero moment, and prepare to go back to Nier Replicant for one final showdown.

Enjoy the show!

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Eric: @seamoosi
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Nier Automata, Episode 11: Omnes Una Manet No[x]

Remember how we said Nier Replicant had a new ending added to it? We decided to save it for the last. Well, almost. We still have the external media episode after this. Michael Higham returns for the final gameplay episode of our Nier season in which we go back and play Replicant's Ending E, discuss how it connects both Nier games in new surprising ways, and lament once again that we didn't get to play as Kaine before. Enjoy the show!

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Nier Replicant, Episode 14: Memor[y] feat. Michael Higham

After a few delays and breaks in between, we are finally at the Nier finale. In this episode, Eric gives Ken a crash course in all the extended Nier universe and we try and come to a conclusion as to what it all means. If you want to follow along, here's Eric's presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/161hdqsQAW6lr5TDVpxoGvwivXFbKLQaev3EBAyjk1PQ/edit?slide=id.g39da7802510_1_0#slide=id.g39da7802510_1_0

Enjoy the show! We'll see you back in Thedas when we start Dragon Age: The Veilguard in the new year.

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Nier Finale: [Z-A]

Happy N7 Day?

This year BioWare showed some concept art of angry Krogan and not much else. We talk about what we do and don't know about Mass Effect 5, as well as talk a little bit about the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard season. 

Enjoy the show!

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BioBit: "Future"

After five years, we're heading back to Thedas. In the first episode of our feature-length Dragon Age: The Veilguard retrospective, we're sorting through a ton of conflicting feelings. We talk about the RPG's reported development struggles, getting used to being in Rook's shoes, our feelings on the series' hard pivot into an action RPG, and much, much more. 

Today is Dragon Age Day, so we're uploading this episode a little earlier than planned. We'll be picking up our regular biweekly cadence at the beginning of 2026, and if you want early access to episodes, you can get them by becoming a patron.

http://patreon.com/normandyfm

Follow us on Bluesky:
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Episode 1: Take Me Back To Eden

Welcome to Normandy FM, where Eric Van Allen and Kenneth Shepard revisit the Mass Effect series. In this first episode the two discuss Eden Prime, the questionable decisions of a Renegade player, and ask what is Mass Effect's problem with gay men? 

Twitter:
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Eric: @seamoosi
Kenneth: @shepardcdr

Mass Effect, Episode 1 - Greatness From Small Beginnings

Liara comes aboard the Normandy this episode and brings with her some Asari discourse. Also in this episode, Kenneth and Eric discuss Mass Effect's portrayal of sex and consent, the Mako being a garbage can on wheels, and a whole lot more.

Twitter:
Normandy FM: @normandyfmshow
Eric: @seamoosi
Kenneth: @shepardcdr

Mass Effect, Episode 3 - Doctor on Deck

We have one more stop to make in Mass Effect 2, and it's a fairly underwhelming DLC. While Arrival does have a somewhat interesting lead in to ME3, much of the mission feels relatively ordinary in the face of some of ME2's better missions. We also end the show talking about how our favorite Mass Effect characters rank up with our favorite characters in video games.

Enjoy the show!

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Mass Effect 2, Episode 16 - Out with a Bang and a Whimper

Eric Van Allen and Kenneth Shepard come together for a multi-part video game retrospective podcast. Normandy FM does episodic analysis of video games, starting with Bioware's Mass Effect series, going on to discuss other genres and studios. Tune in to the discussion and join in by playing along with us!

Mass Effect | 51 Eps.
Dragon Age | 47 Eps.
Jade Empire | 5 Eps.
The Last of Us | 16 Eps.
Final Fantasy X | 23 Eps.
Cyberpunk 2077 | 15 Eps.
Nier | 26 EPs.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Ongoing

Twitter:
Normandy FM: @normandyfmshow
Eric: @seamoosi
Kenneth: @shepardcdr

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