Shows / Abnormal Mapping
Abnormal Mapping
Abnormal Mapping is a monthly game club of Em and Jackson, talking primarily about old games with an eye to critiquing without nostalgia.
Episodes
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 131: Mother 3
One of the most infamous Japan-only RPGs finally gets its turn as Abnormal Mapping heads back to a simpler time of GBAs, Nintendo being good, and a little boy…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 130: Trauma Center: Under the Knife
We delve into the power of healing and the demands of the DS touch screen as we scrub up and try to save people by playing doctor and … NGO front line crime…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 129: Metal Gear Acid 2
We remember the basics of CQC one draw at a time as we go back to the long road of woe that is Metal Gear to play the strange PSP tactical spin-off Metal Gear…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 128: Sonic Chaos and Tails Adventure
Abnormal Mapping is here to talk about two Sonic games that were designed for the Game Gear and the first generation of dedicated handheld games and why they…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 127: Fate/stay night
A special mid-month Abnormal Mapping is summoned into the grail war! Em is joined by their friend Kim to talk about the humble origin of a massive media…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 126: WarioWare and Rhythm Heaven
We opened up our GBAs and DSes for a parade of classic Nintendo bangers as we talk about when video games were joyful and rhythm games were about learning…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 125: King of Dragon Pass
Sacred time is here! We light the fires and huddle our tula around the ring as we tell tales of old and mishaps aplenty in the dangerous world of Glorantha as…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 124: Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
The end of the year of JRPGs ends with a game exploring the very limits of the genre and pushing into the modern conception of RPG meta text. Gone are the…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 123: Forza Horizon 5
We’re back as we take a sharp left from our projected game club and play the newest of new releases, the hot new Microsoft Tentpole, HaForza Horizon 5! Please…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 122: Star Ocean
Rushing this one out the door because of scheduling problems, it’s a new Abnormal Mapping! We played a game that has been on Em’s to do list for years, and we…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 121: Gravity Rush 2
We’re joined by Scarlett for a stroll down memory lane, when Sony meant interesting games coming from Japanese developers. It wasn’t even that long ago!…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 120: Tokyo RPG Factory
We are joined by blogger of the year Dia Lacina who was willing to go down with the ship as we break format for a trio of games that we only knew of probably…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 119: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
We’re joined by Dan to once again talk about the strange tangent of the Metroid universe as we continue to mine the Phazon arc to gain an appreciation for how…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 118: Lost Odyssey
This month we feast on one of the largest games time investment wise we’ve ever played for Abnormal Mapping, but it just so happens to be the game we initially…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 117: Max Payne 2 and Gravity Rush
We take a break from the really long games to enjoy some short but sweet adventures in cities both beautiful and threatening as we return to a game we covered…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 116: Live A Live
We turn our thoughts back to the JRPG in this year full of them, and enjoy one of the most surprising games we’ve played … well, since last month, but we’ve…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 115: Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru and Ocarina of Time
Two games means an extra long episode as we talk about Zelda, Zelda-likes, the ways Nintendo had it all and slowly burned away goodwill, and much more. Both of…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 114: Koudelka
The year of JRPGs continues as we talk about a strange hybrid RPG of the late PlayStation era, the survival horror wanna-be Koudelka! What does this small…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 113: Quake (feat. Halo 3)
We return back to one of the earliest studios that really surprised us doing this podcast, id software, and their post-Doom attempt to remake the landscaping…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 112: Suikoden
An early podcast, because this week is a weird holiday week! Ignore the many instances where we say it’s coming out on Thursday in this podcast! Heading back…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 111: Shinobi (PS2)
We head into the history books for one of the most notable B games of the PS2 era, the action classic Shinobi! What do we think about revisiting a classically…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 110: Asura's Wrath
We’re joined this week by a guest out of history as Six Dettmar makes ver’s second appearance on Abnormal Mapping to talk about infinite anime power and how…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 109: Grab Bag 2020!
now with updated music We’re back with a whopper of an episode this time as we played through four entire games this month and have two hours of hot content…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 108: Metroid Prime
This month we return to the heady days of the early 00s when all things seemed possible and Nintendo unleashed the Citizen Kane of video games on all of us…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 107: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
We return with some cool things you can check out that our friends made and a long talk about the strange idea of a ‘starter’ RPG in 2020. Also, we desperately…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 106: Ninja Gaiden
It’s a long one this month as we enjoy the brief and difficult journey of Ryu Hayabusa in the NES classic Ninja Gaiden and then spend way more time than we…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 105: Kentucky Route Zero
This month we discuss a game that has been coming out as long as we’ve been doing this podcast as we head down the Zero to discover what awaits us in the great…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 104: Halo: Combat Evolved
We return to the halcyon days of PC gaming to explore the origins of an independent game that shook the foundations of the world. That’s right, we’re dropping…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 103: Final Fantasy VII Remake
It’s the middle of the month and it is time for a very special episode of Abnormal Mapping, something we basically never do: a timely spoilercast for a brand…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 102: Disco Elysium
We wake up in a nightmare of runaway neo-liberal capitalism and find ourselves wondering where the potential of Communist revolution is, and then we have to…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 101: Timespinner
We’re joined this month by our friend Nora to talk about the surprising and surprisingly forgotten Metroidvania Timespinner! Join us as we talk about the…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 100: Outer Wilds
A hundred years, a hundred games! Abnormal Mapping does a full journey around the sun as we reach the centenary celebration of our podcast, the world’s first…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 99: End of the Decade Farewell Tour
On today’s very special Abnormal Mapping, we are here today to celebrate the end of the year, and indeed the end of the decade! We’ve got some lists of our…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 98: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
We return to a franchise we haven’t explored since our earliest days as a podcast as our friend Cassie brings us on a journey through both of our favorite…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 97: Hacknet
This month we stray far from our comfort zone and find a game that spurs one of the best discussions we’ve had all year, even if our feelings on the game in…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 96: Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
What does it mean to try to make a mech game that captures the experience of mech anime but using the power of the PS2 and the incredible resources of Kojima’s…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 95: ActRaiser
We tuck into our endless backlog with this classic of the SNES era as we too create order from chaos with ActRaiser! What does it mean for a game to be…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 94: Sonic Adventure 2
We head all the way back to the last flagship Sonic game released on a dedicated Sega console with the divisive Sonic Adventure 2. Em regales us with the tales…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 93: Deception IV and Pikuniku
Summer is in full swing and we’re feeling the heat as we struggle to muster the energy for games in our broken brains and post-E3 stupor. That said, we’re able…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 92: Einhander
A short but intense episode this week as we strike from the moon to bring you a slightly different vision of ‘what if Gundam but video games that can’t contain…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 91: Devil May Cry 3
We return to the franchise that has haunted us since the very inception of Abnormal Mapping as we gear up with everyone’s loudmouth demon hunter for the first…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 90: Titanfall 2
What does it mean to get into a robot? What does it mean when that robot is cool, when juxtaposed against war being hell? What does any of this mean when you…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 89: Chrono Trigger
From the mists of time we finally move on from Final Fantasy to other classic JRPGs as we play everyone’s favorite time travel adventure Chrono Trigger. What…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 88: Killer7
Joined once again by special guest Aisling (@heartjanedoe), we take a journey into the first strange game Em ever played and one of the cult classics of the…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 87: Super Mario Galaxy 2
If you can believe it, it’s been six years of doing Abnormal Mapping and we’ve not once done an episode on a Mario platformer despite Jackson literally playing…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 86: Final Fantasy XII
After five years and many hundreds of hours our long Final Fantasy adventure is at an end as we pry open the doors on one of the most divisive games in the…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 85: The 2018 Game of the Year Variety Show
We’re finally here at the end of the longest year in the history of long, bad years. We barely played any games this year, so pulling together our favorite…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 84: Nina Freeman Gameography
For our latest patreon request, we bring back our old Gameography format and take a look at fifteen games from game maker Nina Freeman. Her most famous game is…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 83: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Joined by Aisling (@heartjanedoe), we take a journey to the ancient times of the mid 2000s, when the only thing cooler than tank-tops was the movie Blade II…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 82: Assault on Dark Athena
We are joined once again by our friend Crystal (@ArcaneCrystal) to bring you the hardest hitting takes on the games of one Richard B. Riddick, the world's…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 81: Ape Escape 2
Abnormal Mapping returns with a voyage to the land of primates as we enjoy the machinations of dual shocks, world domination, and 3D platforming. Join us as we…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 80: Final Fantasy X-2
We enter our eighth decade of podcasts by checking back in on our friends in Spira two years after Sin was defeated and the day was saved. What has happened to…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 79: The 2018 Hot Times Hot Tunes Playlist
Welcome to our summer soundtrack episode! It's been six months since game of the year, so it's time to check in with all the music of all the games we've…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 78: Tacoma
It is the ides, and we are bringing you a special early Abnormal Mapping! We've got our mid-year soundtrack episode coming out at the end of June, so today…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 77: Murdered Soul Suspect
Another month comes to a close and we're here to bring you another episode of the hit video game podcast: Abnormal Mapping! This time we're looking at…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 76: The Room: Old Sins and The Floor Is Jelly
We might never miss a month but it feels like it's been a thousand years since we've podcasted given how fast the world goes and the strange recording schedule…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 75: Wario Land 3
Abnormal Mapping returns with a dive into the history of Nintendo's favorite greed magnate, a man of refined tastes and great financial need, the second most…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 74: Fire Emblem: Awakening
Abnormal Mapping is back with a special guest and a long-lived game stricken from Em's backlog forever as Six Dettmar joins us to talk about marriage, weapon…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 73: Shadow of the Colossus
Abnormal Mapping returns in 2018 with our first Patron-guested episode as we rise to our most massive challenge yet—the iconic Shadow of the Colossus! Em's…
Abnormal MappingAbnormal Mapping 72: The Game of the Year 2017 Spectacular Spectacular
Hello everyone and welcome to the very last Abnormal Mapping of 2017! The year is over, we're all bundled up in the tepid cold of this global warming reality…