True Avatars - A Queer Video Game Podcast

• Ep. 51 - Nintendo Direct Queer Games + “Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced” Chat with the Dev!

  I know I write this into every episode description, but this week’s episode is not-hyperbolically jam packed full of news and content! First up, Amy-Lynn and I discuss the headlines and the surprisingly long Nintendo Direct, which had new trailers for lots of queer games! In the second half, Ekamy, Lloyd, and I are joined by Endellion, one half of the Zorkie Studios dev team who is back to talk about the release of Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced. Known as QDRP for short, the adorable yet grim visual novel is about Jin, a psychline whose job it is to approve life-changing body modifications. Jin also has to make money to save their dying rabbit Nibbles, but will you be able to make enough money while also making the right choices for who should be approved for their body mods? Endellion was previously a guest on True Avatars back in Ep. 28, so I recommend going back to listen to that episode as well!   NOTE: At one point, Endellion mentions that a 2-4 hours visual novel has a typical word count of 400K-800K words, but they actually meant 40K-80K words.   SPOILER WARNING: The discussion is spoiler-free until the very end of the episode (please see the timecodes below).   00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:00 - News 00:10:06 - Nintendo Direct 00:56:43 - Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced Discussion feat. Endellion 01:44:48 - Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced SPOILERS   CONTENT WARNING: Some ableist language was muted throughout the episode.   The Nintendo Direct discussion was recorded on September 12 2025. The conversation with Endellion was recorded on September 4 2025.   Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3164710/Quality_Dreams_Reasonably_Priced/   Sources: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sonic-racing-crossworlds-is-getting-a-single-player-demo-next-week/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/elden-ring-nightreign-gets-a-free-high-difficulty-mode-called-deep-of-night/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/bafta-games-in-concert/ https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/borderlands-4-launches-to-mostly-negative-reviews-on-steam-thanks-to-widespread-performance-problems-and-crashes/ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/09/warframe-devs-on-switch-2-version-thanks-to-our-friends-at-nintendo-we-are-on-it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWIEv_aksvo https://x.com/finalfantasyvii/status/1966514225117118813?s=46&t=sVUrhNeL5EXDMRDpzdemfQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22oUOztp-88 https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/pokemon-legends-z-as-mega-chesnaught-mega-delphox-and-mega-greninja-can-only-be-obtained-via-online-ranked-battles/

  --------  

  2:04:20

  --------

  2:04:20
• Ep. 50.5 - REVIEW - Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced

  Zorkie Studios has generously supplied the podcast with a review copy of this exciting visual novel! We have previously discussed QDRP (for short) at length on the podcast, so come hear my thoughts on the final product! Spoiler alert: the game is incredible.

  --------  

  18:17

  --------

  18:17
• Ep. 50 - The Life is Strange TV show is FINALLY happening

  Amy-Lynn and Cleo are back on this week to discuss the small but mighty headlines this week! The Life is Strange TV show is finally moving forward (at Amazon of all places), Evo (the esports event) has a brand new owner, Final Fantasy XIV might be getting some changes, there were more layoffs, and Amy-Lynn gives us her thoughts on the payment processor scandal. And now that Hollow Knight: Silksong is out (Cleo played some of it in disbelief), we debate the video games industry many pricing issues in this cost of living crisis. Silksong is priced very low for such a high profile game, and other indies might be negatively affected. The major publishers are also increasing their AAA prices this year, so who is really to blame? We also talk about other games we’ve been playing and Cleo brings another Queer Game of the Week!   00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:09 - What We’ve Been Playing 00:18:11 - News 01:02:10 - The video games industry has a pricing problem 01:25:03 - Queer Game of the Week: Chicory: A Colorful Tale   This episode was recorded on Sept 6 2025.   Sources: https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/life-is-strange-tv-series-amazon-charlie-covell-luckychap-1236509181/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/final-fantasy-14-director-yoshi-p-says-the-game-needs-a-major-change-in-content-hierarchy/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/saudi-firm-acquires-co-ownership-of-evo-fighting-game-tournaments/ https://esportsadvocate.net/2025/09/sonicfox-vows-to-champion-lgbtq-rights-at-future-evo-events/ https://x.com/SonicFox/status/1962980285458636887 https://observer.co.uk/news/business/article/saudi-takeover-of-gaming-industry-leaves-little-room-for-dissent https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-02/-perfect-dark-developer-lays-off-staff-after-funding-deal-falls-through?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1NjgzNDY3OSwiZXhwIjoxNzU3NDM5NDc5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUMVoyQTRHUTdMRlEwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.iGoAomXADlAaCsr4KgsTEy8oHTbv4k9XTSl7NVtRZXo&leadSource=uverify+wall https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/09/i-cant-afford-to-give-it-away-for-free-silksongs-low-price-is-causing-devs-to-re-evaluate-their-own-games https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ps5-digital-edition-consoles-are-reportedly-getting-a-quiet-storage-downgrade/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/gen-z-is-cutting-back-on-video-game-purchases-like-really-cutting-back/

  --------  

  1:33:58

  --------

  1:33:58
• Episode 49 - Naked Snakes and Autumn Gaymes

  It’s September, which means we’re on the cusp of an avalanche of new releases… but that also means an avalanche of new queer games! There’s basically one every week until the end of November! That’s wild right? I wonder what all those games are! What if there was a podcast that discussed all of these games in one convenient place? Oh wait! For the first half of the episode, it’s just me, and I also cover a bunch of headlines: Microsoft and The First Descendent are doing some scummy things with AI, PlayStation and Xbox have improved their offerings for once, Stardew Valley is getting yet another content update (does Concerned Ape sleep?), and a classic queer game got shadowdropped on modern platforms. Oh, and yes, there is more troublesome news on the payment processor/censorship front, because our descent into fascism hasn’t progressed far enough. In the second half, Bettie returns from episode 26 with her partner to compare and contrast the new Metal Gear Solid Delta remake with the original – and we also talk about exactly how gay everyone is! Also, there’s news on the future of the podcast! ;)   00:00:00 - Intro and Podcast Update 00:09:14 - Queer Games Releasing this Fall 00:29:30 - News 00:44:20 - Payment Processor Update 00:53:24 - Metal Gear Solid Delta Discussion   This episode was recorded on August 31 2025.   Queer Games Mentioned: Sept 8 - Quality Dreams, Reasonably Priced Sept 18 - Ratatan Sept 19 - Wander Stars Sept 25 - Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Oct 2 - Ghost of Yotei Oct 10 - Nomia Oct 16 - Pokémon Legends Z-A Oct 29 - Outer Worlds 2 Nov 6 - UNBEATABLE Nov 6 - Syberia Remastered Nov 13 - Love at the Milky Way Diner Nov 19 - Demonschool Nov TBA - Heartspell: Horizon Academy TBA 2025 - Frame of Mind: A game of thoughts TBA 2025 - Building Relationships TBA 2025 - Coffee Talk Tokyo TBA 2025 - Usual June TBA 2025 - Winter Burrow TBA 2025 - Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment   Sources: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/demonschool-gets-last-minute-delay-to-avoid-silksong https://store.steampowered.com/app/3608900/NOMIA/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2113350/Heartspell_Horizon_Academy/ https://necrosoftgames.com/demonschool/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1575810/Wander_Stars/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3660220/Syberia__Remastered/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3008740/Winter_Burrow/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2702430/Usual_June/ https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2025/08/25/ps-store-game-refunds-made-easier-by-sony/ https://www.theverge.com/news/766762/microsoft-xbox-cloud-gaming-game-pass-core-standard-pc-games https://mobilegamer.biz/inside-king-layoff-lawsuits-toxic-leaders-toothless-ethics-teams-low-morale-and-mandatory-ai-use/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/they-stole-my-face-streamer-claims-the-first-descendant-ads-used-ai-to-make-it-look-like-hes-promoting-it/ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/surprise-ps1-cult-classic-fear-effect-just-shadow-dropped-on-switch https://store.steampowered.com/app/3504570/Fear_Effect/ https://x.com/concernedape/status/1961864959484412104?s=46&t=sVUrhNeL5EXDMRDpzdemfQ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/steam-adult-game-programmer-has-account-frozen-by-paypal-80000-in-earnings-withheld/ https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1mzsj8l/i_owe_a_massive_corporation_tax_bill_to_hmrc_and/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/steam-now-requires-age-verification-in-the-uk-for-mature-game-pages/

  --------  

  1:33:32

  --------

  1:33:32
• Episode 48 - How do you make queer characters feel real? - Interview with Kelly Gilkes (Matchmaker: Dungeon Heart)

  This week is a bit of a shorter episode, True Avatars (I may or may not have speedran the news…), but it’s still a great one! This week I had the chance to interview the lovely Kelly Gilkes, the Lead Artist behind the 9 amazing romanceable NPCs in the enjoyable queer indie, Matchmaker: Dungeon Heart! She and I discussed body positivity, gaining many perspectives to create honest, relatable characters, and even the voice acting! In the first half, of course there’s the headlines. For this, it’s just me this week. Gamescom Opening Night Live had a bunch of queer and queer-adjacent announcements, two queer games are doing a collab, The Last of Us Online may live on in a different form, Kirby Air Riders and Hollow Knight Silksong both finally have release dates, Games Done Quick is getting a little queer, and so much more! And thankfully, no scary developments on the payment processor/game censorship front!   00:00:00 - Intro and What We’ve Been Playing 00:02:42 - News 00:21:47 - Interview with Kelly Gilkes (Matchmaker: Dungeon Heart)   This episode was recorded on August 24 2025. The interview was recorded on August 20 2025.   Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74oh7zD_jxI&ab_channel=thegameawards https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/psa-sonic-racing-crossworlds-open-network-test-for-switch-announced https://asia.sega.com/SonicRacingCrossWorlds/en/news/open-network-test.html https://store.steampowered.com/app/2863680/ZERO_PARADES/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058730/The_Darkest_Files/ https://www.ign.com/articles/cronos-the-new-dawn-stars-you-as-a-soul-collecting-time-traveler https://www.ign.com/articles/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-legacy-of-the-forge-dlc-trailer-reveals-september-release-date-and-henrys-new-home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XGeJwsUP9c https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-08-21/why-silksong-team-cherry-s-sequel-to-hollow-knight-took-so-long-to-make?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1NTc4NjYzOSwiZXhwIjoxNzU2MzkxNDM5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUMUNMTUpHUFdDUFcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.oTN8q1m9pNWFv7oW-n3vzq-hRWAxrDx9B7iF80RdTzk&leadSource=uverify%20wall https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/yoshi-p-reveals-positive-discussions-over-nintendo-switch-2-final-fantasy-14-port/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/director-of-scrapped-the-last-of-us-online-says-his-new-us-japan-studio-is-making-a-cinematic-multiplayer-title/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-20/take-two-guts-bioshock-studio-after-a-decade-of-development?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1NTcxNDU0NSwiZXhwIjoxNzU2MzE5MzQ1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUMUIxVEZHUFFRN1cwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.zVepbosqQPRpkHaMvUcaBAlKk73_0IkMGOvNKaKU6mE&leadSource=uverify%20wall https://www.instagram.com/p/DNjJspJsFh5/?igsh=MXQ1aDB1ZmtycjV5dA%3D%3D https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/dragon-age-and-gears-of-war-headline-xbox-game-pass-august-line-up/ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-is-officially-getting-halo-content-in-the-form-of-helldivers-collab/ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/its-almost-showtime-for-overwatch-2s-new-persona-collab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtkHiB7WKf4

  --------  

  45:02

  --------

  45:02

Weitere Technologie Podcasts

Trending Technologie Podcasts

Über True Avatars - A Queer Video Game Podcast