LSG 005: Heidi-kat and I talk about filling her front yard with tombstones in The Sims 2, simping over anime boys in Otome games, and how video games can fulfill your fantasy of being kind of an asshole

Welcome to Episode 5 of Load Save Game, a podcast where I talk to people about their personal journey with video games. I am your host Jose Eusebio. My wonderful guest today is my great friend Heidi-Kat Schultz. Heidi and I met in highschool and reconnected through an old D&D friend group years later and we’ve been friends ever since. We talk about a ton of great games in this episode. Heidi tells us how fun it was to play God and roleplay her favorite fandoms in The Sims. We talk about Heidi’s cherished memories of getting an N64 and beating The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We talk about the tremendous storytelling and characters from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect series. Heidi also gives me a quick education on Otome dating sim games and how her love for them motivated her to start a fansite called otomeriot.com. Link to that and her socials in the show notes.

Spoiler Warning: We do talk spoilers for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect series. If you do not want to hear spoilers for those games, once you hear us start talking about KOTOR you can skip about 15 minutes ahead to skip the spoilers.

Otome Riot website: https://otomeriot.com/
Ototome Riot on Twitter: https://twitter.com/otomethot
Otome Riot on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otome_riot/
Heidi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/UranianGirl
Nathan’s Podcast Appearances:  https://tinyurl.com/NathanSchulzPodcasts https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04cj7f3NRKGzEZTde6404X?si=2b113c9c7c4e4566

Make sure to subscribe and review Load Save Game on your podcast listener of choice. Follow us on socials we’re @loadsavegame on most platforms. If you have any thoughts or questions about the show feel free to email us at [e-mail]! I hope you enjoy the episode!

Thank you to Shaun Panado for the use of our theme song "One Shot One Kill Kestrel" off of the album Kind of a Big Deal Vol. 2. You can find his music and projects at his Linktree: https://linktr.ee/shonix

Show Art by: Jordan Maeve https://www.instagram.com/thejollity/

Corrections: The KOTOR remake has not been officially canceled, gamerant has an article with latest details. While talking about Stardew Valley I technically neglect the Community Center upgrades in Stardew which are kind of a big book of goals, but those upgrades are all optional technically, and not required to progress the game! Our Life: Beginnings & Always could arguably be described more as a visual novel than an Otome game, but a lot of the storytelling is undoubtedly similar to an Otome game experience. 

Games Discussed: Bejeweled, Ikemen Prince: Beauty and Her Beast, Tears of Themis, TAISHO X ALICE, Super Mario World, Clay Fighter, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Pokemon, Banjo-Kazooie, Paper Mario, The Sims, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect 1/2/3, Stardew Valley, World of Warcraft, Dragon Age: Origins, Hatoful Boyfriend, The Arcana: A Mystic Romance, Red Embrace - Hollywood, Nightshade, Ikemen Sengoku, Piofiore: Fated Memories, Our Life: Beginnings & Always, Wildermyth