Shows
Menu CombatMenu Combat 026 - Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave Trailer DiscussionJeremiah returns for us to dive deep into our Fire Emblem origin stories and do a trailer analysis for Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave. It's an exciting time to be a Tactical RPG fan!
2025-11-101h 16Menu CombatMenu Combat 025 - Everything about items in JRPGS (Feat. Jeremiah)Last episode I mentioned my item hoarding tendencies. On todays episode Jeremiah gets to correct my narrow casting of items! We talk about potions, buff items, law cards etc. Coverings the categories and functions of items
2025-08-181h 11Menu CombatMenu Combat 024 - The Genius of Yukiko's Dungeon & What Does it Mean to Play Within the Spirit of a GameOn this week’s episode of Menu Combat I recount my time with Yukiko’s dungeon in Persona 4 Golden . Remarking on how thoughtful the boss design is, as well getting into the humor of the game. In addition, I talk about what it means to play within the spirit of a videogame.
2025-07-0734 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 023 - Persona 4 Golden Opening and Discourse Affecting the Experience of GamesI talk about the opening hours of Person 4, how sometimes expectations affect the way I consume or think about a game. I end with debating the openings of Shadow World and Pursuing My True Self.
2025-06-3040 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 022 - JRPGs Have Bad Combat? (Featuring. Ziad)On this week’s episode I have the Sephiroth of JRPGs on : Ziad. We unpack whether or not JRPG combat bad. We discuss if encounters are repetitive and dull. We discuss his background with character action and arcade games and how that affects how he perceives combat design. Ziad’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ziaddd.bsky.socialZiad’s Twitter: https://x.com/wondermagentaZiad’s Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@ziadbruhBeach Gen Game Club Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vgbookclub/videos
2025-06-162h 17Menu CombatMenu Combat 020 - Fire Emblem Three Houses with Actual Lizard & Halcyon GamesWelcome to Season 3 of Menu Combat! On this week's episode I have both Actual Lizard and Halcyon Games to talk about Fire Emblem Three Houses. We talk about support design and the shock of the reveal of the Flame Emperor.Follow Actual Lizard HereTwitter: https://x.com/ActualLizardYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@actuallizardFollow Halycon Games HereInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/halcyon_videogames/
2025-06-161h 42Menu CombatMenu Combat 021 - Finally Playing Final Fantasy 7 OGTheWolvesDen talks about Disc 1 & 2 for Final Fantasy 7. He explores trusting the world design and gets obsessed with materia!
2025-06-0941 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 019 - Xenoblade 3 Full Discussion with JiikaeThis week is the official conclusion of Season 2 of Menu Combat. We go out with a bang ! I have a full Xenoblade 3 spoiler talk with Jiikae ! We spend over a half an hour just talking world and mechanics! Listen to us appreciate the density of the game design!
2024-09-021h 27Menu CombatMenu Combat 018 - What Makes for a Good JRPG Job/Class with GuhreenTiOn today’s episode of Menu Combat I have GuhreenTi on! We discuss Jobs & Classes. We unpack the difference between Class & Role and discuss some of our fave classes. We make reference to games such as Xenoblade, Final Fantasy 14 & Bravely Default.
Follow GuhreenTi
Twitter: https://x.com/GuhreenTi
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/guhreenti
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@guhreentitv
2024-08-1248 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 017 - Xenoblade 3 Legendary Chapter 5 & HD-2D ImportanceThis week of Menu Combatis spoiler filled gushing about Chapter 5 ending & Chapter 6 beginning for Xenoblade 3. In addition I muse on Nintendo legitimizing HD-2D & it's impact on the current JRPG landscape
2024-08-0540 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 016 - Learning about the Saga Series with Jonathan CloudOn this weeks episode I interview Jonathan Cloud on! He puts me on to the Saga series. It’s a series I only know lightly through the grapevine. He tells us about his fave game in the series and things to keep in mind as the remake of Romancing Saga 2 drops this fall. Come get schooled with me.
You can find Johnathan Cloud
Twitter : https://x.com/JohnCloudThe1st
2024-07-1536 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 015 - Characteristics of Good Monster Designs with Brainrot VeilOn this weeks episode of Menu Combat, I have Brainrot Veil on! We begin to think of what it takes to have a cool monster design. He really digs into one of the SMTV designs and I do my Pokemon love!
Where you can find brainrot Veil
Main Twitter: https://x.com/brainrotVeil
Writing Twitter : https://x.com/UndernethTheRot
Website here: https://vincentrlondon.wixsite.com/brainrot
He just released Libra Moon on July 4th: https://libramoon.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-veil-no-1
2024-07-081h 10Menu CombatMenu Combat 014 - JRPG Dungeon Types & Velvet Crowe's GrowthThis weeks episode talks about the 4 types of dungeons that JRPGs tend to have. I provide some quick examples of what they might me. I suggest that Persona technically falls into 2. I talk about how bad the dungeon experience in Tales of Berseria has been and how the saving grace for me has been how Velvet is learning to be human interacting with Number 2/Laphicet.
2024-06-2528 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 013 - Tales of Berseria Opening and JRPG Tier RankingsThis weeks episode covers ranking JRPGs in tiers of their larger reputation. In addition because of a series of unfortunate events, I start Tales of Berseria. I talk about my impressions of Velvet in the opening hours and how she seems to remind me a bit of Yuri.
2024-06-1741 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 012- Picking Up RPGs After a Break & Xenoblade 3This episode talks about what you have to do when coming back to a JRPG after a long break. I talk about remembering plot points, story jargon and combat mechanics just so you can continue your playthrough. I also jump into talking about the end of Chapter 4 of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
2024-06-0337 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 011 - Persona 5 Royal Thoughts! (SQ)TheWolvesDen records his thoughts of Persona 5 before his experience with the Royal content (expect a follow up shortly). It is his first Persona game and second SMT game... and you can hear how much adjustment it took to understand the rhythm of the game.
2024-03-1850 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 010 - Why Do We Recommend Old Games to Newcomers? (SQ)Inspired by Robert Boyd's tweet about recommending ancient jrpgs to newcomers, TheWolvesDen tries to go into detail about why we do this as a community!
2023-09-2527 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 009 - Tales of Vesperia and BacktrackingOn this weeks episode of Menu Combat, THeWolvesDen gets thoroughly impressed by Tales of Vesperia combat. He talks about what makes Yuri Lowell special and asks for Tales of fans to recommend other games. He reflects on the act of backtracking and how exploring and just traversing are to two different mental experiences along the same path.
2023-08-2845 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 008 - Triangle Strategy's Biggest Choice & Misunderstanding MechanicsOn this weeks episode of Menu Combat, TheWolvesDen continues his experience with Triangle Strategy, detailing the heart wrenching decision at Chapter 17. He also talks about embarrassing moments as a youth misunderstanding game mechanics. Which leads into an aside about how opaque the skill and crafting system is in Star Ocean the First Departure R.
2023-08-0742 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 007 - WRPG and JRPG fans meet!On this week’s episode of Menu Combat we have music director Chivalry on! We discuss his exploration of JRPGs coming from a WRPG background and how that is the opposite of what TheWolvesDen history is. We talk about characteristics and elements of the different sides of the same coin that is RPGs. If you want to hear someone push a CD Project Red writers agenda, this is the episode for that! And yes I do my job this week recommending him to play Chrono Trigger. This episode is really about RPGs in the fullness of what that means, ho...
2023-07-241h 23Menu CombatMenu Combat 006 - Trying Out WRPGs with Mass Effect 1On this weeks episode TheWolvesDen talks about in detail his lack of WRPG history and explains why playing Mass Effect for the first time is important to him. He also talks about the classic lore dump in RPGs and the different ways these games do this. Be ready to hear him refer to the geth and bionics this morning!
2023-07-1739 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 005 - Fire Emblem Blazing Blade & Town BattlesOn this weeks episode TheWolvesDen talks about Fire Emblem the Blazing Sword! From the gimmicks of the fog of war maps to even how trash the Drundal , Sol Katti and Armads are. He also talks about how JRPGs use towns for fights, pulling from FF9, Earthbound and Shin Megami Tensei 3.
2023-07-1035 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 004 - Triangle Strategy from the Children of Fire EmblemOn this week's episode TheWolvesDen and Jeremiah go into depth about Triangle Strategy. As people who fell in love with the genre through Fire Emblem, we make a plethora of comparisons to it.
2023-06-261h 42Menu CombatMenu Combat 003 - Beating Dragon Quest 1 and the Best Hip Hop Producers for JRPGSOn this weeks episode TheWolvesDen talks about wrapping up Dragon Quest 1, with more discussion of the Nintendo Power manual and the final boss. He also spends time matching Hip Hop producers and JRPG OSTS for the perfect match!
2023-06-1237 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 002 - Dragon Quest 1 & Games that Would Make Great JRPGs.On today's episode TheWolvesDen talks about his playthrough of Dragon Quest 1 on Switch and explains which games would be great as JRPGs. He explains his infamous 2K as a turnbased game idea. Three more songs are mentioned as all time tunes.
Twitter: @TheWolvesDen25 & @menucombat
Instagram: @TheWolvesDen25 & @menucombat
2023-06-0547 minMenu CombatMenu Combat 001 - Final Fantasy 5 & Sidelined ProtagonistsListen to the TheWolvesDen as he waxes poetic about Final Fantasy 5, and talks about main characters who are secondary in other people's story.
2023-05-2943 min
TheRosesWolvesDen™️01/11/2017: #BusinessMindedLeaders™ #TheWolvesDen™ Assignment Discussion Part 1Happy new year & welcome back to another podcast ladies and gents also! I will be bringing back the daily motivational posts next week so stay tuned. Also, peep part 1 of the assignments discussion and go and make this month and this year a great year! One love I'm out.
2019-07-0230 min