Into the Aether - A Low Key Video Game Podcast

My taste lines up with theirs quite often so I’m always interested to hear what they have to say, and they always bring an interesting selection of games, but I often times find this show exhausting when they sample the first couple hours of a ton of games and cycle through things at light speed. I feel like the format of the show leads them to never really savor anything and see how it sits over a longer period of time… but that may a problem inherent to gaming podcasts as a medium. All that being said, I do still support their Patreon, because I really like the quality of discussion they have when they DO sit with things for longer periods.

Brendon and Stephen have an awesome dynamic and their passion for video games as a medium is deeply infectious. As someone who doesn’t even play many games these days, it’s great to live vicariously through what they bring to the show each week!

Besides giving funny and informative reviews these guys also are positive and not “haters” on the games they’re talking about. It refreshing to have good vibes coming through every week. And the end of episode 25 from season 8 has a message that everyone needs to listen to and reflect on.

Long time fan, but it feels like ITA has taken a nosedive in quality over the past year. I have respect for both Stephen and Brendon as they took a risk and started working on this podcast full time earlier this year, with other side projects like Stephen’s YouTube channel Memory Card Manuscript and Brendon’s many projects I refer to as the BBPU (Brendon Bigley Podcast Universe), but ever since taking the show “full time” it feels like they’re pivoting from a truly Low Key Video Game Podcast into the standard faire you’d expect from a larger network like Minn Max, but without the luxury of swapping in and out hosts to keep opinions and banter fresh. What exactly does Low Key mean anyway? Both hosts have gone on the record saying that they’re not like other podcasts because they’ll talk about a title that’s not part of the current Video Game Zeitgeist, and that usually means they’ll discuss a retro game or something newer that kept their attention the full way through (more on this later), but since they scaled back their bonus episode deep dives from monthly to “quarterly” (weird move after taking the show full time), it feels like their discussion is less about having meaningful conversations about games that had an impact on them and more about following industry trends and generating hype within their own community for games that aren’t the flavor of the week. The realization that both hosts rarely complete the games they bring up on the show is what’s starting to turn me away from Into the Aether. Both hosts have gone on record saying they’re not a first impressions podcast, but that’s what they’ve become and seem to be leaning into. It’s fascinating that they can often be so passionate about games they spent a couple hours playing and baffling that they rank them on their top ten lists without seeing them to the end. Some cracks have been appearing in the structure of their discussions too. Often times they’ll start with a preamble about what led up to [insert game here] for, no joke, up to 30 minutes, then talk about the main topic for 5-10 minutes. This leads to their episode lengths often exceeding an hour or two, and I often find myself wishing they’d just get to the point. Brendon and Stephen often have a lot to say about very little and it doesn’t feel as genuine knowing that they don’t complete most of the games they play. I used to enjoy this podcast dearly, but it turns out that maybe ITA is just really good background noise. Thankfully they have years worth of content to listen to, so there’s no reason to give them a super low rating, but the dip in quality after taking the show full time is disheartening for sure.

I’ve listened to over 50 episodes, so I obviously enjoy something about this show. But it needs to be acknowledged this is largely a midlife crisis podcast dominated by a man who is often incredibly childish. Not in the endearing way. Stephen leans on his experiences from middle school and high school in every single episode. His humor is steeped in references most men (yes, whether they want to admit it or not, this is a “boys” podcast) in their 30s will find faintly familiar but won’t quite remember because they’ve moved on decades ago. Brendan isn’t much better. Unfortunately this also means their thematic analysis is often hyperbolic at best or superficial at worst. You’d think sometimes they were discussing Brothers Karamazov and then you visit the game in question and find, well, yep, it’s just a video game. There’s some unresolved trauma going on here, so I have no ill will toward either of them. I just wish they would grow up a bit, as it’d only enrich their analysis. This is one of the few video game podcasts that at least attempts to explore the medium’s thematic territory. At least AJ is genuinely funny.

Hosts are decent at articulating their thoughts about games and fun banter. However, when they dip into real world issues, sometimes irrelevant to the topic, it’s off the rails. It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to individuals so removed from reality