Latest / WASD and Beyond / Episode 238: Our picks and predictions for The Video Game Awards 2025!

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Episode 238: Our picks and predictions for The Video Game Awards 2025! · WASD and Beyond

0:13
Yeah, fuck. Welcome back to.
0:19
The podcaster, by the way. I've been doing this for 4 1/2
0:23
years. Welcome back to the WASD and
0:24
Beyond podcast, everybody. We're your host, Nick, Evan and
0:27
John, we are doing The Game Awards predictions.
0:31
This is The Game Awards 2025. How long have we been doing this
0:35
now, Evan? 4-4 or five years, four since we
0:39
start. The the first time we did it was
0:41
with Diggity. Yes, that would have been four
0:44
or five years ago because it would have been during COVID.
0:48
Damn bro, so a lot of you may know that.
0:51
What, John? Sorry, COVID the time warp.
0:54
Yeah, last. Time my life.
0:56
Is the plague? Honestly, I say it every time
0:59
COVID gets brought up. Bring it back without the
1:02
deaths, without the deaths, without the deaths.
1:05
Just I liked, I liked being home.
1:09
OK, I I liked just I dig in a hole.
1:14
I liked wearing masks in public and not getting what looked that
1:16
weird. You can, you know what I did
1:18
too. You'll just get looked that
1:19
weird do. You have an idea Looked that
1:21
weird? Dig in a hole.
1:22
But yes, welcome back to the show.
1:23
We we are Brodie list this year, even on Thursday when the Game
1:28
Awards are, it'll just be Evan and myself and maybe John if
1:32
John wants to join us or whoever from the spawn camp wants to
1:35
join us. But it'll just be us.
1:36
But we do have Brody's predictions and picks.
1:40
So the way this goes is we are going to talk about our pick
1:44
first, then our prediction, and that's going to go for Brody,
1:50
myself, Evan and John. The pick is what we would want
1:56
to win. The prediction is what we think
1:59
will win. OK, I got it right this year.
2:03
I'm in charge this year, kind of technically, but I got it right.
2:07
The winner wins absolutely nothing.
2:11
None of us have money. Maybe Noah will make a crown,
2:15
though. That'd be cool.
2:16
Noah. That'd.
2:16
Be kind of. That'd be kind of funny, yeah.
2:19
Another crown. So buckle up for that.
2:22
We're gonna the first couple categories we're gonna go really
2:24
fast through. We have a lot to say about a
2:27
good portion of this, but to keep this into a nice bite sized
2:30
episode for you guys this year, we are just going to kind of go
2:33
through our our picks predictions for each of us and
2:36
just bull Bullhead through this before we get too far.
2:42
Spear run Bullhead. I don't know, I'm trying to make
2:45
up shit as we go. Spearhead.
2:46
Spearhead, actually. Spear Spearhead, What are you
2:49
looking around for? I don't know, looking for who's
2:51
laughing at these jokes? I'm gonna workshop them, but
2:57
you, you got me. Got me.
3:01
I've had a I've had a good couple of jokes.
3:03
I I had the what's it stupidest forever yesterday.
3:07
That was pretty funny. Yeah, stupidest forever.
3:09
It's a play on Gabe Newhall's suckers.
3:11
It was, it was a, it was a changing of his.
3:14
I don't remember what the beginning of it was, but yeah,
3:17
it made it got. Late as temporary.
3:20
His his was the latest temporary suck is forever.
3:23
I was complaining about people in battlefield and I said
3:25
something about like levels are levels are time put in but
3:30
stupid is forever something like.
3:32
You said suck is forever. Yeah, yeah.
3:34
Suck is suck is forever. Something like that.
3:36
Yeah, it was funny. Before, but before we get too
3:39
far deep in, I wanna give a huge shout out to Final Boss.
3:42
Thank you for sponsoring this episode and the show in general.
3:46
And without the kind folks or a final boss, we wouldn't be able
3:49
to push forward. We wouldn't wear the cool stuff
3:51
that they give us. Even though I'm wearing a band
3:52
shirt today and Evan's not wearing a final boss shirt, I
3:55
promise my my entire room is littered with final boss stuff.
3:59
I wear their stuff all the time. But I just did laundry though,
4:01
so this is. What I I have I have the counter
4:04
strike ones up in my closet right now.
4:05
I just did laundry today too. Funny, we will be final bossed
4:09
out for the actual game. Wards live.
4:11
I will so go check final boss out links down below.
4:15
Check out it came from screen box roll for deception.
4:17
Get ready for some new roll for deception.
4:19
Screen box would have already released this week.
4:22
So hope you enjoyed that. Join the discord it is free down
4:26
below. And if you tell us your picks
4:28
and predictions do that WASD&WASD beyond@gmail.com
4:34
again, that's WASDBEY ond@gmail.com.
4:38
Hit us up, let us know what you think.
4:40
Let's roll right into this. So we got this fancy little
4:43
background from Noah. Thank you very much, Noah.
4:46
Thank you very much. We're gonna go categories, Best
4:50
E sports team, boys, let's just do it.
4:54
So we've already talked about the categories, we've talked
4:58
about the nominees. Let's get right into it.
5:00
Should we start with Brody's each category you guys think?
5:03
I think so, yeah. I think we do Brody's first,
5:05
yeah. OK so Brody his pick is Genji
5:11
and his prediction is Genji. Very bold cuz I'm Brody and I
5:17
play League of Legends. Now my pick is Vitality and my
5:21
prediction is Vitality, Evan. My my pick is Vitality.
5:25
My prediction is Genji. Cool.
5:29
Same here. Yeah, vitality, same as me.
5:32
Yeah, same as Evan. League is obviously very
5:36
popular. I think I'll just take it.
5:38
That's why I picked it to predicted it as well.
5:42
Very good. All right, you want me to go
5:44
take the next one? I want to do because I want to
5:46
make a joke. OK, All right.
5:48
OK. Best E sports athlete.
5:54
I did air quotes. I see I'm not winning today.
5:58
I got to workshop these one. For the audio, for the audio
6:01
listeners. I looked around again.
6:05
So we got, oh man, we got Brody's pick is Kakaru and his
6:09
prediction is Kakaru, with my pick being Zai Woo and my
6:13
prediction being Zai Woo. My pick is Zai Woo, my
6:17
prediction is Chovi who is a player for not.
6:20
I'm sorry I didn't see the team here but he plays on in League
6:24
of Legends. Sorry, that's his game, John.
6:28
My pick is Forsaken, but my prediction is actually Chovy.
6:33
I'm not unfamiliar with any of these guys personally, but
6:36
something like that, fuck. Or bad guys, I believe.
6:39
These guys. All right then.
6:43
All right, the next category is for Best E Sports Game.
6:46
Brody's pick and prediction for this are both League of Legends.
6:53
Mine is also both counter strike or sorry my pick is counter
6:57
strike. My prediction is League of
6:59
Legends Nick. My pick is Counter Strike
7:02
because Counter Strike and my prediction is League of Legends.
7:06
And chance. Across the board here, my pick
7:08
is Counter Strike, but yeah, Predictions League.
7:11
All three of us are the same Birdies, and Birdie only differs
7:14
in that his pick is also League of Legends.
7:18
All right, next one. Nick, I think you should take
7:20
this because you always do this category because you get
7:23
incomprehensibly upset. This year I don't hate everybody
7:28
on this list, so Brody chose burnt peanut for his pick and
7:34
prediction. I chose burnt peanut peanut for
7:37
my pick and prediction as well. My pick is most critical.
7:42
My prediction is Kaisa, not John.
7:47
My pick was burnt peanut and my is also burnt peanut.
7:53
The burnt peanuts. Or peanuts say what it says on
7:56
the. Fucking spreadsheet I put I put
7:58
pennants on the list here. Pendants Peanuts is pretty fun.
8:02
We have a spreadsheet for a fucking reason.
8:04
Oh, sorry, that's all right. All right.
8:08
Next category ahead Evan, we're just moving on with that.
8:12
Next category is Most anticipated Game.
8:15
Brody's a pick is Wolverine, his prediction is GTA.
8:19
My pick is Resident Evil Requiem because that's personally just
8:23
what I'm most excited for because it's also the one that's
8:25
coming out soonest on this list. And my prediction is GTA Nick.
8:32
My pick is Wolverine and my prediction is GTA because it's
8:38
on the list and if it's on the list it's going to win
8:40
something. Yep.
8:42
I agree with that. My pick is Witcher 4 and my
8:45
prediction is UTA. I'm quite excited for the
8:48
Witcher war actually. I like that we had a bit of a
8:50
difference there across it other than Nick and Brody, but like, I
8:54
like that we had a couple of different picks for the games.
8:57
Give it to John. This one's John's.
8:59
John, here you go. So next we have we have best
9:04
adaptation. Brody is Devil May Cry and the
9:08
British pick is that what may cry and British prediction is
9:10
the Minecraft movie. Mine is my pick is the city
9:13
little block movie as well and it's also the prediction.
9:18
Like that you call it that. Like, why don't you say?
9:22
You changed my shit again. So no, I didn't.
9:25
My my pick is Chicken Jockey. So the Minecraft movie.
9:29
And then I guess I'll read it like this because Evan's a Dick
9:31
head. My prediction is the Minecraft
9:34
movie. Minecraft movie.
9:36
Minecraft movie. It's also my pick in prediction
9:40
as well. The Minecraft movie.
9:43
Has to win dude. I hope, I hope, I hope Jack
9:47
Black accepts the award. That would be really funny.
9:49
Like I I hope he's there. He'll give a chicken jockey on
9:51
Thursday. And the Internet.
9:53
'S gonna yeah, it'll, it'll become a huge thing, yeah.
9:56
He's got to. He's got to come out the daddy.
9:59
They're gonna do. Song.
10:00
They're gonna do something crazy and it's gonna be like Martin
10:03
Scorsese comes out, he goes, he goes chicken jockey.
10:06
It's gonna be like my mind just. Lardy his little ass going.
10:12
Yeah, Chicken jockey. There's a lot of.
10:14
Or it's like the Minecraft villager doing the Martin
10:17
Scorsese pose. There's a lot of great nominees
10:19
on this list. My personal favorite is the
10:22
Minecraft movie. Do you need to get Pacino out
10:25
there or De Niro? I know what I'm saying, Get De
10:28
Niro. It's the fucking movie with the
10:30
blocks. That would be, yeah, that would
10:32
be funny. But De Niro, the problem with
10:34
that is he would go into the. I don't mind it, I don't like
10:37
the guy, but De Niro would be like and that fucking orange
10:40
bastard at the white. House, yeah, he would make it
10:43
political right away. He would.
10:45
He would get removed from the stage.
10:47
I would just say before we move on to the next one, one of the
10:50
things that I did not watch on here that I have wanted to and I
10:53
don't know if it's good or not, is the Splinter Cell anime on
10:55
Netflix. We should watch it and review
10:57
it. Yeah, cuz I think that actually
10:59
be kind of cool and I like what's his name is the voice
11:04
actor is voice acting. He was It was Wolverine's
11:07
brother in the X-Men Origins movie.
11:11
Sabretooth. Yeah, the guy who plays
11:12
Sabretooth, Liev Schreiber, he plays the he's the voice.
11:15
Yeah. OK, so I hear that.
11:17
I kind of want to watch that out of everything else.
11:19
Unless this because I don't really care for Devil May Cry.
11:22
We're not going to talk about that.
11:23
I love it show and I just never I just never really got into it.
11:29
But we're not going to talk about that one nominee.
11:31
And Until Dawn looks pretty. I heard it was dog shit Doo Doo.
11:36
Yeah. Figure it as much.
11:38
Take the first big category, Evan.
11:41
This, Yeah, OK, Best multiplayer.
11:46
This is this is a really good one in my opinion.
11:48
As a as a category this year, I felt it was a pretty wide range
11:52
of games. Looking at this list again,
11:55
every single one of them is is pretty different in terms of how
11:58
you play it and what you do. I think in my opinion I feel
12:03
like Split Fiction maybe shouldn't be on this list and it
12:05
should have been a different game since it's nominated for
12:06
other things, but I get it I guess makes the most sense.
12:09
For it. To be here as well, I don't
12:13
know. Anyway, let me get back to the
12:16
category or the spreadsheet here.
12:19
Brody's pick was Peak and his prediction is Arc Raiders.
12:24
My pick is Battlefield 6. My prediction is Arc Raiders.
12:30
I think it's going to win pretty big, Nick.
12:34
Yeah, so my pick was Battlefield 6 and my prediction is Arc
12:37
Raiders. I mean, this whole list honestly
12:40
is a great list. Like Evan had brought up, like
12:44
every game here does something a little different, if not not
12:47
just a little different. Like they're all very different.
12:49
Yeah, they're all very different games.
12:52
This is, this is a great list. It's a great assortment of games
12:55
that like if you're trying to play something with your
12:57
friends, somebody in your friend list on Discord or Steam or
13:01
wherever you're playing is going to like something here.
13:04
This is a great list. It's very hard to pick any game
13:07
because any of these deserve to win, in my opinion, Yeah.
13:11
My pick was also peak in my prediction being Arc Raiders.
13:15
Fuck yeah. Yeah, it's Arc Raiders across
13:17
the board. I will say I find that very
13:20
interesting that arc Raiders is is picked even by Brody and John
13:24
because I you 2. I mean, you played it a little
13:26
bit during the one test, John, but I did your style of game and
13:29
I. Know it's not.
13:30
Brody's either. That's why it's also not my
13:33
pick, but it is my prediction. Right.
13:35
And I I think it's pretty cool because I think it's it's a very
13:39
interesting it's I mean, it's I think the first extraction
13:41
shooter on this list for the Game Awards ever to be
13:43
nominated. I don't know.
13:45
I probably not but like. I can't think of another one.
13:50
A game, a game like Arc Raiders, like they come out like those
13:54
extraction shooters come out and they take the Internet by storm,
13:56
but nothing in my opinion, extraction shooter esque has
14:01
come out like Arc Raiders has in the past couple years.
14:04
Like this game has literally like there are turf wars for
14:07
streamers happening on the servers.
14:09
Like things are dividing up in that game like something about
14:14
Goobin. I don't know.
14:15
I think that's a peanut thing, right?
14:18
I think so because Ubers it is the first, it is the first
14:23
extraction shooter to be. Nominated.
14:24
That's great. Then I was thinking about battle
14:26
royales Dude that's why I like. Yeah.
14:28
No, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, they're so close.
14:32
They are very closely related. Yeah, I think a lot of people
14:35
can get them confused sometimes. I will say too, just as a quick
14:38
shout out, Battlefield 6. Love to see it on the list in
14:41
some fashion. Love to see a Battlefield game
14:43
finally. Twice, actually.
14:44
Deservedly, deservedly, it's here as well.
14:48
It's actually yes, yes, I believe it deserves it.
14:50
I don't think 2042 was on it, nor 5.
14:52
I don't know if one was on anything.
14:56
I think that was like maybe the first year that they did The
14:58
Game Awards in this like in this way.
15:03
I will just say like it's it's cool to see it not nominated
15:06
here as well as in a later category that we're going to get
15:08
to soon. But anyway.
15:10
I mean Battlefield 1 was nominated but it didn't win
15:13
anything. I want to look it up real quick.
15:15
It wouldn't shock me. Do you want me to start reading
15:18
this off Cuz it was it. Was the same.
15:19
It was the Overwatch year, so. Yeah, it was.
15:23
It was the Overwatch. No, I was going to say it should
15:25
be John cuz John loves sports. I do.
15:28
You're a sports guy. Yeah, I'll do sports.
15:31
So the picks for the best sports and racing game.
15:36
Bertie's pick is Mario Kart World, where the prediction is
15:39
Mario Kart World on, and my prediction is Sonic Cross
15:43
Worlds. But my prediction is actually FC
15:46
26 because I don't think Mario did super well.
15:52
It kind of disappeared soon. Nick, why don't you go next?
15:56
Mario Kart World is my pick. Mario Kart World is also my
15:59
prediction. It's a Nintendo in this list and
16:01
they are a powerhouse being Mario.
16:04
Mario Kart is a game everyone loves.
16:06
It was like one of the drop titles for the Switch too.
16:11
I know it kind of came and went, but it's a Mario Kart game.
16:14
People love them. Got a point.
16:15
It's a kid. It's akin to like when a Mario
16:18
party comes out right? It's just like everyone's.
16:21
If you have that current console from Nintendo, you're getting
16:24
Mario Kart, you're getting Mario Party and if there is a new
16:26
Smash Bros, you're getting the Smash Bros like it's it's it's
16:30
there must have titles. I remember when the I think I
16:32
agree. What Mario Kart was it that came
16:35
out for the Wii? And then you can get the wheel,
16:37
you guys. Oh dude, I had it.
16:38
It was, it was just called Mario Kart Wii.
16:40
I had it. Yeah, yeah, it was just Mario
16:42
Kart Wii. Yeah, it was.
16:43
I played it too. I was super sick.
16:45
What you put the the the. You put the controller in.
16:48
It the wee MO, The wee MO in the I remember, yeah.
16:51
I remember getting so mad and slinging that wheel across my
16:54
room and like broke through a really thin piece of iron.
16:58
I got into an argument with the wee ones and that sounds.
17:02
Yeah, yeah. So basically you guys remember
17:04
the tightrope game with the. No, OK, no.
17:08
Yeah, there's like a tight. There's the whole thing.
17:10
So the there was the Wii Balance Board.
17:15
Remember that thing like the the Yeah, I remember that.
17:17
I remember. That I remember the balance
17:19
board. Well, it weighed us.
17:20
It weighed you. Yeah.
17:22
Yeah, and it told me I was obese when I was 14.
17:24
It gave me a fucked up complex. So I never, I never played the
17:28
Wii again. Oh no.
17:31
It was like, oh beast, oh beast. Just like.
17:33
And I went in general, you didn't do anything else.
17:35
You just. I stood on it for it to weigh us
17:38
and it told Evan or Ed good health and I stood on it and it
17:42
went obese and I went no fucking way.
17:45
This video game just told me I was a fat piece of shit.
17:48
Never played the Wii again. Fuck that.
17:52
I'll. Break that easy, Wiii.
17:53
No, it was the Wii. It was the OG Wii because it was
17:56
the OG. It was like the Wii Sports.
17:58
Thing I'd and I was like, I don't remember the I don't
18:01
remember the balancing board on the OG.
18:02
There was like a board you would buy with it.
18:04
Yeah. When I go to Ed's on his dad
18:08
Pops keeps everything. I'll go.
18:10
I'll take a photo of it though. Like this is the piece of shit
18:12
thing that called me obese as a child.
18:15
Fuck that thing dude. Think pissed me off anyway.
18:19
What's your picks here Evan? My my pick and prediction for
18:21
best sports racing was F-125 obviously because I am a one
18:25
note character and it's a great game.
18:29
Honestly perfect. Don't make a new one, just keep
18:31
updating this one and charge me money like for it next year
18:34
charge me 30 bucks I'll pay. Keep spanking me daddy.
18:38
Anyways we got best SIM Strat game.
18:42
So for Brody his pick and prediction is Final Fantasy
18:45
Tactics, my pick was Jurassic World and my prediction is the
18:50
altars. Again, I know nothing about most
18:53
of these games, Evan. My pick is my pick is the same
18:58
and my prediction is the same as Nick.
19:00
Jurassic World is my pick and prediction is the altars.
19:03
Jurassic World cause dinosaurs are cool.
19:05
The altars, because I think it had kind of a unique concept
19:08
that people liked, and it might be like a secret hit that ends
19:12
up, yeah, John. My pick was also the altars and
19:17
much for Evan's. Same reasons, but my prediction
19:20
is actually Final Fantasy Tactics.
19:22
I remember playing the original as a as a younger lad and loving
19:26
the fuck out of it. Oh yeah.
19:29
Nice. Fuck.
19:29
Yeah, I'll do. I can do family if you guys want
19:32
then. Yeah.
19:33
John, you want to do fighting? We'll let Evan do RPG and we'll
19:37
just go from there. We'll start alternating.
19:39
We're almost past the good points here, boys.
19:43
So best family game we got. Brody's pick was split fiction
19:48
and his prediction was split fiction.
19:50
My pick was split fiction, but my prediction is Lego Party
19:56
Evan. Mine is the same as Nick as
19:59
well. Again, Split fiction for my
20:00
pick. Lego Party for my prediction.
20:03
John. My pick was split fiction, but
20:06
my prediction was Donkey Kong bananas.
20:09
That's not how you say it, but that's how I say it because I
20:12
like the stupid fun. I like it, I enjoy it makes me
20:15
and. Nintendo's a powerhouse, as was
20:17
stated earlier. I think they're going to win it.
20:20
Probably true. Probably true.
20:24
All right, John. Best fighting game?
20:25
Best fighting game? Brodie's pick was Fighting
20:29
Collection 2. I'll be honest, I don't remember
20:31
that being on the list. Not.
20:33
Right here, but the the fuck happened.
20:36
Here the fuck? Happened here.
20:41
My pick and prediction being 2 XKO as well.
20:45
It's the it's the fighting game made by Riot I'm I'm pretty
20:48
sure. They seem to be pretty good even
20:52
if I don't like their games. Nick.
20:54
Oh Mortal Kombat for both bro prediction.
20:57
It's Mortal Kombat, it's the goat.
20:58
It's the OG Mortal Kombat. I don't think it'll win it
21:01
though. Yes, and that, John, is exactly
21:05
right. That's why my pick was Mortal
21:07
Kombat, because it's Mortal Kombat, but my prediction is 2
21:09
XKO. Yes, John.
21:11
By the way, it is the Riot Games.
21:13
It is the riot fuck so God damn it.
21:15
It's too late, I've already announced it.
21:16
I don't think Mortal Kombat has like the hype factor behind it
21:19
that two XKO does. I think you're absolutely right,
21:22
yeah. Yeah, I can't.
21:25
I've already, I've already announced it.
21:26
Yeah, Yeah. Your control is fighting
21:29
collection. That's.
21:31
Yeah, that's sweet. I don't know what the fuck a
21:33
fighting collection is. It's Capcom.
21:34
Let alone a second one. Dude I don't got time for Capcom
21:37
silly shit. Capcom Fighting Collection too.
21:41
It's OK. Thing there.
21:44
Good for you. All right.
21:47
Best RPG. We're getting into the fun
21:50
stuff. This is a nitty gritty here.
21:52
Birdies pick and prediction are both clear obscure Expedition
21:56
33. My pick is Kingdom Come
21:59
Deliverance 2 and my prediction is also Kingdom Come Deliverance
22:02
2. I got to say KCD is wowed me as
22:09
an RPG and went specifically this category so that's why it
22:12
earns my vote here. I have not played really any of
22:16
these. Well, I've played a little bit
22:17
of Monster Hunter and Out of Worlds 2, so I don't have enough
22:20
experience to really rate them or give them a pick.
22:25
Nick. My pick is KCD 2 and my
22:30
prediction is Expedition 33. So KCD 2 was a game that
22:36
improved everything that the first game did.
22:39
It's incredibly impressive. The world is full of life, it's
22:43
breathing while you play it. Like, this game is literally
22:47
alive when you're playing endless possibilities.
22:50
The quests are amazing. Expedition 33, though, is a game
22:54
that I just want to cap. I need to sit with.
22:57
I think I need to sit alone. Play this game for a while, let
23:00
it encapsulate my attention because what I'm seeing in this
23:04
game, I love the story I'm liking a lot.
23:09
I got to get used to the gameplay.
23:11
I have to get used to a lot with Expedition 33, but I'm liking
23:16
what I'm touching with this game.
23:19
I just need to play it more. So yeah, my my prediction is
23:23
Expedition Expedition 33, but my pick is KCD 2 John.
23:28
My pick and prediction both are Expedition 33.
23:32
I think this is my favorite game of the year altogether.
23:35
I know that's not this topic, but it'll come up for sure.
23:41
Oh yes, I'm sure I can see. I love the the the RPG elements
23:48
of the build diversity, even if it's not the strongest build.
23:51
There is more than one build for every character.
23:54
There's plenty of them except for maybe 1 I think.
23:59
And I just, I really like it. And.
24:03
There's tons of weapons to encourage different play styles,
24:06
everything. Right.
24:08
And to say for KCD 2, it's it's a different style of RPG in that
24:12
record in that you can do sort of different builds.
24:15
I would say it does not have the the width or the breadth of of
24:19
variety that E 33 provides just because of the nature of the way
24:24
both games are presented. But I think KCD does that
24:29
differently in the fact of how your choices can affect things a
24:32
lot more and. For sure.
24:34
Through individual quests and things like that and also has a
24:37
bit different style of quests and the world is obviously much.
24:42
I would say it's one, it's definitely probably bigger in
24:44
terms of a like map size thing, but also if that's that's also a
24:49
different layout than E 33 as well.
24:52
So they played a different strength, which is why it was
24:55
tough for me in a lot of ways to choose, especially after the
24:58
past couple weeks of me playing E 33.
25:03
Oh shit, dude. Yes, yeah, John, I will give you
25:07
best action, but I will take best action adventure.
25:11
OK, so Brody for his pick and prediction chose Silk Song.
25:16
That's just that's expected. I expected.
25:19
Yeah, yeah, My pick of prediction is Death Stranding
25:22
too. This game was quite the
25:24
adventure, Tons of good action in it, but the adventure is
25:28
really the keyword here. Like for me it was the adventure
25:33
of Death Stranding too. Seeing all the things that were
25:35
improved upon in the first game. It's still not a game for
25:39
everybody. This is not a game everyone's
25:41
going to enjoy. I think Hideo smells his own
25:45
farts, and I love the guy, I love him, but he smells his own
25:48
fucking farts, dude. This game very much is a lot of
25:51
that. Like artists on itself, it does
25:55
insist upon itself. It's insist on itself.
25:58
This, this game was beautiful. From the moment you load the
26:01
game up, you the from where the game starts you and onward, it's
26:06
like, wow, this is this. It's a journey.
26:08
It is. It is literally Sam's journey
26:12
through grief and it was a very beautiful game.
26:17
I, I implore anybody who hasn't played it yet, who has APS 5 to
26:20
please play this game. It it, it was a very good
26:23
experience and I've cried, I cried 3 times during that game.
26:27
It just hit me as a dad, as a like as a father.
26:31
It really fucked me up a good amount of time.
26:33
So I was like, God, I don't want to watch that again.
26:35
I don't want to have to play that again.
26:37
It just hurt. So that that's stranding too,
26:39
Man is my pick and prediction, Evan.
26:42
Nice. My pick is Indiana Jones.
26:45
My prediction is Silk Song. I don't think Silksong is going
26:50
to be winning some of the other later categories that we'll get
26:54
to. So I think it's going to get its
26:55
its flowers in this category. Specifically my pick being
26:59
Indiana Jones is because of also that same reason I don't think
27:03
it will be getting any awards of I don't know if it's even
27:06
nominated. I don't remember at the higher
27:07
categories. It should have been, honestly.
27:10
There's We'll get there. We'll talk.
27:12
You will see, right. But like, this is this game was
27:16
just it, it was like a childhood thing for me.
27:20
I remember watching the original movies in my uncle's like
27:24
basement. He had a furnished basement.
27:26
He had a projector that would go onto the wall and he would play
27:29
like old movies all the time. And yeah, Indiana Jones was one
27:33
of those, along with like the original Planet of the Apes
27:36
movies and stuff like that. And this was it was just to to
27:41
be able to play a game where you could have all of those moments
27:44
and to feel like it was made in that regard with a lot of love
27:48
and recognition and inspiration of those films.
27:52
I mean, even the beginning is basically just a straight B copy
27:55
of a video game version of the beginning of the first movie.
27:58
So it's like, do you know you can't go wrong with that?
28:03
Where do you go wrong? It doesn't.
28:04
It's. And also we'll talk about Indies
28:10
voice later, but that's, that was also a big part of it for me
28:13
too, John. My pick was Silksong, but my
28:20
prediction is Indiana Jones. I think Indiana Jones is
28:25
synonymous with the term adventure.
28:28
Yeah, absolutely. Right.
28:29
That's what the entire premise is about.
28:33
I'm not confident in actually how much it will win, but I
28:36
really, really wanted to. It needs to win something dude.
28:42
I agree because they did a really good job with it from
28:45
what I thought. I think it has a great quality
28:48
to it. I think the the combat is fun.
28:51
The puzzles are challenging in the way you would want them to
28:53
be. They don't feel like.
28:54
It's witty, too. Yeah.
28:56
Oh, it's very witty. It's very funny.
28:58
It's and it's, it feels like it's all that sort of humor.
29:02
That it's Indiana Jones. Yeah, it's it's all that humor.
29:06
It embodies it. Dude, they, they, they really
29:08
knocked it out of the park with trying to portray Indiana Jones
29:11
with this game. I I think they did a great job.
29:15
Yeah, doing all this good, doing all the disguises and stuff too.
29:18
It's hilarious. You know, it's like it has this
29:20
sort of hitman goofiness to it, but like, also it works.
29:23
This is what he this is what he would actually do.
29:25
Indie. Yeah.
29:26
Yeah, wrong. You know it's machine games,
29:28
right? Yes.
29:30
I really wanted to get back on the map so we get another
29:32
Wolfenstein game please. Thursday, we don't know.
29:35
We don't know what's happening Thursday.
29:37
We could see some, probably not. That I I would hope for that,
29:40
but. Either either that or Quake and
29:42
I'm happy. I'll I will suck my little thumb
29:44
and go. Boomer shooter.
29:48
We've gotten a new Quake before we got a new in Wolfenstein.
29:52
And I won't say, I won't say anything about the other thing
29:55
that I I. Swear.
29:56
Good. Why'd you do that?
29:59
OK, ready for the next one? Yeah.
30:02
It's your category. But that's yours.
30:04
OK, best action game. Birdie's pick was Hades 2.
30:08
Birdie's prediction was also Hades 2.
30:10
And yeah, I got to say I'm I'm with him there.
30:15
My my pick is Hades 2. I loved the first game to death.
30:20
I heavily enjoyed the second game.
30:23
I think it's an overall improvement on the 1st.
30:25
That said, my prediction is actually Doom, not a game I
30:30
actually loved. Personally I which is a shame to
30:32
say because I loved the other two newer Doom games but
30:35
something about the dark ages this didn't encapsulate me as
30:39
well. I got it.
30:42
I got it. Yeah, Kevin.
30:47
My pick is Battlefield 6. My prediction is Doom again.
30:54
For me, it's a, it's just, I actually particularly liked
31:00
Doom, the Dark ages style change again of having sort of a more
31:06
like tank build where you're slower, but I didn't feel
31:10
slower, you know, I felt like they gave me it is you are
31:15
pretty decently fast if you just pay attention to the things that
31:19
teaches you very early on. So you can still feel that way,
31:22
but it combines it with this sort of kinetic like physical
31:26
force, you know, using a couple weapons.
31:29
My only my, my, my big take away for me personally was I
31:33
understand that the, the glory kills would slow you down
31:37
inherently. I wish there was a way where you
31:39
could combine the 2 and and make it faster where you could still
31:44
have those animations because it was a real bummer for me to
31:46
sometimes just kind of continue to do the same like hit here or
31:49
smash here or whatever and like. Mace move, Mace move.
31:53
And it's like, I want to RIP, Yeah.
31:56
I don't know, it made it a bit more I don't like.
31:59
Streamlined. Almost.
32:01
I don't want to say it made me feel more connected to the Doom
32:04
guy, but it was more or less something in in the sense of
32:07
like it spoke to his anger I think in a bit more of a
32:11
different way, right? Like watching him like literally
32:14
tear some demon apart that was like essentially inconsequential
32:18
to him was just like sort of showed his rage a bit better.
32:21
I was going to say, he's literally tearing A lesser demon
32:24
apart. He's taking the time to dig his
32:26
fingers in and then just go right and just.
32:27
RIP Yeah, like in Tear, obviously.
32:30
Like I think that's that's why. But my pick being Battlefield
32:33
was because it captured for me, it captures that that
32:39
battlefield feeling of it being some sort of like just chaotic
32:42
mess in. Battlefield.
32:44
With giving you the the the gun plays pretty fun.
32:50
I love the the modern touches the movement so much better.
32:54
I love the fact that rockets are fast.
32:56
Like that's a huge thing for me as an engineer player and like
33:00
that was a big reason I like it is an action game to me, turning
33:04
on some of the audio settings and turning it all the way up
33:08
and just having a blast and getting.
33:10
Completely ignoring everyone at the voice call.
33:13
Yeah, sorry, but it just, I would get so locked into a
33:24
certain match on trying to unlock a weapon or complete a
33:27
challenge or whatever. And it's like, that's what I
33:28
loved about Battlefield 3 and four and one was getting into
33:32
those like just focused sessions where you're trying to complete
33:37
all these different assignments and you're just doing it as
33:39
efficiently as possible and just having fun while you're doing
33:42
it. It just gives you a sense of
33:44
accomplishment in a way that I didn't find with like Call of
33:47
Duty as a kid. So I feel that in this game.
33:50
So that's why I think it got my pick personally.
33:55
Yeah, Doom and Doom, dude, pick prediction Doom.
34:00
This game is the epitome of an action game.
34:04
It's nonstop stop stomp. You stomp in the game too.
34:10
It's nonstop, brutal fucking action, and it is Doom through
34:15
and through. I don't give a fuck what some of
34:17
these chuds say. Well, he's slow and he's not
34:20
that slow. Shut the fuck up.
34:21
He's really not. This game is an action game
34:24
through and through. There's a bit of horror.
34:26
There's a bit of a little bit of everything that you could want
34:29
in this genre, in this Doom. It's cool.
34:33
They keep trying to reinvent the wheel, to reinvent the wheel.
34:36
And they do it in their own ID way, the way that it started,
34:40
right? Like ID is the reason we have
34:43
what we have today in terms of FPS.
34:46
So why not keep doing cool shit with Doom?
34:49
And they did new weapons, new enemies to a degree, you know,
34:54
different takes on some enemies in a fucking medieval setting.
34:59
Yeah, dude, it's a no fucking brainer.
35:01
It is a, it is a no brainer for Doom.
35:04
The only thing you could do it now is throw Doom guy back in
35:07
time to like our day and age somehow to where he's like on
35:11
the streets of fucking Manhattan killing demons in front of like,
35:16
like the Empire State Building while there's people taking
35:19
selfies and they get eviscerated, right?
35:21
Like this IP, this game is timeless.
35:25
You could do anything you want with Doom and it works because
35:29
it's fucking Doom. Yeah, and that's why this game,
35:34
it pisses me off that this is not even a discussion for game
35:37
of the year. Like what the fuck do you mean
35:41
Keely? It's a statue here, you know,
35:43
they they had to narrow down. There's a lot of.
35:45
You put 80s on there, we'll get there.
35:48
We'll get there, We'll get there.
35:49
We'll get there. Feel like you're kind of
35:51
attacking the wrong guy here. I'll take that.
35:53
I'll take the next category. Next category going back to some
35:58
quicker ones real quick. Best VR/AR game.
36:02
Brody's pick is Arkin Age birdies.
36:05
Prediction is the midnight walk. My pick is Deadpool VR.
36:11
My prediction is alien rogue incursion.
36:14
I have not played Deadpool VR completely forgot it's only on
36:17
the quest 3 store and you can't purchase it on the app for the
36:20
PC. So like I kind of like wish I
36:23
could take these back, but I'm I already filled this out.
36:26
I'm committed to holding on to this potential loss because I
36:29
don't think it's going to win just off of that alone.
36:32
Well that and that is kind of specifically why I chose the
36:35
alien rogue incursion anyway was because I think an alien VR game
36:38
is something you've wanted for such a long time.
36:39
I feel like it's just been people have been waiting for a
36:42
good one and I think that. I want to grab the little mouth.
36:45
Yeah. Like that's kind of my only
36:47
thing is I don't think this one is sort of like that.
36:49
I think it's. Like, I know I'm being an
36:51
asshole. Unfortunately it was a
36:53
masturbatory joke, you know? Anyways, I made it weird.
36:59
Nick, Nick, do you want to talk about your picking prediction or
37:02
John, do you want to do this? I I, I, you know, I can just get
37:06
a smooth one right past that, we'll get back to you, Nick.
37:09
So my pick is the midnight walk. I feel like a really cool art
37:15
style and I, I really fucked with it.
37:18
I did not, however, know anything about that Deadpool VR
37:22
situation until you talked about it mere seconds ago, since
37:26
that's my prediction. So I'm, I'm going for, I think
37:30
it'll blow everything else out of the water because Marvel fans
37:34
will buy anything called titled Marvel.
37:37
My brother, I told him that I wanted to get it, which is by
37:41
the way, that's why I didn't get it was 'cause it was $50 and I
37:43
was like okay, so no way. And then?
37:45
It's cool down. Yeah, I'll wait for a sale or
37:48
something like that. But then I told my brother I was
37:51
like, yeah, but I think I'm going to get that Deadpool VR
37:53
game. And he looked at me and he went,
37:54
there's a Deadpool VR game. And I was like, well, that goes
37:57
to show how many people know about this.
38:01
He went. I think they they really, they
38:03
really flopped the marketing on that because I remember seeing
38:05
the trailer and like, it looked pretty good.
38:08
Your voice sounded good and everything.
38:11
Yeah, Neil. Patrick Harris did a pretty good
38:14
impression. Yeah, you love MPH.
38:18
Yeah, so heads up, boys, the next title, you got to run
38:23
through it without me. I got to run upstairs really
38:25
quick. Go tell my son to get back in
38:26
bed. But.
38:29
I my pick is Alien Rogue Incursion and my prediction is
38:35
Deadpool VR. So I do want to touch on this.
38:38
As Evan said an alien game in VR is perfect.
38:41
Like, why would you not want to be haunted by the Xenomorph?
38:45
I could think of VR like million reasons.
38:49
There's a lot of reasons, but. But but the experience.
38:52
But the experience alone is awesome.
38:56
Additionally, why would you not want to be the Merc with the
38:59
mouth in VR doing all the cool shit that Deadpool can do?
39:04
That is fucking awesome. I had.
39:07
I would be remiss if I didn't give flowers to the midnight
39:10
walk though. This is a game that I have loved
39:13
from the moment I laid eyes on it.
39:16
The claymation style, the little pot boy, all of what they do
39:20
that Studio Moonhead does is awesome.
39:24
This is a fucking awesome title. The Midnight Walk.
39:29
I love this fucking style. I need to play it still.
39:32
I've been wanting to play since it was announced and I need this
39:35
is a game I need to touch. But my pick is Alien and my
39:39
prediction is Deadpool. Now I'm going to get more
39:41
whiskey and go tell myself to go to get back in bed.
39:44
You boys, if I'm not that time, just do it.
39:47
We'll we'll run through the next one.
39:49
I'll take it cuz I want John to take the next one after.
39:54
OK, so moving on from that, our our next category is best mobile
40:01
game. Brody's pick is Destiny Rising
40:05
and his prediction Is it Uma Musume if I'm saying that.
40:10
Correctly. I'm pretty sure that's how you
40:12
pronounce it. Nick's pick is Destiny Rising
40:16
and Persona 5 The Phantom X, my pick is Sonic Rumble, and my
40:23
prediction is Uma Mussame. Mostly just because that was the
40:26
one I heard the most about out of everything on this list.
40:30
So I just think it's going to win just because it seems pretty
40:33
popular. Whether in?
40:34
Your age. Sounds interesting too.
40:37
Yeah, I was going to say, Is that why yours are yours?
40:40
Lutheran raises another one of those gotcha games.
40:43
I'm not. I think those are predatory as
40:46
heck. Sure, obviously I'm allowed to
40:49
curse on this on this podcast. I don't know why I said heck,
40:51
but anyways, you. Said channel on TV really to
40:58
curse on your end. My my pick is also Uma Masume in
41:03
my prediction, as well as Uma Masume because it's the one I
41:06
heard the most about and I know it's I know I know it's like
41:09
anime girl horse racing, which sounds very anime.
41:15
Yeah. Yeah, I I will say full stop,
41:19
have not played any of these on this list, but did not.
41:22
Shambling horror back there. Did you see that?
41:25
No, I just didn't see him. Oh yeah, Who else would be?
41:29
Look at him. He got an old battle.
41:34
Got an old battle on more ice cubes?
41:39
Be cool, where are we at? We just finished.
41:42
We just finished up my. Category mobile game So John.
41:45
Mobile game bullshit. Yeah, he wanted me to do indie
41:48
game. Best debut indie game?
41:51
Brody's pick was dispatch, Bernie's prediction was
41:54
dispatched, my pick was dispatched and my prediction was
41:58
dispatched. I believe Expedition 33 is on
42:02
debut indie game. I I kind of left, left the
42:05
nominees on the other tab because I'm only working with
42:08
one monitor and things a little difficult.
42:10
It is. It is on that list, yeah.
42:12
I do not think Expedition 33 should be on this category.
42:18
Well, it is the studios. Very first what?
42:20
No no no, it's not backed by Microsoft.
42:23
I thought it was. They're backed by Kepler
42:25
Interactive. There's their publisher.
42:28
OK, while it is Sand Fall's first game, and it's a hell of a
42:33
good one, I think that immediately disqualifies them
42:37
from the indie genre is to have a big publisher like that.
42:41
I felt the same way when people call Risk of Ray 2A game.
42:46
I also love a indie game when they're backed by Gearbox
42:50
despite it being Hope who's second game.
42:55
But they're backed by a huge company.
42:57
I don't know how big Kapler is, I've never heard of them before
43:00
decently. I think they might have
43:01
published one other or two other games, but with no shade to
43:08
Expedition 33 I just don't think it should be in this category
43:11
personally. Nick, what are your thoughts on
43:17
the indie game? Dispatch and dispatch this I
43:21
mean, flowers go to blueprints as well.
43:24
Yeah, I mean that that that is a game that I remember coming out
43:28
on the Xbox store and people going, hey, this is a game like
43:31
you actually people were taking like they would do because I
43:34
don't really know how this game is played.
43:36
I know it's like each room has a thing there.
43:39
It's it's crazy. People were like doing notes,
43:42
like handwritten notes, like if this happens, do this or like go
43:46
in this room in sequential. It's crazy.
43:48
So that game really cool deserves its flowers like big.
43:53
But Dispatch was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful experience,
43:59
and it's a game style I love. Like I love The Walking Dead
44:02
games from Oh my God. Telltale What's?
44:06
That telltale. Telltale.
44:08
Telltale. I love The Walking Dead games.
44:10
I love those games. My wife liked The Wolf Among Us
44:13
a lot. And for this to be Ad Hoc's
44:17
first game, Technically yes. You have some Telltale devs you
44:22
know from the old. Studio but.
44:23
I mean, it's still as their studio's first game.
44:27
This is impressive. This was a masterpiece in
44:30
storytelling. The game is pretty to look at,
44:33
the acting is on point, the sound design is amazing.
44:38
The the the actual dispatching mini game is just on point.
44:44
This game does no wrong in my opinion.
44:47
Every choice has a consequence. This is a master class and how
44:52
to do something fucking cool and release it the way they did.
44:55
And I don't care what people say about the episodic releases.
44:58
That was sweet. It made me feel like I was
45:00
waiting either for an episode of ATV show to come out or I was
45:03
waiting for a comic book like an issue to come out.
45:07
This was cool. Everything about this was cool
45:09
and I loved every moment I had with this game I got to.
45:12
Say, you know, going back to that bright, let's just skip
45:15
over Evan real quick, even though this is about him.
45:18
If I had not experienced Dispatch in the way I
45:21
experienced, you know, when Evan got it, we would sit down and
45:24
we'll play it together and we would kind of just wait for
45:27
episodes together as a group and he would stream it and it was
45:31
streamed his episodes. And I think that was a very core
45:34
thing for me to experience. I think if I had not experienced
45:37
it that way, I probably would have picked the blueprints.
45:41
But in just the way I consumed Dispatch with, with all my
45:45
friends and we treated it like it was a show.
45:47
I I literally called it turn on my show Evan whenever he would
45:51
go to stream it. Yeah, every, every.
45:53
What? Tuesday it was.
45:55
Wednesday, it was every Wednesday.
45:56
Every Wednesday. Wednesday is New Comic book day.
45:58
That is so fucking cool. That's when new comics are
46:02
released. It's every Wednesday.
46:04
Like this game embodies that. And I, I loved every fucking
46:08
moment of this game. Absolutely.
46:10
Holy shit I like dispatch. Under you.
46:13
Sorry to completely separate myself from the rest of the
46:17
group. My pick and prediction are also
46:20
both dispatch the entire game. Spreadsheet is just dispatch by.
46:28
The way it's just dispatch across the board, yeah, as both
46:32
of these guys said about it, everything about this game was
46:37
memorable. It was the music, it was the the
46:43
acting is incredible. It's the the voice acting is is
46:48
perfect. It's got this blend of humor and
46:52
sincerity and the story itself presents you with so many
46:56
different choices. It's like it's like they studied
46:59
tell tales method of of making those games and said, how can we
47:02
improve on this tenfold? Because it it feels so much
47:06
better than any of those did in terms of its flow, its pace.
47:09
It feels like ATV show where you're watching it and there's
47:12
like every title card was different on its intro and like
47:18
you felt like the choices you made in each episode mattered,
47:20
but you weren't really sure. But like the I remember playing
47:24
it one of the episodes where I said what one of the beautiful
47:27
things I love about it. And this is entirely subjective
47:31
as all of these, as all of our opinions are, obviously.
47:33
But like, this was something for me where I could pick an option.
47:38
And you know, there are certain games like Mass Effect where you
47:41
see an option and you see it's Paragon and you click it and he
47:45
says exactly what you see. And that's exactly what you
47:48
hear. This is a game where, and
47:51
Telltale did this, where you would see a sentence or like a
47:54
phrase and that would be the thing you'd pick.
47:56
And then sometimes that phrase, like the rest of what they would
48:00
say was not really in line with what I've meant.
48:03
Like it wasn't really necessarily the option I I
48:05
should have picked. I guess this game felt like I
48:09
could look at any of the options, all of them with
48:12
complete honesty. I could pick the one I want and
48:14
I felt it was a real answer. Representative.
48:17
Of what you picked. Yeah, without spoiling anything,
48:20
there are a couple of decisions where you have to choose to
48:23
defend someone or not. And in choosing that option, I
48:28
felt like it was a defense that not only defended the person in
48:32
in question, but also gave room to the rest of the crew.
48:36
That was like, not only am I doing this for this person, I
48:39
would do it for any one of you. And it's like, that's exactly
48:42
how I felt personally. You know, it wasn't something
48:44
where I'm writing the rest of them off as I think some other
48:48
like games may have done, just because of how their stories are
48:52
structured. That's what was beautiful about
48:54
this, is that any sort of decision felt like it mattered.
48:57
So you wanted to approach each one with your real intentions.
49:02
You wanted to actually play it in the way that you think it
49:04
mattered. I don't know.
49:05
I thought it was a beautiful master class and storytelling
49:10
and comedy. It's very funny.
49:12
The dispatching mini game is incredible.
49:15
It has I want to. I just want that.
49:18
It has depth to it, it has humor to it, it has some honest to God
49:22
great like premises for a dispatching superheroes idea.
49:27
It takes a lot of strategy to get those things right.
49:29
It's even better when you learn the secrets or like the
49:33
understanding of synergy and putting the characters together
49:35
with the people they work best with and seeing how they
49:38
interact and how that improves and how that actually does
49:41
matter to the rest of the game. You know, that matters to your
49:44
story is how well did you actually get these people to
49:46
work together? Which is another reason why I
49:48
think it wins this category, because it felt like it just has
49:52
all heart and it all really matters.
49:54
And the choices that you pick and yeah, watching it together
49:57
or playing it together as a as a group was definitely my a reason
50:03
for it too. Go ahead the.
50:04
Coolest shit with this game as well was meeting up with Evan at
50:10
work and going OK what did you pick like where where did you
50:16
end up? Cuz like the way Evan and I
50:17
would do this was Evan would stream it for the entire spawn
50:21
camp. Yeah and everybody would watch.
50:23
It was cool cuz I would be looking at Evan a stream going
50:25
OK, I just want to see who's watching.
50:28
And I would disconnect from Evan's stream and I would play
50:30
it by myself. Yeah.
50:32
I'd deafen and play and we would talk the next day and go, OK, so
50:35
I and it's just cool to see like where we would land on those
50:38
choices. Same with Brody.
50:40
Brody was like, yeah, what did you do?
50:42
Or this is what I did and this is the result And we would just
50:45
talk and like we are not all far off from like what each other
50:48
do. Also this game made me
50:50
incredibly hard and horny at times.
50:52
Wow, OK. Anyways, so I'll do the next
50:57
category. Yeah, you should.
50:59
Please. Good act like that one scene
51:02
didn't get anyone else fucking a stiffy.
51:06
That one scene. Yeah, act like it.
51:09
I dare you. And there were supposed to be
51:10
more sex scenes and there wasn't and that makes me mad.
51:13
Anyways, cartoons are sweet and it's OK to masturbate the
51:17
hentai. It is that is.
51:19
It is. It's OK.
51:20
You want to fucking blow your little dance?
51:22
That's cool. Dude.
51:24
We got best Nick Jeff Keeley Hire us.
51:28
We're we are so marketable. It's unreal.
51:31
Dude, talking about my hard penis.
51:34
Best independent game? The studios want to work with us
51:39
too. So Brody's pick was Claire
51:41
Obscure and his prediction was Claire Obscure.
51:46
My pick was Silk Song and Silk Song.
51:53
My pick was a Hades 2 but my but my prediction was E 33.
52:05
You know, I think it'll win it regardless.
52:07
I think it'll sweep. It's the same points I had with
52:10
the last category. I don't really think it should
52:12
be here so that's why it's not my pick personally.
52:15
Gotcha pick. I chose Silksong, by the way.
52:19
I'm so sorry, Evan. You're good.
52:21
What did you not say? Yours.
52:23
No, I, well, I said my stuff. My pick a prediction is Silksong
52:28
because this game literally killed every online marketplace.
52:32
Yeah, it was predicted. When it released, it destroyed
52:35
it killed Steam. It killed what, fucking EA or
52:40
what? No, not EA.
52:42
Yeah, EA. Microsoft Store.
52:43
No, no, no, Epic. He killed Epic.
52:45
Or he killed. Epic, Microsoft, Nintendo.
52:48
This came dropped and everyone went Gimme Gimme and everything
52:52
crashed and died. So cool, so cool for.
52:55
The IT was very funny. No, it was pretty cool.
52:58
I thought that was funny because I remember messaging Steve on
53:00
the day and going like, did you get it?
53:02
He's like I'm waiting. I can't, he said.
53:05
I can't, yeah. Yeah, my pick in prediction for
53:08
this category is Expedition 33. It's the one I've spent the most
53:11
time in out of everything on this list.
53:13
And it's it's it's wonderful. We'll talk about it later.
53:20
Yes, you want me to take this one?
53:24
I can do it really quick. If you want to, it's up to you.
53:27
Yeah, yeah, May as well. There's a couple we can kind of
53:29
go through still here. Best community supports.
53:35
So Brody's pick was Balder's Gate 3, his prediction is
53:38
Balder's Gate 3, my pick is Balder's Gate 3, and my
53:41
prediction is Balder's Gate 3. You cannot go wrong with Larian.
53:45
They they know what their community wants and they know
53:50
what they want to do and they do it and it's awesome.
53:54
Ballers Gate 3 is the gift that keeps on giving and I need to
53:58
finish the game. So it's ironic that I say this,
54:02
but that corrupted save file has forever hurt my feelings.
54:08
Just go back to the. Game I still love this game.
54:10
Just go back to the game. I know it's such a Ballers gate.
54:13
The thing with Ballers gate is it's such a.
54:15
This is a game where it'll forever be imprinted in my
54:18
memory as a game that encapsulated entire discord.
54:22
Because if you bought this game, this is what you were playing.
54:25
It was a beautiful, awesome time to play this game when it
54:30
released because of all the cool shit it was doing and all about
54:33
me things people are doing. Evan bought me Baldur's Gate 3,
54:36
to which I greatly gratefully appreciate, and I preceded to do
54:39
nothing but Baldur's Gate 3 for the next 300 in game hours.
54:43
Yeah, dude. It was it was just that
54:45
experience. But yeah, I.
54:46
No, I got it for Matt as well. I got it for, obviously myself.
54:51
I took a day off. Alex.
54:53
I got it for Alex because it was a game that I felt everyone
54:56
should play because it really changed my opinion as to, like,
55:00
no other game. Like, RPG now is a term that to
55:03
me, it's like if you asked for my best RPG, it's always going
55:07
to be Baldur's Gate. Like, yeah, it's truly just one
55:11
of the best games I've ever played in terms of, again, the
55:15
the breadth, the the width of my decisions.
55:18
Like I can get involved in so many things and I can affect so
55:21
many choices and I can like I I was also very deep into AD and D
55:26
phase at that time. So it was very much something
55:29
where it was like an addiction, like the physical act of rolling
55:34
dice like and getting a good number and stuff like that,
55:37
which is great because I don't like gambling and like, I'm, I'm
55:40
really happy that like, I like, just I, I like, I know you, I
55:43
know you love gambling, but I. 88 fortunes, baby.
55:47
I, I, but I love D&D in terms of just rolling the dice and trying
55:51
to get like a natural 20 and, and getting one of those,
55:53
especially on something where you really need it, you know,
55:56
and, and you like get to continue your story or like even
55:59
funnier when we would play together and it's like, all
56:02
right, this arm of the trap, you need a 10 natural one.
56:07
It's like, oh shit, boys. We're all.
56:10
Everybody just goes, ah, get going.
56:12
It's like, OK, well, we're going to die here and like to to speak
56:17
specifically on the community support side of things.
56:20
This is a game that yes has has just kept on giving like Larian
56:24
has provided us so many after like release treats.
56:29
Even when they said they were done.
56:30
Yeah, they're like, oh, by the way, we're kidding.
56:33
Here's more. Well, and they were like, they
56:35
were like, by the way, here's here, Hey, here's our last
56:38
update. We're we're going to like really
56:39
stop a lot of like major content patches after this, but we hope
56:44
you'll be happy with the last thing.
56:45
And it's like, what's that? And it's like O2 subclasses for
56:47
every class. So what?
56:50
What like that's your that's your end.
56:53
That's awesome. Like, are you serious?
56:55
Like you're giving us so many. I think it was 2, right, John?
56:58
It was 2 per it was one per it. Was one per class, yeah.
57:01
So then that race, which is what, like two or three per I
57:05
think it Yeah, no, I'm I it. Kind of varies because wizard
57:08
has a fuck ton, cleric has a fuck ton, but some barbarian has
57:11
four now like. I think Rangers only has 3 or 4.
57:16
The rogue has four, yeah. But not only that, giving us an
57:24
in game mod manager, you know, completely increases the amount
57:30
of choices and funnies like just being able to do some goofier
57:34
stuff with people or give like the I can't remember the the
57:39
name is like the astral Sears. Something like that was the
57:41
class I played last with John. And that alone has like 5 or 6
57:46
different subclasses that have it's entirely it's it's own set
57:49
of everything and it's just like this is perfect.
57:52
Like I wish that it was a game we could play consistently
57:56
because of how fun it is. Like same here.
58:00
You should have Nick actually finish it.
58:03
I would love to play it with Nick, but I actually haven't
58:06
given my picks or predictions yet.
58:07
And this is where I kind of have to vary a little bit.
58:10
Just crazy. But my pick for best community
58:13
support was Hell Divers. My prediction was No Man's Sky,
58:18
I think. I think Hell Divers is a very
58:22
unique case because they keep fucking up, but their community
58:27
keeps coming back. And I think that really goes to
58:30
show how how good of a game Hell Divers is at its base.
58:34
Yeah, because this, this game has had so many oh fuck it's
58:38
over moments. When it comes to development
58:41
computers. Yeah, yeah.
58:43
No, that that was, that was. Fucked, that's a oh, that's a
58:45
big oh fuck. And, and I won't deny that, but
58:48
you know what? It's coming back again.
58:50
I know, and I don't think hell. Divers, dude, I, I think it is
58:53
that I think it is that that feeling that people just keep
58:57
coming back to it that makes it a, such a unique, such a good
59:03
base game experience. I will always give my foul
59:06
flowers to Larry and bars. The A3 was my game of the year
59:10
last year. However, my pick or my
59:14
prediction is No Man's Sky. We're no stranger to how Hello
59:18
Games has continued to support No Man's Sky throughout the
59:21
years, from from Total Flop, Scam, whatever they called it at
59:27
the start, to a prosperous multiplayer environment at that
59:31
point. At this point, yeah.
59:33
Those were the days. But you can't, you can't
59:36
discredit them. They they could have taken their
59:38
money and ran, but they didn't. They've stuck with it and made
59:41
it into something that people love and they continue to update
59:45
it for free all the time. Yes.
59:51
Yes, indeed so. That is why it's my prediction
59:53
personally. Fuck yeah.
59:59
Who's next, Nick? Is this you or me?
1:00:01
I could do it really quick cuz this is kind of a fast one.
1:00:05
Yeah. Evan's good with the talking
1:00:07
thing. So we got best ongoing.
1:00:11
Brody chose Marvel Rivals. His pick is that was his pick.
1:00:15
His prediction Is No Man's Sky. My pick is No Man's Sky, and my
1:00:23
prediction is No Man's Sky. This game, as John was saying
1:00:27
with Hello Games, is Hello Games has taken this game from No Man
1:00:32
by to No Man's Sky. Sky's the limit with this game
1:00:37
at this point, dude. Like the the stuff that they
1:00:39
just give out, it's all free. If you have the game, you have
1:00:43
what they're giving out and it is awesome.
1:00:46
They're ambitious. They're hitting the mark now.
1:00:49
This game is just the game that keeps on giving.
1:00:55
You just can't beat No Man's Sky Man.
1:00:56
It's awesome. It is cool to see where they
1:00:59
started to where they're at now. And I think it's it's it's truly
1:01:04
a testament to a studio going fuck, we fucked up.
1:01:09
This is not the game we set out to make to we're not giving up.
1:01:13
Let's do it. Let's make the thing we said we
1:01:15
were going to make. Let's do it.
1:01:18
And now we got the game that they promised.
1:01:20
We've had the game that they promised.
1:01:22
And it's so cool. Quite some time, and it's
1:01:23
amazing. It's awesome, yeah.
1:01:25
And there's a VR for it. That that's a good point.
1:01:28
We we've had the game they've promised at some point and now
1:01:31
it's so much further beyond what the initial scope of the game
1:01:35
was. Right.
1:01:37
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's, it's huge.
1:01:39
It's awesome. So that is why I picked it
1:01:42
twice, Evan. My pick and prediction as well
1:01:46
is also No Man's Sky, much for the same reasons both John and
1:01:49
Nick have already said to just, like, quickly add to it.
1:01:55
Yeah, like my biggest, like my favorite updates they've given
1:01:58
out in just the past, like year and a half have been the world's
1:02:00
updates. Because that's mostly why I love
1:02:03
space games is the variety and depth at which you can encounter
1:02:07
different types of planets that look different, have different
1:02:11
types of biomes, dangers, animals, materials, minerals,
1:02:17
you know, components, whatever, you know, like crash spaceships,
1:02:20
whatever. That is a big reason as to why I
1:02:23
play space centric games, you know, like this game or Star
1:02:29
Citizen or Stelaris or whatever. It's just the, the amount of
1:02:33
variety that you can come across.
1:02:35
And that was a, that that's a, that was a big interest for me
1:02:39
when the world's updates came out because it was, oh, you're
1:02:43
actually like completely redoing how all of these can come
1:02:46
across. Like you're adding all these and
1:02:48
not only just completely redoing the current stuff like the, the
1:02:51
water and like grass and you know, vegetation, things like
1:02:54
that. But now you're also adding all
1:02:57
of these other types of planets and you're adding a whole new
1:03:01
star system type that has gas giants.
1:03:04
And now you can fly into the gas giants.
1:03:07
And like the idea to me, like I've always had this cool idea
1:03:12
that I've wanted to do in a game like Star Citizen if and when it
1:03:15
ever gets released in some sort of large capacity.
1:03:18
And like they complete a lot of that stuff, especially the
1:03:20
planets and stars and all that. The idea of being able to build
1:03:24
a home or a base on a moon of a gas giant and just being able to
1:03:29
see that as like your sky every morning was always like a really
1:03:32
cool idea to me. And I did that several times
1:03:33
with people in the discord where we would build, you know, base
1:03:38
somewhere on a, on a perfect or like a paradise moon or a
1:03:41
paradise planet, something that was like, you know, where you
1:03:43
could, you had no real dangers to worry about, so to speak.
1:03:47
And then you would have this beautiful sky of, you know, like
1:03:51
a ring or two or you would see planets close by in the distance
1:03:54
or whatever. And it was like that.
1:03:56
That is what No Man's Sky has continued to provide as you guys
1:03:59
said and it just keeps getting better and better.
1:04:03
It like it continues to just improve completely.
1:04:05
Again for free. I couldn't give them money if I
1:04:07
wanted to, which is kind of a bummer actually because I would
1:04:09
I would literally give them money.
1:04:11
I would be like especially for. Their next project?
1:04:13
And that's what I'm hoping to see if it, if there's one thing
1:04:16
I'll say I I want to see on Thursday is I want to see some
1:04:20
sort of release date or more things on light no fire.
1:04:24
Because when I see that they're like, yeah, it's a four player,
1:04:27
you know, Co-op game where you and your friends have to
1:04:30
traverse the world and it's like your entire own earth and it's
1:04:34
completely separate from four other people's earth.
1:04:36
And you're going to have to like cross oceans and you're going to
1:04:40
have to climb mountains or go through mountains or go under
1:04:42
things and you're going to have to do all this stuff together.
1:04:44
It's like, let's take my money. Like how?
1:04:48
How do I get the collector? The minute I can like yeah,
1:04:52
exactly the collector. The minute you.
1:04:54
Tell is there a collector's edition?
1:04:55
Can I, how do I give you money? Like I, I believe you guys will
1:04:58
do it because now you guys have learned.
1:05:01
I don't even fault them anymore. But like you, you guys have
1:05:04
learned the, the lessons of your launch and how that went.
1:05:07
But you have improved in such a way where it's like, I truly
1:05:10
don't believe that you're going to ever let that happen again.
1:05:13
And even if it does happen again, for some reason that's
1:05:15
out of their control, I trust that they will get it right if
1:05:18
they're given the the ability to.
1:05:21
I definitely don't think they'll get it perfect on launch.
1:05:25
Let's be honest. That's a totally unrealistic
1:05:26
expectation. However, they have proven
1:05:29
themselves that they are willing to dedicate their time and their
1:05:32
effort to improving what is there on launch.
1:05:36
Well, and I will add to that too, all of the stuff they're
1:05:39
putting in No Man's Sky, like the world's update, they have
1:05:41
said is tech from light, no fire.
1:05:43
So they are getting all the data from that to improve, which I
1:05:47
think is very, very interesting because if that works, it's.
1:05:51
It's also very smart. Like if it comes out, if it
1:05:54
comes out and it's completely, perfectly fine, like it's
1:05:57
optimized and runs great. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
1:05:59
Yeah. Like we know it works if it fits
1:06:00
right into No Man's Sky perfectly fine.
1:06:03
Like. But here's my question, do we
1:06:06
allow hello to have one more flop on release?
1:06:11
Like not allow? Allow is the wrong word.
1:06:13
Do do we accept I guess. I don't.
1:06:17
Think in flop will happen? Even if the game is southern.
1:06:21
But I don't think in. Flop by flop I mean do we accept
1:06:26
another No Man's Sky AKA no man by do we accept that again
1:06:32
because that was a hard pill to swallow and it.
1:06:35
Still is a. Crush looking back, well, it
1:06:38
still is. It's like, yes, the game is
1:06:40
where it's at now and it has been for a long time, but do we
1:06:45
accept another? We're getting there.
1:06:50
Take this for now from the. Studio.
1:06:53
I mean, I don't think I would. Why wouldn't we?
1:06:56
We. We.
1:06:56
Accept I understand that, but I know where we get to the end
1:07:00
point. The end point is sweet, but
1:07:03
don't make a promise for the start point.
1:07:06
Well, I mean, we don't know anything though.
1:07:08
They haven't said anything correctly.
1:07:09
Then I'm just curious about how you guys feel about if it comes
1:07:12
out and it's where No Man's Sky was, even if it's where No Man,
1:07:18
OK? I treat I treat battlefields the
1:07:20
same way. I have been a Battlefield fan
1:07:22
for a very long time and consistently Battlefield 3-4,
1:07:27
Hardline 15 and 2042 of all had terrible launches.
1:07:31
They have all been fixed in some way shape or another. 2042 is
1:07:35
the scar that remains and a. Lot of other.
1:07:38
People remember the other bad times of the other ones, but
1:07:41
like they have gotten it right after those have happened, which
1:07:46
is rebuilt Faith and Battlefield 6 came out and has been for me
1:07:50
virtually perfect. So I believe that they can
1:07:54
continue to do it. So it's like if light no fire
1:07:57
comes out and it's I mean, at this point they've already said
1:08:01
and shown the thing they want it to be, which is a four player
1:08:04
explore the earth and do these like quests around as you do it.
1:08:07
So like I believe they've since they've already shown it three
1:08:10
years ago now at this point or two years ago, like they've
1:08:14
already built that we've seen it.
1:08:16
So like, I, I would be hard pressed to find if it turns out
1:08:20
to be completely different than what they've already shown.
1:08:24
But also if it isn't something like where it's like they said,
1:08:27
this could happen, but you can't do this depending on what it is.
1:08:30
It's like, I'm still going to go, you know, let them let them
1:08:33
work on it and give it, give them their their time.
1:08:36
Because we have played so many other games from bigger studios,
1:08:40
smaller studios that have had those types of moments where we
1:08:44
give them their time. That leeway?
1:08:47
Yeah. And I think Hello is Apps has
1:08:49
more than any of those studios deserved it more of our trust.
1:08:53
They came back the best in my opinion.
1:08:54
Because again, a lot of these games they come out and they do
1:08:58
get fixed, but sometimes those things cost money or they take
1:09:02
time, like an extra like long amount of time.
1:09:05
Where is No Man's Sky does not even have in game transactions.
1:09:09
Like yeah. Absolutely.
1:09:11
You know, you know, like Cyberpunk's a great example.
1:09:15
I mean, yes, you got the update for free, but you also if you
1:09:18
wanted to get the full experience now, you had to pay
1:09:19
$30 again, you had to pay $30 and get the DLC or $20, however
1:09:24
much it was and. It was a great time.
1:09:26
But it was it was great. But it's another $30 on a game
1:09:29
you already spent potentially 60-70 dollars.
1:09:33
On spent the full amount I could I.
1:09:34
However, I don't know what it was at the time, but yeah, John,
1:09:38
sorry you have to say yours. Yeah, I have just my little
1:09:41
piece right before we get on that theoretical Nick is why I
1:09:45
don't pre-order games anymore. I want I want light no fire to
1:09:50
succeed. If it is successful, the
1:09:52
reception is good on much I will buy it.
1:09:55
However, I will not pre-order. It's not from a place of malice.
1:09:59
I just think it is stupid to pay for something before before you
1:10:04
can see. I think it is stupid to pay for
1:10:05
a promise before there is a product.
1:10:07
I get it. Yeah.
1:10:10
With that being said. Though, John, yeah, we should.
1:10:12
We should move on. No.
1:10:14
What's your pick and prediction? Oh, right, yeah, I haven't.
1:10:18
Sorry. We've been so held up on this I
1:10:20
forgot. For a moment we got some
1:10:22
movement to make boys. Best ongoing game.
1:10:26
My pick is hell divers. I love hell divers and but I'll
1:10:30
be honest, you know both of the both my pick and my prediction
1:10:35
being no man's guy have the same reasons as I listed in best
1:10:39
community support I. Gotcha, do you want to do the
1:10:47
next one if you want me? To I can do it, I can.
1:10:49
Give it a job. Yeah, John, go.
1:10:52
Ahead in games for Impact Brody's pick in South of
1:10:55
Midnight Brody's prediction was despellole.
1:11:01
Despellole. That's AT OK, sorry I have bad
1:11:05
eyes next. Pick this pellole.
1:11:11
Fuck you. Prediction was also South of
1:11:13
midnight. Evan's pick was South of
1:11:15
midnight. Evan's prediction was lost
1:11:17
records. My pick.
1:11:19
Oh God, I just listed off all of your pick and predictions.
1:11:22
I don't care. You did.
1:11:22
I was confused. I was like, is he changing up
1:11:25
the formula? That's cool, That's fine.
1:11:28
We're halfway through the show. We're like 75% way through.
1:11:32
We're we're improvident. Yeah, I just don't want to list
1:11:35
off my picks and predictions or. Yeah.
1:11:39
I get John picks South of Midnight and his prediction was
1:11:42
lost records. Evan, what's your prediction?
1:11:46
Lost records as well. And mine's South of midnight.
1:11:51
Innovation, Innovation. Can I do this one?
1:11:53
Yeah, go ahead. All right, cool.
1:11:56
You know what stream for the YouTube viewers?
1:11:59
Here's the games for Impact. That is my bad.
1:12:01
I gotta keep remembering to switch.
1:12:04
All right, we are on innovation inaccessibility, which if you
1:12:08
want more information for innovation inaccessibility, go
1:12:12
check out our friend illegally cited on Twitter and his YouTube
1:12:19
illegally cited as legally blind, a legally blind gamer.
1:12:23
And he has way more knowledge than any of us do on this topic.
1:12:27
And you should go watch his videos and his and listen to his
1:12:32
input on this because I don't have a basis for my picks other
1:12:38
than what I'm able to see the menus give me but illegally
1:12:44
cited Ken. So go watch his videos, go check
1:12:47
him out on Twitter and follow him and subscribe to him there.
1:12:50
I will put a link in the bio of this YouTube and streaming for
1:12:56
podcasts down below. Brody's pick for this was Doom
1:13:01
and Doom, Mine is Doom and Doom. And my pick for my reasoning for
1:13:05
that is whenever there is a need for innovation in accessibility
1:13:12
in a game, Doom is always trying to make it so everybody can play
1:13:17
Doom. They always try to, whether it
1:13:21
be your color blinds or you are missing a limb or finger or like
1:13:28
anything, how whatever disability you may have attached
1:13:33
to you, Doom is trying to make it so you can play the game.
1:13:39
And I always appreciate that with ID and Bethesda in this
1:13:43
instance, they make it incredibly easy for those to
1:13:48
play. That's as far as I know.
1:13:50
Again, illegally sighted would know best.
1:13:54
So go watch his videos on this and check them out on Twitter,
1:13:59
Evan. My pic was Doom as well for the
1:14:03
same reasons that Nick listed my prediction though, Assassin's
1:14:07
Creed because I feel like Assassin's Creed in Ubisoft
1:14:11
format, they have a lot of just a lot of customization when it
1:14:15
comes to the games UI and controls and accessibility
1:14:20
options as it is. So I think they'll, they, they
1:14:23
could have a chance at that just because I think that, like I
1:14:28
said, they have a very wide list of innovations.
1:14:31
Usually I remember going through the beginning and like, you
1:14:34
know, every game always has those beginning less.
1:14:36
And I looked through a little bit of it and I thought it was
1:14:40
quite a lot. But again, I can't speak to a
1:14:42
lot of it cuz I typically don't have any of those settings.
1:14:44
I don't have to use any of those settings.
1:14:46
So, yeah. But that's what, again, like all
1:14:49
of Nick's reasons, is why I picked Doom as well, John.
1:14:55
My pick was South of Midnight and my prediction was doomed for
1:14:59
many of the reasons that that Nick listed, you know, do it is
1:15:04
always push accessibility in any way they can.
1:15:08
I have a friend that has cerebral palsy and struggles a
1:15:12
lot with tremors and they've always been able to play the
1:15:15
Doom games very successfully. That's fucking dope dude.
1:15:20
That's awesome. That's so fucking because it's
1:15:22
such a fast neck breaking game. Yeah.
1:15:27
And for anybody to be able to pick up and play, that's fucking
1:15:29
awesome. I agree.
1:15:30
Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you dude, but like
1:15:32
that's just so. Fucking you didn't interrupt me.
1:15:36
Are you trying to catch your hands?
1:15:37
No, I'm, I'm still, I'm still very, I feel very guilty that I
1:15:42
fucked up the last part because I got nervous.
1:15:44
Oh my goodness, do you not think like me and Evan are on
1:15:48
substances right now? I'm.
1:15:51
I'm perfectly fine I. Don't know, maybe I should be.
1:15:57
I'll take the I'm always drunk for these.
1:15:59
Dude, I am home alone. I'm drunk.
1:16:02
Very good. I'm not done, I promise you.
1:16:04
I think you said you wanted the next.
1:16:06
One I will take the next one OK. The next one is best
1:16:10
performance. Lot of great nominees here.
1:16:15
Brody's pick was Ben Starr for Claire Obscure and his
1:16:18
prediction is Jennifer English for Claire Obscure.
1:16:21
My pick, Troy Baker as Indiana Jones or sorry, Troy Baker
1:16:27
playing a young Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones for Indiana Jones
1:16:31
and but my prediction is also Jennifer English.
1:16:35
Nick. Yes, my pick was Charlie Cox
1:16:38
because I love him. He's beautiful and he's
1:16:41
daredevil. But also Expedition 33 is, even
1:16:45
if he went, yeah, I don't know. I just kind of did it one day
1:16:48
and I went, oh, that took a bit of the mystique away from who
1:16:51
are you talking to, Evan? No.
1:16:53
Damn, so I see it in your background.
1:16:55
What are you? What are you?
1:16:56
What you're freaking keep talking about your diet.
1:17:01
Keep talking about your pick and your.
1:17:02
Cox though Charlie Cox is my pick and Jennifer English is my
1:17:08
prediction. Both Expedition 33.
1:17:11
I see you typing and. Yeah, just sit, sit back and and
1:17:16
sit back and talk about your, your, your, your picking
1:17:18
prediction. All right bro all.
1:17:21
Right, John, you may as well just call this the Expedition 33
1:17:24
category. Yeah, my my pick was Jennifer
1:17:28
English, and my prediction is Jennifer English.
1:17:30
I wrestled with myself quite a lot over the past week or so,
1:17:36
having completed this list over whether I want to Ben Starr or
1:17:40
Jennifer English to win. Because I think Nick hasn't met
1:17:43
Ben Starr's character in Expedition 33 yet.
1:17:47
But I think him and Jennifer just did such a stellar job.
1:17:51
And they are both so important and so integral.
1:17:55
They're they're basically intertwined, honestly.
1:17:59
But I settled and giving it to Jennifer.
1:18:02
English in the end. Sorry, John.
1:18:06
Keep going, John. For for for no like major
1:18:08
reason, you know? It wasn't super inspirational or
1:18:12
anything, I just think she did a really good job.
1:18:16
I loved her as Shadow Heart. I love her as my L.
1:18:19
She's cut voicing in another game coming up.
1:18:23
I wonder if her hair will turn white at the end of that one
1:18:26
too. Maybe I shouldn't have said that
1:18:29
considering next to 1 editing this doesn't matter.
1:18:34
That's fine. It's fine.
1:18:36
It's fine. He doesn't understand the
1:18:38
context. It's OK.
1:18:39
He'll forget about it. Sorry, did you have more?
1:18:44
I was going to add some. No, I, I, I didn't really have
1:18:47
anything else to say. So I believe it's going to be
1:18:50
Jennifer English. English because incredible.
1:18:53
I have no notes. Yeah.
1:18:55
I loved her as Shadow Heart. I love her as my Al.
1:18:57
She's just been incredible and just everything I've ever heard
1:19:03
her in. However, my pick personally was
1:19:08
Troy Baker because it again, speaks to just my childhood of
1:19:13
like the fact that it's just a person doing it.
1:19:17
And especially, especially as of right now, because of everything
1:19:20
around AI, especially in video games, and like the other things
1:19:23
like that, to know that they there is that's just him is very
1:19:28
impressive. You know, people do impressions
1:19:31
of other people all the time, But like to to sound so accurate
1:19:34
where it's like I could, I could probably play a clip of that to
1:19:38
my uncle and he would not know, you know what I'm saying?
1:19:43
He would not be able to, he would not be able to tell.
1:19:45
He would he would go down. Well, I don't know if I remember
1:19:48
that movie or something like that.
1:19:49
Or like, when does he when does he say that?
1:19:51
And it's like, Oh, that's a video game that came out this
1:19:54
past year. And he'd be like, oh, like, is
1:19:57
it Harrison Ford is like, no, it's like a guy Baker.
1:20:01
Did a very good job, completely different guy, and I think I
1:20:04
really like how you're phrasing that it's Troy Baker doing an
1:20:08
impression of Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones and not
1:20:11
Troy Baker playing Indiana. Jones, right, because that, and
1:20:14
that's another thing is that you're, you're not just reading
1:20:17
the lines as Harrison Ford, but you're delivering it with his
1:20:21
candor, his his candor, his inflection.
1:20:24
His cadence. His cadence, his, you know, his
1:20:26
rhythm, his sort of humor, it it that sort of dry, like just
1:20:32
looking at someone and saying, you know, like especially when
1:20:35
he's captured or something like that, you know, it's just yeah.
1:20:40
Like that's why he was my personal pick for it.
1:20:44
Just incredible to to be able to do that.
1:20:49
Nick, do you want to do sound design or audio design?
1:20:53
Sure, I'll do it. Best audio design.
1:20:55
Let me switch up. Here we are narrowed down to the
1:20:58
last 7. By the way folks, sorry for any
1:21:02
absence I have had, but I came right back in time.
1:21:05
So Brody's pick was Claire Obscure Expedition 33.
1:21:10
His prediction is Silent Hill. F.
1:21:12
That's interesting to me. We'll get, I want to touch on
1:21:14
that in a moment here. My pick and prediction was Death
1:21:17
Stranding 2. I felt this game did a lot of
1:21:21
awesome sound design. Whether it be the cool gadgets
1:21:24
you set up around the map, the weapons, the like the BB pod,
1:21:32
just everything in this game had a noise and the music also
1:21:37
played heavy in this game to what was going on.
1:21:41
This game was just a beautiful experience.
1:21:43
Again sound, graphics, story, it was a perfect storm for me.
1:21:48
This game is a masterpiece to me and this the audio design is no
1:21:53
different in this instance. This game was awesome and the
1:21:56
audio design for this game was it was a master craft.
1:22:00
So death training too was my pick and prediction.
1:22:03
Evan. My pick is death training too,
1:22:07
for all of those same reasons. I specifically loved it's.
1:22:11
It was really difficult for me because I would have my headset
1:22:16
plugged into my. The way I play PlayStation games
1:22:19
is kind of odd. I have a capture card into my PC
1:22:23
and I listen to my audio through my PC through a capture card
1:22:27
like Elgato software is how I hear the game.
1:22:31
So I would end up often times if I would take one of my
1:22:33
headphones off and I would listen, I could hear the
1:22:36
controller audio and it was, oh, it was impressive to me because
1:22:40
I would be like walking down a mountain with rocks and I would
1:22:43
hear the rocks on the controller and then the triggers would
1:22:46
like, it was a very haptic response.
1:22:49
It was very feedback. Like the everything felt like it
1:22:52
was sort of like meant to help you understand how far you can
1:22:56
push and like what kind of terrain you're walking on if
1:23:00
it's you know, and like just kind of serve to give you that
1:23:03
immersion. So I love that aspect of it.
1:23:09
My prediction is Silent Hill FI have not played this.
1:23:13
I've not looked at it. I understand it's basically like
1:23:15
a souls like Silent Hill game. I know it's also.
1:23:20
Holy shit John's picks and predictions when the last
1:23:25
fucking 7 is insane. I don't know what to say.
1:23:30
Everybody's is so fucked. This is crazy.
1:23:34
Alright, God. It's only you ever.
1:23:36
Played that much of the game. That's that's all.
1:23:38
But I that's he's got you there. No, I I just I think Silent Hill
1:23:43
F is not going to win in any of the other categories.
1:23:46
So I think it's going to get its flowers here in some way just to
1:23:49
sort of show it. I scary games you should do,
1:23:52
though. I'm sure it's probably a a great
1:23:54
game. I just have never played any of
1:23:56
them. If I don't need to play any
1:23:57
other ones I might check it out because I don't I I inherently
1:24:00
do enjoy souls. You don't need to.
1:24:04
So I mean, I might check it out, but I'm also not really good at
1:24:07
scary games. I barely played routine and I
1:24:09
was very excited. For that, you're great at
1:24:10
Resident Evil. What the fuck you talking?
1:24:12
About that ain't scary dog. That ain't scary shit anymore.
1:24:14
They give me a gun, they give me a gun and they like, especially
1:24:18
in the last one, they're like here, put on this like green goo
1:24:20
and you'll grow your arm back. Like, you know, how cool was
1:24:22
that? That was cool, but that's not
1:24:24
scary because there's no inherent danger.
1:24:26
I can put on your, your did you hear me?
1:24:29
I can lose my hand and put glue on it and it will cut.
1:24:32
It will fuse back to my body. That's not I'm not scared of
1:24:36
anything now. Like, what are you going to do,
1:24:38
stab me? Like, oh.
1:24:40
No. Oh no, I'm good.
1:24:44
Yeah. But yeah, that's why.
1:24:46
John, please tell us what are you ordering?
1:24:49
What are you going to pick Some predictions?
1:24:51
For this look, I I think my the the my pick for the best audio
1:24:55
design is going to win. I think it's E 33.
1:24:58
It's going to win straight up. You said that.
1:25:04
They did the audio cues for the attacks really well.
1:25:08
You have to read, listen in and honestly, I'll admit it is a
1:25:11
little hard to pick out. Maybe because I maybe because I
1:25:14
have the music turned all the way up, but that's the next
1:25:17
topic. It is.
1:25:24
I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have put it because I really
1:25:26
don't know much about Silent Hill.
1:25:28
FI wanted to get his flowers. I see E 33 and I vote for E 33
1:25:35
in most in most cases. You're such a shell.
1:25:39
Yeah, call me A. Shell.
1:25:41
You're such a shell. That's crazy.
1:25:43
Play and you'll understand. Speaking of John, do you want to
1:25:48
take this category? I could say best score music.
1:25:51
I think you should. Brody's pick is Claire Obscure.
1:25:57
Birdies prediction is also clear obscure.
1:25:59
My pick, much like Birdies in prediction, is also E 33.
1:26:05
I think Lorian. Lorian did an amazing,
1:26:08
spectacular job. I'm going to rant for just a
1:26:11
minute before I pass it on to you.
1:26:13
Nick, I'm sorry you're frustrated.
1:26:14
No, no, I'm not. I promise I'm not.
1:26:18
I I I love that they found this guy off of SoundCloud.
1:26:25
This is the first ever professionally published track,
1:26:28
and it blows everything else out of the water.
1:26:32
It's knowing that now is bullshit.
1:26:35
This entire games OST is very French and very beautiful, which
1:26:41
is not usually something I would say in the same sentence.
1:26:45
Nick, please. Holy shit, yeah, John hates the
1:26:50
French, so everyone hates the French.
1:26:55
So my pick is deaths rating too. I found this to be a very pretty
1:26:59
game to listen to in terms of its score of music.
1:27:03
So many different artists contributing in so many
1:27:05
different ways and you get to meet those artists in the game
1:27:10
sometimes. It's really fucking neat.
1:27:13
Very pretty. But my prediction is Expedition
1:27:16
33 because of what I have played so far.
1:27:20
I can also say this is a very pretty game and the music in
1:27:27
this game is very pretty and when it needs to be damning, it
1:27:31
is very damning and it is. It's very hard and haunting and
1:27:37
it is just awesome what this game does.
1:27:41
So both games, I'll be happy no matter what.
1:27:43
Evan. Much like Brody and John, my
1:27:50
pick and prediction are is Expedition 33.
1:27:55
Yeah, I didn't know that the composer was or like artist.
1:28:01
I don't know what in this instance how they'd like to be
1:28:04
called for this. But like, Lorian was incredible.
1:28:08
And to know that they were found on like that they were only
1:28:11
doing music on SoundCloud and this was like their first
1:28:13
professional job was really cool.
1:28:15
I only learned that just a couple days ago, but the music
1:28:20
was immediately what drew me. What are you laughing at?
1:28:23
Nick made a face. I fucked up so hard here on our
1:28:28
stream. I'm getting back to everybody.
1:28:29
Give me that good going. I went too far.
1:28:32
All right, we're good, So there's that, but I also yes,
1:28:37
like the the music is just incredible.
1:28:41
It, it, it's very emotional. It makes me really get in touch
1:28:47
with how the characters are feeling in a lot of ways.
1:28:50
And I just, I love it. I, I love the style of it, the
1:28:54
audio cues and all that sort of stuff as well.
1:28:56
Like John said for the previous category, like it serves that
1:29:01
aspect as well for me of like, it just all flows together so
1:29:06
nicely. Like everything sort of fits in
1:29:10
with the music and yeah, I just love it.
1:29:13
I I truly love it. It blows everything else out of
1:29:15
the water for me. Yeah, good shit.
1:29:20
You want me to lead us into the last five and then I'll let you
1:29:24
take away best art direction. Sure, go ahead.
1:29:28
We are in the bottom 5 everybody.
1:29:30
Thank you so much for sticking around with us.
1:29:34
We do. Again, we do this every year and
1:29:37
we are more drunk usually, but we don't got Brody here to fuel
1:29:42
us with Viking blood and whiskey so.
1:29:46
Next, carrying the torch. Shot them.
1:29:48
I am, but I'm not that drunk yet.
1:29:49
I'm drinking Blackthorn from 2 James.
1:29:54
Nice, but. Let's sponsor Pug.
1:29:58
No, I'm not sponsored. I'd rather be sponsored by
1:30:01
Detroit City Distillery. Send this as a clip to them.
1:30:08
Yeah, yeah. Or Detroit City.
1:30:13
The next category is best art direction.
1:30:16
Bertie's pick is Ghost of Yote. His prediction is Ghost of Yote.
1:30:22
My pick and prediction. Claire Obscure Expedition 33.
1:30:27
Nice. It's just it's something about
1:30:31
it. I don't know.
1:30:32
I just I love looking at everything in the game.
1:30:34
It's so pretty. The engine that they have is
1:30:36
incredible. I think the cutscenes are, I
1:30:40
don't know, like it's just it's perfect like I love the
1:30:44
costumes, I love the weapons, I love the enemies, I love the
1:30:48
environment like everything feels like unique and original.
1:30:54
I don't know how to describe it like it just like looking at
1:30:59
everything else on this list like Death Training 2 has its
1:31:03
own sort of design and everything and I love it.
1:31:06
And it further improved or like added to, I wouldn't say
1:31:10
improved but it would I would say it added to what was in the
1:31:12
first game. Same with Ghost of Yote.
1:31:16
I didn't play Hades 2 or enough of Sock Song to really say
1:31:19
anything about them. But like Expedition 33 is just
1:31:23
one of those things where it's like, my God, everything just
1:31:25
looks so fucking cool. Like everything looks so cool
1:31:29
and so fun and also so dangerous.
1:31:32
Like some of those some of those enemies.
1:31:34
Like I was playing the other day, John saw there was one that
1:31:36
was crawling around and I freaked the fuck out at it.
1:31:38
I was just like, I didn't. Hate things with extra
1:31:42
appendages. I hate things that crawl like
1:31:44
that. It's just like it freaked me.
1:31:46
Out. I'm going to fucking crawl at
1:31:47
you at the office tomorrow. Oh dude, how?
1:31:50
I'm not going to. He'll kick me in the fucking.
1:31:52
You're not going to be there. Doug, I don't have a car.
1:31:56
We've talked about this. It's just.
1:32:01
He's upsetting, crazy. He's all right.
1:32:04
Keep going. OK, what?
1:32:05
Are you? OK, whatever.
1:32:07
Moving on. Well, wait, you gave yours to
1:32:11
John Gibbous? No.
1:32:12
I didn't get mine. I didn't give.
1:32:15
This and I didn't give mine. Either go on Nick my bed.
1:32:18
My pick is Silk Song. I understand it's still like a
1:32:21
hollow night, but like there's something very pretty about a
1:32:26
silk song and I loved every moment of it.
1:32:29
There was so much of this, like depression, but also beauty and
1:32:34
light and dark and I love that. But with Expedition 33, that is
1:32:39
my prediction because it is, it is so very European.
1:32:46
There is so much beauty in the dark dance.
1:32:52
These are stories, not exactly Expedition 33, but these are
1:32:56
stories my father would tell as a kid.
1:33:00
These are the folk tales he would tell back from Romania,
1:33:02
right? Like there were folk tales and
1:33:05
stories I would hear like of these like whimsical journeys
1:33:09
that like people would take to get to the Lost Lands and blah
1:33:14
blah blah, blah, blah. And that's what this game
1:33:16
reminds me of. And it's, it's cool, dude.
1:33:19
Like the game is so pretty for that reason for me, it hits home
1:33:24
to me and I need to, I need to keep going with it.
1:33:27
But I'm going to give it to John here because John can speak more
1:33:32
of his pick and prediction. My pick and prediction is E33II.
1:33:39
I love all the art styles on this list.
1:33:41
I'll just say they're gorgeous. They're all breathtaking, but
1:33:48
Claire obscures. We were like, but Clare upstairs
1:33:52
environments are varied and you get a lot of different scenes in
1:33:59
different places. There's snowy mountains, there's
1:34:02
rainy ravines. There's there's so much
1:34:06
variation in its scenery and it's ethereal almost.
1:34:10
It's it's it is gorgeous. I don't know if Evan is went to
1:34:16
a very specific area, but there's like a fall ish area,
1:34:19
like an autumn area or is all Reds and oranges.
1:34:23
And I think that was my wow moment for this game and it was
1:34:28
a side option. It was a side area as well.
1:34:30
It wasn't it never appeared in the main game.
1:34:33
It was it was my wow. This is breathtaking moment and
1:34:38
I just I think it'll win based purely off of the off the
1:34:42
variety of scenes that you can see in the game.
1:34:47
Fucking awesome dude. Yeah, I agree.
1:34:49
These are all good picks. That's the beauty of this year's
1:34:52
picks. They're all good, they're all
1:34:56
great. Ghosts of Yote kind of fucking
1:35:00
irks me because it's just OK. Yeah, a little bit.
1:35:06
It's. Just OK.
1:35:08
Doom not being anywhere in the top five or 4 here is so fucked
1:35:14
up to me. Goes to Yo Tai, yo Tai,
1:35:17
whatever. Sorry.
1:35:18
It's just it was an OK game. But anyways, Evan, are you doing
1:35:25
narrative? I can do best you.
1:35:27
Get art direction. Yeah, well, if you want whoever
1:35:30
wants to do best narrative, that's fine.
1:35:32
I don't care. I don't have to do it.
1:35:34
Let's you know what John? Let's give you best narrative.
1:35:37
OK. I'll do direction and Evan,
1:35:40
you'll do Game of the Year. Sure.
1:35:41
OK. Best narrative.
1:35:44
Brody's pick was Clare Obscure. Bird's prediction was also Clare
1:35:47
Obscure. My pick and my prediction was
1:35:50
also Clare Obscure. Expedition 33.
1:35:55
Is is is nothing like it on this list.
1:35:58
I'm sorry, Evan, please yours. So yeah, I'll say, I'll say my
1:36:05
pick is KCD 2 and my prediction is also E 33.
1:36:12
This probably would have changed.
1:36:14
And I believe I said this Friday or Thursday to John and a friend
1:36:22
of ours, Steve, when I was playing where I was like, if I
1:36:25
could like I've already picked everything.
1:36:27
So again, I didn't change it. I left with what I had actually
1:36:30
originally picked. I probably would have picked E
1:36:33
33 after I got to where I got at that point in the story, but I
1:36:39
still am comfortable with KCD 2 is my pick because in much like
1:36:43
in the way, there's nothing like E 33.
1:36:46
There is also no video game that gives you this sort of story of
1:36:51
living the life of a young as as a young man in like the early
1:37:02
1500s, like in the middle of Europe.
1:37:05
Like there's just really like nothing that touches the surface
1:37:10
of what like like even this, it has so many different aspects to
1:37:14
it. Like it's not just a world in a
1:37:16
medieval time without any sort of like magic.
1:37:19
And it's just, you know, you know, normal medieval history
1:37:25
actually quite accurate. You know, like the one of the
1:37:27
beauties of one of the beautiful things about it as a separate
1:37:30
thing from the narrative is that you can read about all of the
1:37:32
things going on, which I guess actually ties into the narrative
1:37:36
because the people that you're seeing in the game were real
1:37:39
people. Some of these people did exist.
1:37:41
They did do the things you're you're currently a part of.
1:37:45
You know, some of them are composite characters created of
1:37:50
other peace people in these stories.
1:37:53
But that serves it in that you are sort of this, you're this
1:37:58
outside force that actually, you know, you, you didn't exist, you
1:38:02
know, but you're around all these people who did and you're
1:38:04
a part of their adventure. And you serve it in your own
1:38:08
ways and you can control it in your own ways.
1:38:10
One of the best things about it for me is that it plays like a
1:38:12
movie in some ways. You get this beginning portion
1:38:15
where it's linear and it gives you this sort of intro into the
1:38:19
world. And then you get set forth on
1:38:22
your path and you have those little sprinkled moments
1:38:25
throughout and you are free to do as you please and get to
1:38:30
where you need to get to and how you you want to do it.
1:38:32
And I, I love that about it. I loved being able to get good
1:38:36
at blacksmithing and being able to make weapons and sell it.
1:38:39
I had a great experience one time like it as part of the
1:38:44
story, I had to go to a certain town and I had no money and I
1:38:47
had no food that I needed to eat and I had to steal stuff from
1:38:51
the pantry of a bar. And those people remembered me.
1:38:56
Oh, yeah, for days. And, and but that's was just, it
1:38:59
was doing that as part of the story.
1:39:01
Again, it served into that of like, I feel like a real person.
1:39:04
I can't go back there for like a week.
1:39:06
They know my face and then they know me.
1:39:08
Like, I'm going to get in trouble.
1:39:09
I'm going to get arrested and I could potentially get killed,
1:39:13
you know? But like, I had to because I'm
1:39:15
helping out these, you know, these people and I'm trying to
1:39:18
live my life. And the ending in particular for
1:39:21
me was very hard hitting. I'm sure the other games on this
1:39:25
list will be once I get to them. I need to finish Death Training
1:39:27
2 and Expedition 33. Expedition 33 will probably be
1:39:30
the next one I finish and it's probably going to make me cry a
1:39:32
lot. But KCD 2.
1:39:35
KCD 2 was just incredible. And then the ending was so
1:39:40
perfect for me and it felt like if a pure just great game and
1:39:47
told a story in a new RPG that I I will always highly highly
1:39:53
highly recommend. Cool.
1:39:57
My turn. Yeah, of course.
1:40:01
My pick is Death Stranding, too. This game's narrative shifts the
1:40:08
entirety of the first game, in my opinion.
1:40:13
The stakes are higher. The story is elevated.
1:40:18
And Kojima's at his best here, even if he smells his own farts.
1:40:24
It's a beautiful experience. It really is, especially if
1:40:28
you're a parent. I have to say that if you're a
1:40:32
parent, this game will hit you where it hurts.
1:40:37
It's beautiful, it is awe inspiring and it just it just
1:40:45
got to me plenty of fucking times and I've not been there in
1:40:50
so long in my own mind where I'm like God damn dude like a game
1:40:55
is very few video games have gotten me to feel that way and
1:41:03
that's good and bad. But this game did plenty of
1:41:07
times. It caught me off guard.
1:41:09
I went oh fuck and plenty of times and I just loved the
1:41:14
moments I had with this game. Death threatening to is my pick,
1:41:19
but my prediction is Expedition 33 because I think it has those
1:41:25
moments equally. I think this game delivers on
1:41:29
those moments equally. I think it does it in almost a
1:41:33
more grandiose way, more likely, and I'm excited to see what the
1:41:39
studio can do from this game. I love Kojima, but I think
1:41:44
everyone at Sandfall has an opportunity to keep going with
1:41:49
this emotional ride, and I'm excited to see what they do.
1:41:53
I need to continue this game. I'm excited to continue this
1:41:56
game and I can't wait to do it. So that's my pick and
1:42:01
prediction. I'd like to touch back on the
1:42:03
narrative real quick before we move on.
1:42:05
I know we're running along here. But.
1:42:07
I was, I wanted to say, Nick, that you talk about Death
1:42:10
Stranded 2 the same way I talk about, I feel about Expedition
1:42:13
33, right. And Expedition 33 is connects
1:42:20
with you on a level that a emotion that everyone has went
1:42:24
through and you won't entirely understand it yet, but everyone
1:42:27
has went through loss and that's what Expedition 33 is really
1:42:31
about. And.
1:42:34
Well, it's unexpected loss, too. It's like, yeah, well, it's
1:42:37
forced. Almost forced because I know
1:42:40
where the premise is. It's like a forced lost thing,
1:42:43
right? Like you have like the beginning
1:42:46
of the game where it's like we're having this party and it's
1:42:49
like, what's the party for? And it's like, well, this is
1:42:52
like, oh, that's fucked. Why?
1:42:54
You know what I mean? It's like why I don't want to do
1:42:57
this? It's like fuck.
1:42:59
And I truthfully wish I could go on and on about it, but I feel
1:43:02
like, you know, in the same way you feel Death stranded too, I
1:43:05
feel like X version 33 is one of these games that is so much
1:43:08
better the less you know about it going into it.
1:43:11
That's so pretty in my opinion. That's what makes these games
1:43:14
pretty. I agree.
1:43:15
It's like, God damn, dude. Like the more you dive and grab
1:43:20
and dig, it's like, this is awesome.
1:43:22
But yeah, no. Anyways, good shit, John, Thank
1:43:26
you. Of course.
1:43:28
Uh oh, last two last two and it's not the next Elder Scrolls
1:43:37
teaser where it's basically a pre rendered nothing.
1:43:41
All right, last two boys and girls.
1:43:44
So we got best game direction. Brody's picks were expedition 33
1:43:50
and expedition 33. I don't know maniac.
1:43:56
My pick was That's Running to again, Kojima was full tilt
1:44:01
here. He really dug deep, and these
1:44:05
actors really dug deep. That's what made this game.
1:44:08
It wasn't just Kojima, it was everyone involved.
1:44:11
The people involved in this game made something special, and I
1:44:14
loved it. But Expedition 33, from what I
1:44:20
played and what I know is equally as special as Death
1:44:24
Stranding. I think this is an incredible
1:44:28
title. There was a lot to give to the
1:44:30
entire gaming community and I just love what it's doing so
1:44:35
far. Evan.
1:44:37
My pick and prediction are Expedition 33.
1:44:42
I have never played a game like this in terms of the game play
1:44:46
and the sort of style and how everything is designed and laid
1:44:50
out for you, especially during combat.
1:44:54
And I I had to get used to it, but I came to love it and I
1:44:57
really enjoy it now. And I find it to be quite a
1:45:00
challenge and that has fueled me a lot.
1:45:03
And in terms of playing it in sort of having all of these
1:45:08
various challenges and things to do around the map.
1:45:11
And like a big part of this has been playing it and having John
1:45:18
watch because it's very funny for John to watch me because he
1:45:21
will often tell me I should not go somewhere.
1:45:23
And I will usually almost always ignore his advice.
1:45:26
And I will go into wherever he told me not to go into and I
1:45:30
will fight whatever is there. And it would work out sometimes,
1:45:34
other times it wouldn't. But it was the IT was the
1:45:35
challenge. It was the thrill of that.
1:45:37
And I haven't had that in in some games for a long time.
1:45:42
That being said, I do want to just say I feel like this should
1:45:47
have KCD 2 on it. I feel like it deserved to be
1:45:53
nominated for this category, not to take any one of these other
1:45:56
ones out, but if they could add it to have it be 6, I would say
1:46:00
I think it deserves to be on this list because this really
1:46:04
that also was really just something where they were able
1:46:06
to make what they really wanted to make the first time, though,
1:46:09
They just had more money and cat, you know, the ability to do
1:46:12
so. But that as well was like
1:46:17
there's to me, that's just there's there's nothing like it.
1:46:20
There just isn't. So I don't know.
1:46:23
Yeah, no, E 33 for both, John, I don't.
1:46:27
Know it's kind of cool my my pick and prediction for game
1:46:32
direction was E 33 and you know I think if you love video games
1:46:37
as a concept if you love video games as as an idea and like
1:46:42
truly love video games you will love expedition 33.
1:46:46
This is, I mean, the former Ubisoft devs made this game and
1:46:52
I was going to save this speech for the game of the year 1, but
1:46:55
I think I just want to get it out because we're running along.
1:46:57
Is that I love that these former Ubisoft devs escaped the
1:47:02
clutches of like corporate, corporate game making for the
1:47:08
big industry and made art and made something so beautiful that
1:47:13
it has encapsulated so many people that it has.
1:47:18
Ubisoft is known for making, you know, basically the same three
1:47:22
games over and over again at this point.
1:47:24
And I I love that for these 30 devs that have left and made
1:47:30
sandfall right. Oh yeah.
1:47:36
Oh yeah, Evan. All right, on to the final
1:47:43
category, the big one. The big one.
1:47:46
Game of the Year. This is the only one I will read
1:47:48
the subtitle for. This is for recognizing a game
1:47:52
that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative
1:47:54
and technical fields. I'm going to go all out with
1:47:57
this one. Our nominees are Claire Obscure,
1:47:59
Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive and Kepler
1:48:02
Interactive, Death Training 2 on the Beach from Kojima
1:48:05
Productions and Sony Interactive Entertainment, Donkey Kong
1:48:09
Bonanza from Nintendo EPD and Nintendo, Hades 2 from Super
1:48:14
Giant Games and Hollow Night, Silksong from Team Cherry and
1:48:18
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 from War Horse Studios and Deep
1:48:21
Silver. Brody's pick is Expedition 33.
1:48:26
His prediction is Death Stranding 2.
1:48:32
To get my prediction out of the way, it is also Expedition 33 or
1:48:36
sorry to go actually against the grain here, I found it.
1:48:40
I found just to say real quick, I did find it odd that Bertie
1:48:44
predicts death training too because I think it's going to be
1:48:47
E 33. I am interested to see how that
1:48:51
how this turns out, but my pick. Flip flop usually.
1:48:55
Yeah, that's true. That is true.
1:48:59
My pick is KCD 2. Again, as I've stated before,
1:49:05
now that I can sort of just talk about it in all of its depth,
1:49:08
this was a game that very much felt like I had only just
1:49:14
recently gotten into Kingdom Come Deliverance and it was to
1:49:17
get prepared for KCD 2. When I read the reviews that had
1:49:22
come out saying you did not need to finish the first game to play
1:49:25
and warhorse themselves said that they were like very upfront
1:49:28
about it. You do not need to play the
1:49:29
first game and I that is also why I recommend it to so many
1:49:32
people. It is gorgeous.
1:49:36
It is a beautiful engine. It has just this photo realistic
1:49:43
quality to things that I love in games.
1:49:46
Like I love games that try to look very close to it, some sort
1:49:50
of version of real life in a sort of certain style.
1:49:53
And this game does that. Like the colors pop.
1:49:56
It's a beautiful world to look at.
1:49:58
Like being able to like just go and get up on some hill
1:50:02
somewhere and you can just see green grass and trees.
1:50:05
And then just a little town out in the distance was like 1
1:50:09
little bit of smoke from like the local Tavern coming out or
1:50:12
something like that. It's just this incredible look
1:50:15
and then to walk in there and see everybody living a life, you
1:50:19
know, there are people who are you know, they're cleaning,
1:50:22
they're delivering things, they're picking things up,
1:50:24
they're preparing food. You go to you walk by the the
1:50:27
blacksmith's tent or the table and they're, you know, doing
1:50:32
something to a sword of the repairing a horseshoe or
1:50:35
something like that. You know, and people will
1:50:38
comment on you, you know, if you look good, if you look bad, if
1:50:41
you're covered in blood, if you're covered in dirt.
1:50:44
Like I said before mentioning how I got that, you know,
1:50:46
remembered for stealing things. You know my playstyle is very
1:50:51
different from a Co worker of mine who he would just steal
1:50:55
everything in a town and sell it all.
1:50:57
He's very open about. It and and he like, you know, he
1:51:00
would just he would but like that was the way you could play
1:51:03
it. You know, you could be.
1:51:05
I remember when the game was really popular earlier in the
1:51:07
year when it came out, somebody was talking about, they were,
1:51:09
they would like ask people a question or they would like have
1:51:12
a conversation with some of the MPCS.
1:51:14
And depending on the answer, he would like murder them.
1:51:18
And he's like, there are 17 piles buried in the like buried
1:51:21
up in the canal outside this town because this is where I
1:51:25
keep putting all them like he's just a serial killer.
1:51:27
And it's just like, what are you doing?
1:51:29
Like the but like that's what I mean.
1:51:31
And sort of the the width of what you can do in that game and
1:51:34
what you can just kind of get away with, as well as just the
1:51:39
story itself. You know, it's a coming of age
1:51:41
story in some senses. It's, you know, Henry trying to
1:51:44
figure out who he is. And I think I can really relate
1:51:46
to that currently in my life. And it's it's just delivered in
1:51:51
so many ways. The combat is better, It's much
1:51:53
more engaging, it's much more fun.
1:51:56
It feels visceral. It feels like the way that you
1:51:59
would expect some of that combat to, to feel like it, but not
1:52:03
over the top in some ways. And as you like, there was a
1:52:08
real sense of accomplishment. You got better at blacksmith and
1:52:11
you got better at sword fighting, at walking around in
1:52:14
heavy armor or like you got better at alchemy or whatever.
1:52:20
Like it's just, it carried it, it, it, it was just so much fun
1:52:24
in so many ways. I couldn't put it down.
1:52:26
And like I need to actually sit down and keep playing the DLCS
1:52:29
because they have also just added so much depth to it.
1:52:32
Being able to have your own blacksmithing workshop and, you
1:52:37
know, rebuild a house and have your own home and do all these
1:52:41
other things. It's just it's, it's incredible.
1:52:44
It's perfect. And I don't think I'll ever see,
1:52:46
I don't think for a very long time I'll see another game.
1:52:48
Like, I don't think, I don't think Elder Scrolls like Elder
1:52:52
Scrolls, I don't think it's going to top this whenever it if
1:52:55
it does, like if and when it does come out, I don't think
1:52:57
it's going to come close to what this game has done in terms of
1:53:00
that aspect. And that's to say it is a game
1:53:03
where there is no magic or Dragons or fantasy creatures.
1:53:07
It is all just real history to a degree, obviously with things
1:53:11
changed and what not, But yeah, I, I love it.
1:53:16
I think it absolutely deserves game of the year even again, and
1:53:20
it's it's this is a hard list this year, I think for a lot of
1:53:24
people. For me, not so much.
1:53:25
I haven't played as many on this list, but yeah, KCD 2 is my
1:53:29
pick. I love it.
1:53:32
Oh yeah. Nick.
1:53:34
Yeah, So my pick is Silk Song. Silk Song is a game where I
1:53:39
didn't really play Holiday. I did not play the first game,
1:53:44
but I did sink my teeth into this.
1:53:46
And if you're anybody who was in the spawn camp when Silk Song
1:53:50
released, you could ask what's Nick playing?
1:53:53
And they would tell you Silk Song.
1:53:56
I would get off work, come home, play Silk Song.
1:53:59
I, that's what I was doing. It was a great experience.
1:54:04
I loved it. It was pretty.
1:54:06
I don't know, I don't know much about Hollow Knight, but I do
1:54:10
know that I beat and I loved Silk Song.
1:54:13
I thought it wasn't awesome experience with so much story to
1:54:18
tell in a very limited way. It doesn't give you the story,
1:54:23
it just you're playing through this story and I loved it.
1:54:28
I loved every moment of it. And this is a very tough
1:54:31
category with a lot of awesome games.
1:54:34
I do think there's a couple of games here that don't need to be
1:54:37
here though, and I don't think Haiti's two should be here, and
1:54:41
I don't think Donkey Kong should be here this year.
1:54:44
I think there should be Doom, and I think something, at least
1:54:48
another game should be here, like Split Fiction.
1:54:52
I think Doom and Split Fiction should be up on this list with
1:54:54
Claire Obscure with that, Stranding, Hollow Knight, and
1:54:57
Kingdom Come, but they're not. So if I had to pick, my pick is
1:55:03
Silksong. This game literally crashed the
1:55:06
online marketplace to buy the game.
1:55:10
Insane. My prediction is that Stranding
1:55:13
because it's equally as beautiful and it's such an
1:55:17
awesome experience. Both these games deserve to win
1:55:21
and I'm just so stoked. Talk about both, John.
1:55:26
My pick and prediction is Claire Obscure Expedition 33.
1:55:30
I think I've said enough about Expedition 33 so I'm not going
1:55:33
to drag this out. I've I've I've yapped about it
1:55:37
so much. I just think it is the best game
1:55:41
of the year. And to kind of counterpoint Nick
1:55:44
a little bit, I think Haiti Sue deserves its spot here.
1:55:48
Haiti Sue is the rogue light of the year.
1:55:54
Sorry, rogue lights are my favorite genre so maybe I have
1:55:57
some bias, but oh shit OK I feel like that's a little spicy, but
1:56:06
I put, you know, 80 hours in Hades too before it was even
1:56:10
really out, right? I haven't played it much since
1:56:16
it's been out, but I've been playing Expedition I'm.
1:56:18
Saying a fucking lot, huh? I don't know, he's just yelling.
1:56:24
OK, But yeah, no, I'm not going to.
1:56:26
I'm not going to drag on about Expedition 33 too much because I
1:56:29
feel like I already have. It's just my pick and it's my
1:56:32
prediction and I think it deserves a win.
1:56:34
For sure. No, I get it.
1:56:35
Fuck yeah. To to put the bow on this
1:56:39
episode, boys, First off, great, great episode this year, boys,
1:56:46
we have a live coming up that is going to decimate us.
1:56:49
I'm not going to work on Friday. Probably say that right now.
1:56:53
OK, to my boss. I know I'm going to get way too
1:56:56
drunk again. So what is the reveal we want?
1:57:02
What is the big game to touch on it?
1:57:06
What is the statue? Is it the next Bloodborne?
1:57:10
Is it? It's already been said that it's
1:57:13
not God of War, it's not Elder Scrolls, it's not Diablo.
1:57:17
What is it? People are thinking it's let's.
1:57:20
Turn it off there. I I think it's Bloodborne.
1:57:24
I've got no real stake in the statue.
1:57:26
I don't particularly care. It's promotional content.
1:57:28
It's awesome marketing get. Come on.
1:57:31
That is so cool. It's in the middle of the
1:57:33
Mohave. It it's not uncool, I just it'll
1:57:37
come when it comes. It's not uncool.
1:57:40
My my my pick my. What I wish to see there
1:57:43
revealed is the confirmed Expedition 33 DLC for free that
1:57:49
the story DLC. You taking a shot at me?
1:57:52
It is confirmed. No, I know.
1:57:54
Are you taking a shot at me saying?
1:57:55
I'm not taking a shot at you. I think you.
1:57:58
Got a conflict I. Think you're a little
1:57:59
self-conscious about things being confirmed?
1:58:02
Not I've. Heard.
1:58:04
And especially, especially Player Obscures because there's
1:58:07
two threes in that one. You're a dildo.
1:58:12
You're Connor. Connor, I'm sending that.
1:58:14
I'm sending this whole video. You have to grab that.
1:58:17
That's good. That's funny.
1:58:20
That's at two hours. That's great.
1:58:21
That's that's some funny. Anyways, Evan.
1:58:26
No, I, I think 1. I think the yeah, I think if
1:58:29
anything the the statue is probably some sort of From Soft
1:58:32
related title if I had to guess. I don't think it's just because
1:58:38
it also doesn't really match anything I would expect to see
1:58:41
and it, but it also could be like I never played Bloodborne.
1:58:45
I think it looks a little too different if you look at like
1:58:48
the things around it. It does.
1:58:51
That I don't think it could be Bloodborne.
1:58:52
I think it has to be something. It could be Elden Ring, but I
1:58:55
think it could also just be a brand new IP.
1:58:59
It could also be something from a different studio.
1:59:01
Like I don't think it could be something related to that
1:59:09
Naughty Dog game coming out, but I don't think so because that
1:59:12
was pissed me off and I don't think that they would go and do
1:59:16
that. Honestly, I just don't.
1:59:18
I don't think it fits the vibe of what that game's going to do.
1:59:23
I think we'll see more of that game.
1:59:25
I my big hope, one thing I hope is revealed there's a I'm going
1:59:34
to just say a couple things here.
1:59:36
I think that my biggest thing, as we've talked about it today,
1:59:39
I want it now to be light, no fire.
1:59:42
I want it to be that I think out of anything because I've we have
1:59:46
a confirmed well, somewhat, you know, that's in air quotes
1:59:50
confirmed release date for GTA6. We have, you know, Wolverine
1:59:57
release date, you know, we have a James Bond release date.
2:00:00
Like a lot of the big games are coming out.
2:00:02
I sort of have an understanding of when they're coming out.
2:00:04
Like even Squadron 42 is just set as 2026.
2:00:09
Well, I'm sure we'll see something new.
2:00:10
That is one of those things I think would be interesting to
2:00:12
see be shown at the Game Awards, because that would be kind of
2:00:16
crazy for them for Squadron 42 to make an appearance.
2:00:21
Well, because it wasn't talked about at Citizen Con.
2:00:23
You know, I think that that's a way they could.
2:00:25
Sort of show it and if they feel confident they can put out a
2:00:29
date, but I think that's kind of low on my list of predictions
2:00:34
for what we'll see. Sorry.
2:00:39
Yawn. My bad.
2:00:41
I don't, I don't particularly have anything I'm I'm really
2:00:43
excited about now, though, other than that light, no fire stuff.
2:00:46
I think that'd be really fun to see.
2:00:50
Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty happy with a lot of the games that are
2:00:53
out right now and what we have coming out soon and what's
2:00:56
coming out. I mean, Resident Evil is coming
2:00:59
out at the beginning of the year and GTA 6 is still somewhat
2:01:02
coming out next year. Hopefully we'll see.
2:01:06
So yeah, I mean, light no fire probably.
2:01:08
I think the statue is not going to be anything any of us are
2:01:11
going to know, though. I don't think it's going to be a
2:01:12
franchise. That I think it's a new IP.
2:01:15
I think it's a brand new IP. So yeah, I don't think it's
2:01:17
going to be something where it's like, oh, it's it's the next
2:01:20
Quake or it's, you know, Wolfenstein or something like
2:01:23
that. I think it's just going to be
2:01:24
like, you know, it's a it's a new thing that Trumpsoft is
2:01:30
doing or something like that. Who knows?
2:01:33
We'll see. Nick is that who?
2:01:37
Who do we, John? It's me.
2:01:39
Yeah, it's me now. So I'm getting my little :) guy
2:01:45
up here ready for the stream and the video.
2:01:48
All right, cool. So I don't know what the statue
2:01:52
is. It could be anything.
2:01:54
I don't think it's as much as I want it to be.
2:01:58
I, I, I kind of like Grunkenly said Blood War 2, but I don't
2:02:02
know, I don't. There's alligators and all these
2:02:04
things, but then you see these demon things that don't really
2:02:07
fit the narrative of any From Soft game that I've seen, right?
2:02:11
They're not even akin to God of War in my opinion.
2:02:15
No, it's not. So I don't know what it could
2:02:17
be. That statue in could be entirely
2:02:21
a new IP and I'd be so stoked on that cuz it it, that type of
2:02:25
marketing for me. Being like a hipster douche is
2:02:30
so sweet. You didn't even like question me
2:02:33
saying that. You just agreed with that.
2:02:35
You just are a hipster douche. No, you are.
2:02:39
I've seen how you make coffee. Yeah.
2:02:43
My alchemy don't talk shit. Secondly.
2:02:46
Secondly. Full calm The Alchemist over
2:02:48
here. That's my new discord name.
2:02:52
There you go. So I don't know what that is.
2:02:58
It's cool. I like the marketing.
2:02:59
I think it's really cool. What I would like to see
2:03:03
obviously, is Half Life 30 my, but it's not going.
2:03:05
To No, I didn't, he said. He wasn't going to talk about
2:03:08
it. In the end, he got out of the
2:03:10
end. It that would be cool.
2:03:13
I would like to see Portal. Honestly, I'd like to see
2:03:15
Portal. I'd like to see more stuff for
2:03:16
Diablo. There's a ton of shit I would
2:03:19
like to see, but I think the most important game right now
2:03:22
would be Wolfenstein. Given what the climate is and
2:03:29
when the last Wolfenstein released and the climate it
2:03:33
released in, I think a Wolfenstein game would be sick.
2:03:39
Especially with what's going on in the world.
2:03:44
I think it would put everyone on their ass.
2:03:46
Here's B JS last ride. 80 year old kicking Nazi ass.
2:03:54
Dude. Well, why not?
2:03:56
The. Quake would be sweet.
2:03:57
It probably wouldn't be that though.
2:03:59
It would be. I would have.
2:04:01
I would hope it's it's. 70 year old 6070 year old BJ cuz his
2:04:06
daughter's already born we. Never said it, I just have a
2:04:09
number I didn't exactly. Mean are you?
2:04:10
Are you saying we don't even look at that yet?
2:04:12
No, you we have the The second game ends with him kicking off
2:04:17
the revolution and like on now. So you want to see that entire
2:04:20
thing happen? That's what the third game in my
2:04:23
opinion would be. Just because they did that spin
2:04:26
off of his daughters in the 80s doesn't mean, you know, my only
2:04:29
thing with that And, you know, if anything, the way I take that
2:04:32
is, you know, I didn't play that game enough.
2:04:35
So I don't know if it's touched on.
2:04:37
Is the US free? You know I mean.
2:04:41
They're fight or is it free? Yeah, well, they're fighting in
2:04:43
France. So like, you know, I, I
2:04:47
question, you know, what happened, you know, like that's
2:04:51
The thing is that these the first game set the stage.
2:04:54
The second game, literally he fucking gets his head cut off
2:04:59
like, Oh my, I love it. It gets cut off and put back
2:05:02
onto a a different body. And like he then comes Mars
2:05:06
Attacks, comes back from the fucking dead and goes in,
2:05:10
assassinates the Nazi who did it on television, walks up to the
2:05:15
TV and it's like, you know, we're Americans.
2:05:20
This is what we fucking do or whatever.
2:05:22
And it like it kicks off and it's like, I want to see the
2:05:25
continuation of that. That's what I hope for.
2:05:27
Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack. Your predicting no dude.
2:05:30
Like that's what I want. I don't want to see old.
2:05:32
I don't want to see old BJI see I I I want to see what is.
2:05:37
Like in his prime still. What is his?
2:05:39
I got my new body, fuck you. What is his immediate, you know,
2:05:42
what are the I want to see? What are the consequences of
2:05:44
that? I mean, you know, and yeah,
2:05:48
there's so many other things that I think are important to
2:05:50
that as well, so. I think no, you're good.
2:05:55
I think we also see Doom DLC. I would hope.
2:05:58
I think we'll. I think we'll see some story DLC
2:06:01
for Doom. Fuck man, the Sky's limit here.
2:06:07
I think Jeff has a very cool show to put on.
2:06:11
Let's make sure the pacing is done right this year.
2:06:13
But we have pacing issues every year.
2:06:15
But let's, let's do it right. Let's get her done.
2:06:19
Let's let's make the Game Awards fucking awesome, dude.
2:06:21
Like, let's keep it rolling. I am excited for this year.
2:06:26
I'm excited to get wasted on Thursday and do this episode.
2:06:31
And John, you got to deal with us, dude.
2:06:34
And I I would love to. Hell yeah.
2:06:38
So this Thursday, everybody, myself, Evan and John will be
2:06:42
streaming The Game Awards. We will have a fourth screen
2:06:47
just in case anybody wants to hop on from the Spawn Camp
2:06:51
community. We'll see if we can get anyone
2:06:52
rotating in. We'll be live on Twitch at Spawn
2:06:56
Camp Co Check us out there. You could also check the recap
2:07:00
out on Spawn Camp Co on YouTube. e-mail us your picks and
2:07:04
predictions at wasdbeyond@gmail.com.
2:07:08
Again, that is WASD beyond@gmail.com.
2:07:12
Check out Roll for Deception and it came from screen Box.
2:07:15
Go down the links below and follow and buy some cool shit
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from our sponsor Final boss. Yeah, it's a great time.
2:07:24
This is the best time of year to be a gamer.
2:07:26
Cool shit. Brought to you by The Game
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Awards and we'll see you then. See you.
2:07:32
Bye.