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Use Your Items!
A podcast about video games, design, and what they mean to us. Supported by our blog useyouritems.substack.com
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Episodes
Monday Jul 14, 2025
Monday Jul 14, 2025
Come one and come all to Revachol. There is a book store, a hanging corpse, and, of course, a Fritte! Come for the murder, stay for the tea. Jason and Fran use their extreme detective skills to explore the outer edges of life in Disco Elysium.
CW: Rape, Sexual Assault, Police Violence, Alcoholism.
Spoilers begin at 01:18:00
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art and Research by Francisco Martin
Editing by Jason Weiss
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Jun 16, 2025
Monday Jun 16, 2025
Jason and Fran plumb the depths of the Marrows in Dredge. Come for the fish, stay for the elder gods! Featuring 30% more boat bumping than previous editions!
Spoilers begin at 00:35:00
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art and Research by Francisco Martin
Editing by Jason Weiss
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday May 19, 2025
Monday May 19, 2025
CW: Sexual abuse, abuse, suicide, alcoholism
Fran and Jason explore the Tulpar in Mouthwashing, the indie horror hit from 2024. Welcome aboard.
Spoilers begin at 00:59:00
Credits
‘Mouthwashing’: A repugnant, tragic play that wants to hurt youhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/video-games/2024/12/11/mouthwashing-story-themes-johanna-kasurinen/
Real-Time Datamoshing in Unreal Looks Mesmerizing
Mouthwashing Developer's Diary #1https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2475490/view/4590944913262591479
Mouthwashing Developer's Diary #2https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2475490/view/4587567847119440903
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art and Research by Francisco Martin
Editing by Jason Weiss
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Apr 21, 2025
Monday Apr 21, 2025
Today Fran and Jason talk a walk through Wyoming with Delilah and Henry in Campo Santo's Firewatch from 2016. Don't forget to use your antlers!
Spoilers begin at 1:19:00
Credits
Field Notes: How Devs Recreate Wilderness In Gameshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/making-of-ethan-carter-firewatch#more-243319M
Firewatch: hope and heartbreak in the American wildernesshttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/01/firewatch-american-wilderness-campo-santo
The Art of Firewatch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdxQ3HlhTE8
Firewatch's Wyoming fosters a bigger, weirder adventure than I expectedhttps://www.pcgamer.com/firewatchs-wyoming-fosters-a-bigger-weirder-adventure-than-i-expected/
Why less is more when it comes to Firewatch’s beautiful treeshttps://www.pcgamer.com/why-less-is-more-when-it-comes-to-firewatchs-beautiful-trees/
Field Notes: How Devs Recreate Wilderness In Gameshttps://www.rockpapershotgun.com/making-of-ethan-carter-firewatch#more-243319M
Firewatch: hope and heartbreak in the American wilderness
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/01/firewatch-american-wilderness-campo-santo
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art and Research by Francisco Martin
Editing by Jason Weiss
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Mar 24, 2025
Monday Mar 24, 2025
Use your items celebrates a year of recording by returning to the game that started it for them with Final Fantasy VII...REMAKE! Break down with us as we dig into the history of the remake, the character design, and the Nomura of it all! RPG history at your fingertips.
Spoiler-free: 0:00-1:22
Spoilers: 1:23-end
Credits
Final Fantasy remakes sold separately
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-remakes-sold-separately/1100-2679121/
Square Enix Once Promised Final Fantasy VII, VIII And IX Remakes
https://www.siliconera.com/square-enix-promised-final-fantasy-vii-remake-cancelled/
FFVII Remake: Nomura interview translation [Famitsu 25/06/15]
https://thelifestream.net/lifestream-projects/translations/33038/ffvii-remake-nomura-interview-translation-from-famitsu/
Final Fantasy VII Remake details: reason for multi-part release, CyberConnect2 collaboration, more
https://www.gematsu.com/2015/12/final-fantasy-vii-remake-details-reason-multi-part-release-cyberconnect2-collaboration-more
10 Questions And Answers About The Final Fantasy VII Remake
https://web.archive.org/web/20160420143428/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2016/04/11/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-game-informer.aspx
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art and Research by Francisco Martin
Editing by Jason Weiss
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Jason accuses a Snatcher of stealing Fran's body and impersonating him to access our excessive and gross podcast revenue. This time, we discuss the Kojima cult classic, Snatcher! Played on the Sega CD; we get into the details of cyberpunk, Snatcher's role in that genre, and some meta-narrative discussion of the game at large.
Spoiler-Free: 0-1:04
Spoilers: 1:05-End
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art and Research by Francisco Martin
Editing by Jason Weiss
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Jan 27, 2025
Monday Jan 27, 2025
CW: War, Sexual Abuse
Jason and Fran talk religion, crime, and ethical perogatives when checking out INDIKA, indie masterpiece from 2024. Between bad, good, evil, sin, and virtue what is left to decide for ourselves? What does it mean to experience true nostalgia and absent fondness? What happens when we impose ourselves unto others?
0-46m Spoiler Free
46-End Spoiler
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Jan 06, 2025
Monday Jan 06, 2025
Fran and Jason cannot upload their data to the bunker. There is a problem with the uplink. ERROR-ERROR-ERROR-ERROR-ERROR-ERROR-ERROR
Spoiler Free for about an hour
Works Cited:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/28/17173244/nier-automata-yoko-taro-interview-gdc-2018
Yoko Taro Predicts Metaphor
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Fran and Jason upload their data to the Bunker talking about Nier Automata!
Spoiler Free for about an hour
Works Cited:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/28/17173244/nier-automata-yoko-taro-interview-gdc-2018
Yoko Taro Predicts Metaphor
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilled-drizzler.bsky.social
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
Follow us at: useyouritems.bsky.social
----------------------------
Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke
Monday Dec 02, 2024
Monday Dec 02, 2024
We, uh, played a game called Metal Gear Solid 2. Or maybe it played us, jump in to find out.
CW: 9/11 at 50m
0-1:05 Spoiler Free/History
1:06-End Spoilers and verdicts
Works Cited:
Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan - Kojima (ping us for a copy)
The Final Hours of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Super Bunnyhop MGS2 video
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord, it's free!
https://linktr.ee/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @skilleddrizzler on twitter
Follow Fran at: frantastico | Instagram | Linktree
----------------------------
Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke