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The Besties

It's Game of the Year meets King of the Hill as four of Earth's best friends – Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Chris Plante, and Russ Frushtick – rank and review their favorite video games. Because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games?

Episodes

Podcast: The Besties: Gotta Exorcise 'Em All with Shin Megami Tensei V

Today, we're cracking into the oftentimes impenetrable Shin Megami Tensei series' fifth major installment, and share some thoughts on the masterful GTA Trilogy remasters, which are terrible. Other media discussed: Halo Infinite Multiplayer, Resident Evil 4 VR, Cape Fear 1962 and Moonlighter. [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Jan 9, 2022 at 12:27 AM - 1 comment

Podcast: The Besties: The Obligatory Annual Call of Duty Episode

This week, we're breaking down two great tastes that taste great together: The many faces of Call of Duty: Vanguard, and the newly expanded Animal Crossing: New Horizons. We also give a metric ton of iOS recommendations, and argue about the Mario Bros' Mushroom Kingdom citizenship. Other games discussed: Inscryption, Devil's Gambit, The Binding of Isaac: Repentence, Bloodshore, Nickelodeon All Stars Brawl, Super Stickman Golf 3+, Clap Hanz Golf, Solitarica, SNKRX, Fire Emblem Heroes [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Jan 5, 2022 at 6:09 AM - 0 comments

Podcast: The Besties: The Card-ians of the Galaxy

In our worst-titled episode to date, we're doing double duty! Join us for a discussion of the extra-creepy deckbuilder Inscryption and the surprisingly charming Guardians of the Galaxy. Other media discussed: Hearthstone, Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy, Death's Gambit Afterlife, lots of Godzilla films, Doom Patrol, Nightmare Alley [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Jan 1, 2022 at 1:31 AM - 1 comment

Podcast: The Besties: The 10 best games on Nintendo Switch Online [Resties]

On this episode of Resties, Plante and Frushtick countdown their top 10 games on Nintendo Switch Online. Of course, Chris has chosen a ridiculous #1. In the back half of the episode, they talk about the Outer Wilds DLC, Echoes of the Eye. Spoilers are limited to the first couple hours of the game and kept as vague as possible. Discussed on this episode: a metric ton of retro games, Outer Wilds, Death's Gambit Afterlife, Universal Paperclips, and Dune. [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 27, 2021 at 2:29 AM - 0 comments

Podcast: The Besties: 3 Besties Are Here 2 Discuss Back 4 Blood

We're without Chris Plante this week, but we're not without a surplus of zombie-based video games to discuss, because, wow, there's a LOT of them coming out right now.  Games discussed include: Back 4 Blood, Resident Evil 4 VR, ElecHead, Inscryption, Metroid Dread, Dying Light on Switch, Final Fantasy X on Switch [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 25, 2021 at 5:55 AM - 0 comments

Podcast: The Besties: Accessible Gaming with Steven Spohn

This week, we're joined by AbleGamers' chief development officer to talk about the complexity and importance of including accessibility features in games, and also, pizza. Really, lots and lots of pizza talk. We also discuss Far Cry 6 for a few minutes! Other games discussed: Metroid Dread, Final Fantasy 14, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Satisfactory, Inscryption [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 21, 2021 at 2:11 AM - 6 comments

Podcast: The Besties: Take a Skeleton Road Trip with Spookware [Resties]

On this episode of The Resties, Plante and Frushtick hit the road with a trio of skeletons in Spookware. Finally the dream of a horror-themed WarioWare is realized! Other things discussed: Tales of Arise, Tres-Bashers, Dracula on the Criterion Collection, and Cowboy Bebop. If you're looking for our follow-up discussion on accessibility with Steven Spohn of Able Gamers, that episode will drop on October 22, 2021. [note: posting the backlog starting from 10/1/2021 at rate of one / three days, so the accessibility discussion will go up on Tuesday!] [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 18, 2021 at 12:36 AM - 0 comments

Podcast: The Besties: Metroid Dread is Here to Save Us All

It only took 19 years for a true 2D sequel to Metroid Fusion, and now that it's here, we're basking in the glow of what may be the best Metroid game ever made. We know Russ is on board, but how do some of the other Besties handle the greatness that has been placed before them? We also discuss the tricky balance of accessibility and difficulty, and whether there's an obligation on the part of the developer to include certain features. Other games discussed: Tetris Effect Connected, The Artful Escape, Farm RPG. Also some fun scary movies: Slaxx, The Boys from County Hell, The Columnist, and 13 Ghosts. [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 15, 2021 at 7:24 AM - 5 comments

Podcast: The Besties: The Golden Age of Sega is Upon Us

This week, we're sorta discussing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, but to be honest, it's more of a table setter for Chris' thesis that it's never been a better time to be a Sega fan. Which is, to put it lightly, a divisive position to take. Other games discussed include: Sonic Mania and Sonic Colors, Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue, Yakuza, Farm RPG, Box One, Jenny LeClue, Diablo 2 Resurrected, and The Exorcist. [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 12, 2021 at 6:56 AM - 1 comment

Podcast: The Besties: Alan Wake vs. the best JRPG of the year [Resties]

In this, the first official episode of The Besties Resties: Alan Wake Remastered, Tales of Arise, and The Artful Escape are great games. And yet you may have missed them because there are so many new releases hitting all at once. Don't worry, we'll catch you up on the fall's OTHER great games. New episodes of The Besties Resties will drop on every other Tuesday through the rest of 2021. [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 9, 2021 at 12:03 AM - 1 comment

Podcast: The Besties: The Hidden Gems of the Past 200-ish Episodes!

We're celebrating our 200th episode, or at least the episode we assume is somewhere around our 200th, by talking about hidden gems of this year and the past decade, which is how long we've been doing this show, which is ... man. We need to go lie down for a while.  Games discussed include: TOEM, Eastward, Beast Breaker, Crusin Blast, Antichamber, Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, Tiny Wings, Jazzpunk, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, Walkabout Mini Golf and Cookie Clicker! [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Dec 6, 2021 at 3:05 AM - 2 comments

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