Game of the Year 2025: Day 3 | Giant Bombcast

Hey, everybody.

It's day three of Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2025.

I'm your host, Jan Ochoa, and we're recording at Main Gear.

Shout out to Main Gear.

Joining me, co-captain of the ship, as always, Jeff Grubb.

Yeah, Game of the Year.

Game of the Year.

He looks good.

Turbo Sean, Sean McDowell.

It's happening.

It's stuck in his memory, just like it's stuck in his memories.

Chuck Zimmerheld.

It's borderline problematic every time you say it.

Speaking about borderline problematic.

I'm going to put him up ahead now.

He's a bad boy of games, media boy, mike binotti.

Whoa, that was so mumble jerry of you to throw me off like that.

Oh my gosh, i'll be the uh uh, rumble teaser to your mumble jerry.

It's mungo jerry, get it right.

I always say mumble, i didn't want to correct you.

Uh, our own favorite uh, the coolest of cats, the prince of cats, jeff bacalar.

Hey, no one will like this.

That's actually the new motto of the website.

Chuck, can we get on that?

Yep, I'm changing the logo.

No one will like this, Dante.

It's a universally bad idea.

No one will like it.

Oh, you're being such a growl tiger right now.

Wow.

And he's our own, God, what's the old lady cat?

Our own Deuteromedy.

Dan Riker, baccalaureate was hell last night.

I grew up with kayla watching the cats vhs non-stop and then i thought i was out of the cats period of my life.

And then uh, it was just in the airbnb everywhere the whole movie cool, and we have our own.

Um, i'm uh monk who strapped behind the ones and twos.

Will crosby's helping us out?

Can we hear a meow or a hiss?

There we go, fantastic.

Uh, we have another full day of cat to Gory's to get there.

Starting with.

For some reason, I put this up as a joke, thinking someone would get upset and cut it, but we just kept adding more to it.

We have Best Cat from Cats.

Brought to you by Cats.

I'm going to just fire them off real quick.

Grizabella Rum Tum Tucker, Mr Mistoffelees.

Bombalerina, that is the sexy Taylor Swift cat, as well as Monk Goostrap Victoria, Demeter Jemima.

Growl Tiger Macavity, Rumpel's Teaser Mungo Jerry Skimble Shanks Gus, the Theater Cat, Jenny Dots Jenny, Any Dots.

Oh, that's the Rebel Wilson one.

That's the Rebel Wilson one.

Cassandra, Cora, Pat, Alonzo, Jelly Lorem, Electra, Tantamile, Amidus, and Mater D. All the stars are here.

All the stars are here.

I'm going to say we just bowled three of them now.

Okay, Skimbleshanks is bolder for sure.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Skimbleshanks.

He wears his overalls all the way up to his cat nipples.

Oh, he's the tap dancing one, right?

Yes, he has the power of tap dancing.

He defeated evil with tap dancing.

He's the cat of the railway train.

Who was Stupid Face Cat, who just had the stupid face the whole time?

I don't even know his name.

I think that's Alonzo.

That's Alonzo.

Wait, are you talking about the main one?

Because I think that's Munkustrap.

Oh yeah, Munkustrap, yeah.

At the end where they're all staring at Dewey Dench's character.

Can we bold shit?

Rum Tum Tugger.

Yeah, I like Rum Tum Tugger.

Hey, can you believe?

At a Comic-Con party I went to where Jason Derulo was performing.

He did not respond well when I yelled cats.

I like Mr. Mistoffelees.

I don't like him in this movie.

He's kind of a nerd.

He's like a shy nerd.

Just bold Taylor Swift, Jan.

We both want you to.

I can't believe this movie finally made Taylor Swift attractive.

Oh no, what does that say about me?

There was a moment where it did get quiet in the living room and everyone was just walking.

For shoot.

Wow um, uh mcavity uh, cavity.

I don't like it when he takes his clothes off.

Yeah, he looks real naked every time.

He, what is it?

What does he say mike?

He's like, uh ineffable.

He goes ineffable and then, like he closes the book and then a bunch of people disappear the one time he just says his name though, when he teleports.

Oh yeah, i do like the name mungo jerry.

Yes, i don't, i don't either.

All right well okay, he was wrong, it's mango jerry and rumple teaser are the ones that are like going, they're like, they're the, the duo, they're the bad, they're bad cats.

My parents told me i'm not allowed to say those words.

Yeah yeah, so uh oh oh oh, you guys said i couldn't say skimble shanks, and i said i got a skimble shanks pass.

And you know what i told them when they gave me that.

I said skimble, thanks we.

Is it Gus or Gust?

The theater cat?

It's Gus.

Played by Sir Ian McKellen.

I'm going to say let's give it to the sexy Taylor Swift cat.

Okay.

Good job, guys.

Backlord, do you want to read the category?

Yeah, of course.

Best cat from cats.

Runners up.

Rum-tum-tugger.

Tugger.

Skimble-skanks.

Skanks.

You don't have a pass.

Bumble Arena, which is the sexy Taylor Swift.

Official cat of Giant Bumble.

Giant Bumble Arena.

Where was that era in her tour?

Taylor Swift is in Cats?

Yes.

That's crazy.

Mike turned to me and was like, if this happened a year later, she would not be in this movie.

She also didn't perform it during the Eris tour.

Weird.

So strange.

Oversight.

Well, that unpleasantness is behind us.

Interview okay yeah hey, what's up?

Uh, mic check.

Yeah, i'll be talking about this volume.

Okay, we're going, you don't worry about it.

Oh skimble, shanks of it, rub tub dumber.

I don't get it.

I don't know what that guy is.

Words hurt.

All right.

Remember, everyone, we are all friends here.

So moving on to the next category.

Best friend slop.

We have repo peak RV there yet.

Guilty as sock.

Final sentence.

Mage arena.

Paddle, paddle, paddle.

Mosquito gang.

Supermarket simulator.

And keep digging.

I want to get out of the way early.

Friend-slap is a term of endearment when we say it.

I'm pro-friend-slap.

Yes, that is not a pejorative.

I only want to slop them up with the boys.

Slop them up.

We should have put stakes on here.

I very much want to play Final Sentence.

That's the typing battle royale, I think.

We should do that.

I love typing stuff.

I think I'm pretty good at it and I would like to do a battle royale with that, but I've not played it.

Has anyone here played it?

No.

I watched a lot of Nexlander play, and they were losing their minds.

It was so funny.

Every time you get an error it gives you the red text and they're like shit fuck, like.

Every time it's funny.

Oh man okay, we gotta do that soon.

Majorina, is that the one where dan was running around just saying the rock?

So i'm gonna, i'm gonna take a final sentence.

I want to say same with guilty as sock.

That's been one that's on my list for a while.

That looks very interesting to me.

But uh, is that the puppet one?

It's the judge like courtroom sock.

Yeah, it seems interesting.

Um, i I'll say, when we played RV there yet I was I didn't really get it.

So that's supposed to, that's like a laser targeted at me.

I like the friend slop.

I like moving a vehicle through treacherous terrain and it didn't, it didn't quite have it.

And smoking cigarettes and smoking cigarettes.

God.

Yeah.

You were outside.

I think we need to try it again because I was talking to Mary Kish and she adores it and she loves Friend Slop.

I wonder if we just had a bad early run with it.

We did have tech issues.

We did, yeah.

We had tech issues.

We had some other problems.

I bet it's in early access.

I bet it's changing pretty rapidly.

We need to try it again, but based on what we played, let's cross it off.

I'm going to say it's because I wasn't there.

Yeah, right.

We didn't have the sloppiest of our friends there.

Grub, please.

Uh yeah, i see remap has been playing it a lot and they're having a bunch of fun.

Um, i didn't think it was the best one of these, but i do appreciate.

The mosquito gang had a mosquito cover of daddy yankee's gasolina.

Yeah, that's right, i forgot where the other ones was.

An all-star gasolina.

Yeah, how did it?

Was it like mosquito buzzing?

Yeah yeah, that's crazy.

Okay, i love that.

Um, but it did kind of seem unfair because if you were the human, it was very difficult to actually win the round.

Like, maybe we would have learned more if we like played even more.

But with these run swap games, i think you kind of want to figure it out a bit sooner than that.

You just want it to work.

Yeah well, let's cut ones that we didn't really, because we did at least play that one.

There's some here that like i feel like we definitely didn't stream.

Did anyone tell me about paddle paddle, paddle?

Yeah, that was when you guys all abandoned me in Bacalar.

Oh, right.

We did well.

Yeah, so it's a game about two people in a canoe paddling and one person does one side, the other person does the other side, and you're on these very narrow platforms and you sort of have to drift into them.

But you have to work together and we're just kind of yelling.

And then sometimes we got drift compatible.

Yes, there were moments where like...

The places we were meant to platform on our raft were invisible.

Yeah.

And we had to, like, kind of, like, figure it out.

And it was, like, we kind of, like, were using landmarks and stuff.

I had a pretty good time with it, but I'm going to let you make the call on this.

Do you think it's going to have a chance to get in the top three?

I don't know.

Maybe.

I mean, like... i thought it was miraculous how we didn't uh rip each other's heads off yeah you did want to rage quit like yeah but that was you know yeah yeah we got there i don't know what do you think chuck i like when they yell yeah uh it's it's a good time it it might have a difficult time i don't know it could be in the top three actually because i see two for sure that i want on there yeah uh but we'll see about the mosquito gang pissed me off it wasn't a the best game no it was a fun stream but yeah the game itself i think when mike said you want to be able to figure out right away i think that's a key part of friends yeah it's like you want to like instantly like peak get to the top of the mountain yep yep okay we get it all right i'm cutting it now as funny as majorina was to stream i don't know how much of a game there was there that we found out at least that's fine okay but i mean i don't it's still friends sloppy we can cross it off you You're right.

Yeah.

Like out of these ones on the bottom here, I would say like keep digging.

I enjoy it a lot.

That's when we're the monkeys farther than each other.

It was at the end of the world.

It's funny because there's also a game about digging a hole, and that's a single-player game.

And I liked them turning it into more of a multiplayer thing here.

It was pretty poorly balanced.

It was so fun that clearly kind of sort of didn't matter.

Like, you know, you had the teleporters, right?

And that's like, okay, so... Checkpoints, yeah.

Yeah, the checkpoints.

I'm like, that's like breaking the purity of a game about digging a hole.

Then we got to fart each other's faces as monkeys and just kind of falling down the thing, right?

Yeah.

It was a fun experience.

I don't know how much I respect it as a game.

Well, let's say, okay, is it crazy to say that I think Repo and Peak are pretty obviously locks?

So we're looking down there like which one of Paddle Paddle Paddle Supermarket Simulator and Keep Digging.

Do we want?

We haven't talked about Supermarket Simulator yet, and that was a blast.

I had a great time.

I remember having a great time.

Three of us and Nicky, that was a really fun time.

Dan leading the way because, you know, it's in his blood and everything.

And then, like the hilarity of putting me and Nicky on the cash registers and me and Nicky acting like cashiers trying to like figure out how to pass the time when it's like well, there's no customers.

Hey, how are you doing over there?

Like, we try to make our own fun.

Yeah, and all the tools you can do to, like, you know, you can edit the sign.

You can put up JPEGs.

I was putting up, like, frame photos of my grandpa up on the walls and stuff.

Like, that was really fun.

The moment where you all bought the DLC and I didn't, so I literally couldn't enter the same room as you guys.

Oh, my God, that's where we're mocking you.

You're like, it's so fun in here.

This is a cool club.

I'm just on the outside laughing.

I died when that happened.

That was the funniest thing that happened this year.

God.

I...

Boy, I think Supermarket stays out of those three.

Okay, yeah.

I think I'm okay with that.

Paddle, Paddle, Paddle was fun, but Supermarket was like fully fulfills the idea of Friend Slop giving everyone something to do. yeah right paddle paddle paddle that max is at a two right yeah okay uh you have to have more friends than that yeah no i think i agree all right so i'm going to cut paddle paddle paddle and keep digging yeah uh what was that other game we checked out this year that was kind of like a gta like and we had the weed one schedule one yeah that was kind of fun not a good game though no um all right It's important that we remember for best moment or sequence when those monkeys farted in each other's mouths.

So our top three as of right now, we have Repo, Peak, and Supermarket Simulator.

Boy, I think Peak is going to be hard to beat here.

Keep in mind, Peak did win you yesterday or last week for best multiplayer.

We didn't even think about Repo for that.

I will say that I like Repo's deployment of the talking heads and the eyeballs the most.

The Terrence and Phillip heads.

The flappy robot.

Oh my god.

I remember Nikki and Sean hiding underneath a bed.

And both of them just looking at each other.

And Grub too.

We had the under the bed meeting.

Yes, the under the bed meeting.

I think...

I think that actually might put Repo ahead as the friend slot game, because they lean so hard into that.

But maybe the gameplay itself isn't as interesting as some other ones.

It is just like Lethal Company, you know, get valuable items into the car, bring them back.

More things do happen to you.

Right.

Okay.

So you're right.

The structure of like what the game is asking of you is very simple and similar to the other games.

It's not even just... just that's uh similar since that i've always thought that concept is a little similar i think that's what makes peak the fun multiplayer game right is the teamwork but this leans so hard into like you said like the flapping heads and the text to speech and like anything can happen like you're you don't know what the next haunted haunted object is going to do to you changes your voice right changes your voice your controls get fucked up right you work you go in slow motion uh figuring out like what the the music box did like yes why am i moving on my own and then someone else has to look at you and realize oh dude you're spinning with the ballerina you you turned into a like an irritating stick or whatever and then uh or and then we found that like one doll in the room and we were all like what do we do here and like i think you attacked or like you came in the room and like tried to pick it up and it attacked you that sounds right there's a little duck or something and we all like just scattered yeah it was and there was cool moments like um when we played it uh did we play it twice i think in the first time when like everyone else had died and i'm like on my own trying to survive and i found that like giant box that would get us over the edge and you guys were like you i i watched later because you were all talking on the other side like he's not gonna do it he doesn't that's way too heavy and then i've managed to get into the car and get everyone back i think that also like leans into the friend slop of it all absolutely Peak's also really good for that kind of stuff.

It does get mixed up too.

Like you know, I love this stuff in repo where it's changing your voice and all that stuff.

But, like you know, peak has those things too where these items and it sounds like they keep adding things to where you can eat.

And I don't know what it's going to do to me.

Like, you know, when Kayla was just eating random mushrooms and got fucked up, you know, like, yeah.

Right, he does the fun thing too when you die and you're the ghost, you can still talk to people.

It's really funny yeah, before you get knocked out and someone has to carry you up the mountain.

Yeah yeah, i was gonna say i remember when kayla was eating a bunch of mushrooms, dan stayed behind to check up on her and i thought well, i should stay with these two and then somehow kayla came back to life and then i died and then kayla was just caring and yelling at my dead body.

Okay, that's pretty, it's pretty sick, uh.

And like you know the interactions with items and stuff, like we we've said yesterday also, like like all of us being so uh, dead set, like we're gonna throw this rope, you're gonna catch it, it's gonna be fine.

You whiffed it yeah, uh.

And then like the attempt to go down the mountain and then you just die again.

Um, in such a pillar of friend slop is that prox chat?

And like it's great in repo.

But also when you're like yelling down you know canyons and mountains and stuff, that is funnier for prox chat than like oh yeah, another room, you know yeah yeah, i mean the prox chat in repo is like the the, the enemies can hear you and stuff like that.

But i still think you're right that in peak just uh, the echo, the distance yeah, someone just carmory from like a whisper to like wait, who is that?

I thought you were dead.

Yeah, that's so funny.

That does that a lot.

I feel like it was always you and kayla jan, just sort of being like yeah, she's just acting like she would in real life, just sort of you know, wandering around and she do be yelling, she do.

I guess my head right now is kind of at repo is maybe quantity and then peak is quality.

You know, like the most friend slot versus the best.

Yeah.

And it does say best right there.

So I think peak's the better game.

I do think it's peak.

All right.

It's probably peak.

Well, congratulations to peak.

I'll drop.

I'll play either one of these games at the drop of a hat.

I want to play both of these now.

Yeah.

Slop Fridays.

We should just get all of the video game websites on it.

Yeah.

Day four of Game of the Year will be within Peak.

Yeah.

This is Peak's second award.

That's true.

It is Peak's second award.

So congratulations to Peak and the runners-up Repo and Supermarket Simulator.

Moving on to the next category.

We're churning, boys.

All right.

Best new website.

One nominee here.

Giantbomb.com.

Hey.

Shout out to Chuck.

Yeah, Chuck.

Yeah.

I think it should be bolded.

There we go.

We should talk about it.

Okay.

You want to talk about it?

No, I was joking.

Very, very infrequently do we have the developer in the room.

I learned how it works last night.

Wow, i know everything about how websites work now.

Oh wow, do you retain that information actually?

Yeah, it's pretty easy.

I think i can do it again.

Okay, i was watching dan edit his review for terminator 2d no fate, you should check it out on giantbombcom.

I was watching him do it and i was like i need to fix that, i need to fix that, i need to fix that.

I was good, but he was.

He was being such a good sport.

Good job dan.

Yeah, Great job Dan.

4.5 stars.

Best new website user.

No, that's Sean and me.

It's actually Lex Luddy.

Yeah.

Give the youth something, I guess.

I'm youth.

You know what, Dan?

You are.

Thank you, Dan.

You are youth.

Thank you.

All right.

Moving on to the next category, gang.

We have.

Speaking of youth.

This is exactly.

Speaking of youth.

It's going to be very contentious.

Boomer Game of the Year.

Our nominees are Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Shinobi Art of Vengeance, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Oblivion Remastered, Borderlands 4, Doom The Dark Ages.

I forgot that came out this year.

Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D Remake.

Mortal Kombat, Legacy Collection, Once Upon a Katamari, Yuka Ripley, Tetris Forever, Final Fantasy Tactics, The Evil East Chronicles, Golden T Arcade Classics Eartheon, TimeGal HD Remastered.

Tony Octopus, Skater 3 Plus 4 and Heretic Plus Hex Sith.

So I have a thought out of the gate.

And my thought is kind of mulling over this list for, like I don't know the second time I'm getting eyes on this here.

Yeah.

I have a theory of why I think the winner should be a certain game.

Can I do that right now?

Yeah.

I think the winner should be Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection.

And here's why.

Boomers are no better defined by their incessant desire to be presented with historical information in documentary form, a la the History Channel, a la all of the World War II fascinations and whatever.

And Mortal Kombat literally delivers a documentary for all the boomers in the room.

I don't know how else we can better define it.

Boomer game of the year.

I have been eating that up so much, then.

A game that literally, like basically puts you in a lazy boy, puts slippers on your feet, gives you a cigar and it's just like why don't you sit down grandpa, i want you to watch a movie about your favorite mortal kombats.

Yeah Yeah, and like Grubb and I talking about it, it just blew our minds that it had the moment that Ed Boon had the idea for the spear during the mocap stuff.

Like getting to see that moment happen.

They had the camera pointed right at him as he came up with the idea.

And it's just unbelievable that that history has now been preserved.

It is catnip for a certain type of person.

Several of us in this room.

Yeah, let's not go anywhere.

We'll see where that goes.

You know what?

I will preemptively, though.

I will bold it.

It's worth talking about, maybe cut stuff like grub.

I think you and I specifically like you can replay should be for us.

And I think neither of us hate it.

That's right.

But also neither of us have really like gotten into Yuka lately at any point.

Yeah.

Every time I've tried, it's not done it for me.

Is this a rematch remaster?

It's like kind of a remake.

It's a remaster with some extra edits.

Yeah, it's the 3d platformer one, which actually the 2d one is the better one.

Um, it looks better uh, and i was like okay, i'm finally gonna get into this and i did a little stream of it and it's just like uh okay, i never really went back to it.

It's just not super grabbing me.

Um, i would say we cut that okay, And I didn't get a chance to play Time Gal HD remaster.

I threw it on there with the hopes that I would.

I've not.

So we can cut that unless anyone else.

I mean, it's really cool.

How is Time Gal?

So it's like an anime version of Dragon's Lair.

Yeah.

It's supposed to be one of the best of those kinds of games.

Could I ask that we chop Shinobi Art of Vengeance from this list?

Because I think boomers would hate that game.

So, as somebody who does love the old Shinobi games, it doesn't really play very much like the old shinobi.

It's got the juice, it feels amazing, it's a very shinobi game and i just i don't think it hits with boomers.

Yeah, as as kind of the champion of that game, i like, i agree, because i think it feels so modern.

That's almost, like you know, shed the like boomer-ness of the old shinobi, positively cutting a game which is yeah, it's too good.

To be honest, It just doesn't feel like a boomer game.

I agree.

One I would like to go to bat for on this list that I think should be bolded is Final Fantasy Tactics, The Evening Chronicles.

Interesting.

I was about to nominate that to get cut, Chuck.

Wow.

Tell me more.

This is conflict.

Friction.

Friction. no no I love it this is I think it's if it's not on my top 10 it's like right around there hovering and I think just like the quality of changes that they've done have like modernized it in a way that I'm glad that there's so many people that can finally check out Final Fantasy Tactics that either only ever checked out the GBA titles and It doesn't feel like a boomer-ass game the way that some of these other games make me roll my eyes.

Parentheses positive, maybe.

But like, I don't know.

I feel like the writing is so fresh.

And then just seeing some of the devs talk about how the story still resonates unfortunately, with the modern world we live in.

I don't think of it as a boomer game just because it still feels...

It feels like a fresh coat of paint.

I think for a lot of like the people that did play it at that time, I think they would be like good.

Another reason to play that game again, which I think is kind of like maybe the definition of this category.

But I don't know.

Does anyone like feel like they have a good grasp of what we mean when we say boomer game of the year?

I mean, it's like, oh, great.

Another reason to go back to this game.

I played my entire life.

Or it can be the spirit of something, too.

I thought it was that.

Right, right, right.

Retro-inspired, I think, is maybe a term for that.

Or a really good remake, I think, can count.

Yeah, exactly.

Or bringing back something that has a lot of lead paint in its bloodstream.

Right, right.

No, I'm kind of with you, Chuck.

I definitely thought more of, like, not the...

I guess a bit of a negative not a negative kind of decision, not like.

These are bad games but they certainly serve the boomer.

It's narrow casting.

Yeah, and boomer is never, you know.

It's targeting a more specific older audience.

Yeah, I was going to say boomer is never used to sort of like, you know, praise a person.

For everything we just mentioned, I'm nominating a cut in Doom the Dark Ages.

I also think, did any of us really play that?

I played through it and kind of tired out.

I did too, and it's also like yeah, it's boomer and the fact that doom is an old series, but like it feels new enough to like i don't think it really belongs on here.

Do the same thing with borderlands 4.

Honestly, it's a slightly less lame version of borderlands 3.

Did anyone spend more time in borderlands 4?

I put a few hours into a total but yeah, it crashed on me a bunch and i gave up.

Cool Well, it sounds like you're not a real gamer with a real PC.

That's right.

Wait.

Premium.

Yeah, you're not a premium gamer, Chuck.

Sorry, Maingear didn't give me a PC, okay?

Shouts out to Maingear.

Maingear.com slash Shinebomb.

Chuck, use Maingear.com slash Shinebomb.

Oh, okay.

You guys need to give me more money so I can buy a PC from Maingear.

Oh, never mind.

I think we need to call a meeting right now.

Do we unionize, Sean?

Are we doing it?

Cut the mic!

Cut the mic.

Ninja guide and rage bound is is very much trying to be a direct sort of successor to those ninja guiding games, while giving um the fresh coat of paint is like hey, let's really amp up the platforming action.

It does a really good job at that uh yeah, so two other things going on, while also being very old school in its presentation.

Yeah, one of my favorite games of the year.

Like it's definitely like top 10, top 15 range.

Yeah um, i don't know if it It feels like a throwback, which kind of feels in my head, it feels in spirit.

I would like to see it stick around a little bit longer, because I feel like, unlike Shinobi, it really is trying to be the retro Ninja Gaiden game.

A year where we had two other, more modern Ninja Gaidens.

Mike, you really like Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD.

Yeah, I've only played one.

I played through one, then took a break from Metroid, so I haven't started 2 yet.

But you know, it's very similar to what happened with Dragon Quest 3, where it's like a good mix of being that original game but then they do add a lot of kind of small changes and especially like little story.

Be thought that the game is suddenly super filled with storm.

You know, the original game is very bare bones.

It's only 1v1 fights you're still one person, but you can fight many monsters.

So like, even as it's being modernized, it still feels very old school, right.

Yeah, it's almost like they made it more like a 16-bit or a rpg instead of an 8-bit one.

So yeah, it's definitely very boomery.

Still, i believe i like it a lot.

All right, tetris forever came out in 2024.

Well, that's a boomer thing.

I think I did.

Boomers can't handle looking at Tetris forever too long.

I would like to cut.

Oblivion Remastered.

Um, i think they did a wonderful job.

They kept in the flubbed voice lines and it's got a lot of its old charm.

But i don't know if it like grabbed anybody in this room.

I mean i, i really wanted to spend more time with it.

I was having a good time.

Uh, i do, i do.

I think it's pretty good for this category, other than the fact that it had some bad tech issues launched.

It probably still does.

I mean it's, you know, it's a bethesda game.

Yeah, it's a game, and it's an unreal engine game.

So um, we can, we can.

Yeah okay, we got it.

Uh, i really like tonics hawks pro skater 3 plus 4 like that a lot.

Yeah, i want to keep that right.

That's the game i think of, where i'm like i was pretty excited for and then all the boomers in my life were like this is going to church.

I'm so yeah yeah, exactly like.

Even like the change of stuff for which has been discussion yeah, i am like 90, fine with them.

There's like a little bit like.

Turning zoo from like an actual level of goals into more of a competition level was maybe a little lame sure, but otherwise i'm like.

No, i think i'd rather play the thps four levels like that, and tony ox pro skater three, three and three, just so freaking good.

Uh gosh gosh, gosh.

I think another thing that this category makes me think of is that it taps into your muscle memory yes, of playing the original game, and that's what tony ox pro skater three plus four does.

I feel fine, bold in it.

Yep oh yeah baby i i i uh, what's earthy on Earthion is Yuzo Kishiro.

His studio where he works, he's like designer and does the music.

And then he works with one other person that does all the coding.

It is a new side-scrolling space shooter.

SHMUP.

SHMUP that can...

They released it for the Genesis as well.

Oh, wow.

And it's really, really good.

Wait, the shoot Genesis?

It does have cartridges?

The game itself is a Genesis ROM that on Steam uses an emulator to play it, and then they have physical copies coming later as well.

That's cool.

And all that stuff is extraordinary. extremely boomer and yeah it's such a boomer genre too right yeah right yeah and and it's it's really fun to play it's one of those ones where it's like uh you sit down you play it finish it in an afternoon but then you know you can go back to it and there's a lot more to like learn and master uh but yeah it just it's also just you know a solid shooter that has all this accoutrement around it that kind of puts it over the top for being a boomer game let's keep it for now yeah for sure uh heretic and hexen I think they did a really good job.

I learned that I like Heretic and maybe I don't like Hexen that much.

Okay what I like.

I like the play in those games a bunch though Mike, I don't kind of feel like it'd be you and me decided.

I love these as well yeah, and I love what they inspired in terms like games that directly reference these.

I'm trying to think like a medieval, for example.

Yeah, those are better boomer games than these games.

Was this a night dive?

So they touched it and they did a few things.

They also did outlaws this year which I spent a little bit of time with and I like that.

I was not on this list.

They also did system shock uh, like anniversary edition, which was really good.

Yeah, they always do good stuff.

None of it's as good as their power slave exhumed from a course years back.

Yeah, i mean i, i do.

They did a really good job.

They added some nice quality of life stuff to the game.

It sounds like y'all are still high on it again.

It's just like there's some, there's some heavy hitters at this point now.

Does marvel cosmic invasion?

Do I really like it?

I like it too.

I like the combat a bunch.

Can I lay out its case for being a boomer game?

Yes, please.

So the things that it is inspired by are obviously a lot of old comics.

There's an old comic series, I guess, that it's taken a lot of stuff from.

But also the beat-em-up, the arcade beat-em-up, which is like a Mount Rushmore of boomer arcade games from that era.

And then it's also taking stuff from Marvel versus Capcom.

And it's like yep, the boomer fighting game that, like now, like looms over so many other games that have any sort of tag mechanic.

And it's, it's, you know, pixel style.

It's going for all that.

Like every checkbox it's it's got for being kind of a to appeal to older style gamers.

Well, maybe i was just fishing for someone else to fight for it and he did grub.

I, i think it's.

I think we got to keep it for now at least.

Yeah, i'm surprised to hear that from you guys.

I thought i thought people were a little mid on it.

But i'll say i didn't love it.

I like it.

I just didn't love it.

I don't, i don't love it, i like it.

And it's a good time with friends who, especially i got family members who are big into marvel and marvel beat them up specifically and uh, playing with them was was great.

Uh, it's not as good as some other.

Like obviously, absolute Sure.

Of the year.

This is not as good as Streets of Rage 4, but it's good enough.

And then everything else kind of puts it over the top of being like, oh, it's worth the money.

It's worth spending time.

Yeah, the familiarity with Marvel definitely will help the casual person or lapsed gamer get back into it.

Yeah, they should have added Cyclops, though, huh?

Thank you, Mike.

That might hurt it in the end.

It might hurt in the end.

Golden Tee.

I mean it's very boomery but also So.

Golden Tee is another one of those collections that is from the people that did Mortal Kombat, Legacy Collection and Tetris Forever.

It's just not as good because the games aren't as good.

Is this the one where if you have a trackball mouse, you can flip it over and you can spin it?

That's so smart.

Who has a trackball mouse, though?

Boomers.

I did just realize terminator 2d no fate would absolutely be a boomer game.

I mean, it's based on a boomer movie and several different genres, uh.

But if you see my review on giant bombcom, i gave it 25 out of five stars, 05.

That's very brave of you, dan.

I'm really glad i do consider myself brave for that.

Yeah um, it is good.

Uh, it's some of the stuff it's doing, but ultimately it is uh very, very short.

I brought up the 30 price point being a huge downside, but uh, I don't think at any price it would necessarily be top three here, but definitely a boomer game.

And I like that.

I love the Katamari games, but I've never really thought of Katamari as a specifically boomer series.

I think it's actually very timeless.

I mean, I just bought it.

Apple arcade game this year.

That is also excellent, and I kind of feel that the formula just holds up as just this fun esoteric thing, and I don't think of it in the same way.

I think of the rest of these games.

So you know I love Rolling Live and Once Upon a Katamari.

I don't think either of them fit in this category.

I'm with you.

Can i um, can i fight for something that i'm glad we didn't cross out yet?

Yeah, final fantasy tactics.

I think the argument of it's too good, of a remaster is not good enough for me.

I think this game might be the best playing game in this list, aside from shinobi.

Shinobi art event.

This is just like i mean the full voice acting.

Shout out to ben star.

Um joshua, the way they touch us up.

It has that beautiful, like uh 2d hd.

Look to it.

Um, just like a really lovingly crafted remaster.

And this, this is an old game, y'all.

It is.

Oh yeah, it is truly a boomer game.

It is just one of the best games on the list.

It's like it's a great remaster and it still has a retro feel to it, like i think.

You know in my personal top 10 list, i think this is in there somewhere for me so yeah, i love this.

I'm so glad they, they did this and they did it right.

Well, so are we got it?

Cut it uh, earth beyond, like god.

It feels right for this category, right for it's so.

It's like gosh, it's so boomery to me yeah, it's impressive that they made a new game that is that boomer.

I think we could save it for now.

Ninja guide and rage bound.

Do we see it hanging out?

It's a great game and it's very boomer.

So, like, I would still like to see it stick around more than, like, Marvel Cosmic Invasion.

I don't know if it's taking it all the way.

It's very similar to Marvel for me, but I'm trying to like.

I probably do lean towards Ninja Gaiden.

I'm now hovering around Heretic and Hexa.

I think you got that.

It's good, but I think other night dive joints, like the stuff on Quake and Doom and Power Slave, has been more interesting.

We should play Quake.

Oh, yeah.

I've never played Quake.

We gotta fix that.

I would like to try Quake.

I've never played the original Doom either.

Whoa.

Okay.

I really like Marvel Cosmic Invasion.

But with the other Boomer games that we have highlighted.

I'm not hanging.

Will it stay?

Yeah.

Like I said, I probably am the biggest sort of pusher for that.

And I will say I lean towards Ninja Gaiden.

I'm with you here because it features Cosmic Ghost Rider.

Yeah.

My favorite character.

I think he's really cool.

He's basically Kratos in it.

Yeah.

We can we can cut it.

OK.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

That's OK.

You guys have sold me on it some more, though.

So I want to go try that.

It's a very good.

It's absolutely worth playing.

Yes.

Does it max out at like four players?

Yeah.

And then everybody gets to.

We should do that.

Yes, we should do that.

It's a good time.

Yeah.

You can cut Dragon Quest.

Oh, and like in Cosmic Invasion, when the character dies they're just all crumpled on the ground, right?

And you just leave them?

Is that that game?

Yeah, but you can get them back if you eat a big turkey, a big, like, purple turkey.

It's like the pizza in the TMNT one.

Yeah, he'll eat both your characters, yeah.

Okay.

I feel like the thing that is on the verge of getting cut is either Ninja Gaiden, Ragebound or Eartheon.

I'll say as someone who's been talking Ninja Gaiden, I feel like Earthion fits the category better.

It's so boomer.

And it's a great game.

Yeah, it goes over the top to be boomer like it's like it's a quarter sort of selling point.

I respect how boomery it is.

Yeah, it like makes me.

It makes me feel old when I play it in a way that I like.

Like I mean the fact like releasing it on Genesis is one thing, but that means like Yuzo Kishiro had to go back and use the Yamaha like sound chip and stuff to make music again for the thing that made him famous in the first place.

That's cool.

It's cool like it's a whole cool concept.

Yeah, it really is.

So we have three bolded right now, but we still have two more that could be bolded to stay as part of the conversation.

And that is Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Between these two, I would definitely lean towards Tactics.

Yeah, I do too.

Yeah, I would give it up for Final Fantasy as well.

Okay.

And I love Ninja Gaiden Ragebound.

So we have four bolded right now.

One too many.

And we need to cut one of them.

But once again, let's go through those.

We have Mortal Kombat, Legacy Collection, Final Fantasy Tactics, The Evil East Chronicles Eartheon, and then Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 plus 4.

Thinking of Tony Hawk as a boomer game kind of makes me upset.

It is.

It's from the late 90s.

It's a different kind of... This is the 2000s.

It's like close to the 90s.

No, no, no.

I fully agree that I'm old as shit now.

Well, you're not, but I think your instincts make a good point.

A car from 25 years ago would be a classic car now, i guess, but wouldn't.

But you know, if we're going by that logic, boomers are 75 years old right, like so yeah right yeah right, we know how we're using it though yeah i, i think tony hawk is like it's kind of yeah, i just don't think it's too young, i think it's too new, like i showed my kid that and he's like this rules like a boomer game.

He shouldn't like dan thoughts.

I keep thinking about Mortal Kombat.

I mean literally, like two days ago at the airport.

I was watching those documentaries and I was watching the old, you know TV commercial with everyone running through the streets screaming Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat's a museum that you go to on your, like, it's a museum that an old person would go to.

We'd be remiss like not talking about that collection's like problems and it does have, like it's not the greatest emulation.

It has input lag problems, some worse. on other platforms.

It's interesting because I think in the Boomer perspective you almost don't care as much about that stuff, because you do just want the museum.

It was mostly on one platform.

It was the biggest one.

Yeah, the PlayStation release had the issues, but I think they're working on them and stuff.

On the other platforms, especially PC, it's fine.

Yeah, but just watching that stuff and playing the individual versions of the Sega and the Super versions of Mortal Kombat 1 and remembering oh, when I'm in my house I've got you know the blood coat and stuff.

Then I go over to Larry's house and he's got the like stupid sweat Super Nintendo version, like remembering those schoolyard fights about it.

It really brought me back to like, you know, first and second grade.

I think it's maybe the game on a list where I can't see younger people really getting into that one, but boomers would love it.

I mean, you had a hard time getting into it when we were playing it.

Well yeah, because I've literally never played the old Mortal Kombat for an extended period of time.

Me too.

Just like a couple times at Arcade.

The Youngs had trouble.

I was undefeated.

That might make it to the absolute winner.

Let me say this about a couple here.

Final Fantasy Tactics features the voice talents of Ben Starr, who's very young and hip.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Plus 4 features Jack Black.

Who's huge with kids.

It does have Bam Margera and there was like a push to get Bam Margera, and that comes exclusively from boomers.

I've never heard a kid bring up John Tobias.

Listen, we're still talking about cutting one.

Yeah, we do have to.

I want to say something painful.

You guys are talking about Earthyon.

I can't imagine what you're talking about.

I appreciate the cartridge, but I need to see this, touch this.

Have you ever seen Thunder Force or just any 16-bit?

Scrolling spaceship.

It's just that.

Was that one in Hellfire?

Gradius?

Yeah.

It's almost my favorite one on the list, to be honest, personally.

Damn.

Because I think it's just it's again.

It's this new game, which I think there's something impressive about doing that.

It's a new Genesis game.

It's a new Sega Genesis game.

People do that, and it's kind of gimmicky.

This one is really well done.

This is from one of the guys.

One of the guys back in the day.

How is Tony Hawk too hip?

I think Tony Hawk is too new.

I think that's the problem here.

Tony Hawk.

It's a quarter century old, yeah.

What i'll say though, about tony hawk's pro skater is that it like feels like it's too swaggy in comparison.

I think it's.

It might go back to sean saying one of the games was was timeless.

Is tony hawk's pro skater more of a timeless game than these other ones where it's like tactics is definitely because we talked about how tactics story still.

Yeah, it's right.

Yeah, skateboarding's still very cool.

I think it's actually cooler now than it's ever been exactly.

I think tactics is also pretty timeless, like if this is just the new rpg that, like you know, rpg fans would play, i don't think anyone would bat an eye.

Let me put it this way we're talking these timeless games that are still really fun to play.

I play mortal combat legacy collection and i love it so much just because i remember being obsessed with that.

I cannot imagine a young fighting game player.

Yeah, You know, Mortal Kombat's safe.

And I think Earth, the ons safe.

We're talking about either cutting Tony Hawk or Final Fantasy.

So I think Tony Hawk's got to get cut.

That's what I think.

I'm doing that.

All right.

That must be where we're at.

All due respect.

It's not even one and two.

The older ones.

They added new levels.

How dare they?

The thing I do want to just add last minute about tactics and it's probably not going to win this category, but out of all the HD2D stuff, I think I like this the most because I

I really want to like Octopath Traveler.

I really want to like Project Triangle Strategy, whatever the fuck it's called.

Rolls off the tongue.

Is this even HD?

I think it's like a very light version.

It's very light.

I mean, it kind of was always that.

It was always that.

Right.

That's probably why you like it.

You're right.

It is a 3D game, actually.

Yeah.

They kind of nailed it from the jump.

And then, yeah, that was mostly it.

But...

There's something so novel about hearing that there's a new Genesis game coming out on cartridges.

Yeah, that's cool.

Yeah.

I think about Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection.

Is it bouncing back and forth between the museum and the games, where it's like you are in the museum and you're seeing the documentary and they talk, they say something about the game?

You're like, and I want to go play that right now, then there's a button right there.

It's like just go play the games, and bouncing back and forth between those two states is like they nail that stuff.

And it's like that's like for our age group specifically, like Atari 50 is fascinating and it was put together so well, but it's way before my time.

I love Atari 50.

Atari 50 is the greatest generation, right?

That's too old.

Right.

Whereas like Mortal Kombat is like, oh, this is specifically for me.

Yeah.

When we were having that little tournament here in this room, like you mentioned Chuck, it did feel like being at a friend's sleepover and just passing the controller around.

And that does feel very boomery.

I got my cheeks clapped playing that game.

And I was having a blast.

It was so fun.

It was amazing, like, remembering that smoke combo that I used to do as a 10-year-old.

And it just immediately, like, I hope this still works.

And it did.

It was this bizarrely good feeling.

Man, I...

Can I make a real pitch for Mortal Kombat being the winner here?

Yes.

This is the last game my mom could beat me at.

Yeah.

A literal boomer.

Your mom's a boomer.

Yeah, I think it's Mortal Kombat.

Yeah, I've really like the idea of Earthy on winning this and even I think it's probably Mortal Kombat.

It's just the perfect idea of this whole concept of getting all this information and having real editors and journalists go in and explore a topic and say here, I know what people are going to be interested in, because I'm also one of those boomers.

And just putting it all together in such a sleek package.

And it's awesome.

It's really good.

We should have listened to Bacalar from the top and just take some time.

Yeah.

We should have rotoscoped ourselves.

Yeah, we would have had more time to go back to the cats category.

No, no, I think actually this went well.

If people do like that Mortal Kombat game, though, play Atari 50.

It's great.

It really is a fantastic documentary as well.

All right.

Best boomer game of the year.

Runners up.

Earthion.

Final Fantasy Tactics.

The Evil East Chronicles.

And winning is Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection.

Airhorn, congratulations.

Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

Yeah.

Our ears love Airhorns now.

What about Vuvuzelas?

No, those are still young.

Gang, how are we feeling?

We think we could go do another category?

I think it would be good to toss a bricky break.

All right.

Bricky, bricky.

Let's get bricked up, everybody.

We'll see you on the other side of this.

I don't have to pee.

You never do.

All right, dog.

It's time to start the show.

Are you ready to go?

Yeah, dude.

I'm ready.

No, Krupp.

You look like you are in a den of inequity right now.

I don't know what that means, and I don't know what you want.

It's not like I have a home studio, Jan.

Yes, you do.

The computers that MainGear built for us have NVIDIA GeForce RTX chipoos in them.

And with the NVIDIA Studio Drivers and NVIDIA Broadcast, you can turn even your man cave into a professional studio.

Using Broadcast, you can upgrade your webcams, microphones and speakers, using the power of machine learning, to take our shows, voice chats and video conferences to the next level.

You can use audio effects like noise removal.

Oh, yeah, I guess I have the fan on.

Well, it's hot.

I'm not going to turn that off.

Let me just hit this right here.

Is that any better, Jan?

Much better.

We can clean up your shot with auto frame and video noise removal and grub.

You can even make it look like you are paying attention using the eye contact tool, so i could still watch my stories.

Yes yes, you can.

Nvidia broadcast is a universal plugin that works with most live streaming voice chat and video conferencing apps.

It's supported on any nvidia geforce rtx, gpu And, since I'm using the NVIDIA Studio drivers, I'll get stable, optimized performance in Adobe Photoshop DaVinci, Resolve and all the other apps that I need to use to fix our mistakes in post.

You know what?

Thank you to BangGear and NVIDIA for supplying our NVIDIA Studio PCs.

NVIDIA broadcast, your AI-powered home studio and NVIDIA Studio the software advantage for all creators.

Jan, I'm not even looking at the camera at all right now.

Grub, stop.

Stop looking at me.

I haven't looked at you forever.

Everyone.

I think I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Jeff Grub on holding a screwdriver.

We're all very proud of him.

He's been really weird with like potentially violent props lately. uh no screwdrivers have always scared me uh one-on-ones do you guys not watch a lot of stuff they're so sharp i don't blame you it's so sharp and uh yeah i'm not gonna touch the tip but i'm thank you jan for everything you've done for me grub I'm using coupons now because of you.

Wow.

That means the world to me.

There we go.

You didn't know about coupons?

I knew about the coupons.

I kept calling them coupons.

I thought you were one of these coupon people.

I was afraid of them.

I'm scared of being a coupon.

I hope you're still not paying the listed retail price for things or whatever.

No, I'm financially cavalier with MSRP, Jan.

Excuse me.

It's ghost dog.

Please.

Sorry.

All right.

All right, gang.

Well, that's enough heartwarming things for now, because our next category is something very fun. for some people uh disappointment of the year god i feel backlars he he's just emanating right now uh we have waves yeah he robbed xbox ally x mario kart world monster hunter wilds mug sizes 5g everybody's hot shot golf to a t mafia the old country fbc firebreak Hyper Light Breaker, Super Mario Party, TM Jamboree, Nintendo Switch, TM2 Edition Plus, Jamboree TV, Dragon Drive, Metroid Prime 4, and then the Switch 2.

Justice for Mike Minotti.

The mugs are not too small.

Thank you.

Turns out they're great size mugs.

Yeah, if they're not a very normal size, go fuck yourself with a mug.

And if you have a Keurig that has a large setting, you just need another mug mike for you.

I'm not even going to cross it out, i'm going to delete it.

Oh, there we go.

I want to offer a uh, a cross out here in baclar and we'll see how you feel about it.

Um so, the rock xbox ally x we uh, we did a kind of first look at it when it first came out of the video and it's maybe the least flattering hardware uh profile.

You could possibly see the original video when nothing worked at all uh, but now that it's, i do have it working.

I do hate the window.

Cross it off.

I'm already convinced.

Can we replace it with the windows full screen experience instead?

Oh, good call.

Cause that's the, that's the app that they came up with to make all these windows handles.

Dan, you're still not actually using this the way it's intended.

I just loaded them to steam.

Like every once in a while, like during Simpsons Fortnite, I used it for like Epic Store stuff.

So it's nice to have all those storefront stuff.

I just do Steam 98% of the time.

And me being the dumb bitch I am, I totally bought into Microsoft being like, we care about this.

We're going to get this right.

And I think the Windows full screen experience is disappointing still.

Is the Windows full screen experience only on the ROG?

No, they put, they started, it's going to be on the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is going to have it.

I don't think it's rolled out to anything else.

It's supposed to be everywhere.

That's just supposed to be like Steam big picture mode.

It's supposed to be like that in the Xbox app and not in handhelds.

I think that's true.

Yeah, the software is what we're discussing.

Yeah, yeah.

The hardware is like, I like the hardware.

Like, When I traveled here, I brought the LIX.

That's the main thing.

I've been bringing it.

Yeah.

It's solid.

The thing I would complain about and I think this is not exclusive to portables is if you are using like Bluetooth controllers.

There's just still like lag.

And it's like some of that stuff is like not the best. there's always gonna be so many variables yeah like there's because you're just there are all these different you know computers right i did have the audio kind of cutting i was watching the mortal kombat legacy collection stuff in my airpod yeah like kind of getting crack late like There's, you know... Ironically, it could still be a Windows thing.

It's not exclusive to the ROG, and I think it's a bit of a misnomer to associate all of those Windows shortcomings with just the ROG.

That's fair.

Windows full-screen experience.

Oh my god, it is hot hot dookie, and it just it solved zero the problems it was it was portrayed to be solving of, like here's going to be the one experience you can go into and like it's going to be like a steam deck and everything will be like updated here and handled here and like no, you still have to navigate through windows sometimes, and it's compounded by the i.

I feel like maybe saying the lie is like too harsh, but like this incredibly disingenuous idea that, like they somehow are standing behind this thing.

And like it's like always they know the problem and they don't know how to solve it.

I think the bigger problem is they had a plan because they talked about this with some journalists and stuff.

They had a plan and the plan is good.

And they outlined technically how it would happen.

You know, like reducing RAM usage of Windows by not having a desktop and stuff.

They just fucked up the plan.

And that's the disappointment.

It's so gross how bad that experience is.

And it should not go unpunished.

Everyone being forced to deal with it in my home when I built a computer for my kid recently and I'm like, all right, so now you got to go to windows.

And she's like, I thought windows was bad.

She uses the original Roger ally a lot.

And I'm like, look, let me just deal with this windows.

You told me not to take candy from her.

It had that same energy of like, you told me not to do this.

So yeah.

Windows full screen.

How dare you?

Yeah.

Take the ally off.

That was fine.

Cross out the ally X. There we go.

Did anybody even really have any hopes for drag X drive?

No, no, no.

It's like, and yet it's somehow still very disappointing.

It's worse than you would expect.

Exactly.

That's what makes it uniquely disappointing.

But maybe the chasm is not big enough there.

The ultimate winner of this is the one that like, oh, we're all excited for it.

And then like, yeah, the chasm.

The bar was low for drag and drive.

And then it somehow still fell under it.

If you're going to...

Make a game where you're representing like a part of the population.

We can talk about this.

It has nothing to do with wheelchairs.

That's just chairs that happen to have wheels.

So weird.

But nail the details.

Like show some respect to like what you're trying to do.

Spend the time on it to get it right.

Oh, I thought they were like cyborgs.

And Nintendo won't call them wheelchairs?

Is it a base war situation?

I wish it was a base war situation.

Every day of my life I wish it was a base war situation.

I thought they were just cyborgs bolted into the channel.

They made a game about wheelchair basketball and made it seem like mean to people in wheelchairs.

Isn't that called murder ball right?

Documentary right?

I thought the sport was called.

Yeah, i don't know.

Um, i think we could cut to a t.

I don't think it's the biggest disappointment of the year.

I was pretty disappointed by it.

I mean, like i love katamari a lot and it's like all the trailers and everything's like oh, this looks like i love this concept and everything.

And very quickly it was like oh, this is not the game i'm looking for.

I wound up like beating it and it was just.

I think I was looking for more zaniness, like a Katamari would present.

And then what was his other game after Katamari?

Nobi Nobi Boy.

Something similar to that.

But this was like kind of like a lighthearted romp.

It was than anything.

It also has a fantastic title sequence.

Sure.

It just like I kind of got bored.

Yeah, there's not a lot to the gameplay.

Yeah.

So I based off of some other things, especially after hearing I'll talk about Windows for a minute.

I don't think there's fingers points here.

I didn't play Mafia.

I mean, to who put it on here?

I don't know.

I think maybe just like the energy of the group did.

I talked to Vinny about this game for a long time.

He really likes it.

I enjoy it.

Yeah, you like it.

I like Defenders.

And I like it.

And it's a narrative, linear, straightforward game.

And I'm typically...

It's not like oh, that's a poison to me.

But usually they have to do a little something to win me over.

This one did in terms of just having the right presentation, great performances, and it doesn't get in its own way.

It has good pacing.

It also has Italian vision.

It has Italian vision, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Mike, what do you see?

I see, oh, there's a cannoli over there.

Manicotti is happening over there.

Oh, do you see the oil waves in the air?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's the oil trail.

The yellow paint.

Mafia, the old country for me is like a sleeper hit of the year.

That's cool.

I'm going to play that.

It's a friend of the website, Masked Matt Piscitella's favorite game of the year?

We'll see.

I've not gotten to that.

He's not sending his top 10 list yet.

I think he said that on Blue Sky.

I think so.

I think that could be the case.

We'll see.

We'll see what he says.

All right.

That'll be on giantbomb.com this week, everybody.

Damn, Mafia's about Italian.

Did you know The Godfather was Italian?

I do know that, yes.

Okay, all right.

I don't think about it while I'm watching it, but if you ask me, gun to my head, I'd be like yeah, that's the Italian Mafia.

Okay, nice.

Sopranos, was that Italian?

Yes.

Okay.

Good job.

I'm going to get ahead of this.

This is our list.

This is Giant Bombs, and I know I am maybe the outlier on Metroid Prime 4 being so hot on it.

You want to do this right now?

You sure you want to do this right now?

I do want to get ahead of it.

You sure you want to do this right now?

Yes.

I be obstinate, Dan, stand in our way.

What's that?

So I play pickup hockey once a week with a bunch of guys I've been playing with for, for a while.

You know, I, a lot of them are like first name basis guys.

I just, you know, I go, I'm there like maybe twice a month.

I try, I just try and go when I, when I just need conditioning.

You know, There's a dude there who uh, he was a real sweet guy.

We, we get along.

I only know him by his first name.

And, uh, we were sitting on the bench, you know, waiting to get back on the ice.

And he turned to me and he goes, Hey, I think I saw you doing like a Metroid review.

Why don't you give it a five out of five?

Had this guy played it?

Finished it.

He did?

Yep.

Shit.

Um, So, you know, I instantly deflected and blamed it all on you.

You can.

No, I'm kidding.

I'm kidding.

I stand by it.

I just thought that should color the kind of situation that we're looking at here.

So I understand.

I believe like.

Grub and Minotti, for sure, that chasm's very big of disappointment.

But for me, I was not disappointed at all.

I know, Sean, you've got your criticisms, but... It's a little disappointing.

It's not the most.

I've played a lot of them.

Yeah, so for disappointment of the year.

I think that's why I'm a little surprised you want to go to it right away.

I'm going to take it off.

Well, sure.

I don't know if that's happening right now.

I don't think it's the most disappointing thing, but it did disappoint me a little bit because...

Like the guy said, who do expect more, we expect so much out of Metroid.

And while I let them down a lot because it wasn't what they were expecting out of the game, even for me, knowing what to expect, knowing what Prime 3 was, what these trailers were portraying, I'm like, oh yeah, that's going to be like this follow-up to Prime 3.

That makes sense.

It was still a little disappointing to me.

Yeah.

I think that's the thing, right?

Everyone knows the development turbulence, right?

Everyone knows the path of how we got here.

Even accounting for that.

Even still, you didn't quite stick the landing.

I'm not saying it's the most disappointing, but it might be a bold.

It's not going anywhere.

Okay.

Not right now.

I saw them being it, but that's because I'm i'm kind of slowing down immensely.

It's like i'm almost pushing myself a little bit.

It's i'm liking it less and less the further i get in.

That whole lava area was dog shit.

It was nothing but just like linear go-to-room fight things no platforming, no puzzle solving, no exploration.

I don't even, i don't even know if i can call this game a metroidvania.

At this point i we did say that line on the edge.

We're like this game is not okay right, And I just like you know I was fine.

Like, OK, so, you know, you have like this desert connecting these like five other smaller biomes.

As long as all of those were like mini Metroid maps would have been fine.

But like most of them are just very like incredibly linear.

Each room has like two exits.

The way you came in, the way you go out, you barely see any extra items or you barely see anything like oh, i'll be able to come back here someday and do that.

Even though right, i'm getting upgrades incredibly slow, none of them are that interesting or new.

The one new interesting thing i gotten the viola is fun.

But you know like very early on you get that charge shot that you kind of move around.

That's neat.

Basically nothing else as interesting as that after like being in it for 10 hours.

Wait, when you put it that way, it sounds kind of disappointing.

I do think that's the divide here though, because at the same time, everything Mike was saying I'm like well yeah, that's Prime.

Yeah, the Magmar era is very interesting.

Neither is Magmor Caverns.

Magmor...

Hey, give me a moment.

Magmor Caverns, you know what you do.

You break a block and then you roll across the lava.

You see something cool, but that's linear.

It's a little more action driven.

I think so a lot of that is what Prime is and what differentiates it from the Metroidvania.

I deeply disagree.

I think that Metroid Prime 1 did a better job of at least Faking it.

One did.

You know what?

I don't even care about the comparisons anymore.

Metroid Prime 4 is a pretty bad game.

It doesn't have... Even comparing it to itself, the gameplay, the mechanics are so fun, so good.

Moving the character around aiming shooting, going into a morph ball, getting on the motorcycle, all of that is so It feels so good.

And then you just...

The funnest stuff you do with that usually is the combat.

And there's a lot of that.

The whole last half of the game, last third, at least, is an action game.

And it's an okay action game.

But even then, it's like it gets pretty repetitive.

Yeah.

For me, where it breaks down is going into these smaller lopped-off areas, and I just don't feel like I am this explorer in any way.

Even when the other games fake that they did a better job of at least make it feel like okay, you found a new home base at this save spot and now you can go out there and sort of poke and prod in this area and see what you can find.

There was at least some of that in the previous Prime games.

This has none of that, to its extreme detriment, where it just feels like you are going through the stuff that they could get done to get this game pushed out the door.

That's what it feels like the most.

And I do think that's where we meet in the middle when you put it that way, because that is what's disappointing for me, as well as the fact that it's not.

It's not giving you the vibes as much.

It feels so like if there is a delineation, it feels so prime and not enough Metroid that I think that's where the disappointment for me comes from. yeah i i guess i just never really thought of prime the way you are like yeah prime one i played through multiple times that a game is always so pretty open to me it feels like it does leave room for a lot of exploration i just did prime two and the same thing i was exploring constantly i was getting lost sometimes i didn't know where to go next and that felt really good like prime three is the one that i played half of and i kind of fell off probably because i wasn't liking those aspects of it And, you know, it didn't really occur to me that this was going to double down on prime threes, what I kind of thought were perceived as maybe misdirections for the series.

So, yeah, like, you know, that aspect of it is disappointing to me.

And you know if I, if they think that's what prime should be, I think that that's a deeply flawed way of thinking about the series.

I think there's a couple easy cuts.

Let's see.

So we can keep things moving.

Hyper Light Breaker.

Anyone play it?

I know that a couple of people were fans of Drifter.

Yeah, I like Drifter.

I like Drifter and then I never got around to Breaker, specifically because people were saying it was pretty disappointing.

So I'm just going to go ahead and cut that.

I i'll cut um or offer up uh, mario party, because even as like the resident mario party guy, i don't trust these.

Like you know, when nintendo announced this, you know jam, we played the thing right.

You know they're a couple.

Funny, let me play what's that.

It's the one thing they let me play with your companion.

Even you can play this.

Yeah, I didn't love the original Jamboree.

And also just when they do these convoluted, oh, Nintendo Switch 2 edition plus this thing.

It's just like eh, it's rarely substantial, except for like Bowser's Fury, which is like insanely good.

But I think we should keep it because we all thought we'd be able to play with a camera.

So this is where it's at for me, where it's like the camera stuff in the main Mario party that they added.

That was great.

That's fun.

And that's what I wanted.

So it met my expectations on that level.

And then they were like, we look at the jamboree TV thing.

Yeah.

And we all got excited about the possibility of doing that exact same thing together, online with each other.

And that's local only, with no obvious good reason whatsoever indirect contradiction to a support article they have that explains step-by-step how to play online.

All of this is why I think this is just bad.

I don't even know if this is a disappointment because it didn't ever sound great to me.

I get what you're saying.

I didn't even like the original game that much.

I was excited about it, but I was more excited about the cameras in the main game, and that works.

There's not much of a chasm.

I think of everything on this list, this is the one that's most likely to disappoint a child.

That's true.

Yeah.

But fuck them kids.

Honestly, a lot of kids are going to be playing it locally.

Have you seen?

You know like, look to your left a little.

Kids hate Mario Party anyways, they cannot handle it.

What are you fucking talking about?

No well, the kids think they like it until they start playing it and then it's like a meltdown.

Well, they're weak.

Yes, they absolutely are.

They cannot handle Mario Party.

They always have a bad time because they lose to adults and they don't like it.

I think this is one of those.

You know, it was ultimately a minor update like yes, it was a paid update, but it's one of those like add-on things that they do to like play into switch to.

It was like 20 bucks.

If i didn't get excited by this, you know why would there be a chasm.

You know, like it's.

Yeah, i think the chasm arguments kind of gets me.

Yeah yeah sure, you're right, let's cross.

Okay, you guys really feel like this, even though i just dumped on metro prime 4 a bit, you really think the switch 2 has been disappointing.

I added to a list and i just i wanted to talk through this because i'm pretty disappointed by switch 2 actually, because when i actually step back and think of it as the switch 2 uh, what really does it have going for it?

Thank you, dan.

Um like, in terms of You think of the two, the new system.

I know we've moved into a position where the PS5 is kind of a PS4 Pro Pro, sure.

All these consoles are iPhones now, right?

Exactly.

But you do still get those exclusive experiences where we're like yeah, we're taking advantage of the SSD.

We have such a better processor.

We can do things like this.

You have exclusive experiences that feel like they couldn't be done, the old one.

Whereas with this, we have Donkey Kong Bonanza, which... literally could be a Switch 1 game.

They said it was going to be.

They just moved it up so it would perform better.

And then what else do you have on a system?

It's kind of Switch Pro experiences.

And there's even ways where it's worse than the previous thing.

The screen is so much worse than the Switch OLED screen.

I just... I felt left down by it because...

I spent a decent chunk of change to get a system that is in some ways worse than the system that came before it and doesn't have a ton of new stuff going for it.

Even if it is cool to play these games with better performance you know, higher resolutions and stuff

I'm not feeling like it's a switch to, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

And I understand that, but like the better performance thing, that is a very big deal to me.

Like I, I bet bananas on switch.

One would have been pretty rough for most of us to even be able to handle.

Um, I use my Switch 2 every day, so I don't know.

And even if it is the first party stuff and yeah, the first party stuff this hasn't been Nintendo's best year.

Obviously does not compare to Switch 1's launch, which was ridiculous.

But Bonanza, very good.

Kirby Air Rider, surprisingly good.

Metroid Prime.

That's not a Switch 2 game.

Oh, right.

We haven't talked about Mario Kart yet, but even just like, this is a great place where I played Hades 2 and Silksong and I know it was a better experience there than I would have had on my Switch.

There's like a general state of consoles now we talked about, right?

Like they aren't as exciting as they used to be, and that is a bit of a bummer for sure.

Yeah, in my head it's like to talk about my personal chasm for this.

My expectation was this is basically going to be a Switch Pro.

And it was a Switch Pro, and it's a very good Switch Pro.

I think you're allowed to have like.

I think the expectation that a follow-up console needs to kind of meet a higher bar is correct.

And it's, I think, unfortunate that we're not there anymore.

But again, that's how i feel and i've sort of made peace with that.

I think the performance was such a big thing for me, like it's just got to deliver on that side of things, and it's been pretty good in terms of its tech.

So it's like i'm a little bit in between you two guys.

I think it's just like they have such a better processor and stuff like they, they could do similar things.

They just chose not to.

I know that that's kind of nintendo's deal, but it feels almost more like um, like a business thing of like well, why not just keep pulling out, switch one versions that we can then just have enhanced for, like the hardcore audience?

100%.

That's inherently disappointing.

I was going to say I think, so I'm going to admit this.

I think I'm the biggest Switch 1 hater in the room.

Wow.

Easily.

Wow.

I did not enjoy that system.

It made me mad.

It made me mad to hold it and use it.

I didn't like how the games performed on it.

We always talk about how angry you are as a person.

I know.

Yeah, it made me mad.

It really did.

Especially like I love Pokemon games.

It's the only place to play them.

They played like dog shit.

Nintendo maybe, like piracy, wouldn't have been such an issue last generation, if you made good hardware.

And... they did the switch to, I like it.

I like playing it.

Finally.

I like going and playing my old games that I bought and they finally like play the way they feel like they're supposed to play.

Oh, this does feel like exactly what happened here.

Is they made a system to address people like you and people like Sean, who loves the switch and was like I want to feel that way again?

They didn't have anything for that.

Yeah.

I was listening to Sean talk about the switch one.

Like, and I was like, wow, we're different customers.

Yeah.

They nailed my demographic with the Switch 2.

I'm very happy with it.

I guess if what we're saying is that I'm the only one who really was disappointed, then yeah.

I definitely, from the beginning, was like, this thing's just fine.

I think that you guys are not in any way wrong.

No, no, no.

I get it.

They should have made it more exciting.

I kept saying, oh, there's nothing to play on this.

There's just nothing to play on this.

You can play Warrior World on it now.

Finally away.

Thank you, games.

The ambulation's a lot great.

Yeah, maybe it's because my emulation is pretty good and it's awesome.

Right now, brain is broken, uh.

But i'm aligned with you grub, that i feel like it is just, it feels like a pro and i think that's just what i've been thinking of this whole time and i think the reality is, and not that that's matters for the category.

No, the reality is, this was the switch pro and they just sort of spruced it up over time.

Yeah, expensive ass switch pro.

Yeah, that's why they did it, so they could charge more money for it.

Put the two on it.

I'm cutting it.

FBC Firebreak.

I had fun when I was playing with you guys.

I don't think it was the biggest disappointment of the year.

I didn't have fun, but I don't know how much fun I was expecting to have.

It's a miss for sure.

It's a miss.

Yeah, it's like a whiff for sure.

But that sticky note monster we fought.

That was cool.

There were ideas.

Some of the ideas were too much.

I can't believe how complicated they made some of the objectives.

Like, Left 4 Dead works because, like, fight the zombies.

People get that.

This is like collect the notes and then go to the furnace room and put the canisters onto the zip line and then shoot them down there.

It was kind of good.

Throw them into the things.

It was too much.

I don't think we would have known to do all of that if i hadn't already played that right.

Yeah, that's what it was right.

It just was confusing and i was like it wasn't fun.

When enemies showed up, it's like, oh great, there's another asshole with a flamethrower here.

Now I this, this studio, has such a strong design vision and the vibe and the look of their games is like amazing.

And then they made this and it just falls so short of control in Alan Wake.

And yeah, it's super disappointed me.

I was like, I want this to be the next game I'm playing with my friends every week.

Sure.

It felt like a weird pivot, right?

Yeah.

And it just didn't happen.

And it did feel like a lazy thing they were doing between other things.

I think that's what it like for me.

It's like why it's not so disappointed.

It's like this was a new team or it was a new team created within the team, new director.

And it was like them trying something else off to the side.

So it's like Remedy's still over there making the Remedy games.

And then they're going to try some new stuff over here.

I mean, it's like, OK, I can forgive and forget that.

Yeah.

Don't worry.

For loop will be here before you know it, everyone.

And that's right.

The four-loop is a programming thing.

Oh, it's clever.

Why is 5G on the list?

I don't know.

Maybe I misunderstood the assignment.

I mean, you're right.

5G is not as a... It's bad.

What is it?

It's a cell network, right?

No, it's a technology.

I'm on T-Mobile, and it's not been that bad for me.

Yeah, I was going to say, do you get ultra wideband?

Yeah, I do, all the time.

I think, yeah, I'm just constantly disappointed with it.

I get 5G really strong in my home.

So for me, it's like, oh, it's working the way that it was actually promised to a certain extent.

Yeah, maybe it's regional.

I feel like, because I went through an internet issue this year.

Did Chuck have something to do with it?

Eh, jury's still out on that.

I'm sorry for hearing your complaints and trying to help you.

I won't do that again.

Like I said, jury's still out on that.

He's saying that Chuck was the disappointment.

I was telling Bacalar you know, get the tinfoil, put it on your head, protect yourself from the wave.

It didn't work.

No, and I think it just made me sort of like re-litigate, like how disappointed I am and stuff like that, because I wanted to seek out 5G as a home internet solution and it just wasn't cutting it.

And I'm just like nothing works.

Nothing works.

I'm not impressed with anything.

Yeah, 5g is like sort of a a um idol for all of technology being disappointing right now.

Like i can kind of become like the sort of punchline slash scapegoat for all these things.

I'm just like i you know when i was young, and you have these like fantasies of the future where you're like, oh man, it doesn't matter, because all this shit's gonna be like this 10 years ago, when it's like man, the new iphone's got all this new stuff in it and now it's just like there's nothing.

And i just, i don't know, like i i'm just consistently unimpressed with, with that kind of because, like i was like oh, you know what, i can't, i can't have a fiber solution where i live, just because of reasons.

And 5g would work for what we do, right for our, for our kind of work, and it's just not there, it's just not.

Maybe the bigger disappointment is where you live.

Maybe it's new jersey.

No, it's not even that, it's not new jersey, it's my street, if you can believe it.

But um yeah, i just it's.

Yeah, i just i'm.

I want to be impressed by something and i've just not been.

Well, you know what, let's keep it on.

No, you could take it off.

I mean, it's just all right.

Do we want to lock anything?

Because nothing has been bolded?

We cross out firebrick.

Let's not hold anything yet.

I think dragon drive should probably go.

I want to take off uh, everybody's golf, because it's like that game is not good.

But also it's not like we were all like oh, circle the date on your calendar, it's the new hot shots.

Like i like hot shots, It's a good golf game.

And we knew it was a new developer.

So we kind of had a pretty good idea that it wasn't going to be what it should be.

Yeah, so it's not like it came out and we were like, oh, no.

It's like we did a stream and we're like, man, this isn't that great.

Mike Minotti, can you tell me a story about Monster Hunter Wilds?

Well, it's funny.

Going into this year.

I believe I said my two most anticipated games were Metroid Prime 4 and Monster Hunter Wild.

Oh, I'm sorry.

It turns out like this has been one of my favorite years.

Like so many games I love.

It's not the ones I thought they would be.

Monster Hunter Wild is weird because it like it does leave a good impression, because like it seems really neat at first.

These giant monsters, you're fighting them.

There's all these systems.

You're playing with your friends in this world is so big that.

But then there's all these weird problems.

Their engine, the RE engine, just is running really poorly with this game.

Even with a pretty nice PC, this game just felt so heavy.

It felt like it was wearing cement shoes at all times, just with hitching, and just not being reliable.

And then you know, and i know, like the big monster hunter, fans will be like well, because you know it's the post games, the real game.

Well, i still have to play through this campaign for hours and they made it as uninteresting as possible.

Just super easy vote with a bunch of story and characters i didn't really care about or want to engage with that much.

Zero room for exploration or really interacting with that open world that they created.

Yeah, no skimble shanks, no skimble shanks.

No rum tum tugger.

It just was dragging me while I was trying to.

I really wanted to get into it.

It was slowing me down.

To both of Mike's points, the big ones there, you can't expect someone to...

Anytime you give someone the argument, oh, it gets so good after like 50 hours.

That can never be the argument, because most people are going to put in like five hours maybe and then decide if they like it or not.

And then really they're going to play the main story.

Like I know, Monster Hunter's identity is that you play for hundreds of hours and it's almost an MMO style experience.

You hop on with your friends and stuff.

That's not what most people playing the game are going to want out of it.

And even me, I've played plenty of Monster Hunter games.

That's not what I want out of it.

There are better Monster Hunter campaigns.

And while this is a fun action game, I feel, it's not...

They've reached the point where so much has changed that it just doesn't feel very Monster Hunter to me anymore.

They hand you so much stuff.

The word being thrown around this year was friction with it.

And I've always thought tension is the better word to describe what it lacks.

Because it's so safe.

You never feel like you're in danger in the way that you should with a hunting game.

And also...

Yeah, with the performance.

I'm like man.

I know I got.

This was back when I had a 3060 Ti in my machine.

I'm like.

I know it's a lower end, slightly older card, but even on low settings like 720p, I'm struggling to get like 40 to 50 FPS.

Like, man, this engine was not designed to have games like this.

I was really excited when I went to Japan last year to check this out.

But I did notice, as I was like playing through the slice of the game that they made for me, that i blasted straight through it and i thought like oh, i don't think i'm like that good at games and specifically monster hunter.

I've kind of like it's been a slog sometimes for me.

Um, and then they looked at me and were like you could, you could run it back if you want.

You want to do it again.

You could do it again.

And then I thought like oh, maybe they tuned it down because you know games journalists.

Yeah.

So that, you know, they want us to see as much as possible.

And then, when the game finally came out, I assumed like OK, there's going to be a little bit tougher.

And then I breezed through that initial first couple hours like it was nothing.

And you're Sean, you're right.

I think when I think of Monster Hunter, I think of tension and tension.

I think that was sorely missing in this game.

I still think it's very pretty when it is running well.

I do like the design in some of the newer monsters, but after how monster hunter world set the world on fire, i fully wanted this to be a game that i will check out with friends.

I wanted to become the monster hunter sicko.

Um, that would just play this game like it was an mmo.

But that never happened because yeah, it's it, just i didn't care about the story.

It's so clear that they want you to get to the post game, because that's what everyone talks up about Monster Hunter.

I don't think making the main story so easy that you breeze through it is the way to go.

I think, make a really interesting main story so that people get hooked and then they stick around for the post game hunts.

They're just make the main game more like the post game.

Then if that's what you want to feel like, rise to that a little bit.

I was just mostly going to the hunting board and picking hunts.

Like that's, that's what I want to do almost from the get go.

Yeah.

I think monster was just on a natural upward trajectory.

I don't think they need to try to escalate that.

Yeah.

That's my understanding.

Right is that they tried to make it more appealing to a broader audience and shaved off some of that tension, some of the rough edges.

Does that carry over to the postgame at all?

Is the postgame immaculate as always, or is even that... Christian has played this game.

He defends it a lot, but I think he says people are often unhappy with the postgame mostly because not enough new content right now.

All the Monster Hunter fans I know are like yeah, it's still good, but I'd honestly rather go back and do hunts than one of the older ones, because those hunts are still good.

Rise has definitely picked up in popularity because Wild's disappointed so many people.

Generations Ultimate is like people are rediscovering that game because they're like oh, this is the sicko stuff and I want that more hardcore Monster Hunter experience.

Make it a bit more physical.

I think that they are streamlining the wrong things, because it's still yeah, a big pain to like figure out exactly how to play with my friends every time.

Uh right right, and like it's just like even some of the menus and systems, like the ui, like streamline some of this stuff, because this stuff still kind of sucks, not like fighting monsters.

That part felt good.

Yeah uh, I guess it should stick around.

Let's stick it around.

We are at four, right?

So we don't have to cut one.

And we haven't talked about Mario Kart World.

Can I suggest that we cut the Windows full screen experience?

Because I expected this.

No, because I didn't.

I mean I was they, just they.

The way they talked about it, like when I complained early on about like okay, I'm having my steam deck.

Let's try this, Roger ally and getting the windows experience and being like, Oh my God, this is so miserable having to go to these three different apps just to update this thing.

So I can play a game, and having to enter a password and the keyboard disappearing and having to find some work around the windows accessibility settings to bring up the other full screen keyboard.

There's multiple full screen keyboards in windows and, And it's like, this is really bad.

And then hearing Phil Spencer come out and be like, we know, and we're doing something about it.

Cool.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

And be like, okay, so they get it.

They know what they.

They are hearing me bitch about this thing and they're going to do something about it.

And uh, and having them come out and be like this is what we're doing and having all of the same problems.

Yeah.

All of the same problems are still there.

So it's like, what did they do?

They just slapped a new coat of paint on this uh thing and called it a day.

It's so extremely frustrating to me.

Um jan, can you change something for me?

Because i was like it is technically just called full screen experience.

But i was like okay, what's now do they attach to it?

Is the xbox full screen experience?

I'm like okay, so that makes it even.

That really solidifies what's disappointing about for me and grub, because This is like if we're saying the Xbox Ali X is good hardware, which is it?

Which it is, because it's just an Ali X Yeah, basically just beefed up.

So that makes sense.

But this is the thing that they're pointing to and saying, and this is why this is an Xbox and the Ali X is not an Xbox.

But they were saying like because of this, it's going to at least feel like it can be part of the ecosystem.

And they just dropped the ball so hard.

I got a good idea for disappointment of the year.

Why don't you just put Xbox on?

Yeah, I mean that's true too, but but at least that although but that's just been a chronic disappointment, I

Yeah, the thing that really just kills me, the full screen, that whole idea, is you are still having to whack a mole, with Windows trying to make its way back into your field of vision.

They just can't help themselves.

Windows is too aggressive and too intrusive.

They, unless they build an os from the ground up.

We haven't even said like it comes with.

It comes with teams pre-installed.

Yeah, it's insane.

I, i ran all the bloatware, you know.

Uh uh, you know, i ran.

I had to run all the things i usually run on a new pc.

On this thing it's, it's insane.

Like oh, do you want co-pilot to?

You know, piss you off?

No, i don't.

Uh, it's in it's, it's mind-blowing.

They have co-pilot for game now.

That's a good example of why like, if we went broader, i would actually say like windows is a disappointment, but it's also windows has been disappointing for a long time.

Microsoft, i guess, but yeah exactly, and those are both like i, i feel so general.

I think this is a good.

I like, i like xbox full screen experience on there, all right.

Mario kart world let's talk about this one, Because the follow-up to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe specifically, was always going to be an impossible task.

So maybe it's not actually as disappointing, but I do think it is just a letdown in general, because so many things about this game are fine, not even bad, just they're so okay.

Fine, and some people would say just straight up bad, like the way they integrated the courses together.

The the road trip thing doesn't really work.

A lot of the time it just feels like you're driving on uh wide lane highways with like occasional obstacles.

When the game says it's most boring yeah exactly, and while that's great for the knockout tour, like dan was great in a, It feels like the entire game is based around Knockout Tour and not Mario Kart, as we expected.

And that's that's why I was disappointed for me.

Yeah, it's like I think it's it.

And I know I'm like not the biggest Mario Kart guy anyways.

It's like most of this game.

My God, this is fine.

This is what I usually get out of Mario Kart.

But yeah, like doing the open world stuff with the free roaming or doing it for the Knockout Tour.

It makes sense.

The weird way they just kind of absolutely hamfisted it into the actual circuits was where you race like it feels like you do one race, then you travel to another course doing nothing and then you do just one lap there.

It's crazy.

And I'm like no, I want to be in the interesting actual racetrack that's highly themed and with interesting things happening.

It's such a good first impression to that first track you play.

It's like OK, three laps, and then we're going to do like a transitional one to another track, and then maybe we'll do that again.

And no, the majority of is.

You play on like one track and then you do a lot of linear, going in a straight line with a couple of curves.

Yeah, like at that reveal event in New York when they showed.

I guess it was that direct.

It was the big Switch 2 reveal direct.

They showed that trailer and I was like, oh my God, this is like I didn't know what they could do to make Deluxe, you know, bigger and better.

And like this is everything all these characters, these costumes, the open, the promise of an open world, and everything.

Right.

Burnout Paradise, but Mario Kart.

Exactly, exactly.

And like, to be fair, I still really like Mario Kart World.

I think it is a very good kart racer.

But yeah, compared to 8 Deluxe and if we're talking disappointment, that chasm.

I saw that trailer and I was like, oh my God, this just seems like the ultimate Mario Kart experience.

Yeah.

And what I got was a good kart racer.

I would say that's a huge drop off in what I expected.

Mm-hmm.

Not that this should play in necessarily, but it's also $80, huh?

And they're like, we have the confidence to charge $80 for this one.

And they're doing it because it's Mario Kart.

Yes, but also everyone's like, oh, $80 game, huh?

You better deliver it.

Don't deliver.

From based off of hearing everyone talk so far, I think our three might be Xbox full screen experience, Monster Hunter Wilds and Metroid Prime 4.

I think.

That sounds right.

I think World gave you guys some joy in the way of these other things.

Metroid Prime gave me a lot of joy.

Shut up, Dan.

I didn't play any of Wilds, but I really hate Mario Kart World.

It sucks. so that's my only thing it seems like we were all to some degree let down by mario kart world between that metroid it's not between that no it's not because i think the majority of us are let down by prime you know i'm usually staying with you on metroid dan even i'm like nah i think jan got i think all right what was a bigger disappointment was world or wild i was again i don't have any expectations for world so wild was a big disappointment to me i think it's like uh from like world it was that the idea that this open world could be this big single player fun thing to do between the times when i'm playing online with my friends which mostly is still pretty fun uh playing online with friends especially knockout tour uh the courses are a little bit disappointing when you're playing traditional mario kart but then it's like you go to that open world and it really is kind of nothing for the most part i thought the challenges were okay but i stopped doing them very fast it's so crazy no connective tissue there is no there's no no similarity to burnout paradise it's like if you're gonna do one of those yeah look to the master and just replicate all of that and i get that like there's not gonna be a lot of differences between the top speeds of the carts so having like the traffic cameras that just like clock who's the fastest on the street maybe you can't do that on everything but come up with some equivalent and make it feel like a living world where everyone is kind of asynchronously playing around with each other's carts and stuff i don't know i thought there would at least be like fun nintendo easter eggs everywhere i remember early on like was it vitelli that's like ufo picked me up yeah i i just in my head was like oh there's gonna be all these fun just nintendo magic sprinkled all over this island it's not really yeah i remember at that event dan we not only like the vitelli ufo thing but then us like looking at the princess coins in the world and just being like what is this nothing really and oh you can grind maybe you can grind to get to somewhere specific or special and then it just doesn't result it just doesn't deliver on that problem um metro prime 4 i want to i want to pitch for keeping on this list and maybe winning it in a way i think you'll appreciate and understand this game should have been the consensus game of the year winner for this group of people still could be hey Nope.

We're not there yet.

We don't know.

But you should be in a situation where all your friends agree with you about this game, and they don't.

Who are we to presume?

We haven't gotten there.

That has to be disappointing, right?

Yeah, like we have maybe four of the biggest Metroid fans in the industry right here and like three quarters of us were disappointed.

Pretty hard to fight that.

Commenting on Monster Hunter real quick.

It actually does have a similar problem to Mario Kart in that a different world.

Monster Hunter World is arguably the best Monster Hunter because I think casuals loved it, hardcore audience loved it and it was going to be tough to follow up that as well, just like Mario Kart had a tough time.

And Wilds had the similar problem of they maybe didn't double down on things that people liked, maybe they thought they needed to take it in a different direction because they wouldn't one up themselves and they fell a little bit flat.

So um, i actually don't know.

It almost sounds like we're leaning towards mario kart at this point.

I think we are.

I can go either way.

Yeah, i'm not super, i'm not like super.

Yeah, it could be either.

So we can do mario kart world.

Okay, this will.

This will really quiet down the people who think that we're nintendo.

That's good, All right.

So our three as of right now is Xbox full screen experience, Mario Kart World and Metroid Prime 4.

I have rarely been as disappointed in a game as I was when I went into a Metroid Prime 4 area for like the fourth or fifth area, maybe like fourth area and I'm like it's the same exact sort of setup.

There is a save spot right at the beginning and maybe there's one right before the boss and it's like everything in between.

There is just sort of some, Maybe there's some puzzles, but there is just sort of nothing beyond that.

No branches, and they just kind of did the bare minimum here in every way.

And I've never, I don't want to say never, but rarely have I been that disappointed in a game.

How's this going to lose?

How's it not going to be the most?

How hard is Dan going to fight?

I mean, look, it's pretty clear.

You're allowed to fight.

You just also it is our list.

And like, I like the game a lot.

But the level of disappointment from a lot of fans of the series is huge here.

So, like, I'm not going to be ridiculous.

And I want to say, like, you know, I really respect your review.

I read that and like I was giving you feedback on it and stuff.

And I totally get why it hits with you.

But I'm thinking about thinking about the group.

Well, and simultaneously, like you know, to almost fight for it.

Staying on here.

Everything I'm hearing you guys say about it I don't disagree with.

Like, you know, Grubb, you just, you know, there's a safe spot here.

You know, Minati's saying, oh, there's two doors.

It's like, yeah.

I mean, you're not saying anything wrong here.

Yeah, we sort of have the... huge range of opinions on this game possible, I think.

And we are all basically saying the same thing about it.

It's just a question of, did this bother you?

I think we literally have two out of five, three out of five, four out of five, five out of five.

I think it's literally here.

Where's the one out of five?

Come on, Jan!

I thought it was really boring.

I kind of was really upset that I didn't wait for maybe getting a code and I paid for it.

And I'm like, this is what y'all really like?

I don't know if I can trust you guys anymore.

Have you played Metroid Prime Remastered?

I did.

I did because you guys told me I should check it out.

And I checked it out.

And I was like, this shit fucking bangs.

And it looks great.

Metroid Prime 4 also looks great.

It looks very good.

It looks fantastic.

It looks amazing.

Incredible feeling.

Incredible soundtrack.

And then I'm just like...

This is it.

Man, why didn't this bother me?

Everything you're saying is true.

I just don't understand why it didn't bother me.

I think of it of like, how long was this in development hell for?

I don't know.

Something like that.

I mean, it was revealed in 2017.

Six, seven.

Wow.

I mean, it was revealed in 2017.

Love you kids.

I'll show that to you when I get home.

I don't know.

I just think about, like the fan expectations and sometimes it's unrealistic which you can actually deliver on.

But then I think of other games that have come out this year that have smashed expectations.

Silent Hill F for like the Silent Hill freaks out there.

That's a great game.

Yeah.

And Metroid Prime 4.

Just seeing like, and Dan, again, I read your review, well-written review.

I see where you're coming from for it.

But then me as like a person that's not a fan of the series, I'm just bored.

I was really surprised because I did like that first hour.

I played New York.

It makes a good first impression.

You know, it makes a real good first impression.

And then it's almost like a big switch.

And that was upsetting.

And I don't, yeah, I don't think it's, I never recovered from that initial first impression.

Never met.

I think I would have enjoyed it more.

I feel like look, if it wanted to be what that first hour was and it was kind of more Halo action game I might have almost like been along for the ride a little bit more than this.

But it kind of like was wearing the clothes of Metroid Prime, one which is, while not really feeling like it at all,

And the full screen experience is inexcusable.

But I think to someone else's point.

It's like yeah, but like again it's not falling.

It's a fool me twice situation that we're in with Windows and Microsoft.

Where Metroid Prime 4 is just getting hit in the face with a brick.

What is it beyond?

It's beyond nothing.

Damn, that's up.

I mean, four is beyond three numerically.

Isn't it just like beyond the concerns of metroids themselves?

Because like like, i think it's supposed to be a cheeky take on the psychic powers, but also they have been teleported to a new world and so they are literally beyond anything that they've experienced before, which is cheeky boss, oh yeah whatever yeah, i mean really like echoes, like all right, she has a little bit of echolocation, i guess what whatever, right.

And then like the past, when she's got dark samus, who's an echo of her pinball?

What does that mean about the ending?

I haven't gone, they have.

It sounds like everyone hates that.

Everyone hates that.

And i was like oh, how did i get the bad ending?

I thought i got most of them.

I'm like i don't think venture games have bad endings.

More clothes yeah, the good ending.

I'll say this without like saying anything about the ending the good ending is same ending she takes her helmet off.

That's insane.

It is game of the year.

We can spoil these things.

Mike, you can cover your ears.

Can we just say what's so terrible about this?

Yeah yeah, i mean i want to experience.

No, you cover your ears mike, that's fine.

Did you beat it?

Oh yeah, yeah.

So it's like you fight this boss fight, which is not my favorite part of the game, this like three-tiered boss fight thing, yeah.

And then you got your whole team.

We've talked about the crew and miles and everyone that you put together and everything and they all help you during the boss fight.

That's part of what's annoying about it is you have to like revive them constantly during the boss fight And then at the end it's like OK, you got all the teleporter keys.

You beat Psylocke, Psylocke.

And it's time to teleport back to Metroid land.

And she puts the key in the ignition and there we go.

And then it's like all the people are dying and they're like ah, and then you warp away and you leave them there and plant a flower.

And it's like, I guess they're dead or something.

Now that I've sat on this for a while, that is the moment right there.

That's what made me hate the ending.

The entire ending sequence from my gathering Greek green crystals until the end.

That's the part of the game that makes Samus feel not like Samus.

Because Samus would not leave them behind.

She would figure out a way to fuck up Psylocke and bring the crew that she's bonded with home.

Well, that's why I thought it was the bad ending.

Where it's like, oh, clearly there's a good ending where it's like, you rescue everyone.

And then you start asking around and it's like, wait, what...

No one else got a different ending?

So she left the homies hanging?

Yeah, I got 98% items, and it's like, they all just died in whatever way.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some DLC where they do something.

But whatever, it doesn't matter.

This is the ending.

That's a worse crime, if that's what they do.

You're right, that's worse.

100% it, Sean?

So, bad ending is the ending.

Good ending is she takes off her helmet.

100% is Silex's backstory, which you get flashes of throughout the ending.

You get the full cutscene.

Right.

And it's not... Insane.

It's not anything.

We all thought that.

That's not good.

It's a bad ending.

That's what brought it down from like oh, I'm really really liking this game to huh.

This is the moment that isn't very metroid to me, because it feels antithetical to everything that they built up with samson's character and it's like to no end, there's no, exactly what like, what am i supposed to feel in this?

It felt like they were also trying to say like oh no no, samson's cold bounty hunter, you know, she left him behind.

She, she remembers their memories.

But like yeah no, i'm saying like they fucked that up.

I'm mad at them.

Yeah yeah okay yeah, so just, we're all very much in agreement about the yeah, all right, can i tell him to yeah Yeah, it's on that, and Metro Prime 4 is our winner.

How long do you think he would have kept his fingers in his ears if we didn't tell him?

He would have started whining.

He would have been suspicious.

Oh, right.

Lovely discussion, gang.

I think because of the strong feelings, I think Prime 4 is the winner.

I'm not even going to argue that.

Yeah, for disappointment of the year, runners up the xbox full screen experience, mario kart world, and winning this category is metroid prime 4.

Feel like it's more of like oh yeah shucks, all right gang, we have three more categories.

We feel like let's uh, we want to tackle another one.

Yeah, it's a break.

I think yeah yeah really god, all right, This is spelled C-O-M-E, all right, folks.

Audio listener at home.

Best comeback.

Luminous, Katamari, Konami, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Bubsy?

Metroid Prime.

Yeah!

What if it wasn't?

It was on this category.

I got a five out of five from Giant Bomb.

Speaking of, last nominee on this list is Giant bomb.

Metroprime winning would be such a schizophrenic.

Yeah.

For reasons that Sean kind of brought up earlier about Katamari, it's like it never really felt like it.

I mean, it had kind of a lull, you know?

Yeah, it is constant.

It had the remasters.

Recently, before the.

Yeah, they had the remasters, you know reroll, unswitch and stuff like that.

That's true.

But it's like there have been ways to play decent Katamari.

I think this is the best one since the first two.

It is something of a comeback, but not much more.

Yeah, I mean, not compared to some of the other ones here.

No.

I think a strong one.

I wonder if it's bold worthy.

Cause like, I don't think, can I just, can I say what I think you're going to say?

Yeah.

Konami?

No.

Well, that's an interesting one too.

Ninja Gaiden.

I none of the three Ninja Gaiden games that came out this year I think are going to be on my yeah.

Two remake.

Oh oh uh, ragebound and four.

I don't think any of those three games are going to be like on my top 10, but like they're all pretty solid and also we went from like not any ninja gaiden happening for a long time to three good ninja gaiden games this year.

Like and ragebound could make like the bottom and the best of the three.

I think yeah yeah, i mean it's like it's crazy that ninja gaiden is so back.

I think it's okay to bold it.

Yeah, i agree it's impressive year for that uh like conversely, shinobi.

It hasn't been a long time since shinobi, so maybe it's it's.

I think yeah well, for reasons that you said that you didn't think it was a boomer game, i kind of feel that way too, because it doesn't feel like a nostalgic thing.

This just feels like a new, good side scrolling that you get with an ip attached, and that's exactly why i think shinobi needs to be bolded, because i nobody gave a shit about shinobi.

I like the ps2, thanks ohio.

Shinobi has some bad games there.

They tried to bring it back but finally finally, they gave it to lizard cube and it slaps.

They knew the assignment, they figured it out.

I think it's exactly that, because it's like this is a game series that could have just disappeared and it would have been like no one would have been really been making noise like we get it.

You're not going to go back to shinobi, it's relevant now.

I think that's a big part of the comeback is like bringing back this IP that didn't really matter outside of like historical context.

And you could just give this to anyone.

Have them play a little bit like.

I tried to get you guys to and you did.

And you're like, oh, this game's got the juice.

You can just do that to anyone who plays games and they'll immediately get oh, this game got the juice?

Yeah, i guess it wouldn't.

It's not best throwback.

And because it doesn't feel like a throwback you know what i was saying it feels new.

I guess that counts as a comeback, because it came back and, i think, reinvented itself exactly otherwise.

Yeah, that makes sense okay, grub.

Yeah, can we strike bubsy from this list?

Because i actually think why are you asking me?

Because the year of bubsy is next year?

Because that game preview like when we played a little bit of that, I was like does this?

What about the perfect collection?

The perfect collection did happen.

Well, 4D is next year.

But 4D is next year.

Is perfect collection a conflict of interest?

Oh, that's right.

Speaking of conflict of interest, I think Giant Bomb should win this game.

I'm credited in the Bubsy games of special thanks.

That's what he's referencing.

You're positive about striking it?

Positive?

I didn't know you were intentionally doing that.

You intentionally did that?

I didn't want to step on it.

Dad, don't step on his paws.

Come on, come on.

With Konami...

Kongvert?

I was just trying to remember what that was.

I haven't seen it for 10 seconds.

I was like, what was the fucking thing?

I haven't seen it for goddamn 10 seconds.

You said positive?

I said positive.

So Konami this year had Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Right.

And then last year, there was Silent Hill 2, which I guess is part of the momentum.

Very much forgotten here, though.

Deliver at all costs was fun.

That is a new original game Konami published.

That's wild.

I love that game.

Konami's back.

I know.

Yeah, and I know this is again like starting, like we did have Silent Hill 2 last year, but it feels like the momentum is keeping up right now and this was even a bigger year than that.

I mean, you know Metal Gear Solid's back on the menu in a meaningful way outside of just collections.

So yeah, I mean Konami, they're back.

I'd be comfortable bolding it for now so it sticks around.

Yeah, I mean, It's just like they were so out in terms of making the kinds of games I was interested in.

So out.

And they were making a lot of money.

That's the thing that made it, Because they were making a lot of money making their Yu-Gi-Ohs and some other stuff.

And it was like... People would point to it.

They're pretty profitable.

It's like, since doing this, they've started making real games again.

That's how i feel about it.

Whatever, let me start making real games again, and it's it's also working from a business side, where it's like they're making more profit than they've ever made before.

It's like they've just figured everything out.

That gives me this confidence that it's not like oh, they had a comeback year.

No, they're back.

Yeah, i feel like this is my tinfoil hat on, but i feel like they've pivoted back to games because they fucked up yugioh in such a terrible way, the actual card game.

Yeah, Yu-Gi-Oh's been dog shit for the past 15 years.

Come on, we both know.

That was the best.

I'm going to put him back.

I'm going to put Chuck on this one.

But, like, I don't know.

I always prefer the Yu-Gi-Oh card game.

And, like, it has become obscenely convoluted.

And also, all the other TCGs have kind of ate Konami's lunch for that.

So, I'm happy to see them back in games.

Metroid Prime.

We just talked a lot about it.

Seems to indicate it would not be the best combo.

It seems contradictory.

Okay.

Metroid Prime 4 metroid is fine, i'm.

I can't believe i'm saying this.

Metroid prime 4 may have just killed metroid prime.

Whoa yeah, another one of prime.

We gotta find out what happens to that crew.

Well, they'll go back to pinball, the way it should be.

Um, good point, i would kill for a prime pinball too, that would rule.

Um, i'm probably the luminous guy.

Um yeah, Oh yeah.

Man, top ten betrayals.

Not my favorite people.

Luminous Arise.

I am very happy to have it back, but it was basically one really good game the PSP launch game and it's great.

It's on modern hardware now.

It's got new visuals and sound, which is a big part of what Luminous is.

But outside of the burst mechanic, which is a cool addition, it is largely just it's Luminous as you remember it from the PSP launch with it's back.

It's comeback style is very similar to Tetris Effect.

Exactly.

It's like, I'm so happy it exists, but I don't think it is.

It's not a down and out, against all odds kind of like.

No, compared to Konami, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, like these are killer, killer comebacks here.

I'm very happy for Luminous Rise.

It's great.

I think there are bigger comeback stories than this this year.

Let's talk about Giant Bomb.

Yeah. a pretty big comeback story, but honestly, we've been here for years, right?

So we've been like, sure.

Don't call it a comeback.

Sure, sure.

You know, we saved some stuff here.

Okay, okay.

Let me say something and then I think we can cut it.

Okay.

We knew to this, we true to this.

That's what Mike was saying.

Yeah.

There's that.

Also, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

Well, I mean, no, no, it doesn't work.

You can put me on the list now.

There was a moment there.

Right yeah, i can speak to this right like there was a moment there where it did not seem good no, it did not seem like the plane was going to actually be able to lift up again, and i feel like that qualifies it as maybe some sort of like honorary award.

Here we go, it's our award now yeah.

Yeah, I think Jan, you're a damn miracle worker.

You're a wordsmith and you've done the right thing.

Tell everyone what you did.

So I changed the category to Giant Bomb Presents Best Comeback.

It does beg the question who's presenting the rest of the categories?

Especially, can i say like as someone.

So i was in the audience right in april uh, and then in may started working with you guys and consulting on stuff in april.

Just the absolute pit in my stomach that i had when You know like this was my selfish.

This is my content main squeeze.

I enjoyed the shows and I was having a great time.

And then it was just kind of felt like everything was crumbling, falling apart.

So like way to fucking go this fucking way.

I'm proud of us.

Yes.

I remember being in the lobby of I forget which hotel, but the main PAX East one.

And then so many people seeing me sitting there alone wanting to console me.

And very thankful for that, of course.

Thankful for all the support.

But just sitting on the egg that like, no, just wait a couple hours.

Just wait a couple hours.

Hang out.

The reaction in the room when we announced it was one of the most moving things I've ever been a part of.

Yeah.

Very magical moment.

Not as magical as being at Disney World.

Of course not.

That's a weird trip.

Um, i'm one day i'm gonna go back to disney world and sit where you sat when we told you they put the uh, gingerbread house there for christmas, which i thought was fun.

That's great statue.

Yeah oh yeah.

Disney loves when you just bring your own plaques.

So our top three.

Since we eliminated ourselves graciously, should we make a giant bombcom?

Presents The website.

Oh.

Come back?

Yeah, there you go.

The website is back.

And that delineates.

Yeah, the rest is Giant Bomb Presents.

This is giantbomb.com presents.

I love to spell out dot and dot and dot.

Perfect.

Yeah, we don't want spam.

Yeah, of course.

Of course.

So our three that we have bolded are Konami, Ninja Gaiden, and Shinobi.

Yeah.

It's shout outs to the Ninja games, but there is something about Konami which, as like a company was, we said well, I thought that that was just dead.

Oh yeah.

Oh, just the health clubs and stuff.

I remember like an E3 and like the late 2010s where they used to have a huge, huge booth in like South or West hall.

And then it was like, upstairs down the hall down a side tributary hall and there was one tiny little like konami thing next to a door and be like oh they're fucking toast and that was almost 10 years ago and god damn it they're they're back i remember one of my first and i guess only e3 appointments was oh yeah you're gonna go check out a konami game oh sick cool and it was a shitty olympics game for the switch yeah that barely worked with any of the motion controls yeah i thought at that moment like man we were done we're we're at the point now where like mike i feel like i say this to you a lot of like sega's so bad capcom's so bad because we're big fans of those um companies and their games and konami i don't think it's crazy to say that they are with those guys now like konami is so back like special thanks to capcom for showing them the way exactly like They were up until, I feel like, even less than a year ago, the joke of the internet.

Even if you do have stuff like Silent Hill 2 Remake, it was still like ah, but you know they're not going to do that again.

And now we're like...

When Konami announces something, man, we get excited.

And they were like, and it's like the comeback is especially important because they were once like the pinnacle.

Like they were so important to the Nintendo and Super Nintendo.

Like so many games, so many like and like their music was some of the best you can get on, like the NES and stuff like that.

They were crucial.

And to have them go away, it's like, man, there's, that's a bad sign for video games.

Yeah, it's it's the fact that we're thinking about them in that way, even if they haven't had like a super huge output to like point out this, this, this, this, this.

The fact that has been quality and now we are like yeah, they're so back the way they used to be, in a way, that's huge.

It's kind of realistic to like now get excited about the possibility of like hey, are you going to do Contra and Castlevania?

I think they did do a Contra game recently.

That was really bad.

That was outsourced.

They haven't figured Contra out yet.

I feel like that was, I mean, I covered that at GBE, so that was pre-pandemic.

So it has been a little bit.

I think there was another new one.

I think it was Rogue Corps or whatever.

Yeah, I think so.

I think we're all waiting to see what they do with Castlevania for sure.

Yes, definitely.

So I am going to say it sounds like Konami's the winner here.

All right.

I'm putting a star giant bombcom especially presents best comeback, runners up being Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden and the ultimate winner, Konami.

Congratulations.

Konami.

It's the first time.

A nominee has become part of the category.

We're constantly making history here.

This is what happens, you know?

Hey, we can't say that.

I think after this, the year of the ninja.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Big year for ninjas.

All right, ninjas.

You got 15 days left.

You can't call people ninjas.

Backward.

Listen up, ninjas.

I don't even get it.

What do you mean?

I'll show you a reel that we made of Mike.

We're talking to sneaky.

We have two more categories.

I think we can get through the next one and then we should take a break.

Can I get coffee?

No.

Okay.

Next category is best roguelike.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

We have Hades 2, Absalom Blueprints, Ball Pit, White Knuckle, Nubby's Number Factory, Mega Bonk, Monster Train 2 Dog Witch, Star Vaders.

Put Sectori on there.

Add Sectori and then remove Sectori.

Sector is a pretty light rogue, really.

Like delete it or just strike third right through.

Get to the rogue elements fast enough It does.

The thing is you don't notice them cuz they're so inconsequential.

Yeah, even when you get all of them It's like okay.

I gave you like hit randomize on it.

It's like that's going to later Exactly.

Randomize.

Let's see what happens.

And like, I got a deck of cards I like now, but there's 16 cards.

You have, you have to have eight attached.

You unlock the other eight.

It's really.

I think it's just an onboarding thing and they're using this sort of very light structure of rogue light to get you onboarded in a kind of painless.

In the most technical sense I guess it's a roguelite, but it's definitely not the best roguelite.

I feel like you've said that roguelikes, and especially roguelites, are sort of like the.

I guess roguelikes would be the one that is more so.

Like the follow-up to the arcade experience and figuring out how to have that at home without feeling cheap or anything like that.

But I do think yeah, with Sektori it kind of just is an arcade game that happens to have some of those roguelike mechanics.

I want to cut nubby's number factory.

I want to talk it up a little bit, though it's so cool.

I really like it.

The style is like very fun.

It reminds me of like early or late 1990s websites, right.

It reminds me of when i was making a monkey island fan site on angel fire.

You know hell yeah, that is the least surprising thing he's ever said.

I want to cut it because when i think of all the other roguelikes here, i want to keep going back to them and after like having a really successful run at nubby's number factory and having like a very good run, i haven't revisited.

I was the same way.

I really liked it, but it was a more of a one and done, as opposed to some of these other ones that, like i saw credits.

I don't know if this will be a controversial take, but I would say let's cut ball pit.

I think the core gameplay is really fun and satisfying.

I do think the stuff in between is just not something I look forward to.

I think a great roguelike is something like a Hades 2 when you go back to the hub and everything.

It's like, okay, well, let's see.

My plants are done.

I can concoct this thing.

I can do this.

Oh, this thing changed.

Oh, I got this new area here.

It makes you excited to kind of have that cool down before the next run.

Ball pit.

I go back and I'm like I guess I'll fucking put these fields here and watch the ball bounce back and forth a little bit before you know.

It's like that.

Stuff in between is not fun.

I'm so glad we are united in this dan, because i've seen so many people say you just got to get over it, Unstrike it.

I like ball pit a ton.

Okay.

This was my November game.

I played this.

I, I, I, I, I love the, I liked the whole gameplay.

Okay.

Ball pit.

The upgrades were really good.

Like a point.

You can break two of the characters in and their powers combined.

The way you're melting the balls and coming up with these new combos.

I liked the mid stuff.

I get a little bit why you guys found it a brace.

I'm a little surprised that you dislike it so much.

It's just, you just put the things there and you bounce your people against them.

I think the reason I dislike it is because like to go back to almost like the best or most disappointment category.

I thought that was such a cool idea that like almost like a city bill type thing in between this arcade, you know shmup type thing, like i.

I thought that sounded so cool and for it to be just kind of this thing where it's like oh you know, i'll kind of set this up and i need the ball, but like there's, there isn't a layer of depth or strategy that i wanted from that.

No, it's not a huge, but i think it just.

I think it makes those kind of usual you just basically spend currency and get them upgrades in these games a bit more interesting than that and it's another way to play on the whole.

You know kind of arcanoid, bouncing balls off of things, ideas and there's.

It becomes even more interesting when you get into it because it does matter how these things are placed.

Like one building is going to increase the experience gain for any character's house that's within range of it.

That kind of thing and other things are kind of more passively generating resources for you if you put farms in the right places over there.

I think it's almost too generous to call it Arkanoid-like, because in Arkanoid you're at least moving the thing at the bottom.

So that part, yeah.

But the gameplay parts, though.

I get what Mike's saying, though.

I will say, to add a voice to this though, that I am with Dan on it, where I think it's more of just like hey, that's not what we want for the cooldown in between the more arcade-y experiences.

Because I do hear a lot of people say what Mike's saying of like it's an interesting new way to do that.

It just really didn't hit with me either.

And I actually...

I don't love the core gameplay of ball pit either, like the just moving the guy and the balls are bouncing.

It's like it's very visually stimulating, especially once you get the various um, You know the roguelike stuff that like being able to stack the balls going through enemies and then when they pass through X enemies, they do stuff.

It is kind of fun, but at a certain point, you kind of just are moving the guy back and forth.

And I don't feel like there's a ton of strategy to the gameplay in the way that other roguelikes sometimes do.

Like, even vampire survivors, like, oh, I'm going to carve a path this way through the enemies.

There's not as much of that ball pay for.

I was I was with you till like the vampire survivors.

I was like, oh, this is more than vampire survivors.

No, it is not.

Vampire survivors is 10 times the road.

Like yeah, I mean, I definitely got to a point where I was really thinking about what upgrades, which character powers I was playing with.

But, you know, I have other games on this list I care more about than ball pits.

So like if I'm the only one who's a big fan.

Let's just keep it for now.

The hell is Dog Witch?

Yeah, let me talk about Dog Witch a little bit.

It's not going to win this or get bolded.

But Dog Witch is this game where you play as a dog in a witch hat with a wand.

Go on.

Why do they call it that?

Dog Witch?

And you go through rounds of combat trying to get to your wizard master and beat his ass.

That's cool.

It's adorable.

The art style is incredibly unique and slick.

It feels really fun to play.

It goes and is just like really snappy.

It's very whimsical.

You summon like familiars and they can be like gargoyles that turn things to stone or like fucking bees, like just happy looking bees that will sting things.

Um it's, it's an adorable game.

It's great.

I wish it was longer, i wish i had more there, because the bones are so good.

Uh, i just i love these style games.

It really is like a, it fits in with, like a monster train or a uh, slay the spire, but it's like whimsical and goofy and fun.

It really is super.

It's great.

Uh, heck mouse is the developer.

They haven't made too many games.

This is if they do stuff like this and they can make something like longer and more robust.

I'm so excited.

Uh yeah, it doesn't hang with this list, but it's.

It's phenomenal.

We should play.

Cool yeah, shout out to my dogs out there.

Oh, and when you um, get through a round of combat and you don't take any damage, it does the street fighter perfect, and it's very satisfying.

More dogs and games, less cats and movies.

Um yes, good point, i'll put more of them in the movie cats and we'll be.

Oh yeah yeah, i'm gonna say we're gonna lock down hades too.

Yes yeah, it's gonna be the best of all time.

Yeah okay yeah uh, Can I also pitch that we lock blueprints?

I'll leave if we don't.

It might be the most rogue of these games.

Dan, I know you were the biggest Megabonk fan.

Don't blame it.

I'm not saying we cut it, but do you think it has a case to be bolded?

Is its case exactly the case that Vampire Survivors had?

Yeah.

That's a good question.

It does have a cool skeleton in it, though.

It has a cool skeleton, skateboards.

I mean, it does feel different than Vampire Survivors.

It's incredibly similar in the way the weapons and things like that come together and the challenge list and stuff like that.

The steady drip of getting new characters, new levels.

I do think that perspective, the 3D element of it, because that plays into the actual stuff you're upgrading, where it's like, oh okay, I'm getting, I've got four jumps now and I've got these skills that make it.

So I do plus 50 damage when I'm in the air.

So it's like, it doesn't just feel like a cheap gimmick of like, oh, we made Vampire Survivors 3D.

It makes use of the space.

It is...

Boy.

I like it almost as much as Vampire Survivors, and Vampire Survivors is maybe like my second favorite roguelike of all time.

So I don't know.

I've been playing it for months and I still enjoy it every time I load it up.

But I mean, if no one else felt hot on it.

Cross out Ball Pit first.

Yeah, what a hero!

Before you cross it out for him.

What a hero.

Dan knows I'm his friend.

Aw, thanks, Mikey.

Megabonk is like right outside for me.

I would go with Absalom first for the third, since we have Hades 2 and Blueprints already.

But I liked Megabonk a ton when I was playing it.

Here's what I want to bring up and I feel like might get the short end here to considering how good it is.

Uh, monster train too.

Yeah.

I played, uh, there's like, you know, five factions that might've added some five decks or whatever.

And I played through and beat it with like two or three of them.

It is very good.

And it's it's my favorite of those kinds of like card battlers, slay the spire types and everything.

Uh, and I know that people like you know I think Bianca went through and she's like did everything with every single faction and like every challenge and she swears by it and she loves those type of games.

Like i know it is an extremely good game.

I did not play it to that level and i don't know if anyone else here did.

I just want to like give it credit for like sure i know it's incredibly.

I really enjoyed the first monster train a lot.

I just didn't have i think i just had card fatigue.

Yeah, I did a couple runs and I did really enjoy it.

It wasn't quite Slay the Spire levels for me.

It's a bit more complicated, Slay the Spire in a way that I almost just find more complicated than adding depth to it.

I don't love the way the game looks.

I don't like the art style.

Yeah, the art style is not for me.

Super fun, but I think I see the three that are going to be bold, and it's not as good as those.

I think maybe I played the most of this Monster Train 2 and I found it to be less legible than a lot of other games in its class and clunkier to engage with.

I still really had a great time with it.

I agree with you, Mike.

I don't like the look of it.

I don't like the art.

And I hate that argument against Slay the Spire because I'm like, fuck.

Slay the Spire makes that kind of almost cheap flash game look work.

Monster Train, it feels very...

It feels like a mobile gotcha game, even though it's not a mobile gotcha game.

God, that's so true.

Oh, can you solve this puzzle?

Those ads.

Oh, my God.

It also looks like the side of a van sometimes.

Oh, hell yeah.

People are going to be mad at us about this opinion.

I'm sorry, but it's a taste thing.

I do really like it.

Chuck, I did not like Star Vaders at all.

Yeah, tell me more.

Whenever I get inundated and the internet tells me you're going to love this game, it has tiles in it.

This has tiles in it.

I don't like the tiles.

I don't like the feel of them.

The overall gameplay, I think, is a little clunky.

It's too slow for me.

The overall progression, I don't feel is that great either.

The character you play as, the power doesn't feel that great.

I think overall, I was just really...

Just whelmed.

Yeah.

I think this is another one with legibility issues where I want to pick up a game and get it.

I want it to get its hooks in me so I can just like start rolling and not have to stop and go wait.

OK, what does this actually mean again?

In this game is one of those where I had a harder time with it.

Yeah.

They definitely tried to build off of the chip synergy that happens in the Battle Network games, but they don't pull it off well.

And I was promised something similar to Mega Man Battle Network, and this was not it.

Yeah, I only checked out the demo, but I echo what Jan had to say about all that. uh did anyone else play we can cross that um did anyone place else play white knuckle what is white knuckle so white knuckle is a climbing game and you start at the very bottom of this like sewer pit thing and you're just you're just hands and you're like jumping and grabbing things it's called white knuckle because like the longer you hold on to something and it's like supporting your weight your hand will change color and if you let it go too far you'll fall it's like a it's one of those insta-death games like you fuck up you top like tumble down the pit and there's like rising like acid and stuff like that that'll kill you but it really really interesting really cool you pick up like um rebar and you're like hucking that across the map and then that turns into stuff that you can like tomb raider you know vault off of and I've seen people play it.

It's kind of a cool art style.

It's super slick-looking, unique.

I don't think it hangs with the rest of these games.

I think people should check it out.

It's frustrating.

It's almost like it's got some Bennett Foddy-isms to it.

It looks too scary.

Oh, really?

It's not scary.

Oh, look who perked up.

I like climbing games.

I like Bennett Foddy.

Yeah, really cool game.

I don't think it hangs with the list.

Okay.

We could probably get rid of Nubby now because we haven't talked about Absalom yet.

But, boy, it's good.

It's real good.

Shouts out to Nubby's Number Factory, though.

Very small team.

It's fun.

I think everyone should check it out if you haven't.

If you've ever been a fan of Peggle.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

I get excited every time I think about how Grubb, you and I, are still working on Absalom, the test runs.

Right, yeah.

Just kind of getting set up for a run, yeah.

I'm going to dive into that tech any moment.

It now yeah, i'm uh, i'm excited to get back and play morbid like every run i do.

I enjoy it and like, i do feel like we're at the point now where it's like any one of these we could just get the right mix of upgrades and stuff like that, which i love.

That with, like you know, like in dead cells, is one of those.

We're like oh, i got the perfect kind of close range thing, got the perfect long range thing here.

All these upgrades are kind of clicking together and with the two-player element uh, like you know, it's like oh, if we both have these synergy where i'm doing this thing, that's getting all this mana and we're both getting all our supers all the time it's uh.

I think we both love the old beat-em-up arcade style.

You know the old x-men simpsons, you know a turtle.

I like them more now than ever, like exactly.

But i think this is the most meaningful evolution of that gameplay because like, across the board, with all these beat-em-ups we are finding new ways to introduce uh, longevity and replayability and things like that and do it.

But like it feels more meaningful and epsilon than anything else i've played in recent years.

Yeah, and i mean i think you're right the way you said it like the roguelite stuff uh unlocks the potential of of these kinds of games to make a build and the builds can be kind of overpowered sometimes or crazy, or not like, or like kind of break stuff a little bit, because it's gonna be one run and if it's, if you get it on a run, you had good luck.

And now you have all this, all these awesome abilities you wouldn't have otherwise, and you kind of can't make a traditional beat-em-up That way because it has to be sort of balanced and predictable.

And so like this is like, oh, wow, the fun stuff I always wished I could do and to beat him up.

They've given it to me here.

I just got to get the right build.

And then you start thinking about that and what you're saying about like, oh Dan's dropping a ton of mana all the time.

I'm just going to like try to build my, my guy in such a way that I'm always popping off my ultimates, because I know there's always going to be more on the ground for me to pick up, to do more.

And just thinking about it that way, it's like oh, there's some extra depth here specifically specifically, because they knew how to handle the genre that they've attached to beat him up.

And how smart is the map, too?

The branching paths are great.

You will see these objectives.

It's like, oh, over here, we've got to feed a few more enemies to this furnace.

There's a key hidden in the swamp up here.

Which way do we want to go?

What a great way to introduce, well, we've got to do another run now.

Let's go up that way.

We did this down here.

I wonder what that unlocks up here.

Are we going to kill those sisters down there?

It's not a game where it's like, if we were to win the next run...

I don't think I'd be like, well, we beat it.

It's like there's clearly room paths and stuff going on.

There's like post-game stuff that is interesting in there to do, right?

Like it's set up like a Hades like that.

And outside of like maybe one run where I think I tried the frog or whatever.

Like we've been the same two characters and they are so fun.

And it's like you know, we see that cider character and it's like I want to explore that too.

And at the same time, it's not like i think there's going to be people who are turned off by roguelikes in general.

I i'd be like this and like obviously there's been other ones where it's like so easy to recommend, like hades and stuff like that, it's really easy to recommend this one because none of that, like this, is a game you were going to replay anyhow.

It's a beat-em-up.

You're going to kind of start from the beginning a lot, though that's just kind of how you play those kinds of games and all of it's just sort of additive.

It doesn't like um, make you feel like oh, i gotta grind to unlock this stuff.

It's like no, you're gonna top out, you're gonna max level this character pretty quickly.

You're not gonna have to like play it over and over again just to get this stuff.

You're gonna play it four or five times and you're gonna have most of the tools for the character you selected, and that's the thing that, like in this genre.

I think chuck uh, when describing monster train, mentioned like legibility as far as like, There's a lot of things.

Okay, so what is persistent?

What is not?

It can be murky with a lot of games in this genre.

With this one, it's so obvious.

And so it's like, oh, this is the currency.

I come back.

Okay, I can upgrade that.

Now I can 10% more health or whatever.

I unlock this super attack.

It spells it out very just elegantly and plainly.

And every time you load it up, it's just a fun beat-em-up.

And then you go back, spend a little bit of money.

You're a little bit stronger.

Oh, this new person's in the hub world.

It's all very legible.

There's not a lot of like, wait.

Do we lose that?

Do we not?

I really think it's one of the best roguelites I've ever played.

Mm-hmm.

And then there's blueprints.

I still keep thinking about blueprints.

Generational talent over here.

Have you ever seen the audience turn on something so quickly?

I get people like Sean who are like, this is just not my thing.

I get that.

I'm surprised by the people who are like I find this game frustrating, even though it should be my thing, because I think the bad luck plays into it too much.

I just never had that experience.

Is that the argument?

That's what a lot of people is, that well, sometimes the luck just kills your run and i'm like well, you probably are still doing other things in that run.

Yeah, always going to get to door 47 or 46 or feel like you're close to it, but you're figuring out other puzzles, you're unlocking new rooms.

Yeah, you went to the garage.

Oh, i can leave here like i.

I never had what i thought was a wasted run in the game Out of our remaining three here with Hades 2, Absalom and Blueprints, and Blueprints has no combat.

You'd never see another person, right?

Other than through photos.

You're combating with the numbers.

You have to play it as a probabilistic problem of like.

I begin to understand the chances of me getting these things, so I need to maximize my chances.

That's all it is.

You're fighting the math.

But I think I felt the most of a rush and like anxiety, playing through blueprints because of going from run to run and then, like once, you start unlocking more knowledge, or you visit like the fortune teller and uh alzara, and then it's like okay, there's more of this lord that i gotta unlock, or you just make it to uh, whatever the objective of your run is, like It just felt so exhilarating.

And then, like sometimes, when you find something out on accident, like when the mine shaft and I noticed like the door was blocked off and then like OK, I'll make a room on the other side of this.

Let's see what happens.

Like, yeah, it's just like nothing but like just like discovery after discovery.

Even after you technically beat the game, there's still an absurd amount of things to discover.

Yeah know, i didn't do a ton of the post game stuff necessarily, but like i don't feel bad about that.

No, like i think just being gaming credits is a perfectly good off-ramp um.

You know, maybe someday i'll go back that stuff.

I'm also more interested if i go back to like really work on doing a day one run, which i see people do, and it's like oh yeah, and it's like, just to be clear, there are so much after games, The lore, which I think is really good.

That could just be more background stuff right away.

You can engage with it or not.

It becomes more important, I think, in the post-game for actually figuring out what's going on.

I think for me, when we got Hades 1, that was sort of like unlocking the roguelike genre for people.

Being like, we are going to give you a narrative to hold your hand.

Every time you come back, you're going to be talking to these characters, and that will literally progress forever.

They understand you're in a loop and they're going to talk to you in that way.

And they're going to keep you in here to kind of give you a safe thing to hold on to, to get you used to all this other stuff.

And it's like, oh, wow, that was a real big jump forward, a leap forward for this genre.

This sort of like takes roguelikes and applies it.

To, to miss and all these other kind of puzzle games, and reinvigorates it in a similar way where it's like this just like takes an idea and enables you to think about it in a different way and kind of complicates it, while also giving you a chance to really dive deep, and simplifies it in so many ways, because now you're going through it a bunch of times.

You come up with ideas and try them out.

It's just incredibly well done.

And it's just insane.

Like, you know, there's so much of this, but roguelike.

The fact that they were able to do Myst, but roguelike, and it worked incredibly well.

A high degree of difficulty.

They made a game for us, Mike.

I know.

It's baffling how well it works.

Gosh.

I think what's so unique about this one too, is not just that combination, but just that what you're getting between runs.

Sure, you can set yourself up to get more gems or more money, but you're getting the knowledge.

And that's what's really helping you get better at this game.

And there's so many ways to the end, too.

You can use different parts of your knowledge.

And I think that probably frustrates people that that's the way you progress.

They're like, honestly, yeah, having a notebook open.

Yeah.

So, Dan.

Yes.

Anecdote involving you.

So you had a copy of this game before it came out.

And I remember you went into a tech issue.

You're like, oh, lost all my progress.

And I was like.

I was kind of devastated for you.

I was like, I was excited about this game.

I was like, Oh fuck.

He's going to have like a sour opinion of this.

I'm like, really look forward to it.

We get on a call.

We couldn't figure out your problem.

Then you're like, it's okay.

I, I like, I've learned so much that I can just get right back to where I was.

And then you like, you cleaned up and got that done.

And like, well, I mean, I did.

For the sake of accuracy, the creator of the game did send me a custom-made save file where he got me back to how many coins I had in my coin limit.

So, like, there was a little help there.

But like also.

It was not for not like, even if he had not done that like, it would not have been hard to get back.

It's like, oh, now I know this room does this or this puzzle's here.

Like, he helped me with, like, the coin limit stuff that you can't just do through knowledge.

Right.

But, yeah, I would have got back very quickly.

Yeah.

And when you told me that, I was like, oh, that's what this game is.

It's like you can just like take everything you know and just like... It's an Outer Wilds.

Yeah.

That's why I'm so torn on this category here with these.

You know, we got Hades 2, Absalom, and Blueprints.

I adore all these games.

And I think there is a real argument you can make for Hades 2 being the best roguelite of all time.

So...

That's the thing.

We haven't actually talked about Hades 2 yet.

And I kind of wanted to get this in there just like at the top, because I don't have as much to say as the rest of you guys on all these games.

Because I don't really like roguelikes and roguelites that much.

You know, when you guys talk about the really big ones, that really hit with you guys.

I try them out.

And some hit like, you know, vampire survivors, Bellatron stuff.

Most don't.

It's just not my thing.

But Hades two after I didn't like Hades one, because you know anything from Zagreus not being a super likable character of me to just a lot of the roguelike trappings that I don't really get into.

Hades two is such a friendly game, is so welcoming to people like me that they want to get in the door of this stuff while still having all the roguelike stuff.

I love Hades to like it when, like I don't like roguelikes.

I don't like Hades one and Hades two is in my top ten.

I think it's a fantastic game and it sounds like it still appeals to you guys in the way that I like.

It's definitely in my top ten.

It's funny because when I was playing it I was kind of like this might be one of my favorite games ever.

For some reason, once I was done with it, I'm not thinking about it quite as much.

I think one of the reasons for that is it is so friendly, which I think is a 99 positive, but there's not a lot of friction tension.

It's less of the sicko shit, which is what you guys kind of get into.

Maybe something like that.

It's just so easy to play that it goes down like a very easy meal, but it's not going to be hard to digest in it.

And that's part of why I was saying that I was torn on.

It is like I think you can make the argument that it is the best roguelite of all time.

But also it's in the way that like okay, I think, like Tears of the Kingdom is in many ways a better game than Breath of the Wild.

But it's impossible to kind of replicate that first feeling.

So, like something like Blueprints, this year sticks with me more because it's like I've never played anything like this.

This really just blew me away this year.

Yeah.

In Hades 2, it's mostly what I expected.

It's just it's a better version of Hades 1.

It's a really good cheeseburger.

I think a lot of us did play a lot of Hades 1 and maybe there's a bit of I have played a lot of Hades now.

There's a little bit of like...

Maybe fatigue.

Hades 2 might be above Blueprints on my top 10.

I haven't decided yet, but I think Blueprints was a bigger and more important roguelike experience this year.

We didn't know this game was possible.

I'm a big board game guy.

I think you guys know that, but There is this board game called Betrayal at House on the Hill.

Right.

And it's a cooperative game.

You and your buddies are exploring like a haunted house.

Right.

But the way the game plays is you don't set up the board ahead of time.

You have tiles and you're laying the tiles out and then going into the room.

Something happens.

Then you're doing the same and you could choose which direction, which room you go into.

And I was like, holy fuck, they did this in a video game and it's missed and it's roguelike and it rules so hard.

I think what they've done here, the elements that they've pulled and blueprints, so stellar.

I love Hades too.

I think it's going to probably will be higher than blueprints on my my personal top 10 list this year.

But i think that's more like the, the combat and that gameplay elevating hades 2 and not necessarily the roguelike elements, the way that blueprints is just so much about blueprints, just really speak.

Blueprints can be the better roguelike, even if you like more things in general about hades 2.

Yeah.

I mean, I'll keep playing Hades, too, and doing more runs.

And I probably won't do more blueprints just because the nature of the game is like well, I have the knowledge.

I got to where I want to be.

You know, like I don't necessarily want to go further in the end game.

But blueprints is, I think, a more notable game this year.

Yeah.

And in this genre.

Yeah.

I feel like it's between these two now, but I do want to just absolve them again for the reasons that I've said.

These are all tremendous.

Hey, everyone, you should play all three of these.

All three will be in my top 10.

It was a great year for Roguelites.

Also, it just became apparent to me after doing Monday Morning's Myst with Mitch how much Myst has inspired other games.

Yeah, one of my big goals with doing that's like.

I don't think many people know that mist was an important game anymore.

Uh, all right, i'm gonna put a star next to blue prince.

Yeah, here's your crown, little guy.

Best roguelike.

Runners up hades 2 absalom.

Runners up with blue prince as the winner, we're gonna go like blue king gang.

We're gonna go take a break because he's wearing a blue hoodie.

Oh, We're the blueprints.

Because the next category and the final category for day three of Giant Bomb's Game of the Year is best moment or sequence.

It might include spoilers.

It will include spoilers.

So if you want to stop listening now, just keep listening.

Just run it.

All those Metroid people are going to be fine, Mike.

Oh, good.

I was really worried about that.

We'll see you after this.

Holy smokes gang.

We are at the final category for day three of giant bombs game of the year.

2025 shouts out once again to our dear friends over at main gear for letting us use the space.

We promise we're keeping it clean.

We promise.

I swear to God, if there's any candy wrappers or bagel seeds anywhere, it wasn't us.

It was not gang.

Final category of the day is best moment or sequence.

And everyone at home, This is just going to be filled with spoilers.

If you were sensitive to that, get out.

We'll see you later.

All right.

But keep on listening to the podcast.

Just put on mute or something.

If you're watching the video, play it on two more computers.

Repeat it, please.

Going down the categories, and some of these the nominees names on the list are spoilers within themselves.

So this was it.

This is your last chance.

You've been warned.

That's how it goes.

You've been warned.

All right.

Oh, actually, there you go.

Get out.

Now you're wrong.

First nominee is Keep Up from Dispatch.

Entering Vault Forge.

Getting the double jump in Hollow Knight Silksong.

King K. Rool.

Donkey Kong Bonanza.

Die Hard Man Dance.

Death Stranding 2.

Pizza Chef Death Stranding 2.

Gustav's Death.

Claire's Cure Expedition 33.

Reaching the Peak.

Hades 2.

Conflagration.

Death Stranding 2.

Room 46.

Blueprints.

Ed Boon comes up with a spear.

Mortal Kombat Legacy.

Oh, it's a Sonic Unleashed-like.

Silent Hill F. What?

What?

There we go, rescuing that truck with friends in roadcraft and then driving all the trucks into water.

Roadcraft deflate, defeating the man breaker.

Baby steps mommy, baby steps.

Jeff grubb murdering dan reicher with a confetti cannon, spaghettifying that guy in mind's eye, not getting hit in a boss fight from sectory getting married and living life in and roger approaching rainbow road.

In mario kart world, mike and dan monkey fart into grub's monkey face at the end of the world.

Uh, that's from a game, not just in real life.

Keep digging kayla scaring off a group of killers and art graders under bed meeting with nikki grub and sean and repo dull man dance death straining too.

Okay, this is a fat category.

Yeah, it's fine.

Maybe Could I ask you right now to pick your favorite Death Stranding moments.

Yeah.

First of all, let's kill Pizza Chef because I think you guys just assassinated me with bringing up that if it was in Deadpool or something, I'd hate it because take it off yeah i love it but you're right um uh death stranding i don't think any of these are gonna make it right like i'm the best stranding guy maybe doll man dance i know people like that i really like this drink too i love some of these sequences so Then let me, okay, if I'm... Do you have the fireworks going off?

That's the one.

Conflagration is that.

So I want to take off Die Hardman Dance.

I like that just because it's just... I don't even want to explain it.

I know people don't like it.

It's not going to hang.

Conflagration is the one that I described when I was at the preview event.

That's like most style.

It's the coolest looking thing I think I've ever seen in a video game.

It's stunning to look at.

When I was walking to the bathroom at the preview event, when I wasn't there yet and I was just cashed out of the corner of my eye.

I'd be like what is happening on those screens.

I had never seen anything like that.

For those that don't know, it's like one of the Neil segments where it's like it's basically the equivalent of the Mads Mikkelsen segments from the first game, where it's like all kind of this alternate weird spirit dimension.

And it's like a Dia de los Muertes celebration in the streets, but there's all these spirits and husks of people kind of walking aimlessly.

And amidst all the streets and buildings and stuff there are like Ferris wheels covered in fireworks.

There's fireworks going off like crazy all in the sky.

It is just nonstop, even on a base PS5, the amount of like particle effects and just all these fireworks going off at night.

Like I can't do it justice by just explaining it.

Like look up.

Yeah.

Look up conflagration.

It's like trying to explain HDR to people.

That's what the sequence is.

Like if it feels next gen.

Yeah.

And it's, there's, fire everywhere and as you're working your way through all these kind of fire tunnels and everything and then it culminates in this boss fight against neil which is like if you've seen the trailer where he's just straight up solid snake with the the bandana and stuff that's this sequence where like these these motorcycles are coming out of the ground and like you know out of this tar and everything and it's like weird spooky skeleton solid snake motorcycle crew with fireworks going off everywhere and then you have this big shootout and like is it like a graveyard or it looks ruins or something the thing where it's like the when their faces get lit up it's showing like the skeletons yeah it's fucking awesome pirates of the caribbean yeah and for all the stuff that is kojima just being kojima in the ways that like i think a lot of people uh are annoyed like the die hard man dance for example like that's look i like his wackiness and stuff i can see how people would see like okay this is stupid and he's just doing this this is all so random i think this conflagration episode is him maybe at his like most powerful like When you showed it to me in the quick look, it is the thing where I was like, oh, Kojima's still got it.

He's like, the style is just like dripping off of this.

And even on like a technical level, it's amazing.

Yeah.

And then you know, this sequence is followed by Metal Gear Solid, essentially because it turns into a classic Metal Gear Solid sniper fight.

And I'm like, oh, yeah, here's a video game.

I was really enjoying it.

Yeah oh, i was going up and getting his face with assault rifles and stuff.

I didn't know dog, you're supposed to like be running around, you're supposed to run around on the roofs and like snipe him and then relocate.

I didn't even find a sniper.

I felt so fucking cool doing that.

Oh, my god, i killed him twice and both times it was like we were getting up in his face, i think even some like cqc type stuff and assault rifles and the end that way too.

You know yeah, yeah.

So we know dan, you play all these games like that, but i honestly didn't know that was supposed to be a sniper section.

You know, did other people play that way?

Apparently dan, if i was you, my favorite uh moment from the game would have been when they all sang happy birthday to me.

That's pretty good.

I didn't surprise you, i like, because i played on my actual birthday and didn't know that was in the game.

Oh, that's really cool.

Um, i think we should cut jeff grubb murdering dan reichert with a confetti cannon.

Yeah, for liability reasons, not a good moment.

Uh, we do not encourage violence in the workplace, despite not having an hr department, or we know that's bad, I'll say, since I didn't get permanently injured, I'm glad it happened.

It was very funny in post.

It was worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing.

I would.

There was a solid five seconds where I thought I was disfigured.

You would have put a damper on the whole weekend it was.

It was one of those things where like, i thought i witnessed something horrific.

And yeah, faces of death yeah yeah, we traumatized poor john carson and jesse vitello sitting on the couch.

Jesse didn't even miss a sip yeah, he just took a big old swing.

He needed to cope with his emotions.

Wow john, bomb is bad.

Yeah, my kazoo, my vape those two just not even stand up.

Everything about the fact that you were, you were kazooing the spigs there right, everything about that stupid.

Oh my god, it's pretty good.

It was crazy how early that happened.

I can't even you're right, it was the first thing uncross it off.

It's not something.

You got a lot of things.

We should also cut spaghettifying the guy in mind's eye, because that's the only interesting thing about that game in a war.

Yeah, that's right.

It was like really fun to like.

We did it like 20 times and we just kept doing it and we got some really good ones in there.

It was a fun moment, but let's cross that off.

I would cross off Soksong double jump.

It is a tremendous feeling, but we felt that for decades.

It's a bit different here.

We talked last year about Prince of Persia, how you got that double jump really late and that felt awesome.

Here, it's even a little bit later, but the buildup to it is.

You're going up this mountain and it's, you know, the most difficult platforming challenge, probably in the whole game, at least to that point.

So it's really making you earn that double chump.

You have to prove to the game that you're good with the dashes and the pogoing and that silk spear thing and all this effort to get up there.

And you're kind of wondering the whole time, boy, it better be something good up here.

Like, I don't...

Cause it's not like, I don't even know if it's critical path.

It's not like one of the keys or something you need up there.

I need double jump.

Right.

Then you get up there and like, when you realize like, Oh, I, there is a double jump in this game.

Cause at that point you're just like, maybe there isn't.

And you get it.

Ah, God, it felt really cool to me.

Yeah.

I think for me, it is the lead up to it.

Like just how challenging that was.

And you know the whole game's got incredible presence and style and presentation, but it's really good in that moment.

Yeah.

It's, it was up there for me.

I don't know if it's gonna be.

There's so much on this list, it'll be hard, but I'm with Mike on this.

I want to keep a little bit longer.

Sure, but for no other reason.

We haven't had a ton of Silksong representation in the category, so can we cut?

You know, reaching the peak in Hades 2.

I mean, I think every time we bring up Hades 2 it's the same thing where it's like this is a tremendous game, but it's all just very like yeah okay, we've been here before, but You know, Hades 1, Zagreus can never actually hang on the surface, right?

Sorry, spoilers for Hades 1.

He can go speak to his mother and everything.

And then in Hades 2 you kind of feel like oh, we're not actually going to get.

Nope, you actually get to go out into the peak of Olympus and hang with the gods.

I wish they had more of them there when you went every time.

But it really... It's a total vibe shift.

Like clouds parting, it's glowing the music after you meet typhon.

Yeah, that's okay, but it's a cool.

I think it's a cool moment too when uh uh, zeus actually helps you in that fight.

I was like yeah yeah, i think i like the typhoon fight more than i like the chronos fight even.

Yeah Yeah, I would agree.

Yeah, I do too.

But, you know, maybe it doesn't quite hang.

I'm better at the patterns in the Typhon fight than I am in the Kronos fight.

Oh, I'm the opposite.

I'm so garbage at the Typhon fight.

Super Kronos fight is definitely harder, though.

Yeah.

And also I feel like we did kind of give Hades to his flowers last year.

When Nikki and I wouldn't shut up about going up, I told you last year wait for the 10.

Fine, Mikey.

Jeff, do you want to pick like... like maybe you're more favorite of the baby steps things here.

Uh, yeah, they're pretty fast.

It's got defeating the man breaker.

And this one just says mommy, right?

So, okay.

So man breaker is that really challenging section where they put stairs right next to it.

And instead, if you're an asshole to yourself, you can instead go up the the very challenging rock face uh, where every step is precarious, and if you fall down, you fall down for 30 seconds because you're so high up and you have to start over.

Defeating that was, you know, it's one of those things I'll never, ever forget.

It was so incredible.

It's such an incredible feeling.

Right after that, After you like go through this and you don't even like necessarily wrestle with your feelings about like why you, why you did that, instead of going up the stairs or whatever, maybe even internalize that.

There's no time to think about that.

You get to this campfire, which is one of like, the main like points of like.

Here's the act is ending.

The next act beginning.

And you go and you think it's going to be one of these cut scenes.

We're going to see the donkey man with the huge dicks.

And instead like it kind of cuts away and you come back and it's like OK, we're taking you to the next area.

And by taking you, it's like a giant lady shows up and she picks you up.

Like and you're doing up these your arms off to the side and they just just picks you up.

She doesn't say anything.

She just smiles at you and she just very gently sets you down on top of the next cliff so you can continue walking.

And this music's playing and it's just like, oh my God, the way it hit me of like I am alone on this mountain face.

I'm trying to get up here and it's so challenging and I don't necessarily know why I'm doing this to myself, but I know I have to do it.

And it's um very, uh like.

It is like you feel very alone, and and to the game for the game, to realize that the next thing that you need to remember is sometimes there's people who will help you and there's people who will take care of you.

And that's what we all crave and need.

And, uh, It's OK to be reminded of that.

It's OK to like have those feelings.

It hit me so hard.

It was so impactful.

The most emotional moment I've had in a game this year.

So I think Man Breaker was this.

I overcame this thing.

I've done that a lot in games.

There's only a couple of times where a game's been like oh, this trauma you've dealt with your entire life.

These, these feelings of like, belonging and value.

There's only a couple of times they've ever really come to me and games come to me and been like.

We know that you feel that too.

And we are going to explain it without words without without really, it's a, you know, with a very brief cut scene, we're just going to show you that emotion in a raw way.

And it's going to hit because of what we just put you through.

So between those two, it's going to, it's going to be mommy.

It's crazy how much this game wound up having to say.

It's crazy.

Yes.

And it's like, to me it's like that puts it above because yeah it's doing it without putting in your face without having to have a bunch of writing all the cut scenes are just improv comedy scenes it all the emotion comes from the interplay between the gameplay and a couple of key moments watching you beat man breaker yeah it was really great and then when you go to the cabin door and talk to the guy and you're sorry what's the main character's name again uh nate that's right and he like finally asks and admits that he needs help yes and stuff like that i was like oh i get this yes and that's crazy and that's like the combination of like that starts with with mommy where it's like you finally get the door and like he's beginning to recognize it's okay for me to just ask for help and then he goes there and then like they are basically like a couple after that him and the main donkey dick guy it's it's very very cute and sweet and god powerful game yeah So, yeah, you can cut out reading The Man Breaker and keep Marvel for me.

That's good.

I'm a little bit torn because, with Expedition 33 specifically, I found Gustav's death to be very unexpected.

It's such a surprise that they really committed to and stuck to.

To be fair, they just replaced him with someone that looks a lot like him.

And I think the more that I've been marinating on Claire Obscure as a whole.

I think for me personally and I just want to mention it, it doesn't have to be added to the list is the final fight and your decision of whether or not to fight Mael or fight Verso.

And you'll get a different ending depending on which one.

And I really... did not like Verso when he got added to the party.

I had a lot of friction with him because I think I just got attached to Because he's new Gustav right.

He's new Gustav.

Well, you don't like Ben Starr.

Yes.

This whole time, Ben Starr, grr, too polite of a person.

But with...

But over time, just like really getting to know more about versus character.

And then I just became so attached to my L, just like, as like that little sister character and just seeing how she is carrying and dealing with so much grief and not processing it.

And I'm sure we've all seen people that are that we love with all of our hearts kind of get a little bit I don't want to say twisted, but carry themselves in a negative way because of their inability to process whether it's grief or something very traumatic in their lives.

And giving me that decision to now that i have to defeat someone that i've grown super attached to and then now i'm thinking about verso's whole story and that he's kind of just been he's not even a person in this anymore, he's purely just a tool, he's purely a memory that is being exploited is just kind of like stuck with me and like I know a lot of people, the ending is not necessarily like stuck with them, but to give me that decision and then ultimately, for the decision to be just to face your fucking life and not necessarily get over it, but just to accept it, I thought was very powerful.

And then, just like after having a gigantic battle where your kaiju mommy comes in to help you fight your dad.

And then now, like that was a very tough, long drawn out battle, that now this just feels like a beleaguered, tired and weary fight between two siblings.

I thought was just one of the best things for me.

Yeah, I kind of want that moment to be on here instead of death.

I really liked the ending.

I felt kind of alone in that.

I don't know if we want to have that conversation yet about the ending.

And just remind me, just so I'm remembering this correctly Verso was her brother that died in the fire in the real world and she kind of kept him alive by kind of like The mom kept him alive by painting him into the Right.

That is really cool.

Right, yeah.

And basically the final thing is like Mayo's like, I want to stay.

Yeah, right.

Versus like, you need to go because I want to die.

Stay in fantasy or confront reality.

And I thought it was like a really powerful conversation about yes, like processing your grief and like stop living in this fantasy, but also like a conversation about removing someone else's agency and not just one person right many, many people that you've met and befriended and gotten close to.

I'm like oh, that's a great moment.

So i don't like the ending ending of this game, but actually like the fight and everything surrounding it a lot for the reasons that everyone just mentioned.

I think it is a fantastic moment of like actually asking the player to consider the ramifications of what they're about to do here.

I like that.

You know It doesn't really result in the very traditional good ending or bad ending.

There's a lot of debate about it.

Maybe they're both bad.

Maybe one's kind of okay.

It's interesting.

I don't know.

There's a bit more thinking than these games usually give you.

Right right um okay uh, and and you know i don't want to take anything for away from gustav's death, that was a shocking moment.

Yeah, i think this is a better moment.

Yeah, another shocking moment i just want to mention is like when you get to the beach and renoir just cuts everyone down and you're like oh, it's this kind of fucking game.

Yeah, i mean, the game's got a lot of cool moments yeah yeah yeah, just like every battle is kind of a cool game.

Uh, is there any other thing we feel like we could I think we can cut I don't know grab the sectory.

That is a killer feeling when you beat a boss fight without dying.

Cause like, God damn it.

Those, some of those boss fights, if it's not the worm, I'm probably going to die once or twice.

You know, that's the only one I can like reliably do.

That's like when I got to a point where I was going through one of those other bosses where it's like There's so much happening and there's so much around you.

Three phases.

Three phases, and it's also a bullet hell.

Yes.

And then they throw the thing on top of you of, here's a yellow line drawing you to the next thing.

If you kill this thing next, you'll continue your bonus streak.

And it's like, well, I should do that.

And so then you take all these extra risks and get into a point where you like unfocus your eyes and you're seeing the whole screen at once and it's all happening.

And you are just perfectly weaving without thinking through every single one of these obstacles while also killing this boss.

It's an incredible feeling.

I have had, I've had similar things before.

It's worth calling out here, but we can cross it off.

Yeah, room 46 of blueprints.

I, that was a great feeling, it felt really good, but it's ultimately a crossing the finish line moment right, i don't know if it's well, in a game that has a lot of crossing the finish line moments yeah, you know there's a lot of the ultimate one it is.

But, like i think i feel like there's like some moments in blueprints where it's like you discover like what the levers do or how to open one of those uh, the secret doors that that are like uh, in some of those rooms and stuff, like that garden key or it's the electricity.

You know there's a million of them.

And maybe there's just so much that it's hard to spread.

I feel like with blueprints, like a lot of it is just like the own, everyone's individual experience more than like a collective one thing that happens.

Yeah, I think that's probably right.

Are we OK cutting it?

I think so.

I just want to say with like, room 46, it's not so much that moment of those doors, like getting all three of those doors open or the doors you need and then being able to get in there, it's that particular run where you get that.

Yes yeah, there's several elements to that.

You have all the knowledge.

You've got your fucking levers, you know your route.

Like that feels fucking good, but i totally drained the fountain.

Yeah, oh yeah Mike, you know what I'm talking about with this, right.

I know what you're talking about.

I've never played this.

What the hell are you talking about?

Here's the spoilers.

She's a werewolf, right?

Because the girl you're playing as she kind of goes between two realms this real world and this spiritual world.

At some point during the spiritual world she just kind of becomes part of this ritual where she cuts off her face.

And her arm, it brands herself.

Because she cuts off her own arm.

It's this graphic, horrifying thing that the game earns really well.

And it just fits so well.

But it's this graphic, horrifying scene.

And then they attach a wolf arm on it instead.

And then half the game takes place in that realm.

So now in that part of the game you kind of have this almost power fantasy, because you are very strong now.

You don't have to worry about the weapon durability.

You have this new move set.

It's your arm yeah, and it's, oh my gosh, it was like just for you know because, like it was kind of like a squeamish, like oh my god, they're going this far thing uh then, but you know again, it was built up really well, it was a big payoff.

And they also like, don't really they, they show you just enough to feel terrible right, but not you know, the not full divinity yeah, they didn't never go full divinity no, once in a while you can.

So yeah, and i don't know, i feel like especially the way that they've been framing uh, the your player character.

She's portrayed as very frail, not just in, like the universe of silent hill, but like in her own personal life that she doesn't have uh, too much agency, and then to then suddenly, in this spirit world, make her a badass wolf lady.

Um, it's especially powerful um, jesus.

So what happens in sonic on unleashed, what?

What happens?

He becomes a werehog.

He's a werehog at night.

He cuts off his own arm.

Yeah, it's more graphic than layering.

It's funny what Shadow does.

I know what Shadow does.

It's funny because Ninja Gaiden 4 was a Sonic game also.

Yes, a lot of grinding.

Big year for Sonic.

Big year for Sonic likes.

Grub, I know you love to roll around in the mud.

Yeah.

I mean look, this is the kind of shit that I love in games, where it's like we come up with our own problem that we made ourselves.

And, and then we all have to deal with the fact that we're humans and have different desires.

Like Dan wants to be a stinker and it's like, okay.

Yeah.

That's right.

Way to put you in time out for a minute, and then you came back because you promised you would help and then you did, and then we all were working because a truck tipped over and then you actually knocked it over on purpose, but you still like, i'm gonna fix it and we all like had to like work together to upright this thing in a really muddy spot.

So it was very difficult and by the time we got it upright, it was time to end the stream and we were all very excited and they were like, let's just go drive in the water.

And i felt like He has this great culmination.

It sounds like it's going to have a hard time hanging here, but man, I love this kind of thing in games.

Yeah, good moment.

Solid moment.

I'm going to cut it.

Speaking of what you like out of games, monkey farts, huh?

Yo, man.

Yeah.

Look, that's just humor.

That's just what humor is.

That's just humor.

It's kind of Deadpool humor.

It's very Deadpool.

Quit doing that!

We have now for two days been saying that Dan is the Deadpool.

No!

Would you have a drug dealing roommate that is also a blind lady?

I've had half of that equation.

That sounds like half your college experience.

I mean look, we had a brilliant idea and the game gave us the tools to do it and we nailed it on the first try.

And it's the funniest thing I could have imagined.

It was to keep digging, keep digging.

And we got to the life.

Yeah, we put the bunker with the button to end the world in nuclear war and we realized there was an emote where you turn around and you fart and it's got little stinky gas animation.

And there's one emote where a monkey gets down on his ground and opens his mouth and howls.

I think, Grub, we had you do the howl.

Yeah, I was like, you guys, I'm like, guys, stop.

Before we press this button, fart in my face.

Yeah, and me and Mike both turn around and fart and do his monkey mouth and it worked perfectly and it's the funniest thing that could happen.

It was, yeah.

Again, I love this kind of stuff.

We can cut it, we can cut it.

Thank you.

A beautiful moment.

Rainbow Road is very good at Mario Kart World.

I'm not quite sure if like, it is very good.

Now very specifically, I'm talking about here, The approach to it.

Because we just talked about how Mario Kart World does a very sloppy job of having the big highways and everything, trying to connect the various tracks and stuff.

But the Final Cup is very good because it is all culminating in you going to Rainbow Road.

So it's about the drive downhill and going through different terrains and going on the water and stuff at the end

At the end, it's a starry night and...

All the imagery matches and it's just nighttime.

Things are shimmering and you go through the water.

You're bobbing up and down until you get to a big jump.

You go up into the sky to Rainbow Road and it's a really cool moment.

And I like it.

I like it probably even more than the Rainbow Road track itself.

And that's why I thought of it for this category, because I think the approach is very good.

I don't know if it's keeping up with some of the rest of these on here, but I...

I thought it was a great moment.

I think we can keep it on for now.

All right.

Tell me about being someone's stepmom's stepmom.

Yeah, i and i i don't know i feel like we're gonna go on through all these ones of like these are our own player created agency, but that's important to this.

Yeah, and i would be like these are equally important, these kinds of things in games.

They're not like oh, it's a story thing written by the game, so we got to give it more reverence.

This stuff is more important to me actually, but i still generally agree.

Yeah, and i also would like to give kayla credit is uh, she wanted to fuck your mom's mom, so she would be your mom's stepmom.

I just don't.

I made that very clear.

That actually changes the dynamic.

I didn't want to misrepresent Kayla.

I didn't realize that.

She was calling people chicken ass bitches.

Full frontal on your ass.

Juicy bitch hold tart?

Yeah, juicy bitch hold tart.

I feel like this is the year so many people have gotten to see the joy of what I have.

I've known her her entire life, obviously.

Hear me out.

What if this is the soft three for this?

I something like this.

This one, I like the under bed meeting as well and stuff like that.

But this one where it really revealed to me, like the possibility of our graders of oh yeah, you don't have to have this.

There is no social contract here.

Get away with what you can get away with.

And that means send in a crazy person to the point where the other two people on their team are like we cannot control her.

When I am part of that three and I'm trying to be a voice of reason with you.

Right.

It's the voice of reason.

I think it's a good representation of all these like make your own fun.

Yeah.

The tools the game gives you.

Yeah.

And it was like, OK.

And then made me realize it's like, oh, this is the way the game is meant to be played.

It's it gives you these possibilities.

And she she's not thinking about on that active level.

She's just being herself.

Yeah.

And we're like, this is beautiful.

And it legitimately scared away every team that came across in the trio mode.

And that was the time where, in the trio mode, everyone was shoot on sight.

It was hot spicy, fighting and everyone's like fuck that, i'm not dealing with this lady unrelated, unrelated.

Maybe we need to get on to a gta online role-playing server.

I'm so down for this.

Yes, i love this.

I i think it's also important that not just highlighting these written story bits, but like our own moments and sequences that we've developed for ourselves, and i feel like Kayla screaming off a group.

I mean, let's keep it for now for sure.

Will's clip that he cut of where we're like, OK, everybody be cool.

There's people and we say everybody be cool.

It just goes.

No.

Oh, fuck.

I think, especially if this represents sort of like those uneasy truces and social interactions in our careers.

I like it on the list.

Yeah um god uh, hold it.

I think because we like that one so much, maybe we cut the under bed meeting.

I mean, that was very funny.

It was just very funny.

It was very good.

Like i was there and then you two just like showed up and it's like at the, it was the view on camera, was that?

Yeah, everyone home got to see that as well.

It was just so.

This is what you're doing on your bed being pet me.

All right, let's get a strategy going and we're just kind of like the vaguely hearing something happen to tam maybe, and then we go check later.

It's like oh, he's just dead.

It's also a gameplay mechanic.

If you're under the bed and you're speaking quietly, the monsters won't notice you.

So your characters were literally whispering like that yeah like, and then the little heads are still flapping.

It's just on.

It's like that game at its best, for sure.

But we can cut it, okay.

Uh, doll man dance, is that, dan?

I think i think we could probably let it go, because i do think conflagration is so much better.

But the way he's just like hey sam, can i show you something?

And it's like this spotlight set, like this pop star shows up and it's all these doll man like dancing.

He's like what the fuck is that?

Sold me on the game, honestly.

But the thing is, it's like even better than that, because it's not like it prompts you for that moment, it's just like when you go back and he usually has like six or seven.

Fuck, I didn't mean to do that.

You know, he'll have a bunch of things to say.

And one of them is just like, Oh, I saw you have a horizon dreamer on your bipod, whatever.

It's like, Oh, that's one of my favorite songs.

And that's when you have that moment of like hang on okay, you can actually play this here, does this?

Surely this is going to do something?

This is kojima, and not only does it acknowledge it, it has the most elaborate acknowledgement of that and it's actually like animated very well.

It's not just copying the, the movements one, it's like all of the doll men have their own mocap and stuff.

It's great moment.

The conflagration is incredible.

Choreography yeah, amazing.

You can like change the lighting of the scene and like yeah, you just spin the camera and you see sam, just like yeah, It's like hey, why did you spend so much time on this?

I'm not mad, confused.

I just want to quickly bring up and Roger, and I think we should cut it because these are all just like gigantic, huge moments.

But this specific moment is getting married and living life with Roger Dan, you're the only one that's play this so the main player character, her father, suffers from dementia and then it's very apparent that she may also be suffering from dementia as well, and The one character that is like kind of keeping along and keeping on the supporting you, is your husband, Roger.

And in this sequence it's a lot of tense moments, a little gameplay sequences that kind of make you question your own sense of reality with the player character.

And things finally seem like they're like on the straight and narrow and things are OK.

Because you were, you've met Rogers.

You're going on dates.

You're having this lovely moment.

And the sequences like pulled straight out of like a rom-com, straight out of like like a romance novel or whatever.

And like the way that they gamify it too, is that you were like making these two pieces finally meet in the middle.

And then like, and you're going down these like storybook or comic book panels of like these different tableaus in their life, major milestones.

And then they pull the rug from underneath you because you think everything's so sweet.

It's all great.

And now you start going back through these panels because you can't move forward anymore.

And it's now you are reliving these sequences you just played through.

And the player character is now having trouble remembering exactly how everything went.

And so now these two pieces... are having difficulty getting to each other.

So now it's not straight line anymore.

You have to go through a little bit of a maze sequence.

And just the way that they do this and handle a very difficult and sensitive subject like dementia or Alzheimer's, I thought was really well done.

I definitely know that this won't be a...

I don't think this is the best moment.

This might be maybe the most saddest moment of this year.

And I think that for such a small team of maybe like one or two people, they handle this very well and very maturely.

So if you have, but again content warning, if you have someone in your life that suffers from this, or if you were a father or like an elderly parent, I would maybe pump the brakes and give this one a little bit of time.

But like they do this so well.

But it is very sweet too in that like you do see, like OK well, you see her face, kind of age, and you realize that you are like an old couple now looking back on these things and you know, realizing that she's been struggling with this you know from a young age and Roger being like oh, here's our wedding picture.

And I remember, you know, you were so worried about remembering the vows and everything.

We had to practice again and again and it was tough for you.

And like it is all very affecting and very sweet.

Yeah.

Hey, lots of games about grief this year, huh?

Yeah.

It's not like maybe we're all collectively going through something, huh?

Maybe.

Tell me about King K. Rool.

That was such a great review.

That's a sequence almost like I want to see like how much of this sequence guys already on the list, cuz like really it's like K rule through the end yeah is what I would want to talk about here of the reveal of Donkey Kong Bonanza.

They came up with this new group the, the new Kong's.

You know the, the void company.

They're great.

I love them, but they're just little shitheads.

Yeah, kind of.

They're kind of a little stinkery, especially the main guy.

But the reveal is that, like, you know, the MacGuffin you're trying to get to, is it the...

Oh, what the fuck is it?

The gold root, is it?

Is the final one?

Sounds right.

Yeah, but you're trying.

It's like the golden banana or whatever.

Yeah, banana root.

Thank you.

And you get to it and you're like, oh, well, this is it.

This is the thing.

This looks a little weird.

What is this?

And then like you bust it open and it's King K. Rool's belly.

And he pops out.

It's like, oh, it was me the whole time.

And at first I'm like, well, this is weird.

Why did they do that?

And then you realize everything up until then was because of K. Rool.

One of his like failed plans, you know, his failed schemes.

And that's why everyone's in this situation.

It all comes together.

And then it culminates and you go into like New Donk City.

And so it ties into Odyssey.

Yeah.

Also, you know. tying it into Donkey Kong Country and everything like that.

And it is kind of the developers sort of winking and eyeing of like No, you thought we were going to get rid of all that.

Nah, it's all canon.

We're paying respect to all this stuff because this is Donkey Kong.

It's a great sequence.

Even with the new art style and gameplay and everything, it's like the look of K. Rool.

That's K. Rool right there.

It's funny because when you're playing a game even when that first show happened some people were like, why do the skeletons kind of look like crocodiles?

Yeah.

You kind of talk yourself out of it as you're playing the game because there's not that much.

But if only those show up, it's this awesome surprise.

What I love too is you know, the boss fights in that game up to that point.

They're all kind of easy and they're very short.

That King K. Rool boss fight, like both versions of it, is actually substantial.

It's interesting.

It does have kind of fun callbacks to his previous mechanics.

It feels like a really good final set of boss fights, also like there's incredible spectacle throughout this whole.

It is exciting.

There's so much happening on the screen and it's got a ton of style, and a lot of that style is classic donkey kong country and it's like, after playing the whole game and falling in love with the new stuff that is in the game, for them to go back to that and both these things working side by side and really kind of integrating a strong way of being like oh man, they just brought donkey kong all the way together, it all.

And you see then or hear that in the music, which is, you know, a little bit of like remixing some old tracks and some new music as well.

It really feels like bringing the new and the old together.

The best music of the year.

Chuck yeah right, what's happening?

That one phase, the boss fight, isn't it like a pillar of bananas or something shooting up and you're fighting or something like well, that's how you get to?

Yeah, that's how you get to new dong city.

Yeah well, our wish is to get to the top and to have a bunch of bananas.

So you just get a drill of bananas drilling you up to the surface.

Very cool, it's good, great set pieces in those files.

I was like getting to the well, i thought was the end.

I was like oh like, this is kind of kind of like drab or whatever.

And then he appears.

That whole final sequence is like the yeah, phenomenal.

Yeah Um I, I do.

You know, I know I've said some crap, but much of them, for I do really like that moment when you go to vote for it for the first time.

Yeah.

Really cool looking area.

Do you think it hangs down?

I think it's one of the more notable parts of that game but uh, it's also not my favorite moment that game, as much as i love it, feels like a very metroid prime moment of going, you know um, entering in and going up an elevator and this driving guitar, this gritty, heavy guitar, is playing.

It's like oh, this almost feels heavier than they've already gone before and, you know, it leads up to you getting viola and everything.

I actually like ice belt unthawing more.

That's really cool.

I thought that whole sequence of like all the, the tension and the unease, the very like dread of it, all you know the, the metroid fusion, scary parts, bringing that into prime the way that they have in the past before, and then like went on thoughts, guess what?

Everything comes to life and you're in the middle of it.

Now you gotta fight your way out.

I mean that's an even better moment.

I don't think either one makes it.

None of.

It sounds disappointing, though weird not to start.

We're not relitigating this guy uh, so i've cut that.

Jeez, we still have a lot.

I've moved everything to the tippy top of the list.

Um, there's a couple we haven't even talked about.

Yeah, we talk about ed boone coming up the spirit.

Oh, my god, talk about cutting it from the list.

That is so fucking cool.

Documentary, not gameplay, it doesn't matter.

We need to point out again.

It's just like To me, like I know, like I'm not like some evil level competitive fighting guy, but like Mortal Kombat to me is like the king of you know fighting series.

And like if there is one iconic move in the history of that series and I would say fighting games in general, Scorpion Spear right.

That is one that is like transcended.

You know, fighting games or even video games games people that don't play video games know about get over here and all that stuff.

That is like one of the most iconic gaming things ever.

And to see the moment recorded when they've just got the guy daniel pacina in the scorpion suit and he's just getting his idle animations and all that stuff, and you're seeing a 20 something year old ed boone be like oh, you know what would be fucking sweet, what if you had like a spear, and like seeing him mind, like yeah, throw it out, and like pull it back, and like just seeing that moment caught on tape and then released publicly all these years later, to me that was just like a whole Holy shit.

I can't believe this footage exists.

I'm so glad this got out.

Probably not going to hang with the others, but like, oh, that was so awesome.

That's maybe like my favorite piece of like video game behind the scenes documentary footage I've ever seen.

I do very much get what you're saying.

I think I'm kind of with Chuck though, of like in my head at least that's like Best moment of 1990 is kind of like.

I know what you're trying to say.

I get what you're saying, but no, that's not how I felt when I experienced it.

It connected me back to the 1990s, but to see it today and something I had never seen before.

It's magic.

It was magic, it was.

Oh my god.

I can't believe that in 2025 we get to see this moment happen, with all the context of all the time that has passed since then and how timeless and important that move and that these games have become it it is, it's transcendent if, if you're more talking about, like the experience of witnessing this incredible moment, i i can't wait.

And there was the build-up too because, like i would imagine, most people watch all this documentary stuff in the kind of the linear, you know timeline and seeing the elements that made mortal combat mortal combat like fall into place, like at first like okay, we got these cool characters.

Oh, we're doing these digitized actors.

Oh, what if we did fatalities where at the end you could just like kill him with the cool thing and then midway said yeah, go for it.

And then you see the spear, like just slowly watching everything come together.

That would become one of the biggest phenomenon, like flash points in gaming history.

And then the spear is just like that's the best footage of all of it, like it's not gonna make it here, but like, oh my god, i would put it on there, but there's so much on this list that we do have to start cutting stuff.

Make some hard cuts as, as a parlay, if you will, i uh added scorpion spear presents best moment or sequence.

Okay, all right, i can accept this.

All right.

So thank you, ed boone.

Um, i think you can cut rainbow road as well, because i just think donkey kong has the better nintendo s nintendo moment.

Yeah, we haven't talked about keep up.

Yet i think we should keep cutting a couple things.

Uh mike, for as much as i like silent hill f i think it is on my top 10, i think, compared to some of this other stuff we could cut, that's fine okay uh, this remaining here, I stand by cutting the double jump.

I know it's a good, it's one of the best, one of those, but I do think it's a similar feeling that a lot of games have had before.

And I do still, I do, I prefer the Prince of Persia one over that.

Okay.

All right.

Cutting that.

Can we?

Can we expand the Donkey Kong one to just be like the ending, and people know that it's everything that we talked about.

I mean, But King K. Rool is part of the ending.

I know, but I just want to be like when we're shouting out very specifically, we mean like the ending sequence of Bonanza.

Yeah.

Keep King K. Rool in there somewhere.

King K. Rool presents Scorpius.

The King K. Rool ending sequence.

Okay, that works.

All right.

Does someone want to talk about Keep Up?

Yeah, Jan, do you want to?

Yeah, so we've mentioned before Chase is a very important member in Dispatch, specifically in Robert's life.

Older brother figure hadn't seen each other in a while because of just the way Robert's life went.

And then Chase his life as a superhero, not quite panning out the way he did because he didn't realize his super speed also dramatically aged him.

So, yeah.

In order to preserve his own lifespan, he had to retire from being a superhero.

And then in a very tense sequence... His superhero name was Trackstar?

Trackstar, Speedstar, one of them.

Trackstar.

And then to get the... What is it called?

The...

The energy, the pulse.

Invisigal kind of goes AWOL and decides to infiltrate Shroud?

It wasn't Shroud's warehouse.

It was a warehouse where it was at the time.

Oh, right.

The people who got after the explosion at the beginning of the game.

Infiltrate that in order to help Robert out.

It's later revealed. some other ulterior motives, but that's besides the point.

And at this point, depending on how you play the game, I guess it doesn't matter.

But Invisigal and Robert have developed a kinship and for some people maybe a little bit more.

But obviously there's that care with Robert and Invisigal.

And because Invisigal's powers is that she just turns invisible.

Not a lot of offense in there to get herself out of a sticky situation.

Shroud, the game's big bad winds up being there, she gets overpowered in in such a way where she, her inhaler, gets kicked out because her breathing is very important and tied to her power of invisibility, and it kind of seems like it's pretty fucked up and that she may die in this specific sequence.

And also this whole time Chase has kind of just been in the background just adding quips, adding flavor.

Also warning Robert about Invisigal.

Yes.

Because he does not like her.

This is very critical.

Yes.

He is that friend that will.

He thinks he thinks she has the maturity of a 16 year old.

Yes.

And he's right.

He's not wrong, but he's just like, hey, this bad egg.

Fuck her.

I want you to stay away from her.

Yes.

He is that friend.

He is that homie that tells you, get your head out of your ass.

Look around because this person is not good for you, dog.

But Robert, just so in his own head, for whatever purposes.

So...

As a player, we all think Invisigal is screwed in this moment.

Trout is going to get her, either kill her or take her as a hostage.

And then you just look to your side as Robert.

You look away from the monitor and you just hear Chase say, keep up.

And he's in his like pose as track star before he takes a dash away.

And then he just speeds away.

But the little detail that I love that they added to this is that he doesn't take the most direct route to get to her, because he knows he can get to her.

But I think he knows that this could be his last chance, literally his last run.

So he like goes around the block a couple times, just like feel it one more time, because he knows that this is probably it, because again it's aging him.

Every time he's already very old, appearance of like a 70 to 80 year old yes yes, like 40, and in canon yeah, he's only 40 um.

So he picks up Invisigal and then he drops her off at a nearby park, saves her from Shroud.

And the whole time, the only thing Robert can do is just watch from the monitors.

And it just highlights how much further powerless Robert has felt.

And then just how...

It highlights the relationship between Invisigal and how much of a volatile character she is.

Is she a good friend?

Is she a good person?

Because someone that is ostensibly my brother is now dead because...

Because of her.

And it's it's, it's the whole thing with Chase's character of like he is modeling the behavior of.

I'm going to be honest about my opinion about these people.

I'm going to tell you when someone sucks, if they suck and I'm not going to hold back ever.

And I'm going to I'm going to also I'm going to be capable of holding these feelings.

And then when the time comes.

When they're in trouble, who gives a shit about any of that?

I'm a superhero.

I'm going to do the right thing.

He's a fucking hero.

Yes.

And it's like oh, these are the things that Robert will have to continue to struggle with and has struggled with.

And it's maybe failed a couple of times as you as you've made these choices in the story.

And it's like a reminder of, like you, you can hold these opposing ideas, but at the end of the day, what are you?

Are you a hero?

Then do the right thing.

When faced with that in that moment, it's really good.

And like, I was like, as it was happening, I'm predicting like, he's probably going to go do this.

And the reason that like, when it happens, it's not like, Oh, I predicted that.

What?

Oh, they ruined the twist.

It's like, no thematically. it was the right choice for the story.

And it's a hit even harder because I'm like, okay, they get what they're doing here.

They really understand how to write these characters.

And like, I love, uh, Robert's dialogue there at the end where he's just like, Oh fuck.

Oh shit.

Where are my keys?

I gotta go.

Yeah.

And check in on him.

It's, it's the moment.

So I binge played all of, uh, dispatch after every episode was out.

It's the moment that made me say I wish I would have done this week to week to cause I.

They leave you on a cliffhanger with that.

That was the end of that week's episodes.

You do find out that Chase is in critical condition.

He didn't quite die, but he probably is going to.

And they go other places with that in the story.

But it's just...

Man, it hits so hard.

I mean, we can make a whole moment and sequence out of this of his return.

Yeah.

I mean, because completing that sequence, I mean, with him in Bond Blazer and like how that.

Yeah.

Does it cheapen the near death at all for you?

I don't know.

I don't think so.

I don't think so either.

There's also sacrifice there.

Blonde Blazer is giving up her powers as a superhero.

It's a knockout.

The next person sacrificed to save him.

It's so long.

She does expect to get it back, at least in my playthrough.

They're going to figure it out.

What she's saying is like... I think there's sort of the vibe of...

This is maybe even only temporary.

We'll see what happens.

I think if there is a dispatch, that's probably what they'll get into.

Yeah, season two.

But it's just the fact that it's like everyone is giving up something because they want to make the people in their lives who they really respect.

Yeah, they want to keep everyone happy and keep the team together.

So I assume you all want to bowl with that one.

Oh, yeah.

I feel great.

I don't disagree.

I feel like if that was on a TV show, everybody would have been talking about it.

Also, Jeffrey Wright's performance.

Yes.

Like across the board.

Like, wow.

Maybe both the Kayla one as our.

Yeah, maybe.

Thematically, they're almost the same.

How many do we have to cut at this point?

I'm pretty serious about getting mommy on there.

Um, into the top three.

You sold me.

I'll back you up on that.

So it's like a question.

So, uh, is you, you finished the man breaker and that's this whole ordeal.

And then does it give you a moment to.

You said there's like she puts you on top of another cliff, right.

Does it give you a moment where you think like, Oh fuck, now I have to do this.

Or is it, uh, just kind of like a cut scene?

So it's like when you get up there, first you talk to the guy who built the stairs and then says like basically, like you won't be able to do, the man breaker just take the stairs and he kind of challenges you.

You have a conversation with him and that's whatever.

And then you walk to the fire and that's like, it kind of fades out and you fade back up.

And then she... kind of smiles down on you, puts you up there on the cliff.

And then you basically are walking to the end of the game at that point that there's one more sequence where it is like, Oh my God, I have to do this.

And that's the train.

Yeah.

So like, I guess, just to understand the moment more, like is there a moment where you think you're going to have to do something and then she helps you?

No, it's not about that.

No no, it's.

It's about like I mean, she does help you get up a cliff that you wouldn't be able to get up otherwise.

I think it's presented as like this kind of rock face, but it's really just like I've rejected help so much up to this point and the character's done it as well.

I'm doing it when I did the Man Breaker.

The character, Nate, every situation he's in, he's surrounded by people who are ostensibly friendly.

They never go the step of assuming that he's going to need the thing that he does need, whatever help that is.

They are waiting for him to ask for it, and he doesn't have...

He doesn't value himself enough to believe that he is worthy to ask people for anything.

I see.

And so this is like the mommy character is just saying, no questions.

I'm not going to force you to ask me.

I understand what you need.

I understand how alone you feel.

And I'm going to just give you what you need right now.

And then I'm going to set you down and let you go.

And it's, again, very powerful.

And I think that is eventually what gets him the confidence of like, oh, I do have some value.

And when he goes up to the door and finally asks, hey, can I come inside?

I'm cold.

Can I come sit by your fire?

Like that hits even harder because of that.

He's like, can I use your toilet?

Yeah.

Can I use your toilet?

Oh, because he has to pee the whole time.

That's cute.

I am wondering, actually, if the Kayla Park Raiders thing hangs with some of these other moments.

It's so good.

I'm not going to try to get both these on.

Here's what we do.

Kayla.

I like it.

We're doing good work here.

Shouts out to Kayla.

What a wild card, huh?

Yeah.

Weirder than Dan.

Wow.

Weirder than Mitch?

Not weird.

I don't know.

King K. Rool's whole ending sequence.

Boy.

See, this is probably my favorite one on here and I'm worried because I don't think I could sell it as well as these other ones.

All I can say is it was really cool and fun.

I mean, I would keep it on there, but I think that you're right about some of these other ones.

Oh, no, that's my second favorite as well.

So, like, I'm behind this one as well.

I'd rather have it than the Versamail fight, which is the other one, like, I could speak to.

But I love that.

I think Expedition 33 is kind of just riding moment to moment to moment.

So even that one doesn't necessarily hang out insanely.

I just kind of think of that game as... Yeah.

When I think of... Sorry, Chuck.

When I think of, like Expedition 33, like it still kind of is hard to think about like a specific moment and like this was a struggle to just pick this moment.

Um in itself, because like we didn't even start with this right, we kind of yeah, this like wound up popping up, so like i think i would be okay because the game as a whole uh, as a whole package, just feels very important and especially because, like i didn't like verso at first.

When he gets introduced to your party afterwards it's like my main guy.

We don't have a best narrative or story or whatever category.

If we did this year, do you guys think Expedition 33 would win?

Oh, my God.

It did.

It was a miracle worker.

When would I ever fucking give a shit about a very fantastical JRPG?

The fact that you just recapped some of the story like a moment ago shocked me.

I remember the story.

I like the characters.

I think it was a fact.

I mean, Expedition 33's story is one of my favorite.

Maybe my favorite.

God, well, no Metal Gear.

Do I like French people?

No honestly, the fact that it made me care about that and love this game.

I cannot believe what it pulled off.

I wish the French were real.

Fantasyland.

I was going to bring up about K. Rool.

If I have a critique there, I think that sequence goes on a little too long.

It's long.

It's fun though, and it does escalate.

Uh, i think it's better than it like honestly going too short, and a lot of times that's better, because you like leave one and more and stuff, but in this case, it's like i didn't think they were going to do it and then they did it, and i wanted to spend as much time in there as possible, like with all these things, but i mean, you're not, you're also not wrong.

I do think though, that they just they stuck the landing.

Yes, they did.

Donkey Kong Bonanza is basically a playable Pixar movie in the way that the characters interact.

And I think they earn that ending sequence.

I think that it is that big culmination.

You know, there's almost like a musical moment and stuff because it's music themed.

And I just think every part of it is very fun.

So it sounds like R3, maybe.

Mommy, baby steps, King K. Rool ending sequence, and then Keep Up.

I would say OK out of the three that are kind of on the possible chopping block here Death Stranding 2, Claire Obscure and King Gabriel.

I have played and love all three of those games.

I do love that conflagration sequence a ton.

I mean, it is kind of like everything I love about Kojima distilled into one kind of short chapter.

It's looking at this thing kind of like jaw on the floor.

It's like, oh, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen in a video game.

That scene is the game I want Death Stranding 2 to be.

I want that.

That scene is like Metal Gear at its coolest.

It is Kojima at his best.

Boy.

I mean, it's the best sequence in both Death Stranding games by a mile, I think.

I'll just toss my opinion on it out there, though.

You guys haven't sold me on it in the way that the mommy sequence and baby steps sold me on.

I think the thing is, more than anything else, this needs to kind of be seen and heard.

Like the mommy thing is a story based on conceptual and then the message of it.

This is purely audio visual tone vibes.

And you're not you're still not selling me on it.

When I saw it, I was, I did like get it and was into it.

But it's like, is it just the spectacle?

The tone, the tone.

Just spectacle is dismissive.

Is it the spectacle which did blow me away and then the tone was there as well?

I mean, I didn't know.

It's not a tech demo.

It's not just audiovisual.

My question is for the Bonanza folks does the king k rule ending sequence?

Does that really only play if you're super familiar with everything, versus conflagration, which could be?

But i don't know if i don't know, if i care.

The thing is like oh, people who are only into nintendo, that's hundreds of millions of people on earth sure, but also i'm a huge nintendo guy and nostalgia for donkey kong and everything.

I would definitely take that stranding over the king k rule thing.

We could split the difference, eliminate them both uh, and put uh the french people in.

I actually like that um, and i like both of those, but and i was fighting for a conflagration, but i think that's a fair i cut chuck's french, nope german.

Have we have?

We shot down dan a lot during game of the year?

Yeah, my question too.

Yes, we have.

I thought about that too.

Part of me is like maybe i need to let dan get one.

You know what, dan?

I'll erase both of these people Who.

Oh, but I like them too.

No, you have to pick between the two.

You can't kill dispatch.

I know it's not happening.

I know.

I'm not going to.

He's pulling his favorite.

I can't be ridiculous.

I think I'll be clear.

I'm scared.

Probably not hanging around.

It's the one I would cut right now.

I would cut it too.

Yeah, let's cut it.

Au revoir.

Hey, it's what the French say.

Yeah, still need one more here.

That's rough.

That's rough and, and to reiterate just, i realize i'm alone on baby steps.

No i'm, and i appreciate everyone's.

I want a lot of you over, but i want to like.

It's like a top two sort of like most impactful moment in game for me.

It's the only really other time i've felt that way is uh, octo dad, in the time when i was thinking about becoming a dad and feeling like an imposter and stuff like that.

It's like oh, that great that's affected me to this day.

This will be something i carry with me forever.

No, the way you talked about it Grubb, is like.

You know, I feel like you and I are like cut from similar cloths.

And then sometimes for someone to just extend a level of generosity no questions asked is like can be more impactful.

It's so human.

Everyone just wants to go back to the mother.

I think it's funny how much people have been saying mommy because of it.

So I think mommy is also a lock.

Shouts out to mommies.

Because I don't want to upset my friend, Jeff.

I appreciate that.

I don't want to set my friend Dan or my friend Sean.

Like, look, I... I'm ready to back down.

Because, like, I just... I don't know.

But, like... I mean...

Yeah.

I mean, I love both the King K rule and conflagration, but like King K rule, I was like smiling during that whole, you know, last hour or so.

And it's like, Oh, that's such a cool thing.

Oh, what a cool throwback.

Like the gameplay wise glow in new dunk city.

Like there's just one thing after another that I really, really liked.

And I'm very much the audience for that type of stuff.

But, um, You know, I've never seen anything like that Conflagration chapter.

And also, like, they are both spectacle.

I was actually more impressed by the Conflagration.

Is this really what you want to say?

Like, look, I feel like Keep Up's going to win.

Can we just have three runners up?

No, no.

I didn't know I was podcasting with a coward.

I'm sorry.

There's a half-star guy over here.

Fucking anarchist.

I'm with Dan on Conflagration against K. Rool.

Boy, this is a... Anyone else in that camp?

No.

I am King K. Rool over it.

I could take either one.

I'm sorry.

Well, I'm looking at it and like I don't have the same reverence for like Donkey Kong at all.

This is like I like Bonanza.

Don't get me wrong, but Danza.

And like I again with Kojima, I'm actually like right in the middle between these two.

That's why I'm going to let Jan pick it all right now.

That's Jeff Bacalar's music.

I was going to say, Jeff, you haven't spoken up here.

Yeah, because I haven't played either of these games.

Oh, there we go.

I don't know.

Like, I've seen that sequence you're talking about.

It was like one of the standout moments from, like one of the initial trailers that had me questioning.

Oh, yeah.

What's happening here?

There's a skeleton warrior standing up by the statue with the fireworks going off.

And I just like skeletons.

Man, all the skeletons are smoking, Jan.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

That's cheap.

Kate Cameron actually smokes cigarettes and blunts.

Banana cigars.

He chews.

And he wears overalls.

I need my mom right now.

Mommy.

Don't worry, that's winning.

You're playing blackjack against him.

Don't worry, it's folded.

Mommy's folded.

Fuck.

But like, I don't know that I should.

Yeah.

With like Kojima, this the conflagration sequence, which is then the quick look we put out just seems like peak him.

Yes.

Parentheses are positive.

Yes.

And not in a I'm smelling my own farts way, which I find some of his stuff.

He loves his.

Yeah.

It's not pretentious, it's just fucking cool.

Yeah, like what he was going for.

This is like him like doing his damn thing, like he's in the zone of like directing a sequence and like working on the cinematography of it all.

Yeah, and he's not slapping like directed by kajima.

None of that's there, it's just he's letting it speak and it's so good so i would give it to conflagration.

Then i think we just need to do it.

Then i've been here the tiebreaker.

Then oh, is that What tiebreaker?

I think Jan is the tiebreaker.

Yeah, I think so.

Exactly.

I think Will stepped in here.

I really like King K. And then we may rename the category King K. Rooled.

I actually don't like that one.

Keep it.

I just salt in the wound.

Throw skimble shakes in there.

All right.

We'll take care of it.

Scopians?

Yeah, Scopian.

I love Scopian.

Piece of Boston.

Nah, the Scopians.

Scopians.

Boston Scopians are really funny.

He loves the Patriots.

Scopian.

Scopian loves the Patriots.

He doesn't seem like he would be a Red Sox fan.

We misspelled scorpion audio listener sorry nope nope, they'll never know that they can't read um.

So gang, is it safe to say it's keep up, that wins?

It's just such a distilled, purified moment of of.

It's awesome.

It looks cool.

It's emotional.

It's a great performance.

It's great writing.

Don't even really learn that keep up is this catchphrase until the flashback scene that happens after that.

Yeah.

Even though we kind of infer it.

You're right.

That hits so hard.

But that's what's so great about it is that, because you can't infer it, because he does the pose which you know.

We haven't even considered him doing any actual superhero shit.

No, not at all.

That's cool. yeah right somehow he made dabbing cool again that's i mean that's listen dabbing has never not been yeah dabbing's back uh kids love dabbing now we just gotta say six seven you know all right kayla and scorpion spear presents best moment and or sequence uh mommy from baby steps and conflagration from death straining two as a runner's up with keep up From Dispatch Winning.

And folks, we have won the end of a podcast.

That is day three in the books.

Stay tuned, folks.

We'll see you in two days.

Do we normally read them all again at the end?

I'm going to get to it, Mike.

Please, Mike.

We're going to get to it.

I'm sorry.

Because the way he stepped on Ghost Dog this whole week.

He's been such an asshole to Jan.

That's what it is.

Mike and I are used to like being further away from each other.

We shouldn't have sat them close to each other.

The tension is palpable.

I know.

The sexual tension.

Oh, Will's giving the he's out.

All right, let's roll to the tippy top of the categories.

Oh my God, I remember this.

We already went through that, didn't we?

We're going from the very beginning.

Day three?

Oh, the very beginning?

Yeah, of day three.

Okay, okay, okay.

Backlar, I won't make you do it again.

Mikey, would you mind reading?

Yes, the best cat from cats with the runners up of Skimbleshanks and Reptum Tugger.

You got Pumbaa Arena, a.k.a. the sexy Taylor Swift cat.

Thank you.

Best friend slop.

Sean, would you mind reading that?

Yeah, your runners up are repo and supermarket simulator with peak being the winner.

Chuck, would you mind reading the next category?

Yeah.

For the prestigious best new website, it's going to go to a giant bomb dot com.

Mr. Grubb, would you mind reading the next one?

Yeah, for Boomer Game of the Year, we have runners-up Earthion.

Shout-outs to Earthion.

Final Fantasy Tactics, The Evil East Chronicles, and your winner is Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection.

Lovely.

Dan Reichert, would you mind reading the next category?

Why did you ask me to do that?

All right, I'll do it.

I'll do it.

I didn't mean for that to happen.

For shoot, for shoot.

We don't have heat problems.

No, I'll do a disappointment of the year.

Your runners-up are the Xbox Fullscreen Experience and Mario Kart World, and the most disappointing game of 2025 is Metroid Prime 4 Beyond.

I'm going to love editing that one.

Thanks, Dan.

I'm so proud of you.

That was cool.

If it softens anything, Metroid Dread won the best game of 2021.

Anything's possible on day four.

Giantbombcom especially presents best comeback to Konami with Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi as the runners up.

Mr. Backlar, would you mind reading this one?

Yeah, best roguelike.

Runners-up Hades 2 and Absalom, with the winner being Blue Prince, the game I counterpicked in Fantasy Critic because I had never heard of it.

Look at the bright side.

You didn't lose that many Fantasy Critic points.

Oh, I guess not.

What a genius.

And to completely wrap up day three, once again kayla and scorpion spear presents best moment or sequence conflagration.

Mommy from baby steps are the runners up with.

Keep up in dispatch winning gang.

We're gonna see you in two days to crown our top 10.

Happy new year.

Happy new year baby, be safe.

Uh, i hope you give someone you like a smooch and if you don't got anyone, kiss a dog, maybe not a cat.

I think I'm done with cats after this week.

More for me.

Boss is cool.

[Giant Bomb Game of the Year 2025: Day Three Summary]-[Game of the Year 2025: Day 3]

📋 Summary

Giant Bomb 2025 Game of the Year: Day Three Deliberations

Friend Slop and Multiplayer Standouts

The Boomer Game of the Year

Disappointments of the Year

Best Comeback

Best Roguelike

Best Moment or Sequence

🎯Key Sentences

📝Key Phrases

📖 Transcript

[Giant Bomb Game of the Year 2025: Day Three Summary]-[Game of the Year 2025: Day 3]

📋 Summary

Giant Bomb 2025 Game of the Year: Day Three Deliberations

Friend Slop and Multiplayer Standouts

The Boomer Game of the Year

Disappointments of the Year

Best Comeback

Best Roguelike

Best Moment or Sequence

Deep Learning with ListenLeap

🎯Key Sentences

📝Key Phrases

📖 Transcript

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