Season 5 Episode 8 - Mass Effect 2 (Part 5)

Season 5 Episode 8 - Mass Effect 2 (Part 5)

Author: Franchise Festival October 2, 2025 Duration: 1:21:35
Chris and Hamilton conclude their whirlwind tour through Mass Effect 2 with the Lair of the Shadow Broker mission, Legion's recruitment, and the climax of the Collectors' nefarious plot.

Franchise Festival digs into the stories behind the video game series that shaped a medium. Each season is a deep, chronological exploration of a single franchise, tracing its creative and technical evolution from often-humble 1980s origins through to its latest installments. You’ll hear about the design breakthroughs, the business decisions that changed course, and the cultural moments that turned pixels into lasting legends. This isn’t just a review show; it’s about understanding how these interconnected worlds were built, year by year and sometimes crisis by crisis. The podcast favors depth over breadth, spending multiple episodes to fully unpack the development history of noteworthy series like Castlevania, SimCity, or Mega Man. The narrative focuses on the people and processes behind the games-the how and why, not just the what. It’s for anyone who’s ever wondered about the connective tissue between their favorite sequels or the forgotten prototypes that paved the way. Tune in for a thoughtfully researched and structured audio documentary experience, one franchise at a time.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 85

Franchise Festival
Podcast Episodes
Season 1 Episode 7 - CD-i Zelda Spinoffs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:29
Christian, Hamilton, and Spencer discuss dead franchises which are due for a comeback before launching into an exploration of The Legend of Zelda's unfortunate third-party spinoffs for the Philips CD-i. We unearth one of…
Season 1 Episode 6 - Majora's Mask [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44:45
Christian, Hamilton, and Spencer discuss The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000) and its 2015 3DS remake. The game's inspirations and fraught one-year development process are explored alongside its uniquely melancholy…
Season 1 Episode 5 - Ocarina of Time (Part 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:56:07
Christian, Spencer, and Hamilton take a deep dive into The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's dungeon design. The relative merits of the original Nintendo 64 version and 3DS remake are debated. All your favorite kings ar…
Season 1 Episode 1 - Background and The Legend of Zelda [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:36
Christian, Hamilton, and Spencer discuss the pre-1986 background of the Legend of Zelda series along with its first Famicom Disk System / Nintendo Entertainment System installment. [temporarily removed]