Skies of Academia

It’s only appropriate that the first episode of The Iris Archives covering a movie has a star-studded cast of guests. Luke, Molly, Ashley and Crystal join me on a deep dive into a film that’s as visually stunning as it is emotionally gutting. Content Warning: Suicidal thoughts and attempts are discussed, both in general and in the context of personal experience.

I know what you’re thinking right now. “But Iris, Delicious in Dungeon isn’t a video game!” Correct. I don’t care. This is the first step in what will eventually become a full rebrand of this podcast into The Iris Archives: a podcast where I’ll get together with a friend and chat about some kind of media we just really need to dig into. For this first foray into the ne

Luke and I have finished playing through the massive second installment of the FF7 remake trilogy, and by God do we have some things we need to get off our chests. Join us as we dissect the many and varied ways in which this game not only managed to disappoint us, but also shook our faith in the entire FF7 revival project. Intro: “With Heavy Heart - A Seabreeze Stroll” ~ FF VI

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve put one of these episodes out. Not as long as it’s been since the previous Alan Wake game, though! Over the 11 years since American Nightmare, Alan Wake has added a female protagonist and gotten a whole lot prettier (damn, same). Ashley, Molly and Luke join me to talk about the Alan Wake 2 and why we loved it.

This time on the podcast, Luke and Melissa join me to analyze (and gush about) a game hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as it deserves: 13 Sentinels. The newest game from Vanillaware, it ended up being a sleeper hit with all three of us. If you’d like to learn how this game caused us to set our fears of enduring another Dragon’s Crown aside and give it a chance, give thi

On this follow-up episode to Final Fantasy 7, I’m joined by Luke and Zoe to talk about Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the game that a lot of JRPG fans have been waiting decades for. Though…it’s not quite the game that we were waiting for, either. For better or worse, FF7R plays around with both the gameplay and the fiction in an attempt to simultaneously meet and subvert expectation

Hey, did anyone know that a highly-anticipated Square-Enix game released recently? Yeah, we’re not talking about that one today. Instead, Luke joins me to talk about his experience playing Final Fantasy 7 for the first time. Does the game still hold up? And what the hell is going on with Sephiroth anyway?

This episode is the conclusion to Luke, Ashley and my summary and examination of the entirety of Kentucky Route Zero. If you’ve made it this far, you know what you’re in for.

It’s taken just over 7 years, but Kentucky Route Zero is finally complete. As a game that blends point-and-click adventures, community theater, magical realism, modern folk tales, a little bit of Southern Gothic, and a whole lot of horses, it was destined to be a game that I was destined to love. For this episode, I got Luke and Ashley to join me in a far more in-depth exploratio

Hi, Luke here. Pathologic 2 is a serious contender for my favorite game of all time. Unfortunately, convincing other people to give it a try is... difficult. It's janky, it's obtuse, it's difficult, and it has an overarching tone of misery to it that is, understandably, offputting. Even so I think it's an *excellent* game, and luckily, so does my friend Melissa! so we're hijacking