19 Comments
User's avatar
Evan's avatar

One of the best games of the week for me is guessing which of the honorable mentions the screen shot is from!

Expand full comment
Ryan Giglio's avatar

Way off topic, but I want Justin to be aware that Atro Bot added a 2B bot that doesn’t seem too approving of fishing in the hub world

Expand full comment
Geoff Nelson's avatar

I heard the genre of Peak and Repo called "Friend Slop" and that really made me giggle.

Expand full comment
Andrew Reaume's avatar

it’s just the state of Indie games right now I guess but I can’t believe that you guys talked about two different climbing games and neither one of them was Valley Peaks, which I highly recommend

Expand full comment
James W's avatar

Russ's game time report was bar-none the funniest damn thing I've heard all year. That's going in my "having a bad day" relisten queue. 🤣

I hit a wall on Clair Obscura. I'm sure I'll get through it, but I decided to take a break and picked up the Shadowman remake in a Switch sale.

It was one of my favorite games in the N64 era (and I played the PC version until 2002 or 2003 because I liked it so well) and I didn't realize... It's a Metroidvania?

Anyway, the remake LOOKS great and plays... About as well as a 26 year-old game would play. But I'm excited to get into the restored cut content snd really wallow in nostalgia.

Expand full comment
Dayten Rose's avatar

Pardon, but Plante talking about Peak as a single player climbing experience sounded a bit like a martian who just arrived on planet earth. With what other games have you, either from the constraints of reviewing or your own player preferences, had a completely different experience than everyone else playing the game? (Quality aside, re: Starfield)

Expand full comment
Patrick Frisbee's avatar

I would say that for me Chris’ experience was very welcome. As that would be my experience with this game as well.

Expand full comment
Patrick Frisbee's avatar

Recently tried playing the new THPS remakes and they feel super sped up to me. Besties, is this because we’re getting old or did these games get faster? Have you experienced this with any games or remakes of games you grew up with? (Matt Damon aging gif)

Expand full comment
Drew Davenport's avatar

My honorable mention is that I just beat Robocop Rogue City because it was free on PS+, absolutely loved it, and now they are dropping an expansion in like a week.

Expand full comment
Geoff Nelson's avatar

My honorable mention right now is Citizen Sleeper 2. Absolutely incredible.

Expand full comment
Kaylee's avatar

I’m late to the game but I’m playing My Time at Sandrock and it’s a genuine delight. There’s a lot of fun story and characters. I also got to tell a fascist “I yearn for the mines” so the humor is spot on.

Expand full comment
Bill's avatar

as someone who’s listened to 15 years worth of besties episodes despite not starting until 2021, i felt my autopilot brain get kicked out of hibernation mode in something approaching a panic when the outro music came in 5 seconds late. Just thought i’d share and thanks for keeping me awake!

Expand full comment
Brooke's avatar

If I bounced off of Death Stranding and not a fan of Kohima’s nonsense, would I like Death Stranding 2?

Expand full comment
Chris Plante's avatar

Potentially, but it's a coin toss. Way more welcoming game mechanics, far fewer cut scenes. But still the same core concept

Expand full comment
Brannigans Law's avatar

Been playing Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon on steam and HIGHLY recommend it to any of the boys that liked Avowed.

It's in that same subgenre of Skyrim/Morrowind-y RPGs, combat feels super slick. No world leveling/scaling loot- it's all fixed enemy levels and item drops, so it's similar to morrowind where you can stumble upon something super strong while out exploring, or cheese your way through a dungeon you have no business being in, and cashing in on all the powerful stuff.

The dungeons are all super interesting and hand crafted, and the quests I've encountered so far are so refreshing and unique. Something else I really appreciate is that the "tutorial" area is a full blown dungeon, and you can choose to just b-line for the exit, or explore every nook and cranny to find hidden passages, extra boss fights and extra loot.

Keep in mind though, that this game is a lot darker in tone than Skyrim or Avowed - they aren't afraid to throw a lake of blood occupied by flesh monsters 30 feet from where you land post-tutorial

Expand full comment
Brannigans Law's avatar

Oh yeah and for the "I hate guides" folks out there, there is a world map, but no dungeon maps, so you really gotta be a filthy little loot goblin sniffing every corner if you want all the secrets

Expand full comment
Alexander Gray's avatar

Where is the preorder link for the towel or was it a bit

Expand full comment
Alexander Gray's avatar

It’s on the McElroy family store for anyone wondering

Expand full comment