Into the Aether - A Low Key Video Game Podcast · Stephen Hilger + Brendon Bigley

Highguard Accent (feat. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Nioh 3, and Monster Hunter Stories 3)

·1 hr 45 min·3 clips

The episode opens on High Guard. Brendan Bigley talks through how the game's new 5v5 mode changes the feel of a match that used to leave too much empty space between the teams, and Stephen Hilgert helps turn that patch-note shift into a broader complaint about how the game used to hide its own action. The voice-chat bit is the joke. That leads into a funny little stretch about realizing there is an online vocabulary people are using around botting and team behavior, and the joke keeps building until it becomes the kind of running bit this show likes to stay with. Then Dragon Quest VII takes over. The conversation settles into what makes Dragon Quest such an easy series to understand even when a game is being streamlined, and the hosts keep coming back to the idea that this one feels especially good for a younger player or for a family that wants an RPG everyone can follow. It stays generous. They do not treat accessibility as a downgrade, and instead argue that a game can be welcoming while still teaching the vocabulary you need for the rest of the series. That thought opens the door wider. The hosts compare the opening stretch to other Dragon Quest entries, noting that the early hours of a lot of the series are simpler than people remember and that the real ramp often arrives once the party and options start filling out. There is also a small nod to the audience that wants Dragon Quest to be harder. That turns into a brief mention of draconian difficulty-minded players, which the show treats as a real but separate use case rather than the only correct way to play. From there the episode starts drifting again. Brendan redownloads Harvestella because the conversation has put him in that zone, and the show teases out why that game feels like a sleeper hit for a certain kind of cozy-game player. The comparison gets weird in the best way. Harvestella becomes a sort of Harvest Moon for people whose favorite Zelda was Twilight Princess, which is exactly the sort of sideways, half-joking frame this podcast likes to land on. The whole thing folds back into a bigger point about childhood imagination. Dragon Quest VII is framed as the sort of RPG that can either hook you early or remind you what it feels like to want to see the rest of the world after being stuck at home. That idea closes on a Kingdom Hearts II comparison, with the hosts pointing to the Roxas section as the kind of thing that might make someone love Dragon Quest VII too.

As heard by us

A small multiplayer gripe opens into a relaxed, thoughtful case for Dragon Quest 7 as an inviting RPG entry point.

Into the Aether starts with a small multiplayer annoyance and turns it into a larger point about how a world feels more alive when more people are in it. From there, it settles into a straightforward case for Dragon Quest 7 as an easy way into RPGs.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For the moment when a 5v5 patch opens into a calm, meandering case for Dragon Quest VII's comfort.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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