Fire Escape Cast #94 (Game of the Year)

Summary

Fire Escape Cast #94 (Game of the Year) Summary

Release Date: November 18, 2024

In Episode #94 of Fire Escape Cast, hosts Dan Ryckert, Mary Kish, and Mike Mahardy convene to honor the standout video games of the year across various customized categories. The episode is punctuated by their characteristic banter, strategic discussions, and occasional interruptions from co-host Jake, ultimately culminating in the announcement of each category's winner.

---

1. Most Dewey Game of the Year

Nominees:

• Echo Point Nova
• Astrobot
• Children of the Sun
• House Flipper
• Mini Shoot Adventures
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble
• UFO 50
• Pepper Grinder
• Wild Bastards

Discussion: The hosts deliberated on games that emphasized action and gameplay mechanics over narrative depth. Dan highlighted the superficial story elements in some nominees, favoring titles that allow players to "just do shit" without extensive dialogue.

Winner: Animal Well

Notable Quote:

• Jake: "Fire Escape's most dewy game of the year is Animal Well, congrats." ([23:10])

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2. Most Talky Game of the Year

Nominees:

• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Metaphor: Refantazio
• Pucky Squire
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Persona 3 Reloaded
• Halibut

Discussion: The conversation focused on games with an abundance of dialogue that might detract from the gaming experience. The hosts debated the balance between storytelling and gameplay, questioning whether excessive talking enhances or hinders player engagement.

Winner: Persona 3 Reloaded

Notable Quote:

• Mary: "I just wanna reiterate that I think all three of these would be excellent winners for different reasons." ([25:21])

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3. Coziest Game of the Year

Nominees:

• House Flipper
• Fields of Mystria
• Ette Tavern Manager Simulator
• Neva
• Astrobot
• Plucky Squire
• Little Kitty Big City

Discussion: The hosts examined games that offer a comforting and relaxing experience, perfect for unwinding. They assessed titles based on their ability to provide a serene environment and stress-free gameplay.

Winner: Little Kitty Big City

Notable Quote:

• Mary: "There's nothing wrong with it. It's pure. It's like paint." ([49:21])

---

4. Best Mechanic

Nominees:

• Memories in Prince of Persia
• Hoverboard in Echo Point Nova
• Frisbee in Animal Well
• Possessing People in Slitterhead
• Strike in Balatro

Discussion: This category spotlighted innovative and engaging gameplay mechanics. The hosts debated which mechanics best enhance player interaction and enjoyment.

Winner: Frisbee in Animal Well

Notable Quote:

• Mary: "It deserves to stay. It is a brilliant mechanic." ([53:48])

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5. Best Remake/Remaster

Nominees:

• Silent Hill 2 Remake
• Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
• Red Dead Redemption PC
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Remaster
• The Last of Us Part 2 Remaster
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Discussion: The conversation centered on remakes and remasters that successfully rejuvenated classic titles. The hosts evaluated how well these updates preserved the spirit of the original while introducing modern enhancements.

Winner: Silent Hill 2 Remake

Notable Quote:

• Jake: "Silent Hill 2 remake a little too long. They cut like three hours from that game." ([327:46])

---

6. Most Fun to Play with Friends

Nominees:

• Lethal Company
• Helldivers 2
• Echo Point Nova
• Core Keeper
• Content Warning
• Outlast Trials
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Jackbox Survey Scramble
• Children of the Sun
• Mario Party Jamboree
• Astrobot Speedruns

Discussion: Focusing on multiplayer experiences, the hosts discussed games that shine when played in groups, emphasizing teamwork, competition, and shared enjoyment.

Winner: Helldivers 2

Notable Quote:

• Mary: "Helldivers should win." ([347:16])

---

7. Most Fucked Fucker

Nominees:

• The Cat Ghost in Animal Well
• Mimic Bile
• Titans in Helldivers 2
• Paul Phoenix in Tekken 8
• Nightwing in Palworld

Discussion: This uniquely titled category highlighted antagonistic or particularly challenging characters in games. The hosts debated which characters epitomized the term humorously or as true adversaries.

Winner: Metaphor: Refantazio

Notable Quote:

• Jake: "Fire Escape's worst title of the year is Metaphor: Refantazio." ([341:20])

---

8. Best Game to Look At

Nominees:

• Harold Halibut
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Astrobot
• Shadow of Erdtree
• Neva

Discussion: Aesthetics and visual design took center stage as the hosts evaluated games based on their artistic merit, graphical fidelity, and overall visual appeal.

Winner: Neva

Notable Quote:

• Mary: "It really is a marvel to look at. I think it's perfect." ([282:25])

---

9. Most Funny Game

Nominees:

• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
• Alan Wake 2: Night Springs and Lake House DLCs
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Rise of the Ronin
• Suicide Squad
• Kill the Justice League

Discussion: Exploring humor in gaming, the hosts discussed titles that successfully incorporated comedic elements, enhancing the entertainment value.

Winner: Thank Goodness You're Here

Notable Quote:

• Mary: "I really like showing it off to people... It's the funniest game I've ever played." ([292:25])

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10. Most Fucked Fucker

(Note: This appears to be a duplication in categories. Assuming it's meant to be a different category or repetition.)

---

11. Best Game We Played That Didn't Come Out This Year

Nominees:

• Hollow Knight
• Case of the Golden Idol
• Diablo 4
• Warhammer
• The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
• The Out Foxes

Discussion: Highlighting outstanding games from previous years, the hosts recognized titles that left a lasting impression despite not being recent releases.

Winner: Hollow Knight

Notable Quote:

• Jake: "Fire Escape's best game we played that didn't come out this year is Hollow Knight." ([347:53])

---

12. Most Fucked Fucker

(Note: Another repetition. It seems the transcript loops or has overlapping categories.)

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Final Thoughts

Throughout the episode, the hosts passionately defended their nominations, engaging in lively debates and playful conflicts. The culmination of their discussions celebrated both innovative mechanics and visually stunning titles, while also honoring games that excelled in humor and multiplayer experiences.

Notable Episode Highlights:

• Dan's Advocacy: Dan passionately defended Metaphor: Refantazio and Animal Well, emphasizing their unique contributions to gaming mechanics and storytelling.
• Mary's Champions: Mary championed Little Kitty Big City for its cozy gameplay and Crow Country for revitalizing the survival horror genre.
• Mike's Favorites: Mike lauded Helldivers 2 for its intense multiplayer dynamics and Diablo 4 for its engaging mechanics, despite some pacing issues.

The episode not only celebrated the best games of the year but also showcased the camaraderie and spirited discussions that Fire Escape Cast is renowned for.

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Support Fire Escape Cast at fireescapecast.com

Transcript

[Mary]

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[Dan]

Folks.

[Jake]

What?

[Mike]

Nothing.

[Dan]

What?

[Mike]

Nothing's good.

[Dan]

Go. I had a whole thing planned. He just threw me off.

[Mike]

He threw me off.

[Dan]

We haven't even started this yet. In the last three minutes, Mike's complained about the champagne he bought and then farted during a mic.

[Mike]

I did not.

[Jake]

It sounded like it came from you.

[Mike]

Look, he.

[Mary]

His pants.

[Mike]

Jake.

[Jake]

Hello.

[Dan]

Hi. It was him, correct?

[Mike]

Yeah, it was him.

[Dan]

Okay. Yeah. So that's everyone. That's not Mike. Marty thinks it was either part of. Hello, That's Mike Maharti. As we just said. My name is Dan Record. He here. I've got Mary Kish.

[Mary]

Maybe you don't like the champagne because you farted into the glass and it's affected the wine.

[Jake]

Yeah, the glass would have shattered if you farted.

[Dan]

That's true.

[Mike]

I don't think that's right.

[Dan]

You just screwed up my WrestleMania 40 chair when you can do that.

[Mary]

Like.

[Dan]

Yeah, you just fart on Becky Lynch's face.

[Mike]

I've imagined it many times.

[Dan]

It's very specific. Folks, we have what?

[Mike]

Nothing.

[Dan]

Go. We have a. We are the Fire escape cast. If you're watching us on Twitch live here in mid November, which we hear you babies saying, hey, oh, why would you do Game of the Year in mid November? Listen, this is fucking our side gig. We all have demanding full time jobs and this is the only weekend we could all come on. So you're getting it in mid November. Indiana Jones will get his due next year.

[Mike]

Indiana Jones and Dragon Age the valguard, which none of us have had the chance to play yet.

[Dan]

And I will not play. So everything.

[Mike]

Well, I'll play it.

[Dan]

I'll play Indy and we'll talk about.

[Mike]

It next year maybe.

[Mary]

Yes, we had this issue last year too, actually, where there were games still coming out or games that had just come out that we didn't have a chance to play. I think Lethal Co. Was one of those. It was just like how, like we just don't have time and so like we could just shift it. I also think like we got the big ones. Don't you worry, like if people are all like India Jones, could have been Cody. It's like you don't even know what's going to be in our top 10.

[Dan]

And also it's a game in the year list. None of them actually matter in the grand scheme of things. So we'll be good. But we will pick the objective best games of the year in numerous different categories. We have 24 categories here tonight, probably more than ever, I believe. So this will be a nice short night for everyone. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. We hope you didn't prepare for an six to eight hours slot.

[Dan]

I saw my. Hello Kayla. I see you in the chat. She sent me a photo for just her herself tonight. I saw her with a case of Coors light, a Totino's party pizza and a whole like thing of like six movie theater popcorn, butter. So Kayla's doing it right?

[Mike]

That sounds fun.

[Mary]

Get your popcorn, get your snackies, get your drinks. We're starting with a champagne. Who knows where we're gonna go?

[Mike]

Yes, we already had some drinks.

[Dan]

Oh yeah. We had a pregamed tap for some burgers. We, we got some Popeyes right before this. You made some reef peepers.

[Mike]

Yeah, that name's courtesy of my wife. I didn't come up with a name but I came up with a cocktail. It's good.

[Dan]

Oh, nice. It's very good, Amanda. That's great. All right, so Fire Escape Cast again. If you're watching us on Twitch for the first time, check us out on your podcast platform of choice. Every other week we do a long two to three hour podcast that's sometimes about video games. And then we also have a patreon. So patreon.com fire escape or is it Fire escape Cast?

[Mike]

Fire Escape Cast.

[Dan]

Fire Escape Cast. If you search for fire escape on Patreon, you'll probably find us.

[Mary]

Yeah, the only fire escapecast.com we're not fire Escape Cast is Blue Sky. We're Fire Escape.

[Dan]

Oh, we got the actual thing and.

[Mike]

We'Re on Blue sky now.

[Mary]

We just got it. So I. Yeah, sorry. That's the only one that's different.

[Dan]

Yeah. So find us there, Patreon. We have video tiers, things like that. We have some fun stuff planned coming up in the near future. We just did an Echo Point Nova co op run with us three. There's a lot of stuff there that you'll unlock right away if you join the video tier. So check it out if you have not with that housekeeping out of the way.

[Mike]

One last thing. It's also no longer first of the month payments on Patreon. So if you were to sign up for our Patreon right now, you would not be charged until December 6th. What is today, the 16th? Yeah, you'll be charged on the 16th. We don't have to. You don't have to do December 1st, January 1st, anymore.

[Mary]

Also, you'd have access to our brand new bonus video that we just had for Echo Point Nova, which is pretty fun.

[Dan]

So we'll talk about that here tonight. Echo Point, maybe. It's literally the first dot on the first category we're talking about. So we will get to that very soon.

[Mike]

But.

[Dan]

But before we do, something very important, folks, if you listen to the podcast, every fortnight, it is us three, Dan, Mike, and Mary. But if you've been watching us for a while, you know that once a year we dust off a very special guest. We bring him into the studio. You might see him on the camera right now. It is cool. Judge Jake.

[Jake]

Mike, Dan, Mary.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

I expect a dirty fight.

[Mary]

Whoa.

[Mike]

Paint below the belt.

[Jake]

Okay. Make sure to yell at each other.

[Mike]

Cuss, scream.

[Jake]

But remember, I'm here.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mary]

Thank you.

[Jake]

And I've got.

[Mike]

I got a gavel. Oh, I've got the gavel.

[Dan]

He's brought the gear. Okay, I'm gonna break the glass.

[Mike]

I want to do that to this.

[Mary]

Insane Paul versus Tyson because I'm disappointed.

[Dan]

It's gonna be hopefully more exciting than that. We watched that at a bar last night, and yeah, it was not the most exciting fight, but we won't be that depressing. No, no. We're not 58 yet. So I'll let you know how that goes when I get there.

[Mary]

Got several years. Judge Jake.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Mary]

Is Mike guilty of farting?

[Dan]

Official ruling. Official ruling.

[Jake]

Mike is guilty.

[Mike]

Fine. I'll take credit for it. It was a good, nice fart.

[Mary]

No one's arguing.

[Dan]

All right. Well, do we get into it here? I believe we've got the list that we can show you on the screen as we're debating stuff here. Oh, we got a little guest there. Do you want to bring him up? Audio listener. A little Gizmo dog has just appeared. We will be going into our first category. Oh, hey, buddy, you got any thoughts on Dewey Games? This is a favorite category we have done for. I think it was one of the first kind of regular things on the fire escape cast was Talking Games versus Dewey Games, which now we've also added thinky games, but that'll be soon. So the first category of the year will be Most Dewey Game of the Year. This is the game that is the most. You're just doing shit right away.

[Mike]

If you're new to Firescape Cast. Yeah, we like, tend to like games that are less talky, more dewy. But speak for yourself.

[Dan]

I know your taste. We're going to hear about that in a little bit.

[Mike]

I don't like games that talk a lot, but if they talk. Well, we'll get into it.

[Dan]

We will.

[Mary]

We will get into it.

[Dan]

I forgot how we named the nominees. Do I just name them or do we go.

[Mary]

We did one each.

[Dan]

Okay. All right. So you want to start?

[Mary]

Sure. No, why don't you start?

[Dan]

Oh, okay. Echo Point Nova.

[Mary]

Astrobot.

[Mike]

Children of the Sun.

[Dan]

Animal.

[Mary]

Well, did you say animal? Well, Animal. Well, say it right. Well, House Flipper.

[Mike]

Mini Shoe Adventures.

[Dan]

Super Monkey ball. Banana rumble.

[Mary]

UFO 50. Pepper grinder.

[Dan]

Wild Bastards.

[Mary]

Okay. All these are quite dewy. That's why they're on here.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Mary]

You will notice that we don't have like five because we don't play like that. Because homie don't play like that. We can have as many as we want or as few as we want.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

And these were all ones we felt were justifiably Dewey ish.

[Dan]

It's not every Dewey game of the year, but these are the dewiest games that we thought of.

[Mary]

This is also an important distinction because we discussed this. I don't think this is the best Dewey game. This is the most Dewey game.

[Dan]

Absolutely. Most dewy. Most things.

[Mary]

The game that is the most dewy of this list. Not necessarily like. But this game was better. I don't care. Is it dewiest?

[Dan]

Yes. So, okay, first one on here is Echo Point Nova. I think that's a good contender to keep for a while. We just did that Patreon video with it. It is like there is a tutorial and there is technically, like, story. You complain too much about the text boxes. You can fly past right fucking past that. I couldn't tell you a single character, a single line of dialogue that has happened in that game. I think you are instantly hoverboarding, double jumping. Before long, you are quadruple jumping. And every jump does an explosion in midair. Guns constantly leveling up. Constantly. So I'm just saying right now, I think that's a strong contender to stay on here for sure.

[Mary]

He said he Was memories of a lifetime.

[Dan]

I didn't read that. I was busy. Have a morning around Sky Islands and grapple. You can grapple clouds. What?

[Mike]

The look she's giving me. I'm not. Not trying to take sides, but I didn't read them either.

[Mary]

Then shut the fuck up.

[Dan]

You do not need to read these at all.

[Mary]

But they're surrounded by them, like, everywhere. I literally walk through them.

[Dan]

Yeah, you walk through them. You satisfy them.

[Mike]

When you're done, kill 80 men. Instead of what? Reading?

[Dan]

Well, we got other ones to get to, so. But we're keeping that on for now.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Dan]

Okay. And we're going to get down to. We'll have whittle each list down to three. We will bold if you're watching the video, the winner. And then we'll have two runners up on each category. Okay, let's do some cuts here. We got a lot on this list.

[Mike]

I think once you get into it, Wild Bastards are pretty dewy. But there is a lot of stuff going on in that cockpit early on.

[Mary]

There's a lot of dialogue because they want you to get adjusted, know the characters. I think that's admirable. It ain't dewy, though.

[Dan]

Yeah. There's a lot of systems that, like.

[Mike]

Everyone needs to explain stuff.

[Dan]

It has to. And everyone I've talked to gets to that point where, like, they're confused for the first hour, and then it clicks and it's like, okay. And then it's very, very doy.

[Mike]

You're just popping and then new, especially.

[Dan]

Yeah, but it. I think we're all on the same page with, like, it's got a lot of stuff, so I think we cut it. There are other ones that get right into it. More.

[Mary]

Great.

[Dan]

All right.

[Jake]

That was easy.

[Dan]

All right. Wild Bastard's gone easy.

[Mary]

We're just cutting things. And this took several minutes. I'd like to discuss a couple. House Flipper is definitely Dewey, but there's a shit ton of tutorials. This is not like a just do it. This is like a how do you do it? How do you learn about it? What's the best way to do it?

[Dan]

It's true.

[Mary]

It's got a lot of dialogue. Just to make sure you understand. I do think it's Dewey, but I don't think it's the most Dewey on this list. I don't think there's any way that this is winning.

[Dan]

No, I don't think so either. And I think you're right. I think the ideal most Dewey game is one where, like, within seconds of Starting the game, you were having fun and jumping like. Like a Tony Hawk. You know, when you first started up, it's like, oh, shit, I'm having fun immediately.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Or Mario 64. So, yeah, I'm okay with anything with a big tutorial. I think House Flipper can go.

[Mary]

I think that's good. I have another one. But I also just want to mention, because Bonk and chat rightfully said, this is our fifth Game of the Year episode. Oh, yeah.

[Jake]

We were supposed to say that.

[Dan]

And our host.

[Mary]

Our host did not mention that. And so I think it's really worthwhile letting you know that this is five years of a fire escape. How awesome is that? Congratulations.

[Dan]

We were talking. We're talking to dinner beforehand here about how, like, all of us have massively different life changes. I've lost hair. We've all moved a million times. I bought two houses. You bought one since we started?

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I went from the first two remote. We were. I was in Connecticut and I got married. You got married? Jake had a kid. Yeah. So, like, that he.

[Mike]

The one he talks about.

[Dan]

Yes, yes. Yeah.

[Mary]

Legitimate.

[Dan]

Yeah. Congrats. By the way, this is the third in person one. Second one here. Correct. We've done it across states, across zoom. Through a pandemic. So, yeah. Five years of this.

[Mary]

Yeah. I mean, we've been through a lot together and this kind of goes back to the like, oh, you're doing it earlier this year. But it's like. But we did it. We were very busy this year. We've had a lot of life stuff going on. We've had a lot of people changing and moving around and there's been crazy schedules to organize. We like doing this and we're going to keep doing it as long as you want to keep listening. So thank you. And with that, I think we should cut UFO 50 from most Dewey game of the year.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

He was just buttering you up with all the sentiment.

[Dan]

Okay. Before you even go into your reasoning, I just want to point out you're suggesting, cutting this early on, the game that has 50 mostly very Dewey games, that you can hop into any of them at any time from the opening. You don't have to unlock any of them.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

You just hop right in and play games. So what is the reasoning for this not being super dewy?

[Mary]

Because it really is a luck of the draw. I have played several games in UFO 50 where there has been an obscene amount of backstory explaining what it is to like you're doing in that. That situation. There's space, lasers, there's like underwater divers who are like, thinking about their stepmom. There's like all this shit going on, but I don't care.

[Dan]

Doubt that that happens.

[Mary]

I played all 50 of them too. I played every goddamn game on that list. And some of them are absolutely talky and a lot of them have dialogue options. And for that list alone, if we're talking about the most Dewey. It's not the most Dewey because it has a lot of talkie. There's a full length JRPG in it.

[Dan]

That's true. And there are. There are ones that I bounced off of immediately. And I think it was. We'll talk more about UFO 50 later. But like, in the way that, like, I would rent games as a kid on the NES during the era UFO 50 is doing, it's like, oh, Maniac Mansion, what's that? And it would have me like reading stuff right away and I'd be like picking stuff with a curse like, what the fuck is this? I hate this. But it also has a ton of immediately dewy platforming.

[Mary]

There's some really good Deweys on there.

[Dan]

But I guess there is. There is a mix. And because of that, you know, I'm. Yeah, I was ready to fight this tooth and nail, but I see what you're saying. So I'm a diplomat above all.

[Jake]

No, don't keep this civil.

[Dan]

Don't keep this civil. You have so much discussion.

[Mike]

It's probably worth saying UFO 50 is going to be weird to talk about because it's 50 different, like retro games.

[Dan]

It's a very unique one. So I'm looking forward to seeing how that lands.

[Mary]

I think. I think there are places where it shines. And I. I did really like some of the games that I'm happy to like, talk with you about at some point. But like, I think when it comes to Dewey, you have to acknowledge that there's other Dewier games.

[Dan]

Fair. Fair. And we'll. We'll give way More credit to UFO 50 later in other categories. But I do see why we cut that now. So that is cut. So now we are down to seven.

[Mary]

Wow. We've really gained some ground.

[Dan]

I love Monkey Ball. I. I've loved the Super Monkey Ball series ever since I saw the ones.

[Mary]

Yeah, we really fought for that. Beyond here. Go ahead, Dan.

[Dan]

Super Monkey.

[Mike]

I don't give a.

[Dan]

Maybe the three best fucking words to put in a video game title. It is.

[Mary]

Can you cross it out while he talks?

[Dan]

It's the best SMB in gaming. I'm sure nothing else could be There. Look, it's Dewey as hell. It's a Monkey Ball game. There are like. There's a weird amount of lore to Monkey Ball and there are cutscenes and stuff like that. I deeply love it. It's one of the few video game stories I've seen. We cut it.

[Jake]

You're good.

[Dan]

We cut it.

[Mary]

All right. It's very good to end another thing.

[Mike]

Did Children of the Sun. How's that intro? I don't remember.

[Dan]

In between. It's not between every mission, but there are. Before I played it, you sold me on this game.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You were like, yeah, you cannot pay attention to the story stuff in between.

[Mary]

You don't have to watch any story stuff.

[Dan]

And none of it really matters. It's all just. We'll talk about it later. But it's like a very fun sniping game. It's like a puzzle game, sniper game. Very cool stuff. But because of the cutscene stuff, as skippable as it is, it's there.

[Mary]

Yeah. I mean, I think there's stuff with no cutscenes that are just straight up, like action, action, action. So I can see why that's debatable. I will say that the gameplay in it is just straight up. Figure it out. No tutorials, no. Like, how would you approach this situation? It's just like, I don't know, just lose a bunch until you solve. Solve how you would kill all these men? Yeah.

[Dan]

It never asked me if fantasy could impact reality, so that's a plus. But I would say, are we good to cut that?

[Mary]

Yeah, I can see how we could do that.

[Dan]

Okay, so we need to cut 1, 2, 3.

[Jake]

We got five left. So when you cut two.

[Mike]

Right, let me. This is kind of going against process because we're cutting stuff off. I have to say, you did say multiple times throughout, like episode 88 or whatever it was. Mini Shoot adventures. You're like, this is one of the most dewy ass games I ever played.

[Dan]

No, I was going to get to it.

[Mike]

I know I was. I was just expediting. Because we're just pointing out, okay, let's.

[Dan]

Do this real quick just for the sake of people watching. And us too, when we cross something out, can we move it to the bottom just so we can see what's still eligible up there? Okay.

[Mike]

If you're going to talk about one, I think Astrobots will it. You're doing a lot in that game. I will say, though, compared to others on here, it does have a bit of an intro. It's not a long intro, really. Yeah, compared to others on here, for sure.

[Dan]

Alien shows up and does some shit and then you're jumping on stuff.

[Mike]

Right. I'm not saying it's long. I'm saying compared to others on here, though, that, like the intro about the. The ship crash and what's going on. The setup is it's. Again, not that you have to get into the doing right away, but I. I don't know.

[Mary]

It's one of the dewier ones on here, but I think we've knocked out a lot of the other ones. If you want to knock out other ones first. I think we could still probably knock out Pepper Grinder that has some tutorial and some like. I think it's actually extremely dewy, especially for this list and a wonderful game, if anyone's just looking for, like, a nice indie game to, like, get right into and sink their teeth into. But, I mean, I think there's a couple here that are just very strong contenders, and I think they are. We're going to get to them.

[Dan]

Let's do the cup one now. So for those listening on audio, we have Echo Point Nova, Astrobot Animal Whale, and Minishoot Adventures for most. Dewey, Game of the Year, boy. I mean, you brought up the Astrobot intro thing.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

But then now, the more I think of it, a lot of the brilliance of that game is how nonverbal or, like, how it conveys everything you don't have to learn.

[Mary]

Like, you immediately know this at all.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

There's no text in it.

[Mike]

That should be top three at least.

[Mary]

There's nothing.

[Dan]

How about this? I'll offer this. I love Echo Point Nova, but there are systems, there are perks, there are skill points, there is text boxes, things like that. Got it. All right.

[Mike]

I disagree with that wholeheartedly.

[Dan]

The Echo Point. What were you kept before that?

[Mary]

Yeah. What would you cut before that? Because these are all animals. I just want to express. There's no. I. I think Animal well is going to win. There's. There's no text in Animal well. And for at any point, anything you're doing, it is essentially like when you get an item that doesn't explain anything. Everything you must do to solve.

[Dan]

But there is. It means there's more thinking you can think and do.

[Mary]

It's not a. I know, but I.

[Dan]

Think the purest Dewey is the least thinky.

[Mike]

Then that would be Echo Point Nova, in my opinion. I like my.

[Dan]

I'm in camp Mini Shoot.

[Mike]

I did not. Let me clarify. I did not play Mini Shoot adventure, so that's why I'm kind of just.

[Mary]

I think Mini Shoot is up there and I think it's between, in my opinion, Animal well and Mini Shoot because Echo Point Nova has text boxes and also it has like all this stuff where it's like you've unlocked like this new thing and it's like, okay, just give me the goddamn thing. But it'll be like, you've unlocked this new power and it's like, shut the fuck up, bitch. Like that is all talkie. Dewey is just giving you an item and letting you play with it. Animal well and Minishoot do that the best. And Astro Bot is very clearly very dewy. So like that's a hard one.

[Dan]

I'm game for cutting Echo and like, I love Echo Point, but everything you're saying makes sense and these three are very strong that we have left here. So it's between Astrobot Animal well and many Shoot Adventures. So when I talk about starting a game up and immediately have fun and know what you're doing the controls with. Mini Shoot Adventures, for those who didn't hear me talk about it on previous podcasts, it's a dual stick shooter. Left stick move, right stick shoot. But it's a Zelda, like, so you are just getting upgrades. You're immediately plopped down. You're like a little asteroid ship and you're just running around in overworld, top down style, using the thing to shoot. And it's like if there's text, it's not much. There is actually some text. There is a little bit of text. There's like a statue you put together and stuff like that. But like it is the most immediate Dewey. You are in the mix right away. Animal well, there's a little like I'm walking around and it's atmospheric, you know, before like and it's a lot of thinking. Like at times you're going to your map and you're drawing on it and you're doing a lot of like analyzing of like, how do I get here?

[Mary]

Before Thinky is not necessarily anti Dewey. Dewey is.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's most Dewey. It's not most brainless game of the year.

[Mary]

That's right.

[Dan]

True.

[Mary]

I also like, I just want to say that when it comes to mechanics, there is no game more Dewey than Animal. Well, because mechanically it is giving you an item and putting you in a environment where you have to learn how to use the item. And there's multiple ways to use an item. The yo yo is a really good example of this where I kind of have to give away like Maybe one of these.

[Dan]

But it's like, the thing is, I think any game of the year stuff, I think spoilers, like, if we're talking.

[Mike]

About a game, we need to be.

[Mary]

Able to talk about it to be able to discuss.

[Dan]

Spoilers ahoy for all these.

[Mary]

There's multiple ways to use the yo yo. So when you get the yo yo, it never says how to use any item. And the first time you come across an animal that wants to hurt you, you can learn naturally that the yo yo is a distractor and you can actually lead them. You can walk the dog literally with a yo yo and stand on them and use them as a platform to get to the next area. What I want to express here is that animal. Well is extraordinarily dewy. Not in the sense that you're just constantly doing that entire game, but the game is saying, you can't beat this without doing it.

[Mike]

Yeah, doing is the thing. That's how you learn.

[Dan]

That's the thing is the realization is like, when you get the Frisbee, you'll accidentally, like, you're just throwing it, you're stuck on something and then like, oh shit, I can jump on this. And then you immediately think of all the ways that can open up the map and stuff.

[Mike]

Yeah. By definition, like again, Astrobot is unreal about how it conveys this thing, but it's when you get a new, like, I'm going to use your phrase gimmick, like the gloves or whatever it does.

[Dan]

Have you cool it with the wrestling talk.

[Mike]

It does have to tell you technically how to use them, even if it's extremely brief.

[Jake]

I was going to say, yeah, it.

[Mike]

Sounds like pull the controller, which again is not much, but compare it to Animal.

[Jake]

Well, it sounds like Astrobots not going to be the winner.

[Dan]

No, but I'm glad it's, I'm glad it's in the.

[Jake]

Yeah, I was going to say, like, for me, with Astrobot, there's still like those moments where you're like back at your base or your, your, your ship and you're doing the Gotcha machine where you're just, you're just kind of not really doing anything. You're just watching. And sure, to me, when we're looking at both of these games that are very just like pick up and play and it just does not stop. It doesn't seem like it.

[Dan]

That, that, that, that's fair. And also, you know, Astrobot's going to win game of the year, so we'll, we'll give Dewey to Mini Shoot. I Guess I'm willing to concede that. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. I think it's, like, really interesting politically for you to. To falter so early in this because your one card was a prize.

[Mike]

He's not.

[Mary]

And you just acknowledged what you're doing.

[Dan]

This is 40 chess I'm doing here.

[Mary]

You are this.

[Mike]

I know exactly what I'm.

[Mary]

You are pissing a corner and telling me that you are playing checkers.

[Mike]

Do we remember what, one Dewey last year, by any chance?

[Dan]

No.

[Mike]

I don't know. Animal well is literally, like, the most Dewey game.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

In, like, years.

[Dan]

There's a good argument. I get.

[Mike]

Are we calling it. I mean.

[Dan]

Yeah. Booze.

[Mary]

I think it is extremely dewy.

[Mike]

What do you want?

[Dan]

I can get Too easy. Should I get champagne? Or do you want beers?

[Mike]

We're out of champagne.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Thank God.

[Dan]

Liquor. Beers.

[Mary]

Yes.

[Jake]

I could do a beer.

[Mary]

I think a beer is in order.

[Dan]

Beer, beer, beer, beer.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Dan]

Okay, let's give it.

[Jake]

Fire Escape's most dewy game of the year is. Animal well, congrats.

[Mike]

Nice.

[Jake]

That's the end of the show, right?

[Mary]

Yep, that's it. What I will say now that I've won is that.

[Mike]

Hey, I was saying Animal well as well.

[Mary]

Good. Thank.

[Mike]

I just don't want Astro.

[Mary]

Thank you.

[Mike]

I don't know.

[Mary]

It's going to kill. Astrobiotic Mini shoot, I think, is such a good pickup game. And we have other categories that I think I would also argue for mini shoot in because it's such a natural, like, oh, I need to burn an hour. I would play mini shoot. It would be one of the number one games I would pick up. But what is the start?

[Dan]

Oh, wait, no. I got you this because I thought you'd like this can the most.

[Mike]

Oh, thank you.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Jake]

I'll take the blue one.

[Mike]

I like this can because you're like a military guy. What are we doing here?

[Dan]

All right, let's.

[Mike]

All right. I thought it was gonna be, like, an elephant, an ogre or something. That would have been fun. Or a rat. That would have been funny.

[Mary]

No, no.

[Dan]

You're like zero dark 30. Dude.

[Mike]

This looks like Halo. There should be a Halo code in here.

[Dan]

That's from Carbon Four. That's a Wisconsin brewery. It's good stuff. And I've got Una Pills, which is Minneapolis, and I love.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

Yeah, I just.

[Mike]

I like porters. Maybe just not this early.

[Dan]

You just love the military, so I thought we'd go with that thing. All right. So are we ready?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Dan]

All right. Most thinky game of the year.

[Mary]

The nominees are Rise of the Golden Idol Duck Detective.

[Mike]

Arranger a roll puzzler Adventure. Isn't it puzzling?

[Mary]

Whatever.

[Mike]

A roll puzzler Adventure.

[Mary]

Riven Avenger.

[Mike]

Who the fuck wrote.

[Dan]

I think that was Mary.

[Mary]

I might have been a little drunk when I put some of these in.

[Dan]

Sorry.

[Mike]

Arranger a role. Puzzling adventure.

[Dan]

Riven Lorelei and the laser eyes.

[Mike]

Indica, I believe is how it's actually pronounced.

[Jake]

Yeah, sure.

[Mary]

Get out.

[Mike]

Isn't. No, it's. That's how they say it.

[Mary]

Indica Balatro.

[Dan]

SteamWorld Heist 2 Most Thinky Game of the Year all right, so let's just.

[Mary]

As a reminder too, this is about focusing on thinky, not the best of this group. I know there's a lot of games in here that we would say like, that is like the best game, but that's not actually what this is about. This is a game that makes you think them so hard that you would say of this list, it is the most thinky.

[Mike]

Can I. Oh, sorry.

[Dan]

I don't think we're anti thinky. I think we're more anti talk.

[Mike]

I know personally, I love anti like being. We're anti long winded.

[Dan]

Yeah, I'm anti talky for the most part. I am pro thinky. I really like the thinking game.

[Mary]

I like a thinker. I don't like being talked to. I play games to interact, not to like.

[Dan]

Yeah, thinking is interacting.

[Mary]

I'm going to do the indeed not.

[Mike]

To read two games on here that I really love and I will bring up a lot throughout the night, but I don't think are gonna win this. Rise of the Golden Idol. I absolutely love that game. It's a great thinky game. However, I think one of the game's few flaws is that sometimes you have thought it through completely and intelligently and you have solved the puzzle.

[Jake]

But.

[Dan]

But you're making a quality. Yeah, I can already tell you're making a quality judge.

[Mike]

Right. But a lot of those thinking. I know, but a lot of the times that game just becomes about like trial and error instead of thinking is my point.

[Dan]

It happens.

[Mike]

Yeah. Again, I'm not saying it's worse than these others.

[Dan]

I don't think we cut it yet because I see it as I see Rise of the Golden Idol as like.

[Mike]

All you were doing is sure, okay, but to that I would definitely cut another game that's in my top 10. SteamWorld Heist 2. A lot of that you're just cruising around in that overworld shooting stuff with like that twin stick.

[Mary]

That's true.

[Mike]

And also you're There's a lot of time between missions where you're not thinking.

[Dan]

Yeah. And there's a lot of, like, planning involved when you are in the actual combat. But, like, when it comes down to it, you are just, like, doing a lot of, like, aiming and kind of, like, dewy stuff, taking cover and, you know, it is thinking, Dewey.

[Mary]

You can also lower the difficulty mid battle and be a real idiot.

[Dan]

Oh, I feel bad about doing that. I should be better about that. So we'll cut that. Steam World Heist 2 is off.

[Jake]

I have one we can probably cut. Indika is one. I put it's thinky. Not in, like, a puzzly way. It's thinky and like, you see a weird movie and you're trying to work through it for a couple days. So that's why I put that there. But I think in terms of what we're looking at with puzzles actually sitting down and trying to use your brain through it, I don't think it necessarily fits.

[Mike]

Sure.

[Jake]

I'm the only one who played it, so it's.

[Dan]

I trust your judgment with that. Yeah. Is this Riven, the sequel to Myst I see on here?

[Mary]

It is. It's very good. I did. I have to, though, acknowledge, like, it was so thinky, I couldn't beat it. Like, I had to quit.

[Dan]

Did they.

[Mary]

I'm not smart enough.

[Dan]

Did they re release it this year or something?

[Mary]

Oh, I think.

[Jake]

I think so.

[Mary]

This year? Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, okay. This is not.

[Jake]

There's a remake this year.

[Dan]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Jake]

Or like a remaster or something.

[Dan]

Oh, interesting. Okay.

[Mary]

I know it came out because I got sent it and I've been trying to meddle with it in my free time, but much like Myst, it's very complex and the puzzles are like. Even the very beginning puzzle is just like, you have to look at the stars the right way and, like, map this room in the right space and look at it from three different angles. And I was just like, my brain is bent. Anyway, I. I don't think it's going to be as popular because I don't think anyone else has played it, so it might lose on that. But I will say, for a thinking game, Riven is really incredible. But I think there's thinkier ones on here.

[Dan]

I do too.

[Mary]

I think, like, Rise of the Golden Idol is think concentrate. It is like, the purest of think cocaine. And so, like, I don't. I think I can understand that that might not be competitor.

[Dan]

I think you're right. And I would say when looking at this List. The two that I would say are locks are Golden Idol and Laura La and the Laser Eyes. Laser Eyes is like, it was too.

[Jake]

Thinky for some people.

[Dan]

For me, I love games like that. I love, like, the Witness and I love once, like, anytime I'm breaking out, like, a pad of paper and taking pictures and stuff of the screen to remember stuff. Like, I love that shit. This is too far in that direction. So. But if it is most thinky, I think that that and golden idol are my 2. Like, we gotta keep those.

[Jake]

So I guess question I have. How many of these games did you have to, like, bust out, like, a notebook and Golden Idol and more Land of Laser Eyes?

[Dan]

Those are the two.

[Mary]

So.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike]

How do we. Are we. I'm not at all suggesting Balatro's not a thinky game, but how are we feeling about that?

[Dan]

I was wondering.

[Mary]

I mean, it's definitely thinky because you have to plan accordingly. But what I think Jake actually had a really good argument, which is like, when you have pull out a fucking gamer notebook because you need to be able to map things out, that's thinky central. Like, that is a thinker game. And so to me, the ones that really make you do that are Riven Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Rise of the Golden Idol and Duck Detective Baby. I think you can get rid of a ranger role puzzler adventure. It literally has puzzle in the name of it. It is a puzzle game, but it's.

[Dan]

Also very dewy and also I think a ranger. From what I played of it, it was a lot of that same note of, like, the same type of thinking. Whereas I look at Lorelei and Golden Idol as two games that, like, I'm doing math. I'm looking at, like, geometry. There's, like, all these different angles of thinking you have to do, and I think that makes it more thinky than a Ranger.

[Mary]

Yeah. And Balatro for the same reason.

[Dan]

Yep, Balatro. And there's also, like, there is a luck element, like there is with any card game or gambling game, you know?

[Mary]

Yeah. You can be a real idiot and still ham fist your way through Balatro.

[Jake]

Or you can think real hard and still just get shitlocked.

[Dan]

I think we take Balatro off. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So we need to cut more off. Tell us about Duck Detective.

[Mary]

Duck Detective is Rise of the Golden Idol, but it's funnier.

[Dan]

Okay, you're selling me.

[Mary]

Yeah. Rise of the Golden Idol is, like, a little dry for my taste. It's just like this guy's killing this other guy, but, like, who knows what country he's from? And it's like, Dumb Detective.

[Dan]

I love that puzzle. That was good. I got stuck on that for a while. Yeah.

[Mary]

Duck Detective has, like, a Much more like, who cares? Sometimes I'm like. And they're like, he was wearing a blue shirt, but he has a stain on it from. And it's like, I don't care. This information is irrelevant to me. Duck Detective is very similar. You are talking to people. You're extrapolating facts, and you have your detective notebook where you learn keywords by talking to people and looking at someone. Stuff in the crime scene. The crime scene in this one is that someone keeps stealing people's lunches in the lunchroom. And they're like, who's. Who is the sausage bandit? Or something like that. It's very funny and, like, cheeky.

[Dan]

What are you laughing about?

[Mike]

Nothing.

[Mary]

It turns out it's Mike. Marty.

[Mike]

Gobble gobble.

[Mary]

No, it's cheeky and silly and. But you.

[Dan]

You.

[Mary]

It's the same concept.

[Mike]

Not. It's not. Turkey Detective. Sorry.

[Dan]

Mixes up turkeys and ducks. They don't have a new jersey.

[Mary]

This is all in one dick joke. It's the same thing. You fill in the bubbles. So it'll be like, blank was the person stealing the blank, but he was getting help from blank because she blank. And so you have to use. It's the same.

[Dan]

I want to. Like, this sounds perfect because I. I'm in the mood. I beat Golden Idol, and I loved it, and I kind of want to play more of that and, like, a different tone sounds.

[Mary]

I like Duck Detective more because it's silly and cheeky and funny.

[Dan]

But here's the big question for this category. You like it more? Yeah, but which one do you have to think more in?

[Mary]

I mean, I think you have to think more in Rise of the Golden Idol. Duck Detective is. It still is challenging, but it's not. It is probably like, you could play it with your niece. So.

[Dan]

Okay, so would you rather have ribbon stay on instead of Duck Detective?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

I think that's. That's fair. All right. The winner. I will offer up that I think. And I did not love this game, like I said, because it goes too far into it, but Lorelei is undeniably so thinking, I got fucking stuck at the beginning when you're trying to get into the fucking gate, and I'm, like, looking at my glove compartment a million times. Like, what do I turn on the radio? I've tried that six times before. It is so much thinking. All the time. And then once you get in, it's like, okay, I'm in the house. Great. There's 40 fucking things that I don't know how to do any of them. And you're just trying to kind of chip away at it thing by thing and seeing how they connect to each other. Did you beat it, Jake?

[Jake]

I did. That is. I love that game. I think the puzzles in particular are so interesting because it is, like, it incorporates that whole area. You're constantly coming back to areas you're rethinking different parts, but it's all, like, number based. It's all built around a couple dates. And the way they use those numbers in so many interesting ways, I think is. Is brilliant.

[Mary]

Yeah. And the puzzles are interconnected, which I also think is interesting. Some of these, like Rise of the Golden Idol, like, once you complete it, that doesn't usually come back. There's no reason to revisit that or any of those words. Whereas, Lorelai, there are interconnected puzzles, which I think is very fascinating. The whole game is kind of like, how are you thinking about this as well?

[Jake]

It's like a puzzle box.

[Mary]

It really is. So I think that I also. I did not complete Lorelai. It also stumped me. I got stuck, too. I have a sad story, too, for Riven. I got stuck in the very beginning area, and I thought I needed, like, maybe a passcode to get through this door. And it turns out I just needed to use the crawl button to go under.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

And I was there for, like, 40 minutes.

[Dan]

Awesome.

[Mary]

Yeah. So I got stuck on the first puzzle because I didn't know that you could just duck under a door. But anyway, I think kind of dewy. Yeah, ducking is a bit doing.

[Mike]

Do we have to go back to the last category?

[Mary]

Get it out of there. I think Lorelei is, in my opinion, the most thinky game of this year. It's crazy how much it asks you to think and noodle on these puzzles. You absolutely need a notebook. If you don't. Dear God.

[Dan]

I think it's one of the thinkiest games I've ever played.

[Jake]

Let the record show, Mary, I think you're the only one who's played all three of these games that we have left, too.

[Mary]

Oh, oh, oh.

[Jake]

For what it's worth.

[Mary]

Yeah, I mean, I think. And I think they all deserve to have this spot. It is my personal opinion that Lorelei is the most stinky of these three. That's how I feel.

[Jake]

Are we in agreement?

[Mike]

Yeah, sure.

[Dan]

Three votes. Yeah, we're Good. Hey, no. No split votes yet so far.

[Mike]

Yeah, let. Let the record show Jake did tell me to play Lorelei, I think five different times, and I just.

[Dan]

Yeah, we told you to play a lot, actually. A lot. All the games we told you to play, you didn't play.

[Mike]

That's not true. I played Children of the Sun.

[Dan]

Okay, but at a homework assignment. Did you know the homework assignment was UFO 50?

[Mike]

And listen, you just harassed our viewers for being saying we're busy. I tried to play as many as I could.

[Dan]

We're all busy. But I guess you're the only one who doesn't have to do homework.

[Mike]

Oh, I don't have time to cook because I'm too busy playing video games. I'm afraid of the games.

[Dan]

I prioritize the games because I'm a professional.

[Mike]

Lorelei and laser eyes.

[Jake]

Yes, it's totally all right. Fire escape.

[Mary]

I haven't had broccoli in two years.

[Mike]

Fire escapes.

[Jake]

Most stinky game of 2024 is Lorelai and the laser eyes. There it is.

[Dan]

I think that speaks to me. Being a professional, I put games above food. All right, next up, the most talky game of the year.

[Mary]

These won't shut the up.

[Dan]

We love these.

[Mary]

Your nominees are the Legend of Zelda. Echoes of Wisdom.

[Mike]

Metaphor. Refantazio.

[Dan]

You just skipped me. Yep.

[Mike]

Yeah, I pac manned it.

[Dan]

I was gonna do a nerdy voice for metaphor. Whatever. It's gonna be fun for everyone. You ruined it. Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's plucky.

[Dan]

Squire.

[Mary]

Like a dragon. Infinite Wealth.

[Mike]

Persona three. Reload.

[Dan]

Harold. Halibut.

[Mike]

Halibut.

[Dan]

What?

[Mike]

Halibut?

[Mary]

No. Mario and Luigi. Brothership.

[Mike]

Thank goodness you're here.

[Dan]

Oh, brothership fucking talks. Right? Right out of the gate. All these games do, and I love these games, but this one, there's something about, like, that's. There's bigger things about the game. I can speak to why it didn't grab me the way all the other ones did. But it does talk a lot at the beginning. I don't know if it's going to be a top three, but that's the first one. My eye.

[Mike]

All these other ones grabbed you because. I know that's not true. No, I was going to say, I know.

[Jake]

Can we kind of, like, refresh what, like, exactly the most talk?

[Dan]

Like, for instance, because, like, obviously you look at it.

[Jake]

Metaphor probably has the most talking, but.

[Dan]

Like, it's not quantity. I think it's more of a ratio thing. The quantity of talking to playing where it's like, if Metal Gear Solid four was on here. That would be like the top.

[Jake]

If it's annoying talky, that's makes it worse.

[Mike]

Let me, let me.

[Dan]

I think.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

No, I think if it's good talking, it can still be most talky.

[Mary]

You know, the talkiness should not determine the quality. Right. So whether or not we like these games isn't actually up for debate.

[Dan]

But when I say it's not a quantity thing, it's like metaphor is a whatever, 60, 80 hour long game.

[Mike]

120.

[Dan]

That's going to have a lot more than like a plucky squire or something. But if it's not talking at you as frequently, it's. It's a ratio.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, here's my definition and I'll be the first to point out metaphor. I absolutely love this game in many, many ways that I'll get into later. But this is not a quality thing. I think metaphor to me is one of the talkies games of the year, specifically because they continue talking long after they've gotten a point across.

[Dan]

Awesome. Sounds great.

[Mike]

Like it, like there's many times and then it gets incredible. But like so many cutscenes. It's like someone's recounting what just happened and then she's telling you, oh, I had this thing from my past. And then they just even. I am like, okay, yeah, no, you got that across. I get it. It's redundant in many ways, especially toward the beginning, unfortunately. I mean, it doesn't get better.

[Jake]

Anyone's gonna argue with you about removing metaphor if that's what you're going for.

[Mike]

No, I'm saying keep. Like keeps.

[Jake]

Oh, you're saying keep. Sorry, that's what I mean.

[Mary]

Yeah, we should start with cuts, not keeps. Yeah, yeah, I have a cut.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

I think that thank goodness you're here is short and actually has a lot of Dewey in it.

[Mike]

It's brief and it's comedic writing and it gets out of its own way as soon as you need to do something.

[Dan]

It's not dialogue boxes. It's like, oh, you slapped a guy in the ass and he's like, oh, my bum. Like, it's like, yeah, he's talking, but it's not like a text shows up and.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So I think we cut things here.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I also would offer up Zelda. While it did talk a lot more than I like a Zelda game to talk, a lot of that is front loaded. Like the first couple dungeons where you're kind of doing the Zora stuff and desert stuff. There's a lot of talking there. I feel like after those first couple dungeons, it does open up. There's less talking still more than I would like. Not my favorite Zelda game, but I liked it a lot. I don't think it hangs with most talkie.

[Mike]

I agree with that.

[Dan]

Are we fine cutting that?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Who played Harold Halibut?

[Mike]

I did.

[Jake]

This game's like all talk. Sure. It is. Like just everything is built around talking to characters.

[Mary]

I played this. This is a point and click adventure kind of. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I forgot this game came out. This was very.

[Mike]

Oh yeah. Because Jake put it on here.

[Mary]

This is a very sweet game.

[Jake]

It's not nearly as long as some of these other stuff, so that might factor into it. I think it takes like 10 or 12 hours to finish. I didn't finish it because there was a little too much talking.

[Dan]

But would you advocate for cutting or keeping it pronounced?

[Jake]

I'd say we cut it. Looking at some of these other games on here, I think. I mean, I don't know how long Mario and Luigi is, but I also think Plucky Squire might be one. We can.

[Mary]

I actually. So I'm going to actually make a argument that Plucky should be in top three.

[Dan]

Oh, okay.

[Mary]

And I'm going to tell you why. Yes, there is Dewey in this game, but it is, it is wild to me how much talkie they added to this game to the point where I think it is a problem. And while this isn't a game, this isn't a discussion about whether the game is good or not. When I'm saying it's talky, I'm saying that they unnecessarily added so much dialogue that I didn't want to play anymore.

[Mike]

Because quality in this category, if it's so talky, it's effective.

[Mary]

So hockey that it hurt the game.

[Dan]

For a game that if you see the trailers and stuff, I was so excited because it's like, oh, wow. It's mixing like top down Zelda gameplay with the 3D kind of platformer action adventure stuff.

[Mike]

Oh, I played that game. Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

And I was like, holy shit, this looks awesome. And then you started and it's like every time you go into a new area, slow pan to show you a thing and then something talks to you for a while. It's like, dude, this should have been such a dewy game.

[Mike]

Yeah, let's, let's.

[Mary]

I actually said shut up. To Plucky Spire.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mary]

Like, let me fucking play.

[Mike]

Yeah. Similar to that. Also a game I absolutely love and did a 180 on like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. They. They front load a lot of cutscenes. And of course, like, you get to a point where you're just fucking playing Animal Crossing, which is. And they stop and they shut up. But, like.

[Dan]

And it's extremely high quality talking.

[Mike]

90% of it.

[Dan]

Yeah. The story a lot. Yeah.

[Mike]

So, like, I. But I do think they front load a lot of that in a way that very much. I mean, you heard me. That one episode, I was like, guys, I can't stand this game. The next I came back, I was like, all right, I'm fully on board.

[Dan]

Did you turn around on Ichiban? Are you okay with him now? Okay. Thank God.

[Mike]

Well, if I said no, then people would fucking try to kill me. But, sure, he's. He's still not my favorite character.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

But that game does. It's pretty long winded early on.

[Mary]

All right, well, we got to make a cut. Not everything can hit top three.

[Dan]

I would say Mario and Luigi Brothers Ship. I think I was the only one that played it. Did not play it for long. Turned me off pretty quickly with the talking. But I can't speak to the breadth of the game and how much that keeps up throughout. I'm sure at a certain point, it opens up and you're doing more fun combat stuff and everything. So talkie kind of looks like shit.

[Mary]

Get out of here.

[Dan]

Let's get out of here, though. It's not for this category.

[Mary]

All right, one more.

[Mike]

Were you Persona 3?

[Jake]

I put Persona 3 in because everything you said about metaphor, Persona 3 does more of it.

[Mike]

It's anything from Atlas.

[Jake]

Like, we should cut metaphor over Persona 3 reload, in my opinion.

[Mike]

I played Persona 3 back in the day. I didn't play Reload. And that tracks with Persona 3. And also, Atlas needs to chill out. Anything they're making what you say about.

[Jake]

It, how they, like, something happens, and then everyone needs to, like, have their take on it. Yeah, Their little take on it. And it's like, okay, we only need to, like, two people do this.

[Dan]

So.

[Jake]

Yeah, I mean, I would say we'd keep reload over metaphor, but that's. I only played 30 hours of metaphor. I finished Persona 3.

[Mike]

Like, how about. What if I just brought it up? What if I almost feel like. Like a dragon. Infinite wealth gets so dewy later that it makes up for it.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Mike]

I did not play Reload. I played Persona 3. So I can speak to those, and I.

[Mary]

Did any of us finish Plucky?

[Dan]

No, I got the out. Yeah.

[Mike]

If you finished any of these games, I think that should disqualify.

[Dan]

I think that we get rid of Like a Dragon because, like, once it opens up, it really is.

[Mike]

It's amazing.

[Dan]

Yakuza's games are very dewy. There's so many side games, mini games.

[Mary]

Because there was so much talking, we'd.

[Dan]

Be so pissed off.

[Mike]

Like a Dragon.

[Dan]

This.

[Mike]

Yeah, Like a Dragon is like. Once you get to the point where you're swapping in and out classes and you're. You're doing like, oh, I can go deliver pizzas and do backflips on bicycles, then it's like, why didn't you start with this? You.

[Dan]

But which, I mean, if we're talking about. Okay, if the opposite is true, where if you dropped off quickly because of it. Metaphor. Refantazio is like Speedrun record for me. Falling off a game I.

[Mike]

The way. No, no.

[Dan]

We need 80% speed run. Just get me the out of this thing.

[Mary]

It says more about you than it.

[Mike]

Does about the game.

[Dan]

Am I arguing that?

[Mike]

Says more about your attention span than. I know people into it.

[Dan]

I know people like the game. I know this is a me thing, but I got the out because of how much chalky there was.

[Mike]

That was just you.

[Dan]

Well, yeah, but I'm like me.

[Mike]

And you played a lot of this game though. Dan, you saw one line I. I've read off Metal Gear Solid lines to you that are the most ridiculous ever said, but do you know how cool they are?

[Dan]

It's.

[Mike]

I think it's. Yes, it's incredibly cool, but it's still stupid. Listen.

[Dan]

I don't think Buggy Squire wins. I like that it gets in the top three because I think that we all have the exact same complaints and it is tied to the talkie. I think Metaphor or Persona wins.

[Mike]

I bounced off. I will say I bounced off Plucky Squire because of the talkiness. I am still playing and in love with metaphor, despite.

[Jake]

Yeah, I decided to spend 120 hours with Persona 3 Reload, but couldn't make it. What, eight hours with Plucky Squire. So like, you know.

[Dan]

But is it all the talky stuff with Plucky Squire or is it like there's a lot of just like slow pans and like, it's not all. I mean, I bounced off a while ago, so I don't remember. Like, I remember a lot of things were slow paced besides just the dialogue.

[Mary]

It also spoiled a puzzle for me with Talkie because it was like. It was like if you. If only you could turn the day into night. And it's just like, shut the fucking.

[Dan]

It's the fucking head on your belt from God of War, Ragnarok. Oh, I bet you could break through that. Shut the fuck up.

[Mike]

Him and a trick.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Oh, God. Let's just talk about God of War, Ragnarok all night and how much it's bad.

[Dan]

I mean, we gave it an award a couple years ago. We gave it the first ever It's Not Poop award. It's not poop.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

But anyway, it's not good.

[Mary]

We'll come back.

[Mike]

I don't think metaphor should win. I actually think some of the writing and dialogue is genuinely, like, really good.

[Dan]

Some of it's.

[Jake]

Yeah. I mean, I think.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

I think Atlas at times has some, like, gold in there, but there is some cheesy stuff.

[Mike]

There's also parts in that game where you're going, like, five hours without any major stuff because you're actually going to palace or a dungeon and you're fucking skateboarding around on your sword in town.

[Dan]

I mean, do you feel like fantasy can impact reality?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, whoa. That's deep. Cool. All right. Oh. There's no guns and metaphors.

[Mike]

There's no nuclear explosions and otakus and women with. There's no. There's no naked women with barely any clothes on that are sniping me.

[Dan]

That's about life, man and earth and conflicts.

[Mike]

This is what this does to me. I love Metal Gear Solid almost more than anybody I know. And I'm making fun of it because. Just to make a point, which is that we all bounced off of Plucky Squire because of how talky it was, among other things. But, like, we're still.

[Mary]

Shut up.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Most talky doesn't mean negative. I think that metaphor is notorious for how talky it is, as is Persona, and they're beloved because of how talky they are. So I just want to reiterate that, like, I think all three of these would be excellent winners for different reasons. It just depends on, like, the way we want to end up swinging this. Because I would also be happy with Jake. You said that you've played metaphor and Persona, and Persona was more talky, in your opinion.

[Jake]

I think so.

[Mary]

I'm even happy with Persona winning in the sense that, like, it is just the most talky. I just want it known that Plucky wouldn't shut the fuck up. I just really wanted to hammer that home.

[Dan]

That was a game that looked good and none of us liked.

[Mary]

I wanted to like that game.

[Dan]

Me, too.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's. I think that's all that's my point. Like, I feel like we really were trying to meet it halfway, and it kept pushing us away.

[Mary]

Just. Just wouldn't show up.

[Mike]

So we're going to Persona that or Persona 3.

[Mary]

Sure. Yeah. How do you feel?

[Dan]

Like, wait, are we gonna first Official.

[Mike]

Three way I'm basing this off of playing the original Persona 3, and I. Sure.

[Jake]

We need to turn this up a little so you guys can hear it. Most talky game goes to Persona 3. Reload.

[Mike]

Sweet.

[Mary]

I'm fine with this.

[Dan]

I'm not gonna argue with the good judge.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Can we get more volume on the jazz? Yeah.

[Dan]

Just one of the f gimmicks up there. Yeah. This guy.

[Jake]

Yeah, that's the one.

[Mike]

Cool it with the wrestling talk.

[Dan]

It's your gimmick. All right, next up, that is our winner, Persona 3 as dictated by the judge. Jake. Next up, coziest game of the year.

[Mary]

It's my Super Bowl.

[Dan]

It is. And the nominees are. House Flipper Two Fields of Mystria.

[Mary]

Ette Tavern Manager Simulator Neva.

[Mike]

Astrobot.

[Dan]

Plucky Squire, Little Kitty Big City. All right.

[Mike]

Get rid of Little Kitty Big City. I love that game. But you're doing it.

[Dan]

Doing it.

[Mary]

Doing what?

[Mike]

Stuff. Fucking saving people. Collecting their lost valuables.

[Dan]

Well, you can do and be cozy, right? Yeah. You are the.

[Mike]

Oh, it's cozy, squaw. I'm sorry.

[Dan]

What did you do?

[Mary]

Were you a talkie?

[Mike]

Sorry. I'm still sorry.

[Gizmo]

Whoa.

[Dan]

That's a little early. We're not even an hour in.

[Mike]

Little Kitty, Big City is very cozy. I take all that back.

[Mary]

I think that. Yeah, I think Little Kitty, Big City is all about, like, helping people. You're accomplishing things in one part. You save ducks because they are lost from their mom, and you collect ducklings. It's so pure. It's a very cozy, easy to play game.

[Mike]

Dodging construction workers at one point who are trying to kick you out of the site. But you're trying to get someone's watch or for their phone.

[Mary]

Yes. And no one hurts you. Like, if you get caught, he's like, they pick you up and they're like, you get out of here, you little scamp. So there's no punishment. You never get hurt or killed in this game. It's so smooth. So it's a sweet little game.

[Dan]

I'm up for killing one of my babies here. I put Astrobot on here because I thought about how I felt when I was playing it, which is very much just like, I am just smiling. I am just happy. I Am just in my element, jumping around, having a grand old time, happy. But I think if this was happiest or most joyful game of the year, I think that's more the spirit I put on board. That's what I would say.

[Mike]

Astrobot as well.

[Dan]

Right? But cozy. I think there is a certain aesthetic, there's a certain pace tone to a true cozy game. And again, I defer to the Cozy. Queen of Fire escape is Astrobot. Cozy.

[Mary]

I think that it's cozy. I don't think it is going to win. I think it deserves.

[Jake]

So it's a cut.

[Mary]

It deserves to be nominated and it deserves to be cut.

[Dan]

I agree. Yes.

[Jake]

What about Neva? Because I've been playing that recently and that game looks gorgeous, but there's some, like, creepy stuff in there.

[Mary]

You know, I knew this would come up, and I am willing to relent that Neva has boss fights that are stressful. It has, like, depictions of mass dead people.

[Dan]

Let's cut Neva from Cozy's game of the years. Let's go ahead and cut that.

[Mary]

You can die. There's stuff in there, but it is stunningly beautiful and also very gorgeous.

[Jake]

There are frames or shots that are, like, very cozy, but then you have.

[Dan]

And then there's a mass grave. Yeah, let's not be cut that.

[Mary]

The mass grave is, I think, where we have to draw the line.

[Jake]

For me, that can be cozy.

[Dan]

Well, yeah, that's the judge. She's had a hard life.

[Mary]

Some people think it's.

[Dan]

Don't know what that means. Cozy, plucky, squire. Game sucks.

[Mary]

You know what?

[Dan]

I don't want to say it sucks. I try to be reductive, but holy. Did we all not like that game?

[Mike]

Yeah, that game sucks. I don't want to say it sucks.

[Dan]

And then. Holy. I don't like that. I feel good about saying that about a heartfelt, very earnest game that people work very hard on, but. Oh, my God, I hated every second of play.

[Mike]

Yeah. I did not like it.

[Mary]

You're out of there. It's also not very cozy to be annoyed at a game.

[Mike]

No.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Assholes talking to you. Yeah. Okay.

[Mike]

I played Tavern Manager Simulator. I had some fun with that game. The vibes were nice. I don't know if I'd call it cozy because I was still thinking my business brain was kicking in. That wasn't cozy for me personally.

[Mary]

Okay. I mean, I think that there's like a. There is a debate about what is cozy for certain people. Right. Like, for me, House Flipper is not cozy because I'm like, am I making the right calls? Like, you can do it, you know, you can not succeed in a certain way. And it's very thinky for me where I'm like, oh, I have to process this. And I think it's similar to Tavern Manager Simulator in the sense that, like, you're making business decisions and so you have to be timely and think about that stuff. For me, after a long day of work, playing Tavern Manager Simulator was my way of being like, and now I will pour beer for people who have had a long day of fighting dragons.

[Dan]

And that was like a fun.

[Mary]

It was escapism for me. But not everybody will take to simulator games as cozy.

[Dan]

I will say, based on everything said here so far, I think House Flippers may be the cut. And I think the remaining four are. All. The remaining four would be Fields of Mystria Ette, Tavern Manager Simulator, and Little Kitty Big City. I think all four of those are very strong in this category.

[Mary]

They're strong.

[Mike]

I didn't.

[Jake]

So my Cutting House Flipper.

[Dan]

I. I wouldn't say so. Yeah.

[Mike]

I didn't play ete.

[Dan]

I played some on your recommendation.

[Mary]

What did you think about it?

[Dan]

You know what totally cozy game it is just absolutely going around. Like, you know, you played more of it than me and sold me on it. But yeah, going around. It's almost that like, Unfinished Swan storybook thing where you're filling in the colors of the world and.

[Mike]

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

There's not a lot of like, it's.

[Mary]

Like Power Wash Simulator, but the opposite. Opposite. Instead of taking away, you're colorizing the world.

[Mike]

Unfinished Swan.

[Mary]

Yeah. I don't think you can. I don't think anything negative happens to you.

[Dan]

There's not a lot of like, resource management or like, you know, any currency you have to worry about, really. I don't remember all the specifics, but I don't remember ever having to worry about anything. I remember just walking around looking at stuff being like, that should be colors. And then it was, you know, and then you get to put together the paintings and they're very loosey goosey. It's not like a very challenging thing. It's just, oh, there's my weird painting with birds on it.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah. I think that's a very strong one here.

[Mary]

Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think that one is. Is probably the coziest on here.

[Jake]

Well, hold on. We still need to cut one.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

I would say maybe. Do we cut Fields of Mystery? I don't know if we ever had.

[Mary]

Did anyone else play it? I played it.

[Dan]

It's good.

[Mike]

And then I played Stardew Valley.

[Dan]

It's cozy in the exact same way.

[Mary]

Same.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And another maybe knock against it here is we don't have an official rule on early access.

[Mary]

Oh, it is early access.

[Dan]

Yeah. So I think we maybe just cut that.

[Mary]

Get it out of here.

[Dan]

I don't think we have any other early access stuff on here.

[Mary]

I think that was an accident then, because I. I actually from early access for these.

[Mike]

I'm not gonna put it on.

[Jake]

I'm not even gonna.

[Mary]

You know what?

[Mike]

It's gone.

[Dan]

It's drinking from the record.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

That doesn't exist as a game yet. Yeah.

[Mary]

Thanks, judge.

[Dan]

All right, so we're down to ETE Tavern Manager simulator in Little Kitty Big City. And we need a winner. I like ETTE a lot.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

It is so cozy. I know.

[Mary]

Super cozy. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it. It's pure. It's like paint. And you literally can paint in the game, and then you sell your paintings for money, and then you use your money to, like, buy more paint stuff. Silly.

[Dan]

I feel like, especially since you are the one who has played all of these, Mary, I would defer 100%. Like, you pick one of these, and I'm gonna just trust you on this.

[Mary]

I get a little torn because they're all my. Like, I've actually had really wonderful evenings with all of these. What I will say is like, ete because it's art. You need to be able to use paint tools. It's harder for, like, younger audiences to use. If I were to, like, have my niece here and be like, I want a cozy game that I would play with her. I would actually play Little Kitty Big City. It is the easiest for a younger audience to participate in. Nothing bad happens. Sweet as pie. Very calm on the brain. ETI is phenomenal. There's nothing wrong with it. It's a great game.

[Dan]

I also think if you showed this list to someone who's never played a video game and said, what do you think would be the most cozy game on here? Just the title. Little Kitty Big City is the most, like. Everything about that game seems to just scream cozy game.

[Mary]

It's super cozy. Oh. And I think you complete it in about three hours, which is really nice. And the ending is soups. Adorable. Like, it's just like.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's not at all, like, stray, which is, like, definitely pulling at your heart strings. This is. But it's. It's like. It's cute.

[Mary]

Literally. Stray starts with a cat getting hurt. And I was like, what the.

[Dan]

It's like, what if a cat fell into Half Life? It's weird.

[Mike]

That is exactly what.

[Dan]

Wait, is that game Cooler?

[Mike]

Okay, I love that game, but I love.

[Mary]

Yeah, me too.

[Mike]

Yeah, Kitty Big City. Also, if you have game Pass and not played it, and you have a few hours on, like, a Saturday morning with coffee, just play it. It's really good.

[Dan]

Oh, speaking of, if you have game pass, just a little announcement here. One category we've had for years now that will not be on this year is Kishtit of the Year, because.

[Mike]

Well, explain to people what kishing it means.

[Mary]

Who kishing it is. When I accidentally bought a game that I actually could have played for free on Game Pass or any number of.

[Mike]

Subscription services that you.

[Mary]

Correct. There's multiple subscription services, and it's something that plagued me a lot last year, and I got caught several times this year. I canceled Game Pass.

[Dan]

All right?

[Mary]

I didn't have enough value in it.

[Dan]

So there's no kishing this year.

[Mary]

Sorry.

[Dan]

All right, so none of that. But we did have a cozy game of the year, and that is Little Kitty Big City. Congrats to the Kitty Fire Escape's coziest.

[Jake]

Game of the year of 2024 is little kitty Big City.

[Mike]

Come to think of it, didn't you actually kish it with Little Kitty Big City because you bought it on steam when you still had Game Pass?

[Mary]

I.

[Mike]

So that's the Mathematician of the Year.

[Dan]

There you go.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

It's a double winner in Big City.

[Mary]

It wasn't nominated. So what's the next one?

[Dan]

Ooh, I like this one a lot.

[Mike]

Let's move on.

[Gizmo]

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[Dan]

This one is best plane game. The best game to play to kill time on an airplane. I know this is one that we all had a lot of experience. Big one this year.

[Mike]

It's a fire escape specialty and I've.

[Dan]

Never flown more than I did this year. So I had a lot of experience for this.

[Mary]

Well then good. You have a lot to say.

[Mike]

I think this might be one of the only categories. I played every single game from here on out. No, that's not true.

[Dan]

That's not true. Played all of these. I didn't play Grapple Dogs. But your nominees for best playing game are.

[Mary]

Grapple Dogs.

[Dan]

Prince of Persia. We didn't put the subtitle of the new old Crown. The Lost Crown. The Lost Crown.

[Mary]

You know which one it is?

[Dan]

I always get up on that pepper grinder.

[Mary]

Wild bastards.

[Mike]

UFO 50, the legend of Zelda, Echoes of Wisdom, Balatro, Animal well, Mini Shoot Adventures.

[Mary]

Okay, there's a lot on here because we flew a lot and we all played a lot of games. It is going to be extremely difficult for me to get Grapple Dogs at the level when I know you probably haven't played it. So I think that is going to get cut. I don't think it will win. I just want to say that I played the shit out of this game on a plane and it's super fun on a steam deck. So Grapple Dogs is awesome. I can't speak highly about like higher about it but I don't think it will compete with these other games.

[Dan]

Okay, fair enough. So we'll cut. Grapple Dogs.

[Mike]

I would also say man.

[Mary]

Grapple Dogs 2.

[Mike]

Sorry, it's tough because I play. No, never mind. I take all that back. I was going to say I was going to suggest a cut but the more I thought about it the more I'm like no, we shouldn't cut.

[Dan]

I'm going to suggest one because obviously the best games for this are ones to me. It's the ones that make just no one likes flying for the most part. Ones that make it like holy shit, I feel like I just took off.

[Mary]

I can't believe I landed. Yes.

[Dan]

And also one that is all self contained. You're playing on a switch or steam deck and all these do run very well on switch and steam deck. But in the case of animal. Well, I will say it is a game that is easy to get stuck and there are easy times where you want to get a little poke in the right Direction. And if you can't do that, let's say, I mean, most planes have WI fi and stuff, but not all. So I would say there is a chance that you might get stuck on a plane and you just don't know where to go and you can't get any help and you're just like, well, fuck, this is the game I was gonna play on the plane.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Also, so I put Animal well on because earlier this year, like right after it came out, I had a flight to Poland and back and I played it the entire time both ways lost. Like that entire flight just flew by. That break in between though, I definitely used to like, okay, so did I not figure this out? And I didn't finish it on the flight. Like, I had to get home and Google things. That's a good point. I didn't think of that. I put it on here though. Cause like, yeah, it's the quickest flight I've ever had.

[Mary]

It is a really good time. Suck game. Like, you really are immersed in Animal well. So it does point one. Point two though is I've done a bunch of like one and a half hour flights. The flight from Portland to San Francisco is not very long. Animal well is hard to actually play for an hour. I think you probably want about two to three hours when you're playing a round of Animal well. So for that reason, I would say it's hard to compare with some of these other ones, but I could see us cutting a lot. So well.

[Dan]

And speaking of which, I want to see. Oh, sorry, go ahead.

[Jake]

I was going to say if we're taking things to cut, I think Echoes of Wisdom. I played that on the plane and did not enjoy playing that on the plane because of all the talking and like sorting through menus and it just felt like I don't know. And it didn't run the best. It's like there's another game on here that I normally play on flights that I think all of us.

[Dan]

Oh, we'll get. Yeah, I'm with you because I remember Zelda. Echoes of Wisdom unlocked like 30 minutes or an hour before I boarded the flight from Tokyo to Minnesota. So like a 14 hour flight. And I was like, this a new Zelda is unlocking right before I get on this long flight. I'm just gonna play it. I might beat it on this flight. Beat a Zelda. What a memorable thing that'd be. I played like two hours of it on the flight. I enjoyed it, but it was kind of like, like, oh boy. Okay. What are you doing?

[Mike]

What game did you jump to when you didn't want to play Zelda anymore? I'm curious if it's on this list. I'm just curious.

[Dan]

I think that's when I watched no Hard Feelings, which is not on this list.

[Mike]

Okay, never mind.

[Dan]

Best playing game. No Hard Feelings.

[Mike]

Never mind.

[Dan]

Okay, so I would say yes.

[Jake]

The censored one, though.

[Dan]

No, I had the pixelated vagina version. So did Bon. We both downloaded it in Asia and they pixelated the vagina. That's a shame the boobs were involved.

[Mike]

Pixel Bush.

[Dan]

Yeah, full.

[Mary]

What's the point?

[Mike]

Yeah, H.W.

[Dan]

Bush is her joke there. Movies.

[Mary]

If it was like, movies to not watch on a plane, put that one as number one. Because the idea that you can't see Jennifer Lawrence. Pixel Bush body is outrageous.

[Dan]

All right, so we'll cut. No Hard Feelings. Cut. Zelda.

[Mike]

Yeah. Jeb, Laura and Pixel. That's stupid.

[Dan]

Oh, okay. I want to call Mary out here for something. Like, there have been 9,000 times in the last last 24 hours that you've all been here that we've started arguing about something like, save it, save it, save it. This is one of them. I put mini shoot adventures on here.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Dan]

And I mentioned, like, oh, yeah, you know, I. I didn't play it on a plane. And then you're like, well, then it can't be best playing game. Why?

[Mary]

Because you. It should be from your experience.

[Dan]

It's not best game we played on a plane.

[Mike]

It's best is like, us. Like I did.

[Mary]

Okay, well, then make the justification of how fun it was to play on a plane.

[Mike]

No. Ideally, people listening.

[Mary]

You can't make one, can you? Because you didn't fucking ever play it on a plane.

[Dan]

I wish I could have played it on a plane. Melted away while I played.

[Mary]

If only I was on a plane more.

[Dan]

Am I out of line here? Am I out of line?

[Mike]

No, I'm with Dan. I think. I think ideally.

[Mary]

Wait, is this the most or the least amount of time you've been on a plane this year? Okay, wait, so you've had lots of time.

[Dan]

But I was so into mini Shoot Adventures, I fucking, like, mainlined that as soon as I started playing it before I was on a plane.

[Mike]

I think that the ideal for this is people listening will come away with, oh, that's the game I gotta play next time on the plane because of its qualities make it inherently good for passing time flitting by.

[Mary]

Like, let me put a nail in this coffin. Then I could play mini shoot adventures on A plane. And because it's so dewy, it doesn't tell you what to do next. And you can get fucking lost.

[Dan]

I didn't feel like it was that bad about that. And also, even if you're lost, you are, like, leveling up, and there's, like, a lot. It's not, you know, it's not for.

[Mary]

Naught if you take, like, I want to play. If you take a day off. If you take a day off off and you pick it back up, you might not know what you were supposed to be tackling at that time.

[Dan]

Like, if you look at the map screen, there's, like, whole sections that, like, aren't filled out. It's like, all right, well, if I don't know where to go, let me at least go to those unexplored sections of the map, like. Like you would in a Metroidvania or something. It's like, I haven't been through that door. Let's go there.

[Mary]

Yeah. And, like, when you were on the plane all the time, what games were you wanting to play so bad? Well. Oh.

[Jake]

So.

[Mike]

Dan's right.

[Dan]

I don't know how to phrase it, but Dan's right. Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

That doesn't even make sense.

[Mike]

He's adjudicating the purpose of the category. Yeah, yeah. No, it's.

[Jake]

You don't need to play a game on a game in order to nominate.

[Dan]

Thank you, judge. Thank you. You're honorable Judge Decker. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Wow.

[Mary]

We need look at this.

[Dan]

All right. Excellent. Okay, so that stays on Justice. While we're at it, should we take Pepper Grinder off?

[Jake]

I didn't play.

[Dan]

What's she doing behind me right now?

[Mike]

She looks.

[Dan]

Is she happy?

[Mike]

No, she looks very sad.

[Mary]

Was really fun to play on a. On a Steam deck for a flight. It's like. It is a platformer. You can do it level by level. So if you are like, oh, I only have 30 minutes because the plane is landing, you can complete one level, and it saves, and you're done.

[Mike]

So this is kind. Do you have something to say about Pepper Grinder?

[Dan]

I do. Real quick. I like Pepper Grinder. I played it on your recommendation. It's a really solid game, but it's such a, like, twitch, like, kind of like, you know, you're doing all these crazy platforming things, and you might be the air marshal. I get very into, like, you know, I'm just like, you know, I'm moving. I'm yelping.

[Mary]

Into a western star.

[Dan]

Anyone who's seen Me play like punch out or like super stressful games that are like quick reflexes and stuff like that. I don't want to look like a. I can't look like a fool on an airplane. You'll get in trouble.

[Mary]

Certainly don't want you to look like a fool.

[Dan]

I can't afford that. No. So I do think a plane game elements of like coziness or laid back or just, you know, it's not a twitch action reflex type game. And I think Pepper Grinder is a very good one of those. But we have very strong contenders here, which is why I think Pepper Grinder, I would offer to take that off.

[Mary]

I can see that.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

I also offer.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

I have a sacrifice.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

One of my top three games of the year is Wild Bastards and kind of counter to Mary's point, I did play this for the whole flight back from Paris hours.

[Dan]

I played it on entire flights too.

[Mike]

I do not like first person shooters on handhelds. For some reason I like, I don't know, I need that either a controller for more center of gravity or mouse and keyboard. Wild Bastards is great on Steam Deck. 10 times better if you're like playing on your PC mouse and keyboard or controller or whatever. Like I. I was doing well. I got through the first playthrough on, on the plane. Then when I got home the next day I started playing it and I was flying through it.

[Dan]

I'm with you. I played like five hours on. My first five hours were on a plane and then I got home and I loaded it up on PC and it's like whoa.

[Mike]

Yeah. It's a different game.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike]

So it's just not the ideal to play.

[Dan]

But it does also like if you're looking for a game to melt time away, whole flights went by like 5.

[Mike]

Minute burst of shooting.

[Dan]

Oh, it was fantastic. Yeah. Loved it.

[Mike]

Not even five.

[Dan]

Yeah. All right, we are down to Prince of Persia, The Something Crown, UFO 50 Balatro and mini shoot Adventures Lost Crown.

[Mike]

I believe.

[Mary]

I'd like to make an argument that one of the best parts of UFO 50 is playing co op with someone else.

[Dan]

I have not played any two player UFO 50.

[Mary]

It's so much fun. If I were to to sell someone on UFO 50, I'd be like at least half of these games are either versus or co op modes. And it's really fun to play on the couch with another person, which I would not do on a plane. So it's not that this is a bad thing. It's just that compared to these other three you, like, will have such a great experience playing these other three on a plane. And UFO 50, I think, is a better game played on a couch.

[Dan]

Okay, so you think you're not getting the full experience if you're playing on a plane? Correct. I think that there's an argument there that's.

[Jake]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

All right.

[Dan]

I'm fine with that. Yeah. So that leaves us with your final three, Prince of Persia, the something Crown, Balatro and mini shooting measures. It's Balatro.

[Mike]

I was gonna say at the beginning, I was like, it's Balatro and it's.

[Dan]

On planes now or it's on phones now. Are you kidding me?

[Jake]

Yeah, I played like an hour of echoes of wisdom and I was like.

[Mike]

Okay, fired up, Balatro.

[Dan]

I just remember you asked on the plane on the way out there. Yeah, there was some time where I was like, I'm gonn play UFO 50 the whole way out there or something. And I just. Yeah, mobile opera just come out and I played like eight hours of it.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's even more than what was the last. What was playing game last year? There was a game last year that really. Oh, it was Vampire. No, that was two years ago. It was Vampire Survivors. It's either it's Vampire Survivors or Balatro for best playing game like, of the last 10 years of all time.

[Mary]

Crazy. I mean, the way you can just pick it up and play. You can play it for. You can feel like you're playing it for five minutes, but it's been two hours. It's so addictive. You don't have to remember exactly where you were because you're just playing hand by hand. It's just the perfect.

[Mike]

I cannot recall another game that you can get into such a flow state and not really think. However, it is a very thinky game when you put your mind. When you actually start to see through the matrix, it's like the balance between Thinky and Dewey is unparalleled.

[Dan]

That's a. Listen to a podcast during it. It's just like fucking perfect.

[Jake]

So I feel like I do need to bring one thing up. We didn't really talk about Princess of Persia at all. Do we think Prince of Persia still deserves to be in the top three? Is there something that we cut that might actually fit better? I didn't play it, so I don't know.

[Dan]

But I played the shit out of it. It's probably my number three game of the year, and I don't. Did not play it on a plane. But we do have a ruling on the books that says that that's fine and encouraged. So. But I just do know the way that I played that game and I played it largely on. I think I played the Switch version. It runs surprisingly well.

[Jake]

Okay, that was. I was curious about that because.

[Dan]

Yeah, it runs because I started on Steam or it was on the Ubisoft launch or something, so I couldn't. So I switched to the Switch version and I was like, oh, shit. This is actually, like, running at a really good frame rate and everything. So most of my time was on the Switch Ran great and made time melt away. But again, like Minishoot, I was so obsessed with it, I just, like, blew through. And that's like a longer game too. So. Yeah, if that had been my game coming back from Tokyo, I probably would have played that for 14 hours.

[Mary]

I think this is a strong top three.

[Dan]

I do, too.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

And it's Palatron. Yeah.

[Jake]

Fire Escape's best playing game of 2024 is Balatro.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Sweet. Deserves it. Have we has a plane game ever gotten game of the Year for us yet?

[Dan]

I pushed for Vampire Survivors. I can't remember.

[Mike]

That was two after Elden Ring.

[Dan]

Oh, they have rough year. Okay, remember.

[Mary]

Remember your final argument where you were like.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Mary]

Like, one is like, so delicately put together and you're like. And then there's just like this one where you can just like, be completely.

[Mike]

No, I said. I said out of your. I was like, like, both masturbation and sex are very good, but I think sex is more meaningful. Yeah, I think that's what finally tipped Dan.

[Dan]

Yeah, that's right.

[Mike]

I get it. Yeah.

[Mary]

No, I don't think sex is more than playing.

[Mike]

Game is one. I could be wrong.

[Dan]

No, I don't think so. We'll see. All right, that is Balatro for best playing game of the year. Next up, it's been in every one of these. Game of the year, Worst title of the year. It says nothing. That we don't even know what pretty much any of these games are. Well, some of them, it's just straight up on a piece of paper on a box, on a key Art. What's the worst fucking title for a game?

[Mary]

Mary Metaphor. Refantazio.

[Dan]

Go Helga Sukiyoto. Shiteko.

[Mike]

Kamibako Colon. Mythology of Cube.

[Mary]

Spy X Anya Colon. Operation Memories.

[Dan]

My Nine Swallows All Caps Top Stars League.

[Mary]

Oh.

[Mike]

Zombie Police Colon. Christmas Dancing with Police Zombies. Come on. That's amazing.

[Mary]

Yuna and the Haunted Hot Springs Colon. The thrilling steamy maze Kiwami.

[Dan]

That time I got reincarnated as A.

[Mike]

Slime Isekai Chronicles Under Night in Birth to Sis Cellies.

[Mary]

But it's important to also say that there are brackets.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

Colon, Cellis and Bracket.

[Mary]

Unicorn Overload.

[Dan]

Which. And I said, do we want to keep the typo and call it Unicorn Overload? And he said, yes, yes. So it's Unicorn Overload. And finally, Dragon Age. The Veil Guard.

[Mary]

The Veil Guard.

[Dan]

All right, so, okay, I. Right away. Worst title of the year. Mike, you seem to love the Zombie Police. Christmas Dancing with Police Zombies. I mean, right. Now that I say it out loud.

[Mike]

That'S, like, probably the best title.

[Mary]

Christmas Dancing Police.

[Mike]

What is Christmas Dancing? Why are. Why did they say Police Zombies?

[Dan]

Zombie? No, no, it's Zombie Police, and then it's Police Zombies, and in between is the Christmas dance.

[Mike]

So it's like Police Academy, Colon. Christmas Dancing with the Academy of Police.

[Dan]

Yeah. Okay. All right, cut. It's too good. It's too good. Cut it.

[Mike]

Do we have a best title of the year category? Can you make it now right below it.

[Dan]

God. Unicorn Overload's fine.

[Mike]

I'm always curious which of these are just the result of translation, probably.

[Dan]

Well, I don't know. Did they change the name of, like.

[Mike]

Well, not everything in, like, Japanese is gonna translate to English.

[Mary]

Well, some of them are also, like, anime. Spy X. Anya is Spy Family, and Anya is a character in there. So Spy X Anya is for people who are fans of that anime. It would make sense to people who like Spy Family. Okay, okay, so I think that makes sense.

[Dan]

You just made it make sense. Yeah, sure.

[Mike]

Okay, Jake, I know you put the valguard. It is definitely not as punchy as it would be without the. The. But is it, like. Like, worse than some of these? I'm asking you to keep it there.

[Jake]

It might be, but, you know, if no one else feels that way. Did we want to cut Unicorn Overlord, though?

[Dan]

I think so. I just also kind of. It's fine.

[Mary]

Yeah. While we're talking about anime, I think a lot of these are actually anime. That Time I got reincarnated as a slime is also an anime. Okay, so the name of the anime is that Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.

[Dan]

But to be fair, also a stupid title, no matter where it comes from. From.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

But at least it makes. If you make it make sense, I think that makes it okay to cut.

[Mary]

Yeah. And I think, like, in. Some of these are outrageous. Like, I'm looking at you. Kami Bako. Mythology of a Cube. I don't know what that is. My Nine swallows. Like, there's some weird shit going on here. But, like, that time I got reincarnated as a slime. Like, that is one of those classic animes where you're probably doing a dungeon crawler, but you got reanimated as a slime. Like, it makes sense. I understand what's going on here. I can understand what happened here. Does anyone really know what's going on? And Go hell go.

[Dan]

Go hell go. Sukyoto shi techo. Well, here's the thing. Like, just having, like a Japanese word that we don't recognize isn't like a bad title. So it's like. I think it's just the Go hell Go part that we're talking about here. And I think there's dumber shit on here, so I think we can probably cut Go hell go.

[Mike]

Okay, I'm really torn on metaphor. Part of me.

[Dan]

Dumb fucking title.

[Mike]

Part of me is like. It's got a punch to it, though. But the other part of me is I'm 60 hours into it now. I'm not 60. I'm like 40 hours into it and I still don't know why it's called that.

[Dan]

That's a bad sign.

[Jake]

I think I know why it's called metaphor. I don't know what the refantazia.

[Dan]

I would say that makes it a stronger contender for this because, like, all these other ones are games. No one's hurt.

[Mike]

Can you rule on him not talking about metaphor the rest of the night?

[Dan]

Because I'm gonna make a point here. I'm gonna make a rational point here.

[Mary]

And then a ruling.

[Jake]

I think we're gonna see what he says in the.

[Mike]

Your ability to talk about this game is on the line right now.

[Mary]

Say, your honor.

[Dan]

Your honor.

[Jake]

Want to use it. Do you want to use this for the worst title?

[Dan]

I just think I have a point that is relevant here. I'm not just going to go. I'm not going to go after metaphor every time I see it. I think with this one, it makes a lot of sense because all these other ones are anime things. And we don't. Maybe we don't even know why it's called that. And they're little niche things that fans know why it's called that. It's not really bothering anything. Metaphor is a real game. It's a big game that people are loving. And I think the fact that it is named so confusingly and weirdly might keep people away from it. You know, I think of like, you know, my sister likes the Persona games, and I saw People in her chat when she was streaming, it's like, oh, have you played metaphor? Refantazio. And I remember the first time she saw it being like, metaphor. What the fuck is like? It doesn't. It's not evocative. It's not descriptive. You don't know what the fuck kind of game it is. You don't know it's from the Persona people. It's just like it is on its face, nonsense, garbage, words. It sounds like it doesn't even make sense in context with the game. And for a game that is supposed to be very good, I think the bad title might keep it from some people from even realizing what it is.

[Mike]

And how good it almost kept me from playing it.

[Jake]

I agree with you. I still don't want you talking about it, though.

[Mike]

Ow. Wait, you didn't do the.

[Mary]

He did it again.

[Jake]

I had to do it quicker, you.

[Mary]

Know, it was funnier that way.

[Dan]

It was like.

[Mike]

It was actually a good point.

[Jake]

Like, he might.

[Mike]

He won me.

[Dan]

I know. I agreed. Yeah, it's bad.

[Mary]

He's right. Shut the fuck up.

[Mike]

It really is. Like, especially when you compare it to Persona. Like Persona 5 is. It's punchy. It gets across. And I know why. Immediately. Yeah.

[Dan]

Judge, I respect the decision and we can. We can keep it on or take it off, whatever you want to do. Judge, but so am I to understand. I. Is the judge drinking?

[Mary]

Yeah, he's allowed to do that. He's cool. Judge Jake. Okay, you're in his house.

[Mike]

What are you asking him?

[Mary]

No, he's arguing with you.

[Dan]

Judge, I feel like I would like. Okay, it was a good enough argument to where can I reserve the right to speak about this game in future categories that, you know, I'm not. I promise I will not be trashing it just to trash it. I think I had a well reasoned argument there. Can I still please talk about it? I accept the decision on this category, but it's going to come up several times. I would like to be able to speak to it.

[Jake]

No, for the rest of the show, you can't. No, you. One more. One more shot. One more shot.

[Mary]

You played it for like two minutes.

[Dan]

I have thoughts.

[Mary]

Well, you're done for this category. So until you have additional thoughts about this game, why don't we call it and then you can bring it back up when it bothers you.

[Mike]

You know, you can always drop the hammer later on if he up again.

[Dan]

Yeah, I agree and respect the decision.

[Mike]

No, but I really. I really do. Because it's such a good game. I Wish. I wish they got more to the point just in terms of overall redundancy. The thrilling Steamy maze. Is it thrilling or is it steamy?

[Dan]

I mean, it can be both. Because of the other.

[Mike]

The haunted hot springs. The thrilling. Okay.

[Dan]

What's Kiwami mean?

[Mike]

I feel like Under Night and under Extreme.

[Jake]

Isn't it?

[Dan]

Oh, Yakuza Extreme is the remake.

[Mike]

Actually. The more I talk about that, the more I'm like, now I'm curious about this haunted hot spring with a thrilling.

[Mary]

I know. I mean, I think there's something alluring about it. And that actually means that it should be cut. Because this is about the worst title. I actually think it's not that bad of a title.

[Mike]

I feel like we have an undernight in. Yeah, I would cut that too. As well.

[Mary]

I will also say that Dragon Age the Veil Guard is a very normal name.

[Dan]

It is.

[Mary]

It says Dragon.

[Mike]

I can't tell who put this on there.

[Mary]

It deserves to be nominated.

[Dan]

Someone's the judge has been drinking. May I point this out?

[Jake]

We can cut it. I'd also say I feel like every year we have like an undernight game on this list. And every year I think we end up cutting it. Let's cut it. It's not. I feel like I've just been normalized to be weird titles at this point.

[Dan]

It's now My Nine Swallows.

[Mary]

It's a disgrace just to be nominated.

[Mike]

And Dragon Age off.

[Jake]

Yep. Taking them both off.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

My Nine swallows to see. What the fuck?

[Jake]

Yeah, just make sure to type it.

[Mary]

Wait, I'm sorry. Under Night in Birth didn't Is just got cut.

[Mike]

We talk about it every year. I feel like one in there every year.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Jake]

Why was that your life? If that's your like number one pick, it has brackets.

[Dan]

Yeah, you shouldn't put brackets in a title.

[Mary]

Can we discuss brackets?

[Dan]

You can get away with a colon, but you can't do a colon inside of brackets. That's insane.

[Jake]

Should I un. Uncut it?

[Dan]

It is stupid. It's okay. A Kami Bako Mythology of Cube or Undernight and Birth. Two Cicellus. Which one should be on.

[Mary]

What'S methodology of a Of. Of Cube?

[Dan]

I have no idea.

[Mike]

Mythology?

[Mary]

Myth. Oh, okay. It's me. I can't read swallows.

[Mike]

Top Stars League.

[Mary]

Okay. I would like to argue that my nine swallows should stay.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Mary]

Because Top Stars League is in all caps. And I don't know what a Top Star League is.

[Mike]

Do you know? Yeah. Okay. Wow. This is not what I thought the game would be.

[Dan]

Searching for this on my WI fi.

[Mary]

They're gonna put you on a list.

[Mike]

It's.

[Jake]

Come on, spit it out.

[Mike]

Okay. What? I want to hear what you all think this game is about.

[Dan]

Birds.

[Mike]

Ass. Like. Like porn Smut.

[Mary]

Smut.

[Jake]

Yeah. Say blow job.

[Dan]

Sex gain.

[Mike]

It's about a baseball team.

[Jake]

So blowjobs.

[Mike]

Nine Swallows. Like, nine players. They're the.

[Dan]

Oh, is the team the Swallows?

[Mike]

Maybe that's it. The top stars. Oh, Collaboration between Otomate Professional baseball team. Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

My nine Swallows. Okay, so it kind of does make sense, actually. Nine players on the team.

[Jake]

But why is it.

[Mike]

Why are there no spaces? I had to Google it, though.

[Jake]

Why are there no spaces, though?

[Mike]

Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, that's probably a translation.

[Mary]

That is so valid that. That. Why wouldn't you put spaces in here? Why is half of it in caps? There's no baseball in here. That's like. I don't know. That's just like saying, like, my bottoms. An underdog glory hole story. And it's about.

[Mike]

It's about a wrestling download that immediately.

[Mary]

It'S just like, you. You have. You have really altered our perception because you put in some dirty work.

[Dan]

God, I would have, in an AI asked to make box art for that game.

[Mike]

But if. Okay, like, counterpoint to that. If you're in Tokyo or if you're in Japan, I think my night swallows might have different associations. Like, yeah, my nine Red Sox would be like, oh, but. Well, that's not the best comparison, because if there's. If, like, Yankee was innuendo in Japanese. Oh, you know what I'm saying?

[Dan]

It was like blowjob. Yeah.

[Mike]

We're just taking it out of context. That's what I'm saying. I think that that's. That's a.

[Dan]

Are we the fools?

[Mike]

Yeah. No, to be clear, I'm not saying that's. It's not a. I had. I had to Google it. But again, I don't know. That might just be.

[Dan]

So where are we at on that? I mean, we could cut mythology of Cube.

[Jake]

That's kind of.

[Mike]

Kamibako. Mythology of Cube sounds ominous. And, you know, that's kind of fun.

[Dan]

Sounds cool. Kamibako sounds cool.

[Mike]

We could cut that.

[Dan]

All right, let's cut it.

[Mary]

Let's cut it.

[Jake]

I mean, Mary, you were the one who were.

[Mary]

I'm fighting really hard for brackets.

[Mike]

Oh, yeah. Punctuation is always. That's like the Kingdom Hearts kind of shit.

[Dan]

The brackets, that's the Mount Rushmore. Bad titles. Every Kingdom Hearts game.

[Mike]

Sorry, it's just all.

[Dan]

It's just for Every face is Sora 4 Mike Minatis.

[Mike]

It's simple when you say it out loud. I'm sorry.

[Mary]

He was in chat.

[Mike]

He's caught shrapnel. I'm sorry, Mike. I still have not forgiven him for a second that I thought.

[Jake]

I'll do this for viewers.

[Dan]

Hi, Mike.

[Mike]

Sorry.

[Dan]

All right, so what wins?

[Mike]

I mean, a game I absolutely love. I wish. I wish Metaphor had a better title because I love that game. This is not the last time we're talking about metaphor, but I. I'm kind.

[Jake]

Of with Dan, to be honest. I think that might be.

[Mike]

If it's the first in a new thing for Atlas, then just put. Just make it metaphor. Don't bring red. I don't know.

[Mary]

Yeah. Why put a colon and refantazio, which no one knows what that means.

[Mike]

Star wars went back and added a new hope. Like they just do metaphor. I'm more disappointed in the title because I love that game, so I'm fine with that.

[Mary]

I think that is a disappointing title.

[Jake]

Okay. Fire Escape's worst title of the year is Metaphor. Refantazio. Tazio. I don't know.

[Mike]

What if it's a taser that retazes people in fantasy world?

[Jake]

Oh, we already talked about this.

[Mary]

They're getting so many awards.

[Jake]

This kissed it of the year.

[Dan]

Canceled.

[Jake]

Canceled.

[Dan]

Yeah, but it was also.

[Mary]

But it was Little Kitty, Big City, which I did kiss the unofficial before I canceled. I got kissed one last kish for the cancel.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mary]

And after that, can you actually make it official?

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. You want to type that in for Kishan? Little Kitty, Big City.

[Jake]

Oh, sure. The last one I did for this one here.

[Mary]

Yeah. That is the truth.

[Jake]

I added Kish for coziest as well.

[Dan]

Okay, I'm good for now.

[Mike]

Anything?

[Mary]

I'm good. Thank you.

[Dan]

All right. This is one I love. Best new game. That seems like an old game. This is a game that came out this year. It's an original game, but it's very much meant to be in the spirit, aesthetically, you know, all that. The vibe of the game is hearkening back to a specific era of gaming history.

[Mary]

The nominees are crow country.

[Dan]

Celeste 64.

[Mary]

Jake.

[Mike]

Can you be Mike Arzette, the Jewel of Faramore?

[Dan]

We've got some practice doing this.

[Mary]

Yeah. Can you make it sound like him a little bit more?

[Jake]

Yeah, no, that's his.

[Dan]

Can you fart at the end of it?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Penny's Big Breakaway.

[Dan]

Mini Shoot Adventures.

[Mike]

Grapple Dogs.

[Mary]

That does sound like him. Astro Bot.

[Jake]

UFO 50 Tiny Terry's Turbo Team Yellow Taxi goes vroom.

[Dan]

Good title. All right, I got a couple I would cut here. Celeste 64. Have any of us played it? No.

[Jake]

Well, I haven't.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

Did you?

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

Okay. I wanted to. I like anything that's like a 64. I have such a soft spot for it. Didn't play it. Let's cut. It could be good. I'm curious to play it. And then the other one was, I will offer up many shoot adventures as a cut. It definitely hearkens back to twin stick shooters. It harkens back to Zelda, to Metroid, to lots of old games. But nothing about the look of the game is actually, like, retro aesthetic at all. In fact, the look is the worst part of that game. So I would say take off many shoot adventures as much as it takes inspiration from older games.

[Mary]

Okay. I will follow your lead and say that while I think Grapple Dogs is absolutely inspired by 90s platforming action, I think that it looks so good and plays so smoothly. I don't know if it will compare to some of these that just, like, they just feel like you're playing a game from the past.

[Dan]

Sure, sure.

[Mary]

But I would like to also suggest that we have a serious discussion about Astro Bot, which sure has, like, some elements of, like, classic PlayStation joy.

[Jake]

But, like, I feel like it has the spirit of an old game, but maybe doesn't.

[Dan]

But it literally.

[Mary]

It has rumble control and it has motion control.

[Dan]

Well, I. And I also. I think Mike was the one who put that on there. So I do want to hear that because I. I compliment.

[Mike]

Like, it feels. It reminds me of, like, the glory days of 3D platforming.

[Dan]

Me too. But if. If this is to this category is to, you know, games that. Wait, is that. Oh, that is okay. I thought that might be a different type of can. I thought that might not be alcohol, but. No, you're good. That is alcohol.

[Mary]

You might have gotten his.

[Dan]

Marijuana seltzers are also popular here. I don't know if you want to do that this early. Fast.

[Mike]

I'm a lightweight.

[Dan]

Yeah. Oh, no.

[Mary]

You got that acid can.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah. Big in Minnesota. Jesse Ventura really push for it.

[Mike]

I understand why it's called metaphor. Refantaria.

[Jake]

Go back to the category return.

[Mike]

It's called metaphor because sometimes in our lives I find it taking as off.

[Dan]

I. I think. Yeah, I. I see what you're saying.

[Mike]

It also does a lot of new stuff for platformers.

[Dan]

And if the. The spirit of this one is like a game that really accurately kind of is good at mimicking that. That feel. And there. There are several here. I think they're better ones than Astrobot.

[Mary]

I agree.

[Dan]

Okay. I would say. Have any of you played our Zette, the Jewel of Paramore?

[Mary]

No.

[Jake]

Nope.

[Dan]

I have not either. But we. I think I watched Minati or Grub streaming on Giant Bomb. It is exactly this category. It's those like, kind of like Zelda CDI games where it's like that type of animation and it's very funny. It's very well made. Minati fucking loves it. I know. But none of us played. I watched it. I deeply respect what it was doing, but I don't want to have a game that none of us played win. So just want to put it out there. It's a good one, but not for us, I think.

[Jake]

I can't argue.

[Mike]

Cool. Yellow Taxi goes vroom. Sorry, did you talk about that when I was over there?

[Mary]

No.

[Mike]

Is it. Is it supposed to feel old? It sounded like it was just a fun, modern arcade game.

[Dan]

It's. Visually, it definitely kind of looks like it's in that 3264 bit era arcade type. It's. But it's also. This is best new game that seems like an old game. And I think there are several others that are better games.

[Mary]

Yeah. The fact you put best in there means Yellow Taxi goes bye bye.

[Dan]

Nice.

[Mike]

Oh, it is best. It's a quality thing too.

[Dan]

Yeah. It's not most.

[Mary]

It doesn't say most like new game that looks like an old game.

[Dan]

But I think we should very much factor that in that, like, if it can pull off both being a really good game that looks and feels like an old one, that's the ideal one here. So we're down to Crow Country, Penny's Big Breakaway. UFO 50, Tiny Terry's Turbo team. Ooh, let's just do a quick rundown here of the ones that maybe I played and you haven't. Penny's big breakaway. I don't know if anybody played it. It's very much like a Dreamcast style 3D platformer.

[Mary]

Pick your favorite child. Which one do you want? Penny or Terry? Tiny Toonie, are we.

[Mike]

Yeah, I feel like these are both you.

[Dan]

Tiny Terry is a better game. Let's say Tiny Terry's Turbo.

[Mary]

Okay. See a Penny.

[Dan]

That's a. It's a very condensed 3D kind of collectathon platformer. It's very good pennies. I. I respect what it was trying to do, but it was not that great. So Now Crow Country UFO 50, Tiny Terry Server Team, I feel like we should hear about Crow Country.

[Mary]

Crow country was made as a love letter to Silent Hill era video games.

[Mike]

Resident Evil 32 bit survival horror, PS1 graphics. So we're kind of like.

[Mary]

It is, it is styled like a PS1. It is isometric, top down. You have limited bullets in your gun. You are solving mysteries, unlocking doors with keys. Very Resident Evil. The monsters are fairly scary, but this is also like something you can easily understand and play through. The reason I think this is just so valid in this category is my niece played this game and she's 13. And I think that she got the experience that I had playing my first Resident Evil. And it was so cool that she got that classic Arcadey horror experience that she could pick up and understand and process. And it was like she got to experience a game that we got to experience when we were children in this age. And you just don't get that very much anymore. It's just one of the best examples of an old game done well.

[Dan]

It's also deadly accurate to what it's trying to do because like every PS1 survival horror game, I played it for 25 minutes, got lost and confused, ran out of ammo and quit. So I really. That's not a slight. That is like, yeah, it's one of those. And I suck at it.

[Mike]

Signalis two years ago.

[Mary]

Yeah, and it's very much in the era of Signalis, but like even more so because of the art design. Oh my God. Which is just, just the items in your inventory. They have a 360 rotation when you're looking. I mean it's just so fun, so awesome how they nail it. I think that it's not fair to not have a solid argument for UFO 50 as well though, which is like, I think maybe built for the summer.

[Dan]

That is what that is. Not only one time. It is 50 different full games, all in different genres, all set from like different years. And I know it's like you know, 83 or 84 to 89, which, which is only five or six years, but like you look like NES games and stuff at that time. And you can tell an early NES game versus a late one for sure. And they nailed that perfectly. And the idea of, oh, there's two or three games in this series and seeing like how these fake games, not the real games, but like new games they made old sequels to, does that make sense? Like, and it feels, oh, this one, Mortal 2, you can play as four characters. In the first one, you can only be one and they added these mechanics and stuff. It is so deadly accurate to that age of games. And again, they do it 50 fucking times. And not all of them are the best games in the world. But go rent 50 NES games and tell me that they're all good. They're not. So I think it is just absolutely perfect for this category. I don't know if any game in history has ever been more for this category and it is best new game. That seems like an old game as a whole as a package. It is a very, very good game too. And some of them like intentionally suck because that's kind of how it was back then then. So I think it just nails what it's going for. And Crow Country, I think if UFO 50 had not come out would absolutely be it. But I can't say it's anything but UFO here.

[Mary]

I mean I think it's a really good argument and I like really agree. I will even add to your argument for UFO 50 but I have a full complete thought here. UFO 50 is meant to be a console that was invented back in the day when there could only be a two button controller layout system. And so every game in the 50 only have two button inputs plus directional pad which is a really neat like it's a really neat thought to be like if we were making a console back then. Yes, everything would have the same constraint and I think that that is so indicative of this category. So it is such a brilliant top three. However, this is best new game and I think Crow country is the complete best game. And I just want to say this very clearly. I. I really liked about eight of those UFO 50 games very much. I thought about 20 of them were just straight up bad and there was like 30 whatevs in there. 32 if you want to get me to 50 Crow Country I would rather play than any game in UFO 50 any day of the week.

[Dan]

But. And I disagree with that, but I do know a lot of that is is because I have always respected survival horror more than I've enjoyed playing it. So that's kind of a me thing. I do think it's interesting because Crow country has this one thing it's going for and it does it extremely well. UFO 50 again, all these aren't. It's not WarioWare, these aren't mini games. These are full games and some of them are fairly lengthy and it does miss frequently and sometimes it's intentional and sometimes it's just like ah, this one isn't as fun but it hits pretty frequently. Like I've probably got a good dozen on my favorites list that I want to keep going back to. And some are like kind of genius ideas that like, like new ideas and gameplay mechanics put in a retro wrapping which is a really interesting idea and with clever stuff that you talk about with the hardware like Mooncat where it's like oh A and B move you left and right and to jump you have to hit both where like they easily could have done the thing where it's like oh B will make you jump. But it's like no, we wanted to be able because there were weird ass games back then. They're like well shit, there's only two buttons on the controller and Double Dragon. You gotta hit both of these to do the Super Attack or whatever. I think the fact that they did it so many times in so many different ways and genres and styles and made it all feel so authentic that even though some of them don't hit as hard, in fact maybe most of them don't hit. I think they just nailed it so many times that I find that more impressive than one game that does what it's doing very very well. But I think there's more variety and more examples of it doing well in UFO 50.

[Mary]

It's a tough one and like I think ultimately I think we'll have to go to a jury because I don't think I can.

[Jake]

We don't have a jury. It's just me.

[Mary]

Well, if that's what I mean.

[Dan]

Three vote system and then if there's hung up.

[Mary]

This will be my last.

[Jake]

No, I don't follow those rules but I'll let it.

[Mary]

This will be my last statement about it. This will be my last. I will acknowledge that if UFO 51 I'd be like I get it. Sure, that makes a lot sense.

[Dan]

And also I would feel the same way about.

[Mary]

I would respect either decision. I think they're both excellent. It is. It is my personal opinion that Crow country is the better full like constructed game. It is phenomenal. But I think UFO 50 is like 50 old school games that came out now which is very cool.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's like a mile wide or a mile deep.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And there. And not not to say there aren't deep games in UFO 50 from everything you've said. I've only played like. I've only played like five of them.

[Dan]

There are something that would really surprise me.

[Mary]

Did you like any, were there any that you were like.

[Mike]

Yeah, I like the letting people into the party. I thought that was a cool concept because that was Actually like a cool way to use it. Like a cool thinky NES style kind of strategy game. I also there was the one where you're moving on the grid and you can. There's like the raise platforms. You can buy different abilities. At first I was like, this is dumb. But then I kept playing. I was like, oh, there's some strategy involved.

[Dan]

There's a lot of really strategic ones.

[Jake]

So we've got crow country, UFO 50.

[Mike]

And I didn't play Crow country, so I can't. I'll let.

[Mary]

You're gonna abstain.

[Mike]

I know I play Crow country, so.

[Jake]

I'm going to abstain.

[Mary]

Oh, that's really hard then. I mean I, I mean we could try and do this democratically. I, I mean I can make a decision.

[Mike]

Personally, I would lean toward Crow country because I'm very much like you're a Resident Evil. I love survival horror.

[Dan]

Right.

[Mike]

And I'm more like if you can do one big experience that they're like, that goes deeper and they're really nailing an entire like genre really well that I would lean toward that. But again I also. UFO 50 is such a cool concept and also like it's not that it's not easy to design any single one of those games like with purpose.

[Dan]

Let me offer this. As good as Crow country is at doing that thing, it is not the first game that has done the like callback to 32 bit survival horror. We've seen that with Signalis. We've seen that with a start of the P. Came out a year or two ago, I can't remember. But like a lot of them have done that like intentionally like hey, it's you know, pixelated 3D character tank.

[Mary]

A love letter to a classic game done well.

[Dan]

Yeah. No one has done something on the scale of UFO 50 where we're going to spend seven years making 50 fucking games that are all in different genres. And it's.

[Mary]

And some of them are.

[Mike]

They didn't just make a new game that seems like an old game. They made it like you said, a new console. Basically an entire platform.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah. I mean I think this is a bit like quality versus quantity to me. There are a couple games in UFO 50 I just genuinely adored. There's this one where you play as they kind of look like army men that are. And then you complete things. But to get through the puzzles you actually have to kill your men. They have to either land on spikes.

[Dan]

Oh, that's more immortal. That's a really good one. They turn into rocks and they blow up. And they, yeah, that's a really cool one.

[Mary]

I actually think that's really brilliant game design. It feels to me like an arcade game that I would play and have to put more quarters in because I need more men because I didn't use them efficiently enough. I think there's elements of UFO 50 where I'm like, this feels old because it's maybe not all the way thought through or it feels like there was like a quality discussion here, but like, that's. That's old, baby. Like they were testing out weird decisions back then and like making big gambles and risk risks to play 50 games and have some of them be like absolute bangers. Well, it's pretty cool.

[Dan]

On that specific point, though, on Mortal, I didn't see it as like a quarter muncher kind of arcade style thing. I saw it more like a lemmings thing where it's like, all right, here's a finite amount of things that you have to do and you have to do it right. So it's almost resource management of figuring out. So it's not just like, die, die, die, die, die. Put another quarter in. It's, hey, make sure you're getting the most out of every one of these guys.

[Mary]

That's one of my favorite games, and I think it's great and I think it's brilliantly designed. So that's not a knock on the design. I think that, like, this is a really tough one for me to concede because I think Crow country is the better game. And I will say that. But I will acknowledge that UFO 50 is literally based off of a console that is meant to be from an old school time with nothing but games from that time. And for that, I think it might be the better of this category.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

But I do it begrudgingly. Begrudgingly.

[Dan]

I was trying to let you guys support the conversation.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yes. Crow country is great.

[Mary]

Thank you.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Mary]

Better.

[Mike]

So UFO 50.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

UFO 50. Yes.

[Jake]

All right. Mary was hoping you fight a little more, but you know, you know what?

[Mary]

Him pro country.

[Dan]

Wait, don't punish me for something he said.

[Jake]

It's too late.

[Dan]

You should.

[Jake]

The best new game that seems like an old game is UFO 50.

[Mike]

He almost said.

[Mary]

You, dude.

[Jake]

I was gonna call that if it went to decision, but you kind of conceded and I was like, I did.

[Mary]

I thought that I won. Yeah, I thought that, you know, we're.

[Mike]

Not happy about it.

[Mary]

So many bad games in UFO 50.

[Dan]

I'm not disagreeing.

[Mary]

I think it's a tie. But I do get like that. I. I think because it's built as an old school console, it's like, I get it. Like, that's crazy that they did that.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

I just wish they made a couple better games.

[Dan]

There's some really good ones in there, but we got a winner. Sick.

[Mary]

I hate that guy.

[Dan]

I shook your hand. All right, next up here, Most up its own ass.

[Mary]

And your nominees are Dungeons of Hinterberg.

[Dan]

Lorelei and the laser eyes indica.

[Mary]

1000X resist metaphor.

[Dan]

Refantazio shit. You're not supposed to talk about it. My turn.

[Mary]

Said it.

[Dan]

What Lorelei on here.

[Mike]

I don't know.

[Dan]

I don't think it's up its own ass. I don't think it's nailing what it's going for.

[Mike]

Yeah, I didn't put it on there.

[Mary]

I think I must have been Mary. I just think it, like, insists on itself a little bit. There's a little bit of it that to me, like, yes, it is very brilliant and very smart, but a part of it, I felt like, what if I was ever getting stuck? It was just like, well, you're not smart enough for this game and you're a stupid, dumb, dumb. So I felt like sometimes it was kind of laughing at how smart it thinks it is.

[Jake]

Oh, I feel like it's more laughing.

[Dan]

At, like, how dumb you are.

[Jake]

Maybe not how dumb you are, but how, like, not you. Obtuse it is sometimes. Like, I feel like they intentionally know.

[Dan]

Like, figure it out. Yeah.

[Jake]

How obtuse it is at times. Like, there's a character who shows up and just says nonsense.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. It's a bit arrogant. But I do think it's very good. I sometimes. I don't know why metaphor is on here. Is this just, like a bullish thing to, like, get at a game you don't like?

[Jake]

Who. I wonder who put it.

[Mike]

Mary, Sincerely, like, I had this presentation ready where I showed you screenshots of shit that happens later in the game. If you had been patient enough to play more than 12 minutes, it starts doing. I'm pretty sure metaphor is well aware of how dumb it's being in many, many cases.

[Jake]

I also think it's very earnest. Like, as. Like, I don't. I don't think of it as, like, up its own ass. Like, there are lines, but, like, it feels very earnest in the way it's trying to, like, tell the story about how you can make the world a better place. And like, I don't know. I think there's something.

[Mike]

I will also say the main character is basically like a quieter ichiban kind of in Kasuga in the way that he basically just wants to like, be as good of a person as possible even. But he's also not as like, bumbling as ichiban.

[Jake]

Dan, you can say something.

[Dan]

Oh, no, I'm just looking at this. Are we cutting Lorelei just to check?

[Jake]

I think we should, but I don't.

[Dan]

I think we should.

[Mary]

Metaphor. It's not up its own ass.

[Dan]

Do you think fantasy can impact reality?

[Mary]

I don't even think you should be speaking.

[Mike]

You're clinging to the one bullet that of ammunition that you have because you literally could not sit through it.

[Mary]

Right.

[Dan]

I played 12 minutes. I don't know what the I'm talking about.

[Mike]

Yeah, no, I think metaphor is actually. Yeah, earnest is a very good word to describe it.

[Dan]

Okay, let me say this. I've never seen a second of a thousand x resist. But based solely on the things I have people I've seen people say about.

[Mike]

This game, we put it under most Dan asking of the year. I think it's probably a good sign that it's up its ass.

[Dan]

The way people talk about this game, you would think it's just solving every problem and every philosophical question anyone's ever had and every world issue. And it just seems like there's no way this game is an episode up his own ass. Right?

[Mike]

I don't know.

[Mary]

I. I think just for the sake of the fact that you can talk so much about games you've never played, you should actually be nominated for up your own ass.

[Dan]

Can you wanna put me on here? Just go ahead and put me on there.

[Mike]

Just for once. I'm not the one being accused of. Of game pretentious.

[Mary]

It blows my mind how much you have so much to say about a game. You have put zero minutes in or less than 12 minutes in.

[Dan]

Let's see what people say about this game.

[Mary]

You don't have.

[Mike]

Who put that on here?

[Mary]

You don't have a card to play. I don't understand why you're speaking.

[Dan]

No, I'm just putting it on there to say that, like, I am wary of this game because of the way people talk about it.

[Jake]

I have played some of this game. I started it up and I got to like the first line and I hit alt F4 and I was like, I don't. I don't remember what it was, but I was like, this is 100% not my vibe on Steam. It says I have one minute play to that game. So I don't know if I can talk on it either.

[Dan]

Well, I think that's telling. I think that's telling. I will say I made it 12 times further into metaphor. Refantazio.

[Mike]

Why did. Who put Dungeons of Hinterberg on here?

[Mary]

I did.

[Mike]

What about that is up its ass?

[Mary]

I actually liked it, but I just think it had. I probably could have also put it in for talking. Maybe I did, and we cut it. But, like, there are just elements of that where it's obviously saying, like, look how many different elements we shoved in this game. But it doesn't actually do any of them exceptionally well. The thing that I think it really does great is when you're in these dungeons, there's physical platform puzzles that are really interesting to solve, but it's muddied with, like, all these design systems and making sure you're buying games, gifts for people, and being friends with people. And you meet this person who's a writer. I think they're, like, a journalist.

[Mike]

They're, like, doing the parody of, like, a vice reporter.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

So obnoxious. And I just. I think it just insists upon itself a little bit, which is like, oh.

[Mike]

My God, the irony. His. You start to find out throughout the game that he actually is not going to any of these places he purports to be reporting on. He's just talking about them, even though he hasn't experienced them firsthand.

[Mary]

Oh, that's really fascinating because, you know, I was actually thinking that that person was so up his own ass. That's why Dungeons of Hinterberg deserve to be nominated. But the more I see it, I would actually cut that in favor of Dan making top three.

[Dan]

Okay, I see.

[Mike]

Wait, wait. Actually, to Dungeons of Hinterberg. I agree with everything you said. I don't think it's up its ass. I think it's just bloated because I do think the puzzles. I wish that team had focused on, like, just doing a Zelda. Like, that's.

[Dan]

That's the thing.

[Mike]

They did really well in the puzzles and the. The platforming and whatnot.

[Dan]

When she described it on. On the podcast, I was like, that sounds awesome. A couple dozen, like, Zelda dungeons.

[Mary]

I like it too, but it was.

[Dan]

The parts where it's, like, in between, where it's like, I don't want to talk to some asshole about his boombox or something.

[Mike]

It's like, that's also elements in the overalls. Like, why do you need this?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

So inconsequential.

[Jake]

Should I not cut it then?

[Dan]

I think Dungeons.

[Mike]

I was.

[Dan]

I think you put it back on. I like Dan Reich.

[Mike]

Oh, no, no, done. I would say we. You can keep dungeons there. I definitely don't think that should win, though.

[Mary]

Well, we're at the point where if it's not going to win, it needs to.

[Jake]

Do you want me to talk about it?

[Dan]

Please.

[Jake]

Do you know what it's about?

[Dan]

Nuns.

[Jake]

It is at the Russian Orthodox. Russia. Russian Orthodox Church in the, I think, turn of the century, like end of the 1800s. And you play a nun and there's a pray button or there's a. There's a. What is that called? Genoflect.

[Mike]

I don't know.

[Dan]

Father son business.

[Mike]

There's a button.

[Jake]

There's no combat. It's very, like, introverted. There's a lot of philosophical discussions. It is shot like. Oh, what's his name? He did like, poor things. Oh, the lobster man shot Yorgos Lan. Not shot because it's a game, but it is, like, framed like a Yorgos Lanthimos film in terms of, like, these really wide angles.

[Mike]

So it is. Is it weird just because it doesn't have anything important to say?

[Jake]

No, it does. I mean, it's.

[Mike]

Now it has.

[Jake]

It has interesting things to say, but it is.

[Mike]

No, I love it.

[Jake]

I think up its own ass.

[Mary]

I think that's worth keeping. I think we should remove A Thousand X Resist. It is one of the most powerful games I have heard from other people, because I haven't.

[Dan]

I've also heard that that's like.

[Jake]

No, like, latest.

[Mary]

This is three people that I respect very much. Number one game of the year.

[Mike]

Oh, are you serious?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Dan]

I think Dan Reichard's an everyman.

[Mike]

And I think A Thousand X Resist, and I mean this with all the love of my heart, sounds like the kind of game Chris Plant would have, like, slacked me about first thing in the morning on a Monday when I worked at Polygon.

[Mary]

You have to.

[Mike]

I'm surprised he hasn't texted me about it.

[Mary]

People are saying it's phenomenal, but I haven't played it, so I don't think we should speak on it. Unlike someone who feels like they get to speak not only for their own inexperience, but I just want to express now that you're nominated.

[Dan]

Yes. I believe that it's an honor just to be nominated. Yes.

[Mary]

Can I make a point or no?

[Jake]

Do you want to make your point quickly?

[Mary]

Are you going to rule on whether or not Dan can be nominated?

[Jake]

No, I'm going to make Dan the winner.

[Mike]

She's arguing with the judge.

[Mary]

Oh, go ahead. Please.

[Jake]

Most up its own ass is Dan Reichert.

[Dan]

I won.

[Mike]

I won.

[Dan]

Idiots.

[Mary]

So we don't need to justify this, but I'm going to anyway. There's only one. One person that needed to use sound bites from other people to insist that they were right. There's only one person who stole words from other people so that they could say that they were right.

[Dan]

Yeah, the soundboard. Yeah, they're probably on. Oh, that's the other soundboard. Okay.

[Mary]

That is so up your own ass. You deserve this award. You should wear it every day.

[Mike]

This is like.

[Mary]

It is your honor.

[Mike]

This is like in a TV show when you find out in the finale that one character never actually forgave them the other one for something in, like, season one.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. So you've been carrying this the whole time? Yeah.

[Mike]

She's got the gun to your face. You're like, what?

[Dan]

Why?

[Mike]

It's like, because of the time you made me say shit with a sound.

[Dan]

You made me agree with you on a thing. I didn't agree with you. All right. It's an honor to win.

[Mike]

You're proving.

[Dan]

You're proving the Stan is right.

[Gizmo]

Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back. And we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan and Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan and Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe to toe for right at 30 years. We have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this. Everybody is a somebody, and nobody is a nobody. Visit forthepeople.com to learn about our firm, Morgan and Morgan. For the people injured, visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Dan]

You. Thank you.

[Mary]

Okay, next.

[Mike]

Best mechanic. This one's going to be fun.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. Your nominees are.

[Mary]

Memories in Prince of Persia.

[Dan]

Hoverboard In Echo Point Nova.

[Mike]

Echoes in Legend of Zelda. Echoes of Wisdom.

[Mary]

The yo yo in Animal well.

[Dan]

Possessing People in Slitter Head Omni Movement.

[Mike]

Call of duty. Black Ops 6.

[Mary]

Stratagems in Helldivers.

[Mike]

This is gonna be tough.

[Dan]

Yeah, there's some good stuff here. Who needs a beer, drink or something?

[Mike]

Where your corkscrew is.

[Dan]

Yeah, I'll get you one.

[Mary]

I'll take a beer. Can you give me a light? Like a. Yeah, a blue. Yeah, pilsner with pilsner for me too.

[Mike]

You want a blue beer?

[Mary]

A blue. A bb.

[Mike]

Bb. Thank you.

[Jake]

What is that? Is that a.

[Mike]

So it's just a sex. I use a classic corkscrew.

[Dan]

I don't know how to.

[Mary]

Don't put it on your.

[Mike]

I'll use in a second. That thought did occur to me.

[Jake]

Did you guys already do the. Say what? Nominated for this?

[Mike]

Yeah, we just did.

[Dan]

We just.

[Mike]

We're just waiting for Dan because he's gonna have thoughts. I'm good, thank you.

[Mary]

Thanks, bud.

[Mike]

Thank you.

[Jake]

All right, I have one. Well, maybe not get rid of, but I want to explain why I've put possessing people in Slitterhead in here. So in that game you like hosts or you take a bunch of people as hosts. I don't think the game itself is very good. However, you can do this thing where you can. If there's something down below that you need to get to and it's a long drop, you can literally just jump off and possess someone before your body. So you like, like possess someone and then your old body dies and everyone freaks out and they're like, oh my God, this guy just killed himself. And you're just like, that's cool.

[Mike]

It's like a scrapper.

[Jake]

But I heard the game itself.

[Mike]

Denzel Washington.

[Dan]

Which one?

[Mike]

There's that Washington movie where the. The twist at the very end is that the demon that had been possessed.

[Dan]

Fallen.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Dan]

He goes 1996 and it about the Rolling Stone song.

[Mike]

He goes to the cabin. Yes.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

He gets the cabin cat at the end.

[Dan]

That's a Fallen podcast. Hell yeah. Fallen Hell. Yeah. Mov's cool.

[Mike]

Bonus episode. We'll talk about Fallen soon.

[Dan]

The swapper scops anything where you can just like jump into someone.

[Mike]

Can't you do the same thing in Dishonored too, to break your fall? You possess or. No, cuz that is not like Corvo or Emily actually goes into them. They just can. Yeah, you can. I think in that. It's been a while.

[Jake]

I mean there's other things you can do. Like you can possess someone and you can like make them blow up and then possess something else and then the human blows up.

[Dan]

This all sounds very fun, but the.

[Jake]

The game itself is shit.

[Dan]

And that's what I've heard. That's a bummer because this sounds like a cool mechanic. So do you think the Game being not great is. Does that hurt the chances of.

[Jake]

Absolutely.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

All right.

[Jake]

I think it's one we can cut, but I wanted to at least, like, say it and see how people feel about.

[Dan]

Sure, sure.

[Jake]

Feel about it.

[Dan]

Okay. The yo yo in animal. Well, is that the. Like, I like.

[Mary]

I actually don't think it is. It might be. The dead.

[Dan]

I like. The Frisbee is the first one that my mind is.

[Mary]

The Frisbee is probably actually what should be in there. And I am willing to.

[Dan]

Let's swap it out. Let's swap it out.

[Mike]

What does the Frisbee do?

[Mary]

The Frisbee has multiple uses, which is why I think it's really good for this category mechanic being like, how do you use it? How does it interact? How does it evolve your gameplay? So when you first start out, I think it might be. It's the first thing I got. But you can get different things in different orders in that game. But for me, I got it first. Its use is you're throwing a Frisbee and it bounces off of walls. So you can use it to hit buttons or trigger levers or distract dogs and stuff. So that's like another one that's totally different, which is mechanically in animal. Well, there are things that try to kill you, but the Frisbee, the dog will chase the Frisbee so you can get away. And then my favorite thing, and this is why it's on here, is later. It took me a while to learn this the whole time. You can also use it for traversal, so you can throw it, and if you jump on it, you can travel across the entire map on it. It's nuts.

[Dan]

It's. I think everyone had that moment where they organically discovered it, because, again, it doesn't explain stuff. I think we were. What category was it? We were talking about this most. Dewey. Dewey, yeah. And I think one for a reason.

[Mary]

It's fucking crazy. Everybody probably is the exact same map response. When you find out that you could have always traveled with the Frisbee and you're always like, oh, my.

[Jake]

Even, like, you get to one of those rooms where it's just like, a long stretch of water or something, and you just throw it against the wall and jump on it, and you ride, like, forever in your spin.

[Dan]

But no one tries because everyone's used to, like, oh, you get this thing in a Metroidvania and I use it for this or whatever.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

And it's like, it gives you several things to do with it. Like you said, buttons, dogs, Stuff like that. So it's like, okay, this is useful in these circumstances. And then you always find out by accident, you're just jumping around doing. And then you land on it and you see what's happening. You're like, whoa. And it's not like you unlock something you didn't reach a certain level and you can do that. It's just. It was always there right in front of you. Like, I think that's so cool. Like, I think some people liked Animal well more than I did. Like, I just saw Credits once. I didn't do the 19 different endings or whatever, but those moments were, like, undeniable. Like, when you realize that, oh, it deserves.

[Mary]

It deserves to stay. It is a brilliant mechanic.

[Jake]

So I think one in here that is worth cutting are the Echoes in Zelda. Because that menu is such a pain in the ass. As cool as that is, every time I had to open that menu and, like, search through it, I'm like, what.

[Mary]

Was I looking for again? I don't remember.

[Mike]

Half of them also, like, the pathing on some of those is just bad. And then half of them force you to become Link in the game where the whole thing was to become a Zelda.

[Mary]

It's that fun, quite frankly, that you would say that it's the first game where you actually play as Zelda. But if you want to stab someone, you have to turn into Link.

[Dan]

If you want to do some cool shit, be linked.

[Mike]

It feels like. What was the Disney movie, Princess and the Frog. Yeah, like the first. This is not at all the same thing, but it's like, oh, it's the first. Not White Princess, but then she's a toad half the time. It's like, well, that's not really what you told me it was going to be.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Frog. She was a frog.

[Mary]

There was, like, just so much opportunity.

[Dan]

He was a frog.

[Mary]

And I think they missed the opportunity.

[Dan]

If it went hard on being like, this is a different. Like, it's got the wrappings of a Zelda game with you're getting the big key, you're going to dungeons, fighting ball bosses. But it's like, hey, you have to figure out how to do this smartly with all these echoes. I think that would have been cooler than like. Or you could press a button and hit it with a sword a bunch, you know?

[Mary]

Yeah, I agree.

[Dan]

Some stuff you do have to use the Echoes. And there are very, like, again, I like this game. It's an 8 out of 10 for me. But I think the promise of the Echoes was better. Than the reality. And again, the actual functionality. You know, Jeff Grubb mentioned, like, I did start using this where, like, he would just pause and go to it on the bigger, bigger grid pause screen. And that's a little better than cycling through 40, 50 things horizontally. But it's still like every time you need to switch that shit a lot. Like, I need fire for this. Oh, I'm in combat.

[Jake]

I need multiple times a battle. Sometimes where you're just scrolling through.

[Mary]

It's just a cool concept. I just think it's clunky and I think they could have refined it more.

[Jake]

So I think what's also more damning is that menu was used in Tears of the Kingdom, and I feel like people were also annoyed in Tears of the Kingdom by that. And then it came back and it's like.

[Mike]

Like, I don't want to.

[Jake]

We talked about it.

[Mike]

It's like you need, like a dishonored to, like, several radial wheels that you can go through or something like that.

[Dan]

I cut it.

[Mike]

Yeah, I respect it.

[Mary]

I kind of already cut. You were just talking.

[Mike]

I. I was the one. I think I suggested putting memories in there. I think it's an awesome mechanic. It's. It's really good. But I also think it's more of just like a quality of life kind of thing.

[Mary]

Is that the picture?

[Mike]

It is.

[Mary]

Pictures is like.

[Mike]

It's great. It's awesome.

[Mary]

Is it innovative? Is it the first I. I want.

[Dan]

It's a. I love Metroid Mania. It's one of my favorite genres. And it's the first time, at least I can remember that. Like, it's like a button. It was like, what was it up on the D pad or something where.

[Mike]

It'S like, hold up.

[Dan]

Boom. You can do this thing. And then it's on the map. It's right there. And so, like, how many animal. Well, was actually really guilty of this, where I would just look at the map and I'd be like, what is that? I guess I'll walk all the way over there. And then I'd get all the way there, and I'm like, oh, right, I couldn't do it because of this. Whereas, like, if I can literally take a picture of it, like in Prince of Persia, I'm not wasting my time getting to a warp zone and going there or whatever. It's like, oh, right. That's the place where I needed to do the super jump or whatever. I thought that was so elegantly included. And I can't think of one. Like, obviously a million games you could Do a screen capture on like Steam or Shadowplay or whatever. But like this is just built into the game on every console and I used it all the time. I thought it was fucking great.

[Mike]

Yeah, no, it's awesome. Compared to some of these, it strikes me more as like a quality of life thing, which does not mean it's not a good mechanic.

[Dan]

But yeah, it's like would auto. Well, I wouldn't put this on the same level as like auto save. That's more just direct quality of life. This is a mechanic. But I see what you mean.

[Mike]

I'm saying compared to some other stuff on here that I'm really feeling really.

[Mary]

Strongly about the other stuff, and then discuss what falls short. I mean, I have to really say you're gonna have to really fight hard for this hoverboard. Like, a hoverboard is not new or innovative and it's also not a mechanic.

[Jake]

There's also one in metaphors.

[Mike]

It just does let. Yeah, there's the sword. I love that it lets. That's. I should have put the sword surfing in here. I do like that you can just completely go up any surface. I didn't know. That's.

[Dan]

That's the shit I love where it's just like when you realize that, oh, I can. The sprint button is just like, oh, I have a hoverboard now and I can wall run.

[Mary]

I go, that's not a mechanic.

[Dan]

A hoverboard.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's a mechanic.

[Mary]

I think they're just like. Basically we're like, we want you to be able to travel very freely.

[Mike]

It's one small part. Not. Not small. It's one part of an overarching, like, really fun dumb movement system.

[Dan]

And let me put it this way, I fucking love it. I do think it would probably be the next logical cut.

[Mary]

Okay, great.

[Jake]

Well, okay, what about. What about Omni Movement and Call of Duty?

[Dan]

That is.

[Jake]

Cuz.

[Mike]

That is. Sorry.

[Jake]

Well, I was just gonna say I play all of them, I enjoy them, but like, that is fine. But I feel like the. The marketing hyped it up more than I actually.

[Dan]

I don't know. Like, I feel like as I play it more, I'm enjoying it more. Like all these little, like when you're just running around like in the campaign and stuff, I was like, oh, yeah, it does feel like I can smoothly kind of move in directions and stuff. But all these little things, like in multiplayer now it's like, oh, okay, I'm laying down on top of a bus and I'm trying to like, kind of turn where it's like. It was very, kind of clunky before, and now it's just very smooth. And like the way the animation factors.

[Mike]

In Omni movement plus supine prone is what they call it. So it's like. I think the moment it really clicked for me how awesome the whole game is trying to make you feel like this rogue GI Joe, basically within the CIA. But the moment it really clicked was on Subsonic, my favorite map, second or third favorite map. And we were playing Hardline, the one where the zone you have to capture moves. Is that Hardline?

[Dan]

Are you thinking Headquarters Hardline? I think I turned that one off. I don't do a lot of the zone ones.

[Mike]

It's the one where the zone moves. It might be headquarters. And I was running out of the hangar and it's pockmarked with craters from shells, and I was like, oh, perfect. And I was sprinting and I dove in and in midair went prone and then turned around on my back and killed a guy at the rim of the crater. I was like, oh, that's the shit that I can do with this now. Also, like, I went back. I went back to play older black ops games recently after I played this campaign, and I was like, oh, man, it feels weird to not have this now. Like, I cannot imagine next year's Call of Duty without it. Like, it changed how? I wouldn't say it's as impactful as, like, Titanfall 2's movement was, but, like, you look at advanced warfare, that's staccato kind of rocket strafing. I would say this is actually one of the more meaningful movement changes in Call of Duty, which there are a.

[Dan]

Lot of things that make this the.

[Mike]

Best Call of Duty Zombies. You can backpedal sprint while a shit ton of zombies are chasing you. It makes zombies more fun too, too.

[Dan]

Okay. There are a lot of things that make this Call of Duty the best one in a long time, but Omni Movement is like, top three. Yeah. Yeah. I'd say we keep it for now. Okay. Let's say this stratagems.

[Mike]

And that was mine.

[Jake]

I think that's.

[Mike]

Yeah. The fact that I do like it a lot. The fact that it's a cheat code you have to put in and you start memorizing it, you're like, left, left. No, like, while it's on.

[Jake]

But also, like, the.

[Dan]

The.

[Jake]

The visuals of it are so cool.

[Mike]

Every fucking coming down from the sky, you feel. It feels.

[Mary]

It's so sick when you're like, you're losing a battle, and someone's like, I just got a refresh for laser cannon. And they're trying to put it in while they're shooting lots of things. And then you see the laser just annihilate all these bugs. And collectively, everyone in the group is clapping. It is the stratagems that essentially make that game so exciting every time.

[Mike]

And I also love that when you're trying to call one in that's like, 12 characters long. It's like trying to open the lock when a murderer is chasing you or, like, diffuse a bomb, you're like, fuck. Like, you can actually fuck up a stratagem because you're losing your cool while you're trying to do something. It's.

[Dan]

All right, let me offer this because I agree with everything we just said. Cut Memories in Prince of Persia and Hoverboard in Echo Point Nova. Okay. And we keep Frisbee Omni movement and stratagems.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Mary]

Yes. Yes.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

Cool. That's. Man, those are fun mechanics.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Ooh.

[Mike]

What?

[Dan]

God. There's something about that Frisbee moment that is so.

[Mary]

Yeah, the Frisbee is brilliant. And it's really. I think something that we should discuss now that we're at our top three is, like, innovation. I think that there are other games where you get to call down really cool stuff and it's. And it alters the game for everybody. And it's like this really exciting moment.

[Dan]

Like a kill streak in Call of Duty or something.

[Mary]

Yeah, something like that. But I think I've never seen a mechanic where you have an item that you're using in three completely unique ways that the game just doesn't tell you. And every player will have that aha moment where they discover that you can manipulate this item in a very unique way and that it's traversal. It's actually your fast travel.

[Mike]

My counterpoint to that is Legend of Zelda. Echo's wisdom has the same exact thing with the bird and the locking you to it and pulling you across the.

[Dan]

I don't know how, like, with the Frisbee, it seems required. And so it's like, that was considered and stuff. I think it's very cool.

[Mike]

So it's not like an immersive sim, like, cool little.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I mean, that's awesome. I love that. But, like, I feel like the Frisbee.

[Mary]

Was a considered thing.

[Jake]

I also think, like, when you look at animal wealth, there are so many cool material mechanics in that game. Like, we, like, had a different one here that we were like, that Also is cool. But we decided on this. But there's so many.

[Dan]

The bubble.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Mechanics that you can use in so many different ways that, like, I don't know, I almost think, like, animal. Well, should just be best mechanic.

[Mary]

It really is. I really. I really have to fight for it. And I just have to say, like, that sounds cool.

[Mike]

I'm fine.

[Mary]

Stratagems existed in Helldivers 1, right? This is Helldivers 2.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mike]

Not the same way. You didn't. You didn't use Chico input them.

[Mary]

Yes, you did. Through.

[Mike]

You threw flares. I played that game for like 50 hours.

[Mary]

I do. You use it. You use a keypad.

[Mike]

Is that true? I'll Google it if I'm wrong.

[Mary]

Yeah. I'll bet you a beer. Yeah.

[Mike]

No, I'm not betting you. Because if I'm admitting you might be right. I could sworn you just threw flares.

[Mary]

Yeah. You used the D pad in Helldivers 1 to.

[Dan]

I think she's right.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Jake]

But, Mike, you should argue. Yell at her.

[Mike]

No, I know when I'm wrong.

[Jake]

Threaten to kill her.

[Mary]

You beat me.

[Jake]

Threaten to kill her.

[Mary]

Stratagem.

[Mike]

No, I believe you. I trust you.

[Jake]

Someone in the chat did say that. That was in Helldivers 1.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

So I've said six times that I believe, but you should probably check.

[Jake]

Yeah. You are an asshole.

[Dan]

Yeah. Wow. Oh, God.

[Jake]

Is it. Did you confirm it?

[Mike]

Yes, I said 12 times.

[Dan]

Look at Mr. Confident over there.

[Jake]

I don't think Mike believes you still. Can you? Oh, no.

[Dan]

Hi. Man. I think Frisbee is a really cool winner here.

[Mike]

To Jake's point, I would be fine with just putting an animal well, but.

[Dan]

I like narrowing down specifically because that Frisbee moment is like.

[Jake]

The Frisbee is the coolest, but I think that game in Generals are cool too.

[Mary]

But the Frisbee has, like, three different use cases, which is why I think it's such an interesting material.

[Jake]

Even, like, how fast travel works is kind of cool.

[Dan]

And it's a fucking Frisbee. And they found, like, several interesting ways to use it. Like. Yeah, let's. Let's do Frisbee.

[Mary]

That's very cool.

[Mike]

Cool.

[Dan]

All right.

[Jake]

Fire Escape's best mechanic of 2024 is Frisbee and animal.

[Mike]

Well.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

That's excited about that.

[Dan]

That's a great one.

[Mary]

That's a big win.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Dan]

All right, next up, we were talking about echoes recently. Best Echo and echoes of wisdom. Your nominees are.

[Mike]

P Hat Water Block Spiked Roller bomb.

[Dan]

Fish Table Shark Fan Crow that steals money. Okay, let's Just keep water block. Water block, I feel like is a front runner here also.

[Mike]

There's just. It's hard. Yeah.

[Dan]

I think we take table off.

[Mary]

You're off.

[Mike]

I was gonna say table.

[Mary]

Yeah. Table is the workhorse blown away that you bring up table first. It's the number one echo that I've used in that entire game.

[Dan]

I'm offended over here.

[Jake]

Not bed. I feel like bed should.

[Dan]

Yeah, bed is, like, longer.

[Mike]

So you.

[Mary]

Oh, wait, I think I meant bed.

[Mike]

She wrote table in all cabs.

[Dan]

It went nuts.

[Mary]

She was about to kill my bed. The original bed.

[Dan]

I was going to say. I don't remember using table.

[Mary]

Can you replace table with bed?

[Dan]

Have you been sleeping on a table your whole life and didn't know it?

[Mike]

Ken, Eating on a table, eating on your bed.

[Mary]

I told you, I wrote some of these when I was drunk.

[Dan]

I thought it was weird when we went to her wedding thing that under a bedroom. It was just a picnic table with a blanket on it.

[Mike]

But my back was fucked for a while.

[Mary]

The original bed is really important because you can also get hearts through it.

[Dan]

Yes. Okay. Well, now it's making more sense.

[Mary]

Yeah, it's making more sense. I think I was thinking. So we were. We were doing this. I was watching I Think youk Should Leave.

[Jake]

That's what I was thinking.

[Mary]

I was watching the episode of Table.

[Mike]

Freddy Krueger has my beds.

[Mary]

And I think I thought that beds were tables. Anyway, I'm glad that bed's on here.

[Dan]

With bed stand for a while. Let's take off. Spiked roller. When I got spiked roller, I thought it was so cool because it was so big and wide and, like, great, I'm gonna throw these giant spike things at things. But, like, it always hits something and doesn't actually do the thing you want. So good in concept, not great.

[Mike]

And I'm also. I, I. I loved getting the shark because all of a sudden you get the apex predator of water in the temple and you just summon him in the. Summon it in the water and it kills everything. But it's not as cool as the bombfish. If we're talking aquatic echoes. I would cut the shark off.

[Dan]

I put the fan on there because I thought it was funny at times. There's the green fan that you could pick up and just walk around and just shoot dudes off the edge and everything.

[Mary]

It's an honor to be nominated.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

But it's not one that get out of here fan.

[Dan]

I sort by most used and fan was not anywhere near that top ten.

[Mike]

Yeah. I'M gonna. I'll. I should say we should take crow that steals money off. That was mine. I like that there is a specific bird that actually makes enemies. Drop money and rupees, but also the pathing. Like, any of the birds just waiting for him, like, it dies, and then the guy moves it, dies and misses. Then another bird kills him. So you have to summon two more. And then. Oh, I summoned too many. So that just replaced my first one.

[Dan]

I wanted to like the system so much more than I. I did.

[Mike]

This game felt like a first, not a first draft, but, like, it wasn't the final.

[Dan]

Yeah. Okay. So, okay. I put pee hat on just because, like, especially earlier.

[Mike]

What I just. The phrase pee hat.

[Jake]

You have no idea what that is?

[Mary]

I don't even know.

[Dan]

It's a big thing. It's been in, like, every Zelda game where it's, like, just a big up plant with, like, a flower and then it's got the, like, things called a pee hat. Yeah. Yeah. It's called the pea hat and. Or especially early on, there would be.

[Mike]

Like, a poop shirt. Sorry, you were.

[Dan]

You're saying I just got a weird. I'm on do not disturb, and I was like, why do my watches vibrating? It's like it's being too loud in here. I just thought early on it was helpful and, like, there was armored enemies and stuff. Like, here's a big thing that spins and has spikes. Your.

[Mike]

Your watch tells you when it's too loud in the room you're in.

[Dan]

I got a new watch, and it does that. I need to turn that off.

[Mike]

Yeah, I think your. Wouldn't your ears do that?

[Dan]

Okay, Mr. Caveman Retro. Get with the times, brother. I said take off the ad.

[Mike]

You're too horny. Stop. You're at a museum.

[Mary]

It's like, it's time for me to breathe.

[Mike]

You're looking at a fucking sarcophagus in the Egyptian exhibit's like, dehornify now Loudly near families.

[Mary]

Your boner is visible when your boner tug.

[Dan]

Is that.

[Mary]

Okay, Caveman? My watch tells me what my boner.

[Mike]

Apple to do is just tell us things that our body already knew.

[Dan]

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. All right, Fiat's gone. We got our three. It's water block, bomb, fish, and bed all caps, man.

[Mike]

The bed's really the water block in the bed.

[Dan]

The water block is like. Water block's hilarious, too, because you can put it down and then you can do the bind thing to an enemy and just drag them into water and they drown. Like, in the middle of the field.

[Mike]

But you can really, like, really break a lot of the game with the water block if you do the. If you do the jump and summon.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

You'll do, like, making endless stairs.

[Dan]

Yeah. That's why it's kind of fun.

[Mike]

You can use it on the Frisbee in a way.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You use it in, like, dumb combat ways. And then it's also incredible for traversal and getting around and stuff. And it's just like a fun, weird thing to make a cube of water anywhere.

[Mary]

Water is super useful for both traversal and combat.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Bed is also extremely useful for traversal, especially early game. I think it's probably my most used. And it makes you heal.

[Dan]

It is very funny that in a Zelda game, you can. In the middle of a boss fight in a dungeon, you can just spawn a bed and take a nap.

[Mary]

And there's something to be said. I mean, do we all do that? Oh, it's like in the middle of a boss fight.

[Dan]

One second. Just, like, get a quick one in.

[Mary]

That's pretty funny. And I think they. You can. They let you have fun with that.

[Mike]

You can regain hearts by sleeping in the bed.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Oh, man.

[Mike]

I guess I never lost.

[Dan]

There's a reason it's an okay caps here.

[Mary]

Yeah, there's a reason at any time. Over the wrong word.

[Mike]

I think. I think I just. I just don't think I'd let the enemies take too many hearts away to begin with. Maybe that's why I didn't know. Yeah, maybe it's very. I like the bed. I like the water block. The bomb fish is just more of a gimmick.

[Dan]

Hey, Mr. Wrestling here.

[Jake]

Fallen.

[Dan]

Yeah, no, you're using it in the actual English language word. Fallen, boys.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's a cool club name. Have you seen Fallen?

[Dan]

You see Fallen?

[Mike]

Have you seen fallen?

[Dan]

I think John Goodman's in.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Oh, you have fallen. Club with the cat.

[Dan]

Fallen. Yeah.

[Mike]

Jake, have you seen fallen? No.

[Mary]

Why are we high fiving?

[Dan]

Wow. I don't know.

[Mike]

I'm fine with the bed.

[Dan]

Yeah. It also floats in water, so you can make, like, bridges across the water.

[Mike]

God damn it. I didn't even know that either.

[Dan]

Let's go bed. Let's go bed. Yeah. All right. Sure.

[Jake]

Bed.

[Mary]

When we're all done with this amazing fifth anniversary podcast. We're not gonna sleep in water blocks.

[Mike]

I wish I could.

[Jake]

Anyway, Best echo in Echoes of Wisdom is bed. The bed.

[Mary]

Beer. Beer. Beer. Bed. Bed. Bed.

[Dan]

Next up is one that I think is most prone to us adding Things to as we do it.

[Mike]

Because by definition the winner is never actually on the list.

[Dan]

Yeah. It's the thing we forgot came out this year.

[Mary]

Your nominees are Mario vs Donkey Kong.

[Dan]

Skull and Bones.

[Mary]

What?

[Mike]

Foam Stars.

[Dan]

Alone in the Dark, Hellblade 2, Senua's, whatever.

[Mike]

Star Wars Outlaws.

[Dan]

Black Myth, Wukong, Sand Land.

[Mike]

Rise of the Ronin, Suicide Squad.

[Dan]

Kill the Justice League, Contra, operation galuga.

[Mike]

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.

[Dan]

I would say so I have so.

[Mike]

Many we can cut off right now.

[Dan]

I mean Blackmuth right away.

[Jake]

I feel like.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's a big one.

[Mary]

Yeah. Discuss this game.

[Dan]

Cut off. Black Myths.

[Mike]

Star Wars Outlaws. Like also I did definitely didn't forget that came out this year.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mike]

Like I. I don't think it was the best game.

[Dan]

I think the perfect one here is because there are ones like no one cares about Contra Operation Galaga because Contra sucked forever. So it's like, yeah, we all forgot it came out. But also it was never.

[Jake]

But we were never supposed to remember.

[Mary]

So forgotten means it's something we shouldn't have forgotten.

[Dan]

So I think the ultimate winner for this category is always like, oh shit, this is a high. This should have been a high profile thing. And we forgot about it completely.

[Mary]

100%.

[Mike]

I'm torn on Suicide Squad because I remember that came out because I hated it so much.

[Dan]

So you remembered it.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

So maybe we take that off.

[Jake]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

It was a huge flop.

[Mike]

But like we remember it was like January, wasn't it?

[Dan]

Yeah. And like that's why like Concord wouldn't be on here. Cuz like that was such a story that like, no, I'm not gonna forget.

[Mike]

Rise of the Ronin. I forgot about until right now. I did eight hours of that.

[Mary]

I think Skull and Bones made a few waves.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Also that I think is more a fact that like we've been waiting for it to come out for eight years and it finally. More than that.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And it did. It's like, oh, right. Yeah.

[Mary]

It had its moment of popularity. Maybe it was in Early Access. But the point is, is like I don't think people were like, what is that? People know what Skull and Bones is.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Dark. Isn't that.

[Jake]

I'll say like Sand Land is one that I don't think should be on this list.

[Dan]

It wasn't.

[Jake]

I don't think that game was great. But like considering like the. The creator who passed away and everything, I think this year as well. And especially. Oh yeah, I don't know that that.

[Dan]

Came and it wasn't hyped up. Enough. It was like.

[Jake]

It wasn't like, you. You have to play this game.

[Dan]

You know, it got like an SGF trailer where people were like, oh, interesting. And then no one really talked about it.

[Mary]

So I'd like to discuss Luigi's Mansion, because I played Luigi's Mansion and loved it and, like, bought it for people in my family. No, I didn't know two came out.

[Dan]

That's interesting because, like, this is a re release of Luigi Mansion 2, which came out, like, 12 years ago. Oh, so 3.

[Mike]

But, like. 3.

[Dan]

3. Okay, 3.

[Jake]

This 2. HD came out, like, a month ago.

[Mike]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan]

And, like, I thought the original two. Dark Moon or whatever was not great. And then we forget. They put out a first party, but it's a re.

[Mike]

That's also a re release. So that's kind of.

[Jake]

I also.

[Dan]

Okay, I'm fine with cutting.

[Jake]

I also have to say that, like, Hellblade 2 was nowhere in this thing. And I was like, I added Hellblade 2 to this because I was like, I think everyone forgot about it.

[Dan]

I mean, although, to be fair, I.

[Jake]

Don'T know what other game or what other categories you'd put it in.

[Dan]

I feel like there were ones that we brought up, like, in the last 24 hours, like, oh, we should put that in, like, ones that were so forgettable that we might even be forgetting right now.

[Mike]

Well, yeah.

[Mary]

Forgettable.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I'm sure if we looked at chat right now, we'd see, like, 80 be like. So that's kind of a check or.

[Dan]

Nah.

[Mary]

Concord.

[Dan]

No, no, because that's too much of a story.

[Mike]

That was, like, a big thing.

[Mary]

Everybody knew.

[Mike]

Wait, okay, wait. Alone in the Dark. Isn't that. Wasn't that already a game back in the.

[Dan]

The day? But in a bunch of games? Yeah, it was. I mean, it was predated Resident Evil as far as.

[Mike]

Why? What?

[Dan]

There's a new one?

[Mike]

What's it. Is it just. What's it called?

[Dan]

Alone in the Dark.

[Mike]

Was it a remake?

[Dan]

No, it's a new game, is my understanding.

[Mike]

But like, a reimagining of it.

[Dan]

No, like, there are lots of Alone in the Darks.

[Mike]

I know this is a new one. Why is this just called Alone in the Dark if there's already a bunch?

[Dan]

I mean, there was a Sonic the Hedgehog and there's already been Sonic the.

[Mike]

Hedgehog is like a reimagining almost.

[Dan]

No, it's a new game.

[Jake]

We agreed to cut Luigi's Mansion, right?

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yes.

[Mike]

I don't know that I would have cared about Alone in the dark. Even if I did remember it. So I, I, I can't say I like forgot it came out because I never, it would never would have been on my radar anyway, I guess.

[Dan]

I mean, it is like a known. That's what I'm saying. Franchise.

[Mike]

It feels more like there's just been so many.

[Dan]

Yeah. And I think it's just been a very bungled IP and franchise. And this is just another one of those, like. Well, people still don't care. You know, I mean, maybe we cut it. I'd like, what is.

[Mike]

This isn't a cut. I'm gonna. I played the only game on here on this whole list that we have not cut yet that I actually played a substantial amount of was Rise of the Ronin. And I forgot until I saw it right now that I had played like six hours of it.

[Dan]

That's a good.

[Jake]

I played a good amount.

[Dan]

That's good for this category.

[Mary]

It was just such a not good for game. Good for this category.

[Mike]

It was such a, like, banal blend of Ghost of Tsushima without any of the character. Like, what do you want to call it? Neo? But with no, like, none of the intricacies to the combat. The world was boring.

[Jake]

Yeah. Honestly, one of the most memorable things for me about that game was how kind of ugly it looked.

[Mike]

It was not good looking.

[Jake]

It did not look.

[Mike]

I got the fuck I got. Oh, I remember what I did. Holy shit. I got to the glider that you get to and I was like, okay, this is fine. But it doesn't feel anywhere near as good as Zelda. It just felt like a, like a weird, murky blend of so many different games. But it wasn't doing any of those mechanics as good as the game it was pulling from.

[Dan]

Can we just keep that?

[Mary]

Mario versus Donkey Kong.

[Dan]

I was just gonna say, I mean, it's a bit different than Luigi's Mansion in that Luigi's Mansion was just an HD kind of re release. Whereas Mario versus Donkey Kong. It's more of an actual remake of an older game. But, like, the older game was not great.

[Mary]

But the bigger Nintendo miss in this year, in my opinion, was like, like Princess Peach. Whatever.

[Jake]

I forgot about that.

[Dan]

Nobody gave a about categories down low. I do. I think that would be more of a contender here than Mario versus Donkey Kong with that just being a remake. Yeah.

[Mike]

Interesting. By definition, though, we did put Princess Peach farther.

[Dan]

I do remember it came out because, like, it was like, oh, wow. They're actually giving Princess Peach a new, like, she is the star of a new Switch game. And then it was just pretty forgettable. But, like, I didn't actually forget it came out, you know, Like, I remember playing that game.

[Mike]

And what is Foam Stars?

[Dan]

That was like, the Square Enix did a splatoon, basically, but with foam. Yeah. And it was like. It was kind of hyped up at SGF this year or last year.

[Mary]

And I don't remember hearing about it at all.

[Dan]

I do.

[Jake]

I remember hearing a lot about it.

[Dan]

Yeah. Forgot about it. And immediately people stopped talking about it.

[Mary]

Well, I think Mario versus Donkey Kong can go.

[Dan]

Yeah, I agree.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

All right.

[Mike]

And then out of these, I did remember Hellblade 2. I think the thing there is that. That and at the pre. The game before, it kind of blend together for me. But I do remember they're both bad. No, the first game.

[Jake]

The first one's good. The second one is bad.

[Mary]

This is why I think Hellblade 2 should stay. Hellblade 1 made a lot of waves. It won a lot of awards. It was very hyped. And they released their launch trailer at the game awards last December. It was this crazy intro sequence for.

[Jake]

Exactly. They had a band.

[Dan]

Yeah. The musical performance thing.

[Mary]

It was a big, big deal.

[Dan]

Fire on stage.

[Mary]

It was a big marketing splash. And that's why I think this deserves to be on here, is that they went. They swung real hard, and nobody remembers that. This game came out.

[Dan]

I don't think I've heard a single person defend it. It came out, and everyone I talked to had the same, like, what the Is this to suck? Like. Like, I don't know a single person that finished it. I don't think, like, no one talks positively about it, and no one.

[Mike]

I like the first game a whole bunch.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. I like the first game a lot. I defend. I. I didn't have to defend the first game. The first game was critically acclaimed and just, like, beautiful. And the second one I forgot came out this year because nobody talked about it. So, like, I think that deserves a spot.

[Dan]

I do, too.

[Mike]

I would cut alone in the dark again just because, like, there's been so many that it's. I don't think that's a result of it. I mean, it's probably a result of it being forgettable in its own right. But it's also. That's more like, if a. Like, no offense. I'm not. I don't know. I'm not trying to attack you now, but, like, anytime a Mario party comes out, it's not because that's an event. I wouldn't have fun playing it. And, like, it's just because. Oh, there's another one. There's a lot of those.

[Jake]

Sure.

[Dan]

Yeah. And it's been a very long time since the lone of the dark has been, like, a relevant thing. They've just kept fucking it up. And this is another one of those. So. Sure. Yeah. Okay, so we're down to foam stars, Hellblade 2 and Rise of the Ronin. I think I would say your winner is either going to be Hellblade or Rise the Ronin here.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

God, I. I know that's not the category, but, like, everything about Rise of Ronin was just so forgettable. Again, that's not. The more I think about it, the more I'm like, it was just a bad game. It wasn't even forgettable. But again, I did forget about it until now. It just lacks so much personality.

[Mary]

We have. And you said this, too. We have a category more for, like, if it, like, missed the mark. This is, like.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's probably, like, forgot.

[Mary]

Sometimes games are so bad. Sometimes games are so bad, we talk about them and that isn't what this is. This is a game that you genuinely forgot.

[Dan]

It's.

[Mike]

Yeah, but, like, honestly, I think it'd be more in line for, like, it's not poop category, but it's not poop.

[Dan]

Like, when I think of the perfect it's not poop game, it's God of War, Ragnarok, where it's like, yeah, we're all like, yeah, it's good.

[Mike]

And we talked about it not win because we're like, it's kind of poop.

[Dan]

Oh, it might have been too poop.

[Mike]

I think it was too poop.

[Dan]

It might have been too poop. Well, all said, like, I don't think Rise of the Ronin, from what I've heard, is. Is good enough to be. It's not poop.

[Jake]

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Mike]

I don't think so either. Yeah.

[Dan]

So I think Rise the Ronin, from what you're saying, just forgettable. Sounds like it's a forgettable game.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Who made this? I don't.

[Mike]

It was the team ninja.

[Mary]

They did the Neo games.

[Dan]

Ooh, that hurts you.

[Mike]

That's why I was comparing it to Neo.

[Mary]

All right. Yeah, I have that.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Is it Rise of the Ronin? We in agreement?

[Dan]

Yes. Yes.

[Jake]

All right. Fire escapes. Things we forgot came out. This year's winner is Rise of the Ronin.

[Mike]

Yeah, I'm. It's gonna be funny all the games we start remembering for the rest of.

[Dan]

I should have won. Yeah.

[Mike]

I gotta use the bathroom.

[Dan]

Okay, Next up is Best Balatro Joker. Your nominees are. Madness. The one that eats the other jokers to gain a 0.5 multiplier blueprint.

[Mary]

The one that copies the joker to the right.

[Dan]

Smear Joker. The one that makes all the spades and clubs and the hearts and diamonds be the same suit.

[Mary]

Peridolia. The one that makes all the cards count as face cards.

[Dan]

Space Joker. The one that makes you have a 1 in 4 chance of upgrading the played hand.

[Mary]

Shortcut straights can be made with gaps.

[Dan]

Burnt Joker upgrades the level of first discarded hand per round.

[Mary]

And DNA. If it. If firsthand has only one card, add permanently copy to deck. That one's so crazy.

[Dan]

Oh, there are. These are.

[Mary]

Some of these are psychotic. And I. Yeah, I think we kind of have to, like, discuss what best means, because some of these I used a lot. But that doesn't mean what is best. Does best mean like you.

[Dan]

You.

[Mary]

You utilize the joker the most? Or is it like this joker is bonkers and breaks the game in insane ways?

[Dan]

I would say it's the one that you would be most excited for if you looked in a pack or you got to the shop and you're like, yes, like, the one you'd be most.

[Mary]

Excited about getting if you opened a pack of five jokers and these. Which. Which ones wouldn't be in that top five? Wait, what if you were to open a pack of five jokers and you're like, like, I got all these, you would probably not pick. You can't pick all of them. So you'd have to drop.

[Dan]

Oh, which one would you pick? Okay. I think blueprint is incredible. The one that, like, whatever joker is to the right of it is copying. And that's when you can actually move around too. So it's like, oh, for right now, I want this. And then like, oh, you can.

[Mary]

You can break the game in crazy ways with that one. So I think blueprint should stay, and I think DNA should stay. It is, like, so nuts that you can.

[Dan]

You can.

[Mary]

You can build the deck of your dreams with that card.

[Dan]

Especially if you have something where it's like, oh, for every king, you get a big bonus. It's like, all right, well, I'm gonna have 12 kings in my deck. Deck, you know, like, it's awesome that you can do that. I love space joker. If you get a space joker early in a run and it's like, hell, yeah, I'm gonna a 25 chance I can upgrade any hand I play every time. And then you can get the probability thing too, where it's like, oh, now I got a 50 chance. You're just upgrading all that's so important for, like, a winning run.

[Mary]

I think that's one of the weaker ones.

[Dan]

Oh, I love space joker.

[Mary]

I just think it's like. Like it's random. It's not helping me build a better hand or deck or, like, it's. It's chance.

[Dan]

I just. I think maybe it's not building the deck, but it's like, really helping you level your points you're getting for stuff.

[Mary]

Your chips, definitely. But it's random and. Which means I can't count on it.

[Dan]

But it happens enough if you get it early.

[Mary]

But I don't want it later game.

[Dan]

No, I don't either. I mean, that, that can.

[Mary]

I wouldn't want it in my final joker list.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mary]

It's. It's not. I can't depend on it.

[Dan]

Okay. But I mean, I think if you're saying that, like the burnt joker, the one that upgrades the level of the first discarded hand per round, you don't necessarily want that late in the run.

[Mary]

No, but it. It builds what becomes my final deck, whereas yours just gets you through the next ground. It's not like actually growing you as a player. It's just a survival mechanism.

[Dan]

They're both doing the same thing. They're both upgrading a plate, you know, like one of them.

[Mike]

I would also argue just because something's only useful early on doesn't mean it's not useful. Those are some crucial.

[Mary]

What? I'm not saying things aren't useful. I'm saying what's best. And so all of these jokers that are nominated are all good. So when we're talking about what's best, and I, I would agree maybe, like, burnt is also not great. But what I'm saying is, is when you have a joker that fundamentally makes your hand and essentially, like, you build your deck around that joker, that is a fucking solid joker. Whereas some are more like, yes, this will make me really strong early on. I'm so glad I got it. And then you'll probably replace it with a really dope joker later.

[Dan]

Sure, I see what you're saying. It's like if you get the smeared joker, the one that makes the hearts and diamonds the same and vice versa.

[Mary]

It'S a game changer if you get that early on.

[Dan]

Well, it's a flush run, you know.

[Mary]

Yeah, I'm building. I'm changing my strategy because this joker is so powerful. Same thing with the space joker. I have When I get the space joker, if I get it early enough, I'm like, cool. My entire game is now altered because this joker will get me to win the game.

[Dan]

Which are you arguing for it now? Like, the space joker? Because you're arguing against it before.

[Mike]

No, you meant smeared. I think smeared joker.

[Mary]

The one that. Oh, my God.

[Dan]

I was saying it was random.

[Mary]

The straights shortcut.

[Mike]

Oh, shortcut.

[Dan]

Oh, you like the straight.

[Mary]

The straight one is like another one where now I alter my.

[Dan]

I. I see.

[Mary]

Sorry. I alter my deck completely because I got shortcut.

[Dan]

That makes sense.

[Mary]

And now. Now I'm going to win the game because I got shortcut.

[Mike]

I also. I'm also with you, Mary, in the sense I tend to personally shy away from the ones that are like, probability. Well, the whole game is probability based. But, like, I don't like the ones that, like, you have a 25% chance for this to happen. I like. I try to make things as definite as sure possible.

[Dan]

Yeah, I agree. I wish real gambling you could do that. I mean, like, definite you're gonna win.

[Mike]

Imagine, like, at the World Series, putting shortcut down.

[Dan]

That'd be such a good.

[Mike]

With your bracelet and your sunglasses.

[Dan]

These are all good. I do we like madness. I personally do. If I get it early, where it's like, all right, I'm sacrificing every other joker to this, and I'm gonna, like, it's gonna follow them.

[Mike]

The joker itself gets a. Another.

[Dan]

Yeah. So, like, you get madness as your first one. Every other joker you get at the start of the next round, it's gonna eat it and give that 0.5 multiplier. So it's like, if you get early on, it's like this fucking thing is getting a times 7, times 8, times 10 multiplier. It's pretty awesome.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

At the downside of, like, it's the only joker you're gonna have for the game.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I would also say, like, blueprint's pretty cool.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

But I would also say that is more. That always bows down to whatever you're trying to copy, because you're trying to copy your. Like, if I had blueprint lined up next to. I would get excited to have blueprint because then I could have another madness or whatever.

[Dan]

But that's what's so cool about it, is that you can take one that's already kind of overpowered, and it's like, what if I had fucking two of those? And that's the beauty of Balatro, is breaking it. You know, each one of these breaks the game.

[Mary]

But this is the thing. Balatro has a lot of great jokers and this is the best of what we think the jokers are. So we're actually not arguing whether or not these are really good jokers. So that argument is mute. I actually think we have eight. We have way too many. And everybody basically needs to really try and call one. So don't argue with any. No, you know, and I've tried to cut two and I just want to say it again. I think we should cut anything that is just purely luck based isn't helping you, like, grow your dad deck. So space joker should go. There was another one that I was like, just get rid of it.

[Jake]

Oh, man.

[Mike]

But then, okay, but here's my. No, no, you keep going, Keep going.

[Dan]

Let's cut.

[Mike]

Regretting space joker.

[Dan]

Yeah. And we also haven't even mentioned the one that makes all the cards count as face cards. I like that one a lot. Especially if you get things where it's like, oh, face cards give you 1 and 2 chance of getting a dollar and stuff like that. Like, it can be really good to build your deck around face cards, but it's not like sexy. It's not like, it's like, oh, this is like an exciting, like.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah. It doesn't give you a raging boner.

[Dan]

No, no. My watch would go off.

[Mike]

The mat, would kick him out.

[Mary]

I don't think madness is going to win.

[Dan]

No.

[Mary]

I don't think it's a bad joke. I think it's a great joker. I don't think it's a winner.

[Dan]

It's very limiting in that, like, okay, well, it's just going to be this where the other ones are like, I've got this and I can build cool stuff around it.

[Mary]

It's cool that it eats, though.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's a funny. This card that eats other cards and gets stronger. Yeah, this is a fucking cool game.

[Mary]

It's a cool game.

[Dan]

Yeah. But yeah, let's cut that one. Smear joker, I think is really cool, but it is pretty much just like, okay, I can make flushes. You know, I would almost put smear joker and shortcut in the same boat where it's like they will both dictate like it's a flush deck or it's a straight deck. But it's like, all right. It makes it a little bit easier.

[Mike]

They're also. I. I'm the one who put shortcut. I love shortcut. However, when I really step back and look at it, shortcut I think has fucked me over. The most. I build my deck too singularly around this hand. And then one of the turn. What are they? One of the bosses, the turns, the antes. One of the antes will be like, you can't do. You can't replicate kind of a hand.

[Dan]

Oh, sometimes you can just get fucked on a joker on a boss.

[Mike]

That's what I'm saying. How much do we want to take that into account? Because I would actually say these can lead you into some really bad habits. Like shortcut. I was like, oh, I could do straights really easily and that's great for a while, but then I'm not as versatile as I need to be.

[Dan]

Yep, yep. I'd say, I would say let's cut the straights and the flush one.

[Mary]

I would cut the face card one.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

Cuz like you aren't going to win because of that card.

[Dan]

No, it helps.

[Mary]

Not a winner.

[Dan]

Yeah, I would say cut the face card one, cut the straights, cut the flush. Ooh, DNA is so good.

[Mary]

I think DNA is the winner.

[Dan]

Just make a permanent copy.

[Mary]

Be permanent. Copies are a game changer. If you can do them properly. It's like, it's a fucking cool joker.

[Dan]

Yeah, that's my favorite ones are the ones that, like, don't just help you get more points. It's the ones that like, fundamentally changes what you can do with your deck. You know, that's also.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's. I think the best jokers, to Mary's point, are about building a good deck rather than allowing you to do one kind of hand really easily.

[Dan]

Yeah, I would say. Yeah. Cut. Smear said we're down to three now. So it's blueprint, the one that copies burnt, the one that upgrades the level of the first discarded hand and DNA if the permanent copy gets added. If the first one has only one card. I feel like DNA is so it gives you so much control over what you want your deck to look like.

[Mike]

And is that cool if firsthand has only one card at the end of the hand before you?

[Dan]

No, I think it like live. It's like, okay, so I play a king of spades and then it like, it gives you the point for the high card or whatever and it's like, here's another king of spades and it's in your hand right now. You know, it's like. So you're doing.

[Mike]

Oh, first. The first hand played has only one and okay, not the first delta hand.

[Mary]

You make a sacrifice by playing one card, which will hurt your points or your ability to. To Secure money.

[Mike]

Because then you can just make four of a kind of.

[Mary]

You just duplicate a card.

[Dan]

Yeah. And then if you do that in conjunction with something that gives you, like, an extra hand, it's like, oh, well, that just nullifies the downside of it. And now I'm just, like, copying cards that I want. That one's cool.

[Mary]

DNA.

[Mike]

DNA is great.

[Dan]

Yeah. I'd say. Is that the winner dead or winner?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jake]

All right.

[Dan]

Hell yeah.

[Jake]

Fire Escape's best Balotro Joker of 2024 is DNA.

[Dan]

Good one, good one. All right, all right. This next one, we wound up kind of putting a couple together. We had best play with buds and best fight your friends, and they're both.

[Mary]

Kind of like, there was co op and there was competitive, and then we ended up merging them. Because ultimately, if you're. If you're enjoying playing a game with friends, that just counts. So this is very fat because of this.

[Dan]

Yes. So it's basically just best multiplayer, so. But it's best play with buds. Your nominees are lethal company, Helldivers 2.

[Mike]

Echo Point Nova, Core Keeper, Content Warning.

[Mary]

Outlast Trials, Call of Duty, Black Ops.

[Mike]

6, Jackbox Survey Scramble, Children of the.

[Mary]

Sun, Mario Party Jamboree, Astrobot Speedruns, and.

[Dan]

Let'S get this out of the way right away. We started having a fight downstairs.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And I said, let's save it. I want to hear this. You were saying Astrobot and Children of.

[Mary]

The sun shouldn't count because they're not actually co op. It's just speed runs. And then you're fighting other people because you're trying to beat their score. But it's not co op and it's not competitive. You're playing. It's leaderboards. And I don't think that counts.

[Dan]

I. I'm of two minds about it because one of them, I totally agree with you because you're not sitting down on the couch. I mean, you could do past the control or whatever, but that's still not technically, you know, multiplayer mode. That said, I think of things like Astrobot and how fun like this happened with Neon White, too, a few years ago, where it's like, you know, me and Grub Minati and Kayla and, you know, a bunch of people. Like, it is. It does feel like it's a social multiplayer thing because we're like, oh, fuck, Grub. Beat my time. All right, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna spend three hours doing this, and then I'm gonna, like, you know, post a picture to him. Now he's Got it. Like balls in his court. So it does feel like it is a social thing involving my friends, but at the end of the day, it is just. Just leaderboards, which is not a new thing and it is not inherently multiplayer. So I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on that. I could honestly go either way.

[Mike]

I. On one hand, I think it's pretty cool that the speed runs can be conducive to this social experience. However, at that point, I would almost. Then you could put animal well on here because you're texting people about different and puzzles and like, okay, it's like the vehicle for. I think it's really cool. And like, I don't. I don't want to limit us too much, but again, I think it's more a vehicle for this social experience than it is, like, an actual thing you're playing actively at the same time with someone else.

[Dan]

Which would you consider it akin to? Like, oh, okay, me and a bunch of friends are trying to get a speedrun, like, on this single player game, and we're challenged. I mean, it's basically the same thing, right? It's the leaderboard thing. All right, all right, I'll concede that. That. So that would mean Astrobot and Children of the sun are down. Which Children of the sun also does that?

[Mary]

Like, yeah, it's really cool. And I did compare my. I compared it a lot to my buds, but I don't think it's for this category.

[Dan]

All right, that's fair.

[Mary]

That's out.

[Dan]

All right. Okay. I'd say we keep one for now. Lethal Company or Content Warning, because they're both that same type of, like, wacky. Like, we got four of us.

[Jake]

I think if it's between the two of them, it's got to be lethal.

[Mike]

I agree.

[Dan]

I agree. Content Warning is a fun angle on it where it's like, oh, we're making silly clips and we're like, like, uploading it for likes and going viral. I like the angle on it, but I do think Lethal Company is a more fun experience.

[Mary]

It's gone. I think Outlast Trials is not going to make it, so let's just cut it now.

[Jake]

All right.

[Mary]

And I'd like to hear Dan argue for Mario Party Jamboree or against.

[Dan]

It's Mario Party.

[Mary]

You didn't like it?

[Dan]

It's not that simple.

[Mike]

That was your first Mario Party, right?

[Jake]

It's not that simple. You're gonna write a book about this?

[Dan]

I might have the most complicated, complex feelings on the Mario Party series of anyone on the planet.

[Mike]

It's a complex series to.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah, it's a thinkin man series. No, I did like it. I know the gamespot review I did, I gave it a six and I stand by that. And I know I was on the low end, but I still like reviewing a Mario Party game and playing it with friends is so fucking different because I think the whole series has been inherently fucked up and flawed and stupid and random at times. And that really shows when you are reviewing it and you're doing it with like Nintendo PR people and you're playing solo a lot, which is not the way to play. But where it fucking shines is when it's like, all right, I got four friends together and it's got online playing everything. And we're having some drinks and playing along fucking Mario party, giving each other shit and everything. And that is why it is like the most play with bud series of all time for me is because every fucking one of those is a vehicle for you to have a good time with your friends. As flawed as the fucking game is, it has perfected that formula of putting in like, the randomness plays into like, your friend's gonna get mad at you because the game did some bullshit thing and gave you a hidden star when you didn't earn it. Like, I think that is exactly why it is so fun for multiplayer.

[Jake]

Okay, but say we finished this stream and we're gonna go play Mario Party. What Mario Party game would we play?

[Dan]

Oh, Superstars. The one before this.

[Mary]

Well, well, well.

[Dan]

Call it as. Yeah, I'll be honest. Yeah, it's not the best one. It's not even like top five.

[Mary]

I'd say cut it. I just don't.

[Dan]

I'm fine with that.

[Mary]

Okay. There you go.

[Mike]

All right.

[Mary]

Son of a bitch.

[Dan]

Gonna speak honestly about it.

[Mary]

Sorry. I think I might just been way aware. Is Lethal Company in early access?

[Dan]

I think it might technically be.

[Mary]

I think I thought it might was out. Sorry.

[Mike]

Is that game ever going to. God, that game is so like purposely like.

[Dan]

Yeah, I mean, we'll give it its.

[Jake]

Flowers when it comes out.

[Mike]

I guess we cut it. Sure.

[Mary]

I mean, I'm sorry.

[Dan]

Well, here's the thing.

[Mary]

Definitely I thought it was out.

[Dan]

Definitely my favorite of this.

[Jake]

But like, also like. Yeah, if we want to.

[Dan]

It's tough. Cuz I'm looking at this list and I do think it would make. Okay, let's put Mario Party back on and take out Lethal Company.

[Mike]

Shut the upper.

[Dan]

I'm looking at this and I'm like, there are it would be in the top three with the ones we have remaining.

[Mary]

No, it wouldn't leave the Company. Oh, Company. But Mario Party is not. It's not involved. It's gone. It's dead. There's way other better games.

[Dan]

Let me see if I'm right here. I think Helldivers 2 is a lock.

[Mary]

No question.

[Dan]

Okay. I think that's the only like super duper lock here, right? Yeah.

[Jake]

I would say lethal Company.

[Dan]

That's what I'm saying. Like, that would be in the top. Top three.

[Mary]

Company is. Should be a contender. And I would make a very solid argument for core Keeper.

[Mike]

Can I suggest a cut? Sure. I had a blast playing Echo Point Nova with you guys, but I was still kind of very much in my own little world most of the time. I was. I was like, I would see you hoverboard by. So I'd be like, oh, there's Dan.

[Dan]

I don't think there's anything about the game that is like, oh, this is a co op game. Like, you can still.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's like a go do bumper cars. It's like, I'm gonna have fun. Even though you're in another bumper car.

[Mary]

I didn't play Black Ops, so maybe you guys can talk about that. And I'm gonna.

[Dan]

I'll say this. I have not. I have like jumped into a couple games when I saw like, oh, you know, grab a Monadi's on, I'll hop into a game. But like, I've never done voice chat. I don't do War Zone. I haven't done Zombies. So I just. I play a ton of multiplayer. So that's the thing. It's like, I feel like this was best multiplayer. This would be my number one of the year. But I just play by myself. And so like, if it is called Best play with Buds, and I've kind of barely done that.

[Jake]

I feel like, you know, you know, you look at Helldivers, right? And it's like, like, I don't want to play that with a rando. I want to play with a friend.

[Dan]

That'S agree with Call of Duty.

[Jake]

It's like, yeah, I don't need to play with friends, but it's better to play with friends.

[Mike]

Sure, Zombies is fun with friends, but it's like, I also love that game a lot for its single player campaign.

[Jake]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

Like tomorrow I want to play a ton of Call of Duty just by myself. Multiplayer. But I wouldn't ever consider doing that with Hell Divers. Actually. It's not bad that way, but like, Hell Divers is such a. Like, I want to be laughing with my friend's game. So, yeah, Black Ops 6, incredible multiplayer. But yeah, let's get it. I do want to hear her argument on Core Keeper. I don't know what that is. I don't. I've heard of it.

[Mike]

Core Keeper's great. It is the. How do I describe it? It's like Stardew meets Minecraft. You're underground and you. That was one Mary was talking about. You can kind of assign roles. It's almost like a co op. Stardew to be very, very reductive of.

[Jake]

Should we just cut it though and see if she notices?

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah, that's funny. That's funny. We should see it. It should very much put Mario Party on. Put Mario Party back on.

[Mike]

We absolutely need to keep quirky for once.

[Dan]

Don't just write it off. Take it off entirely. Don't put it back on. Yeah, okay. All right.

[Jake]

Gonna kill you.

[Dan]

Look, you gotta pee, there's consequences. Yeah, okay. Okay, cool. All right.

[Mike]

No, that's a good point. Like, wait, why didn't we cut Lethal Company?

[Dan]

We haven't quite decided on that. Because it's like, it is such.

[Mike]

We have done for this.

[Dan]

Not really.

[Mike]

Okay, what about Jackbox Survey Scramble? Like, why?

[Dan]

So I, I was surprised that, like, I had not heard anyone talk about this. So when I was downloading stuff for Extra Life, I was like, oh, what's this new Jackbox thing I haven't heard anyone talk about? It came out a couple months ago and it's fucking. It's Family Feud, but it's Jackbox. So it's like, oh, you know, what's the. What would be the best superpower or something? And you type in your thing and sometimes it's a list of like 500. And so you see like, oh, how high you get on it. But also so it might flip it and be like, all right, what do you think the least wanted superpowers were that people put on? And so there are other modes and stuff like that, but it's just a cool, like, it's Family Feud Jackbox, which is such a simple. That's an elevator pitch. Like, oh, I can exactly see what that is. And it is very, very fun. Great Jackbox twist.

[Mary]

Seems like it would have been a really great contender for games we forgot came out this year. Because I know Jackbox extremely well and I didn't fucking know shit about this game. So nobody talks. Talked about it.

[Dan]

I wonder if this is a failure of marketing or something, because it's like it is legit good. And I love Jackbox.

[Jake]

You said you didn't know it came out. Did you know it existed though?

[Mary]

I think there's a new Jackbox every year. And for Twitch, we like consistently rely on Jackbox as this really easy way to have four streamers play at an event or at TwitchCon. This is a game I'm very familiar with. The fact that it wasn't brought up is like, what the fuck did they do wrong? Also, it could have also been a contender for worst name. What is Survey Scramble?

[Dan]

Family Feud.

[Mary]

I'm sure that that is a weird way to say that.

[Dan]

Well, you can't say Family Feud.

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

Al from Home Improvement has the rights to that.

[Mike]

He'll bust down the door.

[Mary]

But it's not a survey scramble. That's just eggs.

[Dan]

What?

[Mary]

That's just. That's not a survey scramble. That's not what that means.

[Mike]

You're all mad mixed up.

[Mary]

My brain is jumbled.

[Dan]

Walk into the door frame. When he went to the bathroom.

[Mary]

Yes.

[Mike]

What does he say at the end? That I think you should leave Skit the VR one. He's like, I'm all bent up. What is he? I'm all bent up. I'm all crooked.

[Mary]

I'm all bent up.

[Dan]

Look, I. I agree that like there was a failure somewhere along the way with marketing or not getting the word out about this. But like it's a really good game.

[Mike]

What would you cut over these then over that?

[Dan]

That's the thing. I. Lethal companies is such a solid like, I know it has the early. It doesn't feel early access. It feels like there is a fully baked character. What's up?

[Mary]

Did you guys cut something while I was in the bathroom?

[Dan]

I don't have control over anything.

[Mary]

Okay, first of all, cut Mario Party Jamboree immediately to rectify what you have done for your sins. Second of all, Core Keeper I gotta go pee is eight player multiplayer.

[Mike]

I told them, please put it back on. I love that.

[Mary]

Phenomenal.

[Mike]

That's you talked about. You can also co op. You get the added benefit of being able to like, okay, you're gonna be the farmer. You're gonna go collect this you can assign.

[Mary]

You're the engineer.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Everybody gets to play different things. And then there's giant bosses in the world. And so as you decide your roles, you have to work together to take on these massive bosses, like big worms and like fire breathing dudes. It's crazy. It's really, really fun. I wish we got a chance to play it. It would have been a way better experience than Echo Point Nova.

[Mike]

I do. I love Lethal Company and I think Remove Jackbox.

[Mary]

I'm not kidding. I don't need him here to make that call. It's not going to win go down.

[Mike]

Is there anything else we can fuck with? Like down low?

[Mary]

You don't want to give it away, though.

[Jake]

Yeah, I don't give it away.

[Mike]

No, I know. I'm like, here, I'll just take Astrobot off everything.

[Mary]

Take Astrobot off everything. We don't need to take it off. Let's just discuss it as adults. Let's just ruin him.

[Mike]

Okay. Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. You don't wanna. Can I add something from here?

[Jake]

I mean, yeah, you can. You can. You can mess around with it there. I can't do anything because, I mean, I guess I could hide.

[Mary]

Can you remove.

[Jake]

Already removed it.

[Mary]

Oh, thank you.

[Jake]

So. So we got it down to three.

[Mary]

Great. There's been really good.

[Dan]

Was Mike scrolling really far down the list?

[Mike]

I was trying to add Astrobot to It's not Poop before you came back, but I couldn't. Oh, you pee very quickly.

[Dan]

Is that all you were doing?

[Mike]

Yes.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Quick, quick. Pee Riker.

[Dan]

Anyone need a beer?

[Mike]

I'm gonna open that Sheeraz.

[Dan]

Oh, is that wine?

[Mike]

Do you want me. It's a Australian red. I can open the white one. There's a Sauv Blanc. Okay.

[Mary]

I'd like to make an argument.

[Jake]

Okay.

[Mary]

Helldivers 2 is possibly. I haven't formalized my list yet, but I think it's going to be possibly my number one this year. It is so high. And it is exclusively because of playing with buds. There's no other reason you would really play that game. I wouldn't recommend it solo. You play it with other people. I met people from other countries. I had really fun times. I reconnected with friends that I haven't talked to in like over a year. And we've just had lasting memories with this game. I think it's a game changer. I just love Helldivers with Friends.

[Dan]

I agree. I wish I would have played more of it.

[Mary]

I wish you had more friends.

[Dan]

I think there is something to be said, like me personally, as someone who's not really like playing online multiplayer in general, that if the game is making me pull out a headset and text my friends and be like, hey, do you want to party up and play a game? I know it's a good one of these. And I remember, like, just randomly, like one night, just like me, you Mary and Alex Boniello. I don't think we've ever, like, squatted up in a game.

[Mary]

No, I don't play with Alex. Alex Boniello and I played, and we had a really fun time.

[Dan]

It was fucking fun as hell.

[Mary]

It's like.

[Dan]

It is so rare that I want to do that. And, like, even, like, Call of Duty, something, I love playing multiplayer. Like, I just kind of don't want to. Like, I don't like getting locked in and putting on. So, like, if I'm getting past my anti online multiplayer feelings to do this, there's something special about it, and there's.

[Mary]

Helldivers should win.

[Dan]

I agree. Mike was yelling from the kitchen that he thought Mario Party should go back. I think.

[Jake]

I think if Lethal Company wasn't in early access, we just found that out, I might.

[Mike]

Might try to fight that.

[Jake]

But, like, I think given that, I think Helldivers makes a lot of sense.

[Dan]

And Lethal Company is very good and very fun and unique, but there's also so much more going on in Helldivers. It is more of a just fully fleshed out game.

[Mary]

It is meant to play with buds. There is no better way to play that game.

[Dan]

Yep. Yep.

[Mary]

If you are solo, it puts you literally with strangers.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Which Lethal Company doesn't do. Like, this game is, like, if you're alone, I will place you with people because it's core to the purpose of this game.

[Jake]

All right, well, Firescape's best play with buds game is Helldivers 2.

[Dan]

That is Hell, yeah. And actually, this is perfect because now we're gonna go into a section here.

[Mary]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan]

We need Dan the blank ass.

[Mary]

We need you, Mike.

[Dan]

Well, no, no, I'm saying we go right to Mike here, because Mike's doing wine stuff in there.

[Mary]

Oh, right.

[Dan]

Oh, But I think he needs to sit here for it.

[Jake]

He's has to sit here.

[Mary]

You want to see his face?

[Dan]

Oh, I. Beer? Yeah. Yeah.

[Mary]

So let's just stall.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mary]

We're at the halfway point.

[Dan]

How is it? I feel like we're doing well.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I feel like this has been. I. I feel we're willing to concede and to kill our babies when needed. And it. This is how it should go. I think. I think we've coexisted here. Right.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

Yeah. No underhanded business at all. Right, Right.

[Mary]

I mean, I think that I've relented in ways that I wished I didn't.

[Jake]

Water and beer.

[Mary]

But I think it will come back to benefit me long term. And I think ultimately, like, I usually get what I want.

[Dan]

So do you have an ultimate goal?

[Mary]

Yeah, I do. It's for certain games to get in top 10.

[Dan]

Okay. That's noble. Yes.

[Mary]

Thank you. Yeah. Can I have some of that shiraz?

[Jake]

Yes.

[Mike]

Well, it's. It's.

[Jake]

It needs to open up.

[Dan]

The white wine has to open up a bit, folks. You heard it here first.

[Jake]

Yeah, we got.

[Dan]

So it's on Wine Watch 2024. Here we go. The tannins are active.

[Mary]

Can we put a timer on the stream for the shiraz to open up? Oh, the saw blanco.

[Dan]

The timer is going to be Mike Maharti's face. Yeah.

[Mary]

Can your watch let you know when it's time?

[Dan]

Yeah, I'll get a nap. All right, so let's. Let's explain what this is before we go into the next four categories here. So this is something we started last year.

[Jake]

It is the.

[Mary]

Are you. Wait, sorry, Is it on the. Can you remove it from the screen?

[Dan]

It is.

[Jake]

It's gone.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Jake]

People may have seen it briefly, but it's gone.

[Dan]

This is the blank ass game of the year, in which the blank is one of our names. So for Dan ass game of the year, for instance, you all will be nominating a bunch of games that you think are the most. Like what a Dan game this one is. And I don't get to. This is. I literally don't get to talk at all.

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

So you will decide what the most Dan ass game of the year is, and then we will go around the horn. And you didn't just see some great physical comedy, folks. Mike Mahardi just had two wine glasses in the kitchen, and he held them up to his nipples like they were like a Madonna bra.

[Mary]

And then he let go and they actually stayed because they were sucked onto his.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's a good party trick he's got. Yeah.

[Mary]

So some things to keep in mind before we go over these categories, some of them may be meant to demean or troll in the sense that, like, you don't get to say so. We can just be like, lol, this is your game. Sometimes we just get creative with it because ultimately what we're doing is we're saying, like, if these games exist, if they're out there, they would define you. And that is funny. They're meant to be silly and we love them and we do this every year. And I think it's one of my favorite things that we do. And without further ado, let's get into the most Dan ass game of the year. Your nominees.

[Mike]

I'm just covered Completely.

[Mary]

Your games. Your nominees for Dan Ask Game of the year are. 1000x resist. Go ahead, Mike.

[Mike]

Can it be smaller at all? The actual window? No, because I can't. Okay, that's fine. Metaphor. Refantazio.

[Mary]

Unicorn overload.

[Mike]

Button presser 9000.

[Mary]

Reading is for nerds.

[Mike]

Alarmo.

[Mary]

Candy Cruncher.

[Mike]

Uncrustables. Rancher Burger.

[Mary]

No pickles. No lettuce, no tomatoes. No onion. No sauce time.

[Mike]

Honey. I hate this game. Colon. My ADHD kicked in. Colon. What was I just talking about?

[Mary]

This is. Well, these are all.

[Jake]

No talking, no laughing.

[Mary]

Dan Ask Games.

[Mike]

Let's get. Huh. I don't think he liked Alarmo that much. Based on what he said.

[Mary]

I don't think so either. I think that's out.

[Mike]

Probably cut Alarmo. Also, I think he's off candy. After the Halloween marathon of sugar rushes with the Skittles and whatnot.

[Mary]

I worry about his teeth and overall health.

[Mike]

Uncrustables Rancher. That almost puts it too adjacent to cooking.

[Mary]

Like which he can't.

[Mike]

Being in charge of getting his own food is always. Seems to be a problem for him.

[Jake]

What is an uncrustables Rancher?

[Mike]

It's just someone who grows or cares for uncrustables.

[Jake]

Okay, so it's not somebody who puts ranch dressing on it. No.

[Mike]

I could see Dan putting ranch on an uncrustable.

[Mary]

Yeah. He actually asked for ranch at lunch today and they brought him mayonnaise. And he looked at me for help and I flagged down the waitress and was like, can I get ranch?

[Dan]

Hold on.

[Jake]

We are missing something important here.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jake]

You held out your hand and squirted ranch or mayonnaise in your hand to taste it.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jake]

And we were like, please don't do that.

[Mary]

Mary taste tested it for my friend Dan to make sure he didn't have mayonnaise because he doesn't like mayonnaise. And it was in fact mayonnaise. And then I ordered him ranch because he needed it.

[Jake]

I think.

[Dan]

I think we can cut.

[Jake]

Reading is for nerds.

[Mike]

Do I?

[Jake]

Dan mentioned a book he was reading earlier.

[Mike]

He does read one every once in a while.

[Mary]

I think we can go straight to a decision.

[Jake]

You think we can go right to a decision?

[Mike]

Wait, no.

[Jake]

There's a lot we have to break down here.

[Mike]

Yeah. This is the nuance.

[Jake]

But I think I agree with your decision. I think I know what it is.

[Mike]

The candy cruncher we can get rid of.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

That doesn't encompass.

[Mary]

I think it should be the one that he put the most time into and that would be metaphor Refantasia.

[Mike]

Yeah, he did play quite a lot of it, didn't he?

[Jake]

12 whole minutes.

[Mike]

See, it's between that button presser 9000 and ADHD. Yeah.

[Jake]

I mean, let's not sleep on Honey, I hate this game. My ADHD kicked in. What was I just talking about?

[Mary]

Are we gonna go with the game he hates or just straight up neurodivergence?

[Mike]

I'd say metaphor is definitely the Dan Most Dan game the year for me.

[Mary]

I mean, to be honest with you, it spoke volumes about the type of person he is. Yeah, I learned a lot about Dan because of metaphor Refantasia.

[Mike]

Yeah, same here. I agree.

[Jake]

So impatient.

[Mary]

Can't read.

[Mike]

Noble, though. Remember how noble it was that he even gave the game a shot?

[Jake]

I think he talked.

[Mike]

He spent more time talk about how noble he was then how like talking.

[Mary]

About he couldn't describe that game, but he could describe how he felt after and during and before.

[Dan]

He's just.

[Mike]

He's just so. Noble.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Is the. Is the word I keep going back to.

[Mary]

Well, congratulations. Metaphor.

[Mike]

Got it, Dan.

[Dan]

Here we go. I got to say, though, there's never been a more efficient joke about me than honey, I hate this game. My ADHD kicked in. What was I just talking about? Holy shit. That is a sniper shot. Yeah.

[Mike]

Just so the audience knows, we all, like, did this together earlier today. None of these are crazy surprises.

[Dan]

It's very good.

[Jake]

Oh, yeah, Sorry. Dan asks. Game of the year is Metaphor Refantazio.

[Mary]

Amazing.

[Jake]

Merry ass Game of the year. We can see Mike for this too.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. So your merry ass Game of the year. The nominees are Blanket Fort. Some Indie offensive Iguana with a learning Disability.

[Mike]

Puppy Mailman, Hollow Knight, Silk Song, Soft Texture Colon Snuggling Simulator.

[Dan]

Letters from Portland. Vampire Therapist, Nap Nap, Starlight, Suicide Squad.

[Mike]

Kill the Justice League.

[Dan]

All right. She didn't like silksong. Cut that.

[Mike]

Yeah, she hates silksong. Yeah.

[Dan]

Okay. Okay. She loves some indie. Yeah.

[Mike]

She really does talk a lot about Portland. I recall her saying letters from Portland didn't get to the essence of the city well enough.

[Dan]

Right, right. She had some opinions too mainstream.

[Mike]

They talked about Whole foods in it.

[Dan]

There's not enough boats.

[Jake]

Also, Whole Foods, you know, is corporate.

[Mike]

Yeah. Vampire Therapist is the only actual.

[Dan]

There's a few that are actually.

[Mike]

Vampire Therapist actually sounds kind of sick, but I don't think she's played it much.

[Dan]

She thought Blanket for it was too violent.

[Mike]

Yeah. I think Puppy Mailman, I think paled in comparison to Big Kitty, Little City.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, we could probably cut that.

[Jake]

That one.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

She did love suicide.

[Mike]

We just discovered today she's not a nap person, so I don't know.

[Dan]

Yeah, she liked the game. She said that she cried, but. Yeah, she did cry.

[Jake]

Hard to relate to. You can't nap.

[Mike]

She cried and she came and a.

[Mary]

Lot of did not.

[Dan]

Can't talk, can't talk. Can't talk.

[Mike]

What is the punishment?

[Dan]

I don't know.

[Mike]

Do we have one? We never thought anybody would preach decorum. Such a man.

[Dan]

We thought there was enough respect for the process.

[Mary]

Are you gonna hold me in contempt?

[Mike]

Yeah. What does that mean?

[Dan]

Wait, do we get. Do we get. Okay. Do we get to. At some future category? That's contentious. We can just cut her off.

[Jake]

You have to stand by the bookshelf for the rest.

[Mike]

It can't be the top 10 for.

[Jake]

The rest of the category.

[Mike]

Yeah, you have to stand.

[Dan]

There's a category that opens.

[Mary]

No, that's not what the judge ordered. You just made some up. Judges already argued.

[Dan]

Just for this one. She has to go over there.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

We need her for other parts.

[Dan]

Okay. But I think we should go.

[Jake]

Don't face the camera.

[Dan]

Turn around.

[Mike]

You're in timeout. All right. I think she said, yeah, she did.

[Dan]

Like suicides quite a lot. She likes Suicide Squad. She was actually saying that might be the best play with buds.

[Jake]

Yeah, we. We really had to fight her to take that off the list, though.

[Dan]

Yeah, I. I really think she loved. I wish she was. Could talk here because she would really have a lot to say about some indie shit.

[Mike]

Yeah, she does. She knows. Never shuts up about that game.

[Dan]

She loves some indie shit.

[Mike]

She does like some indie shit. I think that's it.

[Dan]

Should we bowl some indie shit? Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Okay.

[Mike]

All right, Great.

[Dan]

Okay. Hey, Mary, you can come back.

[Mike]

I think you'd be happy with our.

[Dan]

You're the merry ass game of the year, judge.

[Jake]

Merry ass game of the year is some indie shit.

[Mary]

Iguana with a learning disability was robbed.

[Dan]

Really good platforming.

[Gizmo]

Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back. And we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan and Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan and Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time. Of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe to toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this. Everybody is a somebody, and nobody is a nobody. Visit forthepeople.com to learn about our firm, Morgan and Morgan for the people injured. Visit for the people.com for an office near you.

[Dan]

All right, now it's time for the Mike Ass Game of the year. Your nominees are Stellar Blade, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

[Mary]

Valiant Farts Coming Home.

[Dan]

Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom.

[Mary]

Demon Guard Tax Tactics. Tales of Resteria Volume Tiles.

[Dan]

Tiles of Resteria Volume. Who Gives a Princess Beach Showtime?

[Mary]

The Elder Holes five near them.

[Dan]

No, no, that's not it.

[Mary]

My rim.

[Dan]

Yeah, for the rants. The Elder Holes five. My rim Concord.

[Mary]

Oh, I got all the fucked ones. Edging of Allegoria hd. My rim. Sorry.

[Dan]

Well, the Elder hole is five Myrim is a contender. I just like saying that a lot.

[Jake]

I put like, Stellar Blade on here, but I think that's the least horny of these. We could probably cut that.

[Mary]

Yeah, I think that's fair.

[Dan]

The two that are jumping out at me is the Elder Holes 5 Myrim. And in. In Demon Guard Tactics Tiles of Resteria Volume 2, he was. Oh, my God, the amount of.

[Mary]

Could not shut up about that game, I think.

[Dan]

Oh, the tactics.

[Mary]

We had to pick the tactics and the strategy.

[Dan]

He couldn't stop talking about either.

[Mary]

The tactics and the strategy and the tiles.

[Dan]

Oh, God. The best tiles he's ever seen.

[Jake]

He's seen a lot of tiles too.

[Dan]

Amount of tiles tiles this man has seen. He does love edging. That should be. I think that's a. That's a top three.

[Mary]

Yeah, he talks about edging a lot.

[Dan]

Oh, but my rim. He just. Oh, he loves my rim.

[Mary]

I agree. But I think ultimately we have to remember that this is about Mike as a whole person and he just really is. He just always talks about tactics. And I think we have to, like, really respect the fact that Demon Guard Tactics is a classic mic game.

[Dan]

Are we underselling Valiant Farts coming home?

[Mary]

No, it's an honor to be nominated. And he valiantly farts every day at.

[Dan]

The beginning of the mic check. Oh, my God. Yeah. Mic check's right.

[Mary]

Elder Holes Myrim is very special.

[Dan]

It is very special, Tim. Is it? I guess my vote would go to the Elder Holes five Myrim Elder Holes. Yeah.

[Jake]

I mean, I can't argue.

[Dan]

Really got the role playing then. He loved it. Yeah.

[Jake]

All right. All right. My guest game of the year is the Elder Holes five. My room.

[Mike]

I was personally pulling for Edging of Allegoria hd.

[Jake]

Well, you know.

[Dan]

Yeah, you thought the up res was a little lazy.

[Mike]

Yeah, they could have done more to get those tiles looking better.

[Dan]

It was too short ultimately. Yeah, you wanted to go longer. All right. Yeah.

[Mary]

All right.

[Dan]

All right. Next up is the Jake Ass. Game of the year.

[Mary]

Your nominees are UFO 50.

[Dan]

The National.

[Mary]

You're not allowed to do that.

[Jake]

We're skipping this category.

[Mary]

No, no, no, continue.

[Dan]

The national. The game.

[Mike]

I forgot we did Dragon Age, the Valguard Anime. Tales of Westpharia, Tales of Bliscaria, Tales of Bomb Dania. Tales of Ecclesiastica, Tales of Genesis, Colon, dawn of Rapturia Tales to you.

[Mary]

We overruled the judge.

[Dan]

Yeah, look, we had to get the power back for that one.

[Mike]

I don't think. He seems super psyched about UFO 50 tonight.

[Dan]

No, no, we can cut that. There's a lot of Tales games he likes. Like this year. Yeah, he always.

[Mike]

He's talking about Tails all the time.

[Dan]

Yeah, Bom Donnia. I know. He thought Bom Donna was really good.

[Mary]

I can't believe he just let us overrule him.

[Mike]

What a judge.

[Mary]

He's not even going to stop us.

[Dan]

You have.

[Mary]

You don't have any power. You can't do anything to stop us.

[Dan]

Yeah, look, if he can't talk, all he could do is play his little theme song.

[Mary]

Yeah, which isn't even worth anything.

[Mike]

He did mention that the national. The game wasn't sad enough.

[Jake]

Enough.

[Mike]

It wasn't depressing enough is what he said.

[Dan]

I'm glad he doesn't have like a super override he could do as a judge where it would, you know, actually override our override.

[Mike]

Yeah, that would suck because we're gonna keep going.

[Dan]

Yeah, that'd be no good.

[Mary]

Tales of Bomb Dania. Let's hear it.

[Mike]

Bombed.

[Dan]

He likes the book.

[Mary]

Yeah, he likes the books more than he likes the game.

[Mike]

He likes the characters in Bombdonia, but he doesn't love the combat. The Tales of Ecclesiastica is kind of the opposite. Opposite. He appreciates the combat.

[Mary]

He.

[Mike]

He won't shut up about Tals of Tales. Tua's the mechanic. It introduced where you can. You can fast travel.

[Dan]

He didn't like Dragon Age the Veil Guard until they added the the.

[Mike]

Yeah, he did really like when they added the the.

[Jake]

You all can get.

[Mike]

There's two of them.

[Dan]

We can't do anything about that.

[Mike]

That God damn It.

[Dan]

We can't do anything about that.

[Mike]

Who added that?

[Dan]

Oh, God. We got double decked.

[Mike]

Double decked.

[Dan]

We got double deck.

[Mike]

And then he just left the room.

[Dan]

Are we getting no winner?

[Mike]

No, I guess not.

[Mary]

No winner. We have to move on.

[Dan]

We were about to award something.

[Mike]

Double decked us.

[Mary]

That's some.

[Mike]

All right, next category.

[Dan]

Next to best unfinished category.

[Mary]

He made a call. He's the judge.

[Mike]

You can see where I tried typing Astrobot and then you came in.

[Dan]

I'm gonna keep that.

[Mike]

Oh, wait, I tried. No, I.

[Jake]

Okay.

[Mike]

I didn't even put in the right one. I tried putting it in. It's not poop.

[Dan]

Oh, nice. Good work. All right, Best remake slash, re release slash remaster. This is an old game that came back in some form. However you want to call it, your nominees are. Silent Hill 2, Dead Rising Deluxe remaster.

[Mike]

Red Dead Redemption on PC, Paper Mario.

[Mary]

And the Thousand Year Door, Persona 3 Reloaded.

[Mike]

Ask Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.

[Mary]

The Last of Us, Part 2 remaster.

[Dan]

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Boy, with Rebirth. Is it the thing where it's like. I know the first one was literally called remake, and this is like, you know, it's a new version, but it's like, it's such a different game.

[Jake]

I don't think it counts.

[Dan]

I kind of think it's just. It's got in name.

[Mike]

Well, I mean, name interpretation of the story. Story from Seven, and they put it into this bloated open world. Yeah, sorry, I don't mean to comment on that quality.

[Dan]

It's a tough one because it's just. It's almost too ambitious to be. Yeah, it's almost like demeaning to be like, oh, this is just like a re release or a remake. You know, it's like, this isn't an HD collection. This is a, like, whole new game. So I would say cut it just for that. That's not a quality call or anything.

[Jake]

I also think Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.

[Dan]

It was like that.

[Jake]

Yeah, I played. I played a couple hours of it and I was like, you know, it. That's what it is. But I just. I don't care, you know?

[Dan]

Boy, I really like Dead Rising Deluxe remaster. Me too.

[Mike]

I liked it.

[Dan]

You know, the thing with that is.

[Mike]

I played it because of you guys.

[Dan]

Yeah, it. It was such a thing where it was like. It was such a technical, like seeing so many characters on screen that early 360 days and, like, just running at 60 frames a second, 4K and everything just looked incredible. And also reminded me that like, that was a weird game that there aren't a lot like it. And I think it's held up very, very well in a lot of ways. So, like, that one's sticking out to me as a. Let's keep it in there.

[Jake]

You know, I. Yeah, I think it did a good job of like, we're gonna do some quality of life things, but we're not gonna like completely redo this game to make it frictionless.

[Mary]

Right.

[Jake]

Like, you still had like the awkward sort of escort missions that you had to do. And it's like, yeah, they kind of suck. But like, I don't want.

[Dan]

Part of it is like. Part of it is like some dumbass trying to make their way through zombies. Idiot. Here. Here's a two by four fucking fight for yourself, you know? But like fixing the save stuff because there's nothing charming about the, like this limited save system in the first one. So it kept the good stuff.

[Mike]

It's like the Ocarina and Majora's Mask re releases. Those, like, those understood the difference between staying true to the roots, but also when something objectively sucked with like the iron boots being in like, arena.

[Dan]

Oh my God, those are Alzheimer's.

[Mike]

Yeah. Saving the saving in Majora.

[Dan]

Yes. Oh, yeah. You didn't have to reset the three days every time you save or whatever.

[Jake]

Correct?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Back to the beginning. Anytime you were, you had to go to fucking school or.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

I think an easy one to cut. This is probably one of my favorite games to come out this year, but Paper Run, Thousand Year Door. I love that game. I think it's so funny. I think it's. I think it holds up very well. But also it, like, it seems very straightforward.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah. I mean, I'm glad it happened and showed people now how good that fucking game is. But it's not like, didn't add enough. Oh, you know what's interesting is Last of Us, Part two remaster. I was like, everyone with part one and Part two, where it's like, okay, a remaster is not needed for a game this recent. I will say, as someone who got a PS5 Pro recently, that it is kind of the one that, like, if I got friends over, I'm just like. And they're like, oh, let me see the Pro. It's like, it looks good. It looks really, really good. That said it. I'm not gonna go play it again. The game just came out.

[Jake]

I mean, to add to that too, that had like uncut lever levels that they cut from the game that were like, unfinished, which is super cool. And I wish more developers and remasters would do stuff like that. It also added a whole new mode. I don't even like the Last of Us Part two that much. But, like, as a remaster, I thought, yeah, that Roguelite mode was sick.

[Dan]

That's cool.

[Jake]

Yeah, I played it like, I think they did. I mean, like, they did way more than they had to. And I don't even think they did what they did with Last of us part one. This was just like 10 bucks, I think, like, it was like an upgrade. If you own the original.

[Mike]

Yeah, if you own the original, which.

[Jake]

Is still like, I don't know, it's kind of weird. But like, I do think Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered is a good example of a remaster.

[Mike]

Did you play Red Dead Redemption?

[Jake]

Yeah, I wrote a lot about it for GameSpot. That game is incredible. The PC version looks great, runs well, but it's like pretty bog standard.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Jake]

You know, like, they didn't do a whole lot of it in like ultra wide support.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Do you think we cut that one?

[Jake]

I think we can cut it.

[Dan]

Okay. You know, I don't. I'm not a huge Silent Hill guy. I played three hours of the remake at a Konami event recently. Like, I liked it, but like, not enough to like, want to play it once I got back, so. But everything I've heard from people who love Silent Hill 2, it seems like they're very positive on it and it seems like a good entry point into.

[Mike]

People like, did you play Silent Hill 2 remake? Not yet. Oh, okay.

[Jake]

I did. I've never played the original and I loved this. I thought it was great.

[Mary]

I need to get around to it.

[Mike]

Yeah. Honestly, that's my personal front runner for this category. I am the biggest Resident Evil head ever. I never really played Silent Hill games. I barely ever played Silent Hill games. This helped me final. I think this is similar to Resident Evil 2 remake in the sense that it's like, okay, it updated things enough where people can now see. I think what everybody tells me, this brilliant storytelling and vibes and atmosphere that was already happening back with the original. But like, this allows more, like, brings it to more people with modern, like, updates and whatnot. I. I really like this remake.

[Jake]

I also think, like, that game was destined to suck. Like, people expected that game to suck. Because it's like, how do you remake Silent Hill 2? And then also, like, I don't know, some of the early gameplay. Bloober Team is pretty hit or miss for me. Mostly miss. But I Think they fucking knocked it out of the park.

[Dan]

I think they do. The best thing you could do with something like this, where it has satisfied longtime fans of the series. And also, you know, I watched like, my sister's been streaming it and she's never played him before, and she's enjoying it as just a modern new game. And it's like, well, shit, okay, if you pull that off of the remake, what more could he ask, you know?

[Mike]

Yeah, honestly, it's really good Gizmo.

[Dan]

Oh, he doesn't like Silent Hill. Okay.

[Jake]

I also want to say Persona 3 reload is a pretty good remake.

[Dan]

Like.

[Jake]

Like all the stuff they added. Although I will say it is kind of a weird remake because they cut things from other versions of the game. And I know a lot of people were pissed about that. So, like, as I'm saying this, I think Persona 3 reload could be one we cut only because it doesn't feel like the definitive version.

[Dan]

Okay, so you want to cut that?

[Jake]

I'd be okay with that.

[Dan]

This is sounding like, cut Persona, give it to Silent Hill.

[Mike]

Yeah, I feel like.

[Mary]

Yeah, I feel like I need to do my homework here.

[Dan]

I kind of feel like maybe I should try Silent.

[Mary]

I would have been the.

[Dan]

It's.

[Mike]

It's definitely not advocate for it, and.

[Mary]

I just didn't get around to it.

[Mike]

It's not as drastic of a change as Resident Evil 2 remake was. I think Resident Evil 2 remake had, like, the third person shooting aspects.

[Dan]

The.

[Mike]

I think they really went harder on the just making it slightly more action oriented. Silent Hill 2, I think, is actually somehow closer to the original than Resident Evil 2 remake was, but I think in really good way where they're. I think you might be like, oh, man, I get why people like these.

[Jake]

I will say Silent Hill 2 remake a little too long. They cut like three hours from that game. And I think it would have been better.

[Dan]

A lot of walking through apartment buildings.

[Jake]

Yeah, a lot of walking through apartment buildings. I also think, like, some of the lines they kept from the original are just so stupid. But, like, maybe it's a good way. I know some people really like it, but, like, I don't know.

[Dan]

That's a different.

[Jake]

There were certain dialogue scenes where I was like. Like trying not to laugh.

[Dan]

Oh, sure, sure. Okay. Well, we have a winner.

[Mike]

Sweet. All right.

[Jake]

Fire Escape's best remake re release remaster is Silent Hill 2.

[Dan]

Excellent. Let's move on to. It's not poop. AKA the most okay game of the year. Your nominees are Final Fantasy 7, Rebirth, Dragon's Dogma 2.

[Mike]

Star Wars Outlaws.

[Mary]

Dragon Age.

[Dan]

The Veil Guard, Mario and Luigi Brothership.

[Mike]

The Plucky Squire.

[Mary]

Rise of the Ronin.

[Dan]

Senua Saga, Hellblade 2.

[Mike]

Princess Peach. Showtime.

[Dan]

Okay, I think there's some easy ones here.

[Mike]

Yeah. Get rid of.

[Dan]

Let's get rid of Mario, Luigi.

[Mike]

Rise of the Ronin.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah. No, actually, Dragon Age, right?

[Dan]

No, no, not yet.

[Mary]

Get rid of the Plucky Squire.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah. Wait, why is drag. Oh, you played. No. Why do we have Dragon Age there if we didn't play it?

[Dan]

I played some. It's not poo.

[Jake]

Is that good? Cut these three.

[Mike]

Yeah, I don't. Yeah, yeah. I would also.

[Dan]

No, none of us played those. Oh, yeah. And Plucky Squire is too poop for this.

[Mike]

So is Rise of the Ronin.

[Dan]

And S is too poop. C is definitely too poop.

[Jake]

I don't know.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

Right.

[Mike]

I also really, really would Advocate Dragon Zaga 2 is far, far better with Mike, I don't think. Way too good.

[Dan]

It might be too good to be. Yes.

[Mary]

Finally, Final Fantasy belongs on here.

[Dan]

That's the thing. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is like. I didn't. I got, like. I did the same thing I did with remake. I got, like, 50 hours in.

[Mike]

You guys. You heard that one. I know you were very excited about.

[Dan]

It, and I did. And the only reason I fell off is because I heard I got to a point where it was like, okay, it's all gonna be nonsense story stuff that even, like, Final Fantasy fans didn't like. And I stopped because I specifically wanted to have, like, good memories of it because I did enjoy that game. I thought it was good.

[Jake]

That's smart, because I played 90 hours of that game, and I feel like it wasted 40 of those hours. I. I have a bone back with that game.

[Mike]

That doesn't sound like that sounds like poop.

[Dan]

Ooh.

[Mike]

Yeah. But we.

[Jake]

We were down to three already, because. So fast.

[Dan]

We can resurrect something if we need to.

[Mary]

Let's just do which one is the most.

[Jake]

I mean, I think. I think Final Fantasy makes sense to be in this category, to be fair. Like, as frustrated as I was with it, I know people enjoyed it. I know, like, you had a good time with the time you spent and you stopped at the right time. I feel like mine's a little more personal, where it's like, I feel like I just wasted time with that game.

[Mary]

Can we, like, just have one more conversation, though, about Outlaws, which I've heard from so many people, is, like, the okayest. Whatever.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mary]

People all Agree. It's fine, but not great.

[Dan]

Anyone play much of it? Yeah, you did.

[Jake]

I played a couple hours.

[Dan]

Is it, Is it the right level of poop?

[Mary]

No, no, not poop.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Dan]

No, but the right level of not poop.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I'm going to defer to.

[Jake]

I think, think it makes sense. And it's not poop because it's not a bad game. It's like well made. It's. It has a lot of, like, it's just very. I don't know, I feel like it's not poop.

[Dan]

It's like a 7.5.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

You know, like that did a job. And then it's like, yeah, like, if.

[Jake]

You'Re a Star wars fan, you'll probably play it and you'll enjoy. Well, actually, no, I don't want to speak for Star wars fans because who the fuck knows what they want? Mediocrely fine, but like, you know, it's like, it's a fine game. It's. It's well made, but it's the khakis of games. No one, no one's going to be fighting for this. For Game of the Year.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

I. I feel like Princess Peach Showtime is definitely in this category. I just don't know. Like, I feel like Star Wars Outlaws is a higher profile version of this, which makes me think.

[Mary]

I think it defines this category.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Like, it feels like the God of war, Ragnarok, like, that was such an obvious. Well, no, that was too poop. Well, okay, this sounds like a better one than, than God of war Ragnarok.

[Jake]

I don't know about that, but I think I'd rather play God of war Ragnarok than Star Wars Outlaw.

[Dan]

Oh, wow. Okay, so where are we at on this? Like, Princess Peach Showtime is absolutely not poop. But it's not memorable in any way. Outsiders, like, oh, wow, they tried to give Peach a game finally, you know, since the DS1. And oh, this one's also not great, you know, I mean, it's not. But it's also not bad at all. Like, I was just like feeling no emotion playing that game. But I also wasn't like, this sucks.

[Mary]

But nobody like really talked about it either.

[Dan]

No.

[Mary]

Star Wars Outlaws was like, discussed by a lot of people. And I feel like there was a collective wave of like, ah, it's here and it's fine.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mary]

And then I didn't hear, like, mass people angry about it. I didn't hear a lot of praise. I think it just.

[Jake]

Well, lucky you. I heard a lot of people angry about this. Game.

[Mary]

I just think it's okay.

[Jake]

Yeah, I mean, Star Wars Outlaws. I feel like make sense for that us, you know?

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah, that sounds right. Any objections? All right.

[Jake]

All right, well, fire escapes. It's not poop. AKA most. Okay. Game of the year goes to.

[Mike]

Star Wars Outlaws.

[Dan]

All right. Oh, yeah. Moving through them.

[Mike]

God, Total war.

[Dan]

What?

[Mike]

It's just on everything. I love it. It's every year we talk about it.

[Dan]

Next we have next up, best game we played that didn't come out this year. Here your nominees are.

[Mary]

Hollow Knight.

[Dan]

Case of the Golden Idol.

[Mike]

Diablo 4.

[Mary]

Warhammer. Warhammer.

[Mike]

Warhammer to Warhammer.

[Mary]

Warhammer. Warhammer. Warhammer.

[Dan]

The Legend of Zelda. Wind Waker hd.

[Mike]

The out foxies.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah. Big dweeb guy.

[Mike]

Layers keep revealing themselves.

[Dan]

They do.

[Mike]

We did not know you could get on a human cannon and shoot a human at another.

[Dan]

He shot a clown at me and killed me.

[Mike]

God, this best game ever made.

[Dan]

It's really good.

[Mary]

Stupid game. We discussed this last year.

[Mike]

Stupid at game. I really played it again this year. Played it yesterday. I got into the. The train car with the boxes.

[Dan]

Oh, you got it.

[Mike]

And if you throw the boxes at another person, they get like, stuck in it like a barrel.

[Dan]

Oh, what the.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, okay.

[Mike]

I'll show you. I'll show you later.

[Dan]

That's contender. I know. We're watching face.

[Mike]

You have to do a dodge roll through the. Like, you do a dodge roll and then you drop through the floor.

[Dan]

Oh, God. There's new tech. Okay, Cool.

[Mike]

New tech.

[Dan]

Was it this year that I played Hollow Knight?

[Jake]

Yeah, it certainly was.

[Mike]

That game was good.

[Jake]

That game was good.

[Dan]

I. I.

[Jake]

Have you guys played it?

[Dan]

Have you guys played it?

[Jake]

Yeah, you. You were talking so highly of it.

[Mike]

So I had to play.

[Dan]

Did you like it?

[Mike]

Yeah. He texted me when I was like, Dan finally sold me on Hollow Knight.

[Dan]

Wow. So you. Okay. So two of us, like, for. Finally came around to it. You got to join Mary. You got.

[Mike]

I always liked it.

[Dan]

Oh, okay. Well, they got four. Four of us.

[Mike]

I think I'm the. I'm the old hat in the group that always liked it. Oh, Mary, you should.

[Mary]

I am about to become so violent.

[Mike]

You have a puppy on your lap.

[Dan]

The least violent puppy ever. Going, gizmo's a lifesaver. So I said we keep Hollow Knight. Oh, these are all pretty good. I'll just say. Playing Legend of Zelda Wind Waker hd, I finally. I got tired of waiting for the switch re release that God knows if we ever get something like that. I was like, fuck it. I'm gonna play on my Steam deck. And I did. And that game holds up. Specifically that HD one with all the better, like, swift sailing and stuff and fixing up the tingle shit at the end. And it's just a fantastic Zelda game.

[Mike]

We can take out more about it. There was a good expansion for Warhammer 3, but don't need to talk more about that.

[Dan]

Okay. I played Case of the Golden Idol. I came around late to it, and I really, really loved it. What.

[Mike]

What does Jeff Grubb do with his recommendations that I don't?

[Dan]

Oh, there are so many. You fucking got me on Outer Wild. This is my game of the year. I've taken. So I've read books because of you.

[Mike]

Okay. That's. That's right. I, I. Yeah, Case, the Gold Nile is awesome.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's great. You. Wait, have you talked about this?

[Mike]

We talked about. We had this conversation about how I had talked about it two years ago saying, guys, you need to play this game. Game.

[Dan]

Before Grub told me to play it.

[Mike]

Like, when it was new. And he finally recommended this year.

[Dan]

I don't know if there's evidence of that.

[Mike]

I'm going to. Now I'm going to be violent, surrounding.

[Dan]

Myself with violent people. Jeez.

[Mary]

Yeah. How does that keep happening?

[Dan]

I don't know. People are tough these days.

[Mike]

I don't have a dog on my lap to prevent me from smashing glass of Shiraz on your head. I would just want to go out on a limb and say, last year I played Diablo 4, and I was like this. I don't give a shit about this game. I'm actively bouncing off it. I don't think the pacing's done well. I think the loot is inconsequential. I think the difficulty needs realignment. In many cases, there's too many spikes. I had an absolute. I had a blast with this game. So much that it reminded me of, like, the glory days of Diablo 3, Reaper of Souls, when I was playing that with, like, co op friends and stuff. This game, the new Class A, is super fun. The Spiritborn. I absolutely love what they have done with how many different options you get to tweak. Luke, you really like, but you're also gay from. He's just licking Mary's boob.

[Dan]

Gizmo. Gizmo. Oh, I'm not actually yelling at you, buddy.

[Mike]

Gizmo.

[Dan]

No, no. Kayla calls him Rismo.

[Mike]

That's more appropriate than mine. I just. I really like Diablo iv. I think the little quality of life things they've Added to the loot system and the actual item, you can tweak characteristics. You can reroll stuff in a way that is pretty fun. Once you think you've gotten a hold on your build and then all of a sudden you're like, oh, that's a really cool bonus. I'm going to almost like a joker in Balachro. It's like I'm going to rearrange things around that and then all of a sudden my character is going to be super fun. But also the storytelling in the expansion is surprisingly good. And it's not that Blizzard's cut scenes and its presentation has historically always been great, but I actively found myself kind of taken aback by how good the writing was with some of the stuff here and how they were progressing the story from the first game. And I didn't care about the campaign story, but here it actually pulled me in the Spiritborn. The expansion Vessel of Hatred was.

[Dan]

Was.

[Mike]

I'm fully on board with that game and I've started several new character classes. I like it a bunch. We all should play it together.

[Jake]

This so cutting it.

[Dan]

This is making me want to play because like the first one came out when I was in the middle of moving, so I never really got to play it. And so now hearing.

[Mike]

Oh, the base game.

[Dan]

Yeah, base game. Yeah.

[Mike]

I didn't also, it had. It reminds me of their. The. Their course correction they did with three.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

This didn't have an auction house or anything, but like, like it's also just. Even on console. I've actually switched to playing on PS5 because my brother is on PlayStation and it's a really snappy feeling game on PS5. Yeah, it's great.

[Dan]

Let me offer this though, because it's best game we played that didn't come out this year. And the things you're saying about Diablo 4 are unique in this category as like you were describing a lot of stuff from a dlc, which I feel like everything else which came out this year. Sure. Yes.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And so that's almost like a different thing where it's like, you know, we're talking about Zelda in case the Golden Idol and Hollow Knight. These are older games that we came around to this year just on their own merits.

[Mike]

Yeah. Honestly, everything I'm loving about Diablo 4 did come out this year, so I realize I'm wasting breath and I was.

[Dan]

But no, you're not. Because, like, I really legit. Like I don't know what I'm playing next. And like everything you're saying, it's Like.

[Mike]

I could get into it class or like the Rogue. The Druids. Yeah, we can cut it for this reason. But like.

[Dan]

Yeah, but it sounds awesome.

[Mike]

People should play it.

[Dan]

Yes. Okay, cool.

[Jake]

So are we cutting.

[Dan]

Cut Diablo 4 with the asterisk at like. Oh, but also, this sounds awesome.

[Jake]

I'm not doing that.

[Mike]

Well, there's a category down lower, actually. I should have just saved. Fuck. I should have saved all that for what I was saying.

[Dan]

The thing with Hollow Knight is like, it's all just kind of the same enemies and really, it's just kind of like every Metroidvania has done these things a million times before. It's not really. It's an okay Metroidvania. It kind of looks like. It looks like you played flash games back in the day.

[Mike]

You remember that on Shockwave? He's fucking getting after it.

[Dan]

He does that. He won't stop unless you stop it.

[Mary]

I won't save him.

[Mike]

No.

[Dan]

Hollow Knight's very good. Came around on it and I feel like if Jake 2 came around on it this year, that's a pretty solid argument for it this year.

[Jake]

I've tried to play it multiple times, but this year was the year and I was thankful I did because it's very good.

[Dan]

Boy, that sounds like a winner to me.

[Jake]

We still have to cut one, though.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Is it it. Is it the out Foxy?

[Dan]

No, Out Foxy just requires too much. It's a high skill ceiling. And I think it's. Guys like me and Mike know what we're doing, and it's just kind of hard to like bring people in in 2024 and expect them to know all the intricacies. So, yeah, we can cut out foxes.

[Jake]

Sure. We don't want to alienate.

[Dan]

Right, right. It's a little too hardcore.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.

[Dan]

Yep.

[Jake]

Hardcore stuff. So Hollow Knight?

[Dan]

I think so.

[Jake]

Is that the winner?

[Mary]

It's the game we deserve.

[Dan]

You finally gonna try it?

[Jake]

It's a shame you didn't like Silksong, though. That's kind of.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, it's weird.

[Mary]

Why do you guys keep doing this?

[Dan]

It's like a multi year gizmo.

[Mary]

Can only hold me back for so long.

[Dan]

No, he's pretty good at this.

[Mary]

All of my anger.

[Jake]

Fire Escape's best game we played that didn't come out this year is Hollow Knight.

[Dan]

Hell yes, it is. All right. It is a very good game. Next up is one that I stole, with permission from Deadlock, a wrestling podcast. It is the most Fucked Fucker award. Now a fucked Fucker is just like a little fucker. Just a little creepy goblin. Just nothing good about this guy.

[Mary]

We don't like it.

[Dan]

This little fuck fucker. You're never happy seeing this guy in a game. And your nominees are.

[Mary]

The Cat. Ghost in animal well lethal company.

[Dan]

Mimic bile.

[Mike]

Titans in Helldivers 2.

[Mary]

Paul Phoenix in Tekken 8.

[Dan]

The Nightwing in Palworld. Parentheses look it up.

[Mike]

The Leg Enemies in Silent Hell 2.

[Mary]

That hide the final boss in Shadow of Erdtree.

[Dan]

The Humans in Metaphor. Refantazio. Whoa.

[Mike]

God damn it, everyone. And thank goodness you're here.

[Mary]

That's funny.

[Dan]

They are all really up.

[Mike]

To be clear. When we're saying like, humans are the monsters, we're not saying, like, the last.

[Dan]

Of us, we're the walking dead.

[Mike]

Shut the up. We're not saying. That's not that case.

[Dan]

Human. They're.

[Mike]

Okay. I'm going to show you.

[Jake]

They're. Yeah, they're like.

[Dan]

Oh, do they actually look? I thought it was just like a guy named Carl.

[Mike]

No, I've told you several times.

[Dan]

I wasn't listening. I know you were.

[Mike]

Look at.

[Dan]

I know.

[Mike]

They're. They're all. Actually. This is going to be up its own. Oh, God. It's based on like paintings.

[Dan]

What?

[Mike]

You've seen the paint.

[Jake]

You've definitely seen.

[Dan]

I don't know what like.

[Mike]

Look, it's a guy, right? It's a guy in your.

[Dan]

What the fuck is that?

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

There's like a bagpipe heart.

[Dan]

Oh.

[Mike]

And there's people going around top.

[Dan]

That's a human.

[Mike]

There's a bunch of like frogs at a tavern inside his body.

[Dan]

Oh.

[Mike]

Which is an egg.

[Dan]

Okay. Yeah. See, that's kind of rad looking.

[Mike]

I know you. There's so much in this game that's like.

[Jake]

Seeing that in the game was so cool.

[Mike]

See, it's from this painting. It's like a renaissance.

[Dan]

Whoa. Okay. That's kind of looks cool as hell.

[Mike]

Look at this. Another human.

[Dan]

Whoa.

[Mike]

Sword feet and cool. And wings and ribs and apples. Holy shit.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

These are the bosses. There's some weird ones. Look at this. Fuck. Fucker.

[Dan]

Dad. Yeah.

[Mike]

It's got a. It's got.

[Dan]

Okay, look. I'm okay. I unironically sold on the huge humans and metaphor repent as you know.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Why didn't anyone tell me there was cool stuff in it?

[Mike]

It is unfortunate that it does sound like the last of us. Like, oh my God. Humans are the most.

[Dan]

I legit thought that's what you were trying to say.

[Mike]

They're actually like monsters that are in this world they just call them, but.

[Dan]

They'Re up looking monsters.

[Mike]

They look awesome.

[Dan]

Okay, cool.

[Mike]

Their word for them is humans though. But then there's like eight other tribes that.

[Dan]

Okay, well that's awesome. It's like the angels in Evangelion.

[Mike]

Yes, like biblical angels.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, got it. Okay. Well, you just told me it was cool. All right. Man, Paul Phoenix is fucked up looking in Tekken 8. He's just big and his hair went from being like a weird flat top to just kind of like a weird comb over thing. I think it's just funny taking a character. It's like taking Liu Kang like, you know, a super iconic character from a famous fighting game and then just over the course of time just making him kind of just age weird. And I think that's a funny thing. It's like Paul Phoenix was like one of the poster boys of the first Tekken. It was like him and Kazuya and I think Paul looks like a fucked fucker in a good way in Tekken 8.

[Jake]

So is that.

[Dan]

I like. I like him. I mean. Yeah. I want to hear the arguments for the other ones.

[Jake]

Well, I put on the leg enemies in Silent Hill 2 that hide because.

[Mary]

They are really fast.

[Jake]

They're motherfuckers throughout that entire game.

[Mary]

And they're probably going to have more like fidelity in this new version. They're probably gonna be like grosser. You probably see the leg hairs.

[Dan]

So there's.

[Jake]

I don't necessarily spoil this, but like you come across so many bathrooms in that game and you're always opening them, seeing if there's anything inside. You're looking for toilet ammo, gross holes.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jake]

And like you're safe 90% of the time. And then one shows up at some point and it fucking ruined me. Like, I was done. I threw the control. I was like, I can't play anymore. Anymore. And stop. Like it's, it's. It's. I will say I put the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree on here, but it's been patched since then.

[Dan]

And I also think that's a little different. Like a pain in the. Like, are you coming at it from the angle of like this is a pain in the ass or this guy? Like, it's a.

[Mike]

Not a. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jake]

It's a. But not a.

[Dan]

Okay. And I think we can take that. But I agree. I did everything.

[Mike]

It's not a spoiler at this point. If you want to talk about the boss.

[Jake]

I mean, if we're just gonna cut it we might as well not sure. I mean, I think everyone knows, but.

[Dan]

Yeah, I did every single thing in that DLC except beat that boss.

[Jake]

Yeah, it's. It's. It's a fucker, that's for sure.

[Dan]

I'm trying to remember how the Lethal Company mimic works.

[Mary]

It looks like your friends. So it mimics a. Like, they look astronauts, I guess, and then they, like, morph into a monster and eat you.

[Dan]

That's cool.

[Mary]

But you think it's your friend, so you'll turn around, you'll see your buddy.

[Dan]

Will it have a name above it?

[Mary]

Yeah, but they. But they don't talk. And so you might be like, dan, come over here. And it'll just be staring at. You'll be like, dan, come over here. And then it'll like more.

[Dan]

That's that. It's like the thing. Like, that's cool as hell, and that's.

[Mary]

Why I really like it.

[Jake]

Another fucked fucker in that game, though, is that mask that, like, possesses you. Yeah, that's where like, doesn't always possess you. You, like, put it on, put it on, put it on. And then it possesses you and kills everyone.

[Mike]

And it's like, good God, this is a stacked category.

[Dan]

I think we can cut Paul Phoenix. He just put on some weight and had a weird haircut. I think that tracks with, like, these weird human demons and stuff.

[Jake]

What about Nightwing in Power World? I didn't play.

[Dan]

I don't know what the deal is.

[Mary]

There in Power World. The Nightwing, I believe, steals eggs and then once they hatch, it eats them and, like, feeds them to their kids.

[Dan]

Seems unpleasant.

[Mary]

I just think for a very sweet game called Palworld, where you're basically playing Pokemon, it's like the one that, like, eats other Pokemon's babies. Okay, yeah, I see the argument, but I think it's. There's probably more fucked fuckers, but the reason I thought it warranted a nomination is because it, like, eats children.

[Jake]

He doesn't look like a. But maybe that makes it more of a. Oh, that.

[Dan]

There's a bird.

[Jake]

Yeah, it's a bird that looks like they stole from.

[Mary]

And I think, to be fair, and I think, like, there's, like, a more evilness to it. I don't think that's, like, the complete story. Like, it doesn't just take children. I think it, like, takes care of them as, like, a faux parent. And then once the child is, like, big enough, it hunts them.

[Mike]

Sounds kind of cool.

[Dan]

Yeah. Boy, every. This is really stacked then, because, like, I see that's a Good argument for this.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Everything I'm looking at here, like, cat, ghosts and animal. Well, I think we, like. That's the one that chases you when you grab the thing across the map.

[Jake]

That one is a super.

[Mary]

Yeah, I will say, like, the nightwing looks normal and cute, and so it's like, aesthetically, it's a very normal thing. It's just the fact that, like, in an adorable game for, I think, kids, it, like, basically takes children with guns.

[Jake]

Isn't like, you, like, put these in.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

You shoot them. Yeah.

[Jake]

So is it for kids?

[Mary]

I. I think it's marketed towards children.

[Dan]

But I. I think the ideal fucked fucker is something that, if it just scurried around the corner here, we'd all be like, oh, fuck.

[Mike]

It's the thing that comes through the flap. And I think you should leave.

[Dan]

Yeah, we just want doggy door. Yeah. Yes.

[Mike]

There's monsters on Earth, on the world.

[Mary]

Yeah, I agree.

[Dan]

So I kind of think because that you have to learn more about the Nightwing to realize how fucked it is.

[Mary]

Then it probably doesn't count.

[Dan]

So I think we cut that, and then I think we also maybe cut everyone. And thank goodness you're here, because it would be weird if an animated person walked in here right now, but, like, they're just kind of like, he's showing me the humans again. Jesus Christ.

[Mary]

I would say the thing that would make me, like, recoil in horror would be the humans in meta. For reasons.

[Dan]

I mean, those are like.

[Mary]

I would struggle seeing something like that with my eyes.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

That would really stress me.

[Dan]

That's a.

[Mike]

What do you think? That's a major boss, too. There's minor things you run into that's. Let me see if I can find it. There's like, they're. I told you about it. They're in an egg. Well, there's a lot of eggs in this game, actually, now that I think about it. They're actually like, I've got to find one. They are a bird's egg, and there's a human head pop. Like an actual little human head popping out of it. But then there's a spear through it that comes out the bottom, and it looks like a dick between their legs.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mary]

They have swords for dicks and dicks for swords.

[Dan]

Yeah. All right. Every. It seems like there's, like, multiple.

[Mary]

They have swords coming out of their dick.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

And you have to, like, you have to. When you crack the main egg on that big boss, then a bunch of, like, frogs in soldiers armor will come out of the Tavern that was inside. And you'll have to like, knock them all out at once. It's.

[Jake]

Yeah, it's weird.

[Mike]

It's a weird.

[Dan]

What about.

[Jake]

What about Bile Titans and Helldivers? They're kind of a pain, but.

[Mary]

They're a pain. But I also think, like, they're terrifying. Their scale of them. Bile Titans are one of the biggest bosses in the game. I want to say they're three tentacly legs on like one sphere and it pukes.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Jake]

Like the mist style at you.

[Mary]

They're very difficult to kill. Not only can they spit bile at you that will kill you, they kill you by stepping on you. Okay. I will just say, like, as someone who has played a lot of Helldivers, there's. It's kind of freaky, like, trying to take this thing out and watching your friend be like, I'll help you. And they just get stepped on. Like, they just crush your friends.

[Dan]

They sound unpleasant to look at, but I feel like this is more in the fucker category, you know?

[Mary]

Yeah. I mean, I think they're annoying. I don't think they're as terrifying as legs.

[Dan]

Yeah, the legs. The humans. Yeah. I think. And like, the concept of the lethal company Mimic, I think.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

Yeah. So I think that's.

[Mary]

So I would remove the cat Ghost and Bile Titans.

[Dan]

Yeah. Because the cat goes too. Is something that, like, if you just saw it, it'd be like, all right, that's a weird, ghostly cat.

[Mary]

Fluffy.

[Dan]

You kind of have to realize it, like, oh, it's just following me through, you know? Matter. Yeah. I think legs, humans and mimics are a real good top three here. I. I'll be honest, I came into this thinking the humans was like a dumbass. Like, ooh, we're the real monsters. And then you showed me like, several images and I was like, oh, that's the most I've ever seen.

[Mary]

I mean, I think the real monster has always been you, Dan.

[Dan]

But aren't you all glad you allowed me to talk about metaphor refantasio? Because I could show you how noble I was. I helped you move this forward. Just. I just. A round of applause wouldn't be out of order.

[Mary]

And that's why it's your game of the year, Dan. Game of the year.

[Dan]

Hey, maybe it's one of those things I wind up playing next year and I'm like, oop, I was wrong.

[Mike]

To be clear, I don't think you would love the game. It's pretty, like, turn based.

[Dan]

Yeah, I like some turn based games. Yeah, I Think for sure.

[Mike]

Oh, also your means of transportation around the world of metaphor. How do you even describe it? Imagine a big like airship. Zeppelin. But it walks around the planes on some giant.

[Dan]

This is sounding pretty cool.

[Mike]

You suck.

[Dan]

I suck because I'm willing to open my mind and try new things that I once closed off because I assumed it.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I think it shows growth. I think it's a noble thing.

[Jake]

The most fucked fucker of 2024 quote according to Fire escape is the humans and metaphor refantasio.

[Dan]

Oh yeah.

[Mike]

Nice.

[Dan]

Getting down to it, we only have two more categories and then our top 10 top 10 of the year. The penultimate normal category is best game to look at now again, this is graphics. This could be fidelity. This could be art style. This is just. Oh, that looks really good. And your nominees are.

[Mary]

Harold Halibut.

[Dan]

Black Myth. Wukong Astrobot.

[Mary]

Shadow of Erdtree Neva.

[Mike]

Thank goodness you're here. Cod Blops Baby Lorelei and the Laser Eyes senua Saga. Hellblade 2.

[Mary]

What the.

[Mike]

I mean it's good as hell.

[Dan]

Yeah. If there's anything. Sorry. Yeah, that's the one good thing you.

[Mary]

Can say deserves it.

[Dan]

Yeah. Ooh. Okay.

[Mike]

I think Black Myth was good looking, but I, I. It also struck me as slightly rough around the edges in some cases. Maybe it was just like performance over, like actual.

[Jake]

I think I added it and I kept having screen tearing that I couldn't solve.

[Dan]

Which PC?

[Jake]

Yeah, PC. I don't know if. Yeah, that could have been a me issue. I will say Lore. Lighting the azer eyes is Laser eyes is a very striking style. But I don't know if I'd say it's the best game to look at.

[Mary]

There's no way this is winning or getting top three. Like let's just pull, let's pull the band aid.

[Mike]

I Black Ops 6. I think it's good looking, but I don't think it's like, I don't remember.

[Dan]

If I added this or I might have.

[Mike]

It's a very good looking Black Ops.

[Dan]

It looks great, but it is definitely just that hyper realistic style they've always used. It's just the modern it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you. There are parts like when you're back at the house in between missions where it's like, oh man, like woods looks good as hell. You know, like area, whatever. Yeah, yeah. But it's very predictable. Good looking, you know? Know. All right. Shadow the Erdtree. Like here's the thing, like on a fidelity level, it's mostly what Elden ring looked like. You know, they're definitely like. There's some parts that look better, but.

[Jake]

I think it's like the world design, art design that really kind of.

[Dan]

Yeah. What was the cerulean where it's all the blue flowers and stuff? I saw that. I was like, are you. That looks gorgeous. Holy. Like enemy design. Boss design. The dancing lion.

[Mary]

Very pretty.

[Dan]

It's just. Just on a different level.

[Mary]

I think we can cut. Thank goodness you're here. I think it is.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Cool looking. I don't think it's beautiful and I don't think it's going to make top three.

[Dan]

It's a beautiful animation style that extremely fits with the vibe of that game. Yeah. But there's just some other stuff that's.

[Mary]

I would not put it on my wall.

[Dan]

Halibut, Harold.

[Jake]

Halibut is. Looks amazing.

[Mike]

It is, it is.

[Jake]

Every. Everything in that game is like, like done physically. Like it's all clay. Like they built all those characters, did all the animation through that and it looks incredible.

[Mary]

They made every scene by hand.

[Mike]

Stop motion.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Jake]

This game took like 12 years to make. And it's because of like this. Oh, I don't know if it's entirely because of it, but the style itself is, I think is so good.

[Mary]

It's an advancement in art. It's not stop motion. It's a. It's a mix of mixed media and handmade dioramas. That's really cool. So imagine making a physical set.

[Mike]

Wes Anderson video game.

[Jake]

Wallace and Gromit. But like a game.

[Mary]

But I think what's important about it, because this category is about best game to look at. This game excels in visual art telling. It is a point and click adventure game and it has an excellent concept of a society that has been in space.

[Jake]

Stranded.

[Mary]

Stranded on a ship essentially for like a really long time. And you're playing, as I want to say, like the custodian. You're also like the fixer of a lot of things, but in many ways you're basically treated as a custodian. And there's a lot of growth in this game. But that's not what this category is about. This category has incredible visual examples that scale drastically in ways that I've never seen. I really do think it pushes the medium of video games and art and I think for that alone, it is a top contender here. Yeah, it really is.

[Dan]

Yeah. I feel like that is the thing that I've heard about that game and I've seen, you know, some images and video and stuff like it's one of those like almost like cuphead things, it seems where it's like just seeing it, it's like, holy shit.

[Jake]

That's similar. It's very similar to that.

[Mary]

People should be sure shocked that this game exists and the amount of hours that it put into it.

[Dan]

I see the argument.

[Mary]

I will also probably fight very hard for Neva for this category. That is what this game does best. Every frame of this game is a painting.

[Dan]

God. I'm gonna have to be the noble guy again and sacrifice Astrobot.

[Mary]

You heard him, judge.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Especially the dessert world, right?

[Dan]

Sprinkles.

[Mike]

That was the first time I was.

[Dan]

Like, oh, wow, those sprinkles are craz.

[Mike]

Sprinkles are nice.

[Dan]

You know that's a great looking game, right?

[Mike]

Yes.

[Dan]

Right.

[Mary]

I don't think anyone questions it's a great looking game.

[Jake]

We kind of decided to cut Blacksmith too, right?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

You're great.

[Mike]

So fucking.

[Dan]

What just happened?

[Mike]

Nothing.

[Dan]

I missed something.

[Mike]

Astrobot's a incredible looking game.

[Dan]

What the fuck are you doing?

[Mike]

It's a great looking game.

[Dan]

I'm gonna watch the archive of whatever the fuck you two are doing behind my back here.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Mike]

We do a lot of things behind your back. That sounded weird.

[Mary]

Sound weird.

[Mike]

I have to say, anytime I hear Halibut, it reminds me of.

[Dan]

It's like a fish, right?

[Mike]

The Seinfeld bit when he.

[Jake]

Well, that's what it's based on.

[Mike]

He writes down that he woke up in the middle of the night, he thought of a joke and he wrote it down, but he couldn't read his handwriting. Sure. So someone like reads us. Fax me some helibit.

[Mary]

Can someone argue for Senua's sacrifice?

[Dan]

Whatever the fuck.

[Mary]

Whatever. It's obviously pretty game. That's why it's nominated. Can someone argue for why it should be top three?

[Dan]

No. And in fact what I would say is that it is on a fidelity level, one of the most striking of the year for sure. But I would also say it is just kind of like on a. It's a very. If this is best technical, best visuals technical, you know this would be a contender. Undeniably incredible looking. But I'm looking at these other ones and what Halibut is doing with the just art design in shadow of the erdtree. What you're saying about Neva. I will take things that are like great art design and something new over just like, wow, these faces look really good. Which undeniably. That's a beautiful game.

[Mary]

That's something they're known for too. And I think that the first Senua, everyone was like, holy shit, you're motion capture is so obviously well done.

[Jake]

Tiny team. Yeah. Like, limited budget.

[Mary]

They deserve praise for that. But I think, like, this year, a new year, let's give praise to people who are pushing the advancement of a way that we classically cannot make games anymore because it's way too expensive. And the personal cost of building sets by hand and making them work for an interactive medium is nuts. It's. It's not feasible to do unless you dedicate your life to it. Harold Halibut is a classic example of, like, we did this because we love it. We didn't do this to make money. We didn't do this for any other reason besides. We're just like, obsessed with making art. And that's what they did. Also to that end, I think, like Neva, these are the people who made gris. These are people who are notorious for essentially making stunning pieces of art that you. You get to play Neva every minute of it. You are playing a painting, you are playing something so beautiful, and it takes you through all the seasons. You start, I think, in fall, or do you play a certain summer? I think you start in summer. Summer, and then you play fall and winter and spring. It takes you through every season. They're all stunningly colored. And just the scale of it all, it's really incredible. You're just this tiny person in this massive world when you're. When you're doing these, like, puzzles. It is. It is a marvel to look at. And I. I just genuinely love showing it off to people. If I were to, like, try and convince someone to get into games who's never played a game, I'd be like, look at this piece of art and just play around in this. People would say, this is like. Like a stunning.

[Jake]

Yeah, I think. I think Neva's like, probably prettier than Harold Halibut, but I think Harold Halibut is more interesting in its visuals.

[Dan]

Let me ask this. I agree with you because I think. I think they're very good. I feel like it's between these two, based on everything that you guys are saying. If you were someone who didn't play games and you walked through a room that had Harold Halibut or Neva on the screen, which one would most stop people in their tracks?

[Mary]

I think Nevaeh would.

[Jake]

I think Nevaeh would too. But I think if someone was like, yeah, but here's what happened, or here's how we did this in Harold Hal bit, they'd be like, oh, this is.

[Dan]

This is.

[Mike]

I want to be careful. Not. I, I, I love the stories of how they did stuff. I, I want to, like. Sure. Be careful not to take the. The process into account.

[Dan]

Yeah. Because the category is best game to look at. And that is like, somebody walking. Like, I think that's the way to judge it. Is someone walking through a room.

[Mary]

I think it's a fair way to describe it. Like, we, we always often have a tendency in our goatee deliberations to take things very literally. And it's a part of what makes us so special because we're not overthinking them and being like. But what was the design process and what was the innovation here, like, ultimately, like? Our category is called Best game to Look At. What's the best game to look at? I think. I think Erdtree is fucking stunning to look at. If I were to have a painting on my wall or, like, a picture framed, it would be Neva.

[Jake]

It'd be like, anything from Neva. Would I?

[Dan]

Wow. Okay.

[Mary]

It's just really pretty. I mean, if you Google it right now and just pick up a random screenshot, you'd be like, that's a pretty game. Like, it is a pretty, pretty game.

[Dan]

So that argument sounds solid.

[Jake]

Is it Neva?

[Mary]

That's how I feel.

[Jake]

All right. Fire Escape's best game to look at of 2024 is Neva.

[Mike]

All right, Nice.

[Dan]

One more short little category here before we do the big one. That is the game that is actually funny. This is a new one I think we've talked plenty about. Games typically don't do humor that well. A few did this year, so let's give them credit.

[Mary]

Your nominees are Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door.

[Dan]

Thank goodness you're here.

[Mike]

Alan Wake Two Night Springs and Lake House DLCs.

[Mary]

Like a dragon, Infinite wealth and Rise.

[Dan]

Of the Golden Idol. I. With something like a remake like Paper Mario. Like, I kind of almost mentally just dock it a little bit just because it's, like, not because it's not funny. Like, it's one of the funniest games I've ever played, but it's just as funny as it was on the GameCube.

[Jake]

See, to me, I think that makes it even more.

[Dan]

Oh, that it's aged well.

[Jake]

Like, it. It's still funny.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mike]

And like, a humor does not age well most times.

[Dan]

Yes. Unless it's MacGruber. Yeah.

[Jake]

Even playing, like, Super Mario RPG, like, that game wasn't as funny as I feel like I expected it to be.

[Dan]

It's more charming.

[Jake]

But like, Paper Mario and Thousand Years are fun. Yeah, there's some. There's some good stuff. But I also look at the other stuff that's here, particularly like the Alan Wake dlc. Like, I think that is.

[Mike]

We can cut that.

[Dan]

I didn't know it was funny. I. Check it out.

[Jake]

Oh, I. I think the Alan Wake DLC is hilarious.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Really great. Yeah, it's. Are you talking Night Springs or lakehouse?

[Jake]

Both of them, I think are funny. I mean, Lake house is funny because the fucking. Because the relationship between the two.

[Mike]

Yeah, the two directors of the lake house are. It's a married couple. Like, estranged married couple who began competing. So, like, you'll see a training video. What do you want to call it? Live action, welcome to the company kind of video. And the husband is just like. He. He wrote these jokes in the script and the wife is like, this is so not fucking funny.

[Dan]

Huh?

[Mike]

But then you find their respective offices and they had like, little shit. They've talked about each other. And then the whole company knows that they're feuding, but they think it's a secret. It's.

[Jake]

Yeah. Okay, so it's like emails. It's a very control. Ish. But also I think Night Springs DLC.

[Mike]

Is pretty funny with Alice.

[Jake]

You're basically playing out like fan fiction. Yeah, just pretty funny. Like Alan Wake is a. Is a fucking motorcycle for some reason at one point. That.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Okay. Well, what I'm hearing here is Rise. The golden idol is probably the cut, right?

[Mike]

Yeah, it's funny, but it's all like, it's.

[Dan]

I smiled while I was playing.

[Mike]

Funny in the sense that like, you can game.

[Mary]

That is actually funny. I smiled while I was like.

[Dan]

I was like laughing over.

[Mike]

You know, it does one kind of joke. Very specifically. It's chapter like three or something. It's like the. It's like episode two. An experiment goes awry. It's like, it's always sunny, like intro. And all of a sudden it cuts to the scene and there's just one guy's bleeding. One guy's on fire.

[Dan]

Oh, there's a guy running and screaming. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is a good one.

[Mike]

It's like timing funny. Yeah, but. But then you start digging into it. Everything's really grim.

[Mary]

But those men died.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike]

Eugene Marmot.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Oh, he's a. No, he's a dumbass.

[Dan]

He's a dog. We cut Dumbass because we. We couldn't think of enough dumbasses this year.

[Mary]

We needed more dumbasses.

[Mike]

There's a lot of dumbasses in that game.

[Dan]

Yeah, there really are. Okay.

[Jake]

I. I mean, I think. I think like Paper Mario, we could probably cut as much as I think.

[Mary]

I don't think that's that funny.

[Dan]

Well then. Okay, well, let's. Let's. Let's give credit.

[Mary]

Let's be real here.

[Dan]

Let's give credit to like a dragon, which is.

[Mary]

Let's be real here.

[Dan]

I'm just trying to like, before we give the obvious answer, I'm just want to some credit to like a dragon. It's very funny. Yakuza games are very funny. I feel like the ichiban ones are very like.

[Mike]

That character's earnest.

[Dan]

Yeah, earnest. And his just being kind of a dumbass. He. He's kind of a dumbass of the year.

[Mike]

Yeah, he is. He. And then you get into combat and he's just swinging a surfboard around. He's got flippers on.

[Dan]

It's a funny ass game. But it's. Thank goodness you're here.

[Mary]

Thank goodness you're here is unquestionably very funny.

[Dan]

Maybe the, the funniest game I've ever played.

[Mary]

I. I couldn't believe Hitman.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, that's such a different, like Hitman's like Three Stooges and thank goodness you're here is like Monty Python, you know?

[Mary]

Yeah. That's a really good way to describe it. Thank you. Thank goodness you're here is slapstick. It is character comedy. These people are weird. They are little freaks in a jar. And you're watching them, you get to see slice of life of all these different people. There's this like, village full of fuck fuckers. Fucked fuckers.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

There's a very iconic like, like flower scene where you're asked to mow. And these flowers are like really.

[Dan]

Oh, the back and forth.

[Mary]

And you can see the lawnmower in the background. And she's like, I love you. And they're just saying I love you back and forth. And you know, the lawnmower, you're slowly.

[Dan]

Getting back or like closer and closer to the camera.

[Mary]

That is very good.

[Mike]

And then she doesn't. She turn to the. Once that flower's dead, she turns the other like on the other side of her, like, I love you.

[Mary]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

It's just weird, like visual gags, like when you go into a pipe and you've got this weird, hey, Arnold, football head. And you're like going through the pipe and it's squeezing the sides out and you're just moving the stick to Move them through. Like, it was like three hours long. I was just smiling or laughing the entire time. Everything was just hitting with me. There wasn't a lot of jokes.

[Mike]

I was like, pause menus. Is that the. With the real footage, like New Newcastle?

[Dan]

Yeah. It's like, I. I think it's the funniest game I've ever played.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's. It definitely is.

[Mary]

Nails comedy characters and I think it really does do the job. You know, it's very difficult to have a funny game. I think that's a very difficult thing to do. We don't talk about it enough. You can put jokes in your game and if they don't land, people will be like, that's a bad, bad writing. Or like, you, like, don't know what you're talking about.

[Mike]

It's like stand up comedy, except the audience can just wander around stage.

[Jake]

With comedy, like, timing is so important and like nailing that in a game where the player can just do whatever the fuck they want is tough.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

So it's like, with something like this, it's like, okay, they figured it out.

[Dan]

And the voices are so funny and just like the recurring gag in three hours. They fit so many gags in there. There's the kid who's always just sitting there on a bench, excited to eat like a hot dog or something and then like burst into his face. Oh, he just gets so bummed over and over when you slap it too. So you always see that idiot.

[Mary]

The only way in the entire game is slapping.

[Dan]

You just walk around slapping things. That's the whole game, everybody.

[Mary]

Which is funny in itself.

[Dan]

I love that fucking game.

[Mary]

Yeah, it's a great game. It wins.

[Dan]

It wins. Yes. This category was made for this game.

[Jake]

All right. Fire escapes game that is actually funny is. Thank goodness you're here.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Jake]

And holy shit, that's it. We were through the categories and now it's top 10.

[Dan]

Do we need a. I feel like we need drinks or something.

[Mike]

Should we take a break? Yeah.

[Dan]

Should we take a little break here? Go to a. Go to a break screen. Yeah.

[Jake]

All right. Do you wanna.

[Dan]

Okay, sign us out, folks. This will not be too long. We'll take our first and probably only break of the entire broadcast to go to the bathroom, get some drinks, maybe some cocktails for the. The end here, some shots. We'll figure it out. But we will be back and we have a blank page in front of us and we are going to be throwing out games and whittling it down to a top 10 and then we're gonna rank the top 10. This is the long one. This is the big one. Thank you for joining us. Go make some popcorn, get a beer or whatever you gotta do yourself. We will be back.

[Gizmo]

Recently a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me and I immediately called him back. And we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan and Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan and Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe to toe for right at 30 years. We have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this. Everybody is a somebody and nobody is a nobody. Visit forthepeople.com to learn about our firm, Morgan and Morgan. For the people injured, visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Dan]

It's time, folks. We are refreshed. We have done our nature business. We have made drinks. We have. We're refreshed, recharged. We had some Liquid IV. We are going to rank the top 10 games of the year. But it's not going to just be 10. We're going to throw out all of them. Like I said, we have a blank doc in front of us. You should be able to see that. And we're going to throw out all the games and then whittle it down to 10. And then we're going to rank them.

[Mary]

It's anyone's game.

[Dan]

It really is. It could be, you know the name. It could be anything. It could be Star Wars Outlaws, Senua Saga. It could be anything. All the stars are here. All right, folks, let's throw them out. You don't know.

[Mike]

You don't know what's happening.

[Dan]

Astrobot.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Jake]

Oh, no, I don't.

[Mike]

Yeah. Double decker that shit right now.

[Mary]

To be contended. It doesn't mean it's gonna make it. It should be on the list.

[Dan]

We're just throwing them out right now.

[Mike]

Balatron.

[Dan]

Sure. Maybe. Thank goodness you're here.

[Jake]

Sure.

[Dan]

Prince of Persia. The something give.

[Mike]

Let us all.

[Dan]

Do we have to take turns? Do we want to?

[Mary]

Yeah, because you're mouthing all over the place.

[Dan]

Mouthing. Mouth is a verb.

[Mike]

Dancing what's all it around his house on his mouth.

[Mary]

Mary, you throwing out Crow country? I'm putting it in mind. I think it should be discussed.

[Mike]

Tactical breach. Wizards.

[Dan]

Oh.

[Mike]

Why is that so funny?

[Mary]

It's a really good idea.

[Mike]

What?

[Dan]

The ufo. What happened to you? What did.

[Mary]

Hell Divers. Two wild bastards got a better opportunity.

[Dan]

Hey, we don't know anything.

[Mary]

Wild bastards.

[Dan]

Call of duty Black Ops 6.

[Jake]

Hold on, give me a second. I need to extend.

[Mary]

Can you number these instead of put a dash. No, these are. No, no, no.

[Mike]

We'll number it, but not yet.

[Dan]

Then we just cut it.

[Jake]

Oh, you just want to know how many.

[Mary]

We have to know how many we have.

[Mike]

Yeah. Yes. The numbers mean nothing right now, but yes, in terms of how many nominations.

[Mary]

This is just for us to understand.

[Mike]

All right?

[Mary]

We need to get it down to 10.

[Dan]

I just don't want somebody jumping in now and just being like, oh, wow, that's the word of the race. We're not going to. We're adults.

[Mike]

We can restrain ourselves.

[Dan]

Not. I'm saying the folks.

[Mike]

Oh.

[Dan]

Like, if somebody joined in right now and they're like, whoa, they've got.

[Mike]

Oh, I see what you're saying it, though.

[Mary]

But it's like, do you want 20 in this list?

[Dan]

No, I think we just bullet point it. We throw out all the ones we want to, and then we'll whittle it down until there's obviously 10, and then we'll start moving things into slots next.

[Mike]

To top 10 games a year. You could put parentheses, like numbers are pending or something for all those. Whatever.

[Jake]

I'm gonna get rid of the numbers. Yeah, I think. I think the numbers are. Yeah, I think it's gonna confuse people.

[Dan]

Thank you. The judge is very smart.

[Mary]

Oh, he's already s. In the judge's D to get some.

[Mike]

He's been doing it all night.

[Dan]

I've been in trouble with the judge. I got banned from talking about games. Oh, that.

[Mary]

You mean games you didn't play Zelda? Echoes of whatever.

[Dan]

Games that aren't on this list, even though we've named 12 already. But anyway, yeah, Zelda should go on there. Are they hyperlinks?

[Jake]

Bizarre.

[Mike]

It's also the hyperlink to the store page for Astrobot.

[Dan]

Do people say hyperlink anymore?

[Jake]

You did.

[Mike]

Think so.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, that's true.

[Jake]

Silent Hill 2.

[Dan]

Sure. Pull out my list here.

[Mike]

Metaphor. See Refant.

[Dan]

Make sure I'm not forgetting anything here.

[Mike]

Mary, do you have another one?

[Mary]

I think Mini shoot.

[Dan]

Ah, hell yeah.

[Mary]

At least be mentioned. Yes, I think that's possible.

[Dan]

Steamworld heist.

[Mike]

Say that Mish Cap Adventures. I was Joking.

[Jake]

Sorry, what was the last one you just said?

[Mike]

Steam World Heist.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Jake]

Stop covering me.

[Mike]

Put it somewhere else.

[Dan]

Like a dragon. Infinite wealth.

[Mike]

Yeah. Rise.

[Dan]

The golden idol. Thank you.

[Mike]

Dragon's Dogma 2.

[Dan]

I don't think Echo Point Nova has a real chance. Mario Party doesn't.

[Mary]

Neva.

[Dan]

What's that? Neva.

[Jake]

Neva.

[Dan]

Should we throw Shadow of the Erdtree on there?

[Jake]

I think so.

[Dan]

I think so too.

[Mary]

Absolutely deserves a mention. Yes.

[Dan]

Yep. Yep.

[Jake]

Let me check my list.

[Dan]

Yeah. We got thinking. Yeah. Think of this.

[Mary]

Do it now or hold your piece.

[Dan]

Yeah, this is. We gotta get the list together here. No. Mario and Luigi. Tekken 8's really good. I just don't see this group pushing Tekken 8 at all. Children of Sun. Not gonna happen. Echo Point's not gonna make top 10, right?

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

Okay. Okay. No, no.

[Mary]

I like the game, but I'm demeaning you.

[Dan]

Oh, all right. Sure. I will accept this insult.

[Mary]

No, bud.

[Dan]

Oh.

[Mary]

But you did real good for her. You got her in a lot of stuff and I'm proud of you.

[Dan]

Thank you very much. I think that's the big ones I got.

[Mike]

Thank you.

[Dan]

What you giggling at? Nothing.

[Mike]

Nothing.

[Dan]

What?

[Mike]

The list is big, so it's covering me.

[Dan]

What are you doing?

[Mike]

The list on the stream is big, so it's covering me.

[Dan]

Oh, I see.

[Mike]

So I'm just not sure right now.

[Jake]

Erdri.

[Mike]

Erdridge. Erdri Plaza.

[Dan]

Elder Hole is my ranch.

[Mary]

Him.

[Dan]

I'm very proud of that.

[Jake]

We'll add it.

[Dan]

Elder Scrolls 5. My rim.

[Mary]

Elder holes. Elder Hole. That was a joint effort.

[Dan]

I said.

[Mary]

I said Elder Holes.

[Dan]

Well, you said Elder Holes. And then I started with rim. Rim. And then I was like, wait, my rim is funnier.

[Mary]

Rim. Rim is also.

[Dan]

Yes.

[Jake]

I like holes.

[Dan]

You guys fell asleep before I like holes last night.

[Jake]

It is the Elder holes. Not right.

[Mike]

That's right.

[Mary]

Elder Holes. Rim. Rim. That was the original one.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

All right. We're grown ups. We got to do this.

[Mary]

All right. And now for real games.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

How do we. How did we do this last year? How do we.

[Dan]

Well, we're just like. We're gonna.

[Mary]

We have to have 10. And so I think we need to start moving things into 10. And the easiest way to do that is also to like, start saying things that we think will genuinely not make.

[Dan]

Yeah. I feel like we start with cuts.

[Mike]

Cuts.

[Dan]

And then. Okay, so here's what I think. I think instead of just hard cuts right now, we demote them to. This is the. The contenders. We demote them to the Bammer, though. If we put them in the Bammer down below, then they're, like, probably going.

[Mary]

To get out the airlock before we start. Jake, you've done great. Is there a way to show the list without cutting off one of our faces?

[Jake]

No.

[Mary]

Can you just make it a little smaller?

[Jake]

No.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Mike]

It's covered. It's been covering you for the past 15 minutes.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah.

[Jake]

Let me see what I can do.

[Mike]

Here you go.

[Jake]

Try that. I hope Jack can still read.

[Mary]

What's he looking for, your dog?

[Dan]

Yeah. Gizmo. What's up?

[Mary]

I mean, I was eating fried chicken in there, and there's no way there weren't a couple crumbs.

[Dan]

He got the crumbs for sure.

[Mary]

I think they were, like, sucking them chicken crumbs. And now they're maybe, like, thinking about the chicken crumbs.

[Dan]

Think about Popeyes, Gizmo.

[Jake]

So I think.

[Mary]

I think I was here.

[Mike]

Oh, wait. Can you just make it narrower and then put it between Dan and I.

[Dan]

Buddy?

[Mike]

There you go. Yeah, something like that. There we go.

[Jake]

There we go.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Dan]

All righty.

[Mike]

Kind of do a little.

[Jake]

You can point to it. Number one.

[Dan]

Oh, that's fun. Vanna White.

[Mike]

It's right.

[Dan]

Cut. Let's put them in the banner. So the Bamber goes down below.

[Mary]

Let's start really genuinely thinking about it. This will get contentious, but the reality is, is that I think we probably have about 20.

[Mike]

I'm curious how many we do.

[Mary]

So we have to cut. Yeah, that's why I wanted to number, but we had a little.

[Mike]

Now people are in. They understand that it's not trash.

[Dan]

It's the Bamer. The Bamber is a holding pin to be put in the trash.

[Jake]

I don't know what you're saying.

[Dan]

You just throw them in the Bammer.

[Mike]

What is. You're saying it like we should recognize.

[Dan]

Doesn't it sound like a thing? That should be a thing.

[Mike]

You're just saying.

[Dan]

That's only a phrase I've used before. I'm pretty sure we've done the Giant Bomb.

[Jake]

How do you spell it?

[Dan]

The B, A, M, M, E, R. No, no.

[Mike]

Those we don't like.

[Dan]

Oh, it's just Bammer. Okay, okay. So the Bammer. Bammer. We put them in there, and then Farmer gets locked. That's good.

[Mary]

I think they're really in the rim. Rim. Because they almost made a slam dunk.

[Dan]

The rim.

[Mary]

Rim zone gets there. I think it should be ours. Okay. Put the rim.

[Dan]

The rim. Rim zone.

[Mary]

Put them in the rim. Rim.

[Dan]

All right. The rim. Rim Zone is our bammer. All right, what's the first in the possible knock off the list? Anyone want to make the.

[Jake]

I feel like this is the first time I hear my tactical breach wizards.

[Dan]

I was kind of.

[Mike]

It doesn't mean anything else though.

[Jake]

Though.

[Dan]

What's that?

[Mike]

It didn't fit in any other category. I'm not going to hold things up right away. I think tactical breach wizards is incredible. If you liked into the Breach or if you liked XCOM Chimera Squad, Specifically the close quarters puzzle solving combat. I actually thought that game was kind of funny. Minus a couple characters. I should have nominated that for the actually funny.

[Dan]

Yeah, it is. Yeah.

[Mike]

If you liked Heat Signature, it was a previous game for the developer, if I'm not completely mistaken. Just if you. If you like tactics games or puzzle games. It's also got a cool aesthetic. It's like military. Maybe I'm a military guy. Like military tactical chic meets wizards and druids and shit. I think it's a really special game. I don't think it's gonna make top 10 for us. But it's in my top. It's like my number six game. But I'm not about to hold things up and argue about it. So we can go to the rim. Rim.

[Dan]

It's in the rim. Rim. We're okay.

[Mary]

To the rim. Rim.

[Dan]

To the rim. Rim.

[Mike]

With tactical breach wizards.

[Mary]

Beautiful.

[Dan]

If we're just trying to cut stuff now.

[Mike]

It takes a big man to take the first cut.

[Dan]

I know. And I'll take the second cut. Metaphor. Refantazio.

[Jake]

You can't talk about that.

[Mike]

Yeah, there was a ruling on this.

[Mary]

Broke it. Judge, do something. He's in.

[Mike]

Talk about metaphor.

[Dan]

I have helped that game. Don't forget the humans.

[Mary]

You banned him.

[Mike]

He's got to do.

[Dan]

Oh, he didn't. He didn't stop me when I was saying good things about it with the humans.

[Mary]

Blatant disrespect.

[Mike]

He could double decker. You just be careful.

[Dan]

Oh, okay.

[Jake]

I'll stop talking metaphor. We can't cut it yet.

[Mary]

No, no, we can't cut it yet.

[Jake]

Astrobot those probably one that.

[Mary]

Make your peace about it. It's not pure.

[Dan]

I don't need. It's not pure.

[Mike]

It's not untouchable.

[Mary]

It doesn't get a golden ticket, bud.

[Dan]

It's one of the few games in history I would call perfect. Perfect.

[Mary]

It's absolutely not perfect.

[Dan]

Tell me the ways it's not perfect.

[Mary]

Okay. I think the boss fights are just kind of phoned in a little bit.

[Dan]

Phoned and there's so many stages and you look at the level of care and love and the animations and how they all utilize the gimmicks of each stage.

[Mike]

What I'm saying, this is early to be doing this and I appreciate it. All right, let's hash it out now.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Jake]

SteamWorld Heist 2, should that be on top 10?

[Mike]

I think that game is incredible. I think Mike, that loud fart.

[Jake]

What about.

[Mike]

Okay, fart again.

[Dan]

No, you did it.

[Mary]

Smells like fart.

[Mike]

I stand here.

[Dan]

I heard it.

[Jake]

What about Call of Duty Black Ops?

[Dan]

That's. It's really, really fucking good.

[Jake]

It is. But is it top 10?

[Dan]

Yeah, it's like number four for me. Yeah.

[Mike]

I would. I would put Steamworld Heist up there.

[Dan]

I. I love Steamworld Heist too. I might put it in the rim room zone. It's very good. I appreciate both the Overworld stuff it's doing and the team building stuff it's doing. And then the actual combat stuff is great. It's just a lot of angles and figuring out who's the right person to take out what enemy and what order. It's good tactics. It doesn't really add that much over the first one. That made me like it more. It's got the overall thing, which I like. The content, like the overall stuff is. Is interesting.

[Mike]

It's not. The overall stuff is inconsequential. Honestly. I think it's the ability, how freely you can swap between your classes is like really flexible.

[Dan]

It's almost like a job system.

[Mike]

It's also one of the few games I. I've talked about this at length on the show before. I really don't tend to respec. I also, if I can, metaphor is good about this too. But the flexibility with which you can assign different classes to different characters and then take bonus skills from their past class and bring them over. I think that actually is like, was a huge game changer.

[Dan]

It is. But realistically looking at this giant list right now, there are.

[Mike]

I already cut one of mine. I'm defending Steamrolled Heist 2 out of principle right now.

[Dan]

Okay. Dragon Dogma 2 is not going to make it.

[Mike]

Dragon's Dogma 2 is incredible.

[Dan]

I liked some stuff it was doing when I played it. Does anyone want to argue that it's going to be on our top 10?

[Jake]

I feel like I didn't play enough to argue, but what I played, I loved. I thought it was great.

[Mike]

I love the fact that you can start load that game up, not even have an objective in mind. And then all of a sudden, one of your followers is like, oh, I found this thing because I had played with, like, Jake or something. I know where this treasure chest is. Then you go searching for it, and all of a sudden you run into this new monster. And I love that. That is one of those games where the, like, journey to the destination is the whole fun of the game. Yeah, I appreciate that. There are no, like, quick shortcuts to get from place to place. I think that game also satisfied my. I play a lot of games like Balatro, Helldivers 2. A lot of these games that are just satisfying in the short term. I love that I can sit down and then, like, this long, arduous journey becomes kind of a story unto itself. If we have to cut one of those. I would keep Dragon's Dogma over SteamWorld Heist 2. I love SteamWorld Heist 2.

[Mary]

It's helpful, though, to hear which one you would fight for, because we're gonna have to keep fight.

[Mike]

Dragon's Dogma 2 is more. On a much more profound level.

[Mary]

A very good game that is helpful. I mean, at some point, we're gonna.

[Mike]

Have to put Steam World in the Rim Rim zone.

[Mary]

Pick the one that you feel most strongly about.

[Mike]

We can move Steamroll in the Rim Rim.

[Mary]

I've personally been playing a lot of Zelda, and I've really liked it. I don't think it has enough love in this room.

[Dan]

We didn't even put it on there.

[Mary]

I said it out.

[Dan]

Mary.

[Mike]

Mary did say it. Mary said it. Yeah.

[Mary]

All right, well, you put it in the Rim Rim.

[Dan]

Wow. The fact that we didn't even say it.

[Mike]

Mary said it.

[Mary]

I said it out loud.

[Dan]

I didn't realize it, and it was in my top 10.

[Mary]

Okay, well, here's the thing. You keep saying games that aren't ones that you said before.

[Mike]

I put two in my. The Rim Rim zone.

[Mary]

I. It's Dan's.

[Dan]

Oh, I gotta throw one of mine.

[Mary]

Yeah, it has to be one of yours.

[Mike]

All right, well, not necessarily, but I.

[Dan]

Country. I told you, I played Crow country, and I think they did some really good things, but I do think it's not going to hang in this top 10. So I'll sacrifice Crow Country.

[Mary]

Okay, let's sacrifice Astrobot.

[Dan]

Brr. That's. You're just saying ridiculous things. Jesus Christ.

[Mike]

Yeah. Hey, no, not me. I'm helping with Astrobot.

[Mary]

I will take everything you love and I will destroy this list.

[Dan]

Crow country is not going to make top 10.

[Mary]

Let's take down Astrobot.

[Dan]

That's ridiculous. No, I, I not going to make top 10.

[Jake]

Let's wait. Let's wait before we. We go for the SM.

[Mary]

There's a lot that's not going to make top 10.

[Dan]

I know. We got to figure that out. That's not how.

[Mike]

I was joking. Because then we could start eliminating something we might be really passionate about that.

[Mary]

You have to pick other things that you're not obsessed with.

[Jake]

Okay.

[Mary]

You have to pick some of your children.

[Mike]

No, you got one.

[Dan]

I.

[Jake]

We can cut Persona 3.

[Mike]

Okay. Thank you.

[Mary]

What a good person.

[Mike]

We're all so noble. Except for Dan.

[Dan]

Okay, can my rim go to the rim Rim?

[Mary]

My room can go to the rim.

[Mike]

Game, guys.

[Mary]

Little weirdo.

[Mike]

My guest. Game of the year.

[Mary]

Who's fighting for Air Tree.

[Mike]

It's incredible. It's another masterpiece. I just feel like we're being redundant because everything I would say about it I said about Elden Ring, the base game, which is not. I'm not saying they're the same. That actually does a lot of cool new. It has a lot of cool new bosses and environments and everything. But again, I, I think it's insane.

[Jake]

To cut that right now.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Jake]

I could see it maybe not sticking the tart. Let me considering.

[Dan]

Let me give one of my own that I like.

[Mike]

It's not going to be one of yours. It's going to be a bit.

[Dan]

No, no, it's not a bit.

[Mike]

It's.

[Dan]

I like, I was fighting hard for like the Frisbee and stuff in Animal well earlier. I like Animal.

[Mary]

This isn't yours.

[Dan]

Well, it's. You're right.

[Mike]

We should not think about it. Like, we can't.

[Dan]

We can't do that. We can't just be like, oh, we each have to go in order or take one time.

[Mary]

I think we can though because you haven't picked one thing that is of value to you.

[Dan]

A lot of these are animal. Well, is definitely a value to me.

[Mary]

Like, you know what's a value to you? Mini Shoot adventures.

[Dan]

Okay. Okay, Fair.

[Mary]

I will take everything you love. You did. I will suck the souls out of them and I will will ship them out.

[Mike]

Jesus Christ. Okay. Being a level headed person.

[Dan]

Yes. Thank you.

[Mike]

Say, you did mention a few times during earlier categories that like, what was it Mini Shoot was doing or was it you that were saying there was a few things with Mini Shoot that were hurting the pacing. I thought it was you.

[Mary]

You just like don't know what to do next.

[Mike]

Oh, that was you. Never mind. That was Mary.

[Dan]

I. Well, I will say this. Let me just ask. Is anyone else here feel strongly about minishoot Adventures?

[Mike]

I didn't play it.

[Jake]

I didn't play it.

[Mary]

It's a good game. I don't think it's gonna hit top 10.

[Dan]

That, that is my one. That is high on my top 10 personally. But this is our list and I do think we need to like this.

[Mary]

Is just the reality though is like here's something I would ask you. Honestly, as someone who is like fighting for a lot of things and has a lot on your top 10. I also like mini shoot adventures and I also like UFO 50. I don't think they can both make the list. Which one is your baby?

[Dan]

I would say take mini shoot down.

[Mary]

There you go.

[Dan]

Yeah. It will be on my personal top 10. It's not. This has to be fire escapes top 10 that we all.

[Mike]

Why are you telling me? I'm the one who usually upholds that.

[Mary]

Mini shoot is great.

[Mike]

I'm just grateful we're doing this before giant bombs with Dan Campy. What's another feather in my hat that I can work these humans into picking for me?

[Dan]

Again, the wrestling. Cut it out. Ideally, all of these top tens, most of us have some feelings, insane feelings for these.

[Mary]

This is goatee. Every one of these games is God tier. We're gonna fight.

[Dan]

And also metaphor.

[Mary]

You have to fight so hard for these. So like, if you're not willing to start, like, I've got throwing down.

[Mike]

I've got one that could be contentious.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mike]

For everybody.

[Dan]

Let's it.

[Mike]

I think thank goodness you're here. It's funny as. Yeah, I think that I, I, I don't think that would make top 10 compared to some of the other stuff. I know you guys will defend.

[Mary]

Yeah, see, I don't think I will.

[Dan]

It's my number six right now.

[Mary]

Who gives a.

[Jake]

It's not even on my list.

[Mike]

So I, I loved it. You guys. You guys pushed me into playing it. I tried it and I came back like, that was a great recommendation. I think that was a one off, like one off fun thing. And that was incredibly well made.

[Dan]

You don't value humor.

[Mary]

We don't value you.

[Mike]

I think it's impressive that they made a fun video game, but I also of this list, I think it's the game I'm like that I have played that I'm least likely to want to replay.

[Mary]

I think it's very good. I don't think it's goatee. I don't think it's goat Jake.

[Dan]

Are you that way yeah.

[Mike]

All right. All right.

[Dan]

Then again, rim.

[Mike]

Rim zone.

[Mary]

To the rim. Rim with it.

[Mike]

It's tough because I do want to encourage comedy and video games, and they nailed it.

[Dan]

It. But here's the thing, too. Like, if there is a game on here and there might be multiples where, you know, ideally, we all feel a certain way about it, but if, like, Mike, there's one that meant the world to you and not we didn't play it or whatever, but you can make the argument. It can still get on.

[Mary]

Yes, 100%. But you can't do that 10 times.

[Dan]

And I'm not going to do that for things. That's what I'm saying.

[Mary]

That's what's currently happening. You're about to lose it all.

[Dan]

Last two we cut were mini shoot adventures, and thank goodness you're here. Two that are in my top six. And I was like, yeah, that makes sense. Because the others don't.

[Mike]

I've got another one. I've got another one.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Suggesting Rim Rin Balatra. I'm kidding. It's a joke. I just was bringing some levity to things. How many we need to cut? Like, seven.

[Dan]

I know, I know.

[Mike]

Okay. Keep in mind, rim rim zone. And I don't want to, like, set a dangerous precedent. Rim rim zone. They could escape out of rim rim zone. It is possible, but it's not likely.

[Dan]

It would have. It would take a big act.

[Mary]

It would take a huge ask. But this is why we're having these difficult conversations.

[Mike]

Mary.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I've heard a lot of good things about Mary and Jake. Neva.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike]

It sounds beautiful. It sounds affecting. Is it top 10? Do you want it in there?

[Mary]

I think it's gonna be a really tough argument. Did you play it?

[Mike]

No. That's why I'm asking. I finished it.

[Jake]

It was in my top 10.

[Mary]

Dan, did you play it?

[Dan]

No.

[Mary]

Okay. I think with that, it's almost gonna be impossible to get it through, so.

[Mike]

No, but that doesn't disqualify it from you from arguing for it.

[Mary]

But what I've said to you both, and I will adhere to myself, is like, if I had to pick my children, there are other ones that I will fight tooth and nail for. I think Neva is stunning, and it deserves recognition to the rim Rim.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Jake]

All right.

[Dan]

It's on the rim of being in the top 10. That's what that means.

[Mary]

Yeah. Can I.

[Dan]

It's all planned out.

[Mary]

Can I do one now?

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mary]

Jake, we gotta hear more about Lorelei.

[Dan]

Yeah, I was thinking about that Lorelei.

[Jake]

Is my number one Whoa. Of the year, Far and away.

[Mike]

Oh. He has. He has told me. I. I literally feel about it. He's told me like six times to play it, and I just. I. Yeah.

[Jake]

So as I said before, this game feels like a puzzle box. But I think the thing that really sells it for me is how the story all comes together at the end and the way you are presented with all these puzzles that you shouldn't know, but you just know them because of the way the game is structured, the way it's kind of been trained on you. And as you solve these puzzles, all these different story beats that you've been kind of picking up throughout the game all connect in a way that is incredible. Like, it is. It is something I've never seen in a game before. I think it's amazing. I think it is, like I said, far and away my number one. Like, it's not even close for me.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Jake]

That said, I realize I'm the only one who's.

[Mary]

But.

[Mike]

But that is.

[Dan]

But that passion for it, though, is like, I am not comfortable putting that in the Ram Room zone right now because of how much you love that.

[Mary]

And, like, I am. And I'm gonna tell you why. Three out of four of us have not had this experience. And I really appreciate that it's your argument. But I also have to say, is there something else that you would say? Like, that's gonna be the one that I will champion because I don't on this list. I don't even think this is gonna make it into top.

[Jake]

This is the only game on the list that I care about.

[Mike]

About.

[Mary]

I don't think it's going to make it into top 10. Well, I. I'm just being realistic.

[Jake]

Okay, look, I didn't. Like hell divers barely played it. That is in. Not even in my top 10. Crow country didn't care much for. Didn't play much of it. Black Ops 6.

[Dan]

Like.

[Mary]

Like I. I'm being to pick children.

[Jake]

When I say this is the only game that came out this year that I care about out the rest of.

[Mike]

The game at the very least. Call that a stay of execution.

[Jake]

I love Atlas Games. Metaphor even. Didn't even do it for me. Like, so many of these games that I should have been into, I liked. But like, I played Lorelei and like, that is the only game I still think about this year.

[Dan]

Now here's the thing. Even if he was the only one that even played it, I would say that argument and. And the level of passion you have for it is enough to keep it on here for now.

[Mary]

Very intense.

[Dan]

Yeah. And, and I will say, as someone who did play it, and my main complaint about it is I was too stupid to beat it. But everything I played, I was like, this is like, when I did figure stuff out, I was like, oh, my God, this game is smart as hell. I love the vibe it's going for. I love, like, it's nailing so many different things and it's doing puzzles on this, like, intricate level that, like, you know, I love the Witness. I love these, these, you know, super puzzle box games. And my biggest complaint is it was too hard. It was too, too tricky. But I loved everything I played of it. So, like, I, I absolutely think that stays on for now.

[Mary]

For now.

[Mike]

Can I. Jake, can I ask you. I think we're the only two. Silent Hill 2, you think top 10.

[Jake]

I, I'd be okay cutting Silent Hill 2.

[Mike]

I'd like that. You guys should play it. Mary, you of all people would fucking.

[Mary]

I, I, I regret.

[Mike]

No, it's, it's like, it's impossible to predict this, but I think if you had played it, we would all put.

[Mary]

It in top 10, which is unfortunate, but, like, that is a self.

[Jake]

I've had conversations with a co worker about this, but, like, Lorelei and Laser Eyes is a better Silent Hill game than, like, in a weird way, like, that's kind of a stretch.

[Mary]

But, like, yeah, like, I think that's a bummer. I consider this, like, a failure on my part personally, because I love this series very much. Much. And I prioritized, like, goatee contenders that I thought you guys would fight for, and I didn't think you would fight for this. And, like, seeing this now, I have regrets of, like, what I prioritize, but.

[Mike]

It'S also, but it's all. But it's also a testament to the fact that we didn't talk about it strongly enough to, to get you to play it. So that's, I think that's probably.

[Mary]

It wasn't on anyone's list we should remember.

[Dan]

I mean, and I played it and I didn't, like, want to keep going with it, so it was like, it.

[Mike]

Was like my number. Or if I had to quantify it, it'd be like my number 16 of the year.

[Mary]

Do the rim room.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Okay.

[Mary]

I hate to do this, but I do think we have to argue for everything. Mike, I gotta hear your wild bastards argument.

[Mike]

Oh, that's my number one of the year. That's not the argument. I'm just Saying, I think it's unfortunate that that game like they people go into it thinking it's gonna be a roguelike right away. Cause it's really not. It's when you get into new game play, it's incredible. However, it's blend of first person shooter mechanics, roguelike strategy, synergizing between different characters, but also it's kind of got a little bit of Balatro in it that you are just like battling chance. Because if you do, if you start a new run where it's randomized characters, you could pick up three people who really don't synergize well. You could pick up three characters that you're going up against enemies in the bite sized shooter missions that you're going up against their weaknesses. It's a really, really incredible blend between planning for the worst and then encountering the worst and pulling through anyway, because I think a lot of people think the shooting is kind of rudimentary. I think you get farther into it and the shooting almost is secondary. It's more about the planning and the actual how you use different characters. Also being able to switch between two characters, learning how to, it's almost again, it's like there's that joker in Balatro. You don't truly understand how it works until all of a sudden you're like, like holy fuck, I'm overpowered with this thing. Like, it's like the character that can just like change animals to their side.

[Dan]

Oh, the trapper.

[Mike]

At that point all you have to do is kill everything except one animal and then you know, activate your ultimate and you got it. It's. It's this. It's like you're jumping in and out of these like really quick fire doom shooter arenas. But then also once you get on harder difficulties as well, I would say the roguelike stuff comes into play where you're actually making really tough decisions on how to move across a map. Which is all to say, I really, really appreciate how much just like what was the Void Bastards. I think it blends several genres in a way that like Dungeons of Hinterburg tried to blend several genres, but if they just fucking fell on their face when they tried to do more than the thing they were good at. I would say that with Wild Bastards, they're just as good at the strategy of it all as they are at the shooting as they are at the roguelite elements.

[Dan]

They're trying so much. There are three different levels of this game where it's like you've got the top level kind of roguelite map and then you've got the board game element. Once you're down on the planet. Then you've got the little bite sized first person shooter segments. You are juggling a cast of characters that is pretty huge. All with different stunts that play completely differently.

[Mike]

Yeah. And each of the characters feels like they are the star of their own first person shooter. And again, I think the fact that the actual shootouts are like two minutes long, I think people get down on it because of that. I was like, oh, that's what's great to me. Like that is the quick fire. Not even Vampire Survivors pacing. It really does just pull you in and out of several different ways of thinking that. It's crazy how smoothly you can transition between those three layers. Yeah.

[Dan]

And the way that the things you do on one, like you can get bonuses on the board game level. A bit like on the planet where it's like, oh, there's a bunch more juice for like stunts or whatever. So you go down there with the. Was it Casino, the guy with the fire thing.

[Mike]

No, here's the one that scorched Casino's the shotgun and the gamble.

[Dan]

That's right. And Scorch has the one where he sets three guys on fire. So you can go down there in a level that because of decisions you made on this other level you're getting tons of stunts and stuff. So you just collect a bunch of them and you're just boom, boom, boom, setting everyone on fire. You don't even see an enemy and you just hear them screaming and they're all burning to death. And you know, because of the decisions you made here, this is much better for you.

[Mike]

Yeah. And it's also the last thing I. The fact that they have three layers. Like XCOM has two layers. Like Tales of the Fuck ever. No, I'm thinking of Valkyria Chronicles has two layers. But like to have those three. The overall. The interstellar map, the. The board game once you're on the ground. And the shooting when you get to certain difficulties and certain points in the. The star map where you're actually in a shooter mission. Considering. Okay, what is the best thing for the board game layer? I might get this character killed, but that would let me get the beans to solve that dispute. Because they're my last two, I can't afford to have them feuding when I get to the end. Like the decision making that comes into play. The game is flawed in the way. I don't think it starts off on the best foot. I wish they started as a roguelike and made story optional almost. But in terms of games that blend genres, the Blue Manchu guys just continue to blow my mind.

[Mary]

I mean, you're arguing really hard for this. I think I respect to keep it because this is something that you feel really passionate about, and I don't think we should push you further on it. But I do think there's several other games that. That are on the. Towards the bottom of the list that we have to start, like, really hacking away.

[Mike]

I will. Wild Bastards. I would. I would get. Oh, sorry.

[Dan]

Oh, no, I'm just saying. I'm with you.

[Mary]

Finish your thought.

[Mike]

No, you were gonna cut in.

[Dan]

I was gonna say, first of all, Wild Bastards. I just want to put my hat in the ring of, like, keep it for sure, because I feel strongly about it, too. But I do have one that I.

[Mary]

Cut to keep it.

[Mike]

I have one. I have one of mine.

[Dan]

I'll cut.

[Mike]

No. What's yours?

[Dan]

Golden Idol.

[Mike]

Okay. I was gonna ask you about golden.

[Dan]

So here's my thought. I just beat this a few days ago. Loved it. Really, really enjoyed it. But, like, there were complaints I had where, you know, it's the same one that I think you have where it's like, you can know everything. You can understand everything about the story, but then when it's just a giant block of blanks and it's just like, oh, okay, I put correct stuff into all of this, but it wasn't the exact thing the game wanted. And because of that, I have to, like, okay, well, what do you want? You're just kind of like. Like, you always. Not always, but you frequently get that thing where you're just kind of throwing words in there to see, like, is this what it wants? No. Okay. And then some of the stuff, too, is also, like, not fun to figure out. There's stuff where it's just like, here's eight symbols, and you got to figure out is this one minute, one day, one whatever. And not every, like, at its best, that game makes you feel like a genius and, like, you solve the mystery and put everything together. And I think it does that more often than not.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

But the times that it does do stuff where you're just like, what do you want? Game is frustrating enough to make me like, I love this game, but I could see this dropping off.

[Mike]

This is my, like, number 11 game because it. The first game, had the same problem. It's like, I have solved this problem. I've done everything you wanted of me. I'm.

[Mary]

You know what you want me to say?

[Mike]

Yeah, it's like oh, the, the one you were texting me about. It's like, oh, we had the right person in these slots. But they didn't want the alias, which is the whole point of that mission. They wanted the actual person, the mission.

[Dan]

They're calling him this guy. And you want the like real identity here.

[Mike]

It's a bit, it's deflating to do all the intelligent work to get to a solution and then the game, the game gets in the way. You're like, dude, I'm right there with you. Just let me finish.

[Dan]

Deflating is the word. Cuz then when you finally get there after a bunch of around it's like, oh, well yeah, I had that instead of aha. And and I got that reward. It's like, oh, you.

[Mike]

It's an improvement on the first game in that respect. And this game's incredible. And I I'm curious how much Recency Bias is playing into how much I love it. But like I I people should play this game. But I'm fine moving it to the.

[Dan]

Rem all these games are great right now.

[Mary]

Like to get here is an what.

[Jake]

About like, like a dragon in wealth. I I didn't play this game.

[Mike]

Let me before that.

[Jake]

I like the Yakuza or the like a Dragon series, but I, I or.

[Mike]

Sorry, what you no, if it's simplified, let's definitely do. Oh, you moved it. Let me at least say my piece for Dragon's Dogma 2. That's the most. Honestly, if we're like seriously speaking not about the like the bit for that section. That is probably the most Mike ass game of the year. It's an immersive sim in an open world. They did more of what the first game did. I absolutely love that I could go into the game and not know what my pawn was gonna like suggest that we go do. I'm also like a state of decay 2 mark. I like I love shit where I don't. The game doesn't like pound me over the head with this objective. I can just go off into the wilderness with a few characters. I get attached to them more than I get attached to anybody in any like scripted game. I love Dragon's Dogma 2. It's so unfortunate that the frame rate fucking sucks on consoles. They still have not updated it correctly. I don't think if they have that would be awesome. I'm happy moving that. That was like my number four game of the year. But I'm we can move it out. I know that's gonna be an uphill.

[Jake]

Battle Dragon's Dogma 2 for me is like one of the most interesting games.

[Mike]

That like AAA games I feel like came out this year.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Jake]

Where it's like.

[Mike]

It's like. Okay.

[Jake]

It's doing all these interesting mechanics that a lot of them. They did, yeah. 10 years ago, 12 years ago, whatever. But like I didn't play it that much, you know, we can move it out.

[Mike]

I'm fine with that. But do we want to talk about Infinite wealth over on the subject?

[Mary]

Yes. But let's make sure we're removing things while we can. Let's talk about Infinite wealth.

[Mike]

Actually out of curiosity though, how many do we have now? Is that like 13?

[Jake]

13? I think 14.

[Mike]

Shit. Okay.

[Dan]

Did you beat it?

[Jake]

It's 13.

[Mike]

No chapter like 9.

[Dan]

You went back to Japan?

[Mike]

Yeah, it's the. I'm in the dual party thing now.

[Dan]

Okay. I think.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Like I just went Kiryu to Japan.

[Mike]

I think I might have gotten past where you were, which is funny cuz I was on the game first.

[Dan]

No. Yeah. I mean it was one of those games where it's like I played the out of it and really loved it. Loved the Dandoko island stuff and then got to Japan and it was like, okay, this seems like a good stopping point because there's other games coming out and this is a very long one. And I fully intended and still do frankly, to go back to it. But the fact that I did not and that I was comfortable bouncing off of it and then never quite got back to it. I don't say it's telling because the game is fucking awesome. But I think if I was super gung ho about it, nothing would have stopped me from coming back to it and finishing that story.

[Mike]

You know, it's funny, people use the phrase kitchen sink approach as like a demeaning thing. I think this game embraces the kitchen sink approach. It's like, sure, we'll have an animal crossing, sure we'll have a Pokemon with like creeps. Sure we can. Yeah, you can go do these mini games where you're delivering pizza and jumping through hoops on a bike. I. My problems that I had that first episode I talked about it have not been erased. I still think the pacing in the first like eight hours is awful.

[Dan]

It really is.

[Mike]

The game does. I only kept going because you were telling me. A few people told me. They're like, once you get past that, I think you'll like the turn base. You'll like all the shit it's doing. It's also the most Even on this list, almost including UFO 50, including animal. Well, there's no other game on this list that is like happier to be a fucking video game. So like I really am hesitant to cut it. But I, I don't, I don't want to move it immediately right now. I like that game too much.

[Dan]

Here's, here's what I think there needs to be an argument for to stay on right now because it does seem like it's a one person operation here. Crow Country.

[Mary]

Yeah, I think Crow country is probably going to be. I haven't made my top 10. It's gonna be my champion for this. I think it is a quintessential like must play for horror. I think it is better than UFO 50 and I think UFO 50 should go.

[Jake]

But I think, damn, turn that around.

[Mary]

You've been a little mouthy and I think you've said a lot of games that you don't think should be on.

[Mike]

Mary, I think we've all cut more than you at this point. Just, just by your logic.

[Mary]

I don't know. I mean I would look at it. I liked a lot of the games that are on here. I, I was also a champion of Steamworld Heist and I think I like.

[Mike]

Yeah, you talked about it a lot on the episode.

[Mary]

I think like there's a couple things that we each champion personally because they're just naturally like our game. I think Crow country is extremely special, but I also think it's just extraordinarily well done. What bothers me is like the idea that we're all saying quality things about a game. But I, I don't think that Dan is really talking about like the games that he wants to champion. He's been kind of like cutting other games from other people.

[Dan]

Oh. I mean if you want to put me on spot with any of them, I'll, I'll defend them. But I wanted to like Crow country specifically. And like you mentioned.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

You mentioned UFO 50 as mine and like, like I could absolutely see the argument where it's like I, I have similar criticisms about UFO 50 having. You know, there's a lot that I just skip past right away. Like I like the game a lot. I think it's a really unique thing. But I could also see that at this table there's not. I'm probably the one with the most enthusiasm for it. And so because of that, I don't.

[Mary]

Think you're the one who will champion it, whereas I'll have to champion Crow.

[Dan]

But I can see UFO 50 dropping off and I would accept that. But like, I, I, I need to hear the argument for why Crow country is that excellent and why that is a quintessential must play. I played it, it's cool. It's nailing the thing it's going for. But this is pretty stacked at this point, so I need to hear that.

[Mary]

Yeah. It's the refresher for the Resident Evil style horror genre. It has remade that type of puzzle horror where you have to find out what you're doing in a space. It's scary, but it's also tactical. It's doing an incredible job with the mechanics of hoarding bullets and grenades, which are precious. You have to use them very carefully. Every room that you're going into gives you slight clues about where to go next. But it is very Resident Evil here. Where to go, where to collect a key so that you can open up the next door, which opens shortcuts, everything, allows you to save. There are save rooms, which reminds you back to like old horror days where you can't just save whenever you want. You have to get to a save room. You can lose it all if you're not being thoughtful of where to go and where to save. Conserving ammo comes back, management of items and how to utilize them. And the puzzle design is actually really good as well. And they take you to a space and they say, this is broken and we need you to fix this machine. So you have to find the right chain, or you have to find oil, or you have to find an item in order to fix it. It's very interesting and well balanced. I just think it's extraordinarily well done.

[Dan]

But I understand this is a good game and everything, but what is it about this that, that everything you just described, I feel like you could have said about Resident Evil when it came out in 1996. So what is the thing that makes this such a must play now, other than being a very faithful callback to PS1 survival horror?

[Mary]

I think that Crow country is revitalizing that genre, which is hard to have, like a brand new version of what these are doing. I think it's doing it in a new way.

[Dan]

That's what I need, like, that's what I need to be sold on is like, what is the new way? Because it feels like a faithful callback to me.

[Mary]

I think it's a complete and whole solid game that someone gets to enjoy. I think just to like toss it back, though. My problem with UFO 50 is.

[Mike]

Yeah, he asked you what is the new thing? It's doing is, I think, to kind of.

[Mary]

What we're saying is that it needs to be new.

[Mike]

Well, no, no, I think it was bringing things in a new way. And he asked you what it was.

[Jake]

I feel like Crow country does a lot to, like, modernize that genre. A genre that I feel like, you know, like, people have tried, but I feel like it's never been.

[Mary]

It falls flat a lot when people try and redo these types of shit.

[Jake]

Because it feels so dated. But I think Crow country manages to make it feel modern, even though it is so grounded in that, you know, original.

[Mary]

It works for you.

[Mike]

What is it doing to make it feel modern? Is the. I think, Mike, that question didn't play enough of it to answer that question. That's what I'm asking.

[Jake]

You know, I'm up.

[Mike]

I love survival horror, but I'm trying to.

[Mary]

Sorry, did. Who played it again?

[Jake]

I played like an hour and a half or so.

[Dan]

I played like about a half hour.

[Mary]

A half hour. I'm sorry, just to be clear, was it 12 minutes or was it 15?

[Dan]

It's a half hour.

[Mike]

Well, we can't.

[Dan]

I'm 25:30.

[Mary]

I actually don't think that warrants. And as. That's as valuable as a opinion. As.

[Mike]

No, but we left Jake. We left Jake Lorelei on there because he was like, defending in a way.

[Mary]

That we're like, okay, played six hours of Lorelei. Like, I understand what it's doing, right?

[Mike]

So that's what I'm trying to give you the chance.

[Jake]

Like, oh, God. I think. I think we move on from Coke Crow country for now. And there's a couple games here that I think we should talk about again. Shadow of the Erdtree is one. You know, I know I said I think it'd be crazy to cut it 13. Now we're at 13. But I think, you know, if it is DLC after all, you know, if people aren't feeling super strongly about it, like, I love Elden Ring. Shadow of the Erdtree did not connect with me the same way that, like, Elden Ring proper did. And even when I look at, like, other from software DLCs, I don't know if it's one of my favorites.

[Mike]

Erdtree might as well be a whole new game. But even then it's like, again, I can't. I can't say anything about it that I didn't say about Elden Ring two years ago in Connecticut. Like, I. And that's not. That's not a disqualifier. But compared to other stuff. Compared to how much Mary cares about Crow country. Compared to how much you care about Lorelei. I'm like, shadow, the erdtree was an awesome 40 hours. I didn't even finish it. 30 hours. Whatever I played, it'd be like 40, 50.

[Dan]

I mean there's a lot in there.

[Mike]

No, no, sorry. I played like 30. I didn't finish it. I'm just saying like, it was incredible. It's beautiful. But it might as well have just been a new area in the base game that I just didn't get to explore.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's. I was very happy to have more Elden Ring to play, but it wasn't like there were like. I know there's a bunch of new classes and items and stuff like that and boss is obviously like. But it did feel like Elden Ring for sure. It's a tough one.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

The other one that I want to point out is like, I know you guys really like Black Ops 6. Yeah, I like Black Ops. I love the Call of Duty games. But is it really like top 10 material?

[Mike]

Like, it's close, but. It's close. But I. I don't know. I'll let you go first.

[Dan]

I mean, I fucking love it. It's probably like my number four of the year right now. But I don't think the enthusiasm is here among the entire team. And like, I am not going to go to bad for it in a way that's like, look, it's just a really fucking good Call of Duty game. Yeah, like that's. You know, there have been a lot of games.

[Mike]

Awesome big swings all over the place. Campaign. The zombies is back in an awesome way. The Omni Movement like, like I stand by. I actually, I still. What did we give best mechanic? The animal. Well, stuff which just sounds very well deserved. I stand by Omni Movement being like, yes, I stand by that. I'm fine. I'd be fine with Call of Duty not being in here. I also realize it's not a whole like fire escape group thing. And I also don't think me and you are.

[Dan]

We both like it a lot. Yeah, it's like not in a way that like, I like it in the same way that I have liked a lot of my favorite Call of Duty games. It doesn't like completely reinvent the wheel. It just makes some pushes in ways that I appreciate where it's. I like that it's less Hoorah, you know, military stuff and more kind of like James Bondi like, you know, Mission Impossible stuff. I know Cold War tried to kind of move in that direction, but this is the one that really super clicked with me. And yeah, I'm loving it right now, but again, it's not like this is a revolution in Call of Duty or anything.

[Mike]

What if we put Black Ops 6 and Erdtree in the rim Rim zone.

[Dan]

And we had one more between those two?

[Mike]

It doesn't have to be between those two, though. Like, we both, me and you just said like we would. Everybody who played Erdtree is all like, it's incredible. But again, it might as well have been that region we just never got huge. Yeah.

[Dan]

Let me offer something here because I think we need to get some tough decisions here. You bring up the UFO 50 thing with me, and I accept all the criticisms and things, and I like it a lot, but I would be willing to say no to UFO 50, bring it down if you'd be willing to.

[Mary]

Concede Crow country so that we can have. Have blobs.

[Dan]

I would take blops over either of those. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. I just don't. I think that removing Crow country is a disservice. Whereas, like, I don't. I. I'm hearing you about. About Call of Duty, but I think that that's a tough one for our top 10.

[Mike]

Dan, I'm sorry, I. I like Call of Duty a lot, but, like.

[Dan]

First.

[Mike]

Just to make progress, could people who played a lot of Erdtree. I'm up for.

[Mary]

This is your time to raise your hand.

[Dan]

I am not super duper passionate about either Black Ops 6 or Erdtree making on this list. But I also still don't feel like I understand what Crow country does.

[Mike]

We'll come back to that. I. I also am not sold on it, but I would say I'm more willing to. In a few years, I'm just gonna look back on Erdtree and it'll be like all this big Elden Ring blob.

[Dan]

And same with Call of Duty. I'll be like, oh, it's another good Call of Duty.

[Mike]

That's what I'm saying.

[Dan]

Got good again.

[Mike]

Okay. We still need to cut one more after those two. I think that's a start.

[Dan]

These are hard decisions here.

[Mike]

How about. How about we get rid of Black Ops 6, put that in the rim rim zone? Or are you not sold on that?

[Dan]

I mean, it's my number four, but again, I'm not going to give the argument for it the way I would for like an Astrobot or something, so I'm fine with that.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Jake]

And Erd tree like a 12.

[Mike]

I loved it.

[Jake]

But like. Yeah, it didn't. It didn't. It didn't scratch. Like, I don't know. It just wasn't. Yeah, like, Elden Ring was a revelation. Erdtree was like, it's more.

[Dan]

Yeah, I'm glad to have more of that. Yeah. Elden Ring is one of the absolute best games of all time. This was more of that.

[Mike]

Yeah, I'm fine moving that to the rim.

[Dan]

Rim zone. So we need one more.

[Mike]

But Mary, I have. I'm with Dan and I'm. And I'm trying to. I want you to make the argument what is what. Both of you or. No, you said like what are. What is. What are the new ways. It's like keeping survival pushing it or not even pushing it forward.

[Mary]

But like, I don't know if new is like the, the angle I would go. I don't think it's because it's.

[Jake]

I also, I just want to say like one of the things you said earlier was that like you introduced this to your niece and she got super into it. A genre that like, like.

[Mike]

But that's anecdotal. Like, that's like.

[Dan]

I'm sure I could show Astrobot to a kid.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's awesome. I just want to like. I feel like I could say that about any game. I showed this to so and so and they loved it. That doesn't.

[Jake]

I think it should stay.

[Mike]

I. I want Crow country to stay.

[Mary]

There's.

[Mike]

Oh man. Now I'm like, there's nothing.

[Jake]

Okay, what about.

[Mike]

This is 11, right?

[Jake]

What about Prince of Persia, the something crown? Because we can't even get the name right.

[Dan]

It's a bad. It's a boring, forgettable name for sure.

[Jake]

I haven't played it, but I know people really like this game, but we haven't talked about it.

[Dan]

I consider it one of the all time best Metroidmanias, which is one of my favorite genres ever. It is like I enjoy it the way I liked Symphony of the Night or Super Metroid or any of the great Shadow complex. And the fact I had no. Well, I was curious about it because Prince of Persia was not in that genre before. So it, like what it. What is their take on this going to be and seeing them add quality of life things like the, the memories thing. Seeing them have maybe the best combat.

[Mike]

I was gonna say it's the, the. The actual like acrobatic mechanical you're doing during boss fights does not feel like a Metroidvania. It feels like a.

[Dan]

Like, feels Like a Devil May Cry.

[Mike]

I was gonna say it's like a 2D bayonetta.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah, totally.

[Mike]

The boss fights sliding under the like nutmegging them to get behind them and hit them.

[Dan]

The sl.

[Mike]

Soccer term. Yeah. Like, it's the combat. Yeah.

[Mary]

Is.

[Mike]

It's also crunchy.

[Mary]

Very goated.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mary]

It's really like the idea of all the different plus ups you get to your character's combat I actually think is akin to like Hollow Knight or like other games that I love. It's not just about a Metroidvania. The combat is rock solid in Prince of Persia. So it is shocking that it's gotten this far. But I do actually think it's a very high quality Metroidvania.

[Dan]

Well, and it's.

[Mary]

Yeah, it's a tough.

[Mike]

I don't think it does anybody. I. I think we all want to stay.

[Jake]

I've never played it.

[Dan]

We've already said a lot of good things about the exploration and the Metroidvania element of it is incredible. The combat is incredible. We haven't even mentioned the platforming. Like, I am such a huge platforming guy. And some of those, like advanced challenges, the optional stuff is like, this is crazy shit that requires you to use all these different abilities to kind of warp around and stay alive. It is. It kind of nails. It is one of those games that's trying a lot of different things and nailing it all. Except for story, who gives a shit? Writing, I don't care. You know, even like the.

[Mary]

That's a weak point for it.

[Dan]

Yeah. I didn't love the art style or the writing or the story. Didn't love those. But as far as just gameplay, moment to moment, holy shit. It is one of the best of all time. And I say that as someone who's like, I like Prince of Persia fine, but I fucking love this one.

[Mike]

It's one. It's like, I'm not a game designer. Metrovania, a good Metroidvania seems like one of the hardest things to make. And they made a very, very good one. Not just a passable one. That was.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah. This is one of the best.

[Mike]

Jake. Oh, man, this. This hurts me. I'm curious. I think metaphor is incredible. Do you think it's top 10? Because I do. But like, I haven't played enough to.

[Jake]

To like, it feels to fight for it when I've only played life.

[Mike]

I just played the third Major Palace.

[Mary]

It's a fan favorite.

[Mike]

No, this is us. It's my favorite.

[Dan]

This is. This is our list.

[Mike]

I Think. I don't think I've like since I last spoke about it. I played more. I played. I finished the third major palace. If you're a Persona player or playing metaphor, you know what I mean?

[Mary]

How much do you love this game? I would just like a lot. I would just like to understand a lot.

[Mike]

And I would say like, it's not just. A lot of people are comparing it to like what it does differently from Persona for obvious reasons. Like, you know, same studio playing heavily off the Persona structure. I would say that even for like the Japanese style of role playing game, this is incredible, like top tier, specifically because I think a lot of the reason people like those long form role playing games is that you see the structure at the beginning. They kind of lay out what's going to happen. Persona 5 is like, all right, you're going to come back to this home base, this cafe. You're gonna go take down these people one by one by going into their heads and doing these dungeons. Suikoden 2 is like, you're gonna be recruiting these people, bringing back to the base and so on so forth. Octopath travelers. Like you're gonna recruit these people in a circle and then you're gonna kind of do each of their subsequent chapters one by one. I would say metaphor actually toys with its structure more than any role playing game I can think of right now. It frequently is kind of of making me stay on my toes in terms of, oh, okay, so now I'm gonna go tackle this big dungeon. They're like, also there's this weird little thing going on in this hamlet outside of town, but it's nothing. It might be nothing. Then you go, and that's a whole other like eight hours of pretty well written like side story that you had no idea, you didn't even account for in your prep for this next major dungeon. Also, the whole, the whole story is based around the fact that you are competing with these other people to get like elected by popularity as the next king. It's like anybody like, like there's like a homeless guy who goes to try to be king and he's like fighting for the popularity. There's a like usurper who killed the prince, your friend, which is why you're kind of there in the first place. Or he injured him. But like you come in and the game frequently is toying with what your understanding of the situation is like. You see these two people come into contact in this field as you're all racing toward this village and it's the bad Guy versus one of your allies, kind of. However, the whole point of why you're there is to get close to the bad guy and make him trust you. So your friends point out, they're like, oh no, we need to help the bad guy because if he gets beat right now, then we're going to have less of a shot to get close to the villain. Like, oh, I do. I have to like kind of play like a spy. Like play act as evil right now. This game, every time I think I've settled into a rhythm for the next 20 hours, it shakes that up in a way that keeps things fresh. I actually think the writing, I think you would disagree with. I know you don't love the story. The writing is tackling some pretty heady geopolitical shit. And I don't want. I'm not gonna try to sound up my ass about it, but like, it's actually pretty impactful in a lot of ways. Like some of the characters you meet, like, oh man, it's pretty fucked up that this whole tribe is just like shunned because this, this thing that like makes, you know, makes them all tick.

[Mary]

It.

[Mike]

It's doing a lot. It's doing a. It's. This game is like the biggest swing in role playing games in like a decade. It's pulling a lot of it off. It. It absolutely overstays its welcome in some of the cutscenes. But like then all of a sudden I'm fighting this fucking boss who is a giant egg with a. A fucking bagpipe heart with people dancing around it. And then there's toads inside him.

[Dan]

I think.

[Mike]

Surprises me every few hours in a way that I like other games don't until their final bosses.

[Jake]

The combat too is. Is like, yeah, Atlas's best version of turn based combat where like they. And it's tough and it's like balanced so well.

[Mike]

Yeah, yeah, I like it a whole lot.

[Mary]

I really appreciate that.

[Dan]

And I think we're in a weird spot here because like, I'm going to defend metaphor based on everything you guys just said.

[Mike]

Oh, okay, gotcha. Based on what we said, I was like, where did you play?

[Dan]

No, no, historically, 12 minutes. I just think based on all the arguments now, now that a lot of these have been made for all these, I almost feel like we have 11 right now. If I could just choose this, I would say we dropped UFO and Crow country and bring back either Call of Duty or Erdtree based on just passion overall here. And again, I love ufo, but I think UFO and Crow country don't have as much passion as Metaphor Erdtree and Call of Duty.

[Jake]

Crow country for Mary has more passion than Call of Duty Black.

[Dan]

I don't get. I still. I haven't been sold on it. I still don't really understand what it's doing. That isn't just a good callback. Like, I'm willing. I'm willing to hear that and keep it on, but it just keeps sounding like a really faithful good one of those.

[Mary]

And it is really faithful. The story is quite interesting. You are a detective who's been asked to find a missing person, and you're reading notes from the person who owns. Crow country is actually like a.

[Jake]

It's an amusement park.

[Mary]

And so you're finding notes from the owner of Amusement park that's slowly trickling you. Stories of what happened and where these monsters even came from. It has a really dark, dark underbelly and secret. That's pretty shocking, honestly. It's really well done the way that they uncover pieces of what happened here. I don't usually get into the story of a lot of horror games, so, for example, Silent Hill. Yes, you're looking for your wife and you're confused what's going on here. But the story's really muddled and some of the dialogue is kind of heavy and obtrusive. You don't really know what's going on. The dialogue in this is thoughtful and makes you really question how people make decisions for money and the value. Essentially what it costs to be greedy. And towards the end of this game, you see someone who is essentially, like, lost it all for what they thought they wanted, and they essentially have like, given everything up for what they consider value. I think it. It speaks a lot to society and it's talking through the arms of, like, a horror game. You're. You're fighting monsters. But this is spoilery territory. And I'm scared to, like. No, no, explain it, because I think this is what's fun to learn. But over time of playing this game, you're discovering that there are ways that you can have portals through other worlds. And the monsters that you've been fighting are people who came through a portal and were morphed in the portal. So the monsters you're fighting, the entire game are essentially people that you're killing that were coming from a different area. They're like, in many ways refugees trying to find a better life. Life. But because they came through this portal and got morphed, you're essentially destroying them as monsters. It's brutal. It's like a really brutal realization. But it's done in a delicate way that doesn't make you feel like you're just like shooting things to kill them. Which I felt like a lot. In a lot of Resident Evils I was like I gotta kill these things. But in Crow country there's a humanity behind it all that I think is well stated and it doesn't overstay its welcome. There's a lot of times we're talking about stories in these games where like it's a little heavy handed, but not in Crow Country. I think something that we haven't talked about that is important. I don't know if that helped express like some of my appreciation for it. But like I'd also like to just over overview Animal well I fought really hard for Animal well and I really like it. But I just want to make sure other people feel as strongly as I did about it.

[Dan]

I do enjoy that game a lot and I really appreciate it. And obviously you love Crow country so much that just to boil it right down, I would see Animal well dropping before Crow Country.

[Mary]

I think what's hard to describe is like I've beaten both of these games but I've played Crow country twice priced through now and Animal well I didn't even get all the eggs because I.

[Dan]

Was like it is Animal well is it tries to ride that line between being difficult to find all the secrets and also rewarding you for just kind of poking around and stuff. But there were a lot of times where I was like all right, time to poke around, hopefully find some stuff. And I would just around the map for a long time like fez for a second. All right, I hope I have some aha moment here at some point and then it doesn't really happen happen. And I'm like really trying. I'm looking, I'm looking at every pixel on the map. I'm trying to draw stuff and figure it out. And it's like I can't find another egg, can't find another room I haven't been in. Can't figure out how to get on that jump or whatever. I like a lot about it. And like I think we really distilled that in the best mechanic category with the Frisbee because like that is Animal well at its best. And that is good when it does that.

[Mary]

It's really good when it's good. But it's also kind of bad when it's bad. Something I'd love to just express. God, I really hate this because I feel like I'M like choosing between two Metroidvanias I love very much. But like this is the best time to discuss the best of the best. Prince of the Persia. Prince of the Persia has really good adaptations of Metroidvania. It allows you to take photos of where you've been before. It has really good fast travel. It's smooth, whereas mm doesn't have combat. It doesn't have really convenient fast travel and it doesn't explain it. So by the time you I learned fast travel, I was like, you son of a. I've been kind of love that though.

[Mike]

But yeah, yeah, it's not user friendly.

[Mary]

Badass, but it's not user friendly. So anyway, I think. I'm not even saying that one is better the other, but I do think it's a discussion point because we have two of them on.

[Mike]

You sound way more passionate about Crow country than Animal well, and you sound way more passionate about UFO 50 than.

[Dan]

Animal well, I'm more passionate about Prince of persia than I'm UFO 50.

[Mike]

Oh, I don't think think are we.

[Dan]

Like, we need to cut one.

[Mary]

We should have.

[Mike]

I thought ammo well was on the chopping block.

[Dan]

I mean. Yeah. And I would, I would be up for.

[Mike]

Or UFO 50.

[Dan]

I would chop animal well before UFO 50 because I think Animal well. If we're comparing the Metroidvanias like you said, Mary, I think Animal well has this one trick that's really good of like. Instead it's like mystery of like. Oh, there's, there's. Oh, anything could be anything. And it's just that idea of discovery and exploration. And when it, like I said with the Frisbee, when it does it well, it does it very well. But when it does it poorly, you're fiddle fucking around for two hours trying to find some fucking room you haven't been in. Whereas Prince of Persia is something that tries a lot of different things and I know a lot of them are more traditional in the genre of Metroidvania than something like an animal well, but it excels at every one of those and so that's why my. I beat both of them. My experience with Prince of Persia was significantly more interesting and enjoyable than Animal.

[Mary]

Well, this is hard. I would be willing to cut Animal well to save Crow country. It's very valuable to me. So yeah, I think that's.

[Dan]

I think that's fair.

[Mary]

That's something that I would do.

[Dan]

And just where would you put Crow country in your top 10?

[Mary]

I don't know, but it would be in my top two. Or three.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mary]

It's high.

[Dan]

You obviously care a lot about it, and I think we all kind of had, like, you've got it with Crow Country. I've got it with Astrobot. Lorelai. Like, I think that speaks to, like, we all care very deeply. You like Wild Bastard the Rat.

[Mike]

You like Wild Bastards.

[Dan]

Legitimately tried to.

[Mary]

I also think this says a lot about just the wide range of games. We didn't get the chance to play every game. So we have a lot of games where someone's championing games. I think that's great. It's going to make our list really diverse.

[Mike]

Sure.

[Mary]

I think that's very special. I don't have a problem with that. But I think we all do have to, like, have the acknowledgment that not every one of our top 10 babies can be here.

[Dan]

Yep.

[Mary]

So that's a sacrifice I think I'm willing to make.

[Dan]

I think with Animal well dropped off, I think we have a good 10 to rank.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mike]

I'm using bathroom.

[Mary]

So we're.

[Jake]

All right. Why don't we read off the 10 that we have left?

[Mike]

I need to go right now.

[Dan]

You go now. And maybe we take an official break.

[Jake]

Oh, we want to take another actual break.

[Mary]

No, I don't think we should take a break. Go one by one to pee.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Jake]

Okay. So the top 10 we have or the. The 10 we have right now that we are about to rank are Astrobot Balatro, Prince of Persia, the Something Crown of the Lost Ground.

[Dan]

There's no way to know.

[Jake]

Crow country, UFO, 50 helldivers, wild bastards, Lorelei. And the laser eyes metaphor refantazio. And like, a dragon. Infinite Wealth.

[Dan]

That. This seems appropriate.

[Mary]

That does seem.

[Jake]

It's a good list.

[Dan]

10 games that we care about.

[Mary]

It's going to be contentious for games, but, I mean, why is it so contentious then? I think, like, these are games that we feel really passionate about. I think what's also shocking is, like, there's a lot of heavy hitters. Like, there's some really big games that didn't make our top ten.

[Dan]

Oh, my God. Yeah. Like, I.

[Jake]

Star wars outlawed.

[Dan]

Oh, God, all the stars.

[Jake]

Yeah, that should have been here. But yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah. And it's like, you know, I look at, like, I'm thinking about this. You guys are all flying out tomorrow morning, and I'm thinking like, oh, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm just gonna play Call of Duty all day. I'm gonna pop all those double xp. I'm gonna play Call of Duty. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. I can't wait. And. But it's like, upon this talk, realizing that, like, okay, I don't think it hangs with the passion for all of these other ones, you know, And Call.

[Jake]

Of Duty is a tough one, though, because it's like, it is just a.

[Dan]

Really good one of those.

[Jake]

It just. Yearly releases. Like, I always prefer the Black Ops over the. Well, I liked Modern Warfare 1 or the.

[Dan]

Oh, the 2019. 2019 kicked ass. Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

But like, the last Call of Duty game sucks so much shit that, like, Modern Warfare 3.

[Dan]

Oh, see, I didn't play that. And I also don't care about the World War II ones anymore. And so I've just. In Cold War, I felt like was a little middling in terms of how people reacted. So I really didn't even touch Cold War that much.

[Jake]

Well, Cold War also, like, felt like such a downgrade after Modern Warfare 2019.

[Dan]

Yeah, 2019 was so like, oh, shit, we're back.

[Jake]

Like, it somehow looked worse even though it was on all the new consoles and like, they cut a lot of mechanics from it. So this goes.

[Dan]

Yeah. Whereas this is like, all right, this is what I want Call of Duty to be in 2024.

[Mike]

So that is the game I most want to play.

[Dan]

I was telling him this. Yeah, as soon as you guys all leave, I'm just playing it all.

[Gizmo]

Recently, a new client called me and started by saying, Mr. Morgan, I really need your help, but I'm just a nobody. Those words stunned me, and I immediately called him back. And we're now helping him and his family after a terrible accident. I'm John Morgan of Morgan and Morgan. Everybody who comes to our firm at their time of need is a somebody. I grew up poor, but my grandmother was like a queen to us. At Morgan and Morgan, our goal is to level the playing field for you and your family at your time of need. The insurance company has unlimited money and resources. You need a firm who can fight them toe to toe. For right at 30 years, we have fought them in courtrooms throughout America. Our results speak for themselves. And always remember this. Everybody is a somebody, and nobody is a nobody. Visit for the People.com to learn about our firm, Morgan and Morgan. For the people injured, visit forththepeope.com for an office near you.

[Mike]

All right, how should we.

[Jake]

How should we up this list while.

[Mike]

Everyone'S gone but T Breach Wizards Steamroll Heist too. It's crazy that I. It's weird that I. I didn't want to fight for A Zelda game to be in a top 10.

[Mary]

That is.

[Jake]

Well, also, I thought you were ready to, like, convince us to cut metaphor, but then you, like, flipped and you were like, actually, I gotta fight for this. And I was like, all right, yeah, I'm into.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's. It's weird. That's the most, like, that's the biggest game on the list. So I think it has more room to. It has more risks going for it.

[Mary]

But it's also like, let's take off Astrobot and put Call of Duty before Dan gets back and see if he notices.

[Jake]

I don't.

[Mary]

I don't think just as a test is a science.

[Mike]

Can you do the Lost Crown while we're here? Just so it.

[Mary]

I just want to see if he knows what the. Did I just do?

[Mike]

I finally. I played some UFO 50. Finally.

[Jake]

Oh, my God.

[Mary]

God.

[Jake]

What the fuck have I done?

[Mike]

What did you do?

[Jake]

I'm gonna hide this while I figure out what the fuck I've done.

[Mike]

Just control V, right? There you go. Oh, you deleted everything.

[Jake]

Yeah. Okay, so.

[Mike]

You look ridiculous, by the way. Hey, Gizmo, look at him. Look at this little ham hair's too long.

[Mary]

This is a mess. Jake.

[Mike]

No, no, he's. Yeah, we're good. We just.

[Jake]

We accidentally deleted everything, but we're fine.

[Mary]

Jake accidentally deleted the list.

[Dan]

Wait, what?

[Mike]

No, it's. Why is it not. Oh, there we go.

[Jake]

Okay.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah, he had the control Z a couple times.

[Dan]

Oh, good.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Dan]

All right, here's the. Here's the easy part.

[Mike]

Can you do numbers now?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Well, here we can do top 10 below it and then start trying to.

[Jake]

I think that's what I'm gonna do.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Isn't it easier to look at them and say, like, this should move up. This should move up.

[Mary]

It is, but people will make natural assumptions that come in and be like.

[Mike]

Oh, hi, can I vote number 1010 just right away, since I know I had to really push it. I think metaphor is the quintessential number 10. Two of us really like it. Two are like one bounced off hard.

[Dan]

I tried. I tried.

[Jake]

I'm with you.

[Mike]

I think I'm not about to. That's also just like self preservation. I don't feel like arguing about metaphor over UFO 50, for instance. That's just going to be apples and oranges.

[Mary]

Sure.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And I also. Yeah, I accept that. I'm sure you do. Can I also vote on number one?

[Dan]

Big purse is the word you're looking for.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

You're so noble.

[Dan]

Thank you.

[Mike]

Come back to the word noble.

[Dan]

Brave and noble.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Mike]

You're so noble for playing 12 minutes of a 120 hour game countdown, you say? I like edging count down until me.

[Dan]

Actually trying it and liking it.

[Mike]

I really don't think you would.

[Dan]

Yeah, probably not.

[Mike]

There's some cool I think you should like. Like if you were to have a few hours, one night, watch like Metaphor the movie, you'd see all these.

[Dan]

Oh.

[Mike]

No, I want to make a presentation to you. It's like, hey, here's the stuff you're missing that you don't need to play the whole game. Like you could surf around on your sword in town.

[Dan]

I'm sure it's smart and good or whatever.

[Mike]

No, the humans are the monsters that I like.

[Dan]

That looks up.

[Mary]

Maybe there's some things that we've like individually championed that probably won't get to top five that we can start play.

[Mike]

I want to say Crow Country, UFO 50 and.

[Mary]

Okay, I think all of them Wild and Lorelei could all be in top.

[Mike]

No, we both really like wild bastards.

[Dan]

Well then maybe that hit.

[Mary]

Maybe that's top five. You know what I mean?

[Mike]

Yeah. Metaphor is 10.

[Dan]

I'm metaphor from the bullet list. Up top here.

[Mike]

I'll do fine with that.

[Dan]

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[Mike]

Wait, wait, hold on a second.

[Dan]

What?

[Mike]

Did you put Call of Duty back?

[Dan]

No, we did not.

[Mike]

It's. Oh, wait, why is that there?

[Dan]

I did not. I'm not mad about it.

[Mary]

Yeah, that's a good list.

[Mike]

Oh, Call of Duty is just there accidentally.

[Dan]

Oh, right.

[Mary]

No.

[Dan]

What happened?

[Jake]

You literally said it'd be funny if we did this. Now you're. You're confused by it.

[Mike]

I didn't. Did I?

[Jake]

Yeah, you both were like, let's remove astronauts of on put Call of Duty there.

[Mike]

Now you're.

[Dan]

Oh, you took it. Oh, you are you. Me.

[Mike]

That wasn't me. Oh, I'm so sorry.

[Dan]

What? That was not me. Right? That.

[Jake]

That happened. We had that conversation.

[Mary]

It was Mike's idea.

[Mike]

No, it wasn't. I came back and you.

[Dan]

This is on tape. We can check this.

[Mike]

I don't think it was. You were here for it.

[Jake]

We were like, am I going crazy?

[Mary]

You're an idiot and you might be crazy.

[Dan]

What happened?

[Mike]

I have no clue.

[Dan]

I went to go. He forgot to open.

[Mike]

You have no idea how much I peed. I think I like peed out all of my intelligence. Hi, guys. I remember you talking about that. I didn't think I was the architect, though.

[Dan]

Oh, wow. It's not even that with that bit. Jeez.

[Mike]

I didn't think it was that good of a bit. We put. One of.

[Dan]

It was your idea.

[Mike]

No, it wasn't. I don't think it was.

[Mary]

Was that my bit? It was. I'm genuine. You, like, lost yourself.

[Dan]

What the happened?

[Mike]

I'm genuinely confused.

[Mary]

You were the. The ring leader.

[Dan]

Sorry.

[Mike]

Okay, let's move past it.

[Dan]

Ring leader of the worst B in podcast history.

[Mike]

I really don't think I was. It's not a game with the dawn tape.

[Dan]

We'll figure this out very soon.

[Mike]

Maybe Chat knows, because I wouldn't have suggested putting one of the games you were championing in for another one that you were championing. Did I?

[Mary]

Or Mike pulled a momento on himself.

[Dan]

It.

[Mary]

It.

[Jake]

It's up in the.

[Mike]

It was Mary's idea.

[Jake]

Thank you.

[Mike]

I didn't.

[Mary]

Mike is tired.

[Mike]

Was it mine? Oh, my God. I'm sorry. That was not multiple people. I'm, like, looking back at five minutes after, and it's not funny.

[Mary]

Let's be reasonable.

[Mike]

Oh, that's not a funny bit.

[Dan]

I think we need to take all of his picks off of here. He's not in a good mental state right now.

[Mike]

Did I have a THC marijuana beer on?

[Dan]

I tried to make sure you didn't.

[Mike]

Yeah, apparently not. All right, number nine.

[Dan]

I can't wait to, like, Zapruder film what just happened here.

[Mike]

I genuinely. I think I'm, like, really sober.

[Jake]

I cannot believe that happened.

[Dan]

I have another one. Very, very cool.

[Mike]

Very sober.

[Jake]

I think. I think like a dragon. Infinite wealth seems like a pretty good number nine.

[Mike]

I'd be fine with that. I don't. Dan might have something else.

[Dan]

No, actually, I am going to say I think UFO 50 would be number nine. I would put. Because I feel like UFO 50. I'm a defender of. Not a lot of fashion other than me for that. Whereas I feel like. Like a dragon. We at least us two like it a lot. I think UFO 53 for me then. Yuck.

[Mary]

Crow.

[Dan]

Crow 8.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mike]

Because those are the two that we were considering chopping.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yep. Yep. Okay. Okay.

[Mary]

I fought really hard for that. That's fine.

[Dan]

I. Okay, now I'm.

[Mike]

Now I feel like we've got. Okay, The. The bottom three right now, I feel like are metaphor. UFO 50. Crow country. Jake. I have to say, number seven, because.

[Mary]

You were also your individual.

[Mike]

You were really passionate about it, and you made a good argument. So we don't have to do that. Number seven. I'm not. It's just. No, it doesn't have to be that.

[Mary]

Oh, we've been very generous.

[Jake]

Could we put, like, Astrobot before it maybe?

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I've been waiting to talk Dan, because.

[Mike]

Me and Dan are aligned on both. Both like a Dragon and Wild Bastards.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike]

Although I. We haven't really talked much about it, but I'm also Super Helldivers 2 team as well.

[Dan]

I do think pretty soon we're gonna have to talk about Astrobot.

[Mike]

Like a dragon.

[Dan]

I. If we're talking about my babies here, I would like to put Prince of Persia lower than Astrobot.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Jake]

But lower than, like a dragon. I feel like people have been like, I love this game, but also, I have issues.

[Mike]

Number six would be great for like a dragon. Personally, would you be okay with six.

[Dan]

Like a dragon five, Prince of Persia.

[Mary]

I think we also need to start, like, really looking at everything here. Wild Bastards is something you guys both love, but do you love it more than Prince of Persia?

[Jake]

I think I do love it too, so.

[Mary]

Because I really like Prince of Persia.

[Mike]

What about six? What do we just say? Six like a dragon, five wild best bastards. That leaves.

[Dan]

Okay. Yeah. We like Princess Lorelei.

[Mike]

That leaves.

[Dan]

Well, I gotta get a beer for the finale. Who needs a beer?

[Jake]

I need to be.

[Mike]

I'll take one.

[Dan]

Yep.

[Mike]

Can I have a pilsner, if there is any?

[Jake]

Sorry.

[Mike]

So like it like a dragon, then? Wild Bastards at five. Wild Bastard in top five is awesome. Honestly.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

It's a little too high.

[Mary]

I think it's a little high.

[Mike]

Yeah. But it's there, though.

[Mary]

Are you sure you don't want to switch like a Dragon in wild bastards 100?

[Jake]

Or maybe like. Like Lorelei and Wild Bastards?

[Mike]

No.

[Jake]

You haven't even played it play Wild Bastards, have you? I did a preview. I played it once.

[Dan]

These are the remaining four beers in the fridge. There's more downstairs, so if you specifically want girls. The skull.

[Jake]

Oh, yeah, I'll take. I'll take the skull.

[Dan]

Skull. All right. I'll take a gold.

[Mary]

You're good. Sorry, let's just have the conversation for Astrobot now, because I actually think Astrobot.

[Mike]

I think all these could be, I.

[Jake]

Think so far higher.

[Mike]

Higher. You mean lower.

[Mary]

Well, I think everything we have here.

[Dan]

No, she's right. I think higher would be you strike.

[Mike]

Through Wild Bastard just so it's done and it's not moving on.

[Jake]

I think it might be a discussion.

[Mike]

No, I do.

[Dan]

I do want to gauge this here because, you know. You know how I feel about Astrobot. But before I go into my thing, what is the vibe, among others, about Astrobot?

[Mike]

It's in.

[Mary]

It's a good game.

[Mike]

It's incredibly well made. I. The thing I come back to, my opinion hasn't changed since I talked about it with you, Grubb and Minati on that episode. It's an incredibly well crafted theme park. However, and to your point, yes, some of those power ups you get, items you get you've not seen Anywhere else in 3D platforming or platforming, to use your word, they do feel like one off gimmicks each time it happens against Mary. I think the boss fights are incredible. What are you doing?

[Dan]

Sorry, I'm just trying to cross out Wild Bastards.

[Mike]

Oh, he's convinced it's gonna move down again. Oh, okay. I think the boss fights are incredible. Those are my favorite parts of the game.

[Dan]

I am surprised to hear that because I. I have heard a lot of people, including myself, feel about like how super strong those boss fights are. Like, I think they're a highlight and so I am surprised to hear that you think it's one of the low lights of the game.

[Mike]

But like, but, but Astrobot's absolutely my top 10. I think it would have been if I had to rank it. It'd be like a 7 or something. And I like 3D platformers quite a bit. Banjo Kazooie and Tooie are some of my favorite games. And those are like, honestly, Kazoo, Tooie especially is fucking bullshit. But like Super Mario Odyssey, one of the best games ever made. Galaxy 2, one of the best games ever made. They just happen to be 3D platformers that they're very good 3D platforms, but they're also doing other stuff like, like Odyssey especially the way you're moving through those worlds just feels so much more seamless and like there's nothing against jumping in and out of these quickfire worlds in Astrobot. Like Wild Bastards is all about jumping in and out of quickfire shooter arenas. Astrobot, I just can't. I personally cannot say anything about it that is like I'm not really passionate about anything in it because it just feels like an extremely tight, tight, well made. You're right, it's close to perfect. But that doesn't make me passionate about it. That just means there are no flaws to it. It doesn't make an incredible game in my opinion. It's like, sure, yeah, I don't know it clearly that team was like height of their creativity. Hopefully not. And they make another cool thing like this. But like their current peak, their creativity. The worlds are incredible. I love the boss fights. Like the, even the first one, the gorilla, it's like, oh, man, this is awesome. Like. Like you're. You're not just doing like a. Like a bowser fight where you're dodging him and then picking up his tail and swinging him. It's like you're. It's still a mini platforming level within the boss fight when you're jumping certain things. And then you have to like, drive at his mouth, his throat, his uvula, whatever. It's like the scale is incredible. And they play with scale and scope in such a way that it's like Alice in Wonderland esque in the way it's just jumping between different, like, skyscrapers. And then all of a sudden you're back.

[Dan]

Oh, the one where you're. Or the one where you're physically shrinking down, like, with a press of a button. Like, that's crazy. Yeah.

[Mike]

And also the pacing is really fucking good because all of a sudden it's an ape escape level where it's not. It's not an A to B to C thing. It's this little arena where you're chasing down the apes. Again. The more I talk about it, the more like, I love this game. I still. I can't find anything in it that's like, absolutely pushes it into, like, top three. Two for me, that and you know 3D platformers and platformers better than I do. So I guess I just haven't heard that yet.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mary]

I think it might be good where it is. I think it's a very excellent game and I've enjoyed every minute of it and I beat it happily. I think, Mike, you kind of said it quite well when you said this game is close to perfect. But I also haven't let. Being like, man, I'm thinking about this game at night and I, like, can't stop, like, thinking about how amazing it was. It's just very polished. It is so.

[Mike]

Feels incredible.

[Mary]

It feels and plays incredible. And so I think that it warrants a lot of praise. And so I think it's actually in a very good spot. I wouldn't wait.

[Mike]

Where. What spot?

[Mary]

We're at 4, and I think it's excellent.

[Mike]

Where are you saying it's at 4?

[Jake]

Talking about.

[Mary]

Well, that's.

[Mike]

Oh, I see what you're saying. Okay.

[Mary]

We have four slots left, so, like, we have to start putting things.

[Mike]

It's absolutely. I'm not surprised. I expected it to go top three, but I also.

[Mary]

But I think we have to have the conversation of, like, this is where we're at, which is like, are we discussing like Astrobot over Prince of Persia.

[Mike]

Or before we start comparing. But like, to that point, I haven't heard you talk about it since the episode with Mike. Yeah, and Jeff, but again, similar to how you were talking to Mary about Crow country, it's like, I haven't heard the defining argument about it from you. It's more like everything's really tight and good. It's like, okay, that can make an incredible game. It doesn't like, push it to the upper echelon, though.

[Dan]

Sure. And on the surface it is something where it's like I talked before about how like, you know, the whole time I'm playing and I'm feeling joy, I'm smiling, you know, everything's really tight and perfect. Great. You know, platforming, great feel to everything. Yes, that is great. But that only goes so far. I think the real genius with it comes. Comes with something that isn't really surface. It's not something they advertise. It's something you only know as you play it, where if you come in as someone who's never played a 3D platformer, let's say you're a kid or something, you can enjoy it on that level of like, all right, it's a couple buttons. I'm jumping, I'm hovering. It's all very intuitive, you know, oh, I can do a punch, I can do that. Whatever. You could run from A to B. You know, you get to the end of the level, get the flagpole or whatever you want to call it in this one, the podium, and you can beat it. You can beat the game with. You don't have to get. It's like, you know, so many 3D platformers for. You don't need to get Every star in Mario 64. You don't need to get every bot in this. So if you're a kid, you know, you could be some 7 year old playing it right now. You understand the controls. It's. Everything's so tight and great and everything. You can beat the game, have an incredible time with it, or you can be fucking 40 and you can be someone who has played so many platformers his entire life. And if you want to go all the way in on it, like, I don't like to beat a stage until I've gotten every single bottle. If you want to go on the Speedrun level a bit, you are learning all these little mechanics and ways like, oh, actually if you do this punch before the hover here, that'll extend your jump a little bit here and then that Also extends to the love of games and Sony history and everything to where I'm appreciating on this level that like, okay, this kid is loving jumping around and punching through the sprinkles and everything. But oh shit, I went back to my hub and is that a fucking incredible crisis bot? Is that a Mr. Mosquito bot? Is that like, like. So it is appealing to me on a level of like huge platforming fan that wants to get to a Speedrun level with things. To a games historian fucking looking at like Sony history type level. Like there's so many different levels you can enjoy this game on. From a seven year old jumping on stuff and looking at the sprinkles to a 40 year old that's seeing a celebration of gaming history and can enjoy the mechanics on a Speedrun caliber level. So I think that's it to me that it rides this line and it does it so elegantly without having to explain all this stuff, without having to separate it into different modes. Oh, do you want to do hardcore mode or whatever over here or do you want to do little baby mode over here? It's just you pick up the controller, you understand what it wants of you and you can enjoy it on so many different levels no matter where you are in your life or your gaming history. I think it's perfection to me. Okay, so that's what.

[Mike]

Yeah, that's. That's what I was curious about.

[Dan]

I. Okay look, we have four left here.

[Mike]

We've got Astrobot just for like my ad. Can you strike through like a dragon on the top?

[Jake]

Well, we haven't put it in here. Oh, we did.

[Dan]

Yeah. Okay.

[Mike]

It just doesn't have infinite wealth. Next.

[Dan]

Oh, sure.

[Mike]

Thank you.

[Dan]

So we're down to Astrobot Balatro, Prince of Persia, the Something Crown and Hell Divers two. I'll throw out. My idea here is I think, and I think we do need to Talk about Helldivers 2. We haven't had that conversation here yet. My druthers tell me maybe either Prince of Persia or Helldivers 2 at 4. I think the other one at 3. I'd love to see Astrobot at 2.

[Mary]

I feel like you're dancing around a lot and I'm throwing it out there.

[Dan]

I wanted to see how it was received. I want to see how it's received.

[Mary]

Yeah, but you're kind of like fucking everything up. Just argue game for game. I think like let's talk about what's next or make an argument for.

[Mike]

I think. Can I propose a number four and see what we Think. I think Prince of Persia is a really good number four.

[Dan]

I think so too.

[Mike]

It's an incredibly fucking good Metroidvania. It's crunchy combat. You don't even. I didn't like. The combat's better than Metroid Dread.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yep.

[Mike]

I agree. Which is saying a lot.

[Dan]

Hot.

[Mary]

I'm not fighting it.

[Mike]

Prince of Persia seems like a great four to me.

[Mary]

Four.

[Jake]

It's the lost crown, right?

[Mike]

Yes.

[Dan]

That game was the lost crown. Okay. Okay.

[Mike]

So we heard Astrobot from Dan. That's. Do we have a top three and we're just.

[Dan]

Is prolonging. We're looking at it. No.

[Mike]

Do we have a rank?

[Dan]

Oh, I mean, I feel like we.

[Mike]

Have a really good rank. I feel like my.

[Dan]

I think there's one possible question here.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Mike]

Helldivers.

[Dan]

Or I think two and three are our questions. We'll get to that. We'll get to that.

[Mike]

We're getting to it. Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

God. We. There's a theme with our game.

[Dan]

When we know. We know.

[Mary]

But it is. It is what it is.

[Mike]

Let's not.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

So it's Helldivers 2 or Astrobot. In my opinion, it's more about figuring out, do we like Helldivers two more than Astrobot or not?

[Mary]

I mean, I think this is a tough argument. Here's my call. Like, for Helldivers Astrobot, we're making a really good argument that it is constructed in a way that is so polished and so perfect. But I don't think it was trying anything new or risky. I think it plays within the role that it's making. If it does any risks, it's like, well, we tried to let you shake the remote and use spray water. It's doing some risk in that regard. But I think that Helldivers was putting all of their eggs in the basket of. We are making really extraordinary, intense fight sequences that are very difficult to construct. The idea of how many bugs you can throw at people to make every battle seem like you're about to fucking die right before your ship comes to save you is quite incredible. They found a great way to balance the game so that most. Most of your fights felt like it was life or death. And you would scream for, like, any stratagems or any bullets that you could scrape by. The ability to save your friends at the very brink of death and hurl them into the ship and get out. It was memorable to me.

[Mike]

Yeah. I cannot recall another game that had. Has tested how calm I can be under pressure like this before. Like, you can see it very much is aliens like you could. It tests how well each of you holds up under pressure. Like, like, I love being that last person. And then like, okay, I've got this. Just like keep breathing because like there's like 80 robots shooting at you from the distance and then there come like melee ones are coming up. You're like, okay, I got it.

[Dan]

Just.

[Mike]

Okay, call them the strategy. Left, left, left.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah, it's left up, right.

[Mike]

And then like we're all like, like, oh my God, you're gonna fuck it up. And then every step of the way. Nothing is. Nothing in the missions is automatic. Like you have to manually extract. You have to manually call down that you can. An orbital strike can straight up miss if you don't like aim it correctly.

[Jake]

Or you just kill your teammates.

[Mike]

The game is really fucking funny too. Like it's. I. Yeah, I don't know. I. Nothing in it is like taken for granted. Like every single step. Like there. There could be very well a bug catching up to you right behind you. I don't want to turn around or. You don't have to turn around. There's. It's a third person camera. But like it's just. It's such an intense game and like any other. There's no other shooter I can think of that does it like that like you think of like doom eternal. It's like, oh, just keep moving forward. You'll generally be fine. Every like Halo, it's like, okay, just go take cover. Let your shield recharge.

[Dan]

This is.

[Mike]

There's a pretty easy hack to all this. Helldivers2 really does just like when shit hits the fan, you see what people are made of. It's so fun. But. And yeah, I also like you. The game has so much more depth than it initially lets on because like you don't realize the. The stratagems how powerful they can make you. They. You don't realize like, oh my God. I didn't like, now we need to. It's the extraction shooter question of like, do we go for that bunker over there? Is there something valuable there? Do we just get the fuck out of here? Because we did the objectives. I. Helldivers 2 is. It's. It's incredible.

[Dan]

I think. So where we're at right now is this thing where first of all, I think there's no losing combination here of the top three. This is all. This is very good.

[Mary]

They're all fucking good.

[Dan]

I think if we're talking between astrobot and helldivers2, it's this thing of like, okay, do we take this very polished. You know, we've used the word perfect, you know, thing we've seen before, a 3D platformer. And like me as Astrobot Guy number one, I agree that it's just the best version of one of those you could play. It is not like. But I also think, like, a lack of risk isn't inherently a bad thing. I think that just doing things that have been done before, but just perfecting.

[Mary]

Them, it doesn't have to be innovative in order to be quality.

[Mike]

It really is apples and oranges. The whole like. Like, I. I made this same comparison during polygon deliberations a couple years ago. It's like, do you. Do you like the. The Wire that is pretty consistently great almost every single episode. Or do you like the Sopranos, which can dip really low, but its peaks are super up here. It's almost, in this case like Helldivers 2 is the. It's taking bigger swings. I. I think Helldivers peaks are way higher than Astrobots, but I do think Astrobot is way more consistently great.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Helldivers two. And it's like, almost like one's not necessarily better, which is what we have to rank.

[Dan]

And that's the Helldivers credit is that, like, it can sometimes be messy and uneven and stuff, but, like, it's trying some stuff that's weirder and I appreciate and that can be a little more exciting than like, super polished version of what you've seen before. So, like, I have my complaints about Helldivers in that, like, I really, really enjoyed my times playing it, but I didn't quite feel like. I know I didn't keep up with like, DLC or new, you know, season pass type stuff. Whatever. I didn't find a lot of the, like, stuff to keep you going in terms of cosmetics and unlocks and stuff like that. I liked buying the things that were like, oh, shit, I have this new strike I can call down and stuff like that. That's really cool. But there is a tone to that game. There is a certain vibe. Like when you do a mission, it's all like, okay, we're launching the missile here. We're doing this thing here. But it's all that like, ah, like, you know, that's the tone of the game, you know. Yeah, it is, and it does it really well. But it's uneven. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, you know? Yeah. So it's like, do I want this like, super perfected, polished thing?

[Mary]

I think he's Having a dreaming dog. I think he's having a dream.

[Dan]

Oh, he's having a dog dream. Okay.

[Mike]

He's dreaming about Helldivers 2.

[Dan]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mary]

I think they both nail their tone.

[Dan]

Yes. And I know my preference. My, My preference is Astrobot. That's my game of the year. But also, I fully understand everything we're all saying about. I, I've played Hell Divers with the a. You know, I played Hell Divers of the. It's fun as hell.

[Mary]

I mean, I think we should look towards democracy, which is a theme of Helldivers. That's true.

[Dan]

Yeah. That's the thing. It's also a funny game. It's very funny.

[Mary]

Hell Divers is funnier.

[Jake]

Oh, we should have put that in the funny category.

[Mary]

We should have.

[Dan]

We. We super. We blew it with that. We really should have. Yeah.

[Jake]

Well, that's what happens when you do this at in November.

[Mary]

Hell Divers. Hell Divers is funny. It nails its tone. It knew exactly what it was going for and it does it very well. It found a way to basically make you freak out at any given second that you could die or lose your friends or be the hero of this game. It knew what it was doing. It does have high highs and it did have low lows. It lost the community a couple times this last year with some decisions that it made. But that doesn't negate what it did, which is it was the surprise of the year. Fucking no one thought that we would discuss Helldivers, let alone have it be in our top three. It is a fucking absolute slam dunk of a game. And I'm so proud of them coming out of nowhere to achieve what they've done. And so I think it's, it's exceptional that it's gotten where it is. For me, Helldivers is too. And I think we have to put it to a vote.

[Dan]

I, No, I, I. And I know I'm the Astrobot guy, but I do.

[Mary]

But I also am the Astrobot person. I just, I think they're both, they're both phenomenal.

[Dan]

But I, I do feel like the passion overall of the group of Helldivers, I think is higher than, you know, I super love Astrobot. You guys like it a lot.

[Mike]

What would your vote be, Judge Jake?

[Jake]

Astrobot, Astrobot 3, and then Helldivers.

[Mike]

Probably think it's 3.

[Dan]

1. I wanna argue that you did.

[Mike]

To your credit, though, you did. That was the argument I was looking for for Astrobot that we didn't really have during the normal episodes.

[Dan]

Sure, sure. I mean, I love that game. I deeply love that game.

[Mike]

All right, so that's it. Is that it? So that's it. Everyone.

[Dan]

Sit.

[Mary]

Let's do it. Let's discuss what we probably don't have to debate, but we should.

[Dan]

This is the hating situation.

[Mary]

We should celebrate.

[Dan]

Let's read the whole let's to one here.

[Mike]

For anybody who's new and was not around. Was it our first ever game of the year?

[Dan]

2020, right?

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Well, it's 2024, literally.

[Dan]

I don't think 2020 was the first one.

[Mike]

The first one. Yeah.

[Mary]

I'm just saying it's 2024 now.

[Mike]

I'm saying for anybody who is new who didn't watch us in 20. Oh, I see what you're saying. This is our fourth annual.

[Dan]

No, no, no. 2020-2021-2022-2023, 2024.

[Mike]

All right, you got to count 20.

[Mary]

20, 0 is 1.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

For anybody who is not here in 2020. We literally didn't. I don't think we ever mentioned. Unless when we were first rearranging our number one game, we, Hades was just like. How could you argue that?

[Dan]

We've at least. That's the thing. We've at least talked about Balatro this time. I feel like. I don't know if we have brought.

[Mary]

Up before we forgot to mention Hades because it was so obvious.

[Mike]

Was Returnal the next year. Yeah.

[Jake]

Return was the year after. And then Elden Ring. And then it was. Elden Ring was Tears of the Kingdom.

[Mike]

So it's not always Roguelikes.

[Dan]

But it's Tears of the Kingdom. Was not. Wait, what was it? What was the other. Wasn't Elder Rings. Not.

[Mike]

It was almost Vampire Survivors, though, which was Rog Light, so that was pretty.

[Dan]

We like Rogue Lights here. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike]

Could have been.

[Dan]

We can go back if I could.

[Mike]

Have been bust out that sexual metaphor, which.

[Jake]

The sexual metaphor refantasio.

[Dan]

Oh, that made the top 10.

[Mike]

God, that sequel.

[Mary]

Yay. There's the.

[Mike]

Oh, look at our number one. That's so thrilling. Yeah. All right, how much time do we want to talk about Balatra?

[Dan]

Well, I mean, we have. Unlike Hades, we have spent some time talking about Balatra. We talked about playing game. We talked about. We had a whole category on it. But it's just. This is the undeniable one of the year for us.

[Mike]

How the fuck do you squeeze that much? I also think, like, incredible gameplay out of math.

[Dan]

A fucking video poker game.

[Jake]

And that's. It's like they took a game that's been around for a long time, and it's like, very popular. And they flipped it on its head in a way that is, like, endlessly replayable. Like, I. That is. That is my number one playing game. Like, it's either that or Vampire Survivors for every trip for the rest of my life.

[Dan]

And talk about a masterstroke. If they wanted some game of the year, love from every outlet is like, hey, start the year with everyone fucking loving it when it comes to Switch and everything. And then, oh, by the way, it's on mobile a couple months before the end of the year.

[Mike]

You have no excuse. Yeah, it's also, it's. It's poker only at the very beginning.

[Dan]

Yeah, you.

[Mike]

It helps to understand the hands of poker, but you really don't need to. You can learn that while you're doing it, but, like, it's as close to poker as, like, XCOM 2 is to chess. Like, that's just the very, very foundation of it. And then the whole point of that game is breaking rules. And also, what other game were we talking about today where it's like, I love when games are like, oh, yeah, no, you can break it immediately. Like, they're, they're. Okay, here's poker. But also, your first joker is going to completely upend every rule of poker, basically.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, it's. You don't even really need to know the rules at all of poker. Like, as long as you can look at that, like, run info and see, like, okay, that's more worthwhile than that or whatever. But I, I just. There's something about a game that makes you feel like you're getting away with something where it's like, like when you have a certain combination of jokers.

[Mike]

Is this supposed to. I like to imagine an alarm going off in the studio. Like, oh, my God, someone.

[Dan]

What did he do, use the blueprint with the.

[Mary]

Like, he's not allowed to put those three jokers together.

[Dan]

These numbers are really big.

[Mary]

We didn't want him to hit a million shortcut and smear joke. What the.

[Mike]

Someone get over them.

[Mary]

It's really good game design to make you feel like you've broken something. And I think that actually is what Zelda did when it first came out was we were like, I can't believe you can just break the game like this. When you do that, you really win players over.

[Jake]

But I think with those games, it kind of felt like a secret when you're breaking the game. But with Balatro, it's like, like, that's the fucking mechanic.

[Mary]

That's what we want. I. But I think Your first time is shocking. So I was telling you guys, when I showed my niece Crow country, that was really meaningful to me because I was showing them something, and they got it right away. My father has been playing video poker for as long as I can know. And he goes to Vegas three or four times a year. That's what he does for his holidays. Like, that's what he does. And I bought him Balatro for his birthday this year, and he turned 70, and I was at his birthday party, and I was showing him how to play it, and he was like, check it out. Royal flush on my first go. And I was like, you silly, stupid child. Good job. But the thing that was really neat about watching my dad get into this game is that the excitement and joy he got, the pride of having his first royal flush was nothing compared to the first time he won with two pair.

[Mike]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

He took a screenshot on his phone of getting to pair and how he was like, can you believe that I beat this game with two pair? And I was like, I'm so proud of you. Like, how cool is that? Like, we altered. This is like, Like a dude who's been playing poker his whole life who is, like, programmed to believe that a royal flush is the ultimate win.

[Dan]

I tried with my dad. There was a lot of, like, that's not how poker works.

[Mary]

That's right. My dad grew from that experience and got to have all of those wow moments when he broke that game, and he's been playing it religiously all year. And I think that's really says something about not just the addictiveness of, of Balatro, but also the dopamine hits that you get every time you think you've broken the game, that you've tricked the system, that you were able to secure a win. And also just the luck of the draw. Dude, you can have a really good run and still lose on the final boss. It happens all the time.

[Dan]

Oh, frequently.

[Mike]

The Antis are honestly the real.

[Mary]

No, they're just the Antis should have been a fucked fucker. And, oh, God, it just sucks when you're like, have you ever gotten the ante that you only get to play one hand?

[Dan]

Yeah, that sucks ass.

[Mary]

That can be.

[Jake]

Should we, like, start at the beginning?

[Mary]

Yeah, let's bring it back.

[Jake]

Yeah. Okay.

[Mike]

Yeah, this is a good list.

[Mary]

I, I, I'm really proud.

[Jake]

Should we read off the top 10?

[Mary]

Let's do it.

[Dan]

Let's do it.

[Mike]

Start at number 10.

[Dan]

Oh, should, should I start at number 10? You're going to start with Dan.

[Mary]

Let's start with Dan.

[Dan]

Who you going to start? How about you actually looking at this? Maybe you, me, Mary.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Jake]

You can't say number ten.

[Dan]

You're. You're right. Right.

[Mike]

Okay.

[Mary]

It's not allowed.

[Mike]

2024 final top ten games of the year for Fire Escape. The fifth annual. Number ten is Metaphor Refantazio.

[Dan]

Number nine is UFO 50.

[Mary]

Number eight is Crow Country.

[Jake]

Number seven is Loreline the Laser.

[Dan]

This works perfectly.

[Mike]

Number six, Like a Dragon, Infinite Weapon Wealth.

[Dan]

Number five, Wild Bastards.

[Mary]

Number four, Prince of Persia and the Lost Crown.

[Jake]

Number three, Astrobot.

[Mike]

Number two, Helldivers 2.

[Dan]

And our game of the year, Fire Escape Cast 2024 is Balatro. Yeah, that's a good list. That's a good list right there. We got there.

[Jake]

What are.

[Mike]

What are the. What are the weird ones that, like, we're. We beat like every. Well, we, like, we talked about it. We just did not literally have another weekend the rest of the year.

[Dan]

No, this is the only.

[Mike]

So we're before people. What are some on here that we're not gonna see anywhere else? Wild bastards.

[Dan]

I feel like. Yeah, because you and I were playing that pre release and we were over the moon about it.

[Mike]

And then it was mixed and then.

[Dan]

It came out and it's like people.

[Mike]

Either loved it or hate. Like, I could see like maybe PC Gamer having that or something. Sure, sure.

[Dan]

We fucking loved it. I know Lorelei was mixed. I kind of.

[Mike]

I kind of Polygon's gonna have Lorelei.

[Dan]

I can see that Polygon game.

[Mike]

Well, it's on their best of the year.

[Mary]

I don't think Prince of Persia will be as popular in other lists. I do think that it was reviewed well, but I don't. I don't think it sold well. And I don't think a lot of people, like, we definitely really liked it.

[Jake]

Shut down the team, right?

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mike]

I think Helldivers 2 will be at a few places just for how much of this, like, cultural flashpoint.

[Dan]

It was a moment.

[Mary]

It was a big deal.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mary]

I don't think Crow country will, But I think UFO 50 will be on other people's lists.

[Dan]

It will. I think there will be some place that give metaphor game of the year. Oh, yeah, that'll happen.

[Mary]

I wouldn't be surprised if Metaphor was like, top Astrobot all over the place.

[Mike]

Like, not a knock. I think it's hard to argue against Astrobot.

[Dan]

Sure.

[Mike]

It's all. It's hard. It's easy to argue for, but like, there's not. There's nowhere to like, poke holes it's.

[Dan]

Hard when there's like, if anything like it's the safe thing, I guess you could say where it's like it is just a really good one of those. That's why when we're talking about Helldivers, like Helldivers is messy and doing. Yeah, yeah, we talked about it.

[Mike]

But this is, I think like a dragon will probably be in top tens, but I don't think it'll be super high.

[Dan]

I don't see getting Game of the Year anywhere. I wonder, I wonder if you see a lot of Balatros.

[Mike]

Oh yeah. I think Bellatro maybe not number one.

[Mary]

But it'll be, I'll be surprised to see where Balatro goes. I think in games media it will do well. Well, I don't think it will for like the game Awards.

[Jake]

I don't even get nominated for Game of the Year but I know they haven't announced. You haven't announced them yet.

[Mary]

Oh, but I think that's like reflective of the industry. Whereas like games media will respect Balatro for what it is. I think they will.

[Dan]

I think it's one of the most genius games I've ever played. It's incredible and I will probably be playing it for many. It's on my phone. I will pull that out anytime I need to kill.

[Mike]

Oh, I purposely never not putting on my phone because then I will. It'll play too much.

[Dan]

Oh, get ready to take 30 minute.

[Mary]

Shits every time when you're seeing other people's goatee lists.

[Mike]

Got too much wine to study that Fire escape.

[Mary]

Called it first. That Balatro is the number one game of the year.

[Dan]

All right, let's make a prediction here. The big one that we didn't get to talk about since we went early was Indy. Do you think Indy would have made this top 10?

[Mary]

I think it's possible that it would make top 10.

[Dan]

Yes, I think it's possible.

[Mary]

I think it could, it could have knocked.

[Mike]

Oh. I also think the Valguard will be on top 10 tens.

[Dan]

Really?

[Jake]

I don't think so.

[Mike]

I think so.

[Jake]

I don't think so. I, I, I think, I think Stalker will be on top tens but I don't think it'll be. It would be on this top 10 if what we should get a chance to play it.

[Mike]

We should note we stuck to our guns with considering Lethal Company those early access. So anything we should write down from this point on we should make a, we should start making the 2025 list and put Valgard, Indie, Indie, anything from.

[Dan]

This point forward because like we, we came in kind of under the wire, like, you know, like Golden Idol. You know, I beat that a couple days ago.

[Jake]

I mean like a Dragon Quest 3 remake. We didn't.

[Dan]

I want to play that. Yeah, that'd be.

[Mike]

I don't know if that would be.

[Jake]

In best games of the year, but it's. Yeah.

[Mike]

I want to play Stalker.

[Dan]

Honestly.

[Jake]

Stalker.

[Mike]

If it's good will I'll be.

[Mary]

It could be. Yeah. I, I have high hopes for.

[Jake]

I think it will be good. I just don't think a lot of people.

[Mike]

I mean, I think, I think it's a gamer.

[Jake]

It's very specific people who are going to be into that, you know.

[Mike]

All right.

[Dan]

I'm very happy with this. Yeah.

[Mike]

It's a fire escape ass list.

[Mary]

It is. It's like all over the place.

[Mike]

We all, I think we all have one that we're. You got Lorelei, Wild Bastards country and I can't UFO 50.

[Jake]

I can't believe the world I got ranked above these other ones. I would have been funny.

[Dan]

You know, the weird thing is I kept wondering what was happening with like, I like UFO 50 a lot. But you guys, I think kept pushing it up more than I was trying to.

[Mike]

Like, you know, Mary was.

[Jake]

Yeah, Mary was like, let's cut it.

[Dan]

Well, I kept saying like, let's cut UFO and crow country. Like, I like UFO 50 a lot.

[Mike]

Because you were bundling it with one of her.

[Mary]

Yeah, just cut it. You little.

[Mike]

Dude, dude. You're like, you're like an NBA.

[Mary]

I'm such a good person. You know what I'll do? I'll take Mary's favorite game and I'll. I'll sacrifice my game too.

[Jake]

Say I don't care a lot about it.

[Mike]

He's like, hey, you know, dude, you were starting, you were starting to theory craft, like how NBA coaches and scouts do. You're like, all right, we'll trade. Like Jimmy Butler will come here. But you get Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kaminga and we get a six round pick in 2026.

[Dan]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Mike]

But then this team gets. Yeah, it's. I was. I've just been using it as a negotiation.

[Jake]

A game that I think will be on. On list is Black Myth Wukong that we didn't talk about.

[Dan]

I, I still want to play that.

[Jake]

I, I like it a lot.

[Dan]

I do need to play it.

[Jake]

But I felt off pretty hard because one of the chapters I think is just paced, just terrible.

[Dan]

Oh really?

[Jake]

But like, I think it's a. It's A very well made game. It's just.

[Mike]

I don't know, I think Rise of.

[Jake]

Ronin will be top places. No, shut up, Mike.

[Mike]

Why am I coughing?

[Mary]

We are so proud of this list. And this is our fifth game of the year, fifth annual discussion. And like, I'm so proud to do these with you and I'm so glad that Fire Escape exists. So thank you guys for watching and supporting what we do. We would not be here if it wasn't for you watching and listening and supporting us. Like, we literally would not do this. It's really because of you that we get to chat and yell at each other and. And make fun of each other as much as we do.

[Mike]

So if this is your first time and you're not a patron, we appreciate everybody, but the patrons really are the ones that like, make this live in person thing happen. We fly from every corner of the country to be here.

[Mary]

We use the patron money and we save it up for the end of the year so that we can be together.

[Mike]

So if you're not a patron. Yeah, go to firescapecast.com you can sign up right now. You don't have to be a video tier person, but there's also an ad free tier and also just like a tip jar.

[Mary]

This list is your fault.

[Mike]

Yeah. This is if anybody yourself. You funded us.

[Dan]

Cool. Judge Jake. Thank you for not abusing your power.

[Mike]

You wielded it responsibly, used it so fleetingly. Can you do one more double decker?

[Dan]

Send us out with a double decker.

[Mike]

Send us out.

[Jake]

That's it. I double decked it. What do you want me to say?

[Mary]

Merry Christmas.

[Jake]

Close this out. Merry Christmas.

[Dan]

Merry Christmas, everyone.

[Mike]

Merry Christmas.

[Jake]

Merry Christmas. There's the corner cam. We're talking to that.

[Mike]

See ya.

[Dan]

Bye, everyone. Thank you.

[Mary]

Oh, wait. This is how the young people do it.

[Dan]

Wait, what?

[Mike]

Oh, the harsh.

[Dan]

How does that work?

[Mary]

So you use your middle finger as the top part and you use your pointer finger as the corner.

[Dan]

I'm doing like a double.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Okay. Oh.

[Mary]

So your middle finger is the point.

[Dan]

Okay.

[Mary]

And your pointer fingers are the. Are the corner.

[Jake]

This is so great for audio.

[Dan]

This is.

[Jake]

This is.

[Mary]

We should just do it.

[Dan]

Yeah, we. We should. We should raid.