Purely Academic #21 - Hades II, Ghost of Yōtei, Xbox Pricing Madness, and more!

We’re back for the month of October with an exciting episode covering both the highs and lows of the video game industry in 2025. In terms of ‘low,’ we’ve got more Xbox Pricing Madness, as Microsoft once again hiked prices on Xbox hardware, before unveiling a full 50% raise to the price of Xbox Game Pass, a move that feels like the definitive end of the brand’s subscription model experiment. In terms of ‘highs,’ though, games are still great, and there’s way too many out there for us to play them all! Jonathan gives first impressions of Hades II from Supergiant, while Sean talks Ghost of Yōtei, Sucker Punch’s historical samurai sequel for the PS5. We also talk the latest Genshin Impact update, Super Robot Wars Y, and engage in a very fun, very silly Monthly Ten as we consider the lessons teenagers actually need to be taught before they get out of high school. Enjoy! Time ChartIntro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:18Xbox Pricing Madness & Other News: 0:03:18 – 1:21:14Ghost of Yotei: 1:21:14 – 1:37:50Hades II: 1:37:50 – 1:57:00Genshin Impact 6.0: 1:57:00 – 2:09:54 Super Robot Wars Y: 2:09:54 – 2:31:59The Monthly Ten: 2:31:59 – 3:10:00 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/ Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman