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- [00:14]
A
Hello and welcome to a very special episode of into the Aether. It's a low key video game podcast. My name is Brendan Bigley.
- [00:21]
B
I'm Stephen Hilger.
- [00:22]
A
This is our game of the year spectacular for 2025. 2025?
- [00:28]
B
Hell yeah.
- [00:28]
A
This is our eighth one of these.
- [00:30]
B
Oh, my God. Yeah. I know I should be excited, lean with excitement, but time certainly flies by.
- [00:37]
A
It's amazing. We're closing in on a decade.
- [00:39]
B
I would just say we're usually joined by our beloved producer, AJ they sadly couldn't join us this year, but they're here in spirit. Thank you in advance for editing this 12 hour episode. I'm sure.
- [00:48]
A
I hope I did a good job setting up the microphones.
- [00:50]
B
Yes. We miss you. We love you. Just want to say that real quick before we get into it.
- [00:54]
A
Yeah, but this is. Yeah, this is the first one we've done by ourselves, I guess since.
- [00:58]
B
Since 2020, which I think was just us because that was. Although that's also kind of a blur, but in isolation.
- [01:05]
A
Yeah.
- [01:05]
B
Yeah.
- [01:06]
A
Well, I'm glad that you're here. Thank you for having me in front of me. It's always fun to record.
- [01:10]
B
We weathered the storm of NJ Public Transit to get here.
- [01:14]
A
Yeah. And yesterday for some reason it was like hot and rainy, which is so weird. Midwinter, Midwinter, tropical storm.
- [01:21]
B
But yeah.
- [01:22]
A
Do you want to talk about what this podcast is? I think, I think a fun tradition that we have is trying to re explain what into the Aether is. Because this is worth mentioning, like usually one of our two biggest episodes of the year. Usually. And it's a place where I think a lot of people come on board with into the Aether.
- [01:38]
B
Yeah.
- [01:38]
A
So it's worth explaining again what the show is to people who are maybe joining us for the first time. First of all, thank you for being here.
- [01:45]
B
Thank you for joining me. It's a little bit like how Breaking Bad, the popularity ballooned in season five. This is just the Breaking Bad finale every year. But thank you for joining us. Yeah. So into the Aether, pretty simple structure. We bill ourselves as a low key video game podcast. What that means is that we're not beholden to new releases. So every week Brendan and I will bring to the show games we're enjoying. That could mean what's come out that week. That could also mean what's on the PlayStation Vita. More on that in a bit. I think a lot of shows tend to go either fully new releases or fully retro. And there's value to both of those approaches. But I think for us that flexibility has allowed us to kind of follow our interests more. And the other thing about our show is that we tend to only bring up games if we're really enjoying them. And that can vary wildly. It doesn't mean that there isn't criticism happening, but sometimes it will be like, I really like this game, but X, Y and Z. Or it might be like this game's my new personality. I'm sorry, Forgive me. So I think it's fun, especially going back to older games, kind of reevaluating games that maybe were in the thick of certain opinions of the time and maybe should be re evaluated. So that's what you can expect. Every week on Wednesday is Brendan and myself bringing up games that we're playing that we like every so often. It used to be monthly where an now closer to quarterly. We'll do what we call a bonus episode. That's usually about one game or series. We have a lot of those. Those are available for everybody. I think my favorite. Do you have a favorite just to pitch people who are new. A bonus of ours?
- [03:22]
A
Yeah. Honestly, I think the one that always comes to mind for me or the two that come to mind for me are Ocarina and Majora's Mask ones.
- [03:28]
B
Oh yeah, those are good because those
- [03:30]
A
were really the first times I got to experience those games in their entirety and do a lot of research about them. And that was really. That was. That was an eye opening experience.
- [03:37]
B
Yeah, I would say. I think Ocarina is one of my favorites we've done. I also think the Chrono Trigger episode, I mean, those are two of the most beloved games of all times. It certainly helps, but I think I like when an episode is like one of us getting to experience it for the first time. But at this point I think we have like over 40 something bonuses.
- [03:57]
A
Yeah, we do. Yeah.
- [03:58]
B
We also do every. Since 2021, every summer we'll do a season premiere when the show started. If you've been with us since 2018. First of all, thank you for sticking around. I hope you've enjoyed it. And we used to do E3 because I just felt like that was where the show began. Let's talk about E3.
- [04:15]
A
Yeah. Our very first episode is technically about E3.
- [04:19]
B
Yeah.
- [04:19]
A
The first episode we ever released was about Octopath Traveler.
- [04:22]
B
But the three tests. Yes.
- [04:24]
A
The first episode that we recorded was just a recap of E3. So that kind of became the tradition for a couple of years. Was just recording E3. And obviously E3 went and died like
- [04:32]
B
promptly like the minute we started the show. Because it was. Yeah, I guess the Last one was 2019.
- [04:36]
A
They leaked everyone's Social Security numbers and then went away forever.
- [04:39]
B
So.
- [04:40]
A
So we stopped doing that and then we started doing basically year long retrospectives on specific consoles. So we started in secret with the Game Boy advance, where in the background, while doing the show on a weekly basis, we were also playing, I think somewhere in the realm of like 80 to 100 games for the Game Boy Advance. And then we did a big episode where we just talked about all of our favorite Game Boy advance games. Ye kind of in the style of a Game of the Year episode. Those episodes have kind of evolved over the years, but we've done one about the Game Boy advance, the Nintendo DS for patrons. We did a 3DS one as well. We did one for the PSP most recently and then also the Dreamcast and the Gamecube in there. So if you're interested in any of those consoles, we have Megalith episodes about all of them.
- [05:19]
B
I also think doing those episodes has taught me so much. Like, I feel like.
- [05:24]
A
Me too.
- [05:24]
B
That's kind of the value of them. I mean, my favorite console episodes we've done are ones that I haven't played. The Dreamcast was a console I had always been interested in but never had growing up.
- [05:33]
A
Yeah.
- [05:34]
B
And it's cool to go into that library with just like no nostalgia.
- [05:38]
A
Right.
- [05:38]
B
You know, and it's like, oh, I'm now nostalgic for a 20 year old game I'm playing for the first time. It's a fun feeling. Yeah. I would say of those, the Dreamcast is my favorite one we've done. But yeah, we just did the psp. And on this very episode we'll be announcing what we're doing next. Although we'll have more info on this later. But we are also in the process of preparing for a Vita episode for patrons. More on that in a bit.
- [06:00]
A
We could just talk about it now because we're already talking about it.
- [06:03]
B
Yeah. Why say no to the moment?
- [06:05]
A
Rip the band aid off. So we've been working towards a goal on the Patreon for the past couple years technically, but really past couple months publicly. And we hit it recently. Which means that we are now prepping to do kind of like our three DS episode for patrons. Back when we did the Nintendo DS retrospective. We're doing one for the PlayStation Vita right now. I think the target right now is March for that one. Thankfully, this is one where I Have done a lot of the prep over years and years because I own a Vita and I have, and I still play it all the time. But I'm very excited to see how you feel about the PlayStation. Yeah.
- [06:38]
B
These episodes, I mean, we play a lot of games for them. It takes a lot of work, but it's also inherently a bird's eye view. Like, we're only two people. I think the thing with those episodes I always want to avoid is it becoming man versus food core. Like, I don't want it to be like, I was underwater for five years. Here's what I, you know, like. Yeah, there's a version of it that's that I think at a certain point it's like, here's. You know, we explored the part of the library that interested us the most.
- [07:01]
A
Yeah.
- [07:01]
B
And like, here's the takeaway.
- [07:03]
A
Yeah. We've been like, polling you, the listener, and asking like, what games are ones that we should really prioritize for this. Because, you know, even though I've played a lot of Vita games, there are still a lot that I haven't played. So I've been enjoying kind of debating console to also.
- [07:16]
B
Like, there's a gray area of what even counts as a Vita game because there's so much crossover. Like, there are PS3 and 4 games that also came out on Vita.
- [07:25]
A
Right. And then there's Sony introduced cross buy. So if you bought it for one console, you got it for all of them.
- [07:30]
B
Yeah. And then there's like, sometimes there are specific versions for Vita. There's also like, that was like the beginning of. You've compared the Vita to the Steam deck with like, the amount of. I mean, obviously, you know, Steam deck has Steam, but like the amount of indie games present on the Vita.
- [07:45]
A
Yeah.
- [07:46]
B
And how like also comparing it to the first switch, where it's like you have this rich library of indie games that are getting on the console.
- [07:53]
A
Yeah. I think if it wasn't for that, the Vita would have died much sooner than it did.
- [07:56]
B
Yeah. It kind of had like this very kind of niche following.
- [08:00]
A
Yeah.
- [08:00]
B
If you were interested in indie games in that, like, early 2000 and tens era.
- [08:04]
A
Yeah.
- [08:05]
B
As well as like, very specific genres. And that's why I think the Vita still has like a strong following, you know.
- [08:11]
A
Yeah.
- [08:12]
B
It's interesting to think of like the Dreamcast and the Vita as these, like, objective commercial failures, but people still think about them and talk about them.
- [08:19]
A
Yeah.
- [08:20]
B
In a way that I think some better performing consoles just sort of came and went, you know, but. Yeah, I'm very excited for that episode that will be available. So our patreon just to go through it, we have three tiers. There's the dollar tier which is called the amuse bouche. That basically gets you everything made up until that 3Ds episode Brendan mentioned. So if you want to get a taste of what's there, that actually is a decent amount of what's available.
- [08:43]
A
There's a lot of stuff there.
- [08:43]
B
Yeah. So if you want to give it a shot, you can do it for a dollar. Also worth noting, we have. It was requested by a lot of people, so we added it recently. We have an option for annual payment. So if you'd rather pay annually and save, I think it's 20%, you can do so. But the dollar tier gets you everything up until 3Ds. The $5 tier is called the full aether. That gets you everything. Everything we have. So that includes. We have a weekly show called Any Percent, which is the OPP this episode where we give ourselves exactly 10 minutes to address a listener submitted topic, prompt or question. Sometimes we also ask each other questions. It's a very fun. It's like the short form improv version of this show.
- [09:18]
A
Yeah.
- [09:19]
B
That comes out every week. We also have a monthly show called the port aether Shore leave society where we give ourselves as long as we want to talk about whatever we want. It's basically us taking off and sometimes we talk about games, sometimes we talk about just life or whatever. Whatever interests us in that moment. That tends to come at the end of the month. In addition to all of that, we also have an airtable which is like an online database. If you're new to the show and you're like, oh my God, there's eight years of episodes and hundreds of games. I just want to find the game that I want to hear about. The airtable is your best friend.
- [09:49]
A
When did they talk about Okami?
- [09:51]
B
Yeah. 2018 and 2019.
- [09:53]
A
Yeah.
- [09:54]
B
And our episode titles are nonsense. So there's no like easy way to find it. That wasn't by design, I promise you. But the airtable has all the information that's manually updated by both of us.
- [10:03]
A
Yeah.
- [10:03]
B
What else is on the $5 tier? Oh, that's also the ad free tier. The way we do ads on this show is in our MER store. Into the castlet. Online you can buy a personal message which we call tidings where you can wish like happy birthday or send a nice message to a friend or family or loved one. And we also have commercial ad reads where if you want to plug like your podcast, the book you wrote, your band, whatever, you can buy a commercial ad read and we'll read it on the show. The $5 tier has a RSS feed without the commercial ads. They're not on every episode. But if you just want to have one feed that will always not have those ad reads, that's available on the $5 tier.
- [10:40]
A
That's why it's called the Full Aether. You just get everything.
- [10:42]
B
You get everything. And then the $10 tier, which I think is eternal gratitude, is just if you really want to support us, that is an option there as well. The only unique perk of that tier, there are two, is you can optionally have your name in the special thanks in the episode notes. If you don't want that, you can send us a DM on Patreon and we'll take it off and you get a merch store discount code. Otherwise it's the same thing as the $5 tier and that's the Patreon. I just want to say hu, we were not expecting to get to the $6,000 goal this early and earlier this year. If you've been with us, we tried briefly to join a network and no disrespect to that network, but it didn't really work for us and we shifted back to being fully independent and that's what we want to keep doing. We want to keep making this show on our own terms and in the way we have been. So all the support you can offer there really helps us keep doing that. So just a huge thanks to everyone who has the ability to support us. We're very excited to shower you with a lot of Vita Convers.
- [11:42]
A
Yeah, I think. Well, yeah, first of all, just to echo what you're saying, thank you so much everybody for allowing us to. I mean, that goal, as we've said many times, was put in place as a way for us to just be able to do this like part time. Initially, that was the first thought was like, oh, we could both quit our jobs and do this part time. But yeah, thank you so much for allowing us to do that. It's really exhilarating. So I think maybe it's also worth talking about this year, just 2025 in general, because it's been a bizarre year for video games. I think I've been thinking about this a lot, just looking back at all the games that I've played and how I feel about the year, and I think we'll know more when we talk about our actual top 10 lists, about how we feel about these games. But the bird's eye view I have about it in a big way is like this is the year that AAA totally flopped. This is the year where AAA basically didn't really bring it. There are some games here and there that I think obviously were hits and a lot of people really liked. But for the most part and at least listening to other people's game of the year episodes, looking at other publications lists, most of the the top tens that exist out there have either like 1, 2 or 0 triple A games which I think is fascinating and I don't think it's because it's a year where it was like slow for aaa. Like that's usually when, when you're not seeing AAA in, in a lot of top 10 lists generally speaking it's because like oh, there's a lot of stuff but it's kind of being held until the next year or whatever. We experienced that a lot especially like post quarantine. Like there were a lot of games sure that had release dates that just kept getting pushed. So it's like oh okay, this is like Indy's big year to shine. But yeah, this was like really big year to shine I think because a lot of these games that came out like ended up underperforming. It's also like it was the I think worst year for console sales since 1997 during the holiday season. Like it's just been a fascinating year I think for these really huge institutions in the industry and it's allowed a lot of new teams and creators to shine which has been really, that's been really exciting I think because we've both played a shitload of games this year.
- [13:42]
B
Yeah, they only played 80. 80 games that came out in 2025. I don't even want to know the number for year.
- [13:49]
A
Oh my God. Yeah, yeah, I think like my Steam recap I think said I played like 140 games or something.
- [13:55]
B
My Steam recap was just a mirror and like that song from Rec Room for a Dream played
- [14:02]
A
zoomed in on your eye. Yes. Yeah, I'm Cameron and Ferris Bueller staring at Sunday in the Park. Yeah, I just have been so surprised looking at my own list and seeing where a lot of AAA stuff landed. And don't, you know, don't take this wrong way. There are some great AAA games out there and there's something I'm going to talk about today but there were a lot that I was two that ended up like not really meeting the Mark, which I think is. Is interesting.
- [14:24]
B
Yeah. I think to zoom out like as far away as possible. I feel like Covid, we're still living in the aftermath of how that basically like.
- [14:33]
A
Yeah.
- [14:33]
B
Was an asteroid for every industry. Like we mentioned how when we started the show III existed and then it, I mean E3 ending was for different reasons.
- [14:42]
A
Yeah.
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B
But like, it does also kind of feel like 2018 and 2019 were the last years for the game industry as we previously knew it. You know, in terms of the games coming, I feel like 2018 is a year where it's like there's the big indie hits like Celeste and Hollow Knight, but you also have Marvel's Spider Man, God of war, Red Dead 2, chapter one of Deltarune. That was a good year. But I feel like, yeah, usually years in the past where there are two to three AAA games that are all kind of vying for that top spot and then there's the one or two indie games that kind of broke through to the mainstream.
- [15:22]
A
Right.
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B
That's not necessarily better. That's just sort of where the conversation landed based on how the industry was doing. I think.
- [15:29]
A
Yeah.
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B
And I think what's happening now is kind of hard to fully track, especially in the present of it, because I feel like you usually need years of hindsight to even understand what on earth is happening. But I just think the video game industry kind of like the horrific amount of layoffs and just the unchecked greed of a lot of these companies has really hollowed out these names that used to carry confidence.
- [15:54]
A
Totally.
- [15:55]
B
And it's like, you know, it should be a no brainer to these executives that like, it turns out if you like hemorrhage talent, then you're not making the games you once did.
- [16:04]
A
Yeah.
- [16:05]
B
You know, and you're telling me I
- [16:06]
A
can't make a billion dollar game with no institutional knowledge.
- [16:10]
B
And that's not to say there aren't still extremely talented people at these companies. But like, I just think the industry clearly does not care about or at least like, you know, a lot of the, like the Ubisofts and the EAs of the world. Like, yeah, it's profit above all else. And I think this is kind of the end result of that. That said, I think the slightly more optimistic angle of this with indie games getting a larger spotlight on them is partially because of the absence of AAA dominating the way it once did. I would also argue though, I think there is a genuine interest. There's a renewed interest in. I think indie games used to be thought of in a separate category. And I think now they're kind of. Not only are they in the spotlight because AAA is falling behind, but I just think that the games are genuinely more excited about. Happen to be indie games.
- [17:01]
A
Yeah, yeah. The ones that tend to pop off like on Twitch and on YouTube and stuff are mostly indie games. And you know, this is the year where the idea of friend slop was introduced I think like partially in the same vein as the walking simulator as like a derogatory term for this genre which just like walking simulator has kind of been reclaimed and then put up on a pedestal where people are like walking. Like some people's favorite games are walking simulators, Death stranding and a lot like death stranding. And a lot of people's favorite games now are also friend slap games.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And specifically I think the friend slop genre as seeing that rise has been really fun because I mean at the core of it, what that really means is like people just want to hang out, right?
- [17:43]
B
Yeah. And I think it's. We're almost, you know, we're exiting the era of like Bethesda drops a trailer for Elder Scrolls 6 in 2018. And like I think for a time, you know, in E3 of the past the marketing cycle was like gigantic company drops a gigantic trailer that just shows a name, the crowd goes wild. And it's like greatly anticipated for at least four years. And I think we are all just spent maybe just being a 35 year old man. But I feel like there are very few things that I want to care enough to wait that long for. And I almost purposely disconnect myself because that many years of hype can't do the game any favors. And now I think we're in this reverse of like rather than there being this gigantic game with a gigantic name behind it being dropped years before it even comes out, we're now in this point where the games that pop off are the ones that kind of just go viral, you know, on TikTok in that way. And like I think there's a danger to that too. I'm reminded we had Brandon Sheffield from Necrosoft on recently and we were just talking about like what it looks like to release an indie game right now. Especially, you know, I mean indie games are also like, they take a long time to make. So you know, this idea of waiting years for a game affects indie games as well. I mean as evidenced by games games we will be talking about today. But Brandon was saying like, you know, there used to be kind of like sort of Established, like, there was enough, like, concrete steps you could take to make sure your game achieved a certain level of success. There was a set number of publications. There were a set number of things you could do as a developer to make sure your game was seen. And now it's way more. I think he said something to the degree of, like, you need your game to go viral and you need to be prepared to support virality. And, like.
- [19:29]
A
Yes.
- [19:30]
B
I don't. Obviously that's not. Not like, applies to every situation. But I do think that, like, when we think about the indie games that popped off this year, I feel like only one or two were, like, already kind of established names beforehand.
- [19:43]
A
Yeah.
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B
You know.
- [19:43]
A
Yeah. And even. Even, like one game that didn't make my top 10, but I did enjoy a lot was. Was Mega Bonk.
- [19:50]
B
Yeah.
- [19:51]
A
Which is like a 3D vampire survivors kind of clone in some. I mean, I think even they would admit it's a clone, but, like, that was a game that popped off. Obviously it popped off because it's Vampire Survivors. It's very silly and I think is using a lot of Internet lingo as a way to kind of appeal to a certain demographic on the Internet. It just feels like a game that was thrown in a pressure cooker specifically built to pop off online. And then, of course it did. And then it was revealed that it was a YouTuber who made that game. Whose entire oeuvre is that kind of game. They just. It was almost like a pseudonym that they released the game under. So I do think that that is, in some ways, like, that game, to me is an encapsulation of what you're talking about. There's actually a great episode or a great series of episodes that our friend Chris Plant did over on his show post games that was talking about kind of the industry of indie game releases on the Internet. And he talked to one consultant who talks to a lot of video game developers about their plans for launching games and how to get seen. Because the numbers of games are being released on Steam on a monthly basis are basically so heavily weighted towards your game never being discovered that people need help getting their stuff seen. And the way that this guy put it, whose name I'm forgetting. I'm so sorry, the way this guy put it essentially was like, I can tell from the idea on a piece of paper if the game is going to take off. That's how early you need to be thinking about the virality of it. Which is what Brandon was getting at on the episode with us is like you kind of will already know how much appeal this is going to have to pop off in that kind of way. But how do you nurture the audience that you're building? Building it for, I think, is the
- [21:28]
B
kind of bigger question. It's also important. I mean, the sort of point we landed at in that conversation with him was like, the only thing you can really bank on is your own authenticity, you know? And especially right now in the age of, like, AI bullshit, it's like, it's more important than ever to just, like, yes, really, like, triumphantly be yourself, you know? And I think that's kind of what keeps me optimistic, is, like, I think on some level, like, even without fully realizing it, that's, like, what most audiences crave, you know, as much as it's easy to say, like, oh, well, like, there was that stat that, like, most people play one or two games a year, and, like, a lot of people stick to what they know, and that's fine.
- [22:01]
A
Did you see the average on the Steam recap?
- [22:03]
B
What was the average?
- [22:04]
A
4.
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B
4 games a year.
- [22:05]
A
4 games a year that people are playing.
- [22:06]
B
So we're in, like, the freak zone where I'm. Oh, my God, like, the point.001%.
- [22:13]
A
It's. What a. What an unbelievable number that was to come face to face with. I literally couldn't believe it. Also, I think it was the percentage of people who played new games this year. Year was somewhere in the realm of, like, 16 to 20%.
- [22:29]
B
Yeah.
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A
So most people were playing games that came out in 20, 24 or earlier.
- [22:33]
B
Yeah. And I get it to an extent. I mean, when I think about, you know, my time, I mean, before this show, I was. I was definitely still playing. I was probably still in the top percent of, like, yeah, too many games played. But I think that, you know, for this show, obviously, it's a little bit different, but, like, it's. The point I was trying to make was like, I do think people are, like, looking for new ideas. You can't just, like, repackage the same stuff forever. Going back to your point of, like, even the Triple A games this year that were good, I think, you know, the best ones, I think were inherently, like, here's the thing you liked last time in a new package, you know, and there's a place for that. I'm not saying that that's, like, a horrible move, but I think, like, right now it feels like most Triple A games, with some glowing exceptions, most are like, here's the same thing again, eight years later. Or, sorry, the whole company is Gone, right?
- [23:22]
A
Yeah, totally.
- [23:23]
B
And we can't do anything for the time being.
- [23:25]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, I think all the time about Visions of Mana, that beautiful, beautiful, beautiful game being released, and that entire studio being terrible before it came out.
- [23:35]
B
It was crazy. Yeah.
- [23:36]
A
Unreal. That happened. Yeah, it happened so often. It's bizarre. But then you have kind of like the best case scenario of like, my game of the year, I guess it was, was that only last year Resident Evil 4 remake.
- [23:46]
B
That was two years ago.
- [23:47]
A
Two years ago. Which, like, that is a company going back to the well and being like, hey, you liked this. Here it is again. But at least they took like huge, huge, huge, huge swings with it.
- [23:57]
B
Capcom is pretty good at remakes over. I mean, even dating back to the GameCube remake of the first game, which, like, that is in many ways my favorite Resident Evil game. But yeah, that's the dream scenario, which we said many times where it's like, not only is that game different enough that it's a new experience, but it also exists kind of along. Like, you can get the original game anywhere, right? It's in stark contrast to the Silent Hill 2 remake, which is good, but, like, you can't get Silent Hill 2 anywhere legally.
- [24:23]
A
You can only play this remake.
- [24:24]
B
Yeah, exactly. Or the like, infamously terrible remaster of 2 and 3, which, like, people dislike so much. They. They don't even say it exists.
- [24:32]
A
Right.
- [24:33]
B
Like, it's as if it's like that was Lost in Silent Hill. Only I can see it. Everyone's like, what are you looking at? There's no, there's no pyramid head there.
- [24:40]
A
Yeah, but, yeah, just like, on the whole, I have found 2025 to be a kind of bizarre year for video games. I mean, obviously there's a lot of negative stuff to hone in on if we want, but at the end of the day, just like looking at my own Game of the Year list and thinking, like, what kind of year did I have with video games? It's been really interesting how much I think I have branched outside the. The spaces that I normally would have. I think even going as far as, like, I haven't turned on my PS5 in months at this point. Like, I. I have unplugged it and it's in storage with my Xbox. Like, both of those consoles are just kind of like tucked away and I just play on PC now. Like, that's a huge shift.
- [25:20]
B
You know what's funny? I feel like when we do these console episodes, usually they're like, designated to a specific Time and then I move on. Yeah, I really did just play the PSP all year. Like, that was like, it just felt so. It's like all the handheld consoles tend to be like a very seamless. You know, I think Dreamcast and gamecube required a little bit more like, okay, here I go into the GameCube Dreamcast zone. But PSP, I'm just like, I love this thing. I love taking it with me on trips and. Yeah. I mean, I think what I learned from this show too is you and I check out enough new stuff that basically every year has too many great games that you'll never have time for. There's always amazing stuff coming out. But I think you're right that this year, I think is just like, it seems like. Like there's a shift happening in real time.
- [26:08]
A
Yes.
- [26:08]
B
And I think in some ways it could be for the better. Like, honestly, on paper, I like the idea of the industry being indie centric, but it almost feels like it's happening by accident.
- [26:18]
A
Yeah.
- [26:18]
B
You know, and it feels, it feels a little bit akin to like, for example, like you and I, I'm very grateful for the Patreon and it's amazing to see so many like, great writers and, and talented people in various industries leave whatever toxic work environment they're in and start their own thing.
- [26:37]
A
Yeah.
- [26:37]
B
But it also all depends. Like, most of it is crowdfunded and it's like, well, that there's power to that and there's power to like being truly independent and user supported. It also feels like it has to exist in the absence of an industry that once had normal jobs. People could just have.
- [26:53]
A
Yes.
- [26:53]
B
You know, like it's. The infrastructure is so gone that we basically have to all find other ways to pay ourselves.
- [27:00]
A
Yeah.
- [27:01]
B
And you know, again, we're very lucky in that regard. Like, you know, we're doing pretty well. But I worry about, you know, people who are new to the space because you kind of already have to have a following to make this work.
- [27:13]
A
Yeah.
- [27:13]
B
And that's a whole other conversation. But that's. I think it's all connected and that's kind of how I see, like, while I'm excited for indie games to get more attention, it also feels like, okay, but it's kind of because the mainstream industry is collapsing.
- [27:26]
A
Yeah. Right.
- [27:26]
B
Even though there's like incredible ideas coming out from, from, you know, both sides.
- [27:30]
A
Yeah. I really do see video games constantly as just like one facet of a larger trend happening everywhere. Right. Like, you know, you could, I think you could view Video games as an industry. Like, if this is the thing that you're the most interested in, like, whatever is happening here is always happening everywhere else in every other industry, for better or for worse. Yeah. And I was even. I was talking to a high school senior class earlier this week. A friend of mine who's a high school teacher had me and my wife come in to talk to them. They're doing, like, a podcasting class.
- [28:02]
B
Oh, cool.
- [28:03]
A
And I was just. I was pretty upfront with them, was like, you know, if you are in this to, like, make a living, that's not how it works. Really. You know, it's. It's very, very, very difficult to do that. And it takes a long, long, long time to do that. And specifically, if you are going, you know, our route being independent like this, like, it really does take a long time. Like, for us, it took eight years to reach this point.
- [28:25]
B
Yeah. And we're still not, like, fully there, but we're at a point where we can. We have, like, sort of a takeoff ramp.
- [28:31]
A
Yes, exactly. Totally. Yeah. You know, and even on Persia's End, and Persia comes from producing things like Radio Lab, and she produced all the Marvel podcasts, and she's worked professionally in the field for a long time. The amount of people that she's come across who are like, I'm just gonna make a Joe Rogan out of nowhere. It's like, that doesn't work. It doesn't work that way. Podcasts are like, please don't. Yeah, please don't. Yeah. Everyone just is looking for, like, a C list celebrity they can try and turn into a Joe Rogan, and it, like, it will never, ever, ever work. But point being, like, podcasts are hard to monetize, and it's hard to, like, be an independent creator doing your own thing, and then you don't just, like, copy paste what you know about that into any other industry anywhere else on the planet. And you basically have, like, a sense of what's going on everywhere.
- [29:14]
B
Yeah, it's.
- [29:15]
A
It's not that dissimilar. You know, what's happening to video games media is happening to every kind of media simultaneously. Which also, I think makes it interesting that despite there being fewer people to cover these kinds of indie games, they are still popping off in such a huge way.
- [29:29]
B
Yeah.
- [29:30]
A
Just because, like, other independent creators around the Internet are trying to lift these things up, which. Which I think is, you know, if you're to look for a positive through all of this, I do think that's part of it, you know, it's like inherently community is the driving force that is, like, keeping everything together.
- [29:46]
B
Yeah. I think there's a human desire to just like, have connection in that way and to like, lift up something you think is really cool.
- [29:54]
A
Yeah.
- [29:55]
B
It's like the dumbest example, but I'm like, you know, in the early days of YouTube, before anyone thought of that being a possible career, the fact that some of the earliest videos are just people being like, here's how to do this. This.
- [30:07]
A
Yeah.
- [30:07]
B
Like, I'm just going to put up like, yeah. Guides on YouTube. Like, I just. That's very. Like, there's a. There's a video from my 2014 called how to Tie a Tie that's like this very low, like, poorly filmed.
- [30:19]
A
I know the one.
- [30:19]
B
This guy. Okay. So here's how to do a Wednesday,
- [30:21]
A
like 150 million views.
- [30:23]
B
All the comments were like, bro, you taught me how to tie a tie. Like, you know, at my first communion, like, at my wedding, like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [30:30]
A
This. This was for my bar mitzvah. And now I'm getting married.
- [30:32]
B
Yes, exactly. I love it.
- [30:33]
A
I'm back here on this video.
- [30:34]
B
Yeah, it is. There's just like a whim of like. All right, I'm just gonna tell you how to tie a tie.
- [30:38]
A
I'm not kidding, Steven. I did watch that video for my wedding.
- [30:40]
B
Yeah. I. I wear a tie infrequently enough that I usually have to go back to that video.
- [30:45]
A
Yeah. I never.
- [30:45]
B
Embarrassing.
- [30:46]
A
Yeah.
- [30:46]
B
The one time in my life where I for one year went to an all boys Catholic school where we had to wear ties.
- [30:52]
A
Yeah.
- [30:52]
B
And my neighbor's dad tied my tie.
- [30:56]
A
Yeah.
- [30:56]
B
And the whole year I just like, kept it tied and looped it around my head.
- [31:01]
A
Amazing.
- [31:01]
B
And then promptly transferred.
- [31:03]
A
That's so funny.
- [31:04]
B
That's so funny. I had a tie tied once. Befriended Satanist and then transfer.
- [31:08]
A
I love that so much.
- [31:10]
B
Yeah. That was my time there.
- [31:12]
A
I will. I will mark 2025 as the year I finally did learn how to tie a tie. Because I got married, needed to look up that YouTube video. I was like, I should probably learn how to do this for real.
- [31:23]
B
Yeah.
- [31:23]
A
And then I went to four weddings in one month a couple of months ago.
- [31:26]
B
So that was like. Yeah. Thai trial.
- [31:28]
A
That was. Yeah. That was like the Mad Max version of learning how to tie a tie.
- [31:30]
B
That's.
- [31:31]
A
By the way, thank you so much. Yeah. Four weddings in one month is pretty crazy.
- [31:34]
B
Yeah. That's nice. That's a nice. That's a nice sentiment for 2025. I think.
- [31:38]
A
Yeah, I think so too.
- [31:38]
B
Weird year. Four weddings.
- [31:40]
A
Yeah, four weddings and then also my own.
- [31:42]
B
Hell yeah.
- [31:43]
A
Yeah. What a fascinating thing. I spent a lot of time in retro video game stores this year, specifically in Tokyo.
- [31:49]
B
Thank you for your gift, by the way. Not only is there a Vita within arm's reach, kind of to arm's reach, but Brendan got me every Final fantasy port on PS1, like 1 through 6 and Chrono Trigger.
- [32:02]
A
And Chrono Trigger. Famous. I know the worst way to play Chrono Trigger.
- [32:05]
B
That's the worst part of it. But it's still cool to play have. And I actually. I mean, the only version of 1 and 2 I have are the Pixel remasters on my phone.
- [32:12]
A
Yeah.
- [32:13]
B
Like, I want to play the PS1 versions of those. I still have a pretty well working PS2. So nice that those. Those bad boys are going in there.
- [32:21]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The thing, the thing I said before off mic, which I'll say again is the worst version of Chrono Trigger is better than like 80% of video games.
- [32:29]
B
It's only. Yeah. I think most people would say Super Nintendo, Steam or the DS port.
- [32:35]
A
Yeah. I've become a DS guy. Whenever I've gone back to that game, it's always the DS vers best version.
- [32:41]
B
I think the big point of contention with that is the localization.
- [32:45]
A
Yeah.
- [32:45]
B
Like in the Super Nintendo script, Frog has like a Shakespearean accent. I kind of like him. I like him with it, but I don't mind him without it because I think it makes him more of a real character and that's, I think, closer to the original script. I think the DS localization is truer to the Japanese script.
- [33:01]
A
Yeah. It does feel like such a Yuji Hori thing to do, though, to give him like the Shakespearean accent. That does make a lot of sense in retrospect.
- [33:08]
B
Frog is the Dragon Quest piece of of it. Like Robo is the Final Fantasy and Frog is the Dragon Quest.
- [33:14]
A
If you want to hear like five more hours of exactly that, go listen
- [33:18]
B
to our Chrono Trigger episode.
- [33:19]
A
Yeah, yeah. It's a really good one. Should we take a break and then come back and do our first segment, which is going to be Games of the Other Year.
- [33:27]
B
I think we're already kind of subconsciously veering to that, talking about Chrono Trigger. So, yeah, why don't we take a break and we'll come back with Games of the Other years.
- [33:35]
A
Go Toys, baby.
- [33:36]
B
See you then.
- [33:36]
A
Bye bye. Hey, everybody. AJ here, producer of this very show.
- [33:43]
B
My year in Gaming this year was
- [33:47]
A
a really interesting one for me. I played maybe more games this year than I ever have in any given year of my whole life, which has been wild. I kept track of them way better than I have in the past. Shout out to backlogged.com and I played some of more than 1, more than 3 I think even of the best games I've ever played my whole life this year and most of which didn't even come out this year. But if you want to hear me talk more about those, there will be a bonus episode of Dot Zip on the member feed where I'll be going through my my whole Game of the Year list and my a few of my games of the other years and you can check that out@kofi.com if you would like to hear that. I do plan on doing something publicly later but anyway my Game of the Year this year I played a lot of games. A lot of games about work and systems and AI. But the game that stuck out to me the most this year is just a game about playing games and what that means and how much you should carry that with you and what you can do to appreciate these things. The game I'm talking about is Straight Strange Jigsaws developed and published by Phleb who a few years ago did 20 small mazes. Strange Jigsaws is an unbelievable video game that I could talk about for 25
- [35:12]
B
minutes and I just, I simply cannot.
- [35:14]
A
So all I will say is the way that Strange Jigsaws ends had me staring slack jawed at my television controller, hanging down in my clamp hands just staring at the final screen. It is an absolutely unbelievable game about games and it is so much fun to play and there is just so so so so much in there that I think really just blew my mind. So that's like I said, if you want to hear me talk more about this you can go over to the Zip member feed and then like I said eventually there will be something public as well. Just not sure the timing of any of that but Strange Jigsaws my Game of the year 2025. Holy shit.
- [35:59]
B
It's cheap, it's fun, it's short.
- [36:01]
A
You should play it. Thank you so much. Godspeed. Happy Game of the Year. Hello and welcome back to the Game of the Year episode we introduced a couple of years ago. The idea of Games of the other year or Go toys a little bit as a bit but honestly I think the thing about about it that has made it a mainstay is that it really does fit the format of the show. Because we're playing so much stuff from previous years, it kind of does make sense to highlight some of the stuff that really stood out to us. So Go Toys can kind of be anything as long as they didn't come out in 2025.
- [36:35]
B
Your favorite games you played this year that didn't come out this year.
- [36:38]
A
Yes.
- [36:38]
B
Which I think it really resonated with the audience. And even some people even said, like, I would prefer if Goatee was just this, which, like, I wouldn't go that far, But I do think including them has been really fun.
- [36:50]
A
Yeah.
- [36:50]
B
And also I have a YouTube channel called Memory Card Manuscript where I do, like, video essays. And what I've started doing to kind of give Go Toys a little bit more of a spotlight is like, I'll make a video about my favorite five favorite goatees and five favorite Go toys. If you want to hear more about my five favorite here. That exists, or at least will exist. I don't know when it's coming out.
- [37:10]
A
Yeah.
- [37:11]
B
But, yeah, I love doing these with you.
- [37:13]
A
Is that. Is that the number? Did you settle on five Go Toys?
- [37:17]
B
I did last year. Yeah. So I kind of flip between, like, a number five for go to the number five for goatee, and then I build up to.
- [37:24]
A
I have eight this year. I have eight go toys.
- [37:26]
B
Oh, I have 10. But I only do five. Yeah, I have 10. Yeah. All right.
- [37:30]
A
I have. I have. I have eight. I was thinking, like, there are a lot of other games I could have added to this list, but there were just, like, eight. That really spoke to me. So should we start going through them?
- [37:40]
B
Yeah, why don't you go first?
- [37:41]
A
All right. I'm just going to go in alphabetical order.
- [37:44]
B
No order.
- [37:45]
A
Yeah.
- [37:45]
B
Yeah.
- [37:45]
A
Well, alphabetical, Right?
- [37:47]
B
Yes. Excuse me.
- [37:49]
A
Yeah, I didn't rank them this year.
- [37:50]
B
Yeah.
- [37:51]
A
But I'll just. I'll go through them. The first one that I have is 1000 times resist.
- [37:56]
B
Oh, cool.
- [37:56]
A
This is a game that came out. When was that? That was last year.
- [38:01]
B
Yeah.
- [38:02]
A
And I liked it. I liked what I had played of it, but I didn't finish it. And this year I started playing a lot of games with Persia. We would just, like, sit on the couch and just play through a game over the course of, like, a week or two. And we played a thousand times Resist. That was the first game we sat down to play together and found it, like, basically to be a religious experience, the way a lot of other people have talked about it. Actually, our editor, AJ Has a show called Zip. Where they did, I think a five hour episode about a thousand times Resist.
- [38:29]
B
Yeah, it's called talking about a thousand times this for five hours.
- [38:32]
A
Yeah. Which was really good. Really cathartic. Listen, after finishing this game, they also
- [38:37]
B
talked about it on last year's Gote. If you want to hear that, that was their number one.
- [38:41]
A
It's an incredible game. It's an unbelievable debut from that studio. I'm excited for whatever they have have coming next. You know, I'm sure they're gonna make another game and I mean, it just seems like they are like immediately autours in the space. So a thousand times Resist. Incredible, incredible video game. I think it probably would have made my top 10 last year had I finished it. But you can't play everything, folks.
- [39:02]
B
You're in luck because it was in our collective top five.
- [39:05]
A
It was in our top five.
- [39:06]
B
So, yeah, it all worked out.
- [39:07]
A
Do you want to do one or should I keep going?
- [39:09]
B
Oh, I like. I like flipping. That's fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. I have 10. I guess I'll end up going, maybe I'll do two at a time first.
- [39:16]
A
Yeah, let's just. Let's just fuck around with it.
- [39:18]
B
Yeah, I love this. Okay, so mine, I did order it for the purposes of that video. I mentioned where I have a top five, but the order here is a little bit looser than it is for. Goody. I'll kick it off with Valkyria Chronicles 4.
- [39:31]
A
Nice.
- [39:32]
B
Yeah, I started to play this earlier this year. Valkyria Chronicles is one of those series that I feel like I want to be a bigger deal than it is. And it feels like kind of doom. Doomed by the PSP in some ways, or not even doomed. But it has a weird release order where the first Valkyria Chronicles game came out on the psp. It was kind of a cult hit as Most. Excuse me, PS3. Most PS3 games kind of had to be cult hits early on. And then the second game, because the PSP was selling better at the time, came out on PSP.
- [40:03]
A
Yeah.
- [40:04]
B
And then the third game wasn't ever localized in the US and of course that's everyone's favorite. And then four came out like years later. This came out in 2018. 2018 on consoles. It was the series returning to home console. And I think in many ways it's narratively, I think it's a little bit of a mixed bag. I was really into it in the first half. What I'm learning about this series, for those who don't know, it's Kind of like Sega's Fire Emblem in that it is a tactics RPG, but it's set in a sort of World War II inspired setting. They're Europa Wars.
- [40:34]
A
Europa Wars.
- [40:35]
B
It's not subtle, but what I'm learning is that I really like when the series is focused on the horrors of war and, like, the lives these characters could be leading if they didn't have to do this fight. And how, like, most soldiers are just like normal people thrust into this.
- [40:51]
A
Right.
- [40:52]
B
What I like less is the, like, magical, like, stuff. I feel like that feels more out of place, you know, like, you know, I like the idea of introducing magic to this kind of world. Like this, like, more grounded, realistic setting. But that's where I just think it gets very, like, silly and kind of deflates the stakes for me. There's a very obvious nuclear analogy happening in Valkyrie Chronicles 4, but it's through the point of view of the magical Valkyries kind of thing. It works less for me than the more grounded piece of it.
- [41:25]
A
Yeah, it's like that. You ever read that Ted Chiang short story about the people who angels are real and whenever they come down to earth, they come with a weather nightmare, basically. So it'll be the biggest tornado anyone's ever seen or the biggest lightning strike. And there are people who are tornado chasers, but they are chasing amazing angels because if they can touch them, they get a wish granted.
- [41:46]
B
I love that it's similar to this.
- [41:47]
A
Yeah. Sorry. I just love Ted Chang, folks. Big fan.
- [41:51]
B
But yeah, it's. Otherwise, it's a great game. I mean, I like the characters. It's fun. The tone, they're good at balancing tone. I think they do a good job, like, not making light of war, but also like, you know, when you move a tank around, there's like the comic book sound effects. And four just feels like the most polished version of this series, at least gameplay playwise. And I'm kind of surprised they haven't followed it up for this long. I really hope this isn't the end because I feel like they finally kind of got it right in some ways. Or at least they found a good balance. They perfected certain systems, but there's clearly a lot of room for improvement still. And I think this is the kind of game that is less niche than it was even seven years ago.
- [42:31]
A
Yeah, absolutely.
- [42:32]
B
So I really hope it comes back. Valkyrie of Chronicles 4. I'll do one more real quick. Theater rhythm. Final bar line.
- [42:37]
A
Hell yeah. Oh, my God.
- [42:39]
B
So good.
- [42:39]
A
Amazing video game.
- [42:40]
B
Really good rhythm game. Like a tour of Final Fantasy's musical past.
- [42:45]
A
Yeah.
- [42:46]
B
But also, like, a surprisingly good, like, rpg.
- [42:48]
A
Yeah. I couldn't get over how fun it was to organize the party around and, like, figure out who I'm going to take into what song. What a cool video game that is.
- [42:57]
B
Yeah, that was two years ago, but, yeah, that was one of my favorites this year. Go back to you now.
- [43:02]
A
Yeah. All right. The next one, in alphabetical order, is Idle Slayer, which is a game that I never actually brought to the show. I couldn't really figure out a time that it would make sense to bring this one to the show, but go toys. It had to make because I did play this game every day for almost the entire year. I actually just stopped playing it, like, a month and a half ago. But Idol Slayer is an idle game that came out in 2020, and it has this, like, pixel art style where there's, like, a character that you're playing as and they're just running from left to right at all times. And there are enemies to show up on screen, and if they hit an enemy, they just, like, slash them with a sword. And you're constantly just, like, slashing enemies and click, collecting all this stuff that could have been the whole game, and that's whatever. And you just, like, upgrade yourself and, you know, whatever. The thing about Idol Slayer that made it made the list, and the reason I played it for more than, like, a month at all is about two weeks into playing the game, they introduced a narrative all of a sudden, which was the thing that, like, blew my mind. Like, it's. It starts off, like, very simple. It's just like you're running from left to right. You're collecting these gems, you're buying upgrades that are like, oh, the enemy enemy will drop more souls when you kill them. And you can use those souls to upgrade. Whatever, whatever. But they started introducing this thing where every once in a while you would go through a portal, and that portal would take you to a totally new place. So it's like you start off in, like, Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone kind of kind of space. But then you're in, like, like a haunted cave, and then you're in, like, a lava level. So, like, that was fun by itself. I was like, oh, I'm interested in how many places you can go to. And I remember there was this one day I was playing and I went through a portal, and usually they're, like, labeled where you go next. And it just had question marks over it. And I went through and my charact ran into this, like, big cathedral. And there was a hooded figure who did, like a whole monologue and told me all of this stuff that was, like, exposition about the game. And I was so blown away by it that it, like, locked me in for another six months of playing because I was so confused. And it was like every couple weeks of playing, they would introduce new mechanics. So suddenly I didn't just have a sword, but I had, like a bow and arrow, and I could jump into the air and shoot things with a bow and arrow. And suddenly they included the ability to, like, hire minions that I could send out to other place tasks to do all this other stuff. And every once in a while, I would end up back in the cathedral and talking to that hooded figure once again and learning more about the game. And I've just never seen a game have so much faith in its audience that it would be like, two weeks in, we're going to drop the shoe that tells you that there's a story to this thing.
- [45:28]
B
You're not.
- [45:28]
A
You're not just doing it as a thing to fuck around with while you're in the bathroom, but this is, like actually going a step further than that, I think. Thought that was, like one of the most interesting moments I've had all year playing a video game. And I could not do this episode without shouting it out because I literally yelled out loud when it happened. I was like, it was such a huge reveal. That's Idol Slayer. It's available on iOS and Android and also on PC. I believe I have since stopped playing it. I got to a point where it was like the numbers were so big that I needed to hit as with all of these games. And I. I never put any money into these games also. So I was like, I think I will never be able to accomplish what they want me to without spending money. And if I do, like, it'll probably take like a year of real time. So I ended up putting it down. But what an interesting couple months of playing this game. It was.
- [46:14]
B
I love that it's Idol Slayer.
- [46:16]
A
Idol Slayer.
- [46:17]
B
The next one, I'm sure, may be on your list too. We'll see Kingdom Hearts. Birth by Sleep.
- [46:21]
A
Oh, shit. It's not. But it should be. Yeah, yeah. I'm adding. I'm adding it retroactively.
- [46:26]
B
Well, you have eight. You have room for two more?
- [46:28]
A
I know I have room for two more. They could both be Kingdom Hearts. It could be Birth by Sleep and three, because I finished three.
- [46:33]
B
I put final mix here, but it doesn't really matter. Well, I Guess it kind of does if you want that secret, secret ending. But Birth by Sleep, another PSP game we both really loved and we did
- [46:43]
A
a bonus episode about it.
- [46:44]
B
Yeah, definitely one of my favorite Kingdom Hearts games. I would say it's probably. I haven't played two in a very long time, but it's this or two.
- [46:50]
A
Yeah.
- [46:51]
B
I think I like this more than the first one.
- [46:53]
A
I definitely do. Yeah.
- [46:54]
B
And yeah, it's really interesting. I've heard it pitched as what if the prequels were good? Which I think is a fun way to think of it. And I also think it's weirdly one of the more grounded and self contained Kingdom Hearts games.
- [47:07]
A
Yeah.
- [47:08]
B
I think eventually the series gets very like kind of inward facing and like self referential to the point where you may not know what's happening.
- [47:14]
A
That's one of the great ironies of Kingdom Hearts, I think, is that the mainline games, the more they get into this like meta Kingdom Hearts layer, the kind of more they feel like they're jumping the shark. But the two games that go as deep as possible into it, 358 over two days and birth by Sleep are both exceptional.
- [47:29]
B
Yeah.
- [47:30]
A
Like the ones that are only about that are great and the ones that try to blend it all together other
- [47:34]
B
are like, you know why? I think both those games are more about like character and mood than plot even.
- [47:40]
A
Yeah.
- [47:41]
B
You know, and I think that's where the series shines the most is when it's sort of just like this kind of like weird sense of sadness with, you know, Goofy running around.
- [47:49]
A
Right.
- [47:49]
B
Yeah.
- [47:49]
A
Teenage melancholy simulator. Yeah.
- [47:51]
B
I also think it's interesting like you kind of miss Donald and Goofy in this game because a lot of it is like it's three different characters. Terra, Aqua and Ventus.
- [47:59]
A
Yeah.
- [47:59]
B
You can play as them in any order. And then they come together and all the characters are largely venturing off by themselves and like really cool like spacesuits that turn into mechs basically like turn into me. It's really the only time Kingdom Hearts has felt cool to me. Like I feel like there's always a degree of like slight embarrassment I have like with this series of. No, this is just genuinely very cool.
- [48:21]
A
Yeah.
- [48:22]
B
If you haven't played Birth by Sleep, like if you're someone who like, you know, I think there are. I'm proud of this. On that Birth by Sleep bonus. I made a quiz of like how well do you know Kingdom Hearts? That just to kind of get a sense of how deep are you into this? Because I think there are largely Two kinds of Kingdom Hearts fans. There's the. Oh Yeah, I played 1 and 2 when I grew up. I like it.
- [48:44]
A
Right. I skipped all of the middle stuff and then I played three and I put it down.
- [48:47]
B
Yeah. And then there are the people that know the difference between a keyblade and the keyblade.
- [48:51]
A
Right.
- [48:52]
B
And just the many, many versions of Xehanort that exist.
- [48:55]
A
Yeah.
- [48:57]
B
But I think Birth by Sleep, if you only did play one and two and you want another one if you're wanting to re enter that world. I do think because Birthday Sleep is just a prequel to the first game and is largely self contained. Otherwise it is kind of fun to see there's an inherent connection between Ventus and Sora, Terra and Riku, and then Kairi and Aqua. But that's not really the bulk of it. The bulk of it is just what they are going through. And yeah, it's a great time. You have also a Trek in Star Wars Clash with Leonard Nimoy as Xehanort and Mark Hamill as the Keyblade Master. I forgot his name.
- [49:35]
A
Yeah. Oh, I just forgot it also.
- [49:37]
B
He's very cool. One of the hardest bosses in the game.
- [49:39]
A
I think one of the things about Birth by Sleep that really stands out to me and is one of the reasons it's so successful is because of the way they're able to tie the themes of the movie worlds you're visiting with the stories of the characters, which is a thing that not every Kingdom Hearts game is great at. And I think is remarkable in Birth by Sleep specifically because they've managed to pull that off with all three of the characters who are playable. Like, all three playable characters each have a different lens through which they're viewing the stories of the worlds that you're visiting. So when you go to Peter Pan or Cinderella or whatever, Terra, Ventus and Aqua all have different frames of reference for how that story appeals to them. So it's fascinating to go play another Kingdom Hearts game like Dream Drop Distance, for example, where you go visit all these worlds and there's kind of a total disconnect between why Sora would connect to the story versus having literally then pull it off for three characters simultaneously multiple times throughout the runtime. That's like such a difficult thing to have done, but they really nail it. And nothing in the world is better than the moment where the three evil sisters in Cinderella explode because a heartless who is the pumpkin carriage just blows up.
- [50:55]
B
And Aqua's like, well, that's what you get.
- [50:58]
A
Aqua literally pulls a Cool guys don't look at explosions moment and just out turns, turns around and walks away.
- [51:04]
B
That's how a lot of her stories end. Like you said, there's always like a, like a Scrubs narration.
- [51:08]
A
Yes.
- [51:08]
B
And her like putting on sunglasses and walking away.
- [51:11]
A
I. I will never, ever, ever forget for as long as I live. Like, one of the last things I did while I worked at the Walt Disney Company was I called my whole team into a conference room and showed them that scene. I was like, this is why you all need to play Kingdom Hearts. All right, I'm quitting. See you later.
- [51:25]
B
You pulled an Aqua you laughed at. Put sunglasses on. That's great.
- [51:30]
A
That's precisely so good. What a great video game.
- [51:32]
B
I'll do one more real quick. Hit me with my Y's VIII Lacrimosa of Dana.
- [51:36]
A
Oh hell yeah.
- [51:37]
B
I got into Y's this year. I don't know why it took me so long. Bump slash, bum slash. Well, not in this one, but yes, bump slash in a lot of them. This was recommended to me as like the best Ys game to start with. Speaking of self contained, like, every east game is its own little journey with. With Adol and Dogi. And eight is a shipwreck. So like you are on a ship, it crashes. You end up on this weird island full of dinosaurs and you have to invest in a temporary life there as you go out and do the traditional kind of Y's action combat. It's really fun. This is one I want to see through. I got about halfway through it this year, but like this endeared me to the whole franchise. And this is also like, now that I've played a bunch of them, like there's a few on the PSP, I would say Ys VIII or Oathen Felghana would be the ones to start with, depending on Oathen.
- [52:27]
A
Felana is so cool.
- [52:28]
B
Yeah, it's so I think Y's VIII departs a little bit from convention in that it's a longer game and it's also party based. The two big ones on PSP are Y's VII and Oathen Felghana. And Oathen Felghana I think is itself a remake of three. So Oath of Elgana is kind of like a reimagining of the older style of Y's game. And then 8 is a continuation of what 7 started, which 7 introduced party members and kind of in some ways a more traditional ensemble based RPG with a more active story is your oh
- [53:03]
A
my God, my lizard. I Have a lizard, a leopard gecko named Zuko, who is usually nocturnal but is very active right now.
- [53:12]
B
He really likes East. He's out. He's like. I actually like East 9, where they turn into monsters.
- [53:16]
A
He's being significantly more active at 12 noon than he usually is.
- [53:22]
B
He's a beautiful creature. You should. We should share photos of him.
- [53:25]
A
Yeah. I mean, he's, you know, he's a leopard gecko. He's like bright yellow. He's got spots. He looks like a little dreamworks character. He always has a big smile on his face.
- [53:31]
B
Look like a DreamWorks character.
- [53:33]
A
I'm obsessed. Yeah.
- [53:34]
B
Usually it's like, there's usually a point towards the end of the goody episode where like, he's out and we're excited.
- [53:38]
A
Yeah.
- [53:39]
B
It's like usually the second win we need, but he's just like, out.
- [53:41]
A
Yeah.
- [53:42]
B
He's literally putting his butt and he's like putting his butt to the glass and looking at me. What do you want?
- [53:49]
A
What do you want?
- [53:50]
B
What is your favorite?
- [53:51]
A
East is your favorite zuko.
- [53:52]
B
I like 1 and 2 on Steam. That's Issei.
- [53:56]
A
That's East.
- [53:56]
B
Yeah.
- [53:57]
A
Good. All right, next one for me, Metroid Fusion.
- [54:00]
B
Woohoo. Wow.
- [54:01]
A
It's a game I replayed this year. We did our Game Boy advance episode in 2021. That was one of the more surprising games for me with Fusion. You and I loved Fusion.
- [54:13]
B
Yes.
- [54:13]
A
And growing up being a fan of Metroid, I was not a Fusion fan. I thought it was fun, but I was a big Zero Mission head. I loved Zero Mission. I still love Zero Mission. I think that game is great. But something about playing that game again in 2020, 2021. I was just like, really blown away by the ambition of Fusion. And I think learning more about the history really taught me a lot about so special. You can really feel it while you play it. So when I was in Japan this year and I knew when I came back, I wanted to launch the Wavelengths Patreon with like a big public review of something cool. I was playing a bunch of games, like, while I was on the subway, kind of zooming around and Fusion really stuck out to me. And yeah, I remember spending a lot of time playing Fusion on the subway in Tokyo, but also spending a lot of time, like in a notes app, just like taking notes and like, figuring out like, different reads of the game. And I'm very proud of that review. I'm very happy with it. It's one that I think in a lot of ways feels like kind of like A planting a flag in the ground of my own critical lens, I guess.
- [55:16]
B
Sure.
- [55:17]
A
And specifically, I think playing Fusion again this year, I actually played it twice this year. I played it once on the psp, which was funny.
- [55:24]
B
That's hilarious.
- [55:25]
A
Because while we were prepping for the PSP episode, I was very specific about wanting to explore the PSP in the ways that people were when it was in its prime. And a lot of people were using it like an emulator device also. So I was like, okay, I'll try playing Fusion. So I played it through probably like January, February, and then I played it again over the summer and playing it again over the summer and then looking back into the history of it and learning, you know, this is the team that made Wario Land four on the Game Boy advance before getting picked up by the producer of Metroid to become the team making the next Metroid game. And how they spent a lot of time playing old Metroid games. And specifically, like, being a team that is not known for making Metroid, making a follow up to Super Metroid, of all things things, is like as big a swing as you could probably have internally at a company as big as Nintendo at the time. And what's kind of funny is it launched alongside Metroid prime on the GameCube.
- [56:18]
B
Wow.
- [56:18]
A
Which is like one of the greatest weeks in gaming maybe ever. Definitely.
- [56:23]
B
At least for Metroid. Yeah.
- [56:24]
A
But what I. What I find so interesting about it is like both of them are kind of a break glass in case of emergency for the other one. Like, if people didn't like prime, at least there was Fusion. And if people didn't like Fusion, at least there was Prime. And it turns out both of them were exceptional.
- [56:35]
B
Yeah. Because prime is like in some ways a 3D recreation of super Metroid.
- [56:40]
A
Yes.
- [56:41]
B
Like, it feels more like Super Metroid than Fusion does. Fusion feels weirdly like Metroid's like Majora's Mask, where it's like this is a more leaning more into the horror and leaning more into narrative as well.
- [56:51]
A
Yeah. And I don't want to give away my review too much, but like, that's kind of the crux of it is, you know, SA X as the villain that's running around after you being like literally the Super Metroid power armor that's been inhabited by a ghost. Yes. Says a lot about how that team felt while making that game, I think.
- [57:09]
B
Yeah.
- [57:10]
A
And I find that to be like a really interesting thing to do. And it's just another example of using horror to explore real life feelings that's another.
- [57:19]
B
I think you and I are both attracted to sequels that are scared of the predecessor. Like Chrono Cross, Majora and Fusion are all games that are, like, can't get over in interesting ways. The game that came before.
- [57:31]
A
Right. But that's Metroid Fusion. I love it a lot. Yeah, it's good.
- [57:35]
B
Hell, yeah. Next up for me is Scarlet Hollow. This is a hard one to talk about.
- [57:38]
A
Also on my list.
- [57:39]
B
Yeah. This is by Black Tabby Games. It's an incredible visual novel. Like, I don't even know how to describe it. Like horror, mystery. It's just a really great series. I'm only one episode in and it's an ongoing thing. I think there's going to be a few new chapters this coming year. So I kind of want to wait till it's over for me to, like, properly place it. But I was so blown away by the first chapter that I had to include it in some way.
- [58:02]
A
So I think there's three chapters out now, or maybe four. I don't even remember. But my experience with this game was like a whirlwind. I picked this game up and then I played through the whole thing in basically one sitting. And then we recorded an episode about it. And then you played it. And then I played through the entire thing again. Or everything that's available again. At least. The next chapter, I think, is coming out in February, which is cool. I'm excited to see more of it. The places that this game goes is wild. It's by the team that made Slay the Princess. It's worth mentioning Black Tabby, Dreamball's Love as well. That was kind of, weirdly enough, a game that they made on the side of Scroll Scarlet Hollow as a way to raise funding for Scarlet Hollow and then got so big that it kind of became its own thing. I'm really hoping that a lot of that audience turns their attention back to Scarlet Hollow when it's done.
- [58:46]
B
Yeah. Because they're cut from a similar cloth. I think that Scarlet Hollow is more invested in. Like, there are extended sequences that it just feels like either a comedy or a drama.
- [58:58]
A
Yeah.
- [58:58]
B
At least in the first chapter. Like, the horror is really in very key moments. But they go. I mean, Sight of the Princess does this too. I mean, that whole game is about, like, how much do you trust the narrator or the princess.
- [59:09]
A
Yeah.
- [59:10]
B
This team is really good at, like, the ebbing and flowing of this feeling of security.
- [59:14]
A
Yes.
- [59:15]
B
Like, when you feel like, oh, there actually is this strong sense of home in Scarlet Hollow and there are People that I really like. I mean, one of the things I love about this game is that you choose like your two traits when you start a save file. So, like, it could be like, oh, I'm really strong, I'm really smart. Or like, in my case, I am. I can talk to animals.
- [59:32]
A
Yeah.
- [59:33]
B
And I kind of am sensitive to the paranormal. I kind of have a connection to the beyond. So what that means for me is that not only can I talk to animals, which means that when I talk to Gretchen the pug. Right. Or French bulldog, there's a dog in the game that otherwise would just be a normal dog. But if you can talk to her, she's a full character. She's amazing. And she was the star of my playthrough. And that's the thing about this game is no matter what you choose, it feels like, oh, well, this is obviously something everyone sees. Right. Because everyone at this point knows in choice driven narratives, there's kind of the key story that everyone gets. And then maybe there's a couple scenes that are different. It is baffling how untrue that is for Scarlet Hollow where it's like I had a whole scene in the diner that felt like required setup.
- [60:22]
A
That is totally optional.
- [60:25]
B
And it's just so you can see why they really needed to raise funding for this because it's so ambitious. Ambitious and adaptable.
- [60:31]
A
What's so funny is that scene in the diner. You meet the. That one waiter who works there.
- [60:36]
B
Yeah.
- [60:36]
A
And they are like a main character of the game in future chapters. And in both of my playthroughs we never hung out and they never joined me.
- [60:46]
B
Wow.
- [60:46]
A
And I, I didn't know that they were like a main, kind of like recruitable party member, quote unquote, until after I had played through a second time. And then I started like hanging out on like forums where people were talking about this game and I started to see screenshots of like them in pivotal, pivotal scenes where they should have been. But I didn't read them for reasons I still don't know fully. Which is like, unreal. It's unreal. Yeah. I think that's the thing about it. It's just the ambition is really off the charts. The amount of decisions that you can make that ripple out in ways that you can't even imagine until two chapters later is wild. I'm excited for you to play more of it because you're going to love the rest of it.
- [61:22]
B
This is also maybe the only game that is starting as a go toy and could end up becoming Game of the Year. When it's done, I think it's. It has a great shot at it when it ends. I think similar to the Breaking Bad finale. I think when this is done, I think it's gonna be huge. And I already feel like this is just. You play a game, like, 1,000 times. Resist or 13 sentinels. And there have been games over the past few years that feel so. Landmarks of narrative design. And this is right up there with them. It's not number one.
- [61:52]
A
Yeah. You and I were actually. We were just getting bagels before we started recording. We were talking about Fields of Mystery also. That's another one. Those ones where it's, like, when that enters 1.0 and comes out on, like, the Switch. Oh, my God.
- [62:04]
B
Cozy games beware.
- [62:05]
A
Next up for me, one of, I guess two PSP games that I put on my list. Puzzle Quest Challenge of the Warlords.
- [62:13]
B
Hell, yeah. Also go. It came out this year again.
- [62:17]
A
It came out this year again as also up for Game of the Year. For those of you who want to count it. Puzzle Quest Challenge of the Warlords. Just an unbelievable video game, one that I keep going back to. I still keep my PSP around. It's up on the shelf right next to Steven right now. It's in a place where I can grab it when I leave the house. And that is usually the game that I am playing on the subway if I'm playing the PSP on the subway. If you see me on the New York subway with a psp, it's probably Puzzle Question.
- [62:45]
B
I'll fight rats with blue Gems.
- [62:46]
A
Yeah, just. Just an amazing conceit, which is like a Match three game that is also a fantasy rpg. There's a lot of customization in terms of the class that you can choose. And I feel like you could replay that game, like, 1 million times if you wanted to. Just check it out. It's really good. It's also, like, maybe the best that franchise has ever been because it really went downhill after this.
- [63:06]
B
Yeah. I think the most recent port is pretty good. I like the artwork better.
- [63:10]
A
The port is good. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just talking. Any other Puzzle Quest game that came out between this one and that port is like a monetization nightmare.
- [63:18]
B
Yeah. It's funny. I feel like with both the DS and the psp, you can see what games would eventually fit the mold of, like, early mobile games and where the dollar signs are.
- [63:28]
A
Yes, exactly.
- [63:29]
B
And it's like. Yeah, that's the kind of game where it's like, oh, yeah, it's Stamina meter here, this, this and that. You know, it's all that stuff.
- [63:34]
A
Yeah.
- [63:35]
B
That's Puzzle Quest.
- [63:36]
A
That's Puzzle Quest.
- [63:37]
B
I got another. This might be one of your other PSP games, Jeanne d'. Arc.
- [63:42]
A
It's not.
- [63:42]
B
Wow.
- [63:43]
A
But it should be.
- [63:43]
B
Now you have 10.
- [63:44]
A
Now I have 10. I'll put it on the list.
- [63:46]
B
Jeanne d' Arc is a level 5 tactics RPG for the PSP that is about Joan of Arc. It's a. It's a fantastical retelling of the. It's one of those games that you can't believe actually exists. It's not that strange when you consider that most RPGs, or at least many RPGs are some kind of retelling of myth or folklore or the distant past.
- [64:10]
A
Right.
- [64:11]
B
I think Joan of Arc has kind of an Arthurian flair to her legend, even though she was obviously a real person. This game's just awesome. It's a really solid tactics game, especially being alongside games like FF Tactics and Tactics Ogre. I think it stands up alongside them and in some ways is the one I'm more likely to play because it's just way easier to play. It's not an easier game as much as it's made to be bite sized in the way a lot of PSP games are. Even just setting a turn limit is a life changing decision. Okay. You actually have to beat this round in 12 turns. And the signature mechanic is. One of the best decisions in the game is that Joan herself has a Sailor Moon transformation where she becomes the chosen Knight of God. Some other characters also get those powerful, powerful bracelets. And whenever you kill an enemy, you get to go again. And strategizing all your army units to set up a situation where J' Onn can just sweep through an entire level is so gratifying. It's the best feeling. It's kind of like in Fire Emblem Awakening, there was a skill called Galeforce that was a similar thing where if you kill the enemy, you get to go again. But I think they limited it to once. J' Onne has no limit. She's a saint for a reason.
- [65:26]
A
No limit.
- [65:28]
B
If you haven't played this and you like tactics RPGs, you should definitely check this out.
- [65:32]
A
Yeah, it's one of the all timers. Yeah, man. Level five is just like consistently one of the best developers out there.
- [65:38]
B
Yeah.
- [65:39]
A
Even. Even this year, some of the stuff that they released, like Fantasy Light, the new Inazuma 11, people seem to love.
- [65:44]
B
I'm like, I'm curious about that.
- [65:45]
A
I really want to check it out. I think maybe if it's on sale at some point, I'll pick it up. But I mean, I just love, like, almost everything they're doing. Always.
- [65:52]
B
Yeah. Their early history is interesting too, because it's like their first game was Dark Cloud. It was like Dark cloud, Dark Cloud 2, Dragon Quest 8, and then this.
- [66:01]
A
Yeah.
- [66:02]
B
Rogue Galaxy was somewhat Galaxy. Man, I really wanted to love Real Galaxy and I just cannot. But it's still. It's still like an interesting, cool game.
- [66:10]
A
Yeah.
- [66:10]
B
At least, like, visually and an atmosphere, like, I don't hate it. I just think it's not as good as you want it to be.
- [66:15]
A
That first boss fight. This is not a joke. That first boss fight where they give you the gun that shoots platforms.
- [66:19]
B
Yeah.
- [66:20]
A
And then it becomes a platforming challenge more than it is like an actual boss fight is like as clear an indication that the game is going to go south as possible, I think. But then right after that, you get on the spaceship and it's like, oh, my God, here's all your friends. Yeah.
- [66:33]
B
And then it does, like in Spectacle, it's alongside, like, FF10. Like, it does. It doesn't have quite the same, like, realistic graphics, but, like, it is really, like, transportive. And that's the thing about Level five is like, all their games have this sense of like, being like Spirited Away somewhere else.
- [66:49]
A
Right.
- [66:49]
B
And Jeanne d'. Arc. I mean, the story is. It's inherently familiar because it's her story, but, like, they add some fun fantasy to it and there's some interesting twists towards the end of the game. It's darker than level 5. Tends to get darker. God damn it. Moving on, moving on, moving on, moving on.
- [67:07]
A
Next one on my list, Ridge Racer 2. Also on mine for the PSP.
- [67:11]
B
The next sense.
- [67:12]
A
Holy.
- [67:14]
B
It's good.
- [67:15]
A
So Ridge Racer 2 is basically just like an expansion for the titular Ridge Racer on. On the psp. It. It just adds like, extra tracks and a couple quality of life things and a couple extra cars and stuff. Some extra songs. Ridge Racer 2 did not come out in the US is worth noting. It came out in Europe and Japan. But if you're going to play a Ridge Racer on the psp, like, this is definitively the one that you should probably pick up just because there's more of it. So there's no reason to not play this one. It is pound for pound, I think one of the best racing games I've ever played, if not the best. It's up there for me. With, I don't know, some early Gran Turismos and Mario Kart 8 and stuff. It's also like Mario Kart 8, a game that I am basically playing subconsciously at this point. I barely think while I'm playing Ridge Racer 2 anymore. You just asked me to grab footage of this game for you for a video that you're working on, and I ended up playing it for like an hour. And I think I gave you like 20 minutes of footage. But, like, I just, like, I couldn't stop playing it. It's just one of those games. It's just one of those games. I just think it's fantastic. And I think the thing about it that really sticks with me, first of all, the soundtrack's amazing, but second of all, it feels to me like the maybe alongside Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is like the game that I look at and point people to when I'm talking about what the PSP looking like aesthetically, like what the 3D aesthetic on the PSP was like. Like Ridge Racer being this, like, kind of one step up from PS1, but clearly not PS2 is so cool and so unique and the kind of thing that we're now seeing indie developers start to, like, model their games after, which is really fun.
- [68:45]
B
Yeah, it's sort of like. I remember the first time I saw this sort of era of 3D directly emulated was a short hike, which feels more DS. It feels a kind of wild world looking. But I love the. I don't know why the first one comes to mind is like, fuzzy. It's like fuzzy 3D, but in a way that's appealing. Yeah, fuzzy can be off unappealing.
- [69:04]
A
Yeah. But even like when you came here and we did the PSP episode, I had my PlayStation TV plugged into the TV like everyone and like most people do. And the PlayStation TV, for those of you who don't know, is a PlayStation Vita that is like a home console that Sony made and then I think immediately released, realized was a mistake and they put it on sale for like $20.
- [69:26]
B
The PSP and the Vita into your TV?
- [69:29]
A
No, it is the PlayStation Vita.
- [69:30]
B
Oh.
- [69:31]
A
It's the hardware of the PlayStation Vita, but in a set top box.
- [69:33]
B
Oh, I didn't realize it was a desktop.
- [69:35]
A
It has like a flap for you to, like, put Vita games in it and stuff.
- [69:38]
B
Wow, that's amazing.
- [69:39]
A
Yes. But because it's a PlayStation Vita, you can also hack it the same way you can hack a Vita, which means that you can just get the PSP firmware on there. And then just be playing PSP games natively, which is pretty sick. So anyway, you guys can came over and we played Ridge racer on the TV. And even blown up on my 4K TV, Ridge Racer looked incredible. It still looks great.
- [69:57]
B
I did recently also get a PlayStation TV and I thought it was just a way to plug it in. So I'm very excited of the possibilities that now exist.
- [70:04]
A
You'll love it. Yeah. When did you get a PlayStation TV? You mentioned that and I was so baffled by it, I didn't even ask any questions.
- [70:09]
B
A few months ago. Purposely for video footage to record stuff for the YouTube channel.
- [70:14]
A
We gotta talk all about it. Because this was the era where Sony didn't want anyone capturing any footage from their stuff. So the PlayStation TV, you have to jump through like a billion hoops to capture footage from it is not easy at all. It's really annoying.
- [70:25]
B
I feel like this era of Sony is just the losing battle against piracy, like left and right. It's like the psp. Cause the whole thing with UMD was like that they were harder to pirate and was not the case.
- [70:36]
A
Yeah. Yeah. As it turned. Yeah. It was basically the dreamcastle.
- [70:38]
B
I'm not pirating anything. I'm just recording footage. Ease off.
- [70:42]
A
That's Ridge Racer too.
- [70:43]
B
Yeah, that's also on mine. I guess I'll go next. Metal Gear Solid, baby.
- [70:47]
A
I've heard of that one. That's pretty good. People like that one.
- [70:50]
B
It's. It's really good. I mean, I feel like this is one of those games where I'm like so late to it and so much has already been said about it. It feels like foolish to also be like. Yeah, like I too thought it was successful. Yeah, stealth. But it was really cool. I mean, I think going back to
- [71:06]
A
like that would be actually maybe the most interesting take on Metal Gear Solid these days. It's just to talk about it mechanically. Just be like, I like the stealth
- [71:12]
B
a lot because I think.
- [71:13]
A
I think don't mention story at all.
- [71:14]
B
Yeah, just the sort of movie like quality of it.
- [71:18]
A
Yeah.
- [71:19]
B
Especially on the PS1. So that's not like obviously like entering the realm of 3D was exciting and there are a lot of games with a lot of cutscenes. But like it isn't really until you get to PS2 where there's like this level of like, you know, cinema and sort of visual storytelling. But I mean, playing Ogre Solid, I feel like I felt a version of what you did playing like Ocarina of Time where like it is cool to play These games decades later that are like, such established classics and also feel a version of what everyone felt when they played it for the first time.
- [71:50]
A
Yeah.
- [71:50]
B
Metal Gear Solid is like. I've engaged in later Kojima games, so I kind of know his auteur thing. He likes breaking the fourth wall. He loves Kurt Russell. He loves all these things, and it's just a really exciting and simple game. I think my favorite Kojima games that I played are usually very mechanically simple, but there's maximalism in both the story and the ways you can navigate Gate. A simple thing.
- [72:16]
A
Yeah.
- [72:16]
B
I think Death Stranding is actually a great parallel here, where it's like you're just carrying shit from point A to point B, but you can really think about, what's your route there, how do you get there? In some cases, Metal Gear Solid is the same game, but it's a different flavor. It is the same idea. You have to get from here to there. How do you do it? And that can mean I take advantage of all the different cover I can take. I take out the guards before they all notice me. I throw an electricity, a grenade that just takes out cameras and then go into the room and put the cardboard box over myself, you know? Like, I love the possibility here and the fact that it's. I mean, I haven't finished it yet, but it is a short game. I'm like, in the sort of last third of it, and it's the kind of game I think I would want to replay once I finish. Yeah, I get why this is kind of like a ritual for people that love. Metal Gear Solid is like, you can go back to the first one and replay it anytime, and it will just feel like as fresh as it once did.
- [73:10]
A
That's Metal Gear Solid.
- [73:11]
B
Metal Gear Solid.
- [73:13]
A
Next for me is Voices. Voice of the Void. It's a game I played for our Screamin Stevie's Wild Ride Halloween segments this year. Yeah, Voice of the Void is a game that's technically in early access, or I think even alpha still, but is a game that asks you to run basically, like, a huge array of radar dishes aimed up at space and just be sitting there doing, like, an actual desk job of scanning space, finding signals, decrypting them, putting them into, like, big hard drives, and then shipping them off via drone to another research center so they can, like, decrypt it and look into it themselves. You're just, like, answering email. You're spending a lot of time walking around this base and the campus around the base, just kind of, like, cleaning things. Up driving your little ATV all over the place to like fix up a dish when it goes offline. But also is a horror game and it is a generative horror game which has like hundreds of things that can happen to you at any moment, moment. But they're doled out in a way where you never know what it will be or when it will happen. And I think most notably it takes about like a week or two of in game time for anything to really kick off, which is just enough time for you to like get used to how menial and how rote this job can be and you start to focus more on getting better at the job and kind of like min. Maxing your experience with the job itself. And then suddenly a pair of red eyes are looking at you through a window at 3 in the morning. Or suddenly some of the mannequins that are down in the storage have now shown up and are outside or, you know, they seem to be moving as long as a camera's not pointed at them. There's a lot of stuff like that that just starts happening. There's this one video that I watched I didn't experience, but there's this one video I watched online which I really loved, where there was a person who was playing and they were driving their ATV to like fix a downed radar dish and a red Toyota Corolla just drove by them and that all that happened just like a car drove by, didn't show up, didn't do anything else. Horrifying. It's a fascinating video game and it's such an interesting take on horror and one that I've never seen before. And I think a game that has an extremely clear idea of how it wants to accomplish its fear and pulls it off like perfectly. And I think the most fascinating thing about it is reading some of the updates over the years which have been like removed one way to scare you, added three more or like, like little things like this. Which just goes to show that not only are they constantly updating the game and moving closer and closer. I have a hunch that this is the kind of game that will never leave Alpha. It'll just kind of be like this forever. But it is a game that's in conversation with its audience and is very clearly like the developers are spending time in the forums and on the Itch IO page and reading feedback and finding new ways to shift the game to match people's or exceed or subvert people people's expectations. And that's very, very interesting. It's. It feels like an experimental game that is like fully complete and playable. It is also worth mentioning, exceedingly difficult to play. It is, like hard to wrap your head around when you first sit down to play it. Those of you who watched my stream of this game when I first started playing it, it's like two to three hours of me not understanding how to do the actual desk job, which is like. It is what it is.
- [76:38]
B
It's an acquired taste.
- [76:38]
A
It's an acquired taste. It's tough to do. There's a lot of buttons, a lot of. Of things you need to think about. It's a. It's a fascinating thing.
- [76:44]
B
That reminds me a bit. I mean, I think I mentioned this when it came up on the show, but it reminds me of alien isolation where like the tech on the ship is like, all kind of clunky.
- [76:53]
A
Yeah.
- [76:53]
B
So it's like, you know when you first start playing and you're like entering weird passwords and like having to wait for something to load, you're like, oh my God, I know I'm going to eventually be doing this when the xenomorph is like right behind me. Yeah, it's great.
- [77:04]
A
Yeah, that's Voices of the Void.
- [77:06]
B
Voice of the Void.
- [77:07]
A
Really cool game.
- [77:07]
B
Two more Go toys. Runner up for Gotoy ot, I guess. Game of the Year. Of the Year. Whatever it is. What are these acronyms? Trails in the Sky. Another PSP game. Basically. I feel like our PSP top five is the bulk of my list here. Yeah, totally big Trails fan. We've talked about it a lot, so I won't repeat myself too much. But Trails in the sky is the first of the Trails series. It also got a really good remake this year. I would probably point most people to the remake, but I'm really glad I finished the original because I was so fun far into it and I've been trying to see it through for years.
- [77:44]
A
Did you see the trailer for the second one?
- [77:45]
B
Yeah, it looks great.
- [77:46]
A
Very exciting.
- [77:47]
B
The second one is also like your treat for beating. One is two is two.
- [77:51]
A
Yeah, I've heard that a lot.
- [77:52]
B
It's sort of a golden sun scenario where they were meant to be one game. And it does feel like. I do think you can critique the slower pace in moments. I think overall that's kind of like the trail signature is the slower pace. It mostly pays off off. But I think what's really miraculous is just the slow burn into a higher stakes rpg because the bulk of this game is sort of just doing favors for friends and the fact that towards the End where I was in this underground space fighting robots with a party of six. I was like, what? Hold on, is this the same game? I describe it as like FF7 begins with Cloud jumping off the train. It's like, imagine if that's how the game ended.
- [78:36]
A
Yeah.
- [78:36]
B
That is how Trails in the sky is. It ends with that. And then two is the rest of FF7. But I'm about a third of the way into two. And it's awesome. I get why people say start with this. And it's like Yakuza, which. There's so much payoff for investing in these characters and in this setting.
- [78:58]
A
Trails of Sky.
- [78:59]
B
Really good.
- [78:59]
A
It's extremely good. Yeah, yeah. Believe it or not, I still haven't finished the first one.
- [79:04]
B
Ah, you'll get to it.
- [79:05]
A
I'll get there. Yeah. It's.
- [79:07]
B
I think for once we get a release date for part two's remake. You'll go from there. That's what I think will light a fire under you to finish it.
- [79:16]
A
It's downloaded on every device I own, so it'll happen. The last one for me, I think, is the last one for you, which is Yakuza 0.
- [79:23]
B
Woohoo. Yes, it is. Obviously.
- [79:25]
A
I mean, holy shit.
- [79:26]
B
Yeah.
- [79:28]
A
Yakuza 0 is just like an unbelievable video game. It's interesting because like, you know, we've had the argument many, many times about like, which one do you start with? Is it 0? Is it kiwami? Is it 7? Is it judgment? Is it.
- [79:41]
B
It's actually lost judgment somehow.
- [79:43]
A
Is it Ishin? Yeah. I don't know. There are all these questions.
- [79:46]
B
It's the new game from the original creator of the series that has Dragon. Yeah.
- [79:51]
A
But regardless, you know, I'm more of a Kiwami head, but I was glad to finally get to the end of Yakuza 00. And even though, you know, this is another one that we have a bonus episode about.
- [80:04]
B
It's one of our longest episodes.
- [80:05]
A
Yeah. Somehow that ended up being one of our longest episodes. It didn't feel long at all.
- [80:08]
B
Which is a testament to how fun it is to talk about.
- [80:11]
A
Yeah. And if you listen to that episode, you'll know that I have my gripes with the ending at least. But even with that, the experience of playing it is unmatched. I mean, the side stories in that thing are amazing. Playing as Majima is like just a dream the entire time. Even though he's like not the Majima, you know, from the other video games, he's still like just fun to be around and fun to play as. And his story, I think is fascinating. It's fun that Kiryu is basically the same as he always was.
- [80:39]
B
He just hasn't finished his tattoo.
- [80:41]
A
Yeah. Basically his arc I find very interesting. You know, he kind of has this like, naivety to him. You know, even though he kind of shows himself as, like, you know, I'm a hard Yakuza member, he's still has this kind of view of the Yakuza As. Like there's like this glorification of it in his head. It's as if he watched like a Martin Scorsese movie and thought that they were all the heroes.
- [81:01]
B
Yeah. I think because of his adoptive father, I think he. That's the thing that's really interesting about zero is like it being set in the 80s in this, you know, in real life Japan. That was a period of like huge economic boom. Yes. That we now know was a bubble.
- [81:16]
A
Right.
- [81:17]
B
So it kind of works as this like, doomed pretty where it's like there's this moment of immense opportunity. It's almost ironic that they want to join the Yakuza because there are plenty of ways to make money. But I think what this game is largely about is sort of like, what is your driving force in many cases, what is your reason for joining the Yakuza? And I think what kind of sets up Majima and Kiryu as our heroes is like they do believe in this code of honor that just doesn't exist.
- [81:46]
A
Yeah.
- [81:47]
B
You know, Majima's a little bit, I think, more open to the grayer, darker territory of the Yakuza in the game.
- [81:55]
A
He's been through some really tough shit,
- [81:57]
B
but he's been through tough shit because he did the right thing.
- [81:59]
A
Yes.
- [82:00]
B
Which I think is a common theme in these games. So I think it's. And I think the later games, most of the heroes are ex Yakuza and the Yakuza are often the villains. But I think it's interesting to play in a time when Kiri had this sort of very strangely optimistic view of what the Yakuza stand for. But all that aside, like, just as a Yakuza experience, it kind of has everything you want one of these games to have. Like, it has like one of my favorite features of Yakuza 0 is when you beat it, you unlock a mode called Premium Adventure. It just lets you continue playing. So, like, if you missed any of the side quests or any of the activities, you can keep playing that. And it's so fun. It was great for getting footage for. Because I found like 8 more weird. Like I played darts for a little bit longer, dude.
- [82:46]
A
Yeah.
- [82:47]
B
And I ran into Mr. Moneybags who very like, better than I've seen any, like, published article do. Explained how rich people gamble with other people's money in like a very matter of fact way.
- [82:59]
A
Yeah.
- [83:00]
B
And as a way to explain how Majima and Kiryu can transfer funds to each other, he's like, we won't be giving you our money, but there's some new cabaret club that's like off to a good start. So you'll be getting their money.
- [83:13]
A
Yeah.
- [83:13]
B
From us.
- [83:14]
A
Yeah.
- [83:14]
B
Anyway, it's just like I would say. Yeah. Like in terms of where to start, I think that. I think that 0, kiwami and 7 all work. 7 was my first yakuza game. I would say that. I think even though it worked for me, I would say Kiwami or Zero are probably better to start with. Because I think while 7 is largely ichiban's story, the last act is pretty closely tied to the rest of the franchise. The rest of the franchise. And I also think there's some enjoyment you get out of seeing how Ichiban and Kiryu are reflections of each other. They have very similar backstories, but kind of for different reasons. And I love their suits are the opposite. The outer color is the inner color. Very good. Good job.
- [83:54]
A
I think there's a world in which if you just don't like real time combat, like if you don't like action and you like turn based combat, like you could start with seven play until it's very clear that you're meeting characters from the rest of the franchise. And then just like watch a YouTube recap of which there are literally millions, and then just like play that and play eight and play. What is it? Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
- [84:16]
B
Yeah.
- [84:17]
A
And just like continue on with the franchise.
- [84:19]
B
Currently. The third thing you gotta work up to, like that's like the end goal is the pirate Maji Gagazine.
- [84:25]
A
Yeah. Which is.
- [84:26]
B
It's as if like you played every Mario game to get to Mario party 12 or something, you know? So you need to get all this before you do that.
- [84:34]
A
That said, I mean, I had played Kiwami already to completion and I've now finished zero. And I would probably anticipate hearing about Kiwami 2 on my go Toy list next year because I'm probably like 10 hours into it at the moment.
- [84:48]
B
Yeah.
- [84:49]
A
Oh my God. Is it good? It's like, you know, it's funny. I just rewatched all The Daniel Craig James Bond movies over the past week. And something about kiwami 2. Maybe it's just because they look kind of similar, but Javier Bardem as Silva in Skyfall, specifically with the blonde hair and stuff and the bleached eyebrows, looks very similar to the main antagonist of Kiwami 2. But even just from a story perspective, there's a little bit of crossover there. And it really does kind of feel to me like Yakuza's Skyfall, which is about as high praise as I can give anything.
- [85:25]
B
It is funny. It was interesting. Like, in the Yakuza 0 bonus, which we recorded with our friend Eric, we talked about the Batman parallels.
- [85:32]
A
Yeah.
- [85:33]
B
Like how there's sort of this, like, Akiryu kind of feels like walking around as Batman and Majima feels like a heroic Joker.
- [85:40]
A
Yeah.
- [85:41]
B
But I do think the Bond connection is there too. I mean, not so subtly with, like, the man who Erased his name feels very boss.
- [85:47]
A
Super James Bond.
- [85:48]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Which is cool. I mean, I think the Trails series and the Yakuza like a Dragon series are kind of like, those seem to be like our big. Okay, we are going to get through it. Just give us time.
- [85:59]
A
Yeah.
- [86:00]
B
Like, we're. Every Go toy list is going to
- [86:02]
A
be perennial Go toys.
- [86:03]
B
Yeah, exactly. Every Go Toyote is going to be one of those games.
- [86:08]
A
Yeah. But even just looking forward at the franchise, like, I'm excited. I'm sure they're going to announce a Yakuza 9 this year or in 2026. I think that's going to be exciting. Gang of Dragon just got announced, as you mentioned, by Nagoshi, who is the creator of the Yakuza franchise and also Super Monkey Ball.
- [86:24]
B
Oh, really?
- [86:25]
A
Yeah.
- [86:25]
B
Oh, he's my hero.
- [86:26]
A
Yeah. Very excited about whatever that ends up being, starring Don Lee, who has the biggest fists in the game. Very excited about that. I don't know. There's just like. There's a lot of good, like a dragon stuff coming down the pipeline, which is exciting. I will say one of the things I just did also, because we're recording this while the Steam winter sale is happening. Judgment and Lost Judgment were both deeply on sale. I just picked those up on Steam.
- [86:50]
B
I also picked up Judgment not too long ago on PlayStation, but I'm glad we have it on Steam as well.
- [86:55]
A
Yeah. So I'm excited to play Judgment because those are the last two games that Nagoshi made before leaving sega also.
- [87:01]
B
Oh, did he work on, like, a dragon? No, that was also kind of the changing of the team. Interesting.
- [87:06]
A
Yeah.
- [87:06]
B
That Might be because I think the thing about the Ichiban games, especially now having finished Zero, is like this series is known for its like very wacky sense of humor, but it's dialed up to 11 for both, especially like Infinite Wealth.
- [87:20]
A
Yeah.
- [87:21]
B
I could even see someone saying it's like almost too much. I kind of like Yakuza 0's balance where it's like the story is very bleak.
- [87:30]
A
Yes.
- [87:30]
B
But the comedy is so weird and good and I like that. I like the fact that the game knows you're gonna want to pursue the other to balance it out. Whereas I think, I mean Ichiban's games have their dramatic dark moments, but I think, and I like that he's a more consistently light hearted protagonist. I love Ichiban himself, but yeah, you. You encounter a lot more of the wackiness without seeking it out.
- [87:54]
A
Yeah.
- [87:54]
B
In those games.
- [87:55]
A
Yeah.
- [87:56]
B
So I'm curious that that's going to be another kind of like, you know, crossroads thing where like these games are now turn based and just generally more comedic. It's interesting.
- [88:05]
A
Oh man, what a good series of video games.
- [88:07]
B
Really good. Yeah. Well, that's. Those are go toys.
- [88:10]
A
Those are go toys.
- [88:11]
B
Solid list. I guess. I guess our shared game of the other year of the year is Yakuza 0.
- [88:15]
A
It's Yakuza 0. Yeah. I think it has to be.
- [88:17]
B
Congrats that.
- [88:18]
A
Congrats to Yakuza 0. We'll send you your award in the mail. We'll ship it to Yakuza 0.
- [88:24]
B
Does anyone care about this? The people who made these games listen to this. I know some of you do, which is always very flattering, but it's just funny. I don't think we'll ever give awards. That feels very egocentric.
- [88:36]
A
We'll ship an award out to sega.
- [88:39]
B
Yeah. What is this in the mail? A picture of your gecko?
- [88:45]
A
Yeah. Yeah. And a bacon, egg and cheese with salt, pepper ketchup.
- [88:48]
B
Someone from Jersey thinks you're doing a good job.
- [88:50]
A
Yeah, I'm sure, actually, I'm sure that somebody over at SEGA headquarters in Japan would love to receive a New York bagel with bacon, egg and cheese and salt pepper ketchup on it.
- [88:59]
B
I wouldn't.
- [89:00]
A
Yeah, that'd be great that if we
- [89:01]
B
gave any award it would be that it would be like, here's a bacon, egg and cheese or Taylor ham, egg and cheese bagel or a coupon for one.
- [89:09]
A
Yeah. And a little bottle of Malort with
- [89:11]
B
it for the chicken. Chicago, Nadia chase one with the other. You'll figure out which. Why don't we take a break here?
- [89:19]
A
Let's take a break and then we'll start our list.
- [89:21]
B
Can't wait.
- [89:21]
A
Our actual top 10.
- [89:23]
B
The real list, baby.
- [89:24]
A
The real list. None of this fake list. Bye.
- [89:47]
B
Hey, what's going on?
- [89:48]
A
Aether? It's Matt from Flow State and in sequence. And my game of the year is Known Mysteries. This is a little interactive fiction piece
- [89:56]
B
and it is running on something called
- [89:58]
A
Solar Server, which is just a server
- [90:01]
B
in a box on the balcony of the desert.
- [90:03]
A
Developer Kara Stone.
- [90:05]
B
I found out about this game because the folks from Zip sent it to
- [90:08]
A
me on Discord and I immediately devoured
- [90:10]
B
it in like an hour.
- [90:12]
A
I've since played it two more times.
- [90:13]
B
I think it's one of the more
- [90:15]
A
emotionally resonant pieces of art that I've consumed, much less video games.
- [90:19]
B
It is about climate change and corporate disaster. You know, those things seem to be
- [90:27]
A
the things that I get attached to to in art.
- [90:30]
B
And at the same time, it is while dark, not. Not without hope.
- [90:36]
A
This is a bleak story that still has remnants of hope for humanity and hope for our planet in a way that, you know, keep me returning to it over and over again. Thanks for having us on again for the Game of the Year episode. I can't wait to listen to it and I hope you all have a great year next year. We're back in the show. We are post go toy, which means we are pre goe.
- [91:05]
B
Yes.
- [91:05]
A
We are about to reveal our. Our top 10 games of the year. The way this is going to go, we're going to go back and forth, starting with Stephen because he won a coin flip five years ago in a row and then coin flip four years ago and then three years ago and then two years ago. So we've just given. Given up on flipping coins for some reason. Although maybe we haven't. If you hear our list later and we're going to do 10 through 6, we're going to take a break, we're going to come back, we're going to do five through one and then we're going to do a bunch of other
- [91:33]
B
stuff after that and then we'll decide on a top five for the show.
- [91:36]
A
Yes, that's one of the things that
- [91:39]
B
can be quick, that can be long. I think this year it might be
- [91:42]
A
tougher this year than never is my guess.
- [91:44]
B
Yeah, I think. Yeah, I have feelings about that. But we'll get to that in four to 16 hours. Why don't we begin?
- [91:53]
A
Let's begin. You're gonna start with your number 10.
- [91:55]
B
My number 10. I have my computer here. I have all these lists, all these spreadsheets.
- [92:00]
A
Yeah. Tell people about your laptop.
- [92:04]
B
What's your favorite thing about Google Sheets?
- [92:05]
A
What's your loady.
- [92:06]
B
You know what? Not a bad segue. Number 10 for me is Queue Up.
- [92:10]
A
Oh, hell yeah.
- [92:12]
B
Yeah. The future of esports.
- [92:14]
A
It is the future of esports.
- [92:15]
B
Queue Up. This felt a lot like. So we did an episode years ago that was actually last year. What am I saying? That was best of the decade for the 2000s. And we even on our Patreon, have an episode of us deciding on the 100 games to include, which was. Honestly, that was harder than anything on the episode. Like, whittling that down. I think we just called it the Whittling.
- [92:37]
A
Yeah. Because there were 300 games to start with, I think.
- [92:40]
B
Yeah. We just both put down our favorite games from that decade, which, like, felt in some ways like a sort of best of all the consoles we had done.
- [92:47]
A
Yeah.
- [92:48]
B
And as I've often said, it's a Greek tragedy about guns, the Duel. But the one game that, like, was there from the very beginning, that never even got questioned was qop. Yeah, Was like one of the games that just, like, got in and was on the final list eventually. And I felt QOP adjacent. Like, I had. I have a lot of honorable mentions this year. I basically have, like, a second list. It was very hard to limit it to 10 games. So I'm like, is Q Up a game that is literally. Literally a coin flip? Is this game about flipping a coin actually better than these ten other games? Subjective. But I have to be candid and admit that this is one of the only games this year that I started somehow, put in 12 hours into in two nights and played with friends unironically. And I think the joke of this being the future of esports, the joke is that it's true. For those who don't know is what this game is, it is literally a coin flip. You're on a team of four. Verse 4. You choose your character. They have this incredible art style, these really well designed characters.
- [93:55]
A
It's like Overwatch hero shooter style characters that you're choosing.
- [93:58]
B
You choose your medic. There's a cowboy, there's a goblin, and incredible soundtrack. The soundtrack is on Bandcamp. You should buy it.
- [94:06]
A
It's so good, it's unreal.
- [94:08]
B
The presentation overall is really lovely art, really good music. And then you're all just waiting for it to be heads around tails. And then so that's. That's the first joke is like, okay, a coin flip is getting this high level of production, but then once you start upgrading your hero and you see, oh, this is essentially an auto battler, and I'm kind of like building a little engine for my character to, like, respond well to certain actions.
- [94:33]
A
Yeah.
- [94:33]
B
So, like, for the healer, you know, you actually end up getting way more points if you lose the coin flip because her whole job is healing.
- [94:40]
A
Right.
- [94:41]
B
And every character plays so uniquely that, like, once you max out one character's rank, you'll want to play at least a few more. This is a game that I. That I will keep playing. Once I knock out a few characters, I'll probably have had my time with it.
- [94:54]
A
Yeah.
- [94:55]
B
I don't see it becoming Overwatch and that. It just becomes like, the game I play forever.
- [94:59]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [95:00]
B
But I think there is a sincere version of this that could have been that, like, if it wasn't a coin flip, it was maybe like, armies fighting.
- [95:09]
A
Yeah.
- [95:10]
B
And it didn't have this level of humor. Like, I don't think anyone would see it as a joke.
- [95:14]
A
Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Imagine if it was just like. Like a fire emblem odds before you fight each other. Yeah.
- [95:20]
B
But, you know, in addition to the gameplay, like, when you go back to the home menu, your inbox is like a narrative experience where, like, it's making fun of all these free to play games where you get these weird messages, you know, every so often keeping you there. And then there's this. There's, like, an adventure game in your inbox and there's. There's also, like, this whole workplace drama happening with a job you didn't apply for that you are now working at. It is so funny and so genuinely good and full of surprises. And it's just one of my favorite experiences this year. It's a game that kind of made me question why I play games like this, while also being one of the best examples of games like this. So it had to be here. And that's Q Up. I love it so much.
- [96:03]
A
Q Up is so, so good.
- [96:05]
B
Yeah.
- [96:07]
A
I think, like, one of the things that sticks with me about Q Up, how hard it is to make a game in the first place and to make a game where the entire conceit is a bit is so funny and so difficult to do. Like, to go through all of that effort to make a game that is a goof. At the end of the day, it's just satire. You don't see a lot of comedy games, and it's a thing that you and I have talked about on the show before, but Q Up is one. And as you said, and as the developers have said themselves, one of the greatest jokes of Q Up is that it's a great game. No matter what you're doing in that game, at the end of the day you are happy having a good time. You are probably if. If you have friends who are also playing it. You were like literally on a Discord call.
- [96:46]
B
I played silently with friends and we were like anticipating the coin flip. Like it wasn't like we were like haha, this would be silly. Like we just wanted to play together.
- [96:54]
A
Yeah. I also spent a lot of time like queued up with my friends in Discord calls and we were talking about like strategies like oh, you know, like, you know, a friend would be like, oh, I just started playing as the healer. Like does anybody have any, have any tips or whatever. And then you know, I like feel. I feel like one of the interesting things about that game also is that each character is its own little puzzle in that way. It is an auto battler as you're describing. And you do need to spend time setting up what your skills are going to be and where they are. But at the end of the day, they all do have a path they're trying to lead you down. And it's just a question of how long it takes before you figure out what you're supposed to do to min max that experience so that no matter if you win or lose the coin flip, you are still winning.
- [97:36]
B
At Q Up, it's structured in a way where it's like everyone will reach a wall eventually where you have actually think about your skills. And what's great is that you can kind of recalibrate them indefinitely. So like a lot of it is kind of like. Yeah. Putting points in place, seeing how it goes and then kind of changing from there.
- [97:51]
A
Yeah.
- [97:52]
B
What I also like is that you never get enough points that you can fully unlock everything. So you do have to choose like what you don't invest in or what you fully go all in on.
- [98:01]
A
Yeah.
- [98:02]
B
Which I think is really helpful. And yeah, there is some like, some characters have abilities that benefit other specific characters being on the team. So like off the top of my head, I know that the Medic and the Gambler or have some crossover and the Streamer and the Troll also have some crossover. It's fascinating. It's such a cool game. Yeah. And yeah, Queue up is, is my number 10.
- [98:22]
A
Yeah. It's a good video game.
- [98:24]
B
Yeah.
- [98:24]
A
I love. I'm gonna, I'M gonna reiterate a thing that you just said. I don't think it's ever been harder in all the years we've done this show. Figuring out what number 10 is going to be. I had six games all vying for the number 10 slot. And any of them, if they had been in the number 10 slot, I would have been happy with it was the hardest number to place. I have a top 50. I usually. Well, actually I have a top 60. 69. Whoa.
- [99:13]
B
Hell yeah, dude.
- [99:14]
A
Hello, dude. Fucking sick. I have a top 69, but I usually do a top 50 for wavelengths, or at least I did last year. I'm going to do it again this year. And I really would be happy with anything from 10 to 15 being in this spot. But the one that I chose to be at number 10 is peak.
- [99:29]
B
Oh, fuck yeah.
- [99:30]
A
Peak is a collaboration between two studios, Landfall and Aggro Crab, who are both known for making very different kinds of games, who came together to make this thing that feels almost like an experiment that then kind of got away from them and became so big that now this is the thing. Very similar actually to Slay the Princess and Scarlet Hollow as we were talking about before. But Peak, if you haven't played it or if you haven't seen it at all, which I would be surprised by because it was kind of everywhere and still continues to be everywhere, is a game where you hang out with your friends in a generative mountainscape and you just need to climb to the top. You are controlling these characters with, with your. Your hands and they have like Breath of the Wild style energy meters when you try to grab onto stuff. So it's very easy to run out of stamina and like slip and fall. But there are copious items around that you can use. This is one of the main entrance in the friend slop genre. It's the one of of those games where the comedy is more the point than actually succeeding at the video game.
- [100:30]
B
I think I've laughed louder than when I died in my friend's arms and they were carrying around a skeleton. And then what's great is that when you die, you can return as a ghost.
- [100:40]
A
Yes.
- [100:40]
B
And the secret ingredient for this game is the voice chat being. First of all, I didn't realize that there was a microphone in the Steam Deck. There is. You can just use your Steam Deck proximity chat. But yeah, there's a proximity chat. So it's like if someone is farther away, you'll see their character. Like their mouth will move when they're talking. And if they're farther away, you'll hear a distant echo, which is.
- [101:00]
A
Yeah, if you're in a cave, it'll reverberate throughout the cave and all this stuff. I remember I was playing on Stream with AJ the first time I ever played this game. I was playing on Steam with AJ and I had the trumpet that they give you.
- [101:12]
B
That was great.
- [101:13]
A
The Bugle. At the beginning of the game, you can get this little Bugle and you just go, like, with it, and you can't really play it at all. But the voice chat wasn't loud enough for AJ to figure out where I was when we got separated. So I just started playing the Bugle as, like, a way for them to find me. And that is, like, one of my favorite, funniest experiences playing a video game this year is just like, this Bugle going from a thing that I was using mainly as a joke to, like, suddenly, this is the reason we're surviving.
- [101:41]
B
Yes.
- [101:42]
A
And that's kind of how the entire game works, is everything kind of feels like a joke at first, and then once you realize, like, the gameplay ramifications of it, it starts to coalesce into your head.
- [101:50]
B
Yeah. Everything has, like, a purpose. Like, when you find food and, like, there's a big lollipop that gives you, like, a huge burst of energy. So, like, and you'll need that for something. Some of the later areas, I find that there are three types of Peak players in my experience playing it so far. There is the peak players that are there to win and will be like, all right, everyone, follow me. Here's what we're doing. Don't lag behind. There are the Peak players that want to follow but will inevitably be killed. The red shirts of Peak, just like, I'm here, but I'm going to get lost immediately and then die. And then there are the ones that are embracing chaos and they're just like, win or lose, I'm here to mess things up, or at least have fun with it.
- [102:25]
A
Yes. I'm here to hang out with my friends.
- [102:27]
B
And that always is a fun combination.
- [102:29]
A
Yes. Peak is just one of those games that at the end of the day, when I was looking at all of the games that could have made or could have been in this slot, like, I think this is the one I'm going to be the happiest about being here. When I look back at this list, even if Peak doesn't have the staying power in the next year or two or whatever, they are continually updating it. They're adding More stuff constantly. But even if this game kind of fades away, I think I will always point at it as kind of like the inflection point of this genre, really popping off and popularizing it in a way that I think is really powerful. Again, we've already kind of talked about this, but, like, this is the year that friend slop was introduced as a derogatory term and then has been reclaimed. And I really think this idea that the games that are the biggest these days are the ones where friends can hang out.
- [103:14]
B
Yeah.
- [103:14]
A
Is so powerful and says so much about, like, societally, I think how we are almost also reclaiming the Internet for what it was built for in some ways, you know, like when. When it's been so co opted by so many, like, horrible capitalistic nightmares. It's really nice that at the end of the day, like, you and your friends can just play a bugle on the top of a mountain for fun.
- [103:33]
B
Right.
- [103:34]
A
That's, to me, the inherent beauty of this technology. And that's why I'm so glad that Peak came out this year.
- [103:40]
B
Peak's awesome. Yeah. This feels like the closest I get as an adult to understanding Roblox where it's like, oh, okay, this is a place for you to.
- [103:47]
A
This is why people would be interested in this.
- [103:49]
B
But it is. Roblox is the nightmare capitalist version of Peak.
- [103:52]
A
It's about as bad as it gets.
- [103:54]
B
Yeah, Peak is great. That was very close. You might hear about later in honorable mentions.
- [103:57]
A
I might.
- [103:58]
B
You will. Number nine.
- [104:25]
A
Number nine.
- [104:26]
B
Number nine for me is Donkey Kong Bonanza.
- [104:29]
A
Ooh.
- [104:30]
B
One of the future games. Ooh. Oh, oh, Banana.
- [104:34]
A
You're telling me banana. Plantain.
- [104:36]
B
It's a plantain.
- [104:37]
A
It's a plantain. This time.
- [104:38]
B
Bonanza is great. I think it's definitely the. I think this will be remembered as like the Switch 2 launch game. Even though Mario Kart World was the launch game, this was the game that I think kind of changed the perception, at least momentarily, of the Switch two to be a little bit more positive. It's a really, really good, like it is by the Mario Odyssey team. And it definitely feels like this is the Mario 64 of the Switch 2.
- [105:03]
A
Yeah.
- [105:03]
B
Having finished it, I do think it's a game that's a little bit at odds with itself. It kind of feels like three different games vying for being the game.
- [105:11]
A
Yeah.
- [105:12]
B
There's like the open world piece of it. So for those who don't know, like, this is a game where you play as Donkey Kong with Pauline on your shoulder. I've seen some people say it's like happy Last of Us or it's like a happy dad game where it's like that, like Kratos and Atreus. Like it's that style of game. But in like a Nintendo world. It's an open, more open platformer game where most of the environment is destructible. So as Donkey Kong, you can like smash the environment to like find gold and collectibles. You can pick up pieces of the environment to like throw and surf on. It definitely feels like it's made in the same realm as like Nintendo seeing games like Roblox and Fortnite and like what kids are playing and trying to incorporate elements of that design into their first party games. So I think you saw that, I think most successfully in like Tears of the Kingdom, where like the ultra hand mechanic feels like their version of Fortnite in a Zelda game.
- [106:01]
A
Yeah.
- [106:01]
B
Which I think is not something anyone would say they wanted.
- [106:04]
A
Yeah. It's like as big an acknowledgement that there are other video games being made as Breath of the Wild being open world in the first place.
- [106:10]
B
Right. It's like them looking at Skyrim. Yeah. And Bonanza. Doing that I think was the right call. I think. But that's one of the games is the open world, smash stuff, find stuff game. Yeah. Then there's is the Mario Odyssey game where there are sequences that are a little bit more authored platformer. You find that in sort of this game's equivalent of the Zelda shrines where there are these tucked away weird portals that will take you into a challenge where it's either destroy these three enemies in 30 seconds or go through this little platformer level to the point where there's one where it literally is just Donkey Kong country. But as a little bite sized thing,
- [106:47]
A
that was such a cool level that
- [106:50]
B
I have to admit is my favorite piece of the equation.
- [106:53]
A
I was about to say that's actually also my favorite part of Bonanza.
- [106:55]
B
And they're also like, even outside of those little tucked away pieces, my favorite world. And it feels like the Odyssey team just does this. They include one Dark Souls boss and they have one world that's made of food.
- [107:06]
A
Yeah.
- [107:06]
B
The food world in Bonanza is so cool because it's inside the guts of a beast. So it has that kind of gross ew, Nickelodeon slime feeling. But it also is flavored on the Johnny Rockets 50s diner. So all the fashion you can get is like 50s diner attire.
- [107:25]
A
Nice.
- [107:26]
B
And there's a gigantic cheeseburger that you have to dive into. That is like. It's so gross, but so fun on, like, just, you know, like a little kid looking under a rock. Like just this giant cheeseburger that you can, like, tear apart. But in that world, there is this sequence where you're on. There's like a. Like a fryer where, like, there are these, like, moving platforms that, like, dip into this boiling grease and then they pick up up all this salt and keep going. So you have to temporarily stay on top of these platforms, grab giant mounds of salt and throw them at these slugs that are blocking passageways. And I'm like, this is the game fully coming together where it's using the destructible environment in an interesting way to aid the platforming. Then there's the transform into these beasts for very specific bosses boss fights. And we're also going to occasionally try to be a Donkey Kong country game. And the way this game ends is so bizarre and out of left field that it kind of took it down a star for me. I liked the. I won't spoil it, but I liked the reveal of the final boss. But then it ends with this fight that is so difficult. It's as if the optional for Sickos only part of Mario was the final boss boss of the core game. And it just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth at the end of it. But other than that, I just found this game to be very joyful and very whimsical. And even though I think it's a little bit torn between those three ideas of do we be a Donkey Kong game that's more hardcore and more difficult and about these transformations in combat, do we want to be an open world game that's about this destruction physic, or do we want to be a platformer? I still enjoyed all three of those games, and I think I enjoyed it a lot when it was focused in the way I described. But overall, I just thought it was Definitely the best Switch 2 exclusive of this year. And yeah, for that reason, it had to make my list. That's Donkey Kong Bonanza.
- [109:28]
A
Yeah. This is a game that I really enjoyed most of my time with. And when I went back to play it, when I was getting into kind of my own goatee deliberation, list making and figuring out where this should really land, the feeling that I got more than anything, which is a feeling I had when I first started playing the game as well, is just kind of sensory overload.
- [109:46]
B
Yeah, it does have that, which I
- [109:48]
A
think is like the one thing holding this game back in some ways. For me, is just this feeling of maximalism that's almost totally unchecked. And then it's the moments where you get to slow down, ironically, when you're going into the challenge levels, where even though some of them are actually timed, they still feel more deliberate. Actions that I'm taking and all of the mechanics of the game start to come together. There's a lot to love about this game. Don't get me wrong. I still really liked my time with it, but I think that's kind of my feeling about it. It's interesting to think about it from the perspective of the Switch 2. We didn't even mention this in our 2025 recap, but the Switch 2 launched this year. It's maybe notable that we didn't bring it up, but it's a great console so far. I'm enjoying it a lot. I really like it, and I think a lot of people would have liked it a lot more had it launched with this, as we've talked about many
- [110:36]
B
times on the show, only a few months. I think this being like, the. Here's the new Switch. Here's a game that literally could not function on the first one. And. And not just, like, in terms of graphics, but just in terms of, like, the idea behind it would not be possible on the first Switch.
- [110:51]
A
Yeah. The amount of horsepower required to make the entire level destructible is unreal. And it's one of those things where, when I started thinking about it from the perspective of right now in 2025, that gap between the Switch 2 launching and Donkey Kong Bonanza coming out was like a cavalcade, an almost, like, tsunami of negativity about the switch 2. And then donkey Kong Bonanza comes out and basically everyone.
- [111:18]
B
Yeah. Oh, never mind.
- [111:19]
A
Yeah, that was basically it. It was like you just had, like, one and a half months of people being like, is the Switch too doomed? Then suddenly it was like, oh, no, it's gonna be fine. And I wonder, just looking back at 20, 25 years from now, if that month and a half will even be perceived or talked about. Right. Like, it probably won't, I think.
- [111:36]
B
I mean, when we've done these console episodes, like, that's exactly what I was thinking about. First year, kind of all blood. Right.
- [111:42]
A
And it's all. Only when you're really looking at very specific instances are you starting to get glimpses of what people were talking about. I did a video for the channel earlier this year that was talking specifically about the Switch 2 launch lineup, and I spent a lot of time Looking at other launch lineups for Nintendo consoles, and one of the ones that was the most interesting to me was the GameCube, which launched technically with Super Smash Brothers Melee, but that was actually three months after the GameCube came out.
- [112:07]
B
Right. And it launched with Luigi's Mansion.
- [112:09]
A
It launched with Luigi's. Luigi's Mansion. And it kind of had a sink.
- [112:11]
B
Star Wars Rogue Galaxy.
- [112:13]
A
Yeah. Rogue Squadron.
- [112:16]
B
I really want Rogue Galaxy to be a thing, don't we?
- [112:18]
A
Star Wars Rogue Galaxy. Hang on a second.
- [112:19]
B
Yeah. Level five. Get on the phone.
- [112:21]
A
Get on it. But the articles that I found talking about the GameCube, right. When it launched, like, in those first, like, two months before Super Smash Brothers Melee came out, very similar to the way people Talked about the Switch 2, right. When it came out as well.
- [112:33]
B
I think for better and for worse, we really are back in the the 2000s this year. But I do think, I mean, yeah, Luigi's Mansion and Bonanza feel like they're cut from a similar cloth, where it's like, let's take one of the supporting Nintendo mascots and try to figure out what does a game look like with them as the lead.
- [112:51]
A
Right.
- [112:52]
B
And I do think on that level, they definitely succeeded. Like, this is an interesting take on what is a Donkey Kong game, but I think it also kind of goes to my point of, like, it's interesting that the DLC for this game, which I haven't played yet, but that's a roguelike.
- [113:04]
A
Yeah.
- [113:05]
B
And I think the best thing about Mechanic, they've built this destruction terrain mechanic is that it supports a lot of different game ideas.
- [113:13]
A
Yes.
- [113:13]
B
But then I think it also then adds a layer of identity crisis to, like, well, what is it, though? Like, what is the game? Is it a platformer? Is it an action game?
- [113:22]
A
Right.
- [113:22]
B
And it doesn't have to necessarily land in one direction. Maybe that is what Donkey Kong is. It always kind of changes it up.
- [113:28]
A
Yeah.
- [113:28]
B
But I personally like it best when it's a platformer.
- [113:31]
A
Yeah, me too.
- [113:32]
B
And I think at the end of the day, I'm really antsy for whatever the next, like, you know, either Mario or more traditional platformer is from Nintend, because that's kind of what I want to see. I'm curious if, like, you know, I think for the longest time, we expected Odyssey 2 or the new Mario game to be reminiscent of whatever Bowser's Fury was doing.
- [113:49]
A
Yeah.
- [113:49]
B
And in a weird way, this feels like the branch of the Bowser's Fury path, especially even with the dramatic transformations. And I wonder if the new Mario will be in an entirely new direction.
- [114:00]
A
Yeah, yeah. I think especially after wonder right after seeing what young getting like, I was gonna say like a team of young developers at Nintendo, but they're not exactly young. They've just been at Nintendo for newer. They just haven't at Nintendo as long as Miyamoto.
- [114:13]
B
Yeah, exactly.
- [114:14]
A
But still, yeah, kind of a newer team taking over the side scroller platformy Mario game and just like making something that feels so new and so fresh and I think will stand the test of time for years and years and years. I'll be curious to see if that's what they do with the new 3D Mario whenever they go down that path. I think like just the biggest open ended questions about the Switch 2 for me really are what's up with the new Mario and what's up with the new Zelda? Because I feel like both of them could go in such different directions than we're used to, which is exciting.
- [114:41]
B
Yeah, definitely. I totally agree.
- [114:42]
A
Yeah. I think I. Animal Crossing will probably be very similar
- [114:45]
B
to New Horizons, so I think it will. We got that last strange update for New Horizons.
- [114:50]
A
Yeah, that comes out in like two
- [114:51]
B
weeks, which is bizarre. And then we'll see what the next one is. Yeah, but that's Bonanza number nine.
- [114:56]
A
That's Bonanza number nine. Number nine for me. Ball Pit.
- [115:32]
B
Oh, hell yeah.
- [115:33]
A
Ball Pits. A new game by Kenny sun, published by devolver Digital. Kenny sun and friends, I should say. Published by devolver Digital. This was a game that I knew was gonna make my top 10 list when it was announced at a Nintendo indie world. Kenny sun showed up on stream with I think a tangerine on his head that he was balancing. And he said it was a mix of Vampire Survivors and Hold down and Loop Hero. And I love all three of those games. I've said many, many, many times. Hold down is a game I play literally every day. Like every single day for at least 5 to 10 seconds, if not more. It's just kind of a no brainer game for me in particular. So essentially what it is, despite being pitched as a culmination of all three of those games, I think the easier way to pitch it is kind of like a roguelike version of Space Invaders. So you are playing as a character who is almost permanently positioned at the bottom of the screen. There are enemies coming at you from the top and you have to aim and shoot a bunch of balls and bounce, bounce them around this lane and hit the sides or hit these enemies and wipe them out one by one by one until they start throwing bosses at you. And if you can beat three bosses in a level, then the level is over and you move on to the next level. And it has that, like, breakout quality to it, but also has kind of all the modern trappings that you would want of a roguelike from this era, which is, you know, you're, like, picking from a bunch of different options to unlock different kinds of balls which have different abilities on them. Some of them will, like, stack bleed on enemies. Some of them, when they hit a wall, will explode into, like, 15 to 20 other balls that will bounce around. And that core loop by itself would have been fine and would have been enough. But Ball Pit takes it a step further, allows you to start fusing all these different balls together. So if you have the one that stacks bleed, and the other one that's like an egg sack that shoots into 20 different balls when it hits a wall, it will, if you fuse them together, hit a wall, and then send out 20 balls, which all in four, inflict bleed and stack bleed. So, like, you just have all of these interesting synergies that start to form. And then when you're done with a run, if you either win or lose, you go back to a base building element which asks you to, like, build up a town. And these buildings that you place in the town will unlock new characters or increase your base stats. So you will technically, like, do better in the game in the future. And the way that you build these places and collect these resources is also through playing breakout. You are also just like a little character at the bottom of this town. You have to aim yourself towards all these buildings and bounce your way between them. And the idea of having this kind of back and forth between these two ideas, but they're both played the same way, I think is absolutely brilliant. And the real cherry on top of this game for me is. Or the two that I would say the first are the characters that you unlock, which get increasingly more bizarre. I don't like giving too many of them away, because there are a couple that made me actually laugh out loud when I unlock them. One of the first ones you unlock, which I think is very interesting, it's that famous picture of the farmers. You unlock this husband and wife farmer who are two characters that play together. And the whole idea is that wherever one is aiming, the other one is aiming in the opposite direction. So you constantly have balls flying out from either end. That's one way in which they mix it up, but then there's other Ones where it's like every ball will always pass through every single enemy until it hits the back of the field and then it will bounce back.
- [118:51]
B
Oh, cool.
- [118:52]
A
And there's another one. This is the only one that I'll give away that I think is like, a little bit later in the game. But there are a couple that, like, really feel like they change the mechanics of the game in a big way. But there's one that I think is worth shouting out that actually turns it into Breakout. He's a shield. He's a knight with a huge shield.
- [119:06]
B
Oh, cool.
- [119:06]
A
That actually acts as, like, the bottom kind of paddle that you would be using if you were actually playing Breakout, which allows you to just bounce the balls basically forever. And that by itself, I think, is fascinating. The other thing is that it has a very, very, very healthy game. Plus, when you're done with it. So the game does, there are, I think, 10 levels that you can make your way through that get increasingly difficult. But there's a new game plus where all of the enemies are harder to fight or that you have to beat the whole level in less time, et cetera, et cetera. So you have to spend a lot of time worrying, not worrying, but a lot of times focused on the town building aspect to be able to make it through some of that later stuff. This is a game that my experience with again, when it was announced, I knew it was going to be a big deal for me. When the demo came out, I played through it twice because I was so enamored by it. And then when the game finally came out, just was like, totally wrapped up in it. Like, I really could not stop playing it until it was done. And I haven't felt that way about many games recently. There haven't been so many games where I've been like, I am both, like, sitting exactly where you are, Steven, playing ball pit on this tv, while also cooking lunch or something or, like, making a meal. And I would, like, get up from the couch, holding the controller, still playing ball pit. Like going over to the stove, spinning around whatever is in a pot, and then sitting back on the TV and like, you know, sitting, setting a timer before the next time I needed to check the stove again. There are very few games that I feel that way about where it's like, I can't look away from it.
- [120:31]
B
That's part of the routine.
- [120:32]
A
Yes. Until it's over. And you can roll credits in this game. And the credit sequence is unbelievable. But when I rolled credits and then I unlocked new game plus, I Was like, I need to put this game down for a little bit. And I did go back to it and I played more of it and I played more of new game plus and I just think it's exceptional. I think it's like one of the most interesting roguelikes I've played. I think Kenny sun in general is a developer that I always have my eye on whenever he, as anything. I'm like there day one. But this game in particular just really felt like one of those ones where I think you build with a kind of tongue in cheek aspect to the construction of it, knowing full well that it's like in some ways a little bit like designed to be a hit. Like it feels like a thing that is like on paper designed at first to completely take off and like have people be obsessed with it. And I think one of the most interesting things about it actually has been seeing some of the negative response to it being that it's like too mindless.
- [121:29]
B
Yeah.
- [121:30]
A
And that people like feel bad while they're playing it because it's like they feel a little bit too brain dead while they're going at it. Which I can understand to a certain degree. And on the other hand, I do think there's enough happening on a moment to moment basis. Like I never feel like I could just like take my hands entirely off the controller.
- [121:46]
B
Yeah.
- [121:46]
A
While I'm playing. The same way I can with like a Mega bonk or a vampire survivors or something.
- [121:50]
B
Right.
- [121:50]
A
You know, it's a little bit closer to a. Oh my God. What is that called? The ones with the. The guys who are digging. Oh, oh my God.
- [121:59]
B
Minecraft. Sorry.
- [122:03]
A
Oh my God. That other survivor's game.
- [122:04]
B
Steve.
- [122:05]
A
Whatever.
- [122:06]
B
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The.
- [122:08]
A
The one with the dwarves who are mining and they're fighting insects. I just got the name of it.
- [122:12]
B
I know what you're saying. I don't know the name of it though, which is not helpful.
- [122:14]
A
Yeah, it's on my phone.
- [122:16]
B
I was more helpful when I was doing bits. Honestly, it's nothing to be like, oh yeah, I know you're talking about, but I also don't know it.
- [122:21]
A
It's Minecraft. Anyway, point being, I think, I think ball pit. I can understand to a certain degree why some people would bounce off of it. No pun intended. But for me it felt like a game that was designed in a lab. I couldn't believe when it was announced. I couldn't believe when I started playing it. I couldn't believe when I got my hands on the full thing and I couldn't believe it when I hit the credits. And I think if you haven't played it, just keep playing until you unlock all the characters. And specifically the last one is the one where I called a friend and was like, who I knew had also gotten that far in the game and I was like, we need to talk about this because I can't believe what they've included in here. It's fantastic. It's a great game. I love it. Ball pit.
- [123:04]
B
Ball pit. Yeah, I, I missed this one completely. I'm not sure why, because I. I was interested in checking it out after you brought to the show. I just didn't get around to it. As AJ would say, it's my got yippee. What is it?
- [123:14]
A
Got yipp.
- [123:14]
B
Game of the year if I played it.
- [123:16]
A
Yeah. Game of the year if I played it. Yeah.
- [123:17]
B
That's my yippee. That's number nine.
- [123:19]
A
That's number nine.
- [123:45]
B
Number eight.
- [123:45]
A
Number eight for you.
- [123:47]
B
Number eight for me. Detective Instinct. Farewell, My Beloved.
- [123:50]
A
Oh, hell yeah.
- [123:51]
B
A late addition.
- [123:52]
A
What a good game.
- [123:53]
B
Yeah. This is by Armonica, their debut game. It is very much an homage to the Famicom Detective Club era of adventure games as well as stuff like Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk, I believe was the other influence directly shouted out. It's just like a really wonderful eight hour experience. And especially doing a game podcast. I love when a game can be that confidently short. I have no issue with longer games as evidenced by us going like, I can't wait to play all of Yakuza and Trails. But I think it does just feel very confident. Confident. Especially for a narrative driven game. When I think RPGs and adventure games on the shorter side tend to still be like 30 hours, this feels like a really. I hope they make more games. I hope this is the start of a new series. It seems to be the feedback as everyone's like, this is great. Would love more.
- [124:46]
A
Please make more.
- [124:47]
B
Yeah. But even if they stop here, for whatever reason, it is a really enjoyable murder mystery adventure game that is is also about something real. I won't spoil the story, but I think as I said in the episode where it came up, they do a great job making the mystery kind of mirror the theme of the game. And the central mystery is essentially there is two college students, they're studying abroad with their professor and on a train to London. One of them, Emma, meets a woman who then mysteriously disappears. And not only is she gone, but no one. When Emma starts looking for her, everyone's like, what are you talking about you got lunch alone here? That woman never existed. So initially, it's sort of like, okay, I just need to verify. Did I see things? Is this a ghost? What's going on?
- [125:37]
A
Yeah, it doesn't start as like a we need to find this woman mystery. It starts as like a we need to verify if I've lost it mystery first. Yeah.
- [125:43]
B
And it develops from there. And ultimately it's a story about, like, I don't know, I think it's a story just about not looking the other way and sort of about how, like, the simple act of, like, caring about another person above yourself is, like, kind of the duty of all of us.
- [125:59]
A
Yeah.
- [125:59]
B
You know, I think there's. What's interesting is, like, the sympathy the game has for the villains. Sometimes that can be forced, especially in video games, especially in something like Yakuza was that.
- [126:10]
A
That series loves to redeem a villain, like, right.
- [126:13]
B
In a second chance to the worst person alive. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's like, no, no, no, no step too far for this character.
- [126:20]
A
Right.
- [126:21]
B
But what this game does is it shows, like, what are people capable of when they are simply thinking of their own survival? And what are they capable of when they think of others first? Yeah, very simple. But I think that being the through line of the whole mystery, when the mystery is solved, it's not just, oh, it was that person. It's like, oh, this is a story. This is a story that has a cathartic ending, and it's got just all the stuff you want from this kind of game. It's got the Ace Attorney humor. It's got a really great presentation, really great music. I just loved everything about it. And I would highly recommend it to anybody who is either looking into getting into this style of game or is already a fan of this genre.
- [126:59]
A
Yeah, I think that's one of the things about it that really stands out to me is it feels like a Famicom Detective Club game that has figured out all of the trappings or all of the downfalls specifically of the Famicom Detective Club games. If you play the remakes of the first two for the Nintendo Switch. Not really referring to Emi of the Smiling man, the third, newer one from last year, but if you. If you play those two games, they're like really obvious quality of life improvements that, as you're playing, you're like, I think I would probably add this to this game.
- [127:26]
B
Right.
- [127:27]
A
This has all of them just kind of built in immediately already, which I think is really strong and just to reiterate another point that you made, because honestly, I don't have that much to add to this that you haven't already said. I think you put it all very well. I just want to reiterate and double down. I love the soundtrack in this game. I love the soundtrack in this game. The soundtrack is amazing. And just, like, visually, what they do with memory is in this game, I think is really unique. The way they show flashbacks and stuff, I think is really cool.
- [127:51]
B
Yeah, that's the hotel dusk of it all. That underrated DS game.
- [127:56]
A
Yeah.
- [127:56]
B
Really good. Yeah.
- [127:57]
A
Yeah. Just love this game. I will say this is one of the ones that was vying for the number 10 slot. I really, really loved my time with it. And I add me to the choir of people who want more. Like, if they. If they just keep going with this, I would be there day and date for whatever.
- [128:12]
B
Like, okay, you have these characters go in each new adventure, and it's a different mystery each time.
- [128:18]
A
Yeah.
- [128:18]
B
Ye.
- [128:19]
A
The thing about it in this case in particular is, like, this case is nice. They have a very personal attachment to it.
- [128:27]
B
Yeah.
- [128:27]
A
You know, and I do wonder how you continue on from there when that is the case. That's kind of the thing about the Famicom Detective Club games is, like, there is kind of a loose connection to the case in the first one. But then for the other ones, they're like, we're detectives now. And I wonder if I haven't reached the end and maybe you have. Maybe you can illuminate this, but, like, do they end the game being, like, anything now? We're a detective agency.
- [128:50]
B
Well, I think the three characters I kind of see. I mean, I think it's the protagonist, Emma, and the detective that I see as the connective tissue not to write sequels that don't exist. I will respect if they just want to do this one, to be clear, but if they wanted to do more. The vibe I get from having finished it is you take those three characters, and I think what honestly works is Daltrey, who's the detective who I love.
- [129:13]
A
Yeah, he's so good.
- [129:14]
B
He's kind of painted as a benign trickster. You never really know if he's up some shady stuff. And he's not that great of a detective, but he clearly. The thing is, the two other leads, Emma and the protagonist, who you name, they don't decide to become detectives. But I do think they are kind of forever changed by this experience.
- [129:35]
A
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [129:36]
B
And I could see the connective tissue just being. They keep Running into Daltrey, who wants their help on a case.
- [129:42]
A
Yes.
- [129:43]
B
Because it seems like Daltrey is. He has his issues with the current police system, and I think involving outside help is sort of one of the loopholes with that. So I think that could be it. But I would love if Emma was like, you know what? I now want to become a detective or whatever.
- [130:00]
A
Right. It's worth mentioning the conceit of why they're there in the first place is they're there on a school trip to study a very specific country and the history of that country. And the inciting event happened while they're on a train on the way back home from this country that they're, like, basically reporting on for their thesis project for college. So it'd be funny if they were going to get their PhDs. And then we're like, actually, yeah, the
- [130:26]
B
detective is like, oh, by the way, someone else just got killed. Yeah, now we're detectives.
- [130:30]
A
Yeah, very funny.
- [130:31]
B
But no, it's a great game. Would highly recommend.
- [130:33]
A
Yes. That's Detective Instinct. Farewell, my beloved. Great video game.
- [130:37]
B
Awesome. Number eight, Sam.
- [131:10]
A
Number eight. For me, this is maybe a controversial one to be here. It's Hades 2.
- [131:17]
B
Okay. I knew it was gonna be lower than maybe it once was.
- [131:20]
A
Yeah.
- [131:21]
B
Hades 2, number 8.
- [131:22]
A
Hades 2 is number 8 for me. This was maybe the shoe win for number one this year, basically. Like, there have been a couple games that have been on our radar for, like, years at this point point where it's like, whenever this comes out, it's gonna be obvious. Goatee. And for most of my playthrough of Hades 2, that was the case for most of my playthrough Hades 2. You know, talking about my experience playing ball pit, where it's like, I couldn't put it down. I felt the same way about Hades 2. Like, I dumped, like, 70 to 80 hours into that game, like, very quickly somehow. And I mostly loved my experience with it. And I don't. I don't want to spoil anything here. We haven't really, like, had long conversations on the podcast about this. Maybe we should. Maybe that should be.
- [132:03]
B
That could be fun. Yeah, I'm down. I mean, I've now seen the ending. I haven't seen the epilogue yet, but I've seen the ending. And we have a whole, like, thread with our friends talking about the ending.
- [132:13]
A
Yeah, yeah, we should. We should translate that into a episode or something or a bonus or something.
- [132:17]
B
If you're interested, let us know.
- [132:19]
A
Yeah, yeah. But I will say that I am one of the people who found the ending to be very disappointing.
- [132:25]
B
Yeah.
- [132:26]
A
I think we talked about this a little bit on an episode before I had rolled credits on it where I was something to the effect of like, I don't think the ending could be so bad that it would like, undo my experience with the rest of it. And this is worth mentioning, the pre patch ending, when I played it, I was like, I actually think this is so bad that it is undoing a lot of my feelings about this game. And when I look at myself in the mirror and I ask myself why that is and how I. How I got to that place. The reason at the end of the day is because, like, why do we play Hades in the place first? Why is Hades considered one of the best games we've ever played? Like you and I, I think have said many times, it's like, it's the best game that's come out while we've been doing this podcast.
- [133:04]
B
When we inevitably do a best of 2000s episode, at least for us, Hades is like the obvious shoe in for number one. Yeah, I still feel that way.
- [133:12]
A
Yeah, I also feel that way still. Like, it's going to be hard for any game to top that.
- [133:15]
B
Yeah.
- [133:16]
A
And the reason I think is, or one of the many reasons, is the beautiful, beautiful marriage between the roguelike genre and what's happen happening narratively in that game.
- [133:28]
B
They intertwine perfectly. Yes.
- [133:30]
A
It's. It's as if like cutting any of those would just remove the entire existence of the game entirely.
- [133:36]
B
Yeah.
- [133:36]
A
And there are a lot of games that have come out since Hades that have been inspired by Hades, that have tried to do a similar thing.
- [133:42]
B
Yeah.
- [133:43]
A
And most of them get one of those halves wrong. Like at the end of the day, like, it is two halves of this game and they need to be perfect to match that level that Hades reached. And without saying why or how. Even having played the post patch ending and through the epilogue and all this stuff, I don't think the ending of this game makes good on many of the ideas and themes presented throughout it, which means that the narrative ends up being basically weak at the end of the day. And it just leaves you with the roguelike side of it. It just leaves you with the combat and the action of it. And to be clear, the reason this made the top 10 in the first place is because that is one of the best action roguelikes I've ever played. I think it feels better to play Hades 2 than to play Hades 1, but it doesn't pay off. NARRAT that's the reason that this didn't end up even close to number one for me.
- [134:32]
B
Yeah, this. I'm reminded of the joke everyone had with Dark Souls 2 where they said, worst game of all time, nine out of ten.
- [134:38]
A
Yeah, it's.
- [134:38]
B
It's that because it's. It's. You know, I will save my thoughts for later because I have it on my list. I'll say it. Yeah, obvious. I think what I'll add to this conversation though, because I think I'll. I'll keep my more positive thoughts to kind of balance out.
- [134:52]
A
Yeah.
- [134:53]
B
But I'm. I agree with you and I. I would even go further and say I think the issues with the narrative for me surfaced well before the ending.
- [135:00]
A
I think so too.
- [135:01]
B
I think it's like the thing with Hades is that. And I think Hades is a hard act to follow totally. But what I'll say is that I think, and I get into this a bit in the video that I made, but the structure of Hades one kind of fits perfectly with that specific story. Without getting too into it, the story of Hades one is not on paper, that sort of wild or ambitious. It's a coming of age story about Zagreus, son of Hades, and Persephone running away from home. And it makes sense why he's continuously running away from home. And the more you run away from home, AKA play the game, the more it adapts to it. So if you're winning and you're getting further, the story adapts to that. If you're losing and constantly checking in with Hypnos and everyone in the hall of Hades, you get a slightly different paced version of that. But ultimately, and I don't need it to make perfect sense, I think games kind of require a certain level of suspension of disbelief. But I think what makes that game so miraculous is the fact that it constantly reframes itself the more you play it to the point where continuing to do runs well after you've concluded the epilogue makes sense. And I think it being laser focus on Zagreus and relationships, specifically his relationships with his family and the people who live in the hall of Hades, it just works perfectly. And I think while Hades 2 has a really strong start narratively and has a lot of great new characters, starting from a place of this is a war on two fronts.
- [136:35]
A
Right. This is the end of the world
- [136:36]
B
already makes it more complicated because it's like, okay, for this game to keep going, we either have to halt that progress or make it meaningless. Because you can't just keep A war going if it eventually ends. I don't want to get into spoilers, but I just think that in some ways that almost. It's funny that the whole game is obsessed with doom and fate and all this stuff, because, like, that, I think. I think this game falls into a lot of traps that sequels tend to do.
- [137:03]
A
Yeah.
- [137:03]
B
I do commend Supergiant for trying to make a sequel as opposed to just updating Hades one. They could have easily done that. I think this was the riskier move, weirdly. And I think it clearly. I mean, it's a successful game. It has reviewed very well. It has sold very well. I'm really happy for them. And there's a lot to admire. Even though the next, I think, doesn't really come into full focus or doesn't really pay off the way we all hoped it would. There's still so much great art direction and music and vocal performances. There's a lot to admire here still. And I also think it's like, I try to put myself in the head space of, if this was Hades one, I would be like, what the fuck? This is amazing. How on earth did they try to do this? I just think it has the misfortune of following. They got it perfect the first time. And I think the only thing that would truly disappoint me at this point is if they made Hades 3. I could kind of forgive the narrative sins of this game. Not that forgiving, dramatic, but you know what I mean? I can kind of see this game okay.
- [138:04]
A
This was like, if they kiss my feet, if Greg Cassavan came to my house and kissed my feet, then maybe it'd be okay.
- [138:11]
B
I could be like, okay, this is the weird, overly ambitious sequel that's still very fun, but not quite as focused. I just think if they keep going back to it, because I really want to see what is the new world from them, because every game they make is such a creative, inspiring new place. And same is true for both Hades games. I want to see what's next rather than just keep stuck in the same loop as these characters.
- [138:35]
A
Yeah, just to be clear, it's not all doom and gloom with this thing. For about 60 of those 80 hours, I was like, this is one of the best games I ever played. But I was feeling the same things that you were kind of early on. Narratively, there are just a lot of very interesting, interesting thematic ideas that start to percolate early on in the game that don't have payoff at all. And that's one of the Things that was the most surprising to me, having played mostly everything that Supergiant has made. I think from my perspective, most of the time while playing Hades 2, I just had an immense amount of trust in that team. And to be clear, just because I shouted out by. I have a great amount of respect for Greg07 and his work, but having played a lot of the previous stuff that they've worked on, I was really excited expecting them to make good on all of this stuff. There are a lot of very, like. I don't want to give anything away, unfortunately, but we can't really get into specifics. That's why we have to. But there. There are just certain things that I was like, wow, I can't believe they're taking the game in this direction. Or, wow, I can't believe they're doing this with Mel. That end up not only unresolved, but, like, unremarked upon, which is kind of one of the more interesting things is, like, there's just this kind of, like, sprinkling of huge ideas, ideas that kind of goes unnoticed, and then what ends up becoming the focus is, like, family again. But it doesn't make as much sense as it did in the first one.
- [139:56]
B
Yeah. I wonder. Like, it feels like something happened that we'll probably never know.
- [140:00]
A
Yeah, maybe.
- [140:01]
B
I mean, it could have just been the direction they wanted to take, and that's fine.
- [140:05]
A
I just think it's so notable that the game came out with a different. With a different ending that then got patched Mass Effect 3 style later.
- [140:12]
B
Like, this is the Mass Effect 3 of the.
- [140:14]
A
It's so interesting that they not only acknowledged that there was enough negative feedback about the way the game wrapped up that they needed to add more stuff to it, but they did it very, very, very quickly. But the ending is still largely the same. It's just. There's, like, more of a rationale going into it now.
- [140:29]
B
Yeah. That's also what they did with Master 3, right.
- [140:32]
A
Yeah.
- [140:33]
B
I mean, I got the patch ending, to be clear. I mean, not only did I get the patch ending, but I also had the ending spoiled for me. So I was in the best possible case to receive this ending, and I still went, huh. I really did feel. I think it's. It's. It's a combination of what you said of, like, there's a lot of setup that goes unresolved.
- [140:53]
A
Yeah.
- [140:53]
B
And I think the landing they. The ending they choose is very abrupt.
- [140:58]
A
Yeah.
- [140:58]
B
And I think there's a version of that ending that works. If it was like Built up to more gradually, but it just feels that they kind of. They went very wide with the sequel.
- [141:07]
A
Yeah.
- [141:08]
B
And I think they maybe bit off a little bit more than was possible.
- [141:11]
A
Yeah. But at the end of the day, and I think I said this a couple episodes ago, and I still believe it, the first Hades, when I rolled credits on that game and then I, like, got to the epilogue and stuff, I did not feel the need to keep playing it. Like, I didn't really want to keep going and, like, increasing my heat and seeing how well I could do, etc. Etc.
- [141:27]
B
Yeah.
- [141:28]
A
I am still dipping into and out of Hades, too, every once in a while. Like, I am still.
- [141:32]
B
I'm going to keep playing.
- [141:32]
A
I'm still playing it because, again, like, mechanically, I think it's unbelievably strong.
- [141:37]
B
Yeah.
- [141:38]
A
And I do. I do want to unlock, like, everything in this game eventually and see all there is to see. I. I will be one of those people who has, like, 200 hours in this at some point. But, yeah, I think. I think when I'm. When I'm placing it on this list in particular, and. And I'm comparing it to everything else that's coming up, I'm like, it was a pretty good game mechanically and kind of a weak game narratively in that sense.
- [141:59]
B
And it's hard to tune that other half out because of how much they're
- [142:02]
A
like, it's the most. It's like, yeah, there are only two things that this game needed to get right, and one of them, it didn't, you know?
- [142:09]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's Hades 2.
- [142:10]
A
That's Hades 2.
- [142:11]
B
Number 8.
- [142:12]
A
Number 8 for me.
- [142:44]
B
Number seven.
- [142:45]
A
Number seven.
- [142:46]
B
Number seven for me is Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D remake.
- [142:50]
A
Wow. Two video games in one.
- [142:52]
B
Two video games in one. Specifically, Dragon Quest 2.
- [142:54]
A
Yeah.
- [142:55]
B
But I'll give it to both of them.
- [142:56]
A
Yeah.
- [142:57]
B
Because they're in one game. Really incredible remake. We were both big fans of the Dragon Quest 3 remake last year. I think that's still my favorite overall. But I felt the need to put this here because while the one remake is pretty good, the two remake is essentially a new rpg. It takes what was once considered, as you said, the least beloved Dragon Quest game and makes it into something really remarkable. And I just kind of increasingly love it. The more I play, I'm in the sort of second part of the game where it kind of opens up more dramatically.
- [143:29]
A
You have the boat.
- [143:30]
B
I have the boat. Yes. And it's very fun. I will say the one thing I kind of strongly prefer about three is, like, when you get the boat in three, you can kind of go anywhere. And in two, it's very clear what areas are meant for, like, level 40. So, like, you can get like one shot. But that adds to sort of the mystery of the world. And like, yeah, it's not really a deal breaker. And I love the sort of camaraderie between these three cousins. I think this will probably kind of rise in the ranks of my favorite Dragon Quest games as I play more of it, but I felt the need to put it in a list because of how much I liked it so far.
- [144:00]
A
Yeah, I mean, I could talk forever about why these are awesome video games. I've rolled credits on the Dragon Quest I remake, and even though I have my gripes mainly just with the runtime of it, I just think it's expanded a little bit too much. I was still blown away by all of the additions they made to it and how well they served the original game. It does feel like an homage to Dragon Quest 1 more than it is a remake of Dragon Quest 1, if that makes sense. And that's, I think, one of the things that was most surprising about it because three, for the most part, like, it is expanding a lot on what happened in that original release of 3. But for the most part, it's playing it pretty faithfully. It's just like reorchestrations of all of the music. And obviously it has the HD2D thing going on and there's like voice acting now and stuff like that. But it's a largely faithful remake, despite, despite all of this Quality of Life stuff that they've added. One, to take that game and turn it into a full thing like The Dragon Quest 3 remake basically means just inventing most of the game. Because as I've said many times on the show Before, Dragon Quest 1, the original is basically the foundation of a video game. There are three lines of dialogue from a king who's like, go visit the four corners of the earth, get these things and beat the bad guy. And that's the whole game. There's like almost no dialogue that happens outside of that. To take that and then add all these secondary and tertiary characters would be hero. Would be hero. And specifically, I think it's the drive of all of these remakes is to tie the original trilogy together more concretely, because originally you have Dragon Quest 1. Dragon Quest 2 is a sequel to Dragon Quest 1, and then Dragon Quest 3 is a prequel to those two. Now releasing these remakes as three 1, 2. And then tying them all together more specifically I think is a really interesting conceit and was really fun to explore that game. Having played most of the Dragon Quest 3 remake. And then Dragon Quest 2 is just. It's hard to articulate not only how big of a glow up it is, but how quickly playing this game skyrockets it from like, this is another Dragon Quest game. And probably the worst one to like, this is maybe now like vying for the best Dragon Quest game.
- [146:12]
B
Yeah. It's like the bar to clear was like, make a better version of two.
- [146:16]
A
Yeah.
- [146:16]
B
Which they, you know, it's not easily done, but like, it's possible.
- [146:19]
A
Yeah.
- [146:20]
B
But yeah, they made like one of the best Dragon Quests.
- [146:22]
A
Yeah. And that's. I just like, I can't get over how fascinating that is because almost in none of the marketing and the lead up to it did I feel like that was going to be the case. Like for the most part, I was most excited to replay and see what that was going to be like. Having played through one recently or the original one recently. For two. Again, like you said, the bar to clear was like, I want it to be playable because I found my experience in Dragon Quest ii. I was just like, I don't enjoy playing this the way I do with literally any other Dragon Quest game. When I start to play two, it feels more like an obligation than a game I'm playing. And yet two is like an extremely powerful story all of a sudden.
- [147:02]
B
Yeah, that's great.
- [147:03]
A
It's amazing.
- [147:03]
B
Huge fan. That's number seven for me.
- [147:06]
A
That's number seven for you. Dragon Quest Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D remake.
- [147:09]
B
I'm curious if we'll hear about it again or not.
- [147:11]
A
Maybe. Number seven for me may be surprising. It's Mario Kart World.
- [147:48]
B
Oh, okay. I. I had a feeling it would make it. I wasn't sure where.
- [147:51]
A
Yeah, yeah, this. I was. I was up in the air about having this on the list at a certain point and it wasn't until you and I went back and replayed it again recently. Yeah, I of kind because I was like, I really want to play online again and I want to play with a friend and see what that's like.
- [148:06]
B
I'm laughing because I remember you said I'm feeling the A2 effect in real time, which I feel like might inform your view on this.
- [148:13]
A
Mario Kart world is, I think, a fascinating thing in that it feels like it entered and exited the conversation basically immediately it launched with the Switch 2. A lot of people Were like, this is a very good Mario Kart game. But it kind of got lost in the shuffle of the price, which is $80.
- [148:31]
B
That did not help it. Which is also kind of. I mean, I don't think there was anything that game could have done to justify that, because, you know, it's. Yeah, it's such a. Maybe the worst time to increase price for something, you know, But I just think, yeah, there was no way Nintendo was gonna literally sell that idea that this should be $80.
- [148:46]
A
Yeah. And even, like, now looking at it, my only feelings about it are cynical. Like, the only reason I think that I look at that game and I think, like, this is why it's $80, is because Mario Kart 8 is the best selling game that Nintendo's ever made.
- [148:59]
B
And also to incentivize pre orders, because if you got the pre order with Mario Kart World, it was. It was 50.
- [149:05]
A
Yeah.
- [149:05]
B
Yeah.
- [149:06]
A
Which, you know, that can be part of the conversation. But even removing that, like, the game itself comes out and is this. You know, it's in the name, but it's this open world take on Mario Kart. It has, like, a free roam mode that you can hang out in with your friends. It has, like, all of these extra, like, side challenges and medallions you can find that are hidden all over the place. There's a lot of stuff going on with that. But more specifically, the actual racing, the Grand Prix, is no longer do track, do track, do track, do track, and then it's over. But you start in one track, and then you drive from that track to the next one. Then you drive from that track to the next one, then you drive from that track to the next one, and you do a couple laps on each of those tracks. But there's this kind of in between commuter period between each of these races. And a lot of people really didn't like that. A lot of people really found that that kind of upset the balance of what they want out of Mario Kart. And I think the thing about that choice in particular that really strikes me as baffling is like, we and everybody else has said that Knockout Tour is like, the reason for the season with this game.
- [150:05]
B
Yeah.
- [150:06]
A
Knockout Tour is a mode where it's basically like a battle royale, where it's like you and everybody that they can fit on a track at once. All driving six laps is one. What they call them, but you're basically just like zooming through a big piece, a big chunk of the world.
- [150:23]
B
It's like four levels all at once. And that's where I think. I think what they wanted to do with the commutes in between the Grand Prix is to communicate the sense of openness. But it just ends up feeling like a less authored Grand Prix level that takes away from the amount of laps you get in the actual level. Whereas Knockout Tour does feel like, oh, man, this is cool. This is a seamless. We are going from booze, haunted Jersey Shore to the woods or whatever. Yeah.
- [150:51]
A
And the thing that I find so strange is, like, you know, we have that. As you're saying, we have that experience and Knockout Tour, why did it also need to be in Grand Prix? So those are kind of my feelings a couple weeks ago, and then you and I sat down to play it again, and I was just thinking about it while we were playing it, and I was like, this feels to me, feels to play as solid as Mario Kart 8.
- [151:13]
B
Like, it's very comparable.
- [151:15]
A
It's very comparable. And they've added a couple things here and there, like, obviously the wall rise and the grinds and all this other stuff that they've added that I think is additive. Like, I do think it, like, changes the game in a market way. It's like, they're fun additions. They've obviously introduced, like, a much higher skill ceiling with it. And you watch some time trial stuff online that's like, truly fucking horrifying.
- [151:35]
B
While you're too. Why is it always the Bat Screech or whatever their name is?
- [151:40]
A
Yeah, I don't know, but point being, like, when you and I sat down to play this game again, I just started to think about, like, what is actually wrong with this game? Like, yeah, what. What would I look at this game and say, like, these are my critiques? And outside of the, like, weirdness of Grand Prix mode, there's not much that I would remove from it. I do think the bigger question on my mind when looking at the more negative reviews of this game is, like, how much. How much is ignore? Like, how much is here and how much is ignorable? Like, depending on what you like in Mario Kart, there is that version of Mario Kart available to you in some way, shape or form in this game. And for the people who want more more or want more experimental stuff that is also here. And for me, when I'm playing and knowing that this is going to be, like, the thrust of what we play multiplayer on the Switch 2 for the next, like, 10 years, probably, even if they never updated this game again, it is still an extremely strong Mario Kart game. And Better in my opinion than a lot of the other ones. It stands close enough to Mario Kart 8, I think to be comparable to that game. And the fact that that is possible, I think is worth noting when personally consider Mario Kart 8 to be like the best racing game ever made. Probably.
- [152:53]
B
Yeah.
- [152:53]
A
So that's when we're Talking about the A2 effect in real time. Like that's what I mean by that is like this is a game that I'm comparing to my favorite racing game. So why wouldn't it make the list? Why wouldn't it be in the top 10? Like there is some kind of like mental psychic barrier I have between acknowledging what this game for what it is and the way people talk about it online. And as soon as I remove that other half from it, it's like, this is a brilliant Mario Kart game.
- [153:17]
B
Yeah, I like that you've taken kind of a long term view on your list where it's like, what will I be proudest of years from now? I mean that's the fun of these is like, even though that's the intention, you can never really do that because like, although I will say, like looking back on our list, it's usually at least in the realm of how I still feel. Yeah, there are some years where I'm like, okay, this would have been entirely different, but yeah. Or some picks would be higher or lower.
- [153:41]
A
Right.
- [153:41]
B
But overall like 90% kind of where I still am. But yeah, with Mario Kart World, I think it is interesting that the major complaint is that it's. It's more of what we liked.
- [153:51]
A
Yeah.
- [153:52]
B
I do agree that the Grand Prix's are weird. The workaround is kind of like when we were in Versus mode. You can choose the levels individually and that really unfortunately to the game that kind of solidifies how much more fun that is. To get multiple laps in one of these really cool levels is way more fun than just getting one lap and then having to drive in the in between. I also would even say the free roam mode is kind of underwhelming. Like that was the biggest surprise to me given the marketing was so focused on like you can drive anywhere and take pictures with your friends. I'm like, it feels like something I like doing while I'm listening to a podcast edit. When I'm doing the qa. Listen for this show, I'll do free roam mode cause it doesn't take too much from me. And I know that it's apparently very popular with younger players. Kids love free roam mode, but I Also think that, like, it does feel empty in a way that most open world Nintendo stuff doesn't. And it makes me wonder, like, when in development was this added? I almost wish it was, like, nothing. Just, like, lean into the, like, vibes of it all. Because, like, adding, like, oh, there's like a coin here. It just feels like. I don't know, it doesn't excite me really. But all that to say, I do like the music changes. I do like just being a penguin on the highway.
- [155:04]
A
This, I think, has one of the best soundtracks of the year as well.
- [155:07]
B
Easily.
- [155:07]
A
There's like 500 songs in here and they're all orchestrated and they're all just ridiculous. Beautiful, beautiful recompositions of games or of Mario songs from years past. It's really wild. The thing about the free roam mode for me is I will always think about the first time I played this game online with you and a bunch of our friends. Right when the Switch 2 came out and we spent probably an hour just chatting, not doing a race. We were just in the free roam mode, hanging out. And it felt to me like this aha moment of like, oh, this is yet another reason why this is here. Is like the gamification of waiting to play the rest of the game.
- [155:44]
B
That's true. Yeah. I think that to me is a blurry line of like, how much do I just enjoy talking to my friends versus this mode.
- [155:52]
A
But that gets back into, like, peak, you know?
- [155:54]
B
Yeah, that's true.
- [155:54]
A
You know, it's like, it's just kind of an excuse to be hanging out with your friends at the end of the day.
- [155:59]
B
I do think that, like, there could have been. I don't know. I think. I think I agree with you.
- [156:03]
A
There should have been more.
- [156:03]
B
Yeah. I think there either should have been more or less. I think how it is now just feels off to me. But I agree that, like, having it be the thing in between races.
- [156:12]
A
Yeah.
- [156:12]
B
Is very nice.
- [156:13]
A
Yeah.
- [156:14]
B
But that also doesn't feel like the way it was pitched or the way it was. It feels like it's the way I play this game is almost the opposite of the way they were, like, hoping I would.
- [156:23]
A
Right.
- [156:23]
B
And that's kind of. That's, that's, to me, the reason why I didn't make my list. Even though I think I agree with what you're saying that, like, I don't think it's at least the second best Mario Kart game, which is very high praise.
- [156:33]
A
Yeah.
- [156:33]
B
And it is going to be the game that I kind of just Play forever.
- [156:36]
A
Yeah.
- [156:37]
B
On the Switch, too.
- [156:38]
A
Yeah. Whenever they release the Smash Brothers at just going to be like, all right, we want to play something tonight, let's flip a coin.
- [156:43]
B
Yeah. Right. Let's queue up. But yeah, I mean, I'm curious to see if they will update it more over time and how this game looks. I mean, that's something with Mario Kart 8 where it's like Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U versus Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in 2025 is a different experience because they've added so much to that game recently, which is bizarre. In the lead up to the Switch 2 coming out, they added all this DLC to Mario Kart 8, which is so funny. I love Nintendo ads like Animal Crossing, New Horizons. Everyone had like some kind of like, callback to 2020. The minute they're like new features for your island, it's like, I haven't been here in years. The cockroaches.
- [157:22]
A
Yeah. I feel like I hit my head and Woke up in 2025. Yeah.
- [157:25]
B
How many years has it been?
- [157:26]
A
Yeah.
- [157:28]
B
But you know, Mark, our world is great.
- [157:30]
A
Yeah. Yeah, it's great. That's my number seven.
- [157:32]
B
Number seven, Sam. Number six.
- [158:13]
A
Number six, baby.
- [158:15]
B
The. The final act. The one day more of the Godiless.
- [158:18]
A
Yes.
- [158:18]
B
And just. Just for dramatic effect. It's like I'm reading an envelope.
- [158:21]
A
I'm so excited. You know what's funny is like, we talk about this all the time. I. I really don't have any semblance of what your list is this year. Like, I. I have some ideas here and there about some things that will probably show up. But like, I ask me for an hour and I probably wouldn't know what your number six is.
- [158:36]
B
This feels like the mascot of that uncertainty because my number six is Digimon Story Time Stranger.
- [158:42]
A
Beautiful. Beautiful choice.
- [158:44]
B
I love it. Such, like, it is such a solid rpg.
- [158:47]
A
Yeah.
- [158:49]
B
I joked with you that this is the year of bad endings. Talking about 2025, like so many games weirdly, like, even just now, like Bonanza and Hades 2, both were games that I felt less excited about the more I played. Which sounds crueler than I mean it.
- [159:04]
A
Yeah.
- [159:05]
B
Digimon Story Time Stranger is the opposite. This game just gets better and better to the point where I actually think it puts off some of its best stuff. For those who don't know what this is worth noting, I am not at all. I don't dislike Digimon, but I have no prior nostalgia for it.
- [159:20]
A
Noted Digimon haters Steven Hilger.
- [159:24]
B
I Will post monster Rancher memes till I die. But Digimon I always liked, but never. It was never my thing as a kid.
- [159:31]
A
Yeah.
- [159:31]
B
And I've always wanted to get into the games, but Rocky track record there.
- [159:35]
A
Yeah.
- [159:36]
B
There are some that people really go to bat for. There are some that are just not as successful. The one that I think prior to now that everyone loved was Cyber Sleuth. And this is the follow up basically to that game by the same team. And the thing about this game is that it is not trying to be. This is something we talk about a lot. Especially, like in the current stage of capitalism we're in.
- [159:57]
A
Yeah.
- [159:58]
B
Where it's like, not every game needs to be like the biggest, best, flashiest thing.
- [160:02]
A
Yeah.
- [160:02]
B
I feel like Digimon Time Stranger is a great, like, example. I mean, it's impossible to not compare this to Pokemon, but, like, this is not a game that is like pushing any graphics card to the limit or like making combat that is like wildly innovative. It's just kind of playing the hits in a very fresh way.
- [160:21]
A
Yeah.
- [160:21]
B
You know, and like, I just find it like, it's a really nice, light rpg. The elevator pitch is like, what if SMT was a little bit less satanic? It feels like. And it also feels like it's kind of for all ages in a very genuine way where it's like, I'm sure kids love this. It's very surprisingly system heavy where you can really get in the weeds and bump up the difficulty and min max your Digimon team. The funniest thing about this game is it's a very rich personality system where every now and then your Digimon will be like, what does love mean? And then you'll tell them you have
- [160:54]
A
a multiple choice option and each of them will change their personality for you. Ever.
- [160:58]
B
Yes. But anyway, my point is, like, I think it's just a really great execution of a familiar formula. And in terms of the best stuff later on, like, the beginning of the game feels very smt. It feels very like this is SMT with Digimon.
- [161:15]
A
Yeah.
- [161:15]
B
Where like, you're in this ruined future and a lot of the levels in the dungeons are like sewers that have Digimon in them.
- [161:21]
A
Yeah.
- [161:21]
B
And then hour 10, you get to the digital world, you. You get the title card. And that's I think, where, like, the game was fun up until then, but my God, it is such a beautiful game. Like, the art direction, it's not like, it's just very strong use of color and like, it feels so alive and. And honestly this game kind of ruined Z for me where I'm like, you mentioned you, we both enjoyed that game.
- [161:45]
A
Yeah.
- [161:46]
B
But like you mentioned how like kind of dead the city feels. Like everyone just sort of standing still and like getting to the central city in the digital world and seeing all these digimon like trading and walk and laughing and I'm like, this has such strong personality. The fact that I can ride on my mud Fridgemon, this like big teddy bear just carrying me around. And like I think there's something too that the fact that I don't know Digimon, every time I meet a new creature it like blows my mind that this exists. I'm just like, who is this? And I think they also do a good job. Like a point of feedback I've seen about Cyber Sleuth is that like it's very easy to like get your team way overpowered very early.
- [162:23]
A
Yeah.
- [162:24]
B
And this game limits your digi. Like the creatures you can digivolve into are limited by your agent rank.
- [162:30]
A
Yes.
- [162:31]
B
Which is determined by the main quests and side quests you've completed. So you only are really able to get like. Like you're kind of stuck with like the sort of intermediate level digimon for most of the game which encourages you to like experiment either like giving them more moves and like customizing their personality and their stats or just trying out different teams games.
- [162:51]
A
Yeah.
- [162:51]
B
It's just such a. Again it's like I don't have that much to like single out because I think admittedly like the story is kind of generic. It's fun, but it's generic. And like the combat system is like good but nothing you haven't seen before. But again it goes back to the Paul Hollywood quote of like if you're gonna do the basics, it has to be perfect.
- [163:09]
A
Yeah.
- [163:09]
B
And that's how I feel about this game. It just like they really nailed the elements that are here and it just becomes a game that I always love going back to and chipping away at. It's never going to be my favorite RPG of all time, but it's just so pleasant to have a game like this that just knows what it's doing, doesn't overstay its welcome, and has a rich enough system and a rich enough story for those who really want to get into it. You'll be rewarded for it.
- [163:32]
A
Yeah.
- [163:33]
B
So good. I love this game.
- [163:34]
A
That's your number six.
- [163:35]
B
My number six Digimon Story time Stranger.
- [163:37]
A
I also really like this game. It's really good. It's a game that I've been kind of chipping away at also, but I think in much smaller increments than you like. I'll play it for like 15 to 30 minutes at a time every couple of weeks, just about.
- [163:49]
B
You got to get to the digital world.
- [163:50]
A
Yeah, I really do.
- [163:51]
B
That's where it starts.
- [163:52]
A
The funny thing, as soon as you said that, it immediately occurred to me that the title screen of this game is in the digital world. And it's so funny to go from that to, like, sewer battles for 10 hours.
- [164:05]
B
I think that was a misstep, honestly. Like, I think it's fun. It's also funny how many it's a. Guys choose one. Like, there's time travel and multiple realities, and it's like at a certain point it just. Whatever. But, you know, it's largely a story about. They have some fun with the time travel piece of it. And you play as a character who, like, you're part of this guild that investigates Paranormal Activity. So you do kind of have like a fish out of water thing where you're like, learning about the past human world and also the digital world with, like, equal reverence.
- [164:36]
A
Right.
- [164:37]
B
And then the supporting characters, it's kind of a story just about, like, finding your place, man. There's a Digimon who's like kind of satyr boy who is like the chosen one for the digital world, but really likes hanging out with humans. It's cute. It's nothing. I kind of forgot the minor details already, but it doesn't really matter when I'm having my Mud Frigimon fight a T. Rex with a satellite on its head or something.
- [164:59]
A
Yeah. I think you mentioned this briefly, but it was so wild that this came out a week before Pokemon Legends. Ea. What an unfortunate comparison and it is between those two games. And I have a great reverence for that game. That's another one that almost made my list and didn't.
- [165:15]
B
Yeah, I think it was a step in the right direction.
- [165:17]
A
Yeah. But I mean, comparatively, Digimon Story Time Stranger opens up or takes place largely around the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. And, like, the feeling of aliveness in that area and watching all the people run around and like, going to all the different stores and buying all the different stuff. Like, it just. It feels like. I mean, not so subtle. It's like, about as on their sleeve as possible. But, like, the Persona 5 inspiration particularly is very, very visible here. But for all the games that have tried to take Inspiration for Persona 5, this is actually the one that maybe gets the closest in some ways in
- [165:52]
B
terms of the battle. There's also a lot of great quality of life modern ui. You see the turn order, you see the moves that will be effective against them. It has kind of everything you want from this style of game. And I think it's also like, I think when I think about Pokemon, because I'm someone who has sort of fallen out of series, not for any dramatic reason, have been less interested in it as time has gone on, but I'm like, what is it that I want out of it? Like, what is it that I actually am looking for from a Pokemon game? And I think the thing I like about Pokemon is less anything specifically Pokemon and more just like an RPG that gives you an extreme amount of customization with your party of freaks, you know. That's why I like Octopath 2. That's why I like a lot of these games. That lets me fully put together my team.
- [166:34]
A
Yeah.
- [166:35]
B
And Digimon is like that top times 100. Because not only can you get countless numbers of Digimon and you recruit them, you hatch digital eggs just by encountering them a lot. Which I love that system. The digi Digivolutions.
- [166:51]
A
Yeah.
- [166:51]
B
Is that correct?
- [166:52]
A
That is correct. The digivolutions or D Digivolutions?
- [166:56]
B
Yeah. You can experiment. You can be like, okay, I want to turn them into this. Nevermind.
- [166:59]
A
I don't like that I'm going to turn them back.
- [167:01]
B
It feels like SMT demon fusion to me where it's like I'm now just seeing what possibilities exist. I love my team. I've got like kind of a strange rabbit with overalls and a Barrett Wallace Dunarm mud Frigidmon and just a gigantic dinosaur.
- [167:18]
A
Yeah.
- [167:18]
B
I also my dragon rather. I do have dinosaur as well. And I love that like anything's possible. The adorable kitten I once had is now just a human man with genes. This game rules. I think I would have been such a big Digimon kid. Better late than never.
- [167:33]
A
Better late than never.
- [167:36]
B
Times stranger.
- [167:36]
A
Yes.
- [167:37]
B
Yes.
- [167:37]
A
That's your number six.
- [167:38]
B
Number six.
- [168:09]
A
My number six. Oh, man, I love this game. It's Consume Me.
- [168:13]
B
Oh, hell yeah.
- [168:14]
A
Consume Me is a life sim RPG that is an autobiographical tale about some heavy stuff. It's about a girl in high school whose mom asks her if she's like gaining weight and is basically like, what spirals out from that. It's a very relatable experience. I think even if it wasn't like weight or whatever, it's going to Be something your parents are going to ask you. Something that's going to make you feel
- [168:40]
B
the pressure you put on yourself at that age especially.
- [168:42]
A
Yeah, exactly. And then it's compounded by the expectations your parents have of you, etc. Etc. And the game basically centers around Jenny, the protagonist and the real person who made the game and her to do list that she gives herself, her very rigorous to do list that she gets herself in high school. That's like, I'm going to fix my life. I'm going to get myself in order. I'm going to eat less and work out more and I'm going to study this amount for this test and get, you know, do this extracurricular activity, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, onwards and onwards and onwards, week after week after week, year after year after year. And it's told via some of the most beautiful, funniest, interesting art I've seen in a video game. Yeah, it is like laugh out loud funny. Some of the animation work in this thing. It is like, holy, holy, holy, holy. Unique in its presentation. I love the music in it. And most of the gameplay revolves around either choosing what you're going to do on a daily basis through a list of things that you can do and how much time it takes up on a given day. And also worry aware style mini games for what each of those things entail. So something just like watering a plant involves reaching your hand up with a watering pail and using it to drip water onto a plant.
- [170:02]
B
Plant reading is impossible.
- [170:06]
A
Reading is a game in which Jenny's head is spinning around on a swivel and the book that you're trying to read is swiveling around on a different swivel.
- [170:14]
B
And ideas and intrusive thoughts are kind of just like bouncing around.
- [170:17]
A
Yes. So you need to point Jenny's head at the book and every time you click it changes which way your head is rotating. But you also need to avoid these thoughts as they start to enter your field of view. And if they hit them, then she kind of just stops reaching reading for a second.
- [170:31]
B
Yeah, it's fun. I mean, it incentivizes buying the spark notes for Catcher in the Rye instead of reading it for the summer reading,
- [170:37]
A
which is an actual thing you can do in the video game. There's like an amazing resident evil 4 attache case thing or style minigame which is how you decide what food you're eating. There's so much wonderful stuff happening in this game and it feels so much to me. I mean, it is Very literally, as an autobiographical tale, it's a labor of love, right? Like very literally a story about what she went through. And I feel like if you have any media literacy at all, which I'm sure you do, you probably know that it doesn't end well. Following this rigorous of a timeline and putting these kinds of pressures on yourself is not what most people should do. There's a healthy balance you need to find between trying to better yourself and what your life actually can and should be and how you enjoy it. But I loved this game all the way to the credits. It's one of the games that made me cry this year. I love it so, so deeply. It feels like something that we will maybe never get again unless Jenny decides to make another game. But even if she does, like I imagine, it won't look or sound anything like this again. Realistically.
- [171:42]
B
One of a kind for sure.
- [171:43]
A
It's just a one of a kind thing. I absolutely adore it. I think it's such a special thing and I'm excited to just see the games that are inspired by this one. Also, it's funny because this game makes pretty constant reference to Florence, another narrative, kind of not autobiographical in that case, but you know, just kind of like another narrative adventure game that uses warioware style minigames to tell its story. But this game to me feels so much like the thing that will inspire lots and lots and lots of game developers over time to just like start to put their nose to the grind zone and make very cool video games about their lives. This. And there's another game, Despolote, that came out this year, which also came very close to making my list. That is another very singularly visually impressive, interesting autobiographical video game. And I love that we're seeing more of that. I love that games are, I'm not going to say getting easy enough to make because by God they're not. And consume me by itself, I think took a decade at least. But at least the barrier to entry to making a game is getting low enough.
- [172:45]
B
The tools are largely free, if not cheaper than they ever have been. And there are more resources to learn.
- [172:52]
A
Yes.
- [172:53]
B
Even in the time doing the show in 2018, the idea of making. I didn't even think about the possibility of me making a game until a few years years ago.
- [173:01]
A
Right.
- [173:02]
B
Because it just felt like something you had to go to eight years of school for or already be in the industry. And now it's way more available, which is great. But then it adds to the discoverability problem, which is the new challenge yes.
- [173:14]
A
So I don't know. I'm just excited for a lot more autobiographical games to come out. I love this one a lot. It made me laugh out loud all the time. I kind of want to play it again at some point, but I think I need some distance from it before I do that. But I think it's a really special thing and I kind of hope it gets ported to consoles at some point
- [173:33]
B
because right now it's only Switch game.
- [173:35]
A
It's just out on PC and Mac right now. But it really feels like something that could very easily be on the Switch and I think pick up a much larger audience if possible.
- [173:43]
B
I would love to see, like, a playdate demake. That'd be fun. With the crack.
- [173:47]
A
Yeah, that'd be fun. The fun thing, I don't want to say too much about it, but, like, during the end of the game, you get to play through, like, early beta tests of the game itself because eventually the autobiographical nature of it catches up with real time or close to real time. So there is the point when Jenny is in college and studying game design and starts sketching out the beginning ideas of what Consume Me is going to become. And you get to play through real versions of the early yoga mini game and stuff. It's so interesting. It's such a cool, unique thing.
- [174:19]
B
Yeah. I love my time with this as well. I think I loved the whole game. I think it's not in the realm of bad endings fully, but I did find that I significantly enjoyed the. The first half more, for whatever reason. That said, though, it is autobiographical, so it's hard to critique what happened.
- [174:34]
A
Yeah. What her real life was like. Yeah.
- [174:36]
B
But I do think. I think I said this on the show, but I felt that the game kind of made its point earlier than it ended. That said, I do love that epilogue catching up with the development of the game and just, I mean, even the chapters that I enjoyed less, I appreciate how vulnerable it is and it all works. I just think it's almost like the stress of her routine is so efficient, effective at being stressful, that, like, towards the end I was, like, actually distressed out.
- [175:04]
A
Yeah.
- [175:05]
B
But that's a testament to its effective, you know, narrative design.
- [175:09]
A
Yeah. Yeah. It's a game told in six chapters in an epilogue. And I feel like chapter four is actually where it really makes its point. Like, that's like the fourth chapter is the moment where it's like, the game gets really hard. It's very likely that you will just like, fail and get a game over during that. And then need to reload the save and start again on chapter four.
- [175:25]
B
Yeah.
- [175:26]
A
And at least that's what happened to me. And I've talked to a lot of other people who played this game who also had that experience with chapter four.
- [175:31]
B
A couple game overs towards the end.
- [175:32]
A
Yeah.
- [175:33]
B
They're all very funny. Like, they're very melodramatic. And, like, yeah, I love the protagonist and the voice of this game. Like, the way it, like, captures just what a big deal everything is at that age.
- [175:45]
A
Yeah.
- [175:45]
B
You know, but also, like, I mean, I think the weight stuff really resonated for me. Not to get too personal, but just because the game is so vulnerable, I can share this. But, like, I remember, you know, I grew up as a really heavy kid, and. And I was definitely bullied for it a lot. And then when I was 12, just the combination of, like, eating a little bit more healthy and also going through puberty, it was like, flink. I just, like, showed up. At that age, everyone just shows up a different person.
- [176:15]
A
Yeah.
- [176:16]
B
Every year or two. Every year in middle school. And everyone was suddenly so nice to me. And at the time, it was this amazing feeling. And that's the thing the game makes clear is, like, before you even start the game, there's content warnings, and the game says, like, jenny will be rewarded for her behavior. That's not the game saying, this is what to do.
- [176:34]
A
Yes.
- [176:35]
B
And that resonated with me because in seventh grade, 12, friends, parents, teachers, friends, everyone was like, oh, my God, you look so much better. You look amazing. Suddenly I was, like, being invited to parties like I wouldn't have been invited to earlier. And on one hand, it was great in the moment, but in retrospect, I'm like, why did it take that to be treated better? And to this day, I still feel this version of I have to look a certain way to cause I fluctuated with weight my whole life. And everyone has their own dream journey with that, and we know way more now about weight does not equal health, et cetera. But despite people outwardly telling me otherwise, I've always felt aversion of, I need to look away before I achieve this thing I want to. And that kind of intensified in lockdown. My image of myself kind of got demolished by that experience to the point
- [177:28]
A
where I was like, you spent so much time on Zoom. Right. You spend so much time, like, especially, you know, you. You and I had, like, office jobs at the time.
- [177:34]
B
Yeah.
- [177:34]
A
So you spend, like, almost all of your time just looking at yourself on Zoom, which is, like, such a horrifying thing. Yeah.
- [177:40]
B
Yeah. So I appreciate this game being like. There's a point where, like, after the first chapter, all of Jenny's goals are not. Like, the first goal is like, I want to look good in a bathing suit.
- [177:49]
A
Yes.
- [177:49]
B
Or I want to look a certain way in a bathing suit.
- [177:51]
A
Yeah.
- [177:51]
B
And the irony is that, like, she hits it off with the guy she likes on a rainy day. They don't even go to the beach. They don't see each other.
- [177:57]
A
Right. Yeah. They just meet on the subway.
- [177:59]
B
Yeah. And it's very clear that he doesn't care in a good way. But regardless, even when the goal changes, when it becomes, I need to get into this school, I need to do this, weight is always a part of it. And there's a certain point where Jenny in the game is to her reflection, who's the antagonist? In some ways, she's like, why do I have to still maintain this diet? It's not even relevant to my goals. And then the reflection is like, what? Well, that's the only reason you got this far. And that is so. I think everyone has felt a version of that. Like you said, whether it's about weight or something else, there's always. We need to set arbitrary goals to give ourselves permission to like ourselves. And it's only by getting rid of those goals. And you can have ambition, but setting a arbitrary deadline for yourself to achieve any sense of acceptance or self love is a downhill battle as the game explores. So I think this game is really touching on something that is, like, deeply personal but also extremely universal.
- [178:55]
A
Yeah. Yeah, I just. It's. It's just an exceptional experience. Yeah, I. I played through it in probably, like, three sittings total. Yeah, it's. It's not exactly like a long game. And that's another. That's another point in its corner, in my opinion. But I. I just think, like, if you resonate at all with the ideas that it's throwing out there, or if you, like, watch a little clip and you're like, I like this music, or I like the way it looks, you will enjoy your time with Consume Me. Even though it's about some pretty heavy stuff, but the fact that it's about heavy stuff is, I think, the most important part of it.
- [179:26]
B
Yeah. I think it treats it with care. I think, honestly, the weight stuff in the game, I think feels the most. At least it felt to me the most uncomfortable earlier on. It becomes another part of the routine eventually, which is kind of the point. But, yeah, it doesn't ever get as deeply Personal in terms of one's mind, body, as it does in the beginning.
- [179:47]
A
Yeah, yeah. And it also just made me really want a Pomeranian.
- [179:53]
B
Yes. The dog plays a vital role in this game.
- [179:55]
A
Yeah, I don't, I don't want to say too much, but like, I, I do think it's really notable that there's a dream sequence that Jenny has at a certain point where she sees like a dream version of herself in the future.
- [180:06]
B
That's such a funny sequence. I love it.
- [180:08]
A
And she's walking three Pomeranians. And then when you see her later in life, in her real life, she is also walking three Pomeranians. It's the one thing that happens in both the dream version of her life and the actual.
- [180:21]
B
I just want to share one joke. When she has the dream version of her adult self, you drink a cocktail in the same Wario or minigame and she goes, mmm, another cure for cancer.
- [180:30]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's a scientist and she finds another cure. Unreal. It's just an amazing experience and, and, and so unique and I don't know, I, I, I just really want to put it on a big old pedestal.
- [180:45]
B
Hell yeah. That's consumed me.
- [180:46]
A
That's consumed me. Number six for me.
- [180:48]
B
Why don't we take a break here and then come back with five to one?
- [180:51]
A
Wow, that sounds like a great idea, Stephen. I can't wait to do it through.
- [180:54]
B
Okay, bye.
- [180:55]
A
Bye.
- [181:26]
B
Hi, friends.
- [181:27]
A
Eric here.
- [181:28]
B
2025 was absolutely jam packed with incredible games. I love loved sprinting behind Atsu as she carved a bloody path of revenge across Hokkaido in Ghost of Yotei. I loved building an unstoppable magic engine to rip Malanui's catty granddad a new one in Hades 2. And I loved settling into my high backed library armchair to consult my labyrinthine case notes in the seance of Blake Manor, hopefully to tick off another folklore rich mystery. But the game that swept me off my feet this year and set me down gently on a billboard to look at the beautiful sunset was Dispatch. I devoured this game. They got me invested so quickly thanks to its gorgeous animation, snappy writing and brilliant voice performances. And then it paid back that investment generously. It told a new superhero story worth telling about trust, vulnerability and what it means to show up for someone. Beyond that, the clever design of its workplace simulation mechanics was perfectly up my alley, keeping me utterly hooked between story beats. I hope we get more Dispatch, because I really do love these freaks. That said, I'm excited for whatever ad hoc is working on next And I have more than enough unhinged Robert X Flambe fan art to tide me over. In the meantime, thanks for an amazing year in the Aether. And here's to the next one. Brendan, Stephen, we are back as usual, per goatee tradition, we had pizza for lunch.
- [182:45]
A
We had. We had a really good pizza.
- [182:47]
B
Maybe the best pizza I've at least had in years. Arguably my life.
- [182:51]
A
Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's really good. We used to go. We don't have to get too into it. We used to go to the same pizza place every single time, which is also very good. Kind of near my house, which is very good. Recently discovered an even better pizza place that is literally the exact same distance away from my apartment and went there and boy, do I kind of regret eating the other pizza for the past five years. And yet here we are. We wanted, okay, before we do Five to one wanted to finally reveal the console that we're going to be talking about this year. So as we mentioned at the top of the episode in March we're in gonna have our Patreon episode about the PlayStation Vita. But for everybody in the summer at the start of the new season for into the Aether, we're gonna be talking about a console called the Sony PlayStation. The Sony PlayStation.
- [183:36]
B
The Sony PlayStation. The first PlayStation. PS1, PSX. PSX, whatever you wanna call it. A few of you guessed this. We gave you one big hint. Actually we gave two hints. One hint was it is one of the best, what we think the best libraries of all time.
- [183:51]
A
Yeah.
- [183:51]
B
Two is that it was disc based.
- [183:53]
A
Yeah.
- [183:53]
B
Many of you guessed PS2. Some of you guess before the disk hint. Some of you guessed Super Nintendo, which are the right answers.
- [184:00]
A
Some people guessed the Wii also.
- [184:01]
B
Yes.
- [184:02]
A
Which was a fair guess also.
- [184:04]
B
That's been on our. Like. There are truthfully so many consoles left for us to do and the Wii is one of the ones that's interesting to us. Yeah, we tend to like covering. I mean we started with gba, which is like a very established library, but is a handheld. I feel like we like Underdogs and handhelds. It's kind of our energy with the console episodes. This is the first time we're covering just like an lineup basically. Most of those other consoles don't have great libraries, but the PS1 is just one of the greats and that kind of informed our process behind the episode. So I mentioned earlier we talked a little bit about our process for preparing for these. It has ranged from we play dozens, if not over a hundred games over the course of the year and then share our favorites. It's been a version of that each time, but I think it kind of reached a boiling point with the GameCube where we both played like, I don't know, like 140 games for that. And we end up usually talking about 30ish.
- [185:01]
A
Yeah.
- [185:01]
B
And at a certain point, again, we're only two people. And it's kind of diminishing returns when, like, unless this is all we're doing for this one episode. Like, it may be more interesting to have more of like a cultivated into the Aether flavored list.
- [185:15]
A
Yes.
- [185:16]
B
Than just, again, the man versus food of like. I played 2,000 Gamecube games and that's not what the episode is, but I think that's what we were feeling. Real burnout with it.
- [185:24]
A
Yeah.
- [185:25]
B
And it kind of defeats the purpose of like, we want to enjoy this experience. We don't want it to feel like it's, you know, it's a huge undertaking regardless, no matter what.
- [185:34]
A
It's still a lot of work. But.
- [185:35]
B
And this came up because the PS1 is like a very intimidatingly huge library. I don't think in one episode anybody could fully cover it. The good news for us is that we have bonuses we can do whenever that can be about whatever. So PS1 never really stops. But the first idea, if you don't mind me sharing, kind of. Our original idea was to do three different episodes.
- [185:56]
A
We considered them discs.
- [185:58]
B
Three different discs, which I still like as flavor for maybe how we pace it.
- [186:01]
A
Yeah.
- [186:01]
B
But the idea was that we would do disc one in like February ish, Disc two in the spring and then disc three in the summer. Disc one was going to be like all of the mascot platformer games. Disc 2 was going to be all the weird, like, under the radar hidden gems. And then disc three was going to be all the hits. Greatest hits, Final Fantasy 7, all that.
- [186:21]
A
Yeah.
- [186:22]
B
And that's the appeal. I think the reason we went with the PS one is like one. It's not really in like, a lot of the console episodes we've done have been around the same time period. They've ranged between like the 2000s and then, you know, more recently with the Vita. This is going back to the mid-90s, which the oldest console we covered was dreamcast, which was 99.
- [186:42]
A
Yeah.
- [186:43]
B
So this is actually the most retro episode we have done yet. But after we were doing the three disc idea, I was excited about that. But I was like, this is going to end up taking up the whole year. Like it's going to be like the total list was well over 100 games. And while it was a great set list, I'm like, at the end of the day, unless this is all we're doing, this is either going to take away a lot of time from everything else we're doing with the show and also on our own, our own individual solo projects and also. It's just too much. It's just too much. So we were like, what is a proper way to cover the PS1 that is more enjoyable and more doable for us. So what we decided on is again going back to. I was kind of partially inspired by our friends at Eye of the Duck, a great movie podcast you should listen to Our. Our friends Adam and Dom do a show where they do a miniseries every few months where they will be like, this miniseries is about this kind of movie. Most recently they're doing. Or right now they're doing Lord of the Rings, but they also will do space invader movies and true crime movies. Or this is all about this series or this genre. And I thought it'd be fun to do the PS1 still. But to have a playlist that is kind of. Of representative of like what are we interested in and what are you interested in? That's right. You are going to help us with this.
- [188:01]
A
So how it's going to work, you're in.
- [188:02]
B
We're going to make a playlist of 30 games and that's going to be. Those are going to be the 30 games that we discuss.
- [188:09]
A
Yeah.
- [188:09]
B
Usually we have a playlist that's usually twice the size of what ends up being discussed. This time we're going to settle on a playlist that will be what's on the episode in efforts of having play along.
- [188:19]
A
Yeah. Instead of going wide, we're going deep is the idea.
- [188:22]
B
Exactly. Which is the thesis of this episode somehow.
- [188:24]
A
Ye.
- [188:26]
B
So the idea is that Brendan and I will each choose 10 games to add to the playlist and you, dear listener, will vote for the 10 games you want us to play for that episode. A few caveats. So for one, I haven't made it yet, but at the time this comes out, we will have a Google form where you can vote for the 10 PS1 games you want us to cover and we will probably tally that together. I'm guessing we'll probably give a few months for that. Maybe the end of. I don't know. We'll figure it out. We'll let you know what the deck
- [188:54]
A
deadline is at least till the end of January.
- [188:56]
B
Yeah. So that will come out and you can vote for that. The link will be in the show notes and I'll also share it in the discord. The caveats are I will probably wait to see what wins before I choose my 10.
- [189:07]
A
Yeah.
- [189:07]
B
Because I think we both will because we'll respond to what's there. Three caveats though. Or maybe two. One is if we get if the top 10 that are voted by you. If the games are like Crash 1, Crash 2, Crash 3 or multiple games in one series unless they are dramatically different. Different will probably opt to choose one of them just in efforts of variety. So if it's Resident Evil 1 and 2, I might have us choose between them. Crash may be just one of them. Although I'll say it now. I'm open to having both Crash Team Racing and one of the Crash games.
- [189:40]
A
Yeah, we better. Yeah.
- [189:42]
B
But Final Fantasy is a little bit different because 7, 8 and 9 are all wildly different games. So that's stuff like that. The other thing I just want to give ourselves permission to do. I trust you, dear listener.
- [189:53]
A
Oh, I know. Okay.
- [189:54]
B
But the off chance one of the games we just like hate. We have the power to swap it in for something else.
- [190:01]
A
Yeah, that'd be very funny.
- [190:02]
B
I don't think we'll have to do that. But I just want to say that now because we are cementing it ahead of time. If all of you vote for Rascal, please don't. We will swap out Rascal for something else.
- [190:11]
A
Jump and Flash.
- [190:12]
B
Exactly. I think those are all the caveats that we will choose our games after the 10 win that we can. We'll probably choose one representing a series and we can swap them out if we absolutely need to. But we probably won't. I think that covers everything. But I am honestly so excited. That's one of my favorite libraries and partially why I felt like the three disc idea was doable in the first place was that I at least this is the flip of the Vita. I have a very strong history with that console. So even in the like 100 games, I've already played 30 something of them. Significantly, if not to completion. But this is more doable. This will be more fun. I'd rather come to that episode having seen more of all the games than just the first few hours of all of them.
- [190:52]
A
Yeah. My first pass at making a list for this episode was somewhere in the realm of I think 300 games.
- [190:59]
B
Yeah.
- [190:59]
A
Just of stuff that I was personally interested in checking out. And if I'm being honest with myself and with you Steven. And with you, dear listener, like, there is a world in which I end up checking out a lot of stuff anyway.
- [191:10]
B
Yeah.
- [191:10]
A
Just to get more context, because that's just what I am wanting to do usually. But I think. I think this is a much more doable experience and it'll also, I think, allow for the episode to just be like, a lot more interesting when we. When we know for a fact that we've really played as much of these games as possible.
- [191:27]
B
Yeah, I think the PSP one felt really good because that was closer to 60. And even then, though, we didn't get to spend a ton of time with a lot of them. So it's like, I think this just will be. It will be a better episode, it'll be a better process, and you can also more realistically play along with us. The ultimate irony here is that 30 games is still a huge amount.
- [191:44]
A
There's so many video games.
- [191:45]
B
I don't think you can go less than that and have it at least have placeholders for certain vibes of the PS1.
- [191:51]
A
Right. Yeah.
- [191:52]
B
Because I think what's great about this console is, yes, you have your Metal gear solids and FF7s, but you also have a secret Dreamcast where there was so much. Because 3D was new, there was so much experimenting happening that you do have this very creative and very just throwing ideas out there energy to the whole console.
- [192:11]
A
Yeah. I'm very, very, very excited to finally sit down and play through some games that have been on my backlog for an extremely long time. I feel like I've been promising you that I would play Final Fantasy 9 since the first season of this podcast. So I'm excited to talk about that for real and some other stuff that I imagine will probably make the list. I'm really excited about this one.
- [192:31]
B
Yeah. The big one for me is Vagrant Story, which is interesting because when I was doing the disc, it was funny to choose what is considered under the radar now because Vagrant Story for a time was definitely under the radar. But now if you look for reasons research for this, I'll look at like, what are, what are all the Listicles saying? And Vagrant Story is like number one on so many lists. Like so many like, you know, IGN games radar, kind of like Listicles. Yeah, that it's interesting what is now considered like the canon of PS1. But yeah, I mean, just, you know, I think we'll cover a lot of the hits. But I'm excited to get into this sort of stranger part of the library.
- [193:06]
A
I want people to vote for. I can't do this. I can't sack the votes. There is, There is one game that I'm very. I'm very interested in us playing. I have no idea how we would play it. Have you ever heard of Elemental Gearbolt?
- [193:17]
B
No. They're going to say Elemental gimmick Gear. I'm like, we play that for the dream.
- [193:20]
A
We play that on the Dreamcast. Elemental Gearbolt, it's hard to say weirdly, is an rpg, like a fantasy RPG where you play with a light gun that is apparently fascinating and very cool. I'll give a shout out to a YouTuber who I really like named Pretty Cody. Just go watch all their stuff. I'm a very big fan of their work, but they have a video about Elemental Gearbolt that I just really set all my neurons alight when I first watched it. I was like, I really gotta get my hands on that game. Even if that ends up not making the list, I'm gonna play it. I will also say that I've been very frequently, as often as possible, trying to wear PS1 shirts on stream recently.
- [193:55]
B
Yes. And you're wearing one right now?
- [193:56]
A
I'm wearing one right now. Just to see if people would pick up on the hint. Yeah, I'm really excited about this one. This is a console that I came into contact with like maybe three times while it was happening. Yeah. My first console after the SEGA dreamcast was the PS2. And even when I got the PS2, I was mostly playing PS2 games. Even though it was backwards compatible, I wasn't going and buying PS1 games. So a lot of these games are new to me unless they have been like rereleased elsewhere. So things like Final Fantasy 7 I played on the Switch. Things like Moon RPG I played on the switch.
- [194:27]
B
I decided to play Moon. Moon and Parasite Eve are definitely going to be on there.
- [194:31]
A
I'm so excited to hear what you think about Moon.
- [194:33]
B
Me too.
- [194:33]
A
I'm going to replay play it. I'm really excited about it. Also, a great video by Pretty Cody about Moon. Would recommend it. Yeah, I think this is gonna be really fun and I like what we've settled on here. I think it's a nice way of both getting like. It's not even an amuse bouche, it's a full meal from the PS1. But in the grand scheme of how many games were released, it's like a drop in the bucket, which, as we always say, there's always the potential of us taking games from these consoles and talking about them again. In the future. Even playing some more PS1 stuff. PSP stuff recently, I'm probably gonna bring to the show soon.
- [195:04]
B
But there's an open door for more of these games to come.
- [195:06]
A
There's just so many. I mean, even if, you know, we play all 30 of these, there's always gonna be something else that somebody's gonna recommend that, like, will pique our interest and maybe we'll, you know, I can do later.
- [195:14]
B
I can see there's a non zero chance we bump it up to 35, but let's keep it to 30 for now and then.
- [195:20]
A
4D.
- [195:21]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Oops. It's three discs. Yeah, but that's the plan. PS1. I cannot wait.
- [195:26]
A
It's gonna be great.
- [195:27]
B
Yeah.
- [195:27]
A
It's gonna be so good.
- [195:28]
B
You. Lots. Lots of exciting games to play and to revisit. Okay. Shall we Goatee responsibilities?
- [195:34]
A
Let's do it.
- [195:35]
B
Is it my turn?
- [195:35]
A
It is your turn. It's number five. We're in the top five. I was saying, in between, while we were eating pizza, I have light ideas of the games that are on your list. I really. This is the first year where, like, I didn't even make a guess. I didn't. I usually write down a guess. You. You wrote down a guess for my list? Yeah.
- [195:52]
B
Can I share my guess results?
- [195:54]
A
Yeah, yeah. Share 10 through 6.
- [195:55]
B
So I guessed for. For. For Brendan's list. I guessed March, kart world at 10, Hades two at nine, Nubby's number factory at eight, Metal Garden at seven and Consume Me at six.
- [196:06]
A
Yeah.
- [196:06]
B
Nailed. Consumed me.
- [196:07]
A
Nailed. Consumed me. I'm really surprised by that one.
- [196:09]
B
Right game, right number.
- [196:10]
A
Yeah.
- [196:11]
B
Hades 2 and Mario Kart World were both in there, but wrong numbers. And then I was off on the other two.
- [196:15]
A
Yeah.
- [196:16]
B
Unless they appear later.
- [196:17]
A
Unless they appear later.
- [196:18]
B
But. Yeah. You didn't guess mine at all. That's so funny.
- [196:20]
A
No, I just. Like, I. I have. I have. I know some of the games that will be on there, but, like, I just. I. I'm very interested to see where you land. This is the first year, I think, ever, where, like, usually you telegraph your number one in a big way for most of the year. Like, it's very clear, which is the thing that captures you in that way. And I have a hunch as to what that is this year. I have a pretty strong idea of what it is, but I'm still not 100% sure. And that's the first time it's ever happened.
- [196:43]
B
That's very fun. I love that energy.
- [196:45]
A
It is really fun. I Feel like I'm a listener.
- [196:48]
B
Maybe I should be more subtle in my passions going forward.
- [196:51]
A
Yeah. I think what everyone wants to from you is more subtlety. That's famously people's favorite thing about you.
- [196:57]
B
All the reviews like, less volume, more subtlety, Less Aries, more Aquarius. Okay. Number five is Hades two. Oh, yeah. This bounced everywhere. This is number one for a bit. It was number three for a bit. It was number eight like you for a bit.
- [197:15]
A
Oh, yeah. I remember we were on a call and we were very much trying to not talk about the placement of our stuff.
- [197:22]
B
Yes.
- [197:22]
A
And you literally said to me, it was like, the day I decided hades was number eight, you were like, I just realized there's no way Hades 2 can be number eight. It can't be that low. It was like two hours after I had moved Hades 2 to number eight. It was so funny.
- [197:36]
B
Well, I guess. So. Let me. I won't repeat too much of what we already said because I pretty much agree with all the critiques you have about the story and just more so the narrative design of this game. I'll just say it again. It is so fun. I described playing this game as like eating a meal with butter for the first time. It just really is so good that it almost doesn't matter. I think it does matter because it's Hades. But I do think it's worth acknowledging just how good of a game this is. And I have noticed just reading discussions online and in the discord that people who started with Hades 2 are way less bothered by the narrative shortcomings than. And I think, again, this kind of shows what a unfairly high bar the first game is setting. Because I think that the thing that's worth recognizing about Hades too, is that the dialogue is still really sharp and the characters are very strong. There's a lot of good new characters. I love Dora. I love Odysseus as the Riker at camp, and I like being here. That's the thing that I think saves it from feeling a total, oh, this story is a disaster. Is that. Yes, it's disappointing, but I also love just existing in this place with these characters.
- [198:50]
A
Yeah. Crossroads, I think, is a really solid, not replacement, but like, you know, I guess, version of the House of Hades this time around. Like, I think building that place up, introducing more merchants and more people and more stuff to the Crossroads and like, starting to customize it, especially in the post game when you can start to, like, get some of the aesthetic stuff. Like, I really enjoyed doing all of that. I love that Space. And I love all the people there. Yeah.
- [199:15]
B
Yeah. So I think, like, what ends up happening is I end up kind of tuning out a lot of the, like, in the run dialogue, but I still enjoy catching up with characters and kind of just like treating this like what it is, a kind of a messy sequel. But, like, I love the new boons. I love the new weapons. I think, like, they're all so creative and different and weird, and it's still just a joy to play this game, you know, I think it's. It's a constant, like, pendulum swing of, like, when I'm talking about the game, I like it less than when I'm playing it.
- [199:45]
A
Yeah.
- [199:46]
B
You know, and then when I play it, I'm like, oh, this is still really great. And ultimately it's like I put like 80 hours into it and I'm going to play. Play more of it. And like, I just. Even even though I am disappointed by some of the narrative choices in the latter half and I think it maybe was like an overly ambitious story for this cyclical structure, I'm still, like, very impressed by the game itself.
- [200:07]
A
Yeah.
- [200:08]
B
And I'm also just like, I'm. I am a lifelong supergiant fan. Like, I think I said that I'd be disappointed if they do HADES three, but, like, I do really just want to see whatever they want to make, you know, and that's really how I
- [200:19]
A
feel about it too. Yeah.
- [200:20]
B
At the very least, like, you get a new Darren Korb soundtrack out of this. My jaw was on the floor when I was like, is that rock flute in my boss theme? This is amazing. Like, what other composer would do that?
- [200:33]
A
Oh, my God, that.
- [200:34]
B
The cyclops fight. Yeah, that so good.
- [200:37]
A
Boss fight theme is unreal.
- [200:39]
B
Yeah.
- [200:40]
A
Unreal. Yeah. Just to hammer this point home about how good it feels like if we did like, Min Max style, like the outlet Min Max, like Min Max style categories for our game of the year instead of just like a straight up list, like we do. Like, if we had like a best feeling weapon category, the axe would be my favorite thing in a video game this year. Like, the way I. I said, I said this like, really early on when I first started playing it. And I. It was true. As soon as I unlocked the axe, I didn't touch another weapon until I was done with the game. And then I was like, I'll experiment with the other stuff now. And now I'm having a great time with all the other stuff.
- [201:14]
B
Yeah.
- [201:14]
A
But God damn, does that axe feel remarkably good.
- [201:17]
B
It's amazing. And they all, like. All the weapons are really. Yeah, they're all so unique. There's nothing that's like the first game's arsenal.
- [201:25]
A
Yeah.
- [201:25]
B
Because the first game's weapons are pretty simple. It was like sword, bow, shield, spear. It doesn't really get weird until the later weapons, but here it's like your third weapon is like the skull.
- [201:34]
A
Yeah.
- [201:35]
B
And then like the Iron man cloak. I think other than the. My three favorite weapons are. I love the axe, specifically the aspect of Thanatos where it's a scythe. Dude, that's faster.
- [201:46]
A
So good.
- [201:46]
B
The blades, the aspect of pan where all of your thrown daggers go into to whoever's in the cast. The way the daggers circle around and strike the enemies, and the flames, the aspect of Eos, it makes them sort of like Lisa Frank looking. They're very sunny and bright. Your Omega attack, for your standard attack, makes what's called the daybreak. That's like a sun with clouds around it that pulses and does AoE damage and also can get the special with flames surrounding it. So you are just playing vampire survivors with that thing. If you do that and then you do the special Omega twice, there's just a million different flames circling around.
- [202:28]
A
And.
- [202:28]
B
Yeah, it just. It's. There is so much to like. And I think ultimately for me, what I like about it outweighs what I was let down by. And I agree, it is hard to ignore because they're so interwoven, but ultimately, it's still one of my favorite games this year, so I had to give it number five.
- [202:44]
A
Hades two. Hades two at number five. What?
- [202:46]
B
Well, All right, that's mine. What's yours?
- [203:19]
A
My. My number five game of the year, it's Sectori.
- [203:23]
B
Oh, hell yeah. That makes sense.
- [203:24]
A
Yeah. Sectori. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a twin stick shooter in the style of maybe like a geometry wars by a developer who used to work at Housemark, the team that made Returnal. But I think more aptly in this case, they're just known for making, like, fantastic arcade games like that. Sectori, no other game makes me feel the way Sectori feels when I'm playing it. It is like an assault on the senses that is basically, like, right at the line of being maximalist and overwhelming.
- [203:57]
B
Yeah.
- [203:58]
A
And then pulls it back, like, one notch. So you're, like, basically always at the point where you feel like it's a little bit too much. Yeah. It's a game where you are just a little ship flying around. There are enemies flying around. Also coming towards you, you need to twin stick shooter your way around to go hit them. And as you destroy them, you pick up little gems that sometimes turn into, if you get enough of them, these kind of like little upgrade modules that just kind of plop around the playing field. The playing field is also worth noting. Constantly changing. So it starts off as a diamond, and then it evolves into like. It evolves into like a hexagon and. And then it eventually turns into all this other stuff. But these little gems you pick up, you don't get the, like Vampire Survivors kind of like choose from three options yet.
- [204:43]
B
Yet.
- [204:44]
A
But what you do get when you pick up these little nodes, these tokens, they're called. There's like a skill tree that's always present on the screen. And it starts with speed, and then it goes to score and then strike, and then shield, and then missile and then Blasters. And when you get one of these tokens, it is highlighting speed, which is the first upgrade. If you get two tokens, it then move up to shield. If you get three or sorry, score and then if you get three, it goes up to shield. And whenever you decide to press a just the A button, that's when you lock in the tokens that you have into upgrading whatever thing is being highlighted at that time. So there's this real risk reward between, like, I have one token. I could upgrade speed right now. How much do I trust myself to, like, not die before I get enough tokens to upgrade the missiles or the blasters? Like, the two highest tiers, your items that you can upgrade, and that back and forth between like, what is a build that works for me, I think is one of the more interesting things that I've been kind of coming to terms with with Sigtori is this feeling of, like, I know now whenever I start a run, I'm upgrading speed three times. And then I'm going to upgrade and unlock the missiles first, and then whatever happens in between then and the boss happens. A campaign mode in this game takes 30 minutes. Just about somewhere in that vicinity, you have to clear five levels. It is exceedingly difficult to a point where, like, I really thought it was impossible unless I like, unlocked stuff at the beginning of the game.
- [206:07]
B
Yeah.
- [206:07]
A
But eventually, the more I've played, the better I've gotten at it. And what's funny is, it's sitting here at number five. I still haven't beaten it. I still haven't beaten a run of this game. I've made it to the boss at level five, probably like five or six times at this point. And I've never been able to beat it. But I'll get there eventually. And that's because I can't stop playing this game. Like, whenever I sit down to do anything that is like, I'm listening to a podcast podcast episode. I'm like listening to an edit of into the Aether. I'm like listening to an edit of wavelengths to make sure that it's like, solid. I'm playing Sectori the whole time. It is the go to game for me when I have some free time at all.
- [206:41]
B
It's your time, stranger.
- [206:42]
A
It's my time. Exactly. Yes.
- [206:43]
B
It's your mud frigimon.
- [206:45]
A
I'm just like. I'm just blown away by the way in which this game allows me to just immediately seep into a Zen state with it, which is what they're trying to do visually and sonically and from a gameplay perspective. It's what the developer here wants to have accomplished. The thing about it at the end of the day is, and I said this on the episode where I first brought it up, but when I sit and think about Sectori and the design of has a good answer for every question I ask, there's not a single piece of it that feels out of place. There's not a single thing in it that feels extraneous or it's too much. It's all basically perfect. The only time it crosses that line into overwhelming maximal is while you're playing the game. Every once in a while, kind of like in Tony Hawk, when you're getting the letters of skate, you'll see letters show up on the playing field that spell out the word mirage. And if you can get all of the letters of Mirage, there's a robot voice that says sectori and then the game basically turns into a psychedelic nightmare. You become hyper powerful. From what I understand. If I'm to guess, it just upgrades everything all the way for you, just for like about 15 seconds. And it's like this rainbow nightmare pulse. And every enemy that you touch just explodes immediately. And it's this like one moment where they're like, this is how nuts it could be.
- [208:08]
B
Yeah.
- [208:09]
A
And it's your reward for getting all the letters of mirage, which is difficult to do on a good run. You'll get it like multiple times, but it's still like difficult to pull off. And I feel like that is the biggest flex of the game. Like that one thing, the mirage sector thing is like to me, just the developer being like, this is what this is where we started and this is where we're at. And the fact that, like, even where you start playing the game, it's still a little bit too much and still a little bit overwhelming until you get your bearings is, like, so interesting to me. Yeah, it's one of those games that, like, when I was putting my list together and I was, you know, I feel very strongly, and I think you have expressed this as well, but, like, when you get all the games in the right spot, like, it looks right.
- [208:49]
B
Yeah, it does.
- [208:50]
A
There's like an aesthetic.
- [208:51]
B
I try to ignore the box art as, like, a piece of it because I. There is a subconscious impulse to be like, I like the way this flows visually.
- [208:58]
A
Yes.
- [208:58]
B
But I look at it in a spreadsheet as well to avoid that.
- [209:00]
A
Yeah, yeah. There is, like, there is kind of an aesthetic to it. But the thing about Sectori being in this spot in particular, kind of like what you were saying before about my placement of Mario Kart is like, I think this is one of those games I'm probably just going to play forever. I really think I'm just going to be like the sectori guy. Like, 10, 15 years from now, I'm still going to be talking about how good this game is and how like, oh, man, this game reminds me me of Sigtori. Or like, I wish more people were playing Sectori, which is how I feel right now. But I just think it's like an extremely special thing that I think could very easily and kind of already is flying under the radar. And I just feel really good about how much I love it and also that it's on my list.
- [209:39]
B
Hell, yeah. Sektori.
- [209:40]
A
Sektori.
- [209:41]
B
Yeah. I need to give this game more time. I just got to it so late. They didn't really stand a chance. But I do really like what I've played. This does feel exceedingly Brendan, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm never fully on your level, but I do really like what's there.
- [209:54]
A
We got to play. Maybe when we're done, we can play multiplayer.
- [209:56]
B
I would love that.
- [209:57]
A
I have my PC down here. I can just grab another controller.
- [209:59]
B
Go toy. Locked in.
- [210:01]
A
Locked in for next year. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [210:02]
B
That happened with Astral Ascent. Like, that was on your go list in 2023. Then we played it the next day.
- [210:08]
A
Yeah.
- [210:08]
B
And I was like, okay, done. Great.
- [210:10]
A
It's so good.
- [210:38]
B
Is it my turn?
- [210:38]
A
It's your turn for number four.
- [210:40]
B
Number four for me is Despolote.
- [210:43]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [210:44]
B
Idiot. That's so good. This is a game by Julian and Cordero and Panic, published by Panic. It's just a really incredible kind of similar what you said about Consume Me. I think you even mentioned this in passing as a good example of a really deeply personal game that has a very distinct art style. What's fascinating about this game, so it is semi autobiographical in that the developer behind the game, Julian, the main character's name, is also Julian, and it's around the same time he grew up, but not exactly. It's sort of like a recalibrated autobiography to fit a specific moment, moment in Ecuadorian history where in the early 2000s, Ecuador was competing to enter the World Cup. And a lot of the game is like, it's hard to describe. A lot of the game is actually playing soccer or football. And there are a lot of surreal sequences where you'll be kicking the ball around with your friends in school as a kid and the conversation will kind of organically flow as you're doing that. You'll also play a literal football video game as drooling like a FIFA. In this sort of low distorted look of the game, sometimes you are the ball. Like, it is very kind of stream of consciousness in that way. And I think there's a lot of ways to read the game. I think it's obviously got this reverence for what did football mean, what did this sport and what did Ecuador's chance at competing in it at a global level mean for this community and for this country and for this kid?
- [212:14]
A
Yeah.
- [212:15]
B
But my read on it is that it kind of recognizes that autobiography and biography is inherently a construct of the past. And so this game plays around with, like, this sort of frank admission that it can't, despite wanting to, it can't fully capture what that moment meant.
- [212:31]
A
Right.
- [212:31]
B
One spoiler I. I give, which I feel like is literally the eye of the duck of the game, is the only footage they could find of, like, Ecuadorian, like, commenters, like, commenting on the Ecuador team winning had ads playing over it, like an ad for, like, detergent or something. Something. And Julian narrates like, I wanted to find, like, clean footage of this moment, but in some ways this is more perfect for, like, what most people would have seen at the time.
- [212:58]
A
Yeah.
- [212:59]
B
And I think, yeah, just sort of debating, like, the merits of authenticity and also what nostalgia means and how, like, a lot of the game is also just like, existing for a time. Like, one of the first chapters is your mom. When you're still a kid, your mom brings you to this park and is like, wait, Here until like, six. And you're given the first thing you. You're. Is how to check the time. And then you stand up and you can go anywhere and you can literally just sit there until 6. And your mom will be like, what a good boy. Thanks for waiting. Or what you're most likely to do because it's like 15 minutes of our time. So you're going to go explore, you're going to go talk to your friends. You might sit with the group watching the game on the tv.
- [213:39]
A
That's what I did.
- [213:40]
B
And I think what it kind of captured to me is this is not related to any experience I had growing up, but I think think it does capture what it's like to be a kid and how we can sometimes grow nostalgic for a time that is, like, very mundane in the moment.
- [213:56]
A
Yeah.
- [213:56]
B
Like the. The eras which we eventually will have fondness for and reverence for are largely spent waiting for parents or like, looking out the window in a car. And I think what that does is it says, like, I may not have been this age at this time, I may not have lived this exact experience, but I know what this dream meant and I know what it was like to have this dream. And I just found it to be like, a very confident and powerful experience. One of the best visual experiences I've had this year. I love the music. I love just the organic feeling to all the dialogue. The voice acting is very, very good. The little sister especially is such a fun character.
- [214:36]
A
Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah. The thing that I remember, I was playing the game. I was sitting exactly where you are now. Percy was sitting there.
- [214:43]
B
Yeah.
- [214:44]
A
And I played the game for like, 10 minutes and I paused it. And she was also, watch. Watching. And I was just like, I know I'm in good hands because all of these characters can't stop talking over one another, which I think is the most confident writing thing possible. Like, if you see characters who are speaking over one another naturally, that to me is like the moment of confidence. That is the moment where it's like, you know, that you're in good hands. Whatever is going to happen is going to be good. And I just knew that for the rest of my experience playing Despilote, it was going to be, like, exceptional. And it was.
- [215:13]
B
Yeah.
- [215:14]
A
I also just want to shout out that I went to kind of art installation at NYU Game center where Julian was showing off a new game built just for. Just for that installation, which was. I think I mentioned. I might have mentioned it on the show. I might have mentioned on shore leave, actually. But it's one where you have to ride a city bike around, like a Google Maps version of New York City.
- [215:34]
B
Yes.
- [215:34]
A
But there are no directions on screen. It just tells you where to go. And then the other people in the room need to help you get to where you're going.
- [215:40]
B
Yeah.
- [215:40]
A
And it's a race against somebody else who's also on a stage city bike, and they're both just kind of staring at projectors. It was amazing. It was so cool. I think just an extremely compelling, confident thing that I really hope a lot of people play. It's like one of the most unique games of the year. The only thing that really you can hold up next to it is Consume Me, which is also one of the most unique, interesting, confident games. Yeah.
- [216:05]
B
There are interesting explorations of autobiography where I think Consume Me is like, we're going to put in everything that happened, obviously, in a heightened and funny and maybe softened way.
- [216:14]
A
Yeah.
- [216:14]
B
And then this is. Like, some of this didn't happen, but it did for someone else.
- [216:19]
A
The thing about consuming that's interesting is like, there's a moment, and I think it's an interview on Polygon where Jet. They. They went to Jenny's apartment and started, you know, looking through her notebooks and stuff from the time. And they were like, so how long did you actually, like, follow this for? You know, like in. In the game? It's like years, but. And she was like, f. Probably a couple months. But, like, it just looks, you know, when you look at the notes, it looks like a video game. And she was like. It just seemed like the obvious thing to do is to turn it into the structure of the video game. So even then it's like, you know, it's still. It's still messing around with the idea of memory.
- [216:51]
B
I think. I think inherently any creative nonfiction, you
- [216:54]
A
have to embellish a little bit.
- [216:55]
B
You have to change a little bit or at least reframe things. But yeah, I think like, this. This game is interested. And even other. Julian's other game, where it's like a recreation of the city in Google Maps.
- [217:06]
A
Yeah.
- [217:06]
B
He seems to be interested in, like, what is the value, like, what is gained and what is lost by trying to recreate a place in time.
- [217:13]
A
Yeah.
- [217:13]
B
This is the kind of game I would give to someone who, like, hasn't played games ever. And like, what. What is cool about games? Why do you have a show about them? Like, yeah, kind of this, like, this is why I'm always interested in checking out new ideas and like this challenges what a game can look and feel like while also kind of adhering to certain design philosophies.
- [217:32]
A
Yeah. Des. Despalote.
- [217:34]
B
Despote. Number four.
- [217:34]
A
Number four. What a good game.
- [217:36]
B
That's a great game. Yeah.
- [217:37]
A
Would you believe that all these are good games? Hello, this is Joshua Rivera, friend of the Aether and also guest where I introduced Stephen Hilger to what I am going to confidently say is his game of the year, the hundred line last defense academy. And I look forward to being right and ignoring it forever if I am wrong otherwise. I am also here to talk about my favorite game of the year, which is Despelote. You might know it as the game where you play as a horrible little boy kicking a soccer ball around Quito, Ecuador, during the country's World cup qualifying run in 2002, I believe. And you might also think, hey, I'm not that into sports, so this might not be for me. I want to say that that's off base, you know, that. That this game is extremely for you because you were young once, you know, and you were surrounded by things and people and events that shaped you to become the person that you are now in a way that you didn't approach appreciate at the time. And the melancholy that can come when you go back and contemplate that and the joy and the hope and the feeling of connection that ruminating on that time can bring is. That's universal whether or not you are into sports or ever were a horrible little child running around Quito, Ecuador. And I think Despelado, the developer Julian Cordero, and his friends and collaborators have done something incredible and remarkable here that I found very moving and among my favorite just things that I experienced this year. So please try it. I think you will get a lot out of it. And if you don't, we will simply have to face off in a round of dueling banjos. So good luck to you if that's the case, but. But also good luck to you in the new year and hope it is better than this one that just passed, regardless of how good that was for you.
- [220:13]
B
Be good to each other.
- [220:15]
A
See you in the aether. Number four for me. We're starting to repeat games. Okay, it's Q up.
- [220:23]
B
Wow. Number four.
- [220:25]
A
Number four.
- [220:25]
B
Oh, I'm so glad. Queue up. Its chances of being in our collective top five just skyrocketed.
- [220:32]
A
Q up, I think, is just like a miracle. Like, it is such a fascinating idea executed basically perfectly, I think, like, on its surface, obviously the joke of just like you're flipping a coin and it's an esport is very funny. I think the thing that really sold me on it before it even came out, like, when I played the demo of it, was the initial pitch of, like, the perfect matchmaking in a multiplayer game is a 5050 shot. So why not just skip to the logical endpoint of that, which is just a coin flip inherently, even if it's a 50, 50 shot between you and somebody else, like in a game like Counter Strike or whatever, like, it's never really truly 5050 because of a bunch of different reasons. So introducing that idea, I think, in general, is very funny. But then as we've already talked about, turning it into a full game that is, like, compelling and fun and, like, has online matchmaking and multiplayer for real is a ridiculous conceit. It's a ridiculous thing to do. Like, such unbelievable lengths to go through to make what is essentially a joke a reality. But at the core of it, like, my two weeks just about playing Cue up pretty much constantly with friends, was two of the best weeks of playing video games I had this year. Yeah, like, I really.
- [221:48]
B
It's a good game.
- [221:49]
A
I can't overstate how fun it was to go through that same arc of, like, all right, we're all going to start again tonight. We're going to start with a new, like, a fresh character, and for, like, two hours, we're really going to care about the coin flips.
- [222:03]
B
Yeah, Right.
- [222:03]
A
It's the most important thing. And then slowly but surely, people in between matches start taking a little bit longer before you jump back into a map, before they ready up and we jump back into another match. And then somebody's like, I just cleared out 30 emails. And somebody else is like, I just spent a long time, like, looking up on the Internet what this build is going to be and, like, how I can synergize this with you guys. And then you start to get to a point where you're like, all right, we have maxed out, you know, five characters and we're choosing which ones we're going into, because I don't want to say it's funny to say we can spoil it at all. But, like, the post game of this is very funny, I think.
- [222:36]
B
Yeah. It changes shape a little bit.
- [222:38]
A
Yeah. Just enough that makes it like an interesting, unique, totally new thing.
- [222:43]
B
Yeah.
- [222:43]
A
That requires you joining a match with a bunch of your friends and having talked about it beforehand. And the fact that that level of depth is present here is just remarkable at its core. Like, as a satire you know, we talked about this on the episode, but like you can kind of just trace all of this back to the introduction of the perk system in Call of Duty for Modern Warfare. This idea that like the game that you bought is the first person shooter that you're playing online with your friends, but there's this second game happening on top which is like this meta progression layer where you're unlocking like a new scope for your rifle or a new perk or whatever juggle makeup that becomes. Yes, exactly. That becomes just as important as the actual game itself. And like what is the distinction between those two games when they're packaged on the same disc and they kind of intertwined with one another and then the ways in which that has evolved into this like monetization nightmare.
- [223:37]
B
Yeah.
- [223:37]
A
Where that's been like weaponized and focus tested against people is like so horrifying.
- [223:43]
B
Yeah.
- [223:44]
A
And this game acting as like a send up of that multiple times. You know, the moment early on in the game where you get an email that's like, we can either invest. What is it like?
- [223:53]
B
Oh yeah, you can invest in Microsoft or a cryptocurrency based on a five year old meme.
- [223:59]
A
Yes.
- [224:00]
B
Yeah.
- [224:00]
A
And like the ramifications of that choice ripple out. And if you play the game through multiple times, which you should, there's a lot of stuff that happens that you can take very, very, very different approaches to and have very different outcomes, which is very funny. And I think in particular, like the credit sequence of this game is fascinating. It's such an interesting.
- [224:22]
B
It connects somehow. Spoiler. I guess.
- [224:24]
A
I don't think you should say it.
- [224:25]
B
Okay, I won't say it.
- [224:26]
A
Yeah. But what I will say is it connects to another game.
- [224:29]
B
Yes. Yeah, fair enough.
- [224:30]
A
That is not Queue Up.
- [224:31]
B
Yeah.
- [224:32]
A
Which is so interesting. Like there's just like 1 billion weird choices like that that all culminate in what I think is like a brilliant, brilliant video game.
- [224:41]
B
Yeah.
- [224:42]
A
I think, I think it's so special and it's something that you don't see very often. Very funny that it came out the same year as Unfair Flips.
- [224:48]
B
Yeah.
- [224:48]
A
Which was also created as a joke and then released and then became a huge deal.
- [224:53]
B
And they. But yeah, they're both really interesting in like, they're both kind of exploring, I think one is the horror of Probability.
- [224:59]
A
Yes.
- [225:00]
B
And then one is how can we make Probability as fun as possible.
- [225:03]
A
Yes.
- [225:03]
B
Yeah. And.
- [225:04]
A
And like, are there horrors involved in that also?
- [225:06]
B
That's right. They're both secretly horror games. Yeah.
- [225:09]
A
I. I just Think Q up is so stupid Good. I love it.
- [225:13]
B
It's great. I love it so much. I'm so happy it's number four for you. Yeah.
- [225:46]
A
Number three.
- [225:47]
B
Number three is Starvaders, an early hit from this year.
- [225:52]
A
Yes.
- [225:53]
B
That man. I just, like, kept playing it and I feel like. I think it's a backhanded compliment to say I wish this game was bigger because it did very well.
- [226:01]
A
Yeah.
- [226:01]
B
But I just, like, still am yearning for a group of people to play this with me because there's so much I want to discuss. Kind of similar to Ball Pit, this is another Space Invaders inspired roguelike, where it's essentially like Slay the Spire meets Space Invaders meets Mega Man Battle Network. It has this really cool Game Boy advance aesthetic to it, I think. Think very Advanced wars character design, which really sold me initially. And I just find the variety to be the selling point here. Kind of what you're saying too, about Ball Pit's character. There's a lot of points of comparison with these two games, but the three mechs alone are three different games. The first mech you get in Star Vaders is called the Gunner, and you are a mech on the grid fighting aliens and robots as they descend end on the grid. The point of the game is if they get too close to you, they start generating doom. And if you. If they generate five doom, you lose, which I think that's really hard to, like, prevent happening. Like, there are some matches where like, one wrong move and there's like eight aliens generating one or two doom each.
- [227:06]
A
Yeah.
- [227:07]
B
And so I think this game's difficulty can be perhaps a little bit off putting. But I think, like, once you pick up, like, okay, which mech do I like them most? And then which pilot within the mech do I connect with the most strategically, it just kind of opens up all these possibilities. Like, the Gunner plays in a more straightforward way where you're firing bombs and bullets from this mech on the grid. The Stinger, you have a blade and you can throw cards as projectiles. So you're like zipping around, doing melee attacks and throwing stuff. My favorite pilot for that mech is Kaya, who's a pirate, so all her thrown objects are booby traps. So you can kind of just like litter the board with all these traps and get those cards back, which is amazing. And then the third mech is called the Keeper, I believe, and it's not even on the grid. It uses magic, and you're summoning weird bears that can explode. So suddenly you're Just playing turn based strategy game of some kind. So I think the variety is so cool. And I think this is the kind of genre where people will play 100 hours to see if they like it. People really, if you play Cyberspire, you're playing that forever. So I do think that when this game first came out, the common critique I saw was like, oh, it's great, but there's not enough. They did recently do a final update to it. They did a 2.0 release where they added a bunch of free content in the game. And I have yet to. I've only beaten the game like four or five times. So I haven't even unlocked all the pilots yet. And then there's all these challenges for each specific pilot. So I feel like this is a game that I want to kind of treat as my save aspire, where I'm slowly unlocking, unlocking everything, kind of mastering the pilots I like the most. And I really hope it gains a larger audience over time. They're also coming out with another game called Dice Vaders which is like this but with dice, which I'm very curious about. But as it stands now, Star Vaders is just like easily the best roguelike I play this year. At least the one that I connected to the most.
- [228:56]
A
Yeah.
- [228:57]
B
Yeah.
- [228:57]
A
I feel like Dice Vaders is going to be the one for me.
- [229:00]
B
Yeah.
- [229:01]
A
Yeah. I don't know, I don't know what it is about it, but there's something about that that's really calling my name. I liked my time with Star Vaders. To be fair, I enjoyed it. But I don't know, something about the dice of it all is really calling to me.
- [229:10]
B
Yeah. I feel like that's a smart pivot because of how in that kind of game is right now with the parlor rogues and stuff.
- [229:16]
A
Yeah. And then also just in general, I think this universe and this art style that they've cultivated, I'm excited to see more of it.
- [229:23]
B
Me too. There is a very light story happening whenever you lose a run with a new character for the first time. There's a little scene that plays out in total darkness is just dialogue.
- [229:33]
A
Yeah.
- [229:33]
B
And then you get like there's some kind of cosmic time loop story happening that you kind of get bits and pieces of as you play.
- [229:41]
A
Right.
- [229:41]
B
It's just enough to like give some more personality to the characters that you wouldn't otherwise get. But I am interested in seeing what else exists in this reality.
- [229:49]
A
Yeah. Shout out Star Vaders.
- [229:50]
B
That's Star Vaders number three.
- [229:51]
A
More people have to play it so Steven can talk to them about it.
- [229:55]
B
Yes, Sam.
- [230:26]
A
My number three. I don't know why I'm checking my iPad again. I already know it. My number three is, fittingly, now that I think about it, Dragon Quest one plus two.
- [230:35]
B
Okay.
- [230:36]
A
HD 2D.
- [230:36]
B
I knew it was going to be somewhere, man. Yeah, it's really good.
- [230:39]
A
So what's your number two?
- [230:43]
B
We are going to echo that bit in a moment.
- [230:45]
A
Okay. Yeah. Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D remake, I think feels. I've been using this word a lot, but I'm going to use it again. Feels like a miracle.
- [230:53]
B
Yeah.
- [230:53]
A
I already talked. Yeah. When you brought it up, I talked about my experience with one, but Dragon Quest 2 is like.
- [230:59]
B
Yeah.
- [230:59]
A
The thing about it is I. I find myself being, like, overcome with emotion while playing it.
- [231:06]
B
Yeah.
- [231:07]
A
Nostalgic for a game I don't like.
- [231:11]
B
That's the box quote from Brendan in,
- [231:14]
A
like, in real time.
- [231:15]
B
Yeah.
- [231:15]
A
You know, like, it's. It's making me nostalgic for Dragon Quest 2. Like, a game that I extremely bounced off of by creating something, like, very special. And I think some ways feels to me like the Final Fantasy VII remake did for the people who played the original Final Fantasy 7. Like when I played Dragon Quest 2 for the first time, when I sat down and like, when I finished Dragon Quest one, I jumped into two. You can see so clearly the places where that game really should have shown.
- [231:45]
B
Yeah.
- [231:46]
A
And it is not only making good on all of that in this remake, but going, like, above and beyond in every conceivable way. Even just like the opening sequence where there's the one real realm that's, like, overtaken by. By fiends. It's like, brutally sad in a way
- [232:01]
B
that kind of hangs over the whole cast for, like, the first act.
- [232:05]
A
Yeah.
- [232:05]
B
If not the whole game. And it does a great job. Like, it kind of reminds me of Wishville in Octopath zero, where it's like. That is like.
- [232:11]
A
It's really surprised. When I started playing Octopath zero, I was like, oh, that's the same.
- [232:14]
B
Yeah, exactly. Like, it's. I think sometimes this might sound cold, but I feel like sometimes in RPGs, hometowns burn down out of convenience. Like, you can't go back.
- [232:24]
A
Yeah.
- [232:24]
B
It's just like. So we can give proof to the idea that these characters can no longer go home and refuse the journey that they're on.
- [232:32]
A
Right.
- [232:32]
B
But in this, it's like this is actually a tragedy they had to get over. And it's almost a Little bit like Chrono Trigger, where it's like, what I find so powerful about that story is that their quest is fully one they take on themselves. The premise of Chrono Trigger is, like, they gain the ability to time travel. And what's kind of funny is, at first, it's just like a fun toy they have. They're like, would it be funny if we went to the past?
- [232:52]
A
They go to the past, let's go to the future.
- [232:53]
B
Let's go to the future. And then the future fucking sucks.
- [232:56]
A
It's horrible. Yeah.
- [232:56]
B
And they see conveniently, like, video footage of, like, the day the world ended.
- [233:01]
A
Yeah.
- [233:01]
B
And they're like, wait a minute, we still have a future. We have an experience. We can change this. And I think it's kind of similar here, where it's like, they all experience the tragedy of that beginning, and they're like, we need to make sure this never happens again. You know, it's not about vengeance. It's not about, like, you know, it is really just about, like, we want to make sure this is a world where everyone can live in peace.
- [233:23]
A
Yeah.
- [233:24]
B
And not live in fear constantly.
- [233:26]
A
I think that theme in particular is tackled through a bunch of different ways, outside of just witnessing that happen in the beginning of the game and then deciding, we don't want that to happen again, so we're going to go fight the Dragonlord. There's also the sense and the realization, I think, by the team that made this remake in particular, that this is the end of a trilogy as well. Right. This is the culmination of three games, and there has been a big bad who wants to rule the world and cause pain and harm for everyone around for centuries, for eons. Right. And these three kids that you play as are the. Are the descendants of Erdrick from that very first game. And time and time again, this cycle has repeated itself. And they're like, how fucking long do we need to live in fear of this happening again?
- [234:16]
B
Yeah.
- [234:16]
A
Like, why? And what I think is so brilliant and something we talked about briefly, but the more you play, the more it starts to really sit cement itself. So much of what is, like, fabled, incredible artifacts of Erdrick's time is basically used as, like, a gag in Dragon Quest 2.
- [234:33]
B
Yeah.
- [234:33]
A
Almost to, like, double down on this point is almost to, like, really, really almost, like, criticize the idea of, like, holding the past up with too much weight. Because at the end of the day, like, these artifacts are just artifacts, and the past is just the past. And what, you know, you can't be beholden to it. You need to make your own future for yourself. And I think that's also expl. And the relationship between all of these kids and their parents as well, who are also technically descendants of Erdrick and who all feel like they have this like duty bound honor to just sit on a throne and not go anywhere.
- [235:07]
B
Yeah.
- [235:07]
A
And these three kids are like, fuck that. Yeah, we're going to go out into the world and we're going to fight the Dragon Lord. And you know, to their credit, some of the, Some of the older guard like really respect that.
- [235:17]
B
Yeah. There's one of. I forget which king, but one of them is like, I go with you. If I didn't have have like a lot of paperwork to do here.
- [235:23]
A
Yes.
- [235:24]
B
Maybe it's a convenient excuse, but yeah, they're all in awe of their kids. They're all in awe of their bravery.
- [235:30]
A
But I do think that sense of understanding that this is a cyclical story and that it doesn't need to be is really interesting. And it's the kind of exploration that we see in the best Zelda games for example, as well. This triforce of heroes and villains and stuff coming over and over and over and over again. And like, just how long do we have to endure this? I think it's really special that they made this game and asked those questions in a franchise like this. And this is like the only time you can do that. You know, this is like the. If you're going to take a big swing about the continuity of Dragon Quest, it's going to be right here and right now in this remake.
- [236:08]
B
The remake of the worst one.
- [236:10]
A
Exactly. Like, why not, why not take a big swing and why not ask big questions?
- [236:13]
B
There's a meta read there too, which I'm sure you're kind of getting out of, like not being beholden to the past in the idea of a remake where it's like we're going to take the ideas that like could have worked here and explore them. Yeah. It's an amazing game. I mean it's. There are a lot of moments where it's like you can tell like you get this sort of glider suit.
- [236:32]
A
Yeah.
- [236:33]
B
And like I haven't played the original two, but I'm sure that's a moment where you just get it and it works.
- [236:37]
A
Yeah.
- [236:38]
B
Like you just have the item and maybe you see a little animation or whatever. In that game there's like a five minute scene about like your one cousin is like kind of afraid of dying with this thing and they all Take that leap of faith together. It's a cute little moment. I think there's a danger in expanding everything. I think that's something. Going back to FF7 Remake. I think that game, the first one at least overall, did a pretty good job not ballooning everything. I mean, it kind of does inherently because it's just the Midgar stuff. But overall it works more than it doesn't. But Rebirth, I don't need a subplot about divorce and Chocobo Ranch. There's just so much shit in that game where I'm like, I think we're harsher on that than most people, but I just feel like everything that was in the original is ballooned. And then they also add more stuff on top of that to the point where it's like, this actually feels excessive. Even though I love these characters in this world and it's cool to see it reimagined, I think there's a delicate balance there.
- [237:37]
A
And that's what the remake of Dragon Quest one kind of flirts with it, like, almost gets to that point and it maybe crosses that line for some people. For me, it like almost got to that line and it was enough for me to be like, oh. And then the game ended thankfully, I guess. But it's worth mentioning again, like the first game and also the second one, there's no dialogue.
- [237:57]
B
Yeah.
- [237:57]
A
Between the characters in the second game. Like these three cousins who are walking around the world trying to save it. They don't interact at all. Like, there's no party banter or anything.
- [238:06]
B
Yeah.
- [238:07]
A
So every line of dialogue you hear between them and all of the personality that they have, like, that's entirely new for this. And it's amazing.
- [238:15]
B
Yeah.
- [238:15]
A
It's so well written.
- [238:16]
B
It's well acted, too.
- [238:18]
A
Very well acted. Yes.
- [238:19]
B
Really good. Yeah.
- [238:20]
A
Yeah.
- [238:20]
B
It's almost like too good in the battles because when they get hurt, they're like. It's like very blood curdling screams.
- [238:27]
A
Yeah.
- [238:28]
B
Usually it's like, ow. In the other games.
- [238:30]
A
I think this is a really special thing. I mean, look, if a Dragon Quest can count for the goatee list, it's gonna. For me.
- [238:36]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [238:37]
A
You know, Yakuza and Trails for Go
- [238:39]
B
toys and Dragon Quest for Goes.
- [238:41]
A
Yeah. It's. It's an exceptional thing. I'm glad to have it. I think we're. I. I feel very lucky to have it. And in a time and space where there are constant. There. There's constant discourse about, like, should they be remaking games in the first place.
- [238:54]
B
Yeah.
- [238:55]
A
Every once in A while. It's nice to have one that's like, I'm glad they did this.
- [238:58]
B
Yeah. I'm. I. I think. I mean, not to get too into that debate, I think we're kind of in the same place where I think it's case by case, I think, broadly speaking, defaulting to remakes over new ideas. I agree. That's not where I want to see people go. But a case like this, where it's like we're remaking the bad one with new ideas, it doesn't feel like two
- [239:17]
A
is also widely available on all platforms.
- [239:19]
B
Yeah. So I just think it's a really. I think there's a place for a remake. And I think, honestly, in recent years, we've seen some really great ones. I mean, even just last year with Persona 3 reload and a few others, the Dragon Quest 3 remake.
- [239:33]
A
So sometimes they're good, sometimes they can be good. And it's not like they're not making new Dragon Quest games. Dragon Quest 12 is happening at some point.
- [239:40]
B
Yes. Dragon Quest 1 and 2 equals 3. Three for Brendan. It's pretty good.
- [239:44]
A
It's pretty good.
- [240:15]
B
Is it number two already?
- [240:16]
A
It's number two already.
- [240:17]
B
By the way.
- [240:17]
A
It's 5:30.
- [240:18]
B
Okay. We're doing all right.
- [240:19]
A
Yeah, we're doing pretty well.
- [240:20]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [240:20]
A
We started around 12:30.
- [240:22]
B
Yeah. It's only been, like an opera amount of time.
- [240:25]
A
Two. Two.
- [240:27]
B
Two Shreks. Yeah. Two Shreks or an opera.
- [240:29]
A
Yeah.
- [240:30]
B
That would be the name of the episode if it wasn't Game of the Year. My number two game is Hollow Knight. Silksong.
- [240:35]
A
Yeah, of course it is. Oh, that's so good.
- [240:38]
B
What else would you like to say? No, I'm kidding. Yeah, man. I mean, this game is incredible. This is a game that every now and then, there's a game that comes out that's so good, you kind of have to tip your hat to it.
- [240:49]
A
Yeah.
- [240:49]
B
I felt that way when we all chose Elden Ring for Game of the Year. It's like, I loved Elden Ring. I had a great time with it. Does it feel like my kind of personal favorite? Not really, but it just feels like. Well, obviously, yeah.
- [241:02]
A
You can't not acknowledge that. It's great. Yeah.
- [241:04]
B
Silksong feels more personal than Elden Ring did. I think that's largely because what we talk about a lot with, like, Hornet's Role. Like, I think what Silksong proved to me as someone who, like, I liked Hollow Knight a lot. I don't think I. I mean, I didn't connect with it as strongly as you did. I do, like, really admire that game, but I also feel like I didn't finish it. And I kind of just felt like, yeah, that's really good. It felt like going to a museum and being like, oh, yeah, it's a good painting. There's a difference between, like. Like, sometimes when I walk out of a movie, it's like, I'll watch a movie I like, and I'm like, that's a really good movie. And other times, it's like I feel like I kind of lived it while it was happening, you know?
- [241:39]
A
Yeah.
- [241:40]
B
And for whatever reason, Silksong, I think, feels more kind of, like, emotionally transportive. Like, it feels like I felt more. And maybe that's because, you know, Hornet's a more active protagonist. She's like. There's more dialogue, which I'm kind of drawn to. I don't think it takes away from the subtler storytelling. I think the danger of having more dialogue is, like, you know, it's making it too obvious. I think it lets all the sort of weird background elements do the talking, and then the dialogue is additive on top of that.
- [242:08]
A
Yeah.
- [242:08]
B
So, like, you know, I think it's really small. So worth noting. I haven't finished it. I'm in the thick of Act 2 because it's a hard game. But there's a point where. And stop me if you think I shouldn't spoil this, but it's early Act 2 where you. Where you fight the, like, guardian of the door. You get into the cathedral.
- [242:29]
A
Yeah. That's the end of act one.
- [242:31]
B
Yeah. The end of act one.
- [242:32]
A
You fight the last judge.
- [242:33]
B
The last judge. Great fight.
- [242:34]
A
Incredible fight.
- [242:36]
B
And the first area after that is like a horrific factory. And it's the factory that keeps the grand Cathedral running.
- [242:45]
A
The underworks.
- [242:45]
B
Yeah. And I mean, it's classic stuff where it's like. For the glamorous Overworld, there's like a grimy underworld. But I think it's really emotionally devastating to spend all this time with all these pills. Pilgrims in Act 1 who are desperately trying to complete this doom journey. And what awaits them is this odd world adjacent factory.
- [243:06]
A
Right. If they make it up there, realistically, they're just gonna get cast into the underworks. And did you meet Loam, the guy who's running every horse on the treadmill? Yeah.
- [243:15]
B
Yeah. And he is so committed to his work that even talking to him, he's like, I can't take a break. I need to keep going.
- [243:21]
A
Yeah, yeah, stop talking to me.
- [243:22]
B
And Hornet's like you're near death, surely you should rest kind of thing.
- [243:26]
A
Yeah. Also the underworks is the you need to spend money every time you want to rest on a bench. You don't unlock the bench and then get to rest there again. You need to spend 30 rosaries to sit on the bench every time.
- [243:40]
B
Yeah. And that was like a common critique when the game first came out.
- [243:43]
A
Yes.
- [243:44]
B
Was like, why does everything cost rosaries? And by the time you get there, you know why. It's like they're building up to this kind of like it is weirdly kind of satire in some ways of just like they're taking advantage of this faith that these bugs have. But I mean outside of the wonderful world building and Hornet's strength as a protagonist and the great. The supporting cast here is really good. It just feels perfect when you play this game and going back to Hades 2 being a meal with butter for the first time. It's like playing silksong makes it hard to even go back to Hollow Knight. The subtlety of the movement of running as Hornet and coming to a quick stop jumping when you have the dash, all the different movesets you get from the various crests, the feeling of movement. And is rivaled only maybe by some of the Ori games which I think are more platformer centric. And it makes the platforming in this game way more enjoyable than the last one.
- [244:37]
A
Yeah. They also like raised the difficulty of the platforming to match it because of that.
- [244:42]
B
Yeah.
- [244:42]
A
Which is interesting.
- [244:43]
B
But that's what's cool is that it becomes a choice. It's okay. If you are someone who loves the Hunter's Crest, then platforming is going to be a little bit more of a learning curve. I love the Wanderer's Crest because it makes you attack faster and it's just the downward slash. So platforming is like a breeze. Again, Hollow Knight is a great game. I don't want to pit them against, but for whatever reason I feel more attached to this game and I just like playing as Hornet more for the feeling of movement and like her more active presence in the story.
- [245:11]
A
Yeah. You and I have had the same critique of Hollow Knight. You know, I. I think I like Hollow Knight a lot more than you do.
- [245:16]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [245:16]
A
But we've had the same critique the whole time, which is like the first four or five hours of that game definitely don't feel as good as every hour after.
- [245:24]
B
It's like time strangers being in the sewers for too long. It's like you kind of need to get to the next area to kind of see what the game is doing.
- [245:31]
A
Yeah.
- [245:32]
B
And Silksong gets you there much faster despite how hard it is. And I think, you know, where I am in the game, I haven't encountered anything that was like the only boss that made me put the game down for a bit was the savage beast, Fly.
- [245:43]
A
Yeah. That's a common one.
- [245:44]
B
Yeah. Especially because it's. It's early enough or it can be early enough in the game that you're just not prepared for it. But yeah, man. I mean, I would love to talk about it again once I'm further in.
- [245:52]
A
Yeah.
- [245:53]
B
Because I do want to finish it. But even for, you know, being a little over halfway through, it's just easily like. I actually do can see that it just like Pound for Pound is the best game that came out this year, I think. Even though it's not my personal favorite. But it had to be number two.
- [246:08]
A
Yeah. It's a good thing one of us talked about it. I was worried it just like, would go on.
- [246:13]
B
Yeah. What a swing and a miss.
- [246:15]
A
It is worth mentioning, actually. Also. So they just announced DLC for this game.
- [246:19]
B
I saw a really funny YouTube comment that was like, hey, everyone, we're having so much fun developing this. We're going to make it a standalone game.
- [246:25]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They. That's coming out next year.
- [246:29]
B
What's it called again?
- [246:30]
A
I forget. But it's nautical.
- [246:32]
B
It is nautical.
- [246:33]
A
Which I'm excited for you.
- [246:33]
B
Which I love that. Yeah.
- [246:35]
A
There's also some stuff that was in the early trailers for this game that's very nautical. That was not in the main game. So it kind of hints that they moved that stuff out, but simultaneously. And this is worth mentioning for you. I think they also announced that there's going to be a Switch 2 version and free upgrades to Hollow Knight as well.
- [246:52]
B
Oh, cool.
- [246:52]
A
That will add, like, new visual stuff and just like a couple quality of life things that Silksong has.
- [246:59]
B
Yeah.
- [246:59]
A
Into Hollow Knight, which is interesting.
- [247:00]
B
I do want to. I think one of our White Whale episodes is a Hollow Knight bonus.
- [247:05]
A
Yeah.
- [247:05]
B
At this point we should just wait till I'm done with both and do a double feature.
- [247:09]
A
We could do that. I would just be happy to do a Silksong one whenever you wrap credits on that game.
- [247:13]
B
My point is, regardless of what we end up doing, I do want to finish Hollow Knight as well. It's a good game. And Sea of Sorrow. Sea of Sorrow, the dlc.
- [247:21]
A
Yeah. This is how you know that I need to, like, disconnect from it is like, I saw the announcement. I was like, that's exciting. Block it out from my head until I'm playing it. Which is exactly what I did with Silksong.
- [247:32]
B
Yeah, you really did like you did. You really just like, that was all you did until you were done.
- [247:36]
A
Yeah.
- [247:37]
B
Which I love that.
- [247:37]
A
Yeah. Wow. That's number two for you.
- [247:39]
B
That's number two for me. Runner up for Game of the Year, Hollow Knight, Silksong. Sam. Foreign.
- [248:17]
A
From Video Game Pontimism, another show on
- [248:19]
B
the TWG Network, if you didn't know.
- [248:22]
A
And I'm here to tell you about my Game of the Year. A challenging year, I will say to.
- [248:28]
B
To.
- [248:29]
A
To crown a winner. It's been a weird one.
- [248:31]
B
Like a thousand different games came out
- [248:33]
A
and it's hard to really nail down
- [248:35]
B
which one was it.
- [248:35]
A
But for me, just personally, it's Silksong, man. That's the game of the year for me. I have been thinking about how a lot of the games this year are sequels and under that lens, whether or not they are iterating or evolving. And I think a lot of games do a lot with either approach. Right. Like, I think about Death Stranding 2
- [248:57]
B
and how that, I would say iterated the formula but didn't always nail it, at least for my money.
- [249:04]
A
I think about something like Monster Train
- [249:06]
B
2, which was absolutely a. I would
- [249:09]
A
say piecemeal iteration, but I love that game. Or if we compare it with something
- [249:12]
B
like Mario Kart World, which is absolutely
- [249:15]
A
an evolution of that game.
- [249:17]
B
It seems like it did evolve the
- [249:19]
A
formula, but I know that a lot of people haven't returned to it quite
- [249:22]
B
as much as maybe they were expecting
- [249:23]
A
to after something like Mario Kart 8.
- [249:26]
B
Or if you'll consider if. And it would be my pleasure if
- [249:29]
A
you did Trails in the sky first chapter, the remake of the first Trails in the Sky.
- [249:33]
B
That's. It's.
- [249:34]
A
Despite the game being largely the same in evolution of exactly what that game was in the first place, and I
- [249:40]
B
think pays off in wondrous ways. But all this to say, I think
- [249:44]
A
that Silksong manages to do both. I think that it manages to be
- [249:48]
B
an evolution of Metroidvania, of Hollow Knight specifically.
- [249:52]
A
Also an iteration in the sense that,
- [249:54]
B
like, you know, some of these environments could have been in Hollow Knight, some
- [249:58]
A
of the art looks like it could
- [249:59]
B
have been in that game. But I think that the story is an evolution. I think that Hornet and the way that she plays is an evolution of that game. I think that the fact that Hornet
- [250:09]
A
is a character at all is is
- [250:11]
B
an evolution of that game. And I'm sure that if I had
- [250:14]
A
to guess, I don't know for sure yet, I haven't heard this episode yet either. But if I had to guess, I'd
- [250:19]
B
be willing to bet Brendan will also speak a lot about this being his game of the year.
- [250:22]
A
But yeah, I, I, I just found it remarkable.
- [250:26]
B
I think it is a really incredible
- [250:28]
A
game and one that, I find it unbelievable.
- [250:32]
B
Was able to match the hype, you
- [250:35]
A
know, like this is a game that has been hyped for years and years and years. And you know, I know it didn't
- [250:40]
B
hit everybody's list, but I, I would
- [250:41]
A
say a lot of people were like, yeah, that's a great follow up to
- [250:45]
B
one of the best video games.
- [250:47]
A
Which is hard, it's, it's hard to
- [250:49]
B
make a sophomore album and have it be good.
- [250:52]
A
Anyway, that's all I got. I hope you have a wonderful rest
- [250:56]
B
of the year, however much of it is left.
- [250:59]
A
And I hope you have a wonderful 2026. We'll see you on the flip side. Pashanka number two for me, probably unsurprising, I would imagine is Blueprints.
- [251:13]
B
Yeah, that was my guess. I got it.
- [251:14]
A
In a year where Hollow Knight Silksong didn't come out, this would have been my number one. I said as much in like March when it came out. I was like, I don't see anything unseating this as game of the year. Whoops.
- [251:24]
B
Hornet comes in.
- [251:26]
A
Hornet comes in two weeks before and blueprints, if you haven't played it, it's a roguelike puzzle game. It's a first person game where you play as a kid who maybe almost inherits a manor that has 45 rooms in it in there in a 9 by 5 grid and needs to find the 46th room in this 45 room estate. And every single day you can go in and every door will be closed. When you open a door, it'll give you an option of three rooms that you can choose from and make your way into that room. And you need to create a path from the beginning of the game or from the beginning the foyer of this manor all the way to room 46. If you can't do that before the day is up, you need to leave the manor and the whole thing resets and then you go again. This game is like 8 million times more deep than what I just described to you. It is hiding an amount of video game that is like, I can't speak about because it would be huge spoilers. But it's just worth mentioning at the top here, like, what I just described is like, but one layer of the game and will probably still take you like, 15 to 20 hours to see. Yeah, it is hard to find room 46 the first time and get in there. It's completely wild what happens after you do so for the first time. It's just the beginning. It's really just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much to love about this game. The amount of puzzle solving that is inherent here is wild. Before Silksong came out, there was a lot of difficulty discourse about this one as well.
- [253:03]
B
Yes. With the RNG specifically. This is the first discourse of the year was this game.
- [253:08]
A
And I made a review of this for my channel. And I tread on this point lightly. I've gotten into conversations with people and I've seen people talking about this in ways that are very heated. My take on the difficulty discourse, the RNG discourse in this game in particular, and I don't mean this in a shitty way, is just, there's way less RNG than you think there is. The game feels like it's completely random when you start playing it. And the more you play it, the more you realize you can, like, literally control fate. You can control what things are showing up when you go and open a door and there's three options for you. And that realization, going from the beginning of this to, like, I'm Neo, seeing the Matrix is like, such a rewarding feeling. And I think for me at least, when I. When I hear that discussion about the RNG stuff, my feeling is just like, if. If it's not clicking for you already, then don't wait until you get to that point for it to click for you. Like, not all games are for everybody, unfortunately. And if this game isn't for you, that's a bummer. And at the time when it was like, the big game that everyone was talking about, it's always a bummer when you don't connect with the big game that everyone's talking about. That happened to you and I multiple times this year.
- [254:16]
B
Oh, yeah. Yeah. There is one glaring omission that I'm sure you've already noticed.
- [254:20]
A
Yes, maybe two, depending on who you are. But that said, blueprints connected with me immediately. And the amount of time Percy and I spent playing it together, handing the controller back and forth, who has the notebook and who had, like, a literal physical notebook that we're taking notes in and who has the controller over and over and over again. There are a couple Very specific, specific puzzles in this game that like, the two of us were cheering out loud when we solved. Finally after like, you know, multiple nights of trying to figure it out. And I think most notably, and one of the reasons that this game is like, at the very top of the list, it's just like the way it inspired me as like a person and as a creative, I guess, because it's worth mentioning. Like, this game was created by a person who didn't intend on making a video game at first. Like, they had an idea for some puzzles that they thought would be cool. And then we're like, oh, I think it's a video game. And then worked on it until it was this released it and didn't think it was going to be a big deal. And that I think was exhilarating to hear about. Yeah. And caused me, while I was writing the review to start to think, like, how do I. How do I find ways of incorporating what this game makes me feel like in the review? And I haven't really talked about this like, that much, but like, I hit a lot of secrets in that review that are like blueprints adjacent that a lot of people like, never found. It was like, it was like, aj, our Ed, and like three other people who messaged me and were like, I found every secret that you hid in this thing. Which is honestly cool to think about, but also just like the feeling of doing that, the feeling of making all of that stuff was really exciting. And I think most notably one of the moments was when Percy and I got married this year. We had our ceremony in the backyard of her parents house. And after the ceremony was over, we had had a couple hours before people showed up for just kind of like a cocktail hour that we were throwing afterwards, like an open house. And for those couple hours, Percy and I went to where we were staying and we just played blueprints the whole time. Like, we just, we just, we just sat down and we were just like, okay, blueprints time. I love that we did that. And we also recorded a video talking about playing blueprints and talking about getting married. That is like one of the secrets hidden within that video.
- [256:32]
B
Oh, hell yeah.
- [256:33]
A
And I just, I feel really emotionally attached to this game outside of like, how good it is as a video game. Like, it just feels like it is the, like, totem of this huge life event that I had this year. Which is crazy that it's not number one.
- [256:48]
B
Yeah.
- [256:48]
A
Based on that. But still, I just, I just think it's an extremely special game. And I'm having a hard time talking about it right now. Without spoiling more stuff. I will. I will also just at least allude to on the side the same way I did in my review. There is a narrative happening in this game that you will basically, basically see almost none of when you're finding room 46 for the first time. That starts to unravel more the more you play. That is about as pertinent and timely to the present moment that we're living in as like any game this year could be. It's extremely powerful. It's very interesting. And if I can give people that, like, extra push to get there, I would love to be that person that gave you that little extra push because it's very interesting and really rewarding to find and uncover for yourself. You're just gonna be taking a lot of notes about people's name and dates and stuff in newspaper clippings and whatever. But that's blueprints. Great video game.
- [257:43]
B
That was beautifully said. I feel like I let you down with this one because I feel like I got the parking garage, didn't go outside and then stop playing the three most infuriating things for your co host.
- [257:54]
A
I forgot about that. You opened the garage door. That's so funny.
- [257:58]
B
People messaged me after. They're like, what the fuck? You should have gone outside. I think this game's really cool. It was interesting. Like, I was always surprised that this game got such heated discourse. And like, on one hand, it's interesting that, like, this game got this level of attention. It's so inherently kind of niche, which is cool. I mean, I think we're sort of recalibrating what niche means in real time.
- [258:17]
A
Yeah.
- [258:18]
B
And I really enjoy my time with it. I definitely, like, I think I realized at a certain point that, like, I wasn't. I just got pulled in by other games. Then enough time passed where I was, like, didn't know where I left off. And, like, I do think, though, this is kind of for me. I think I struggle sometimes with games that make you take external notes. I kind of prefer when it's in the game. But I do like, the push you gave at the end definitely affected me because I think I would definitely connect with that stuff and that would probably give me more motivation to keep playing rather than just, like, I know it's cool eventually. And that's maybe, I think, where some people struggled with the RNG because they wanted to get there, but it felt like they had to wait for it to happen, which I think there Is a little bit of that in the beginning.
- [258:59]
A
Yeah. Yeah. I think you can very much feel that way. There is an inherent frustration built into the game design at the very beginning, which is palpable, and it's real. And I felt it too. But it's when you start to question why things are built that way that they start to kind of unravel, I guess, in front of you. I will say the beginning of the narrative, which is maybe even more frustrating to people, really begins when you roll credits for the first time. Like when you find room 46 for the first time. There's a monologue that. That happens, which I won't dare spoil a word of. That really does highlight, like, hey, this game's about something also.
- [259:35]
B
Yeah.
- [259:36]
A
And starts to answer some questions about, like, why you. This is. Okay, I'll say this. One of the things that I find very interesting about blueprints is that the fact that the walls shift and that the house changes what rooms are where every single day, that's not like a video game thing. That's not just like the video game's way of expressing what the characters get going through. That's a literal, actual thing that the house is doing. Like, the house in the game. Fiction. In the fiction of the game was built to do that. And as soon as you start examining, like, why would someone build a house that does this?
- [260:10]
B
Yeah.
- [260:10]
A
And you have seen some stuff that happens when you hit room 46. It all kind of starts to fall into place.
- [260:17]
B
Yeah.
- [260:17]
A
And the narratives and the whys start coming, like, very, very, very quickly. And it's very interesting.
- [260:23]
B
Yeah.
- [260:24]
A
I just keep saying it's interesting, but,
- [260:26]
B
like, in the making for me, I
- [260:27]
A
think not much more I could say about it.
- [260:29]
B
Wasn't it cool when it happened?
- [260:30]
A
Wasn't it cool when the thing happened? I. I loved when. Yeah. I loved it.
- [260:34]
B
That's your runner up.
- [260:35]
A
That's my runner up. Blue Prince, Blue pr.
- [261:06]
B
Is it time for my game of the year?
- [261:07]
A
It's time for your game of the year. I know what it is. I'm so excited to talk about it.
- [261:11]
B
Yeah. Okay. My game of the year for 2025 is the hundred line Last Defense Academy.
- [261:16]
A
Yeah, baby.
- [261:17]
B
Yeah, this. So the three games that were kind of vying for number one were. Were silksong, Hades 2, and this. The more I played Hades 2, the more I ran into what we already discussed.
- [261:26]
A
Yeah.
- [261:27]
B
Silksong.
- [261:27]
A
But it can't be eight. That's too low.
- [261:30]
B
Yeah. You took that personally by accident. I'm sorry.
- [261:34]
A
No, no, no. No, I thought it was very funny.
- [261:35]
B
It can't be 8. What moron who is also a Gemini would put it at 8?
- [261:39]
A
What dimwit with alliterative initials would do this?
- [261:42]
B
What kind of Blue Prince would put it at 8? So basically it was a toss up between Silksong and Hundred Lines. And I had to recognize that while I do think. I mean, they're apples and oranges. How would you even compare? They're basically different art forms. But while I do think Silksong is a masterpiece, I can recognize that the game that I had finished and was still playing was the Hundred Line. So for those who don't know what this is, this is kind of a bit of a cult hit this year. It's kind of a supergroup collaboration between the creators of the Zeroscape series and Danganronpa, Kodaka and Uchikoshi. And they have their own team Tokyo Games. And this game is something they basically put all their final hopes into. Kodaka and Uchikoshi have both been very vocal about how this almost bankrupted them. And to be clear, I don't think anyone should put themselves in that situation. You shouldn't work under that stress. But I think in the age of AI bullshit and everything we discussed earlier in this episode, people, people being like, we're willing to risk it all for this game, you can feel that in every second of this game's existence. This idea that I would rather die swinging, making this thing I love, even if it fails, I'd rather do that than just accept defeat or resign or make something that other people want. The game itself is a visual novel tactics RPG hybrid, although even that is not fully accurate. I feel like I was talking to our friend Matt Horton about, like, ever since 13 Sentinels, there's like a 13 Sentinels of the Year. There's a game that just like takes narrative design and breaks it with a bat and rebuilds it. That was 13 sentinels. I think that was 1000 times resist last year. Absolutely and absolutely is this this year? Even if you hate this game, you have to recognize it as the game that took a bat to narrative design. The first 30 hours, Route 0, or a playable prologue, if you will. The first part of the game is a linear visual novel with tactics combat in it. So everyone's going to play through the same 30 hours of the game. Now, saying it's a prologue, I think is selling it short. It's thoroughly enjoyable. It's not like you're waiting for something to happen. It is in and of Itself its own game. But what happens when you beat the Route zero and there are battles throughout that and then it ends a certain way. I won't spoil what happens at the end of Route zero, but if you don't mind, I will will give a small spoiler for the context of what follows. You gain the ability to time travel after the first 100 days ends. The premise basically is like you play as Takumi and you wake up one day in a high school classroom full of other students who are now at the Last Defense Academy. And a very strange ghost mascot says like, all right, you're humanity's last defense. Stay here, defend the school. And if you live to 100 days, you get to go home. Anyone who's played Danganronpa, it's like similar setup, although rather than it being a killing game, it's like, defend humanity. You're humanity's last hope. And if you can do it right, 100 days pass, you get to go home.
- [264:58]
A
Very different kind of killing game.
- [264:59]
B
Yeah. And in fact, like everything is taken care of for them. Like they have infinite food. Even when they die, they're brought back immediately as long as they're within school grounds. Which raises a lot of questions. There's a lot of mystery and a lot of Route zero. Is the cast all responding to the this differently? Most of the people in the cast don't want to participate. And they're like, we'll live here, but we're not going to go fight these weird alien invaders, which are like these strange kind of mascot creatures that run into the school.
- [265:27]
A
Yeah.
- [265:27]
B
A lot of Space invader stuff happening this year too, weirdly, which is interesting.
- [265:31]
A
Yeah. It takes like 15 to 20 hours for the last character to be like, okay, I'll join the fight. It takes forever.
- [265:37]
B
It introduces them slowly and the way they fight. It's similar to Persona 3 where it's like in Persona 3, the imagery is they have this. It's not really a gun, but looks like a gun. It's an evoker.
- [265:48]
A
Yeah.
- [265:48]
B
They shoot themselves in the head and it releases their Persona. And in this game they much more graphically. I think it's almost like cuz the Persona 3 almost makes it stylish because they're not actually doing it. It's still like shocking imagery.
- [266:01]
A
Yeah.
- [266:02]
B
And it fits the theme of the game. But it like, it eventually starts to like not really phase you at all. But in this game, they take a knife and just go like. They just stab themselves in the heart.
- [266:11]
A
Yeah.
- [266:12]
B
And then they transform into like Their blood weapons. Everyone has a different weapon.
- [266:16]
A
Yeah. They do, like, Sailor Moon transformations into, like, kind of nightmarish, like, battle students.
- [266:20]
B
Yes. The main character has a sword, one character has a car. Like, they all manifest. Did you get Shoma's weapon yet? Yeah, the Optimus prime, like, dog neck. So that's my favorite one by far. But the way the story ends, Takumi eventually gains the power to travel back in time. And it feels kind of like the bad ending you get in Tokimeki Memorial, which informs, I think, a lot of adventure games and visual novels afterwards. The ending you will likely get first because that game is so difficult. Hilariously enough is the character being like, I wish I could do it all over again.
- [266:55]
A
Yeah. And that's your cue to start a new save file and start playing again. Exactly.
- [266:58]
B
Use what you learned and try it again. And in this game, Takumi, the story ends in a certain way, and he's like, I'm going to go back to day one and I'm going to make different choices this time. And I want to get the happy ending for all of us. I want to get the ending that we deserve. And it even literally changes on the title screen. It says Last Offense Academy 2. Like, it's like the sequel to the game. It's so good.
- [267:21]
A
So good.
- [267:21]
B
And then it's in the marketing of the game, they show you there's like, you know, once you beat the prologue, it becomes this, like, flowchart of decisions. And there are 100 different endings. Yeah, the 100 endings thing is not a lie. But I think it is worth knowing that a lot of the endings are kind of like game overs where, like, there are certain choices where you make it. And then it's like, and then we wandered forever and died. And then it's, you know, endless ending. 76.
- [267:44]
A
Yeah, the way I always describe it is the fish ending from Nier Automata. Yeah, there are. A lot of them are the fish ending.
- [267:49]
B
But there are. I think what's more accurate is that there are 21 routes, and each route is like a significantly different game. So, like, there's one route that I would say I. At this time, I have played four routes to completion, including the prologue. And the first route I got was one I just made the decisions I thought were right. It's interesting because all the routes, like, some of them are entirely different genres. Some of them focus on. All of them tend to focus on different characters as well. The prologue, it's a pretty big ensemble of characters, and they're all freaks. There's almost no one who is a normal character, which I adore. Now that I've played Danganronpa. That seems to be Kodaka's thing. He likes ensembles of deeply flawed, deeply weird people that you end up loving despite it all. But all the routes focus on different characters. So the first route I got was, like, almost exclusively about Da R Mi, who is a character whose, like, whole shtick is that she loves killing games and wished this was Danganronpa.
- [268:49]
A
Yeah. She wants it to be saw.
- [268:51]
B
Exactly. And the route that's focused on her, you get a completely different side of her. And I played another route that was, like, basically answered 90% of the mysteries that were in the prologue, which feels like, okay, this is kind of like the real ending in some ways.
- [269:07]
A
Yeah.
- [269:08]
B
And then I just played another route that. That was like, I won't spoil what it is, but, like, it was by far my favorite. And it kind of. It focused on a smaller group of characters. And rather than being kind of like, in response to the prologue, it felt like it was introducing new ideas that are going to aid other routes. So I think what I think the Golden Deer route. Yeah. Right. Like, this game is not the kind of game where I think you need to play every route to fully get it. I think at least the way Kodaka and Uchikoshi have spoken about it, they've said, we wanted to make it so that, like, when you replay it, there's more you can experience and that they've also said that each route is 100% canon. So, like, they all are viable.
- [269:49]
A
It's great.
- [269:50]
B
I love that statement. I would argue that, like, it feels like two routes feel like the clearest. Like, this is like, these are the two, like, true endings in some ways.
- [270:00]
A
Yeah.
- [270:01]
B
But I like that they are all made to be like, this is a. This is almost its own game. Much like the title screen showing two on it. And there's even plans to have DLC to add. Add more routes to it. And it's like, this is a game exploding with ideas for itself that it had to be a hundred different games.
- [270:18]
A
Yeah.
- [270:19]
B
I think this. The tactics stuff is surprisingly fun. I think they do a good job of letting you skip battles if you've already done them. So that's nice. In general, all the routes after the prologue are much quicker, I think, to experience everything. You're looking at, like, 200 hours. I have 80 hours played so far. I don't know if I will want to see all of them. But. But the fact that I want to see more says a lot. And it just speaks to how adaptable and interesting this cast of characters are and how weird this world is. I'm very excited to play more of the Zero Escape and Danganronpa games for the Vita episode. And I just had to recognize like, oh yeah, this is my favorite game this year.
- [270:57]
A
Yeah.
- [270:58]
B
Something that always bothered me about 13 sentinels a little bit is like, that game has an unwavering belief in humanity that like. Which sounds like a weird thing to be critical of, but I think that game is very optimistic about. Humanity's continuous existence is an inherent good that we should fight for at all costs. And I like that. Hundred lines. Similar to a lot of my favorite Miyazaki films. There's a line in Nausicaa that I think I've quoted many times. It haunts me. There's a line near the end of that film where a child asks the blind elder of the village, are we gonna die? And she says, if our lives depend on the destruction, destruction of another, then it's better for our souls that we die. Like, our lives aren't worth continuing off of. Like extinguishing another.
- [271:45]
A
Yeah.
- [271:46]
B
And this game is asking similar questions where I think very early on it's clear there's more going on than just like, invaders are bad. Humans are good. We must fight invaders. The twists and turns are so wild. You would not believe me if I told you. And I think it says a lot. Like, even though it can be very bleak and very just sort of like nihilistic at times, this game also, like, more so than it does advocate for the continued existence of humankind. It is highlighting the strength of like, is it possible for positive community and love and joy to exist in like impossibly bleak times? Like even in this academy that is made for war, that is denying these people a normal life, like, can they still find these like, pockets of humanity? And I think that's beautiful. It's a surprisingly beautiful and life affirming game for how like flauntingly off putting, putting and weird it is. Like, it loves how off putting it is. And again, not every game is for everyone. I love that this game is like so specifically made by the people who wanted to make it for themselves.
- [272:51]
A
Yeah. Right.
- [272:52]
B
And I love it for that reason. So it's my game of the year.
- [272:55]
A
Wow. 100 line last defense academy. I have not finished a first run of this.
- [272:59]
B
Yeah.
- [273:00]
A
I feel like what I have considered to be like, oh, I've seen the shoe drop moments is actually like me just being excited about trailers before the movie plays.
- [273:10]
B
Yeah. In some ways I think you gotta at least finish the prologue.
- [273:13]
A
Yeah.
- [273:14]
B
It's similar to. I think, well, we'll see how I land with blueprints. But I think it's kind of similar where we both saw like the tip of the iceberg.
- [273:21]
A
Yeah. I still do chip away at this game. Every once in a while I boot it up and I play a little bit more and I've really loved what I've played so far.
- [273:30]
B
I think you're going to really connect with the. I mean, it's also worth noting that like I happen to have played the three of the better received routes. There are some routes that are less successful than others, but I think like if you're on a route that you're not enjoying, you can also just at any time go back to another day. That's what's nice is like you can literally go back to a day when you made that decision and do the other one.
- [273:52]
A
Yeah. It's very radiant. Historia from what I understand, where you can just like see every decision point. Just go back.
- [273:57]
B
Exactly.
- [273:58]
A
Yeah. I think, I mean even just like stylistically from a voice acting perspective, like this game is like just really exceptional and I love the ambition of it. I really do.
- [274:07]
B
Yeah, it's at least one of the most ambitious games of the year.
- [274:10]
A
Yeah, I'm really excited to play more of it. I think this is going to be a big one for me next year. It's going to be very similar to Thousand Times Resist for me where it's like, oh yeah, obviously, absolutely.
- [274:21]
B
But yeah, I'm curious too if you'll enjoy Danganronpa as well.
- [274:25]
A
I think I probably will.
- [274:26]
B
Yeah.
- [274:26]
A
Yeah. That's one of the series on Vita that I did not play, so I'll be excited to check it out.
- [274:31]
B
Yeah. The Hundred Lines Academy.
- [275:10]
A
Hey everyone, It's Lex from Trails 3 Trails. And I'm here to tell you my game of the year for 2025. To the surprise of absolutely no one who's spoken to me this year, it's the 100 line last defense Academy. This game is a marvel and a masterpiece. It's the towering ambition of it alone would be something worth shouting out and praising. But the fact that they actually pull it off is unbelievable, really.
- [275:29]
B
It's so rich narratively. Such an effective emotional experience. Some of the most memorable moments I've had, not just with games, but with
- [275:39]
A
any form of media that I've experienced this year really just cut to the core. While Also being, you know, hilarious and having surprisingly fun and innovative gameplay for what's described as a visual novel. And then these characters, I mean, I can't stop thinking about them. I don't have enough time to spend the amount of time that I do thinking about them. And yet they're living in my head
- [276:01]
B
rent free all the time.
- [276:03]
A
Just such an incredible cast. And then I also wanted to shout out my honorable mention, which is Trails in the sky first Chapter, the remake that came out this year of Trails in the sky fc. I obviously have to shout it out because I'm the Trails girl, but also it's again, it's a marvel this game exists in a very different sense. Remakes so often fail to capture what made the original so special. They either are trying to reinvent the wheel too much or are not doing
- [276:30]
B
enough to justify why a remake needs to exist.
- [276:33]
A
And this somehow hits in the perfect happy spot of feeling both necessary and yet deeply loving towards the original and really understanding, understanding what made that so special. It's also, I mean, it's a game that was really shockingly relevant this year, despite the fact that the original story, which has all the same beats, came out in 2004. And yet unlike a lot of, you know, really timely material, it never feels
- [276:57]
B
depressing and discouraging and, you know, leaves
- [277:00]
A
you hopeless and hollow. It's actually really quite an empowering narrative in a way that, I mean, we all kind of need right now, if I'm going to be honest. So those my two games of the year.
- [277:09]
B
I'm so excited to get to listen to the rest of this episode.
- [277:12]
A
I always love the Ita Goatie episode so much.
- [277:15]
B
So happy New Year and thanks for the show.
- [277:18]
A
Bye. Number one for me, Monster Hunter Wilds. No, it's Hollow Knight Silk Song, of course. Yeah, unsurprisingly exciting. Yeah, I just. I said this when I was talking about Dragon Quest, but. But I'll say it again here. I just feel so lucky that this game is good. There are honestly even just playing Hades 2 and being like, oh, I have pretty major critiques about this thing. Pretty amazing to have my favorite game of all time get a sequel that I like more than it.
- [277:52]
B
More ice cream please.
- [277:53]
A
Yeah, I remember I was on Min Max briefly. Shout out Min Max. The second time I've talked about Min Max. I was on Min Max briefly and I was talking about Silksong and Ben asked me, he was just like, so if Hollow Knight was your favorite game of all time and you seem to like this one more Than that one then. Is this your favorite game of all time now? And I was like, I feel like that. Like, I guess that's how the math works. I guess it is. And when I take a step back and I ask myself, like, why is that? I think it's just. It's just a culmination of everything I like about playing video games. You know, down, like, into the nitty gritty of, like, the art is beautiful. The music is one of the best scores I've heard.
- [278:28]
B
I think it's the best. Other than maybe Mario Kart World. It's my favorite soundtrack this year.
- [278:32]
A
It's remarkable.
- [278:33]
B
It's remarkable as much Scar. So point against it.
- [278:35]
A
Yeah. Which is tough. Yeah. That's tough for everyone. Yeah, that's everyone's major critique with the two.
- [278:41]
B
Just in general, this year, didn't have enough scoff.
- [278:43]
A
I agree. Visually, sonically great. Mechanically, it's, as you said, tight as a drum. You know, it's like playing. It just feels kind of, like, euphoric once you kind of lock into it. And narratively, this is the biggest surprise for me because I talked about this a lot in my video, but narratively, I was expecting nothing from this game. Basically, you play a game game like this, you play a Hollow Knight, or you play Dark Souls or an Elden Ring, and. And you expect to have, like, maybe a semblance of an idea of what actually happened.
- [279:14]
B
Yeah, like a sort of a whisper of a myth.
- [279:16]
A
Yeah, it's like. It's like loose. Loose ideas are kind of thrown around. And I think more specifically, a lot of these games, when they deal in narrative, what they're dealing in really is myth. Right. It's like, yeah, these are things that have happened in the past. You are exploring a place that is long lost to time, and you find yourself just kind of like a bystand to everything that has already happened, everything that's already been set in motion. That is not the case with Silksong at all.
- [279:41]
B
No, it's very active.
- [279:42]
A
Silksong is very active, not only in the fact that Hornet speaks and has her own agency, is brought to Pharloom, this kingdom, against her will, breaks free and is immediately like, I'm going to kill God. And then starts to do that, starts to make her way towards that, but on top of that, her growth as a character, I think, is the most shocking thing. Thing that happened in a video game this year. To me, the idea that not only does Hornet speak and have agency, but she has a character arc. She starts as one person and ends the game as a different one is so interesting. I don't want to spoil too much, especially because you haven't gotten there yet. But it's worth mentioning that when you finish Act 2 for the first time, very, very, very likely you will get the bad ending.
- [280:27]
B
Yeah, that seems to be kind of a serious tradition with Metroidvanias in particular. That's very Symphony of the. It's like most likely the first ending you'll get is like Alucard being like, oh, well, give it a shot and then. Okay. Clearly I have to do something weird to unlock the true ending.
- [280:44]
A
Yes. In this game, when it ends without saying too much, Hornet kind of becomes what she hates in a way. And I think the most powerful message that the game has is the way you make it past that ending and get into Act 3, which it's worth mentioning when I think it's common knowledge now, and it should be common knowledge if there are acts in the game at all. But like, when I first started playing the game, it still wasn't confirmed that there was an Act 3 because I started playing it like the day it came out and I did not stop playing it basically until it was over.
- [281:15]
B
And Act 2 feels like it has the feeling of a final area.
- [281:18]
A
Yes.
- [281:18]
B
You know, like it reminds me of like the Golden City and Dark Souls. Yeah.
- [281:22]
A
What's fascinating about it is like act one feels like a sequel to Hollow Knight and then Act 2 feels like a sequel to that.
- [281:30]
B
Right.
- [281:31]
A
Because like act one, you're running around the realm of Pharloom and it's all these areas that feel very much like Hollownest and Hollow Knight. And when you get past the last judge and you get into the Citadel, the Citadel becomes like a totally different video game with its own transportation and it has new bosses and new stuff. And even just the way the game is structured is very different. Act one is very much like your standard, standard Metroidvania. Like you're running around, you're looking at your map, you're seeing which places, like which doorways you haven't gone through yet and you're trying to see if you can make your way through them. Oh, I don't have the power to get through here, so let me go find it and then I'll come back here eventually later. Act two is like basically totally open ended. It's like you can go almost anywhere, almost anywhere in the Citadel basically immediately. But the question becomes like, can you actually overcome the things that are there? Do you actually have what it takes to, like, make it through this part, X, Y or Z thing. And in a lot of cases, like, the answer is, yes, you do have everything you need to make it past that part. But also the game is structured in a way where it allows you to go find other power ups that will make it easier to make it through those parts. There are entire bits of this game that you can make it pass without getting the double jump that a lot of people do. And then they get the double jump later, realize they could have gotten it the whole time and are just, like, so mad. Which is understandable. It really just depends on, like, how much exploration you do and how, like, almost stubborn you are in the face of conflict. Like, there are just so many moments you'll come up against where you'll be like, there's no way I'm supposed to be doing this right. And sometimes the answer is, yeah. Actually, the amount of times that I was playing this game and I couldn't believe what was required of players. Like, there are some things that happen in Act 2 that I can't believe are part of the critical path. I actually felt that way initially about the last judge fight. Not that I thought the last judge fight itself was that hard. I think it's an amazing. It's one of my favorite boss fights in the game. But the run back when you die.
- [283:23]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [283:24]
A
Going across the blasted steps, like, you need to become a speedrunner just in that bit, or else you'll take a bunch of damage on your way to the last judge every single time. And as it turns out, there are two other ways into the citadel that you can find so you don't actually have to fight. You don't have to fight the last judge.
- [283:41]
B
Wow, that's amazing.
- [283:42]
A
Amazing.
- [283:42]
B
Yeah.
- [283:43]
A
It's just another one of those instances where every time you ask questions about the game, it has an answer for you.
- [283:46]
B
Yeah.
- [283:47]
A
And that's what happens when you have development heaven for as long as they did. You know, like, they sat there and they were just like, we had a really good time making it. So we just kept making it because it was fun to make and they just kept adding stuff to it and what the game is. I think to finish an earlier thought, like, when you want to get past act two and into act three, what you need to do is, like, become a good person.
- [284:09]
B
Yeah.
- [284:09]
A
Like, as, like, you have to become, like, curious about other people and you need to ask questions of NPCs and solve their problems for them. And when you do and when you, like, take a Real interest in the kingdom and the people who live there there. And you're not like looking down on them for their beliefs or because they don't have the capacity to fight God and kill it. You end up becoming, I don't know, a better person. And that's. I think one of the more powerful things about this game is that it is not only a very good Metroidvania with souls like elements, but it is also about something very real and has a real character study going on. And I think this is one thing that was in an earlier version of the script that didn't make it in there. But the thing that I really feel in a lot of ways is actually this was a title of a draft at one point. Silksong is a game that's about itself. Also. There are really interesting meditations on faith and I feel like that's been a constant theme in a lot of stuff I've seen this year. In general that's true in games and out of games there's been. I just watched Wake Up Deadman recently, which is the new Rian Johnson Knives out movie. And that movie has really interesting ideas about faith in a time where being faithful or being religious I think is more malignant than it's ever been, I think by a lot of people.
- [285:24]
B
Sure.
- [285:24]
A
You know, it's a, it's a movie that like takes a very, I think even handed look at like, hey, this is why people are interested in religion. This is why people like go to mass all the time. This is why there are communities that are formed around religion.
- [285:37]
B
Yeah.
- [285:38]
A
And it's not always bad. It's like there is, there's goodness to be found here or else people wouldn't have been doing it for thousands of years. And obviously it can be corrupted in a lot of ways.
- [285:46]
B
Yes.
- [285:47]
A
And that's largely what Silksong is about is like the ways in which faith can be corrupted by malignant forces. But it comes out the other end with like a really nuanced, interesting take on what faith can mean. You know, and that can mean religion in like the more traditional sense, but it can also mean faith in yourself and others. But alongside all of that, Silksong is also a commentary on difficult video games. And it like is asking kind of big questions about like why we sit down and play stuff that feels almost masochistic to sit down and play.
- [286:15]
B
Yeah.
- [286:15]
A
Which I find really interesting. Like I feel like there are games that do that in other genres like that that's not a new idea. But like I just I struggle to think of another very difficult game that is asking you why you're here and playing it, you know, outside of, like, it's not even hard, but, like, Hotline Miami is another one that I'm kind of thinking. Yeah.
- [286:34]
B
I think the other examples are more about moral decisions.
- [286:37]
A
Yes.
- [286:38]
B
Where it's like, I can't believe you chose that. You know, more like.
- [286:41]
A
Yeah. Do you judgment. Do enjoy killing other people? Right.
- [286:43]
B
Yeah, yeah. But in terms of difficulty, maybe just aesthetically, Super Meat Boy is just sort of like throwing you into the meat grinder, literally.
- [286:52]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [286:53]
B
But, yeah, I don't know. I think you're right. I mean, I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'm sure there are. But in terms of this genre, like, ironically, you know, soulslikes being a genre that are all about, you know, learning from failure and repetition, it's interesting to think about all the dead pilgrim bodies and all the corrupted pilgrims in Silksong's early areas. You know, these people that are all on, in some ways, the same quest as Hornet, that have either lost their way or have been defeated. And it's intimidating to see that, or at least sad to see that, you know, But I think there's a version of Hornet. It's like, well, I'm better than them.
- [287:30]
A
Yeah.
- [287:31]
B
You know, I think what makes the Dark Souls formula so interesting to me is that, like, you see literal dead bodies of other players, but they all have messages for you, you know, and it's like, that is the force that's meant to keep you going.
- [287:45]
A
Yeah. And I think in Silksong, you're the force that's supposed to keep Hornet going.
- [287:49]
B
Yes, exactly. Yeah. Because you are like, she has her own journey with or without you in some ways. But if you want to see it, you have to get as good as she is.
- [287:57]
A
Yes. Right. She has all the tools she needs to succeed, and she knows that from the very beginning of the game. It's just a question of, like, do you believe in yourself enough to do it?
- [288:06]
B
I think the only other game it's not necessarily, like, inherently difficult, but the only other game I think of that's like, Interrog, why you're playing it specifically with the relationship between the player and the character is deltarune, the separation of, like, Kris as a character when you're playing or not. And undertale is also a game that is, like, commenting on why you're still there, but that is more in the hotline Miami territory, I think.
- [288:30]
A
Yeah.
- [288:30]
B
Although that Sans fight's tough.
- [288:32]
A
So, yeah, I think Silksong is really a masterpiece, which is a word, I, believe it or not, despite a video I released on the channel earlier this year. Not a word word I throw out very often.
- [288:46]
B
Yeah. But this is one. I mean, it just. There's that. I feel like there's the feeling you get when you're watching a movie or engaging in any kind of media.
- [288:55]
A
Yeah.
- [288:55]
B
Just a part of you quietly is like, oh, this is one of the big ones.
- [288:58]
A
This is one of the big ones.
- [288:59]
B
You just feel that, like, while you're riding an elevator in Silksong, you're like, oh, yeah, this is gonna be a big deal forever.
- [289:06]
A
Yeah.
- [289:07]
B
And it's a really special feeling. Yeah, I felt that way with Elden Ring too, where it's like you get to some locations and in that game. And in both cases, I think, you know, Elden Ring and Silksong are both teams that have, like, perfected what they do. It's interesting to use the terms like souls, like in Metroidvania with the Hollow Knight games in particular, because I feel like at this point, I think of Silksong as Silksong and less like, oh, this is this meshed with this. You know, it's like this is its own thing entirely, even though it's pulling from similar elements.
- [289:35]
A
Yeah. I think one thing I feel very strongly about personally, which it sounds like you don't, based on at least the way you were talking about it. One thing that I think is really interesting is how separate this game feels from Hollow Knight.
- [289:47]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [289:48]
A
I think Hollow Knight, if you're to make the souls, like, comparison, which I think is kind of an easier thing to do or an easier way to talk about it at least, is like, it is Dark Souls meshed with a Metroidvania in a big way. In terms of the way combat feels specifically, no, you don't have a sword and board, but you have basically that level of movement available to you at any given time.
- [290:08]
B
It's a slower game and it's more defensive one in some ways. Or at least like you're more waiting to attack.
- [290:14]
A
Yes. And the way I've described Silksong to people is it feels like. It feels like Team Cherry learned from every single lesson that FromSoft learned when they made Sekiro Bloodborne and Elden Ring. All three elements of combat in all three of those games is present here. Or exploration. Like, Sekiro has the Shinobi tools. Right. These things that are given to you that a lot of people. This also shows up in Elden Ring a lot as well. But there, these tools that are given to you by the developer that a lot of people while playing are like, no, no, no, no, no. Don't use these. That you're not a real. You're not a real Sekiro player if you're using these tools all the time. But, like, they're there in the game,
- [290:51]
B
they're not hacking them in.
- [290:53]
A
Yeah. They're like, they're present for a reason. And the same is true in Silksong. Like, you are given all of these tools that you can equip and you need to use them or else you will definitely die.
- [291:03]
B
Yeah.
- [291:03]
A
They don't just make things easier for you, they make things, like, possible.
- [291:06]
B
Yeah, that's the one. Traitor off of the Wanderer's Crest, which I mentioned I liked earlier, is that you only have, like, you have way more limited tool slots.
- [291:13]
A
You can unlock more.
- [291:14]
B
Oh, can you?
- [291:15]
A
Yeah, baby. Now that I like, you probably can unlock them already and didn't know how. Which also took me like five or
- [291:21]
B
six hours without saying how. I did evolve one of my crests.
- [291:25]
A
Yes.
- [291:25]
B
But I don't know where to go to evolve this one. But either way, starting out, that crest has fewer tool slots and I think even after evolution, it has fewer than other ones do. So that's the trade off off of like, because otherwise, like, yeah, I'll do the one where I attack three times faster. Of course. Yeah, but your reach is shorter and you have less tools.
- [291:45]
A
Yeah.
- [291:45]
B
But that's kind of helped me, like, even though I agree, like, use the tools that are there, it's helped me kind of learn the basic feel of the game a bit better that I only have like one other tool.
- [291:55]
A
Yeah.
- [291:56]
B
Like, I use the exploding spike trap.
- [291:59]
A
Oh, it's so good.
- [291:59]
B
I love that one. Yeah.
- [292:00]
A
So good.
- [292:01]
B
I have that. And then I have, I think the weighted belts. So I don't get like, like flown away when I get hit.
- [292:06]
A
Oh, yeah. You don't get Super Smash Brothers.
- [292:08]
B
There are a lot of fights that feel like the lace fight is just marth. Yeah, it's a. It's a. It's a final destination. No items.
- [292:16]
A
Doubles.
- [292:16]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This game, I. I agree. I think it's a masterpiece.
- [292:19]
A
It's so good. I'm excited for you to get further in. Yeah.
- [292:24]
B
More on this to talk about it. That's fun about this. Go. I feel like we have a few, like, continuous conversations in the works. Like there's at least three or four games here that, like, we both want to see more of. Yeah, so.
- [292:35]
A
But that's Silk Song at number one for me.
- [292:37]
B
Game of the year, baby.
- [292:38]
A
Game of the year. Edges sharp and senses keen.
- [293:15]
B
Hello, friends.
- [293:17]
A
Warriors scout here. My game of 2025 is silkscal song. This elusive follow up to Hollow Knight was a long time coming and Team
- [293:26]
B
Cherry gave me everything I could have wanted and more. I was completely swept away by Hornet's journey through the unforgiving landscape of Pharloom and the connections she made and protected.
- [293:38]
A
Despite it all. In a year where I have struggled
- [293:41]
B
with creative burnout and the many woes
- [293:44]
A
plaguing my profession as an artist, nothing,
- [293:47]
B
nothing shone brighter for me than this.
- [293:49]
A
A game made by eager human hands at a self set pace that allowed them to bring us exactly what they wanted to. I wish with all my heart for more development cycles like this in games. An industry that desperately needs it among
- [294:05]
B
many industries that could use it. I hope you are enjoying what safety,
- [294:10]
A
comfort and serenity you can as we
- [294:13]
B
close out 2025 and prepare ourselves for 2026.
- [294:18]
A
Now, if you'll excuse me, my mentor has disappeared somewhere in these winding tunnels and I must get back to singing my beckoning song in the hopes of locating her.
- [294:28]
B
Until we meet again. Farewell. A.
- [294:41]
A
O. We should run through what our top tens were and then take a break.
- [294:52]
B
Want me to go first?
- [294:53]
A
Yeah, you go first.
- [294:54]
B
All right. My top 10 for 2025. Number 10, Q up. Number 9, Donkey Kong Bonanza. Number 8, Detective Instinct. Farewell, my beloved. Number 7, Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D remake. Number 6, Digimon Story Time Stranger. Number 5, Hades 2. Number 4, Despalote. Number 3, Starvaders. Number 2, Hollow Knight, Silksong. And number 1, the Hundred Line Last Defense Academy.
- [295:23]
A
Nice. Great list.
- [295:24]
B
Thank you.
- [295:25]
A
My top ten number ten peak. Number nine, ball pit. Number eight is Hades two. Number seven is Mario Kart World. Number six is consume me. Number five is sectori. Number four is Q up. Number three is Dragon Quest OnePlus 2 HD 2D remake. Number two is blueprints. And number one is Hollow Knight Silksong. And with that, we're going to take a break.
- [295:47]
B
Yeah. And then we'll come back with Discord Godies. Discord Goatees. Honorable Mentions. And then we will settle on the top five for the show. Yeah, dude, it's going to be an interesting conversation.
- [295:57]
A
It sure is. We'll talk to you on the other side, folks.
- [296:00]
B
See you then.
- [296:02]
A
Okay, we just took another break after our top 10. Yes, we had one more slice of pizza.
- [296:09]
B
Just one.
- [296:09]
A
We played some sectori.
- [296:10]
B
Yes. We learned quickly that there's not two player.
- [296:13]
A
Yeah.
- [296:14]
B
There's not multiplayer, but it's still very fun.
- [296:16]
A
I don't know why. Yeah, I just. I felt like every time I played there was like a two player option that I was like, oh, I'd love to play this one day. And then just never did. But it turns out that that wasn't real.
- [296:25]
B
It was a distant dream. But we. We made it happen. We just took turns.
- [296:27]
A
Yeah, we took turns. Which was. Which was fun.
- [296:29]
B
I will quickly reveal before we get into the. Oh, yeah.
- [296:32]
A
I'm so excited about this.
- [296:33]
B
Discord. Discord. Godi results and our honorable mentions. My guesses for your list. So I've marked here the games that I guess your top 10 and also the order.
- [296:43]
A
Yeah.
- [296:43]
B
I marked in green the games that I got like, were on your list and I got the exact right number.
- [296:50]
A
Yeah. For those of you playing at home, make sure to set up your Google sheet with green marked as the ones where you got right in. In the right order.
- [296:58]
B
Yellow was the game was on your list, but not in the right number that I guessed. And then red I was totally off.
- [297:04]
A
Okay.
- [297:05]
B
My guess for your list, 10 to 1 was 10. Mario Kart World.
- [297:09]
A
Yeah.
- [297:09]
B
9. Hades 2. 8. Nubby's Number Factory.
- [297:12]
A
Yeah.
- [297:13]
B
7. Metal Garden, 6. Consume Me, 5 Pokemon Lazarus, which I'm surprised wasn't on there. 4. Ball Pit, 3. Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HTT remake. Two blueprints and one Hollow Knight Silk Song.
- [297:25]
A
Wow.
- [297:26]
B
So I got four. Four. Right. And in the right place.
- [297:28]
A
Yeah. What'd you have at number five again?
- [297:30]
B
Pokemon Lazarus.
- [297:31]
A
Pokemon Lazarus.
- [297:32]
B
Yeah. Yeah. So. So three Pokemon Lazarus, Metal Garden, and Nubby's Number Factory were just like totally wrong.
- [297:37]
A
Yeah.
- [297:37]
B
But then the rest, Ball Pit, Hades 2, Market World were just the wrong placement. So overall I got what, seven out of 10 of the games on your list?
- [297:46]
A
It's pretty good.
- [297:46]
B
Not bad.
- [297:47]
A
Yeah, that's pretty good.
- [297:48]
B
I always think of. I think it was a remnant 2. When you're making a character and the. And the test voice bark is not bad. Not bad at all. It's seared into my brain.
- [297:59]
A
Oh, my God. Wow. Remember remnant 2?
- [298:00]
B
This is a game.
- [298:01]
A
Oh, I want to play that again.
- [298:03]
B
Okay, what do we want to do first? Do you want to do Discord results first or honorable mentions first?
- [298:07]
A
I have been dying to hear the Discord results. I want to hear them. Hit me with them.
- [298:10]
B
Huge shout out to our friend Andy who did this thank you, Andy. First of all, thank you for everyone who voted too. We had over 500 votes. This is year.
- [298:19]
A
Oh, my God.
- [298:19]
B
That is significantly more. The most we've had was in 2023. We had just under 300.
- [298:25]
A
Oh, my God.
- [298:26]
B
So this is by far the most we've ever had to the point where I actually want to share the top 10. Yeah, we usually share the top five.
- [298:32]
A
Yeah, yeah. Let's definitely do top 10.
- [298:33]
B
But enough stuff. Got enough votes. I'd like to share it.
- [298:36]
A
Oh, that's so exciting.
- [298:37]
B
Okay. Number 10 from the Discord. So another thing.
- [298:40]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Can you explain how this is. How this works a little bit?
- [298:43]
B
So the way the voting worked, we made a Google form where you could vote for your top five favorite games of the year. And it's weighted vote. So whatever you write in fifth place is one vote, and then. So first place vote is worth five points, and then second place is worth four and so on.
- [298:59]
A
Yeah.
- [299:00]
B
So. And the only required field is your game of the year. So if you didn't. We want to open it up to people who only played one game.
- [299:06]
A
Yeah.
- [299:06]
B
They only have one game. That's their goatee. There was another field for. For game of the other year, of course. And how we calculated that was. So the. So the top 10 for the Discord for goat will be like, whatever got the most points for Go Toy. It's number of unique games. Vot. And then any game that got five or more votes, we would shout out as, like, these were the games that everyone played this year.
- [299:28]
A
Cool.
- [299:29]
B
There are so many.
- [299:30]
A
Oh, my God.
- [299:31]
B
We'll get to the Go toys. Okay, great. Let's start with the goatees.
- [299:34]
A
Yeah.
- [299:34]
B
So number 10.
- [299:35]
A
Yeah.
- [299:35]
B
With 29 votes and 90 points. Death Stranding two on the beach.
- [299:40]
A
Whoa. Okay.
- [299:41]
B
Sleeper hit. That was a great game. Like, I enjoyed it. I just feel like it kind of. It definitely left the conversation, like, completely.
- [299:48]
A
Yeah.
- [299:48]
B
Which is sad because I think it's a good sequel. I just think it is. It's not quite the, like, captivating. Like, what is this so interesting of the first game.
- [299:56]
A
Yeah.
- [299:57]
B
Which is not really the game's fault. Like, it is a solid sequel, but I just think that, like, I just got pulled away from it.
- [300:02]
A
Yeah. Just like Kojima pulled himself away from the game awards. As soon as Clare Obscure got announced, as did he as game, he just walked up and left.
- [300:09]
B
Oh, my God.
- [300:10]
A
Like, there's a shot of him walking out of the theater. Yeah. I loved the first game.
- [300:16]
B
Yeah.
- [300:17]
A
I did not click with the second Game. I'm weirdly just kind of sitting back and waiting for a director's cut to come out on PC for me to revisit it.
- [300:26]
B
Yeah, I want to go back. I've heard from friends of mine who have finished it that really loved it and I enjoyed the opening hours of the game. I really liked.
- [300:34]
A
I was with it for five or six hours.
- [300:35]
B
Yeah, we're fully back. I agree with you though, that the focus on combat was a weird choice for what the first game. When combat happens, it's so. You're so ill prepared for it. It has that weight to it and
- [300:48]
A
it's kind of the antithesis of what everyone is trying to accomplish in that game also. So anytime there's combat, it's like as high stakes as possible.
- [300:55]
B
Yeah. So. Yeah. So. But Destiny 2, great game. That's number 10 for the Discord.
- [301:00]
A
Yeah.
- [301:00]
B
Number nine with 35 votes and 93 points. Peak.
- [301:05]
A
Nice.
- [301:06]
B
The first crossover there, that's also on your list. All right. I also like peak number eight with 35 votes and 116 points is Trails in the sky, first chapter.
- [301:17]
A
Wow.
- [301:18]
B
Yeah, a great remake. Trails in the sky was my. Honestly, if I didn't play the original this year, I think the remake would have been on my list. It was too close and I do think just subjectively I prefer the original a little bit. But the remake is fantastic and is probably the version to play for most people.
- [301:35]
A
It's so good and I put so little time into it this year that I didn't even count it for my overall list. So it's not Even in my 69 games of the year. But I mean, it is exceptional. Like my. My experience with it. The first couple hours I was like, this is definitely the way I'm going to play this game. Yeah.
- [301:51]
B
And it makes me really excited for two because Second Chapter is one of the best Trails games. All right, number seven for the Discord. 38 votes, 126 points. My goatee, the hundred line Last Defense Academy.
- [302:03]
A
I love that that many people played it. That's great.
- [302:05]
B
This has a very small but passionate following in the Discord.
- [302:09]
A
Yeah.
- [302:09]
B
And it's growing like that channel. If you're new to the game, everyone sharing, like, everyone's very good with spoilers. And it's like.
- [302:15]
A
It's like when 13 Sentinels was going around. Yeah. Just heavily redacted.
- [302:19]
B
I expected this to even be higher because. But I'm also biased. I'm like basically in the Discord. I'm like in ita and I'm in like the games I'm playing.
- [302:26]
A
Yeah.
- [302:26]
B
And yeah. The 100 line Discord or the channel in the Discord is fantastic.
- [302:30]
A
Yeah.
- [302:30]
B
Shout out to everyone there. Number six with 60 votes and 177 points is ball Pit.
- [302:36]
A
Oh, nice.
- [302:37]
B
That feels like it's the Roguelike, I guess. Unless you count other games. But no, there's a lot of Roguelikes this year actually. Never mind.
- [302:44]
A
Good.
- [302:45]
B
It's good. It's a good one. I was gonna say it's the Roguelike of the year. I'm like, wait, there's like three other ones that are higher. Surprise for me here in a fun way.
- [302:52]
A
Yeah.
- [302:52]
B
Number five with 93 votes and 273 points. Banana Donkey Kong Bonanza.
- [302:58]
A
Nice.
- [302:59]
B
Yeah. I wasn't expecting it to be this high, but I mean, it did very well.
- [303:01]
A
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's actually surprised. I mean, I'm surprised that that many people got switched twos even.
- [303:07]
B
Yeah.
- [303:07]
A
You know what I mean?
- [303:08]
B
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [303:09]
A
That's very interesting that it's that well represented.
- [303:10]
B
Number four with 183 votes and 593 points.
- [303:16]
A
Big jump.
- [303:17]
B
Yes.
- [303:17]
A
Between that one and this one.
- [303:18]
B
Yeah. The top four. That's. I mean, that's the thing is like usually what happens with these polls is like there are in most years some. Some variants, but most years there are like two or three games that get a shit ton of votes.
- [303:31]
A
Yeah.
- [303:31]
B
And then everything else is kind of like maybe a few more get close to like 100 points and then there's a drop off.
- [303:37]
A
Yeah.
- [303:37]
B
Like I'm thinking of 20, 23 where it was like Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate 3 just like completely dominated.
- [303:43]
A
Yeah.
- [303:43]
B
There was an even spread for a few games after that, but like this year there's like, I mean, even further down than 10. Like there are a lot of games with like between 60 and 70 points, which is not common. So that just show like there's a lot. A lot of games this year that had an audience.
- [303:57]
A
Yeah. It's interesting. I just think it's interesting that whatever you're about to say is in this slot got twice the number of votes of Bonanza.
- [304:04]
B
Yeah. Like almost literally 183, 593 points is blueprints number four. Whoa.
- [304:11]
A
Okay. Nice. That's fun.
- [304:13]
B
Number three with 193 votes and 609 points is Hades two.
- [304:19]
A
Hades two at number three. Interesting.
- [304:21]
B
Number two with here's. Here's an interesting stat.
- [304:25]
A
Yeah.
- [304:25]
B
Lower number of votes. Way higher. Point value.
- [304:29]
A
So a lot of people favorite as game of the year. Yeah.
- [304:31]
B
174 votes and 701 points. Claire obscure. Expedition 33.
- [304:37]
A
Wow. There it is.
- [304:38]
B
There it is. I had to show up up somewhere.
- [304:40]
A
It had to be in the episode in some way, shape or form.
- [304:43]
B
You know, I am really happy for this game's success. Like I recognize that Brendan and I are outliers. Like I'm not rooting against it at all to be clear. I just didn't connect with it really. But I definitely like admire elements of it. Like I'm glad people really like it, you know.
- [304:55]
A
Yeah. And I, I liked it a lot more than you did even and didn't make my list, unfortunately.
- [305:00]
B
Yeah.
- [305:00]
A
You know, the further into that game I got, the less I found myself connecting with it over time. Yeah.
- [305:05]
B
Do you think it has a divisive again? Another divisive, divisive ending? Yeah.
- [305:09]
A
But I've said this on the show and I'll say it again, like whatever Sandfall makes next, I'm there for. Even if it's a sequel to Claire Obscure. Like I, I feel like now that they have this one under their belt, I'm excited to see how they refine that the next time around.
- [305:20]
B
Yeah. And I mean to our conversation earlier, like, I think this is a whole other piece of discourse about like the indiness of Sandfall and such. But like I do think like a group of people leaving Ubisoft off to make their own company, to make their own game on their own terms, new IP and this being that successful. That's very exciting.
- [305:38]
A
Yeah.
- [305:38]
B
You know, like even if I didn't enjoy it personally, like that's really cool. Yeah. And I'd love to see more of that kind of stuff happening.
- [305:45]
A
Yeah.
- [305:45]
B
Shout out to Clear Obscure at number two. And the game of the year for the discord with 228votes and 902points is Hornet herself, Hollow Knight, Silksong.
- [305:57]
A
That makes sense. That tracks. That tracks for me. That's very exciting. Wow, I'm so glad.
- [306:00]
B
Now we'll that do. Go Toys real quick.
- [306:02]
A
Yeah, tell me about Go Toys. I'm excited about this one.
- [306:04]
B
The unique number of Games voted for 280Games.
- [306:08]
A
Oh wow.
- [306:09]
B
Lots of unique games here. Okay, I'm going to read all the ones that got five. So again, just by chance, like because we keep it five because like the chance of five people playing the same game out of every game that exists is fairly low. We're going to start with the first game. They got five here. Five People. Thirteen Sentinels. Aigisrim.
- [306:30]
A
Nice.
- [306:31]
B
Was their go toy.
- [306:32]
A
Wow. I'm so glad you got around to it, folks.
- [306:34]
B
These all have five.
- [306:36]
A
Yeah.
- [306:36]
B
Baldur's Gate. Three.
- [306:37]
A
Cool.
- [306:37]
B
Chrono Trigger, which is always one of the go toys.
- [306:41]
A
It's just so good.
- [306:41]
B
An eternal go toy.
- [306:43]
A
I love that.
- [306:43]
B
Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D remake.
- [306:45]
A
Cool.
- [306:46]
B
Like a dragon. Infinite wealth.
- [306:47]
A
Oh, nice.
- [306:48]
B
Nine souls.
- [306:49]
A
Nice. Okay.
- [306:50]
B
Undertale.
- [306:51]
A
Cool.
- [306:51]
B
And Yakuza. Like a Dragon.
- [306:53]
A
I love that there's two Like a Dragon games in there.
- [306:55]
B
Go Toy is, like, made. It's the Yakuza Award Show.
- [306:58]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [306:59]
B
That's just the games that got five. We have way more to go.
- [307:02]
A
Yeah.
- [307:03]
B
These two got six.
- [307:04]
A
Yeah.
- [307:05]
B
Death Stranding. Director's Cut.
- [307:06]
A
Oh.
- [307:07]
B
Fire Emblem. Three Houses Going Strong. Six years later.
- [307:11]
A
I'm really surprised. Yeah, I'm surprised to hear that that one made the cut, but I'm really glad about it. Especially on the eve of the Year
- [307:19]
B
of the Eve of the Weave. Fortune's weaves.
- [307:25]
A
Oh, fuck. I'm so mad that it took until now to come up with Eve of the Weave.
- [307:31]
B
Steve's Eve of the Weave.
- [307:32]
A
We should have been saying that for months.
- [307:33]
B
Yeah. Well, we have a whole year to start doing it. 2026 is the eve of the Weave.
- [307:37]
A
This is actually now the canonical shortest time to title we've ever had for an episode of the show. Because obviously the episode before that comes
- [307:47]
B
out before is Eve of the Weaves
- [307:48]
A
needs to be called Eve of the Weaves.
- [307:50]
B
Yeah, exactly. Oh, my God.
- [307:53]
A
Negative time.
- [307:54]
B
Two games got seven. Far from the most, to be clear, which, again, is. I just need to stress how crazy that is from a probability standpoint.
- [308:02]
A
Yes, yes, yes.
- [308:03]
B
Seven people. Their go toy was Bolitro, and then seven Persona 5 Royal.
- [308:09]
A
Cool.
- [308:10]
B
I think a common trend in this is, like, big games from the year before, and then just like all timers that are generally bigger RPGs.
- [308:18]
A
Yes.
- [308:19]
B
Which is cool.
- [308:19]
A
Yeah.
- [308:20]
B
10 people.
- [308:21]
A
Oh, wow.
- [308:22]
B
Yakuza 0.
- [308:23]
A
Cool.
- [308:23]
B
Another Yakuza game.
- [308:24]
A
Yeah.
- [308:25]
B
14 people. Metaphor. Refantazio.
- [308:28]
A
Nice.
- [308:28]
B
Last year's big RPG. 15 people.
- [308:31]
A
Oh, my God. 15 people.
- [308:33]
B
Persona 3. Reload.
- [308:34]
A
Cool.
- [308:35]
B
21.
- [308:36]
A
We're not done. We're still not done.
- [308:38]
B
Okay, this is the last one.
- [308:39]
A
Minesweeper.
- [308:39]
B
But 21 people. 1000 times resist.
- [308:42]
A
Really?
- [308:42]
B
Yeah.
- [308:43]
A
Nice.
- [308:43]
B
Yeah, they're mine. Must have been like, a book club or something in the Discord. Cause, like.
- [308:47]
A
Yeah.
- [308:47]
B
And actually, I saw people try to. People assumed it was Trails in the Sky.
- [308:51]
A
Oh, interesting.
- [308:52]
B
Because of just how much, you know, we added the wonderful Trails Through Trails podcast to the network. And Trails comes up a lot, but no, it was a thousand times. Resist. 21 people.
- [309:03]
A
That's amazing.
- [309:04]
B
The most I've seen is like five or six. Yeah, those are the go toys.
- [309:07]
A
Yeah. Wow.
- [309:08]
B
Thank you all for voting. This is so much fun. I cannot wait to see next year's if we can even more votes somehow.
- [309:14]
A
Yeah.
- [309:14]
B
And once again, thank you, Andy, for using your spreadsheet magic to make all this happen.
- [309:19]
A
For some reason, these numbers really do align with that big revelation that I had. At least from the Steam wrapped thing, end of year thing. That's like almost nobody is playing new games.
- [309:30]
B
Yeah.
- [309:30]
A
You know, it's like, yeah, that can be games from last year because you waited till they were on sale and then you picked them up and then you played them now, which is like a totally valid and probably smart way of playing video games.
- [309:40]
B
I mean, that's kind of even doing this show. That's an approach I take to certain games. Like, I do want to play Ghost of Yote, but I'm like, yeah, that's a game I feel like I can kind of wait for.
- [309:49]
A
Yeah, that'll be on PC early 2027, I'm sure.
- [309:51]
B
And it will be probably on sale or maybe even have added content to it.
- [309:55]
A
So I actually did just pick up Ghost of Tsushima for our shared Steam library.
- [309:58]
B
Oh, nice.
- [309:59]
A
Because it was very on sale.
- [310:00]
B
Yeah, that game's awesome. So that's it. Those are the Discord votes.
- [310:03]
A
I love it. Wow. Hello, fellow aetherites, Therians. I should have asked this before I did it. This is Andy, the counter and collector and keeper of your game of the Year and games of the other year votes. I want to start with a genuine thank you. It's truly one of the highlights of my year, getting to see all the incredible games we've been playing. And my Steam Wishlist is now dangerously close to bursting because of it. Looking back at my own year, there were so many amazing games I got to play. Breakout hits like Clair Obscure and Dispatch and games I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to play, like Silksong. This year I really stretched what I mean by a video game. My favorite game by far this year was Blood on the Clock Tower. If you ever played Jackbox with your friends during the pandemic like I did, you know how meaningful it is to just be together. Even at a distance. Clock Tower brings that same sense of community with one key. Lying to my friends is fun. The game is simple. You sit in A circle. And one of you is secretly a demon. And it's your job to vanquish them. Immediately, everyone becomes way too confident in trying to figure out who that is. Is every player matters, but no one knows who to trust. The good team lies, the evil team lies. And sometimes even the game itself will lie to you. You're making life and death decisions based on whispers, vibes and someone saying to you, trust me. I checked. Sort of. If you ever played Mafia and werewolf and thought, oh, I died, I guess I'll get a snack. This game fixes that. Even when you're dead, you're still playing. You keep talking, influencing and manipulating your friends, haunting them like a very opinionated ghost.
- [311:27]
B
It's a murder mystery.
- [311:28]
A
It's a logic puzzle and improv all at once. Winning is so fun and losing is even better. It always ends in chaos. Laughter. And everyone immediately wanted to play the game again. And one of the best parts, the online app is completely free until you decide to start running the game yourself. Finally, thank you to Brendan, Steven and AJ for countless hours of great gaming conversations. I can't wait to see what 2026 brings.
- [311:52]
B
Shall we segue into honorable mentions?
- [311:55]
A
Yeah, I think it's time to do that. Okay, so you made. You made a second list, right? You have another topic.
- [312:00]
B
I have no order. Okay, I can rattle through mine fairly quickly.
- [312:04]
A
Yes. This is how you and I differ in prep for this episode, which we didn't really talk about. But like, because I'm making a list all year, the entire year, I'm constantly ranking things, like throughout the entire year. So I usually on this episode, I'll talk about my 11 through 20 and then you have like an unordered list of honorable mentions. The way you did goto is the way I did honorable mention and vice versa.
- [312:28]
B
Yeah, it's like throughout the year, I'll just have a group on backlog, just in no order of every game I liked that year. And then when I'm transitioning into making a list of top 10, just everything else that didn't make it is in the pool of honorable mentions.
- [312:42]
A
Yes.
- [312:43]
B
So I'll go through mine.
- [312:44]
A
Yes.
- [312:45]
B
One real quick that I already kind of mentioned is Trails in the sky, first chapter. Really great remake. It was on my list for a while, but I had to just. It's not the game's fault, but it is fairly one to one with the original. So I think in many ways it's very much made for a new audience, more so than it is for returning players. Unless you're someone who hasn't played the original since 2004, which I think was definitely the move, but I think if you had just beaten it weeks prior, there's a little bit other than the clearly superior combat. The combat has been totally revamped to include all of the best pieces of the cold steel and daybreak combat. It's honestly some of the best like combat Trails games have had.
- [313:25]
A
Yeah.
- [313:25]
B
And it looks great. Like it's by all means a great remake. But I'm like, I just did this so it's hard to make time for.
- [313:31]
A
Yeah, the music is amazing. Seeing. Seeing that world in 3D is amazing. I remember like even just the first time I sat down to play it and looking up and seeing the literal actual trails in the sky, I was
- [313:42]
B
like, oh my God, I have this. I. I impulsively bought the limited run Steel book. Of the Steel book. Yeah. That's really good. So that's one of my honorable mentions. Another one. Promise Mascot Agency. Really great. Really bizarre but sincere and sweet life business sim game. Another game that kind of has a Yakuza connection where the voice actor behind Kiryu is the lead. He's basically playing Kiryu but in a sort of island of Misfit toys setting. Look up footage of this game. It has such a striking visual style. You described it as kind of like Persona 4 looking and it definitely has that sort of Vita aesthetic.
- [314:22]
A
Yes.
- [314:22]
B
But it's like it's a surprisingly like in depth business sim with like very quirky characters and a sense of like building a community. It's great. It's a great time. I feel like I sort of soft locked my progress by just doing very poorly and promising too many bonuses. But I do want to. I do want to keep playing this game because I want to get it to the point where it is like a Zen time.
- [314:44]
A
Yeah.
- [314:44]
B
I just happen to to be bad enough out of it. It was very stressful the whole time.
- [314:48]
A
This is very funny.
- [314:49]
B
Consume Me had a lot of lovely things to say. I also love this game.
- [314:52]
A
Yeah.
- [314:52]
B
This was. It was just very hard. It was very hard to limit to 10.
- [314:55]
A
Yeah.
- [314:55]
B
And I think I mentioned that I fell off a little bit in the back half of the game, but it was still a great experience and definitely one that will stick with me. Silent Hill F I didn't really get enough time to play through this one. I wanted to see it through to the end. I'm probably about halfway through. Really, really cool horror game. Definitely a great comeback for the series. I'm glad Konami is making games again. I hope they don't just make remakes of their classic hits. And I think what I want to see is stuff like Silent Hill F where it's like, give me new entry.
- [315:24]
A
Give me.
- [315:25]
B
I would love to see new entries in these series if they're going to continue.
- [315:30]
A
Yeah, I think the myriad awards this game won. I saw there was a horror game awards that this took away. Took the Game of the Year award from. Just feels like everyone is kind of sending that signal to Konami like, hey, you did something good here. You should keep doing it. This is another one that is worth mentioning. It just didn't make my list at all because I didn't play enough of it. I played probably three hours and I was like, I still don't feel like that's enough to really know where this lands for me. But I really, really, really dug what I played.
- [315:58]
B
Yeah, you'll love it. I think this will be. I'd love to play it again for next Halloween season.
- [316:03]
A
Yeah, me too.
- [316:03]
B
Screaming Stevies.
- [316:04]
A
Screaming Stevie's Wild Ride 2.
- [316:06]
B
Next one is Dispatch, a game that we talked a lot about out somewhat recently. I really enjoyed this. I have a lot of similar points of feedback with how truly choice driven it is and how impactful those decisions feel. But just as an interactive experience, I had a lot of fun with it. I liked the Dispatch game and I liked the characters. I'm very curious if they'll do a season two, because I do think they're a few tweaks away from making one of the best telltale games like this. As it stands though, I think it was enjoyable enough for me to want to put it here, but it wasn't fully complete enough for me to want to put it on my list.
- [316:43]
A
Yeah.
- [316:43]
B
Peak, which was also on your list.
- [316:45]
A
Hello.
- [316:45]
B
That was very close to getting on here. Great game. Luminous Arise. Also.
- [316:50]
A
How good.
- [316:50]
B
Just a really fantastic time. It is the A2 effect harming it where it's just like, yeah, it's the best Luminous game anyway. Mario Kart World. This is where the bottom half of your list is just my only honorable mentions.
- [317:02]
A
Yeah.
- [317:03]
B
Okay. This next one is a little bit of a weird one. Delta Rune Chapter three and four.
- [317:07]
A
I was actually surprised that this wasn't in your top 10. I really thought it was going to make it there.
- [317:10]
B
It easily could have been like, I think.
- [317:12]
A
Did you not count it? Like, did you think that it didn't count?
- [317:14]
B
Yeah, I basically. So deltarune.
- [317:18]
A
I asked that in a very accusatory way. Did you think that it didn't count.
- [317:21]
B
I am personally kind of like almost identical to Scarlet Hollow.
- [317:24]
A
Yeah. You're just.
- [317:24]
B
I'm like waiting for it to be done because I want to have that moment where I'm just like, Delta Rune is my game of the year.
- [317:30]
A
Yeah.
- [317:30]
B
You know.
- [317:30]
A
Yeah.
- [317:30]
B
I don't think it like that's fair. I don't think it being episodic makes it less than as a game. And honestly, Chapter four alone is one of the best experiences I had this year. These two chapters are. It just gets better and better. Really. Chapter five is coming out next year. I cannot wait for that. I'm just sort of waiting to see the complete thing kind of Kentucky Route zero. I'm glad we got that definitive moment with TV Edition just being like, here's the game. But I mean if you haven't played these chapters yet and you liked Deltarune 1 and 2 to prioritize this at all costs. It's so good. And then Demon School. Demon School I really enjoyed. I'm probably 12 hours in. I think it's like a 30 hour game. So I'm not exactly sure, but really enjoyable. We talked a lot about this with Brandon, which was great. And yeah, it's just a great game. Really interesting take on sort of like the life sim tactics genre which has really come up a lot this year.
- [318:23]
A
Yeah.
- [318:23]
B
So those are my honorable mentions.
- [318:25]
A
Honorable mentions, yeah. That's a good list.
- [318:27]
B
Thank you.
- [318:28]
A
Should I go 11 to 20 or 20 to 11?
- [318:30]
B
20 to 11.
- [318:31]
A
20 to 11. Number 20 on my honorable mentions list. Or I guess you get it. Number 20 for me on my list. Pokemon Lazarus. There it is.
- [318:39]
B
Oh, there it is.
- [318:40]
A
An extremely competent Pokemon game made by one person who doesn't work at Game Freak. It's. It's a ROM hack of Pokemon Emerald. If you haven't heard anything about it. That takes place in an entirely new region that's based on Greece and is just like an exceptionally well built Pokemon game with about a million quality of life improvements, extremely well written characters, interesting ideas about gyms and typing, and even just like how Pokemon should play on a moment to moment basis. It's like one of the best Pokemon games from this era. But it's not from this era, it's from now, which is really interesting. I think it's really, really special. I like it a lot. I think it probably would have been higher had I played more of it, but I like what I've played so far. Number 19, the seance of Blake Manor.
- [319:28]
B
Oh ye. Another one. That I just need to put more time into.
- [319:31]
A
Dude.
- [319:31]
B
Yeah.
- [319:32]
A
Yeah. I think screaming CVs Wild Ride 2
- [319:34]
B
is going to be. Yeah. This and S. You're going to love
- [319:38]
A
this game, especially knowing how you feel about like Obra Dinn and stuff. Like, I just, I feel like Blake Manor has a lot of what you are looking for out of this kind of game.
- [319:48]
B
Yeah. I love the art style too. It's very Hellboy.
- [319:51]
A
The art style is amazing. And as I mentioned, there's not a spoiler. Like the game opens with you walking into Blake Manor and immediately seeing a ghost. So they're like there's a shit and you just need to deal with that.
- [320:05]
B
Yeah.
- [320:06]
A
It's an extremely cool game. I think it's really, really, really intricate, like a clock, which is fun. Number 18. Baby steps. Baby Steps, the new game by Bennett Foddy and a bunch of other people where you play as a guy named Nate who lives with his parents and takes some steps out into a world that is shockingly similar to Skyrim. And you try to make your way. Just try to make your way out in life.
- [320:31]
B
Yeah. It seems like a sort of spiritual follow up to like Co op and getting over it very much.
- [320:36]
A
Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think the thing about Benafati's entire like category or catalog of games that he's made is like they're all kind of exploring similar ideas.
- [320:43]
B
Yeah. Which is cool.
- [320:44]
A
Yeah. And in some ways I find that he's like just finding new ways of asking the same questions. So I think this game and getting over it in particular are very similar. And this game I think has the most in common with Silksong. Weirdly, of all the other games on
- [320:59]
B
the list, it's about believing yourself.
- [321:00]
A
It is. Yeah. Baby Steps is really great. It is unbelievably, horribly frustrating in all the ways it's supposed to be. And I do think that that's going to be the biggest hurdle for basically anyone who's playing it. The amount of time. Like I am not a person who rage quits games and I did many times, times while playing Baby Steps. There. There are some moments, especially one like right at the beginning, like before I really had a handle on how to like if you haven't played it at all, it's worth mentioning the way that you control this game is you're playing as Nate and the left trigger controls his left leg and the right trigger controls his right leg. And you need to take steps and kind of like move yourself around and start to climb this mountain and early on in the game, one of the first hurdles they throw at you is, like, you just need to step on a rock that's in the middle of, like, a kind of muddy, like, landslide to get over to the other side of it. And, like, it's very likely that this early in the game, you are not good enough to do that and will just fall into the mud. And when you do that, they slide you all the way past where you started the game.
- [322:01]
B
Oh, my gosh.
- [322:02]
A
And then even further, and then there's an NPC who shows up and is like, hey, why are you in the mud? And, like, starts, like, chastising you for, like, rolling around in the mud. And just because Nate is who he is, he's like, don't talk to me, please. I'll talk to you later. See, I'm just having fun down here. It's. It's a very funny game. It's, you know, it's very clear what it's about just from, like, looking at it for eight minutes.
- [322:25]
B
Yeah.
- [322:26]
A
And I think it does it very well. I think the thing about it is that I haven't finished it, but most people who have, like, they describe the ending as, like, deeply, deeply profound. And I do want to hit it at a certain point.
- [322:36]
B
Yeah. I need to play this more. I haven't even started yet, so it's good. Yeah.
- [322:40]
A
Number 17. Unfair flips.
- [322:43]
B
Hell, yeah.
- [322:43]
A
This was actually pretty close to my top 10 for a long time.
- [322:46]
B
Yeah.
- [322:46]
A
I just think it's, like, deeply, deeply, deeply successful at its very simple conceit.
- [322:51]
B
It is.
- [322:51]
A
Which I think you put perfectly earlier. Just saying that it's, like, about the horrors of probability. They just. They just put the chance in front of you, and for some reason, your brain thinks that it's higher than it is, and then you keep going.
- [323:02]
B
I didn't realize. So I shared. When we talked about this on. On the show, I shared how many flips it took me to get 10.
- [323:07]
A
Yeah.
- [323:08]
B
And I had, like, a surprisingly, like, successful run. Like, it only took me 800. I didn't realize.
- [323:13]
A
Yeah. The. The average is, like, 1500 to 2000.
- [323:17]
B
God. So I don't know how I did it.
- [323:18]
A
So I played the game for, like, an hour and a half before it was over. Yeah.
- [323:21]
B
It took me, like, 20 minutes.
- [323:22]
A
Unreal.
- [323:23]
B
Unreal flips.
- [323:24]
A
Unreal flips. Number 16 for me. Demon School.
- [323:27]
B
Hell, yeah.
- [323:27]
A
Demon School game. Good video game. You can hear us talk a lot about it.
- [323:31]
B
Two episodes about it.
- [323:32]
A
Number 15. Here it is. Nubby' Factory.
- [323:35]
B
There it is. Okay, so it's kind of in the realm.
- [323:38]
A
Yeah. After my wedding when I got very sick and came home and probably had Covid or something, I just sat on that couch, played Nupbies Number Factory a lot and just watched Colombo and boy was that.
- [323:54]
B
I remember that era.
- [323:55]
A
Yeah. Really weird like week that I had. And I love Novi's Number Factory. It's a really good video game. I should describe what it is really quick before I move on because I didn't say what it was at all.
- [324:04]
B
It's really sick.
- [324:05]
A
I was sick and I watched Columbo. It's not a description of Numby's Number Factory. Numby's Number Factory is like a, it's a, it's a basically like a. What are they called? Like a pachinko roguelike where the art style is very clearly inspired by like kid pics or just like really pre Pixar 3D graphics is how I put it. It is pretty frequently like disgusting and weird and the whole idea is just you need to get enough points or else the sun will explode. And it's like very tongue in cheek about the fact that it's a send up of roguelikes in that way.
- [324:38]
B
This was, it was like the earlier wave of like the Balatro genre, you know, like whatever the genre is, whatever.
- [324:44]
A
Parlor rogues.
- [324:45]
B
Parlor Rogues, Yeah. This is an early one.
- [324:47]
A
Yeah.
- [324:47]
B
Or at least post Balatro obviously.
- [324:49]
A
Yeah. Number 14, detective instinct. Farewell My Beloved.
- [324:52]
B
Yeah.
- [324:53]
A
Great game.
- [324:53]
B
Yeah, great game.
- [324:54]
A
We talked about it a lot. I don't really feel like I need to add anything else to it.
- [324:57]
B
That's it.
- [324:57]
A
I think it's really good.
- [324:58]
B
I'm done.
- [324:59]
A
Number 13, I think you'll be interested to hear, is the Hundred line Last Defense Academy.
- [325:03]
B
Okay, there it is.
- [325:04]
A
Yeah. So it's worth mentioning from Nubby's Number Factory up through peak, these are all the games that were vying for the number 10 slot.
- [325:10]
B
Yeah.
- [325:10]
A
When I say like there were six games vying for it, like any of these could have been number 10, I would have been happy anyway. 100 line last fence Academy for all the reasons you described, why it's your number one. I, except for the things that happened past what I've seen, I guess it's just like really, really meticulous and also like completely off the wall. N in a way that I really appreciate.
- [325:30]
B
Yeah.
- [325:30]
A
I love how much it goes for it. I think, I think a lot of people will find this game eventually and be like, does anyone remember this hidden gem?
- [325:39]
B
Like, yeah, this, this feels like we'll have a lot of same power. I mean, it already has the benefit of like two very passionate fan bases.
- [325:45]
A
Yes.
- [325:46]
B
And I think like this is the kind of game that even if you're not coming, I had never played. I didn't even fully know what Danganronpa was until I played this. It is funny going back and it's like there are so many kind of like tongue in cheek nods to the other series.
- [326:00]
A
Yeah.
- [326:00]
B
Like, I mean even just the setup is almost one to one. And I mean, I mentioned her already, but like Darumi as a character feels like Kodaka making fun of his own fan base.
- [326:09]
A
Totally.
- [326:10]
B
You know, endearingly. But I love like the combination of being so like triumphantly off putting but also having a sense of heart, you know, balancing that is like really difficult to do. Ingredient. Yeah.
- [326:23]
A
Sets 100 line at number 13. Number 12 was Pokemon Legends.
- [326:26]
B
Za.
- [326:27]
A
Yeah. A game that I liked a lot.
- [326:29]
B
Yeah, it's a good Pokemon game.
- [326:30]
A
Yeah. I was, I was really surprised by how much this connected with me. You know, I made a video about it. But I. I think specifically like the. The ways in which they allow this city to feel alive are really interesting because it's almost entirely done through dialogue. It's definitely not through like visuals.
- [326:47]
B
So yeah, I think that some of the characters, like the characters in the Pokemon look pretty good, but the city feels a little bit bland.
- [326:53]
A
It feels like totally dead. Yeah. Like a lot of it is very flat. And yet when you talk to the characters, all of the writing is like very funny or very weird or like also strangely off putting in ways that I've never seen in a Pokemon game, in a lot of ways it just doesn't feel like an official Pokemon game.
- [327:08]
B
While it's the nuns in red and blue screaming I need blood or whatever they're saying in Lavender Town, I just,
- [327:15]
A
I think this continues to feel like the part of the Pokemon franchise that is catering to me, you know, Legends, Legends.
- [327:23]
B
It seems where they're able to take more risks.
- [327:25]
A
Yeah. Whatever team is working on this game definitely has like bigger ideas about what kind of Pokemon games they can be making. And obviously they have whatever scope they have to work with in terms of like budget and time, which I'm sure is less than they want, if I was to guess.
- [327:38]
B
Yeah.
- [327:38]
A
But they are still making very interesting things with what they have. All signs point to a bunch of DLC for this game. Some already came out. And then also there's going to be probably another generation of Pokemon soon. I mean, there's been a lot of leaks about that already, so get ready for that. But I'm, I'm really, I'm curious to see where this franchise goes. We don't have to relitigate it. We talked about it a million times.
- [327:59]
B
I've been Digimon pilled, so.
- [328:00]
A
Yeah. And Steve is already Digimon pilled, so he's out. But you can count on me to talk about Pokemon when it comes back again.
- [328:06]
B
No, I always check him out. You know, it's, it's a series that I, that I want to see how it's going.
- [328:11]
A
Check it out, Check it out. Monsters.
- [328:13]
B
Oh, my God.
- [328:14]
A
Number 11 is, is Despalote.
- [328:17]
B
Hell, yeah.
- [328:17]
A
Really close. Making the list.
- [328:18]
B
Yeah.
- [328:19]
A
It was, like, really down to the wire between this and Peak.
- [328:21]
B
We have a lot of crossover with our honorable mentions here.
- [328:23]
A
Yes. Which I think will make it interesting.
- [328:25]
B
Yeah.
- [328:26]
A
But, yeah, I mean, I, I, I feel the same way you do about Despalote. Like, within the first literal, actual second of playing it, you're like, oh, yeah, this is great. Yeah, this is really important and interesting.
- [328:37]
B
It's really transportive.
- [328:39]
A
Yeah. I just, I love, I love when you sit down and you immediately know you're in good hands. You know, And I said that about the, about the dialogue, like the crosstalk that's in it. But even just visually, you know immediately, because as soon as you do that first bit where, like, you open your eyes and then you're playing soccer with your friends, and then it's like, oh, shit, the bell is ringing. We have to go to class.
- [328:57]
B
Yeah. I also like, I mean, the art style for the characters is very, like, minimalistic, but the characters are really expressive.
- [329:04]
A
Yes.
- [329:05]
B
And that is aided by the voice acting. But I feel like, you know, when, when you're playing as Julian playing FIFA and your younger sister just stands in front of you and smiles, I'm like, that is the wicked grin of a child that is very hard to communicate. I've seen my niece look at me like that before. She does something very mischievous. And it's like you capture that with such few amounts of detail.
- [329:29]
A
But that's the honorable mention list.
- [329:31]
B
That's awesome.
- [329:32]
A
Obviously, there's a lot more, but a lot of really good games that came out this year, which I unfortunately didn't get to shout out. The one that I will shout out, though, actually an actual honorable honorable mention for me that is on my top 50. But you mentioned you thought it might be in my top 10 is Metal Garden.
- [329:46]
B
Yeah.
- [329:46]
A
That's a game I actually want to replay because it's apparently changed a lot since I talked about it.
- [329:50]
B
Oh, interesting.
- [329:51]
A
So very, very like minimalistic, bleak, dystopian future, first person shooter in the realm of something like, like, I don't know, maybe the first Halo, but like even, even earlier in terms of what they're going for graphically, apparently they've changed a lot about, like, not only what the game looks like in certain areas, but also how it plays. Like they've changed the gunplay a lot. It's really, really good. I do. I do want to revisit that one.
- [330:14]
B
Yeah, that sounded really intriguing when you brought it up.
- [330:16]
A
Yeah.
- [330:16]
B
Meaning to play it.
- [330:17]
A
Yeah. Metal Garden. Very cool game.
- [330:18]
B
Metal Garden.
- [330:19]
A
All right, we're gonna take one more
- [330:21]
B
break and then come back with the final five for the show.
- [330:24]
A
Figure out the top five.
- [330:25]
B
See you then.
- [330:26]
A
Bye bye. Hey everybody and happy Goody 2025 to all who celebrate. This is Matt from the Trails Through Trails pod, AKA Ponko from the TWG Disc Discord.
- [330:37]
B
Hope everyone's doing well at whatever hour
- [330:40]
A
of the go to recording you're up to right now. Now, I know what you're thinking.
- [330:43]
B
It's obvious what game the Trails podcast guy is gonna say, right?
- [330:47]
A
Claire? Obscure.
- [330:48]
B
But no, not this time.
- [330:49]
A
As much as I love the Trails in the sky remake this year, as well as a revisit of a game that I'd literally just finished playing and let's be real, it absolutely got snubbed in the game awards. Not one single nomination, Are you kidding me? Anywhere. I'm actually going to give it to the game that I got the most new experience out of this year, which is Silent Hill F. Now, historically I'm not a huge horror guy, though that's slowly been changing, starting with the Resident Evil remakes.
- [331:15]
B
I also loved the Silent Hill 2 remake a few years ago, but Silent Hill F was my first time going truly blind into a new Silent Hill
- [331:22]
A
experience and I loved it. The atmosphere is heavy, both figuratively and literally in the game. The fog effects are amazing.
- [331:29]
B
The new Souls Light combat actually really
- [331:31]
A
worked for me as someone who's not
- [331:33]
B
good enough for real Souls combat.
- [331:35]
A
And I also really like the adjustable difficulty on the game as well, where you could slide up and down the difficulty of the combat and puzzles respectively,
- [331:42]
B
depending on what angle you were coming
- [331:43]
A
into the experience from. The maze like layout of the town Ebisigaoka is really intimidating to navigate even before things start to get all gooey and silent.
- [331:53]
B
Hilly.
- [331:53]
A
I also found felt that it does a really good job of leading you through repeat playthroughs, which is a big draw for Silent Hill games for the various endings. The connections from one sort of ending to its effects on the next playthrough are presented a lot more directly to the player as opposed to the conditions for the different endings in Silent Hill 2, for instance.
- [332:10]
B
And honestly, the.
- [332:10]
A
The atmosphere of this game pushed me a little further into Spookum's game territory
- [332:15]
B
than I usually feel like I can handle.
- [332:17]
A
So I'm excited to see what else
- [332:18]
B
this opens up for me.
- [332:19]
A
So, yeah, Matt's game of the year 2025 is Silent Hill F, but Honorable mention, Trails in the Sky, First Chapter Remake. Snubbed but not forgotten. Okay, bye. Hello, folks. We're back.
- [332:31]
B
We're back.
- [332:32]
A
And we're. We're talking about video games.
- [332:34]
B
I'm in a more reclined position.
- [332:36]
A
Steven's chilling.
- [332:37]
B
I'm chilling out. My legs are stretched out.
- [332:39]
A
But the work is not done.
- [332:40]
B
The work's not done. We. This might take a while because we'll see. So I think what we're going to do is we're going to find what are the candidates for the top five, and then we rule it down, and then we think about order.
- [332:52]
A
Yeah.
- [332:53]
B
So I think right away we can put both our number one picks. That's usually how it goes.
- [332:57]
A
Yes.
- [332:58]
B
Unless you feel strongly averse to Hundred Line being there. But Silksong was on both our lists.
- [333:03]
A
I do hate that game.
- [333:05]
B
Yeah. You said that when it was your number 12. I hate this.
- [333:08]
A
Yeah. Everything under 10, I think, is terrible.
- [333:11]
B
Yeah.
- [333:11]
A
All right, so I'll add Hundred Line and Silksong to the list.
- [333:15]
B
I'll go through mine first, I guess,
- [333:17]
A
if you want to go through your top 10 again.
- [333:18]
B
Yeah. Starvaders I love. I recognize it's more. It wasn't even, like, on your list at all, so I think we can kind of count that out pretty easily.
- [333:27]
A
Yeah. It's pretty far down on my, like, total list also.
- [333:29]
B
Yeah. Brutal.
- [333:30]
A
But I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- [333:32]
B
It's the truth. Despilote, though, number four. That is on your honorable mentions. I think it may be a good candidate.
- [333:38]
A
I think Despalote has a shot at making it. Yeah. Yeah.
- [333:41]
B
So we can carry that over then. We're looking at a Google sheet on a big screen right now.
- [333:46]
A
Yeah. I put my iPad on the TV so we can.
- [333:49]
B
Hades 2 is a weird one because I think that was the one we're both the harshest on, but it's on both our lists and also fairly high Up.
- [333:56]
A
Yeah.
- [333:56]
B
So I think it should be considered.
- [333:58]
A
Well, it's number five on your list and it's number eight on my list,
- [334:01]
B
but Despilote is number four on mine and like 13 on yours.
- [334:05]
A
That's true.
- [334:06]
B
So, yeah, I think Hades 2 should. While we're at least just considering everything. Digimon Time Stranger again. Once again, I'm the only one who's correct here, so we can count that one out. Dragon Quest 1 and 2, though. Easy inclusion.
- [334:20]
A
Yeah.
- [334:21]
B
Detective Instinct. What do you think about this one? So this is eight for me. And it was a little bit lower in your honorable mentions, but it's technically kind of both on our lists.
- [334:29]
A
Yeah.
- [334:29]
B
I think while we're considering. I don't mind including.
- [334:31]
A
I feel.
- [334:32]
B
I feel good.
- [334:32]
A
Including.
- [334:32]
B
Yeah. It's in a similar place and Despilote is higher for me, but it's kind of similar. Bonanza. It's been a blast. I think it's an easy.
- [334:41]
A
Oh, banana.
- [334:42]
B
Oh, what looked on the banana?
- [334:45]
A
Sorry. Banana. Yeah. Thank you for your service.
- [334:47]
B
I will definitely be drawing Donkey Kong in the artwork for this. So he'll get his place and queue up should be considered.
- [334:53]
A
Q up should definitely be considered because
- [334:54]
B
that was number three for you. Right.
- [334:56]
A
Or four.
- [334:57]
B
Four. Number four.
- [334:58]
A
All right, so that's.
- [334:59]
B
How many games is that? Seven.
- [335:01]
A
That's seven games that we've already added as candidates. So my list. From my list. Silksong is on the list already of candidates.
- [335:09]
B
Blueprint I think we should include. It's pretty high for you and I feel like it's. You're passionate enough for it that I would want to give it a shot.
- [335:16]
A
Yeah, I would consider it. I have a hunch that is not going to make it, but I like putting in the canon.
- [335:20]
B
Yeah.
- [335:21]
A
Dragon Quest 1 and 2 already on the list. Queue up. Already on the list. Sectori is an interesting one. I feel like this is really just gonna be a me thing.
- [335:29]
B
Yeah. I think if I cut Starvaders and Time Stranger, this might be. I. I like what I played.
- [335:34]
A
Yeah.
- [335:35]
B
But I think we already have a lot of work cut out for us. I think we can probably cut Saktori.
- [335:39]
A
Yeah, I think that one.
- [335:40]
B
Unless you feel if you want to pull your A vote from your future self card and pull a Time Stranger now.
- [335:47]
A
This is weirdly not one that I would fight for. For the. For the. Our list. Okay. This one feels more like a me list thing.
- [335:54]
B
Yeah, that's fair.
- [335:54]
A
Which is fine. Unless you had like a come to Jesus moment with it before we recorded Today.
- [335:58]
B
Right.
- [335:59]
A
But that didn't happen. So whatever. Consume Me, I think deserves a spot on this list.
- [336:03]
B
Yeah. That was also. It's a flip of Despote.
- [336:06]
A
Yeah.
- [336:06]
B
Where it's like in a similar spot on your listings in my honorable Mentions.
- [336:09]
A
How do you feel about Margaret World being on this list?
- [336:12]
B
Well, I guess we should include it because it's a similar thing to Detective Instinct, weirdly, where it's.
- [336:16]
A
Yeah.
- [336:17]
B
In a similar place and it's. I think it is honorable mentioned for me. Right.
- [336:20]
A
Yeah, I think it was.
- [336:20]
B
It was. Yeah.
- [336:21]
A
Yeah. Hades 2 already on the list.
- [336:23]
B
Ball Pit, Pulpit.
- [336:25]
A
I'm weirdly like, if you can give up on some of your stuff, then I think I can give up on Ball Pit. Also Peak. I'm also like, I don't think I'm going to fight for this one. We could put it on the candidates list. I don't think it has a shot, though.
- [336:35]
B
No, that's five. I think it was shared.
- [336:38]
A
I.
- [336:38]
B
Well, it's 10 for you and it's in my honorable mentions.
- [336:40]
A
Yeah.
- [336:41]
B
So I think there are other games that, like, one of us has.
- [336:44]
A
Right.
- [336:45]
B
Honorable mentions that I feel. We already have 10, so I think it's actually great.
- [336:48]
A
I mean, it's great. We only have 10 to choose from, but. Yeah, I mean, like, if we're looking at these 10 games, like, which of them do we get rid of to put Peak? Like, I don't think I would remove.
- [336:56]
B
I think. I think for the top five, we. We almost always include our number one. So we can put Hundred Line and Silksong over there.
- [337:02]
A
Yeah, I think that makes sense. Well, you know, I'll just. I'll just like, label these for now.
- [337:06]
B
Yeah, I'll make sure I'm communicating visuals to our audience.
- [337:10]
A
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
- [337:11]
B
You're now marking in Green Hollow Knight, Silksong and Hunter Line.
- [337:15]
A
Locked in.
- [337:15]
B
Locked in.
- [337:16]
A
Okay.
- [337:16]
B
All right.
- [337:17]
A
We still have to cut five things from this list. The other things on the list are Despalote, Hades 2, Dragon Quest 1 and 2, Detective Instinct, Queue Up Blueprints, Consume Me, and Mario Kart World.
- [337:27]
B
So we can either try to spot cuts we feel okay about, or we can just go down the list and kind of go with the gut feeling. So I think we should do a maybe lock it in or take it out. Yeah, Despalote. I want to give a maybe right now. That might be a cop out, but I feel like that's one of the few that's in. There are a few here that are. One of us has it on our list. One of us has honorable mentions that I think this and Consume Me are in a similar place. We could even go ahead and mark him Sumi as a maybe too.
- [337:59]
A
I think I would also put that as maybe. Yeah.
- [338:01]
B
Hades 2 is a weird one where I think we both recognize what a great game it is. But I think because of the critiques we share, I don't know if I feel the need to put it in the top five for the show.
- [338:12]
A
Yeah. Isn't that wild?
- [338:13]
B
Isn't it weird? Yeah, but let's. I'm not ready to cut it out yet. I want to see what it's up against.
- [338:19]
A
Yeah.
- [338:19]
B
So why don't we put it in
- [338:20]
A
maybe for now we're going to put everything in.
- [338:22]
B
Maybe actually looking at this like is okay.
- [338:26]
A
Look at.
- [338:26]
B
At.
- [338:26]
A
Look at the stuff that's left. Let's just before. Before I mark Hades 2 as it may be, Hades 2, Dragon Quest 1 and 2, Detective Instinct, Queue Up Blueprints and Mario Kart World. Is there anything that. Is there anything that just gut check. You're like, we could cut it.
- [338:38]
B
I think we can cut Mario Kart World.
- [338:40]
A
I also think we can come world. That feels like the most obvious cut.
- [338:42]
B
Yeah. So long, Mario Kart. Hell.
- [338:44]
A
Sorry to Nintendo this year. RIP.
- [338:49]
B
I also think nothing else is an easy cut. I do want to see what are the games that were on both our lists fully because I do think that that counts for something.
- [338:58]
A
Queue up and Dragon Quest.
- [339:00]
B
Okay.
- [339:00]
A
Oh, and Hades too, technically. Yeah.
- [339:02]
B
Yeah, Queue Up. Dragon Quest and Hades 2. Yeah, queue up. I think.
- [339:06]
A
Oi, oi, oi.
- [339:08]
B
I guess. Should we establish, like, do you think that being on both our lists counts higher than one of us has it on a list? One of us has honorable mentions? Or is it case by case?
- [339:19]
A
Unfortunately, I do think it's case by case.
- [339:21]
B
I think it's case by case as well.
- [339:22]
A
Yeah. I don't think we can math our way through this, you know.
- [339:25]
B
Yeah, I guess let's think. Let's.
- [339:27]
A
Let's talk.
- [339:28]
B
Just. Let's see. Oh, my God.
- [339:31]
A
It's really tough.
- [339:33]
B
Okay. The. The hard one here is blueprints, because that is the one that is not shared. It's not an honorable mention for me, but it is very high on your list and I do want that to count for something.
- [339:46]
A
Yeah.
- [339:47]
B
But I do wonder for the shared list, if it's maybe part of it's about sharing it.
- [339:51]
A
If you didn't play it, then probably doesn't make sense to make our top
- [339:54]
B
five so Is that I play. I just didn't play a lot of it. Yeah, I think that might. I know it's. Is that okay? That's your call.
- [340:01]
A
Yeah. It's sad, but, I mean, it made. It's, you know, it's number two for me, so it's still. Yeah, of course, getting. It's getting its thing. But I do think that's maybe a cut, which is sad.
- [340:10]
B
I just. I think that's an easier cut than the ones we share.
- [340:13]
A
Yeah.
- [340:13]
B
Okay, so the ones that are remaining. So the two that we have locked in are 100 Line and Hollow Knight, Silksong. Right now we have Despalote and Consume Me, as it may be. The ones that are up in the air are Hades to Dragon Quest 1 and 2, Detective Instinct and Queue Up.
- [340:26]
A
I want to say this out loud because I've been thinking it the whole time. My worst fear here is that we have to flip a coin between the two autobiographical games.
- [340:34]
B
Yes.
- [340:34]
A
That's what I want to avoid more than anything.
- [340:37]
B
I see a version of this that I think I'm cool with.
- [340:40]
A
Oh, really?
- [340:41]
B
Yeah.
- [340:42]
A
Okay, hippie.
- [340:42]
B
I see a version of this that. The top five. I don't know the order yet, but the top five games are 100 line, silksong, despilote, Consume Me and Queue Up.
- [340:53]
A
That's pretty good. That is pretty good, actually.
- [340:55]
B
I think we can cut Hades 2. As weird as it is, we have
- [340:58]
A
a path to a vote.
- [340:59]
B
Yeah. So I think let's see how this feels, though. Let's take the steps there.
- [341:03]
A
Yes.
- [341:04]
B
I think Hades 2 at this point, I think would be. Yeah, it's weird because of how high it is, but just for the show, I think it. Weirdly, we should put the games that we're kind of more excited about. Yeah.
- [341:15]
A
This was so. So this would mean cutting Hades 2, Dragon Quest 1 and 2, and Detective Instinct.
- [341:19]
B
Yeah, I think Dragon Quest 1 and 2. I'm okay.
- [341:24]
A
It does kind of feel like maybe we shouldn't do that, but also, like, it's Q up.
- [341:27]
B
I also think that it's funny because
- [341:29]
A
we both have Dragon Quest 1 and 2 higher than we have Q up. Like, both of them are on our list, and in both lists, Dragon Quest is higher than Q up.
- [341:36]
B
Okay. I mean, I'm not against including Dragon Quest over Q up potentially, but let's take the steps there. Yeah, Sometimes. Sometimes. The only bias I have against remakes is in this moment where it's like you want a highlight of the year,
- [341:47]
A
but I'm with you, though. I'M feeling that also. I think I'm kind of thinking that I would rather give it to Q Up.
- [341:53]
B
Yeah, let's get there. Yeah. So Hades 2, I think we can cut.
- [341:56]
A
Okay. Thank you for your service, Mel. Sorry.
- [341:58]
B
Thanks, Mel. Sorry. Okay, so now the three that are left are Dragon Quest 1 and 2, Detective Instinct, Queue Up, I guess Consumian. I like,
- [342:07]
A
really tough. Because also, like, I mean, it's just if we are to math it out a little bit, it's interesting. You and I had Despote and Consume Me basically in kind of the same spot also. And then you had both other games in our honorable mentions.
- [342:21]
B
Yes. Like, you had Consumed Me at six, I had Despote at four. Yeah, your top five. Let's see. So if we did. Let's see. So my top five, like your top
- [342:31]
A
five is Hundred Line, Silksong, Star Vaders, Despilote, Hades 2.
- [342:35]
B
So I'd be getting. If we did what I proposed earlier. Yeah, if we did Hundred Line, Silksong, Despolo, Take and Sue Me and Queue Up. It's so hard to visualize right now. Just gut check. I think I'm good with cutting Mario Kart worlds. I want to follow up on blueprints with you there because I just think that that was a big enough deal for you.
- [342:55]
A
Yeah. But not for us.
- [342:57]
B
Okay. But I just want to make sure that that's a thing you're okay with.
- [343:00]
A
Yeah, yeah, of course.
- [343:00]
B
Okay. So blueprints we can keep. And then Hades 2, I think it's
- [343:03]
A
the eighth or top five.
- [343:04]
B
I think Hades 2 is weird. Weirdly the right call.
- [343:07]
A
Yeah, I think so, too.
- [343:08]
B
So, okay. Despalote was four for me. Honorable mention for you. Dragon Quest I and ii. Two was six for me, three for you.
- [343:17]
A
Yeah. Detective Instinct was eight for you. And if I'm remembering correctly, I think
- [343:21]
B
it was like 13 or something.
- [343:23]
A
Yeah, something like that. It was 14 for me. And then queue up was 10 for you, 4 for me.
- [343:28]
B
So Q up and Dragon Quest 1 and 2 are the games that are on both our lists.
- [343:32]
A
Yeah.
- [343:33]
B
And both games we would like quite a bit. Yeah, I think. I think we should. I guess. I mean, like, the other thing about
- [343:40]
A
including Q Up is that it is also lower on your list than Detective Instinct.
- [343:44]
B
That's true. But Detective Instinct is. It's. Again, it's us.
- [343:47]
A
Yeah.
- [343:47]
B
And Queue up is very high on your list.
- [343:49]
A
It sure is.
- [343:50]
B
So I think.
- [343:51]
A
Oh, my God. I knew that this one was going to be tough.
- [343:54]
B
Yeah.
- [343:55]
A
Sometimes we come in here and it's Just like, all right, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, we're done. This is not. Not one of those years.
- [344:00]
B
It's not. I'm changing my posture. That's how you know it's serious.
- [344:02]
A
Yeah, Steven, just put on a suit. I'm just.
- [344:05]
B
Here's my thinking suit.
- [344:07]
A
My thinking suit suit.
- [344:08]
B
Oh, that's better. Like, when you sit down for as long as we have, you gotta.
- [344:11]
A
We've been sitting for a long time, folks.
- [344:13]
B
Okay, this is good. One foot on the floor, brain in the sky. What nonsense am I capable of today?
- [344:20]
A
Find that@shop.into the cast online. So just. Just to say out loud for the listener, the three games that we haven't categorized at all as cut or maybes are Dragon Quest 1 and 2, Detective Instinct and Queue Up. We have cut Hades two blueprints, and Mario Kart World. We have put maybe on Despilote and Consume Me. And we have Locked In Hundred Line and Hollow Knight Silksong. So we have a big decision to make about three video games. Why? Here's a question for you. Why are you second guessing the thing that you pitched? You pitched.
- [344:51]
B
Do you want the short answer or long answer? No, I don't know.
- [344:54]
A
I want the long answer because it's a podcast and people like, when we
- [344:56]
B
go long, I commonly doubt myself. But, no, I want to make sure we're equally represented here. I also think I don't want to take out games that one of us might be more passionate about than one we're not. Like, one we both feel okay about. Yeah, I think all these games we're passionate about.
- [345:12]
A
Yeah. If I can tell you, of the three of these, the one that I feel the most okay about, including in this top five, although I do like it a lot as a video game. Is Detective Instinct the one you feel
- [345:21]
B
good about cutting, you said?
- [345:22]
A
Yeah. Of these three that are here.
- [345:24]
B
Yeah, I think that makes sense. I also think that, yeah, I think we can cut Detective Instinct. As much as I love that game, I think based on where it placed, I think that makes sense because it was eight for me and it was honorable mention for you.
- [345:35]
A
Yeah.
- [345:36]
B
I think with Despilote and Kasumi, they're both higher.
- [345:38]
A
Yeah.
- [345:39]
B
So we can cut Detective Instinct. Sorry, sorry.
- [345:42]
A
Detective Instinct.
- [345:43]
B
You're great. I love you.
- [345:44]
A
Thank you for your service.
- [345:45]
B
Thank you, Daltrey. Okay. Dragist 1 and 2 and queue up. The thing is, I actually do think. I think it might need to come to what you. So, okay, so the thing I suggested was Hundred Line, Silksong Despilote, Consume Me and Queue Up.
- [345:58]
A
Yeah.
- [345:58]
B
So right now the four maybes. So underline silksong are locked in. The four maybes are Despolote, Dragon Quest 1 and 2, queue up and Consume Me. We have to cut one of these
- [346:08]
A
and then we have to put them in order.
- [346:10]
B
Yeah. Which I think the order will be less intimidating.
- [346:13]
A
Yeah, I think so, too.
- [346:14]
B
Okay, so the two here, that. So I mean, personally, like, the one that ranked the lowest for me here is Consume Me.
- [346:20]
A
Yeah.
- [346:21]
B
It was an honorable mention. I love that game. I do, you know, think that it lost me a little bit in the second half, like I said. But that's not like a serious mark against it or anything. But it does come down to that nitpicky stuff. At this point where we're choosing major stuff, I don't really have any big notes about Q Up, Dragon Quest 1 and 2 and DesPalote. So if it were up to me, of what are the five games left that I just feel the most strongly about, Consume Me would be the cut. But I also think that, again, it's us. So I want to make sure.
- [346:50]
A
Because then it would be all the games on your list.
- [346:53]
B
Yeah. So exactly. Although there is, I guess the shared ones here are.
- [346:58]
A
We would have everything shared except for Despalote.
- [347:00]
B
Yeah. So do you. Is your choice what I recommended earlier?
- [347:04]
A
I think so. Still. Yeah, I think so. Don't get me wrong, I love Dragon Quest 1 and 2, but as always, I feel better. And I don't mean this from just like a vanity perspective, but I actually think it feels better to me when I imagine the list and it is the five games that don't include Dragon Quest 1 and 2, which would be 100 Line, Silksong, Despolote, Cue up Consume Me in some kind of order. That is a very strong top five to me.
- [347:34]
B
Yeah, I agree. That's why it came to me.
- [347:37]
A
Five games that I think obviously mean a lot to you and I are, I think also really indicative of 2025. That's the thing that really strikes me about this list in particular is like, as soon as you remove Dragon Quest 1 and 2 from it, it feels like, oh, this is the kind of list that only could have happened this year.
- [347:53]
B
I agree. I also think unless it happens every
- [347:55]
A
year from now on, like this, which is also possible, but who knows?
- [347:58]
B
It is worth considering that, like, when we say Dragon Quest 1 and 2, we're really talking about 2. But if we're counting it as the full package, that's a Good point. One's kind of dragging it down a little bit.
- [348:06]
A
Yeah, dragging it.
- [348:08]
B
Dragging it. Questing down.
- [348:09]
A
Questing it down.
- [348:10]
B
Yeah. Questing it down. 1 and 2. So yeah, I think we can cut Dragon Quest 1 and 2.
- [348:14]
A
Yeah.
- [348:14]
B
Now of the five left. So hundred Line is my game of the year. Silksong is your game of the year on both our lists.
- [348:21]
A
Yeah.
- [348:21]
B
Despalotes on mine. But an honorable mention for you.
- [348:25]
A
Yeah.
- [348:26]
B
Queue up is on both. And Consume Me is on yours. I'll mention for me. That's a good balance.
- [348:30]
A
Yeah. I actually think Consume Me is the only one where it's like obviously should be number five.
- [348:36]
B
Oh, you think so? Yeah, yeah.
- [348:37]
A
Because it's. Oh, wait, yeah, I don't know. Actually. Yeah, it really could be between that and Despolote. Actually now I'm thinking about it.
- [348:43]
B
Yeah, I think. But let's.
- [348:44]
A
But also if you math it out again, right. Like Consume Me is lower on my list than Despalote is for you. And then I think, yeah, I'm not
- [348:51]
B
thinking quite order yet. Why don't we copy them over and then we can start thinking about that. But I just want to make sure we're like solid on this for the top five.
- [348:59]
A
Yeah.
- [349:00]
B
So just say it again. 100 line, silksong, despilote, queue up and Consume Me.
- [349:05]
A
Yeah.
- [349:05]
B
So in terms of order, I mean, I'll just say it. I think Silksong should be number one because it was number two for me. It's your game of the year.
- [349:13]
A
Yeah.
- [349:13]
B
Not that this has a direct sway, but I think it's worth acknowledging it was the Discord's game of the year.
- [349:18]
A
Yeah.
- [349:18]
B
In terms of just like what's in the air. And I think it's the game that we're close closest to being like on the same level on. And I will also point out because I have a good long term memory over our eight Game of the years or the past game of the years. Our show's gotey pick has usually been either a game that we both have as number one or it's a second or third favorite concession. So 2018 we settled on Spider man game.
- [349:50]
A
We both love Marvel's Spider Man. Steven.
- [349:52]
B
Yes. Marvel's Spider Man. My game of the year was Celeste, yours was Hollow Knight. We didn't feel good about putting one over the other. So we highlighted a game that we both loved that was in a lower place.
- [350:01]
A
Yeah.
- [350:01]
B
And then the years after that. Wow.
- [350:04]
A
Does that mean Queue up should be game of the year?
- [350:05]
B
The years after that we Had a shared number one.
- [350:08]
A
Yes.
- [350:09]
B
And the only time we have once. So either we have it shared or we choose a mutual one. That's a little bit lower.
- [350:16]
A
Yeah.
- [350:16]
B
The only time that AJ And I bullied you into choosing a number one that was not. That was on your list but nowhere near the top was two years ago with Baldur's Gate 3. So you getting Silksong again? I'm very happy about that. But that does balance out the whole show.
- [350:33]
A
Then we're even. Cause literally, next year, the war begins again.
- [350:36]
B
Yes, exactly. It's the eve of the weave, so. Eve of Steve.
- [350:42]
A
Yeah. When you love. What is it called, actually? The new fire emblem.
- [350:46]
B
Fortune's weave.
- [350:47]
A
Yeah. When you love fortune's weave. And I hate. Yeah, we're back on now.
- [350:52]
B
I'm not doing this to, like you. Don't neither of us want to be, like, pitied.
- [350:56]
A
Yeah.
- [350:56]
B
This is. This is a victory. Yeah.
- [350:59]
A
I don't feel like Silksong winning game of the year is a. Is a. Is a pity situation at all.
- [351:04]
B
No, just give him one.
- [351:05]
A
Yeah, I'm writing it.
- [351:07]
B
Hell, yeah. Congrats. All right, so Hollow knight, Silksong, number one.
- [351:10]
A
Hollow knight, Silksong at number one.
- [351:12]
B
In terms of number five. Yeah. I think it makes sense to have either Despalote or Consume Me. I think if we mapped it out, like, what was Consume Me? I didn't number my honorable mentions, so I'm just counting them as honorable mentions. So Despote was four for me. Honorable mention for you. Consume Me was six for you. Honorable mention for me. So Despalote, mathematically, is slightly higher, but I don't know if that necessarily equates to being number four.
- [351:35]
A
I just minority reported my way to a top five.
- [351:38]
B
Okay, let's hear it.
- [351:39]
A
The same way you did before.
- [351:40]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [351:40]
A
Okay, here's what I'm thinking. Silksong at number one, which we already have.
- [351:43]
B
Yeah.
- [351:43]
A
Hear me out. Just bear with me.
- [351:45]
B
I have a feeling I know what's up.
- [351:47]
A
Despilote at number two.
- [351:48]
B
Interesting. Interesting.
- [351:49]
A
Hundred line at number three. Queue up at number four. Consume me at number five.
- [351:52]
B
What's your reason for despilote number two?
- [351:55]
A
Despilote was number 11 for me. It was number four on your list. It was very close to making my list. But didn't I feel like if, again, we're mathing it out, it is, like, the closest to being towards the top.
- [352:05]
B
Well, 100 line was one for me, and what was it for you? 13.
- [352:09]
A
Yes. So beneath despalote.
- [352:11]
B
Okay. Still 12 for you.
- [352:14]
A
You said 11.
- [352:15]
B
11. So it was literally right there.
- [352:16]
A
It was almost as close to being number 10 as you can get without being number 10 or number 9.
- [352:21]
B
Yeah.
- [352:22]
A
Anyway. Yeah. So Silksong, Despote 100 line, queue up, Consume me. Is my. My feeling about it at the moment?
- [352:30]
B
Yeah, I.
- [352:31]
A
Do you feel okay with having hundred line at number three?
- [352:34]
B
That's the one thing I think. I think I would like for it to be 2. I like dispelote a lot, but I think. I don't know, I guess the math is close enough that I feel like game of the year gets a little bit of a boost there, you know. So I personally would say silksong, hundred line, despilote, cue up, consume me. Is that what you said? Yeah, but I don't mind Despote number two. Yeah, I think. I think I feel a little bit better about hunter line being number two though, if that. If that's cool with you.
- [353:00]
A
I think so.
- [353:01]
B
Yeah.
- [353:01]
A
I think that's fine. So. Okay. I mean, that's pretty easy then. Let's look at it. Let's.
- [353:05]
B
Yeah, let's look at it.
- [353:06]
A
Look at it. Queue up to me.
- [353:08]
B
I think it looks good to me.
- [353:09]
A
Hollow Knight, Silksong 100 line. Last defense academy Despilote, cue up and consume me.
- [353:14]
B
How do you feel?
- [353:15]
A
I think it feels fine. Yeah, but does it feel good?
- [353:18]
B
It doesn't feel good.
- [353:19]
A
But does it feel good? I don't know.
- [353:21]
B
It feels great to me, but I don't want to be selfish, I guess. Yeah. So just. I think just to entertain the despilote number two. I guess I'm just not fully seeing how it would dethrone hundred line if we're giving, you know, special treatment to our number one picks. Because one was number one for me. It was 13 for you.
- [353:41]
A
Yeah.
- [353:41]
B
And then so one in 13 and then despote was four and 11, so I guess it is technically a little bit closer. But like again, I think. I know it doesn't like mathematically make sense, but I feel like one is one, you know, like if Silksong wasn't number one here, you would want it to be two, right?
- [353:58]
A
Yeah, definitely.
- [353:59]
B
So, yeah, I just. I think if it's the two of us, I feel like I would like that. But am I get. Am I getting too much by it being number two? Am I getting like significantly more than you are here? That's my only concern.
- [354:10]
A
So funny.
- [354:12]
B
Silks song is a victory, is a mutual victory. But especially it's your pick yeah.
- [354:17]
A
It's also the best game that came out this year.
- [354:19]
B
Yeah. Hundred Line is my number one in the radar of near the list for you.
- [354:24]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [354:25]
B
Despilote is similar, but lower for me and higher for you.
- [354:28]
A
Right.
- [354:29]
B
Queue up is on both our lists and Consume Me is kind of a flip on Despalote.
- [354:34]
A
Yeah.
- [354:34]
B
I guess the thing is, like, the math with Consume Me is not that different from Despalote and yet we said it's an easy fifth. You know what I mean?
- [354:43]
A
Yeah.
- [354:43]
B
So. So I just feel like maybe at a certain point we gotta prioritize our higher picks.
- [354:49]
A
Yeah.
- [354:49]
B
So I think this works best for me. Unless you strongly wanted Despilote higher.
- [354:55]
A
Not particularly. It just felt right in the moment.
- [354:58]
B
Yeah, No, I think that was worth exploring. What's on your mind?
- [355:01]
A
Nothing, actually. I'm just looking at it. I'm trying to think if there's any other path. I don't really see one. I don't really see another direction.
- [355:09]
B
That's going to be me and Q Up. I think feel good where they are. I wouldn't put them above the other ones here.
- [355:14]
A
Yeah. I don't think I'd want Despalote to go any lower than it is.
- [355:17]
B
No, me neither.
- [355:18]
A
Yeah.
- [355:19]
B
Even though it is worth noting Q Up was on both our lists.
- [355:23]
A
Yeah. But weirdly, like, I would end up fighting for Despalote to be over it, even though it did make my list, which is a strange thing, especially considering it was in my top five.
- [355:31]
B
But I also think, I do believe that when you get past the prologue 100 line, you'll be happy with it being number two.
- [355:38]
A
That's probably true.
- [355:39]
B
Yeah.
- [355:39]
A
Yeah.
- [355:40]
B
If I can play the future self vote here, quite literally. Yeah, I will play it.
- [355:45]
A
So is that it?
- [355:46]
B
I think that's it. Just to go through it once more. The five of the aether of 2025. Number five is consume me. Four is queue up. Three is despolote. Two is the 100 line last defense academy. And number one into the atheist game of the year is Hollow Knight Silksong.
- [356:02]
A
Congratulations, Team Cherry. We're going to send you our leftover slice of pepperoni pizza. It'll be really cold, but if you heat it up in a pan with a lid on it with a little splash of water in there, it's gonna be really good.
- [356:13]
B
If we ever did have an award, I would want it to be like a Golden Taylor ham, egg and cheese bagel sandwich.
- [356:19]
A
Inedible, Inedible.
- [356:21]
B
But memorable.
- [356:22]
A
Definitely memorable. That's the list you Know what I wish I had prepared, Steven? I wish I had all of our top fives from the past.
- [356:28]
B
Oh, really? Oh, that would be fun.
- [356:29]
A
Yeah.
- [356:30]
B
I mean, I could pull them up real quick.
- [356:31]
A
I feel like we should bring. You know what? Why not?
- [356:34]
B
Yeah. I have the air table.
- [356:36]
A
Uh, yeah. Yeah, the show. Show's top five. Let's go. Let's go Backwards in time.
- [356:39]
B
Okay. Backwards in time. 2024. The top five were five UFO 54, Persona 3 reload.
- [356:47]
A
Nice.
- [356:47]
B
Three 1000x resist, two Metaphor Refantazio, and one Balatro.
- [356:53]
A
Nice.
- [356:54]
B
That was a mutual second favorite.
- [356:56]
A
Yeah, I do feel good about that list still.
- [356:57]
B
I feel good about that one, too.
- [356:58]
A
Nice.
- [356:59]
B
This is 2023. Number five, Venba. Number four, Resident Evil 4 remake. Number three, Alan Wake 2. Tears of the Kingdom. Number one, Baldur's Gate 3.
- [357:10]
A
Wow. I can't believe Alan Wake 2 made it up that high.
- [357:12]
B
Yeah, I think it was AJ's game of the year.
- [357:14]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [357:14]
B
Which is why it got bumped up a bit.
- [357:16]
A
Yeah, my game of the year was
- [357:17]
B
Resident Evil 4, and that 4 feels kind of rough.
- [357:20]
A
For your game of the year, I got rocked. Damn.
- [357:22]
B
But I like Venba's placement there. I also. Obviously, that was.
- [357:25]
A
Yeah, I'm glad that Venba made that list.
- [357:26]
B
Yeah.
- [357:26]
A
That's awesome. I love Venba. Go play venba.
- [357:29]
B
2022, number five, Kirby and the forgotten land.
- [357:32]
A
Cool.
- [357:32]
B
Four, immortality.
- [357:33]
A
Nice.
- [357:34]
B
Three, tunic. Two, citizen sleeper. And number one, Elden ring.
- [357:38]
A
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [357:39]
B
2021. This is a fun one. Five, monster hunter rise. That was also your game of the year.
- [357:43]
A
Yeah.
- [357:44]
B
So I'm really eating my words here. Number one should count for more. You always.
- [357:48]
A
I always lose.
- [357:51]
B
Okay. Number five, Monster Hunter Rise. Number four. Okay. My game of the year was fourth. Number four, Chicory A Colorful Tale. Three was Metroid Dread.
- [357:59]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [358:00]
B
Two was Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. And one was the Forgotten City.
- [358:03]
A
You know what? That does feel like a good list for us.
- [358:06]
B
It does. It does.
- [358:07]
A
Even though we both got rocked, I
- [358:10]
B
also think as time has gone on, the Forgotten City being number one, that was the right choice.
- [358:14]
A
Yeah, that always feels like the right move. I replayed that again this year. Oh, my God, so good. Still.
- [358:17]
B
2020, number 5, 13 AIGI's rim.
- [358:20]
A
Shout out 4.
- [358:21]
B
Kentucky Route Zero, TV Edition.
- [358:23]
A
Extremely. Shout out 3.
- [358:25]
B
FF7 Remake.
- [358:26]
A
Nice.
- [358:26]
B
Two Animal Crossing. New Horizons. And one Hades.
- [358:29]
A
Oh, yeah, that's a pretty good game.
- [358:32]
B
2019, number 5, Pokemon Sword and Shield. Definitely would not be the case now.
- [358:37]
A
Yeah, I Don't think so. That's wild that. That made it that high. I kind of want to go listen to that episode.
- [358:41]
B
You loved it. You were way more into it.
- [358:44]
A
Yeah.
- [358:45]
B
We both really liked it, but I think it was seven for me. And it was in your top five.
- [358:49]
A
Yeah.
- [358:49]
B
Interesting. Sinai Wild Hearts number four.
- [358:52]
A
Oh, hell yeah.
- [358:52]
B
Good pick. Slay the Spire, number three. Good pick. Shadows Die Twice is two. And Fire Emblem Three Houses is number one.
- [358:58]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [358:59]
B
So other than Pokemon, maybe swap out over death stranding and we would have a good timeless list there. And 2018, the first top five.
- [359:07]
A
Oh, man.
- [359:08]
B
Five Super Smash Brothers Ult, four Hollow Knight. Yeah. Three Celeste, two God of War and one Marvel Spider Man.
- [359:15]
A
Yeah.
- [359:16]
B
So we actually have a. I remember
- [359:18]
A
fighting a lot for God of War to make it number two.
- [359:20]
B
Yes.
- [359:20]
A
Which I still stand by.
- [359:22]
B
No, that was the right. That was the right call.
- [359:23]
A
Yeah.
- [359:24]
B
We have a rich tradition of putting ourselves fourth and fifth.
- [359:27]
A
Yeah.
- [359:28]
B
I think it's actually nice that we're now putting ourselves first and second.
- [359:31]
A
I think that is really nice.
- [359:32]
B
I think we should. We should get more confident asking for our favorite games to be in the top three because we always fold to ourselves and each other.
- [359:41]
A
That's very funny.
- [359:42]
B
So I. If you know there's a version of this, it's me going, you know What? Yeah, put 100 line third, but no it Hun line second. I will die if it goes any lower. So I love this. Consume Me, queue up despot 100 line, silk song.
- [359:56]
A
Beautiful. Beautiful. Top five.
- [359:57]
B
Beautiful list.
- [359:58]
A
All right. With that, I think we should take one more break. We come back, we'll.
- [360:02]
B
And then we'll sign off with have one more surprise for you.
- [360:05]
A
Yeah, we. We have more stuff.
- [360:06]
B
See you then.
- [360:06]
A
Bye Bye,
- [360:09]
B
Brendan.
- [360:10]
A
Hello.
- [360:10]
B
That's a wrap on another Game of the Year episode. This is so much fun. Thank you again for having me over.
- [360:16]
A
Of course. This one went down real smooth, huh?
- [360:18]
B
Yeah, it did. Even though. I don't even know. What time is it? 8:30. Jesus. Oh my God.
- [360:22]
A
We've been recording for so long, for
- [360:23]
B
a long time, but it's such a blast. I look forward to these all year.
- [360:27]
A
Yeah.
- [360:27]
B
And thank you for sticking with us for this long. As always, as a reward for getting through to the end, here we have a surprise for you. So we have a giveaway. Our friend Kyle Starr was very generous. He went ahead and bought a bunch of gifts on our Patreon. These links are for a free one month of our Patreon, the full Aether tier. So for 20 of you. Kyle bought 20 links. You'll have access to our Patreon for a month.
- [360:53]
A
Yes.
- [360:54]
B
And we will randomly select 20 of you. We usually have, like, some kind of quote to send us, which we'll get to in a second.
- [361:00]
A
Yeah.
- [361:00]
B
One of you. So 20 of you will get this and one of you will also get a Vita.
- [361:04]
A
A PlayStation Vita.
- [361:05]
B
We'll send you a Vita in the mail. And I think it's fitting that for the Aether game of the year. Hollow Knight, Silksong. You should message us or email us or post on Blue Sky. Magina fora. And a picture no one knows. Okay, fine. Do you have a more spellable Hornet phrase?
- [361:23]
A
I thought you were going to just say Vita means life.
- [361:26]
B
That's not bad. That's certainly magina fora will definite be a mess. Just alphabetically.
- [361:32]
A
Yeah, it's going to be hard to search for.
- [361:33]
B
That's true.
- [361:34]
A
I think we should direct people into one place too.
- [361:36]
B
You know what? You have a better idea in every way than I did.
- [361:40]
A
I just. I don't. I think if we are checking email and Instagram and Blue Sky. You're right. And Discord, we're going to miss something. Especially if it's Magino Fora where we don't know how to spell it or search for it.
- [361:49]
B
Yeah. I feel like Blue Sky's easiest for us, but not everyone is there.
- [361:53]
A
Yeah.
- [361:54]
B
So why don't you post in the Discord? What's better than that?
- [361:59]
A
That's going to. We're going to lose that also.
- [362:01]
B
Y. We can. We can get rid of that.
- [362:02]
A
Too many people. Maybe just blue. Maybe we just say Blue Sky.
- [362:05]
B
Okay. I think you're right. What's easiest is reach out to us on Blue sky, either through DM or post it. If you'd rather not post it publicly, you can DM us. Yeah, but post on Blue Sky. I like Vitamin's Life.
- [362:16]
A
Vitamin's Life.
- [362:17]
B
Vitamins Life. And a picture of your favorite game.
- [362:20]
A
Yes. Sent. Yes.
- [362:21]
B
Yeah.
- [362:22]
A
Ever or of the year.
- [362:23]
B
I think ever. Vitamin, I want your favorite game ever.
- [362:26]
A
Yeah, I love that.
- [362:27]
B
But make me a promise and say magina fora as you post it.
- [362:31]
A
Yes, definitely do that. And yeah, send it specifically to the. Into the Aether account.
- [362:36]
B
Yes. At us on bluesky. You can either DM the Into the Aether account on Blue sky or at us.
- [362:41]
A
Yes.
- [362:42]
B
What is our thing?
- [362:43]
A
Into the Aether.
- [362:43]
B
Yeah, let me.
- [362:44]
A
Let me double check into the cast.
- [362:45]
B
Yeah, yeah, blues.
- [362:48]
A
BSky app or whatever.
- [362:49]
B
Into the cast. Bsky Social.
- [362:52]
A
Yes.
- [362:52]
B
At us or DM that bluesky account. Vita means life and a picture of your favorite game.
- [362:58]
A
Yes.
- [362:58]
B
It doesn't have to be of the box art. It could be a character. It could be whatever. Just a visual from your favorite game. And say maginaphora while you do it.
- [363:05]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely make sure you do that. We have no way of. We'll know qualifying, but. Yeah, exactly.
- [363:10]
B
We'll know in spirit.
- [363:11]
A
Yeah. Because there's going to be a little stank on it, I think, when you send that picture. And we'll know if you said machina for out loud.
- [363:17]
B
But. Yeah. So 20 of you will get. We'll send you this link for a free month of the Patreon. That will give you access to. Actually, we didn't say another thing we're doing on the Patreon. Oh, yeah.
- [363:28]
A
We didn't talk about this at all.
- [363:29]
B
Full disclosure, the Vita episode will likely be in March. That might be a little bit after the free month. But we are doing another big episode for patrons, which will be a Game of the year episode about 2016. So we started doing that last year. We did a 2017 goodie episode. The response was very positive.
- [363:46]
A
We're going backwards from when we started the podcast.
- [363:48]
B
Yes. So we'll be doing. We'll be recording that, I think next week we'll be doing. Or in the next week or so, we'll be recording a 2016 goodie episode. So very much looking forward to that. That will be for patrons in the coming weeks.
- [364:01]
A
So exciting.
- [364:02]
B
So. Yeah, it's very exciting. So, yeah. And then one of you will get a Vita. Vita means life.
- [364:06]
A
Vita will continue to mean life for you, the one person who wins it. Just a heads up, you will have two weeks after this episode comes out to enter because the links that we have for the free month of the Patreon do expire at the end of February. At the end of February. So we do need. We gotta turn it real quick. Turn around.
- [364:25]
B
So Vitamin's life very quickly. And just want to thank you all again so much for listening, especially if you made it this far. We love making these episodes. They're a lot of work, but they're a lot of fun. And I'm very happy we got to celebrate another year together.
- [364:38]
A
Yeah, same. And this year was so wild. So much change. So much has happened. Let's talk about next year real quick.
- [364:46]
B
Yeah, we like ending these with sort of just talking about what we're excited about for next year. I think you've mustered up some release schedule for next year. There, right?
- [364:54]
A
I sure have.
- [364:55]
B
Okay, cool.
- [364:56]
A
And what do you think?
- [364:57]
B
Nintendo Switch 3, Nintendo Switch 2 all the time. Top of my head. The games. I know.
- [365:01]
A
You misheard. Nintendo Switch 3. Do you think it's coming?
- [365:07]
B
I think it's coming out next year.
- [365:08]
A
You do?
- [365:09]
B
It just feels like it's time, you know?
- [365:10]
A
Yeah.
- [365:11]
B
Oh, wow. Okay. You've got a whole list here.
- [365:13]
A
Yeah. I brought up a list of all the games coming out. Shout out to Game Informer, who every year keeps updating some stuff. Oh my God.
- [365:19]
B
There's a new Trails game coming out. Beyond the Horizon.
- [365:22]
A
Yeah. Trails beyond the Horizon is coming out January 15th almost immediately. The Switch 2 update for new Horizons is. Is also coming out almost immediately. On the same day. Yeah, I. I do feel like in some ways January is like our one time to chill. We always talk about January games on this show. It's like our. Our one time post goie where we get to like just kind of play whatever. I've been. I've been really loading up some January games on my.
- [365:45]
B
Yeah, that.
- [365:46]
A
I'm ready.
- [365:47]
B
Vita month for sure.
- [365:48]
A
Yeah, absolutely.
- [365:49]
B
I do think there's no game here that's. And I mean this with love. It screams January game more than code vein 2.
- [365:55]
A
Code vein 2. I totally agree with you. Which comes out on the last day of January.
- [365:59]
B
I can't wait for that. I'm excited for that game.
- [366:01]
A
Yeah. And then as soon as we get to February, everything takes off.
- [366:04]
B
Yeah. It's Dragon Quest 7. Reimagined.
- [366:07]
A
Yes.
- [366:07]
B
Neo 3.
- [366:08]
A
Neo 3, which you're excited about. Eugenics, which is the new game by Emmy McMillan who made super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac. He's been working on that game since Binding of Isaac. Pretty wild.
- [366:18]
B
The new Resident Evil.
- [366:19]
A
A new Mario Tennis. Steven.
- [366:21]
B
Oh yeah. The tennis fever.
- [366:22]
A
Yes.
- [366:23]
B
Yeah.
- [366:23]
A
Kiwami 3 is coming out.
- [366:25]
B
You know what? Actually, I didn't realize it was coming up, but Tales of Berseria Remastered.
- [366:29]
A
Yeah.
- [366:30]
B
That is one I've been meaning to play for a while. I play like the prologue of it and I'm excited to go back to that.
- [366:36]
A
Now you can play the remastered version.
- [366:37]
B
Yeah, exactly.
- [366:38]
A
But yeah. Yeah. Resident Evil Requiem coming out. I still think it's so strange that they're porting seven and Village to Switch two the same day that the new one comes out. I don't know why.
- [366:48]
B
It's like overkill.
- [366:49]
A
Why didn't they release those like three months ago, like during Halloween?
- [366:53]
B
Who knows?
- [366:53]
A
Very strange. Then you get into March and there's some good stuff in Here. Pokemon Pokop, I'm really excited about.
- [366:59]
B
I'm excited for that, too.
- [367:00]
A
I think that's gonna be a really cool.
- [367:01]
B
I'm more excited for that than the new mainline game.
- [367:04]
A
Yeah, I think I am, too, at the moment. Yeah.
- [367:06]
B
I don't know what happens to me,
- [367:07]
A
but I'm really interested in that. What was the other big one from that? Oh, yeah. Monster Hunter Stories three, I think is gonna be a sleep game.
- [367:12]
B
That looks cool.
- [367:13]
A
I think that's gonna be one of those ones where we, like, really don't think that much about it until it comes out and we're like, oh, my God, this is my whole life.
- [367:19]
B
Yeah.
- [367:19]
A
And then I'm really, really interested to see if 007 first light ends up being good.
- [367:24]
B
Yeah, that's.
- [367:25]
A
There's a world in which that game is, like, decent, and that's exciting. It's by the Hitman team. They really haven't missed with any game that they've made. The only thing I find weird is just the way James Bond looks.
- [367:34]
B
He looks like Nathan Drake a little bit.
- [367:35]
A
He looks a little too Nathan Drake for me. I agree with you. Yeah.
- [367:38]
B
Yeah.
- [367:38]
A
But he's British, so he's got that in April. The big game there is Pragmata, which I haven't played that demo. Have you played the demo yet?
- [367:46]
B
No. I don't know what this is.
- [367:47]
A
You've definitely seen it in, like, 15 different events. It's the one that everyone thought was Mega man for a bit.
- [367:52]
B
Oh, maybe. I'm not sure.
- [367:55]
A
I don't even know how to really
- [367:56]
B
describe it, but that's the big one.
- [367:58]
A
But there's a demo. It's coming out.
- [367:59]
B
Cool. I'll check it out.
- [368:00]
A
Yeah, there's a demo out now in May. The only release dates we have are for things called Paralives and also Lego Lego Batman.
- [368:06]
B
Are you excited for LEGO Batman?
- [368:08]
A
I'm really excited for LEGO Batman.
- [368:09]
B
It looks like it has the Arkham combat, which is interesting.
- [368:11]
A
Yeah. The more. I actually think that the promotion that they've done in game events for this has not been very compelling. And everything I've seen outside of that has been really tough to lose.
- [368:23]
B
The voices, sadly. Kevin Conrad, and then I think Mark Hamill's not the Joker anymore. But, yeah, I am excited for that game.
- [368:30]
A
Yeah. This game, if you look into it, outside of what they've shown in events, the idea is that it's open zone, the same way the Skywalker Saga. The recent one was not the Skywalker Saga. Or maybe is that whatever the most recent Star wars thing they did was all of them. Yeah. And the way it worked was like you went to a planet and the planet was kind of like an open, like a mini open world. And it had a bunch of different missions you could do. And then like, if you wanted to move on to a different movie or a different part of that world, you could like go to another open world. And they're doing that with Lego Batman. But every single version of the quote unquote, open world is like a different version of Batman.
- [369:04]
B
Yeah.
- [369:05]
A
So it's like there's the Adam west open world and there's the Arkham open world and there's like the Chris Nolan verse open world, which is really interesting, like to just kind of combine all of the Batmans into one video game. It's like, honestly, a really fun idea.
- [369:17]
B
It is. Is. Yeah.
- [369:19]
A
And honestly, just the fact that they've been promoting it for so long, kind of like we were talking about with Octopath Zero.
- [369:23]
B
Yeah. It shows a lot of confidence.
- [369:25]
A
I think they're very confident that it's gonna be good, which is. Which is cool.
- [369:28]
B
September.
- [369:29]
A
September. Phantom Blade Zero finally is coming out. I. I don't really have any feelings about that one. November is the current date for Grand Theft Auto 6.
- [369:36]
B
Do you think they'll delay it again?
- [369:38]
A
No, I think this is it. I think this is it. I think it's actually going to come out this time.
- [369:41]
B
Yeah. I. I never really care about gta, so I feel like I'm one of the things few people that just like, is not invested in this at all.
- [369:46]
A
Yeah. You and I are kind of in the same spot where, like, I think you and I have played most every
- [369:50]
B
GTA and three through San Andreas.
- [369:53]
A
Yeah. And I never really like, connected with them.
- [369:55]
B
Yeah. I recognize their importance, like in game history.
- [369:59]
A
Yeah.
- [369:59]
B
But, yeah, it's never really been my series. I'm more into Red Dead personally.
- [370:02]
A
Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing that you and I always say. Like, we're just always interested in like the weirder stuff that Rockstar is making.
- [370:07]
B
Yeah.
- [370:07]
A
But I'll probably.
- [370:09]
B
I mean.
- [370:09]
A
And ping pong.
- [370:10]
B
Yeah. I'll. I'll be curious enough to check it out maybe. But, you know.
- [370:14]
A
Yeah. I think barring some kind of like, horrific revelation about this game's development, I'll probably pick it up.
- [370:21]
B
Exactly right.
- [370:22]
A
Because I think it's going to be too hard to avoid and I'm going to be too curious.
- [370:26]
B
Yeah. As much as I would love to just bring up like, you know, y's VIII instead of that game when it comes out. I might just do that.
- [370:33]
A
Anyway, we should book a Final Fantasy 6 bonus for the day Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out. We're talking about the biggest six in gaming. It's Final Fantasy. At the bottom of this Game Informer list is a big list of games that don't have release dates yet, but have been announced as maybe coming out this year. Just rolling through them. I will say, I'm going to tell you this right now. 2026 is the year that I become an Ace Combat freak. I did just download 7 and I started playing it. Oh, cool, Steven. Yeah, exhilarating.
- [371:03]
B
You're a freak.
- [371:05]
A
It's happening already. I love it. I'm preparing to go to bat for Ace Combat 8. It's going to be really fun.
- [371:11]
B
Let's see what I'll. If you don't mind scrolling a bit.
- [371:12]
A
Yeah, I'm scrolling.
- [371:13]
B
I'm scrolling. Bubsy 4D. I'm curious about.
- [371:16]
A
I'm excited for you to bring that to the show.
- [371:20]
B
What else is here?
- [371:20]
A
What else? We got Chrono Odyssey, obviously, the third game in the Chrono Trigger series.
- [371:25]
B
There is. There's a remake of Danganronpa 2 coming out that's also like a new game.
- [371:30]
A
Yeah, they have. I'm not sure what extra stuff.
- [371:32]
B
Oh, my God.
- [371:32]
A
Deca Police is finally coming out next year. Wow, that's. Is that level five also? I think that's that level five game.
- [371:38]
B
Oh, cool.
- [371:39]
A
In the works, like forever and ever. And they just kept delaying it. I think also the new Professor Layton's coming out next year.
- [371:44]
B
Oh, that's fun.
- [371:44]
A
Which is fun. Oh, yeah. Enter the Gungeon. Two is next year.
- [371:47]
B
The big one here is Fire Emblem. Fortune's Weave.
- [371:50]
A
Fire Emblem. Fortune's Weave.
- [371:52]
B
Do you have any guess when that will come out? I feel like that's a March or summer release.
- [371:57]
A
Don't you think it's going to be another Fire Emblem Summer.
- [371:58]
B
I think it might be a summer. Yeah.
- [372:00]
A
I think it's going to be a Fire Emblem Summer. I'm excited about that one. Yeah. Let's see what else we got here. What else? Anything fun?
- [372:06]
B
Come on.
- [372:06]
A
Hollow Knight for Switch 2. It's coming soon.
- [372:09]
B
Oh, Marvel's Wolverine. I wasn't into the trailer at all.
- [372:13]
A
Yeah, I.
- [372:14]
B
Come on, say it.
- [372:15]
A
Well, this is a tough one because we're. We're in this realm where there's stuff I know and there's stuff I don't know. So, like, some things are being announced and talked about. I have no bearing on. And some things are being announced and talking and talked about. I know too much about. And that's one of the ones I know too much about.
- [372:32]
B
Yeah, I mean, I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I feel like the last trailer that they revealed focus on the sort of over the top violence of it and. And that's not something I'm interested in really.
- [372:41]
A
I will say when I watched that trailer, I was surprised by that.
- [372:45]
B
Okay, so that's like a maybe newer direction for it.
- [372:47]
A
Maybe. I'm not really sure. It might have been that way all along and I just didn't know that. I also found that very off putting.
- [372:54]
B
Yeah.
- [372:54]
A
It's very clear that. That if that's how they're marketing it, it's very clear that they're like, people liked Logan, right. That was a great movie. What if that was a video game? I don't know the way I've described. Is it really? That trailer feels pitched to 14 year olds who are going to love it, don't get me wrong. But you know, interesting. What else is. Oh, Inconvenience is a life sim that's coming out that I'm really excited about. Where you run a convenience store in Tokyo.
- [373:17]
B
Oh, cool.
- [373:18]
A
I think that's me. Fun. Okay, here's the. Here's the big question mark for me.
- [373:21]
B
Yeah, yeah. What's up?
- [373:22]
A
You're not going to care about this at all, but. Oh, Marathon. Wait, Marathon by Bungie.
- [373:27]
B
Oh yeah, I remember that.
- [373:28]
A
Their new Extraction shooter. I'm cautiously becoming more optimistic about that game despite all signs pointing to it being a complete disaster. Disaster.
- [373:38]
B
So where's the optimism coming from?
- [373:39]
A
I'm not really sure outside of like my brief flirtation with playing arc raiders a couple times and being like, oh, the extraction shooter genre actually is interesting. I thought it was going to be a thing that I was like completely, you know, I just didn't want to touch at all.
- [373:54]
B
Yeah.
- [373:54]
A
And now that I have like jumped into that game a couple of times with friends and experienced it, you know, I just am like, maybe this is for me. And if somebody was going to make one that I would actually play, a lot of, it would probably be Bungie.
- [374:06]
B
Yeah.
- [374:07]
A
But Also this is 2025 Bungie and not 202013 Bungee that made Destiny, which is the Bungee that I liked.
- [374:14]
B
We'll see.
- [374:14]
A
So we'll see. How do you feel about Marvel Token Fighting Souls? Speaking of Marvel.
- [374:18]
B
Oh, yeah, I'm excited for that. I mean, I love Ark. I'LL play most games they make. I think the Marvel piece of it is fine. I secretly wish it was another Marvel versus Capcom, but I think it looks cool. I like that they're kind of putting their own art style on the Marvel characters, so I'll definitely check that out for sure.
- [374:35]
A
This is what we're getting instead of Marvel versus Capcom. I imagine there's just never going to be any opinion.
- [374:39]
B
Oh, the new Opus game. I'm excited about Prism Peak. I didn't get to play the demo, but I really like the other Opus games.
- [374:44]
A
Oh, you know what's not on this list that I think is worth shouting out is Mina the Hollower. Right?
- [374:48]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [374:48]
A
Isn't that supposed to come out next year?
- [374:49]
B
That was supposed to come out this year, but I don't think it has a release date yet.
- [374:53]
A
Okay.
- [374:54]
B
It's not here.
- [374:55]
A
Ontos is the new game by the people who made Soma, which I'm stoked about, especially knowing that that's probably going to be out. If I were to guess before Halloween.
- [375:05]
B
Why is Palworld here?
- [375:07]
A
Because it's getting ported to a bunch of places.
- [375:09]
B
Oh, I see.
- [375:10]
A
Yeah. It's coming out again.
- [375:12]
B
I'm seeing what else is here.
- [375:13]
A
The Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake, which has been in the works for who knows how long. That's funny.
- [375:18]
B
Oh, say the Spire 2. That's going to be huge.
- [375:20]
A
Play. The Spire 2 is a big one.
- [375:21]
B
That is. Next year. I wouldn't be surprised if that movie takes more time.
- [375:24]
A
But yeah, there's Professor Layton. Oh yeah. The new Rhythm Heaven.
- [375:27]
B
That's exciting. Yeah, Lots of fun. Switch games this coming year.
- [375:30]
A
Yeah. I still can't believe that they made a new Runescape. Yeah, I find that very interesting. Shout out to everybody still playing Runescape these days. There are a lot of people out there still playing Runescape. Anything else interesting?
- [375:42]
B
Oh my God. How do we forget the Adventures of Elliot? Dude, I can't believe it has a subtitle. The Adventures of the Millennium Tales.
- [375:48]
A
The Millennium Tales. Yeah.
- [375:49]
B
I can't wait for Elliot.
- [375:50]
A
That's. Isn't that relatively soon? I thought they had a release date and it was like early.
- [375:55]
B
It's giving February. It is, but I don't know if it is February.
- [375:59]
A
Yeah. You know, I'm going to Google this. That.
- [376:01]
B
Yeah. Let's see if we can correct this article.
- [376:03]
A
Adventures of Elliot release date. Let's see. No, it just says 2026. Yeah, I agree with you though. It does feel like that's going to be like an early because the demo.
- [376:10]
B
I mean, who knows how much the game was done, but the demo felt pretty polished.
- [376:13]
A
Yeah.
- [376:14]
B
Although maybe it was just that area, but yeah, Elliot, I cannot wait for.
- [376:17]
A
Yeah, that's going to be really good. Oh, the Duskbloods.
- [376:19]
B
Oh, yeah. I'm curious to see what that is. I play Night. Was it Night Rain?
- [376:23]
A
Oh, did you play Night Rain?
- [376:24]
B
Yeah, I played it very briefly, but I think I need someone to teach me what on earth to do.
- [376:28]
A
Yeah.
- [376:29]
B
I've never felt more lost because I spawned into a group of four and they all ran away from me. So imagine playing Elden Ring, but everyone is running away from you.
- [376:38]
A
Yeah.
- [376:39]
B
And you have nothing. You have no idea what to do. But it seems cool.
- [376:42]
A
Imagine playing Elden Ring alone.
- [376:43]
B
Yeah, exactly. But the world is circling in on you.
- [376:46]
A
Oh, right. But yeah, it's fortnight.
- [376:47]
B
It's Fortnite tomodachi life I'm excited about.
- [376:50]
A
Dude, that is like the. The big one.
- [376:53]
B
Oh, my God.
- [376:54]
A
You and I are gonna lose our minds.
- [376:56]
B
And then also the Charles and Scott sky second Chapter remake.
- [376:59]
A
Trails in the sky second chapter. Yeah, maybe that comes out next year. That'd be pretty wild if they were that quick with it. I imagine that's gonna be 27, but who knows?
- [377:06]
B
I mean, they will see.
- [377:08]
A
How you feeling about this remake of the first Tomb Raider that they're doing? Feels fitting for our PS1 year that they're doing that.
- [377:14]
B
Yeah, I'm trying to remember which. Because they did two Tomb Raider trailers that were back to back and one of them was more interesting.
- [377:20]
A
The first trailer was for the new game that they're making, which is coming out in 27. And the second trailer was for Legacy of Atlantis, which is the remake.
- [377:27]
B
I felt more into the new game trailer.
- [377:29]
A
Did you?
- [377:30]
B
Yeah, because that was the one with the dinosaurs, right?
- [377:32]
A
Yeah, I think so. Oh, wait, no, I think that was the. I don't remember anymore.
- [377:36]
B
That's what I mean.
- [377:37]
A
We'll find out.
- [377:37]
B
I guess one of them looked better than the other. But I actually really like the first Tomb Raider game. Like, I have very fond memories of that first game on PS1. And that era of Lara Croft is fun. I'm curious to see it re explored.
- [377:50]
A
Yeah. Anything else in here?
- [377:52]
B
I was seeing the. What are the V and Yoshi and
- [377:55]
A
the mysterious Serious Book.
- [377:56]
B
You know, I'll. I'll check it out. I feel like the Yoshi games are definitely made for like a very young audience these days. But that game looks very pretty.
- [378:03]
A
Oh, my God. Witchbrook, I think is finally coming Out, Right.
- [378:05]
B
Oh, wow.
- [378:06]
A
Didn't that get dated for next year?
- [378:08]
B
Yeah, that's exciting.
- [378:09]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [378:09]
B
Wizarding Life Sim.
- [378:10]
A
Yeah. It was supposed to come out last year. It got delayed into 2026. It's a new game by Chucklefish, which definitely mixed feelings about it. I think after what happened with Starbound.
- [378:21]
B
Yeah.
- [378:22]
A
That's going to be interesting.
- [378:24]
B
I feel like, I hope for their sake that doesn't come out anywhere near Fields of Mystria coming to console or 1.0.
- [378:30]
A
Oh my God. Yeah. That's like. I think the cozy game Nuclear Bomb that's ready to go off at any moment.
- [378:37]
B
That's like everyone moving their game. When Silksong came out Fields of Mystery,
- [378:41]
A
but I just don't think anyone's ready for it. I don't think when Fields of Mystery gets announced in 1.0 and finally comes out, people will be like, we should probably move our game release to not compete with this. But I think that that game is going to be a huge game.
- [378:53]
B
I can't wait. That game is so good.
- [378:54]
A
I've talked to some people who are not big video game people who have gotten into Fields of Mystery for whatever reason.
- [379:01]
B
Yeah.
- [379:02]
A
And are like, this is all I play. Which I found very interesting. Like anyone who touches that game is like, I'm in.
- [379:07]
B
Yeah.
- [379:08]
A
I've been really meaning to revisit it recently.
- [379:10]
B
Yeah.
- [379:11]
A
So much.
- [379:12]
B
I played a good amount of the early access and then I was like, let me wait at least a bit until 1.0.
- [379:16]
A
Me too. It's still. I think it's been like two years since I played it though. At least.
- [379:20]
B
Yeah. I think it of kind. It came out last year, I think in early access.
- [379:23]
A
Maybe a year then. Yeah. But still they've released, I think like two big content updates.
- [379:27]
B
They've updated a lot. I mean when I last played they like had a cap on the hearts. It was like halfway.
- [379:32]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [379:34]
B
I would. I would be interested in checking it out again.
- [379:36]
A
Yeah.
- [379:36]
B
But I kind of want to wait for 1.0 too. Yeah, we'll see. Oh my God. East 10 proud Nordics. I'm waiting for that. So East 10 is out in the US but everyone has said wait for proud Nordics because that's like the Persona 5 royal version of it. I can't wait for that. Yeah, that's like the nautical Viking east game.
- [379:52]
A
Yeah.
- [379:53]
B
That's going to be sick, man. Already. And we already don't know the full scope of the year, but we already have an eight hour Goati episode next year.
- [380:00]
A
To look forward to. Yeah. Consider how many of the games that are on our list this year we didn't know about at all.
- [380:06]
B
I can't wait to argue with you about East x proud Nordics vs Fields of Mystria.
- [380:11]
A
Although I think it's vs 007 first light, which I for some reason have some deep emotional attachment to. And I've done a 14 hour YouTube essay about.
- [380:20]
B
Shall we?
- [380:21]
A
I think that's it.
- [380:22]
B
Yeah, that's it.
- [380:23]
A
Like Steven said, thank you so, so, so much to everybody who listened to this episode, especially if you made it all the way to the end. Thank you to everybody who has supported the show forever. Whether that be on Patreon or just by listening and, you know, reaching out or whatever, it really means the world for us. As we said already, this is like kind of slowly becoming our job. For real.
- [380:42]
B
Yeah.
- [380:42]
A
Which is pretty unbelievable thing considering, you know, where we started this show.
- [380:47]
B
I mean, the first goatee was us sitting on your floor into one microphone.
- [380:52]
A
Yeah, we had one microphone.
- [380:53]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [380:54]
A
And we were. Yeah, we were both sitting on the floor for four hours.
- [380:56]
B
First episode of the show, the E3 22 we mentioned, I was like lying on the couch king DDD style.
- [381:02]
A
Yeah.
- [381:02]
B
In just into the MacBook speakers. I don't even have a mic yet.
- [381:08]
A
And here we are talking into my.
- [381:10]
B
Here we are sitting on a couch
- [381:11]
A
years later in front of a virtual fireplace.
- [381:14]
B
I also want to give another huge shout out to our producer, AJ Folari for the work they're gonna do in this episode and all the work they've done for us. We missed you this year.
- [381:22]
A
Yeah.
- [381:22]
B
You should definitely check out their show Zip.
- [381:25]
A
Yes.
- [381:25]
B
And they did with our other friends Kim and Chase, who co host the show. They did a zip of the year. You should go listen to that episode.
- [381:33]
A
Yes. AJ's links are in the show notes if you want to hire them to make your podcast.
- [381:37]
B
Also. Yes, they're an incredible editor.
- [381:38]
A
Anything else? Any other shout outs you want to do?
- [381:41]
B
What's a good? What's a good. I know we gave the shout out already to get the giveaway, but like, what's a good quote you want to lead into the new year with? This is going to come out most likely on the 31st.
- [381:51]
A
Yeah.
- [381:52]
B
This is like a New Year's Eve episode. What's a mantra or saying you want to take into the next year?
- [381:57]
A
I'm really feeling eve of the weave.
- [381:59]
B
I also feel like eve of the weave.
- [382:01]
A
It won't fit at a certain point, but.
- [382:03]
B
But it is because it's coming out next year. This is literally the New Year's Eve of the weave.
- [382:08]
A
I. I'm really feeling it.
- [382:09]
B
Be the Eve you want to weave in the world.
- [382:11]
A
Couldn't have said it better myself.
- [382:12]
B
Happy New Year's weave, everyone.
- [382:14]
A
That's Stephen Hilger.
- [382:15]
B
That's Brendan Bigley.
- [382:16]
A
That's Zuko the leopard gecko.
- [382:18]
B
He's like, my favorite game is Proud Nordics. I like it more than the original.
- [382:25]
A
Zuko wouldn't wait for Proud Nordics.
- [382:27]
B
Zuo got it twice.
- [382:28]
A
Yeah. Zuko, for some reason, is really like, no, the new stuff is bad.
- [382:31]
B
I'm an oath. And Valkana head and the Zu theory sucked. Until Proud Nordics.
- [382:36]
A
Goodbye, everyone.
- [382:36]
B
Bye, everyone.
- [382:37]
A
See you at the Eve of the weave. Fora. The worst garbage online.