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

Throw Up and Explode! (feat. Persona 4 Golden, Angeline Era, and Octopath Traveler 0)

·1 hr 58 min·5 clips

Into the Aether opens by celebrating a Patreon milestone the hosts have been building toward for months. They treat it as a meaningful step for the show and for the chance to move more of their work into part-time podcasting. The mood is grateful and personal from the start, and that carries through a conversation that keeps drifting between business, games, and the kind of digressive chat this show does best. The hosts then turn to the new Divinity reveal from The Game Awards. One of them first reads it as Witcher energy, which becomes part of the joke as they unpack the trailer. They describe it as medieval at first and then increasingly weird, with festival imagery, burning, pigs, vomit, and a broadly gross texture that lands hard. The reaction is not only about the trailer itself. It also becomes a way to joke about how far Larian can ride the momentum from Baldur’s Gate 3. That discussion opens into a wider thought about studio branding and audience expectations. The trailer feels less like a polished pitch and more like proof that the logo alone now carries a lot of weight. The hosts treat that as funny, but also as a sign of how strongly people respond to the company’s name. The tone stays teasing rather than sharp. From there, the episode shifts into a more serious stretch about AI. One host lays out a clear skepticism about the technology, focusing on how it is being marketed and used. The point is not framed as abstract tech commentary. It comes across as a response to the resources AI consumes and the lack of any responsible path for using it in its current form. The other host lets that argument sit without softening it. Even with that heavier turn, the episode keeps its loose conversational feel. The hosts move back into smaller game talk, including a Pico-8 Bloodborne project one of them has been working on. It feels very on-brand for the show: a strange, specific, affectionate side project that becomes its own little story. They also look ahead to a January project and think through which Game Boy Advance game to review next after finishing Fusion earlier in the year. That gives the episode a sense of ongoing creative momentum instead of a one-off chat. The closing stretch brings in Kuru Kuru Kururin, which one host played on a train ride back from Philly. The game is described as a stubborn nightmare in the most affectionate way possible, the sort of title that stays difficult no matter how much practice it gets. That fits the larger mood of the episode: the hosts are not chasing neat conclusions so much as sharing what has been on their minds and in their hands lately. The result is a conversation that feels lived-in, lightly funny, and grounded in genuine enthusiasm for the medium.

As heard by us

A relaxed milestone episode that turns gratitude, game talk, and side detours into the point.

Into the Aether uses this episode to celebrate a real milestone, then lets the conversation drift in a way that feels earned. Patreon thanks, the PlayStation Vita goal, a quick stop at The Game Awards, and a few personal game fixations all sit comfortably together.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you like a low-key game conversation that wanders, jokes, and then turns sharp, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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