I understand Justin's hesitancy with Frieren but it's honestly one of the best shows I've seen in a while. Anime or not. I think Chris was on the money to suggest it.
What, the same Justin who implied people who like games like Unicorn Overlord are *checks notes* “unlovable”? The one who doesn’t sympathize with a team of four people on a small developer being overloaded by server demand? THAT Justin?
Look, I normally like Juice’s outlook on these shows, but he’s gotta cool it with the judgmental vibe here. It’s veering from jokey stuff into feeling kind of mean-spirited. I wouldnt go as far as to use the b word (you know, rhymes with “shmullying”), but the dude has always seemed more empathetic than that. I’m not sure what’s been up with him lately.
As a few others have, would like to comment on Frieren because the initial description made it sound a little dismal and gloomy (hence Justin's hesitancy). To put it in a more positive light (which I believe it deserves) I think it's less "ozymandius" and more about Frieren's journey to understand what parts of life are important DESPITE her long lifespan, learning the importance of the small things in life. Shedding her cynicism of "its just a mere 10 year journey" and realizing the "mere 10 years" was, in reality, informing how she is spending the rest of her life. I think that aspect of it is far more beautiful than "everyone dies and your most important achievement will be lost to time"
Oh and to add to this- the reason I wanted to make that point is that, although anime isn't really Justin's thing, this story actually seems SUPER up his alley based on a lot of his book recs. The connecting theme, as I see it, is people learning to live with their imperfections, figuring out not just how to combat them, but how to accept, embrace and grow from them; not rejecting your faults but adapting to them.
Have yall heard about the Helldivers 2 dev team Member Joel? Who's job title is Game Master and his only job is to manage the enemy side so that it's always updating? He's literally playing the large zoomed out version of the war that the individual units are dying in. An insanely cool and super innovative way to run a game like this.
If the Besties are looking for an anime rec with slightly less existential dread, let me point you to Delicious in Dungeon. Set in a fantasy world where a community has formed around the exploration of a mysterious dungeon, the show follows a party of struggling adventurers trying to delve deeper and solving the problem of dwindling supplies by turning to an unlikely source of food: the monsters prowling the dungeon. It's extremely funny, has great animation, and you can watch it on Netflix! Well worth a watch - even if only to see the funny faces the elf mage pulls at the various strange things they try to eat!
I was so glad to hear the question/answer about the class on platformers in this week's ep! I teach classes on video games, and one of the many reasons I enjoy Besties is that it helps me keep up with new stuff to add into the mix. I've been teaching Celeste in one of those classes for years now, so on the off-chance the question-asker is hanging out in the comments (did some cursory searching to no avail), I figured I'd drop links to that syllabus and a piece I wrote about the course below--hope the hyperlinking is copacetic and helpful to somebody out there.
Are there any games that pair well with a companion piece?
Psychonauts 2 is an amazing game but PsychOdyssey feels like an essential companion to the game. I would also say Indie Game the Movie really improves Fez overall.
I tend to find that things like production art don't do anything for me, so I'm curious if there are other games that have elements outside of the game that significantly improve/effect the game overall.
This isn't really a companion since it is a sequel, but it's cool so I wanna talk about it.
There is a sequel anime series to Danganronpa 2, "Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak" separated into two arcs, the Future arc (which takes place after Danganronpa 2) and the Despair arc (which takes place before). You are supposed to watch the episodes in alternating order, e.g. Future episode 1, Despair episode 1, Future episode 2, Despair Episode 2, etc..
And then there is a final bit called the Hope arc that you watch last.
Three weeks before I was supposed to close on my condo, I get a phone call. The previous owners had just had one last party, and there had been an incident. They had an old desiccated ficus tree outside the front door, and one of the party guests flicked a cigarette but into it. That butt set the entire front of my condo on fire. They had to replace the door, the door trim, the paneling the roof of the little porch. It was an entire ordeal.
Frieren is amazing!! The author has such a deep understanding of nostalgia and sentimentality that is so thoughtful…
If I may suggest another currently running fantasy anime, Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon) is currently airing on Netflix and is animated by Studio Trigger. It’s heavily inspired by DND and western CRPG’s (most notably Baldurs Gate) it’s about an adventuring group trying to save one of their party members after being eaten by a dragon. Each episode is about them going deeper into the dungeon and hunting monsters to eat.. that’s right it’s half fantasy adventure and half cooking show. Some absolutely amazing stuff and ProZd voices the dwarf character.
Here’s a question for the Besties. In honor of FF7 Rebirth, I am curious if anyone has any strong nostalgic feelings for video game strategy guides. I remember buying the official Brady games FF7 strategy guide and having the original game’s big spoiler revealed while I casually flipped through it. So that sucked. But I also really enjoyed having this big tangible book full of art , screenshots, and in the good ones at least, jokes. Any fond memories of strategy guides? Besides that one time Griffin printed out a Pokémon gamefaq?
I miss the hell out of them, honestly. When I was playing Octopath Traveler 2 a while back, I very distinctly recall saying to myself, "Damn, I wish I had a nice strategy guide to go along with this game. "
Sometimes I just want a something to hold in my hand that isn't another screen.
I've kept all my old strategy guides out of pure nostalgia. The FFX and Kingdom Hearts ones are more loose sheets than bound book at this point, but I refuse to give them up!
I feel like Chris didn't really pitch Frieren well. It's about how, even if people don't remember what we did today, our actions are still important because of how the affect everyone around us and them down through time.
My usual pitch is, what happens to the one elf in your D&D campaign after you defeat the BBEG and they still have centuries of life ahead of them. Truly one of my favorite shows of the last 10 years.
I'm about 15 hours into FF7 Rebirth and I want to thank all of you (especially Justin) for criticising the slow, boring, only-somewhat-optional overworld activities, which really didn't get enough flak in the IGN review I read before purchasing. I'm a huge FF7 fan so will definitely complete Rebirth, and I'm enjoying the combat and character scenes. I just hope the game focuses more on its strengths as it goes on.
Personally, I wouldn’t trust IGN for honest reviews of flawed games, they tend to skew towards fluff pieces imo (but individual staff vary, obviously). This is something I think that the besties talk about frequently in gaming journalism, that a publication will naturally assign staff that already know and like the genre of the game they’re reviewing so it’s common to get more positive reviews than what the average consumer would give for any given title, but I find IGN is kind of egregious in this space.
Luckily you’re listening to a podcast by the founders of a great review site, Polygon, and I would trust them to align more with, at least my own taste. TheGamer is another great one. Kotaku is hit and miss for me.
I find that because IGN is the biggest and most, I dunno, corporate? name in gaming journalism , they have more to lose by being critical or going against the hivemind/zeitgeist. They published a negative review of Suicide Squad and it was a big deal because it was *IGN* saying a game wasn’t enjoyable, for example. But that was still a safe bet for them because that was had such low expectations.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m faulting you here, more just my gut reaction to your comment - reviews are subjective and I think there are better, if less comprehensive, review sites out there for you to check out. GameSpot (not GameStop, lol) is another one. I’m in Canada and like MobileSyrup but it has a Canadian lens to everything it publishes. Just some suggestions!
Just checked and you're right, the Polygon review rightly puts the filler content issue absolutely front-and-center. It's been a long time since I closely followed new releases (I used to read Joystiq religiously back when that was Justin and Griffin's employer), so I'm less familiar with which outlets to trust. A bit moot here anyway, Rebirth would've had to really flop to put me off, happily I'm enjoying it despite its flaws :)
For sure, one of the things I love about this podcast is how honest it is about flaws while still arguing for how good a game is. Not everything has to be perfect!
Not sure if this was shared in the previous newsletter or not, but if you’re teaching a class on platformers, the Gamemaker’s Toolkit playable essay on platformers is definitely something you should consider. It teaches you the mechanics around platformers and also lets you tinker with them as you do. Highly recommend people check it out.
Has Justin watched the youtube documentary series Finding Yeezus? It was made by the folks who made the podcast Finding Drago, which Justin recommended a while back and it is criminally underrated imo.
I understand Justin's hesitancy with Frieren but it's honestly one of the best shows I've seen in a while. Anime or not. I think Chris was on the money to suggest it.
What, the same Justin who implied people who like games like Unicorn Overlord are *checks notes* “unlovable”? The one who doesn’t sympathize with a team of four people on a small developer being overloaded by server demand? THAT Justin?
Look, I normally like Juice’s outlook on these shows, but he’s gotta cool it with the judgmental vibe here. It’s veering from jokey stuff into feeling kind of mean-spirited. I wouldnt go as far as to use the b word (you know, rhymes with “shmullying”), but the dude has always seemed more empathetic than that. I’m not sure what’s been up with him lately.
Also loving it! It’s so peaceful and calming.
It's excellent.
As a few others have, would like to comment on Frieren because the initial description made it sound a little dismal and gloomy (hence Justin's hesitancy). To put it in a more positive light (which I believe it deserves) I think it's less "ozymandius" and more about Frieren's journey to understand what parts of life are important DESPITE her long lifespan, learning the importance of the small things in life. Shedding her cynicism of "its just a mere 10 year journey" and realizing the "mere 10 years" was, in reality, informing how she is spending the rest of her life. I think that aspect of it is far more beautiful than "everyone dies and your most important achievement will be lost to time"
Oh and to add to this- the reason I wanted to make that point is that, although anime isn't really Justin's thing, this story actually seems SUPER up his alley based on a lot of his book recs. The connecting theme, as I see it, is people learning to live with their imperfections, figuring out not just how to combat them, but how to accept, embrace and grow from them; not rejecting your faults but adapting to them.
Have yall heard about the Helldivers 2 dev team Member Joel? Who's job title is Game Master and his only job is to manage the enemy side so that it's always updating? He's literally playing the large zoomed out version of the war that the individual units are dying in. An insanely cool and super innovative way to run a game like this.
If the Besties are looking for an anime rec with slightly less existential dread, let me point you to Delicious in Dungeon. Set in a fantasy world where a community has formed around the exploration of a mysterious dungeon, the show follows a party of struggling adventurers trying to delve deeper and solving the problem of dwindling supplies by turning to an unlikely source of food: the monsters prowling the dungeon. It's extremely funny, has great animation, and you can watch it on Netflix! Well worth a watch - even if only to see the funny faces the elf mage pulls at the various strange things they try to eat!
I was so glad to hear the question/answer about the class on platformers in this week's ep! I teach classes on video games, and one of the many reasons I enjoy Besties is that it helps me keep up with new stuff to add into the mix. I've been teaching Celeste in one of those classes for years now, so on the off-chance the question-asker is hanging out in the comments (did some cursory searching to no avail), I figured I'd drop links to that syllabus and a piece I wrote about the course below--hope the hyperlinking is copacetic and helpful to somebody out there.
The Syllabus: http://rheteric.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/VGAAL_SyllabusAndCalendar_S23.pdf
The Piece: http://rheteric.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VideoGamesChapter.pdf
I honest to god had to set rules for myself because Balatro was causing me to go to bed hours too late every night. Beware!!!
Ya. It’s a dangerous “one more run” game. Same with DRG Survivors
Question for the Besties.
Are there any games that pair well with a companion piece?
Psychonauts 2 is an amazing game but PsychOdyssey feels like an essential companion to the game. I would also say Indie Game the Movie really improves Fez overall.
I tend to find that things like production art don't do anything for me, so I'm curious if there are other games that have elements outside of the game that significantly improve/effect the game overall.
This isn't really a companion since it is a sequel, but it's cool so I wanna talk about it.
There is a sequel anime series to Danganronpa 2, "Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak" separated into two arcs, the Future arc (which takes place after Danganronpa 2) and the Despair arc (which takes place before). You are supposed to watch the episodes in alternating order, e.g. Future episode 1, Despair episode 1, Future episode 2, Despair Episode 2, etc..
And then there is a final bit called the Hope arc that you watch last.
Three weeks before I was supposed to close on my condo, I get a phone call. The previous owners had just had one last party, and there had been an incident. They had an old desiccated ficus tree outside the front door, and one of the party guests flicked a cigarette but into it. That butt set the entire front of my condo on fire. They had to replace the door, the door trim, the paneling the roof of the little porch. It was an entire ordeal.
So, Chris, your fears are not crazy.
Frieren is amazing!! The author has such a deep understanding of nostalgia and sentimentality that is so thoughtful…
If I may suggest another currently running fantasy anime, Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon) is currently airing on Netflix and is animated by Studio Trigger. It’s heavily inspired by DND and western CRPG’s (most notably Baldurs Gate) it’s about an adventuring group trying to save one of their party members after being eaten by a dragon. Each episode is about them going deeper into the dungeon and hunting monsters to eat.. that’s right it’s half fantasy adventure and half cooking show. Some absolutely amazing stuff and ProZd voices the dwarf character.
Here’s a question for the Besties. In honor of FF7 Rebirth, I am curious if anyone has any strong nostalgic feelings for video game strategy guides. I remember buying the official Brady games FF7 strategy guide and having the original game’s big spoiler revealed while I casually flipped through it. So that sucked. But I also really enjoyed having this big tangible book full of art , screenshots, and in the good ones at least, jokes. Any fond memories of strategy guides? Besides that one time Griffin printed out a Pokémon gamefaq?
I miss the hell out of them, honestly. When I was playing Octopath Traveler 2 a while back, I very distinctly recall saying to myself, "Damn, I wish I had a nice strategy guide to go along with this game. "
Sometimes I just want a something to hold in my hand that isn't another screen.
I've kept all my old strategy guides out of pure nostalgia. The FFX and Kingdom Hearts ones are more loose sheets than bound book at this point, but I refuse to give them up!
I feel like Chris didn't really pitch Frieren well. It's about how, even if people don't remember what we did today, our actions are still important because of how the affect everyone around us and them down through time.
My usual pitch is, what happens to the one elf in your D&D campaign after you defeat the BBEG and they still have centuries of life ahead of them. Truly one of my favorite shows of the last 10 years.
That's the way I explain it, as well.
A reminder: please follow the community rules.
https://thebesties.substack.com/p/how-to-be-part-of-our-video-game
And as for pronouncing (this part is from Plante) the name is German, the pronunciation is Japanese, and the English variant is totally different.
Very glad y'all like the show! We much rather hear about that part!
I'm about 15 hours into FF7 Rebirth and I want to thank all of you (especially Justin) for criticising the slow, boring, only-somewhat-optional overworld activities, which really didn't get enough flak in the IGN review I read before purchasing. I'm a huge FF7 fan so will definitely complete Rebirth, and I'm enjoying the combat and character scenes. I just hope the game focuses more on its strengths as it goes on.
Nvm just played the Fort Condor bit. Great game 10/10.
Personally, I wouldn’t trust IGN for honest reviews of flawed games, they tend to skew towards fluff pieces imo (but individual staff vary, obviously). This is something I think that the besties talk about frequently in gaming journalism, that a publication will naturally assign staff that already know and like the genre of the game they’re reviewing so it’s common to get more positive reviews than what the average consumer would give for any given title, but I find IGN is kind of egregious in this space.
Luckily you’re listening to a podcast by the founders of a great review site, Polygon, and I would trust them to align more with, at least my own taste. TheGamer is another great one. Kotaku is hit and miss for me.
I find that because IGN is the biggest and most, I dunno, corporate? name in gaming journalism , they have more to lose by being critical or going against the hivemind/zeitgeist. They published a negative review of Suicide Squad and it was a big deal because it was *IGN* saying a game wasn’t enjoyable, for example. But that was still a safe bet for them because that was had such low expectations.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m faulting you here, more just my gut reaction to your comment - reviews are subjective and I think there are better, if less comprehensive, review sites out there for you to check out. GameSpot (not GameStop, lol) is another one. I’m in Canada and like MobileSyrup but it has a Canadian lens to everything it publishes. Just some suggestions!
Just checked and you're right, the Polygon review rightly puts the filler content issue absolutely front-and-center. It's been a long time since I closely followed new releases (I used to read Joystiq religiously back when that was Justin and Griffin's employer), so I'm less familiar with which outlets to trust. A bit moot here anyway, Rebirth would've had to really flop to put me off, happily I'm enjoying it despite its flaws :)
For sure, one of the things I love about this podcast is how honest it is about flaws while still arguing for how good a game is. Not everything has to be perfect!
Not sure if this was shared in the previous newsletter or not, but if you’re teaching a class on platformers, the Gamemaker’s Toolkit playable essay on platformers is definitely something you should consider. It teaches you the mechanics around platformers and also lets you tinker with them as you do. Highly recommend people check it out.
https://gmtk.itch.io/platformer-toolkit
ROCK AND STONE!!!
Has Justin watched the youtube documentary series Finding Yeezus? It was made by the folks who made the podcast Finding Drago, which Justin recommended a while back and it is criminally underrated imo.
Oh will check it out!
Cool rec, I will go look for this. Loved Finding Drago!
I don’t recall The Besties discussing Brotato. It’s the best “one of those” auto-shooters in my tiny opinion. Plus it’s on all platforms for $5.
I think i recall an episode where Griffin (?) talked about it. I think it was last summer sometime?
I’ll have to dig that up. It’s recently had a resurgence in my work circles. We’re all loving it. It’s built on the VS model in its own unique ways.
Yeah, Griffin played a lot of Brotato