The Besties - Chicken Soup for the Gamers' Soul

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

This week, The Besties share their favorite “rainy day” games! These are the games we dig out when we’re feeling blue and need something that provides a quick dose of comfort. Turns out our list is quite long! In the back half, we do the rare Besties spoilercast with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — a.k.a. one of 2024’s best games. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Did you ever go by crispy? Did you ever crispy face? Oh? Is every your tag that was kind of my Intro to Chris plant funny name, you know because like Chris plant crispy. That's pretty funny. No, I know that's why we said Yeah, no, well, yeah Your point is that it's obvious then that's hurtful but go on I it is I'm taking you on a journey because my full name is Chris Thomas plant or Christmas plant Way more impressive than crispy in my opinion, okay?

Disagree, I think crispy sounds cooler and again like when you're putting up your tag Then you can't like crispy is just such a better name than Christmas plant oh you mean like crispy yeah like that yeah Griffin it's Griffin it what was your tag it was a good Griffin it was a good try Griff but it's just it's just not as fun to bully Chris Plam it's not the same he doesn't do it right Chris you're not doing it right. I'm too pedantic Whatever it is. I don't know. You're just it's not as fun. It's not the same I don't I don't want to burn this entire thing down But can I tell you that I had a dream last night and I woke up. I'm this is not a joke

I wrote this down. I had an idea for a cold open and you'll see why it's not a joke because Okay, I woke up and I'm like, oh my god, this is gonna be so fucking funny. What if I came in and all of you were characters in The Wizard of Oz? Oh, cool. And in my dream, I was like, oh, and they're like,

they each need a different thing from me. And I scrolled it down and I was like, this is the fucking funniest that they can't believe that they need these things. Okay. So I, this is really important, Chris. Did you write this cold open down in the dream because you thought it was such a good idea or did you wait for the dream and think, I got it.

And you went and wrote it down in your actual life. The dream happened. And in the dream, I could see the three of you as these characters. Like it was black and white turned color. And each of you were like, I need this thing. And then, but I was kind of above myself, like, holy shit, this would be such a funny cold open

if this were real. And then I woke up to piss. And then I did, I did piss. And then I grabbed my notebook and I was like, I gotta write this down before I forget. That's so funny. I'm down to try bullying him again if you think you have the endurance for that.

Okay, okay. Okay, okay. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ My name is Justin McElroy and I know the best game of the week. My name is Griffin McElroy and I know the best game of the week. My name is Christopher Thomas Plant and I know the best games of the week. Did you say you are the best games of the week? I know the best games of the week. That's amazing. Welcome to Besties where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive inter-game-ment. It is a video game club, and just by listening, you are a member.

Russ Frushtick is out on assignment. He's just out there getting stories and- He's on the streets asking people if they have a game, if they made a game. If they're making a game. Yeah, he's not had a lot of luck yet. This week we're talking about our rainy day games, maybe our comfort games,

our video games for the human soul, chicken soup for the gamer's soul. That's the name of this episode for sure. Yeah, it's definitely called Chicken Soup for the Gamer's Soul. Chris, what do we mean by rainy day games? We have a rubric for this, which is these are the games you dig out when you're feeling a little blue and you need something that provides that quick dose of comfort.

And I know, I know that there are going to be people who write off say, that's not what a rainy day game is. A rainy day game is for like a day that you have nothing else to do. And we can give you an answer to that too. I think there's going to be overlap, but our rubric is our rubric and we are else to do. And we can give you an answer to that too, I think there's gonna be overlap. But our rubric is our rubric and we are sticking to it. Thank you. Yeah, so blow it out your ass and join us after the break. All right, when you guys are feeling low,

what's a game you can pull out and just be like, yes, I'm back? Leisure suit. No. I mean, I have a lot and I, this has been really interesting to think about because I don't think I realized that these games were this for me.

But then when I think about the games that I have played a lot of, it is, I mean, it's pretty consistent. I mean, I'll kick things off with what I believe is probably one that is true for most, if not all of us, which is Slay the Spire on my phone specifically is always there for me when I need it. And that is, and in that sense, it is my best friend.

I have always wanted this, Griffin. The Slay the Spire and Vampire Survivors are my two, like, I really, really wish I could play those on mobile. I wish that I could. I've just sunk so much time into the other ones. I don't think I could get there. But it's fun to play games. It's fun to play games.

And it's fun to play these games. Oh listen, I love games. I love games. And so if you start them over again, it's like the game is new to you. And so I would encourage you to do that. I think that this is an interesting sort of topic of discussion because I think that the idea

of like a rainy day game, a game you play when you're not, when you're feeling kind of down in the dumps, can be a bad thing, right? Like there is a level of, there's a level of escapism that is, I think, detrimental to, that makes it harder to get that sunshine

to come back out into the life of you. Because for me, I think wow used to be this. For me, I think that a big juicy MMO when I was having a rainy day, by which I mean a long lasting depressive episode. Yeah, yeah. Then I would hop on. A real rainy day, by which I mean like a long lasting depressive episode. Yeah, yeah. A real rainy day. A real rainy month or two, I would get up in wow

and then it would, and I'm not saying this is true for everyone, I'm not saying that this is inherently the nature of MMOs, but just sort of the nature of my addictive kind of personality. I would turn to wow. And it would get me through the days, but it wouldn't make me feel particularly better. I would almost put that as part of the rubric here

is that it's something that can be satisfying in and of itself, right? Like there's a difference between getting hooked on something in a moment of weakness, getting re between getting hooked on something in a moment of weakness, getting re-hooked on something that's maybe not a great fit for how you wanna live your life and being able to sit down and have a one-off experience that is going to feel satisfying.

And edge case for me is Destiny or Destiny 2, because that game is fun to play, that game is fun to play. That game is fun to kind of like dip into, and I have had times where I've, you know, not had anything else to play and, you know, just wanted something that I could just sort of vibe out to and Destiny has, you know, at times it has been that. And then it also has been the other thing

where it is a less sort of healthy kind of option. I would honestly argue the stop start nature of Destiny 2 development, although maybe not the best from like a business sense, I have no idea. But it's honestly, I found it to be kind of a more humane release schedule. Like I liked being done with Destiny for a while

and then getting back into it. I will say that that did eventually lead to me just sort of like not coming back. So I understand why they don't wanna have to like bring people back constantly. But I did enjoy that pace where it was like, oh, I've seen the new stuff, I'll check it back out later. They released an update yesterday

that is like the prep for the final shape, the big last expansion for like this whole story arc. And in this update, they have like re-released and remastered the 10 most popular weapons that have ever been in the game. And that is diabolical to me, because it's like, hey, Griffin, remember all the good times you had with your friends,

Mountaintop and Recluse and Blast Furnace and Falling Guillotine. And it's like, oh yeah, I remember those guys. It's like, come get it. Come and get it, you're ready. Which one? The Saturine Rapier. I don't remember that one.

That was a good one, man. Cool. I like that you described many friends on this episode, and all of them are either weapons in Destiny or Slay the Spire. Yeah, exactly, precisely. Really filled out a wedding party. I will also say, and I think this one is probably

gonna hit home for a lot of folks, Stardew Valley is very much this for me. I have been playing that a lot lately with the 1.6 update, and I can't think of a better fit for this. I can't think of a better fit for this. I can't think of a more sort of positive game that has continued to evolve over time. Like, it is a huge game that is the standard bearer for this cozy kind of vibe, right?

And it is also an incredible game, and also it has been the most sort of generous, one of the most generous games this side of like No Man's Sky, which honestly I would probably also put on this list, that you can just kind of keep coming back to, and it's got new stuff for you, and it just feels good to play it. So that is definitely a huge one on the list for me.

Bunch of people in the comments mentioned that too. Weirdly for me, that is the MMO thing that you're talking about. Like, I have that problem with cozy games in general where like, especially something as addictive as Stardew where I always feel like the first day, I feel like this is exactly what I needed. And then like a week has passed

and I have put all of my energy into Stardew and I don't really think I've like made any progress on whatever was wrong in my brain. Um, uh, but, but that said, obviously different for everybody. Like what pulls you out of a funk is... Yeah, that's true. Cause sometimes I need something that is very like, I hate using the word addictive because it's what we're trying to. It has such connotations, but like something that like the one that always springs to my mind is you must build a boat.

Oh, yeah, man. Oh, yeah, man. You must build a boat. I have installed and played through more times than probably any other game, in terms of like, I've played it, I finished it, I'll play it again in a year. Like, you must build a boat, I do constantly, and I need it when like, I'm gonna be complete.

Like, a lot of times when my brain is kinda being pulled in a thousand different directions, and it seems like nothing can get him in order, there is one corporal that's gonna get him in order as captain, you must build a boat. Cause that gets everybody in line. There is no time to fixate on your many failings when you've got to build a boat. There's no time to worry about finances

or your family relations or your mortality. You can't fixate on any of it, baby, cause you've gotta build a boat. or your family relations or your mortality. You can't fix it on any of it, baby, because you've gotta build a boat. Gotta get that boat built. It's not gonna build itself. That's a good one too, because once you're done, you know what happens after you build the boat?

Jack shit happens after you build the boat. That was the whole point, is to build a boat. It's like, Justin, do you feel better? It's like, well, I feel different. Like, fine, good, that's enough. The game only costs $3. What do you want? I think that there is a,

I think there's a type of game, and I think it's the games we've discussed so far, that like, your brain is so busy all the time, like it's always thinking so much. And this is sort of the fundamental principle behind like, you know, all meditation and stuff like that, which is like, give your brain something to do,

something benign to kind of like really focus on so that you can get past the, just like chatter, get past the noise of it. And I think games like You Must Build a Boat, or Destiny, honestly, can be that. And I think that you can get lost in that to a degree that is not particularly great for you.

But I think there's something incredibly powerful about these games that require kind of like complete focus and how that can help you kind of, you know, reset the, reset the engine of your, your thinking machine. On that note, I kind of broke mine into three categories. And I think the first two are what y'all are saying. And the three are Zen games, like games where you are in our flow state effectively. Zen games, like games where you are in our flow state effectively. Um, the second is full focus games. And the third one is like nostalgia games, which is a separate thing, but like that, I think of like a huge bucket. Yeah.

Yeah. Zen games to me are like steep for me or just cause to like steep. You are on a mountain in there. If there can be no goal and you are just flowing and going wherever you want. A lot of open world games are this once you get away from the story mode. Yeah, I'm weirdly Grand Theft Auto can be this in some ways. You know, my big one for me in this in this vein is, I always have the newest Spider-Man

game installed on my system, because that's a great it's a great it's not exactly we're talking about, but like it's a great one to pull out kids they have but it's always fun and I can also have been fine like I don't have you know I have 10 minutes it'd be fun just like I'm just going to swing around and just be in that world for a little bit is great. The flight full focus games for me that is like old hardcore schmups. So like the games at our cave released a long long time ago on arcade machines. There is a game called Mushi Masama or it was called bug princess and it was released on iOS in like 2011 which is wild to think that there is a hardcore shmup on a smartphone that long ago and that it controlled really well. But after I downloaded that, I mean, it has stayed on my devices ever since. And that is so the game of it. I just find schmups extremely meditative because you learn the bullet patterns

and once you've like kind of learned it, it's like, I don't know, like a rosary is a weird comparison but it is like- It's an extremely weird comparison. But you're like, you're, you kind of like already, it's all muscle memory and you just kind of are in it. But you can't stop thinking about it for even half a second, even though it is muscle memory. I think in a similar vein, and I gotta rep this

because Russ isn't here, I think Binding of Isaac is this for sure. You can play this game infinitely. There is a lot of shit in it that if you've not played in a little while, and it is, I mean, it requires kind of full focus in order to survive. This is one I have definitely returned to over and over again.

I'm curious what your nostalgia games are for each of you. So for me, this is tried and true. For me, it's like JRPGs. For me, it is Final Fantasy. I mean, I just powered through Final Fantasy VII in like a few hours with all the crazy boosts and shit turned on. I mean, there's a lot of like Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy IX is up there.

I feel like I did this with the Dragon Quest games when I went on sort of a two year Odyssey to play through those despite the fact that it wasn't inherently nostalgic because I hadn't played them before. They were, I mean, rainy day games in the truest sense. Chrono Trigger. The fact that all of these are on my phone now

is like a perfect kind of fit for this. It is always the stuff I go back to. Ocarina of Time used to be that. I don't go back to that well quite as often as I used to, but I mean, I've beaten that game more times than I can count. And it has filled that purpose for me several times throughout my life. How about you Hoops? I don't go back for the old... You know, I really do enjoy going back and doing old point and click games. That's definitely one.

Those are fun to play with the kids. I think I talked on the last episode about doing Putt-Putt and some of those other humongous entertainment games with the kids. But those are really fun to revisit. A lot of the scum games that have gotten updated run great on on modern PCs and It's really fun to return to yeah

I we might talk about herald halibut a little in the weeks and have you have you seen this that's gonna bring in all The clear buckle down. I already got my friggin Free order the hundred dollar one with the talking halibut that comes with it and it has some like double XP weekend codes and stuff. Do you think it was a mistake to get the full back tattoo before you played the game? I don't know what this game is. I've never heard of this game. Yeah, I'm just going to go joking because it's halibut.

So I wasn't aware either. I just said a fish thing. Harold, Harold halibut, it's like an old school point and click and they made it all with claymation. And then, oh, you're gonna see it. Oh, shit, this looks great. Immediately be like, oh, look at Plant helping me, giving me games I like again.

Literally, this looks so good, Plant. First JPEG I clicked on, I was like, oh yeah, this'll be it. Yeah, this looks great. I can't believe you questioned my taste. All I do is give you good games. But it's not out until April 16th. Oh, shit.

I wonder if I know anybody who could help you. I wonder. I wonder if somebody could help you out here. Are you big dogging me right now? I feel like he's bringing the big dog energy right now. I'm not big dogging you. I'm trying to do you favors. Russ isn't here.

Someone's gotta bring the big dog energy. And it's, right now it's Chris Plant. My name is Justin. I know the best cereal of the week. Games. Wow, okay. How do you like that? I'll tell you a new one that is, has been serving this purpose for me actually just this week.

Uh, it's called L'art J'art Grimoire. Have you guys heard of it? Wow. L'art J'art. How do you? Grimoire? I'm not sure. Laja art, grimoire. How do you spell that first word?

Oh, it says pit cross, man. Yes, it is a pit cross. Just say it's a pit cross, like a magic pit cross. So it's a really good pit cross that has a lot of really great information when you're solving the pit cross puzzle. Like it highlights rows where there is a clue that you could derive, divine from it.

So like those are the rows you should look at to like, that you might actually be able to solve something in. So you don't have to waste your time looking at rows and columns that are of no help to you. And there's kind of a meta puzzle layer where after you solve the individual puzzles, you have to find more by combining the elements, like the shapes that you're finding, like combining a water shape and a tree shape to make a forest.

And that is a larger puzzle that you have to solve. So you're like fusing, you're fusing the puzzles together and having to like solve what you need to combine to make the larger puzzles. You playing this on Steam Deck? What's this on? Yeah, it's great on Steam Deck. Mouse or controller is great. Like if you, it's got a bajillion puzzles

and it's, I'll tell you the fun thing about, about PickRoss for me is like, I don't, this is gonna sound so weird. I don't think it's that fun, but I, but like I can do it. Yeah. And there's something satisfying to me about the work. Like about the nature of like, it's not that I'm not smart enough for this. It's just I have to slow down enough to actually do it.

There's something kind of like bonsai tree about it to me, like workman like. Like, I'm going to go through this and there's not gonna be the like, fun, swishy, aha moments that you get with a crossword where it's like, ah, it's all coming together. No, I'm just gonna sit here, my fucking chisel and hammer, and just like pick it apart until it's done. And I kinda dig that. And I don't find it like, it's a very different sensation.

I don't find it like addictive, right? In Bellatro, when I finish a run, I'm like, ah, pop one more in. This is just like, well, I've done this for a certain amount of time, and now I'm done doing this action. I don't need to do this anymore. Well, I mean, it sounds like exactly the type

of meditative thing that we were talking about, right? Like, I can do it. It doesn't require that much of me, but I do have to pay enough attention to focus just on this and not whatever else could be rocking around my brain. Do you guys ever consider in this, have you ever had the thought of like,

wanting to play through a game to, not for the experience of doing it, but to keep a skillset or knowledge base that you worked hard to accrue. Sometimes, yeah. That is not my guiding impulse, I think, but I got pretty into Sudoku for a while because of, I think it's just called Good Sudoku,

the Zack Gage version of that. Where I would feel, oh, and chess, like chess, absolutely. The chess app with like all of the puzzles and shit. There would be times where I kind of like begrudgingly would be like, well, I gotta get back in there. I gotta keep this sharp, because if I don't, you know, if you don't use it, you lose. Yeah, I would say chess is a fair, I mean,

that I think that that's a fair one. I definitely do that, pop up the maps. I think the most effective kind of game experience for shakin' off those Tuesday blues is anything that is kind of multiplayer. For me, that is always kind of the most effective. Because for me, when I get bummed out, most of the time it. Because for me, when I get bummed out most of the time,

it is because I am not, you know, I have not been socialized recently. That's a really good point, Griff. And then something that if you're working in a home environment, you will frequently go like four or five days and just say, have I left this building today? Yeah.

Have I actually left this building this week, come to think of it? Yeah. That's why I love, you know, Helldivers, Sea of Thieves is a huge one. Like, anything that is fun and multiplayer. I'll tell you, now that, you know, we've all got kids, Henry is seven, like, I feel like this is also kind of Minecraft for me

or man, Smash Brothers Ultimate is one that I could play with Henry anytime and we will have a really good time and it is enough to kind of like, you know, boost my mood. I always feel like better after playing that game with him and that is a really special thing. Yeah, they love returning to, like, the LEGO games. That is one that we duck back in on from time to time.

We keep that installed. Yeah. Cool. That's good games. Any other last little names you want to drop? No, I mean, I wish I had more. I wish I had more. You must build a boat type experiences, especially.

I will say this, a lot more of these used to be iOS based for me. And that's really I feel like it's gotten hard to have an experience with iOS that doesn't feel like it's trying to keep you playing it forever constantly that you are that does invite you to sort of like return to it. Progress to 99 is one that I have gone through several times. Oh, also, there is no game. That's one that I like to do every year or so.

It's a lot of fun. Yeah. The only other thing that I can mention is going to a local video game shop is very pull me out of the funk. I think maybe because when I was a kid, I didn't own a lot of games, but going to Blockbuster or going anywhere like that and just like babbages and looking around I Don't know there's something about the sense memory there that really does it for me And I am always like yeah, man my game stop is all fucking my hero academia crockpot. No no no

Do you do you have any like local plan? I was so funny Okay, go ahead. Do you have a local game shop? Do you have like a local, like a- You mean GameStop? No, like a local- That's pronounced like game, GameStop. It's in town, I mean, it's local. No, there is no, I don't think there's an indie game store

in Huntington. That's too bad. That's a bummer. What would that even look like? I can't imagine. Well, no, Griff, cause it down at the Milton Flea Market. Okay. I mean, I guess, I guess't imagine. Well, no, Griff, because down at the Milton Flea Market. Okay. I mean, I guess that counts. Should I add the Milton Flea Market to our list? Can you add the Milton Flea Market, please?

Okay, got it, got it. You know, Griff, I should say, there's like, um, Time Warp in Ashland. They do like- Yeah, well, that's Ashland. I mean, Ashland is where it's fucking at, man. Yeah man, it's great.

We're really narrow casting, we need to work, we're trapped in our own sort of hold. If you wanna come with me to the Milton Flea Market, just. Let's go to the break and then let's continue this extremely timely discussion with I think a spoiler cast of Like a Dragon Infinite. Well, here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna set a timer on my phone so we can tell our friends at home how much time to skip forward if they do not want spoilers. What do they want to hear though? What if they not been served? You know what I mean? Like the end part, we can just do the end part now. Thanks for listening.

Yeah, I mean, there is shit we have avoided discussing this game that I think we are all kind of wild about. Did you finish it, Plant? Well, can we just get the end part done so then we can get into the game? Okay, I'm gonna set a timer on my phone for 10 minutes. No, no, no, let's not let's not restrain this

Let's just say like okay Do do do do do do it is the end of the episode if you care about what happens in the game? Don't listen to this. Yeah, very played it then do listen to it. Okay, that's good. That's fine, too. Thank you. Okay Okay to answer your question Griffin. I Have not beaten this game because I got to the very final boss and I did not get all of my jobs correct. And despite blasting through the very end of the game, the final boss is effectively impossible for me. And I need to go back to old save and respect. OK, which is a bummer. That's that is the biggest downer. I'm going to say about this whole game. Okay. Which is a bummer.

That's the biggest downer I'm going to say about this whole game. We can't do that. We can't do that. I can't spoil it for you then. We're not, we can't talk about the ending. You really can because I've already watched everything. I don't know. I watched it.

Oh, you watched it. Yeah, of course. It's good, right? It's like a video game that is good. That is like, it's yeah. I think that this is like a video game that is good. That's, yeah. It's, yeah. I think that this is still my favorite game of the year, and I think that it's one of those games that the further I get from it, the more I appreciate it.

This year had such a lineup of JRPGs that I was like, this is gonna be my year, I'm gonna be eating good. And this is the only one that I think has really actually, I don't know, fulfilled its promise and really just rocked my ass. I think there are some people who are probably listening who maybe did not play the game

because it's a massive time commitment. Like what was the game for you? What worked? The writing and the sort of characterization of everyone in this game is next level good. And I don't think I even really appreciated that as much until I played, you know, Persona 3 Reload, which kind of left me in the cold, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which also sort of left me in the cold. Those games had lots of characters in them, and at least in the case of Final Fantasy VII,

like characters that I love, but I don't know that I was, my relationship to those characters was changing in the way that that happened with like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. Just really, really, really sympathetic characters making like really choices that they, I think explain incredibly well

and it really just tells a story where you are rooting for everyone in it, like a lot. And that makes everything that happens in the story at that point like hit 10 times harder. It is the Fast and the Furious video games. That's even that, yeah, even that I feel like undersells it. That's underselling it. I feel like the levels of like human connection

that they are able to get to, I feel like would not be sustainable. Let me unpack, because I really like the Fast and the Furious movies up until a point that they've come obviously spiraled off. They've gotten too fast, too furious. But it is a game in which the heroes are, you can just feel a tremendous love by the authors

of for all these heroes. They love these people. They want them to succeed and do well. And they want the villains to become heroes and then also be rich characters. And there comes a point for almost every character in this game where it's like, okay, it's time to love them too. Let's bring them into the fold. And now they're part of the family, and even the most despicable person can be loved, barring the very end. And I think that approach to storytelling, it does allow every character to feel really fleshed out.

It also helps that they have, what, 60, 70 hours to flesh out these characters, and a lot of the time that you are in the open world, you are still learning about the characters. It's not there's a dunking around. There are a lot of cut scenes in this game. But there are also these little triggers that you find throughout the open world that just have constant conversations between your characters and whoever your lead is at the time. So sure, you get like the bigger conversations about like, oh, I feel indebted to this young woman because I failed to prevent a robbery at her family's store. But then that same character is like, I like comic books, but I don't like comic books that are about combat.

I just like romance. And suddenly it's like, wow, well, you didn't't like comic books that are about combat. I just like romance. And suddenly it's like, wow, well, you didn't know I would learn that about you, but now you're getting more and more fleshed out. Yeah, it has an ability to give you information about it. It's weird how few games actually do do this. And I think you see it more in Japanese games and Japanese game storytelling is adding character details that have nothing to do with the actual experience, right? So when you're reading a book, all the information that is given to you typically is in service of the story that is being told in the book, right? So like, it's probably something that is going

to help you imagine the book or help you be on the same level as the author. In game storytelling has learned a lot of lessons from that where a lot of the info that you're getting is specific to whatever the story is that's being told about the character. And I feel like in games like this, where you are getting information about characters that is in no way relevant to the main plot.

But because it's a world that you're living in, it helps to build that realism. Yeah, I think that there's a discordant thing in American video game storytelling where it's like, if you if a character has anything about them that is not actually related to the story that is being told, then it feels very weird. Like it feels like discordant kind of out of nowhere, right? But I feel like in Japanese games, storytelling and the way that feels a little bit more lived in and organic, like you can get more in tune with who there is people rather than just, you know,

fixtures in a narrative. This game also is so, the width of the story that it tells is so vast that, it is very soap opera-y, where it has a ton of characters, all of whom have their own shit going on. And I think at times it doesn't do the best job of tying all that stuff back together, but I think by the You know by the time the two-thirds mark of the game or so like it hits a full full tilt

Like boogie to to the end that is just really fucking good like really really really really satisfying And it makes you care about characters that you did not really anticipate Caring about and then you care about them a lot. I think this does a great rival to Buddy Arc with Yamai, the sort of perpetually cold, low-level Yakuza boss who just kind of like pesters you throughout the whole game, and then at the end you learn his kind of like tragic origin and are there for like the conclusion of that, which like genuinely brought a tear to my eye, which video games historically have not really been successful at doing to me.

On this note, I have a list of awards that I wanted us to. Oh shit, yeah, go ahead. So one that I have is the award for best supporting character. And when I say supporting character I mean somebody who actually fights alongside you. Okay, who who who is gonna be your winner? I mean, can I give it to you? There are times where you fight alongside you might sound like yeah Yeah, I mean technically yeah, you can I was I was hooked anytime this fucking dude was on screen

I was like, yeah I'm down for whatever when you say very cold, you mean literally he wears a very big coat. He wears a jacket and he talks about how cold he is all the time. Yeah. Yeah. He is also emotionally cold. And I like that. I like a bad boy sometimes.

Yeah. He, of the people who become somewhat friends, he is the baddest dude. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Justin, how about you? Um... Um... We're saying other than like Ichiban or...

Kiryu. Kiryu, yes. Yeah, which we have not said yet. There are effectively two Like a Dragon games in this one Like a Dragon game. Yeah, that's weird, isn't it? How did you guys feel about that? I'm gonna return to this answer. How did you guys feel about that? I, by the end I was fully on board.

I think that I struggled a bit once the game kind of bifurcates around the, what would you say? Like the halfway point, maybe even a little bit before that where now all of a sudden you have two parties, one led by Kiryu, one led by Ichiban, because I didn't know Kiryu that well, I've not played all the other Yakuza games, and so I didn't have this kind of like connection

that you could tell the game was counting on you to have with him, considering his entire storyline is him kind of making amends with his past and coming to terms with his mortality, with his cancer diagnosis, which is a heavy fucking thing for a game to throw at you. But I think this game does it really, really well. And even though I didn't know this dude from Atom,

when the game started, I was fully bought in by the end. I did like, okay, first of all, I decided on Zao. He, wow. Zao's like the chef dude. He's just like a fun energy, I think, to have around. And I like all of his talk about cooking when you're running around town. Like I liked him as a person more than like a playable character, just cause I thought his insight

was interesting about food and stuff. That's wild to say, but yeah. I feel like the... I was a little frustrated with the cancer thing because I feel like it is a little bit cheap for the solution to that, that's supposed to leave you like feeling positive about it. The solution of it is that's supposed to leave you feeling positive about it, the solution of it is he's going to try

to fight having cancer. To me, I understand why that's supposed to be uplifting, but on the other hand, it's such a real thing to sum it up, and that's not really representative of the, I think the struggle that most people who would be in that situation would have, right? Like that would almost be a given.

So it feels a little bit sketchy to me to like bring something that real into the story and for it not to be a story about like processing that, but rather about like the decision to take action against it. Which may be a cultural difference rather than anything else. Yeah, and I'm wondering about the cultural difference there because I think how often I come across this

in Japanese art, like it just in recent memory, I mean, The Wind Rises, the entire theme of that movie is like the choice to live, even when you feel like tremendous guilt or sorrow. The most recent Godzilla minus one is entirely about that. And I don't know, I would be a great thing to be able to talk with somebody about who's a Japanese culture critic. Um, I do, I do think, and this is pretty big spoiler. Uh, I feel like it was, the power of this storyline

is betrayed by the fact that it's all about him, basically it's literally a bucket list. Like when you look at the UI, your quest log is called Kiryu's bucket list, and it's like him doing all that. But then at the end of the game, he does not die. It feels, it felt like a pretty huge fucking cop out. And there's a lot of baggage associated

with games and game franchises, especially ones that have been around for this long, where the whole game you're playing this and you're like, wow, they're really gonna kill off Keira. They're really going to kill off the big game. It felt really brave. Yes, it felt brave and cool and then it doesn't. And that was disappointing for me.

I feel like the tone of the game was a bit betrayed by that. For people who are gonna play this and haven't played a lot of the Yakuza games, I think the Kiryu story still works really well, despite it being, literally, you mentioned the bucket list. One, you're going and doing things you've always wanted to do, but two, you mentioned the bucket list. One, you're going and doing things you've always wanted to do, but two, you are collecting memories

from across the entire series. I love that. And I think it is so beautiful. If you've played these games, it's great, because it's a trip down memory lane. But if you haven't, talking about literature, it feels like you are just learning more about this character. It doesn't feel like, well, you remember every little detail here, so we're not going to

say anything. No, it really, really tries to bring in every person playing the game. And I just felt like I was learning more about this person rather than learning more about this video game series. I bet that would have been so satisfying, you know, to play, if you were somebody who was into the whole franchise. I was so jealous of people who were. I kept thinking like, oh, but that would,

I would say that I think I kept thinking that to like kind of a frustrating degree. Like I felt a lot of the time like, man, this is good. I feel like it'd be really good if I got it, but I can't. I mean, I've played quite a bit of these games, and I don't think you missed out. I feel bad that you had that nagging feeling,

because whenever I saw it, yeah, at most I had like a, oh yeah. I felt that constantly with Ichiban Storyline though, because I did play all of Like A Dragon, or yeah, the original Yakuza Like A Dragon, the first of the RPG games with Ichiban. And like seeing characters roll up from that game was always like really, really exciting.

And I mean, I started this game out like fully fucking bought in on this dude, which I, you know, there aren't a lot of good RPG sequels, true sequels, right? Like Final Fantasy VIII is not a sequel to Final Fantasy VII, really. Final Fantasy X2, I guess, is Final Fantasy X sequel, but like you don't get that traditionally,

and Final Fantasy X2 was not a very good game, right? And so like, I've already spent 70 hours with this guy. And so I'm picking up where I left off with him and I'm like so, so deep into it. And man alive do they reward that. Like by the end of this game, the last cut scene of this game, or I guess it's one of the last cut scenes

of Ichiban walking, I think Eiji was his name, who was like this little kind of crony, just shithead, who was just a kind of a nasty dude the whole game. Not in a fun way like Yamai, but just like a vindictive little prick the whole game. Like Ichiban goes to him and like talks to him about redemption in a way that is a bit heavy handed, but totally fitting with the character

and the tone of the game. And then picks him up because he, basically this guy sacrificed his legs in order to get this ruse working, and carries him through the streets of Kamurocho while people throw garbage at him. In a cut scene that lasts five minutes, six minutes, it is a long cut scene set to a song,

and it's just a Christ-like march. It's amazing. Through the streets of Kamurocho as he just gets pelted with garbage and beat the fuck up. There's a scene where he sets Eiji down and this guy just punches him over and over and over again, and then Ichiban just stands up and picks the guy up again and starts walking and everybody just kind of like steps back like in in wonderment like watching their own kind of impression of this dude shifting silently in real time like that is

incredibly Incredibly rich shit that I don't know I have ever seen of any video game pull off before. I will also say that it's really cool to have a main character that you, I don't know how else to put this, it's really cool to play a main character who you feel like is a good influence

on the world around them. Yeah. At all times. And I tell you, I love a lot of open world RPGs, action RPGs specifically. And a lot of times, anytime you roll into a situation, it feels like the subtext is, here comes trouble. Here I come to wreck shit. I'm coming into your base to wreck your shit.

I'm coming into this fortress to kill all the bad guys. And it's like Ichiban really enters into situations to be a help. And like, that is the overarching. And what is so cool about it is that he is, he feels unique in that. But then what you see is that light refracted through all these other characters

that enter into a video game in any other video game. They would be dispatched as mid-level bosses. Tommy Zawa's whole arc through that, starting as a low-level Yakuza con man who robs Ichiban, and then by the end is his fucking best friend and a good dude who like attains closure on this like really heavy shit that he's dealt with his whole life.

Like that's fucking amazing, man. Tomizawa might be my favorite actually. I might like Tomizawa best. But the fact that like you see all these characters that are at the end of the fight, Ichiban is like, okay, so what's going on? Like, what are we doing here? What is happening with us right now?

What is happening? And then there's an actual conversation, even times where it definitely does not feel like they're going to be able to flip somebody, it's like, I'll be damned, I'll buy it. And it's just because you buy Ichiban being such an absolute minch all the time. Well, and I think there's two reasons for that.

One is, he's not like a therapist and not right Let me be clear. I'm not disparaging therapy and therapist fantastic Their therapist characters tend to be like and here's why you're feeling this Ichiban's trick is he is just naturally curious about other people and he's not coming in like Naturally cares about people. Yes. And it's not like how can I fix you? It's like he's like, what's I'm genuinely curious what's wrong. Yeah. And like having somebody say that out loud, I mean, even saying that to like

someone saying that to me, that would it would be arresting to say something like that. He also has an attitude a lot of the time that's like, I don't know, I'm just this fucking dork. Look at my dumb shirt and my stupid haircut. Like what, I can't be that great. So what do you got going on with you? What's your deal? The best part about this like two-part, like two halves storyline is seeing like Kiryu,

the ultimate fucking god of the, you know, Japanese organized crime world, get rubbed off on by this fucking dork. It's really, really, really, really good and interesting character development stuff. This is why talking about this game gets me emotional, which is like, which is fucking wild. In my head, I'm thinking like,

how am I gonna justify playing this? I know, right? I'm thinking, God, I wanna hang out with Ichiban again. Can they please just make another one of these ASAP? There's one other half of the Ichiban puzzle that I wanna discuss too, which is the game itself has complex views on what good is. And I think that helps you have faith in it and listen to whatever the

game in Ichiban has to say. Like this game is largely about criminal reform and the idea that like, sure, you you will be punished for what the crimes you commit, but then we need to have a reasonable and productive way to bring you back in society. Otherwise we are just perpetuating a cycle of crime and that's not fair to the public and it's not fair to people who've committed crime. People want to grow and change and the game just has

such a compassionate view that few games and few honestly people have. Well, the villainy is systemic, right? The villainy is Japan. It benefits Japan to work with these criminals and it benefits the, this religion because it's tight, like all of those forces are aligned. It's not distinguishing necessarily between the government and the crime bosses and the religious people.

It's kind of like letting them be all sort of systemically a problem and that is only addressed by like, individual good people working within that system and kind of outside of it. BOWEN And which is why he always wants to reform whoever is coming out of it because again, it's like, I don't want to blame you for being a part of this. I get how you got pulled in.

I think that playing the first game also, again, like really sells this because you get to see like that Ichiban is someone who had doors opened for him to redemption through acts of like kindness and sacrifice. And he just becomes all about paying it forward. And that is just an incredibly effective storytelling tool. Real quick before we move on, because I know that we probably need to at a certain point,

isn't it weird that we've kind of talked about how this is two games and then they put a third better game Inside these two pretty good games You guys thought about that? Yeah, it's like a Cadbury cream egg with both of their stories being on the outside And then the creamy goopy center is not go Island. Yeah for sure Yeah, I never remember names of stuff in video games I feel like this whole thing is front of my for me. I feel like I can recall all of this.

Yeah, agreed. Yeah, yeah. Dundoko and Pokemon, like there's two creams inside here. I never got into Tsujimon at all. Oh man, the Tsujimon cream is so, it's an acquired taste. It's good. I just, that was the system, that was a whole part of the game where it's like,

if I'm gonna get through this, we're gonna have to make some cuts. And I just decided like, if I'm gonna get through this, we're gonna have to make some cuts. And I just decided like, if I see those fucking weirdos, I'm out. No, that's wild though, right? I had the same issue where it's actually too much good stuff. Most games you play and you're like, man, I could really edit this down.

And here I was like, man, this sucks because I really want to go finish that thing. But I gotta keep going. Like I need to see the story. You just won't realistically, I mean at a certain point, you have to start lopping some stuff off or you're just not gonna get through it.

Like other games come out, you gotta move on. Hey, before we wrap, I have a little list of the awards I wanna give. I wanna film you guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, please. Also, my supporting character, Chitose is- Chitose is so fucking good. Chitose is great. Soitose is so fucking good. So fucking good, so fucking good.

Also, an incredible twist in the back, like the tail end of this game, when you find out that she's this horrible VTuber that is the inciting incident for the game and then has to kind of redeem herself for that, like mirroring all the arcs of all the other characters. It's incredible. A word for best job.

Oh, the desperado, just for whatever reason, you can be a cowboy. Dang, that's really good. Yeah, I love the desperado. Those moves are great too, you get the cloud burst with the shoot in the bottle, it's so spherical. Kiryu's job of Dragon of Dojima is- Really great. Yeah, you can just turn the game into a fucking beat-em-up

for 30 seconds if you want to. I got a big, I thought Geodancer was actually kind of wild. I thought that they had some interesting, interesting to have people in those roles. Special shout out just for every cut scene of every job unlock where you see people like, you know, surfing and then you're like, and then you go into the sunken place

inside their mind and then they realize like, oh wait, I can use this to kick ass. Oh, and the dolphin, that whole, the whole, that trainer, that whole like job class that had, the surfer I think is the one who has the dolphin, right? Yeah. And also has the big Kahuna surfboard attack where he just like spins his surfboard around. That's a good one.

God, I love this fucking game. It's really a good game. I mean, there's a whole job where people make curry and then blow fire at people. It rules. Award for best ending, which there are two endings to this game. There's the Hawaiian nuclear waste island

and there's the Japanese skyscraper. Fuck, man. I mean the Japanese skyscraper. Fuck man. I mean, the skyscraper showdown is pretty fucking tight. It's pretty cool. I know it probably puts a bad taste in your mouth, Chris, because I think that's probably the boss fight that you. Yeah, honestly, it doesn't even bother that me much. I know what I did wrong, and I'm excited to go.

I will say that that is basically also how the first Like A Dragon game ends, and that one I actually think hits way harder. I think that the, I think this game does a lot of stuff really well. I think that the arch enemy that they set up in the first Like a Dragon, it hits so much harder. Like everything is focused to a needle-like point

on this final confrontation with this guy. It does feel like who's gonna be the bad guy. Like even going into the end of it, it's like I'm not exactly sure who the big bad guy is here. Well, related to that, a word for best boss fight. Well, we didn't actually, actually, did you have a preference on the endings? I didn't even get that from y'all.

I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. Best boss fight, and this could have included any mini bosses. The two cranes, where you're fighting the bulldozers with other bulldozers. What the fuck, guys? That's only great through the context,

for me through the context of that is also a boss fight for the first game. And so when one of these cranes show up and people are like, what the fuck? I remember that much. Yeah, don't worry, we got this one. this one is it a second that a second crane rolls up and they're like, oh wait Oh shit, oh shit That could possibly happen in a video game is that they fought off one crane in the last game and they fight two in the second

Game. Yeah, the Austin Powers rules. It's really really is good Yeah, the shark is solid the Again, this was in the first game. The shark is good. The shark, but the giant vacuum, robot vacuum. Oh, yeah. Always great when it shows up. I have one for you, Chris Plant. Biggest mechanic that you didn't engage with at all.

You mentioned Suji-wan. Well, tied to that, the Sujimancer was a job class that I was so excited about, but because I didn't go hard on Sujiman, I couldn't use Sujimancer. Huge disappointment. I did all the Sujiman shit. I did the whole Sujiman storyline,

unlocked the Sujimancer, and it was dog shit. It was not very good. Great. I was so disappointed. Yeah, I mean, other mechanics that I didn't use. I always forgot to use the segue that you can ride around town. Oh, man. What?

I kept forgetting about it. Yeah. Oh, wow. I never, that was constant for me. I never called anybody into a fight. What? You didn't use pound mates? Hmm. Justin, pound mates is-, just in pound mates.

I was really good at this game. I'm really good at it. Yeah, you probably didn't need a help, but I loved, I mean, one of the first ones you get is the, from the crazy taxi bike game. You, the guy like, gives you extra health and it's so helpful in tough fights. But yeah, damn, I'm genuinely surprised.

Best, last one, best side mission, so like, or side quest. Man, the fucking one of the dude making a reality show about the modern samurai lifestyle. That's really good. It's just a series of flawlessly executed jokes with flawless timing, that they keep building these, like, you know, Ichiban reacting to, like, well, do I wanna eat this dope Hawaiian food

or just this plain rice in the samurai style? And like, well, do I wanna eat this dope Hawaiian food or just this plain rice in the samurai style? And like, well, I guess this guy wants me to do the dumb samurai shit. But then like the guy breaks down and it's like, yeah, you know, I struggle with feelings of self-doubt and imposter syndrome and maybe this whole show is a dumb idea and then Ichiban like, you know, does his thing and supports him and you feel like

this moment of connection and growth, and he's like, okay, great. So now you can chop off your finger in the samurai style, and it's right back into this really, really dumb shit. It is so, so good. Also the whole diaper man storyline. And again, did you guys do that whole thing? There's a-

I did not do diaper man. Oh man! In the first game, you find this underground club of basically adult babies, who like, and it's like dudes, like big burly dudes who wear diapers, and they just like, like this lifestyle. They like to be babies, they like to be treated by babies. In this game, you find a man who's very sad on the street,

like an older man, because his wife is dying, and all she wants to see is snow again. And you're like, oh, okay, well, it's Hawaii, so I don't really know what I can do. But then you run into these diaper men again, and the solution is that they get a bunch of diapers, and they go up on top of the hospital to tear the diapers open,

because they realize that the fluff inside the diapers looks like snow. So you get this scene where this man says goodbye to his wife as she passes away peacefully, looking out the window at snow, and then you cut to the roof and just see a bunch of diaper men throwing their diaper fluff around, like we're doing a big important thing tonight.

It's so fucking good. It's so good. It's a perfect encapsulation of this, like of the vibe and tone of this game. Oh my God. That, yeah. For me it was Gollum Gunwolf, the ukulele player. Who is a current ukulele player,

former experimental heavy metal environmentalist who learns how to be both types of musicians. And also Asakura, the dude who just loves to fight and hates YouTuber culture. Great. Very relatable. Yes. I feel like I took screencaps of every single thing he said. Yeah.

Hey, what a game. What a a game. What a fucking game. Should we go to honorable mentions? Yeah, let's do it. Yeah. I'm gonna give the hard sell for Sea of Thieves again. Okay, go for it.

Just got back into it. They released a new season, season 11, I believe, like a month or so ago, a new season's coming out soon. Season 11, I don't know if this was included in that or the last season, season 11, I believe, like a month or so ago, a new season's coming out soon. Season 11, I don't know if this was included in that or the last season, but there's a new mode called Safer Seas, where you get reduced rewards, but it disables the PvP element of this game,

which I think will be appealing for a lot of people who like playing Sea of Thieves and don't like getting fucking jumped by sweaty dry hearts who then negate all of the work that they just did over the last hour and a half. They have also made it so that when you start in the game, you hop in your ship and you can launch any voyage or quest or mission or whatever from the little quest table in your ship, you don't have to run around the island

for a while hunting for the right job that you pick from a really small list. It's all right table in your ship. You don't have to run around the island for a while, like hunting for the right job that you pick from a really small list. Like it's all right there in your ship, waiting for you ready to go. And then you can also fast travel basically to the start of that voyage, which basically cuts the kind of like time required for each of these, each of the like different sort of missions

of this game in half. And I have been having a fucking great time playing this game, either solo slooping it up or with I played with a buddy last night and this game just kicks ass and is so much fun to play and they continue to kind of sand the rough edges off of it. I am shocked at how much support they continue to get. I'm not, man.

The collapse of Microsoft's first party slate, I think, has really been Sea of Thieves' gain, right? There's this one thing that's working. Yeah, sure. I don't know. Do we keep investing in Sea of Thieves? It sounds crazy, but no one likes the halo we made. Yeah. I encourage you again to check that game out

if you've not played it. It is such a fun, weird, exciting game. Yeah, I have a cool show that my family's been watching on Disney Plus. It's called Renegade Nell. You heard of it? Yeah, see, they haven't really been advertising it a ton. They have not promoted it.

It used to be called the Ballad of Renegade Nell, and now it's just called Renegade Nell. It is a show about a woman in 18th century England who sort of accidentally becomes a highwayman, a highway robber. And the interesting thing about Nell, who is a widow, is that she is joined by a fairy that can inhabit her body

and give her superhuman strength and speed, basically like superpowers. So there's this fairy that appears and is helping Nell who doesn't know why they are there. They only know that they have to protect Nell. And Nell basically becomes accidentally a highway robber who becomes wanted for murder, a murder that she didn't commit.

And she basically has to turn the entire town on against her, and there's other magic forces trying to get at her, and it's all set against the Jacobite Rebellion, which is sort of the backdrop of the whole thing. So there's like, there is a historical element to this, though it's like, I would say loosely historical. Louisa Harland is the lead in the show. I believe she was in Dairy Girls,

was her other big credit, but it's just like really exciting, like fun adventure that isn't like too gruesome for kids to watch. The fight scenes are like so well choreographed. If you watch a trailer, you can see some of the Nell beating up the bad guys. And she eventually becomes sort of a Robin Hood type figure.

But it's really fun, exciting, cool. It's called Renegade Nell. It's on Disney Plus. I started watching Survivor. Yeah! Yeah, baby! I did it. I did it.

You pulled me back in. I've been absolutely unhinged. How long have you been out for this? I've been absolutely unhinged. How are you feeling, Chris Bland? I'm feeling good. I did it. You pulled me back in. I've been out for a long unhinged season. How are you feeling Chris Plann? I'm feeling good. I'm feeling alive. I have been out for probably, I don't know, five or six years.

You haven't even watched the new era. Welcome to the new era. I know. And they keep saying things. I don't know what they mean. They're like, I got a last get shot or something. I'm like sure Yeah, I'm dark baby. Okay, so shot in the dark Chris plant is they're all solves for problems with the metagame and that are hysterical but shot the dark is at the at the Vote you can sacrifice your vote for a one in six chance of at immunity

That's it and you can only do it once per season. Yes. Huh, okay, okay. That's clever. Yeah, I am impressed by how they both seem to have made the game more humane in terms of things that they're providing the people up front and yet not where they will take things away from people.

Like Flint for a month? Yeah, it is a wild game. I am four episodes in and one of the most annoying players I've ever watched has now been voted off, so grateful for that. Does their name start with a B? Yes. Yeah, okay, Cool. Yeah. For sure. I, uh, but holy moly. I mean, they know how to make reality TV show. Real survivor also just continues to be very pretty to look at. Like photography of a

survivor is just legit. Great. Um, what a show. They're all maniacs. I mean, it feels like they're trying to run a marathon at the speed of a sprint, but good luck to them. I can't wait to see where it goes. Cool. And you guys are great, and you're great for listening. Thank you so much for joining us. Chris Plante, do you remember the games that were discussed?

Yeah. Oh, gosh. Thank you so much for joining us. Chris Plante, do you remember the games that were discussed? Ah. Oh, gosh. So the great thing is people can go to besties.fan to see the full list of games, because we discussed a ton. But we also talked about Like a Dragon, Infinite Wealth, and other stuff, you know?

It's all there. I wanna thank some of the following patrons, StuVious, NL, Thousand Autumns, Poo, Ghoulbear, Generic, Keto. Next week, we don't know. We don't know. We don't know, but we do know that by the time you're hearing this,

there is a new episode up on the Patreon of the Resties that is digging into some overlooked indie games that include Children of the Sun and Felvadek, which have I told you all about Felvadek? Nope. Oh shit. Okay, very quick. Felvadek, it is on Steam. Its description on Steam is, in Felvadek, a JRPG set in 15th century

Slovakia, you embrace the role of an alcoholic night pavil. Meet diverse and interesting characters to help you drive out the Hussites and Ottomans who blight this land. It looks like a PlayStation 1 game. Nightmare. I can't wait to play this. I cannot. You. Oh my gosh. This game. All right.

It's so good. We have a whole bunch of weird stuff over on the Patreon. You should check that out. We've got a new Besties bracket coming up soon. And yeah. Patreon.com slash the besties is the address for that. So if you come join our video game club, I'd really appreciate it.

That's it. we did an episode. That's it. Be sure to join us again next time for the besties, because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games? Besties!