Game of The Year 2024

[00:00:10] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back for another edition of the Pre-Order Bonus Podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Cameron Warren, and I'm joined, as always, by Jacob Price. It's December 10th, 2024, and we're recording this a little bit early so we can get ahead of the holidays.

[00:00:27] But, folks, you've just joined us for our game of the year episode. Cue the audio echo right now. Once again, Patreon subscriber goal to get that... What do they call those things, Jake?

[00:00:43] Oh, the sound... Is it... Do they just call it a soundboard?

[00:00:46] It's an Elgato streamboard or whatever.

[00:00:49] Streamdeck, right? That's what they call it.

[00:00:53] Streamdeck, that's right. I was thinking like Steamdeck.

[00:00:55] Now I'm thinking Steamdeck. Whatever, dude.

[00:00:59] Streamdeck. We need a streamdeck. We need a streamdeck, although we don't really stream that often. Although Jake might be streaming a lot.

[00:01:04] I might be streaming more in about a month. Stay tuned.

[00:01:10] Well, it's our game of the year.

[00:01:15] There's still some games to come in December, so it's very possible that we miss some massive surprise drop.

[00:01:22] I don't know. Who knows? Who knows what's going to happen?

[00:01:26] This is obviously... We're recording this before the Game Awards, so if there's some major shadow drop that hits that day, then...

[00:01:35] I.e. Silksong.

[00:01:36] It will not... It's too late.

[00:01:38] It's like Indiana Jones.

[00:01:41] If...

[00:01:42] It's like Indiana Jones and the Game Awards, because Indiana Jones is not going to be considered the Game Awards, because it came out too late.

[00:01:47] It came out too late, but it's also going to fall... Because it came out so late, sure, it's eligible for 2025, but it's going to receive the same curse as Jedi Fallen Order and get one nod and not win it.

[00:02:00] You know what I mean?

[00:02:01] No one will remember it. Yeah. If you come out in the middle to the end of December, you just don't make the Game Awards, even if you're really good.

[00:02:09] Which is insane, because Troy Baker doing Harrison Ford and young Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones...

[00:02:17] Dude, that is the voice acting experience of a lifetime, I feel like.

[00:02:23] It's the voice acting of the year, and it's not even...

[00:02:25] It won't be considered.

[00:02:26] It's no joke. I mean, say what you want about Troy Baker. He's one of those mainstay...

[00:02:32] It's like where you could be like, oh my gosh, this dude's in everything.

[00:02:34] You know why he's in everything? Because he is freaking amazing at what he does.

[00:02:39] Like, this guy is just... He is just a master of his craft.

[00:02:44] Yeah. He's killing it in the Indiana Jones game.

[00:02:47] I haven't put in too much time. I have less than two hours, probably, in Indiana Jones, but I'm really enjoying the heck out of what I have played.

[00:02:55] But yeah, it doesn't really qualify for anything this year, and it will probably be forgotten by the time next year rolls around.

[00:03:02] So, that sucks for them.

[00:03:04] But at least they got a really... A big win over there at Machine Games and Bethesda in that game.

[00:03:12] Yes, sir. Well, let's dive right in, because this might take a while.

[00:03:16] Well, once again, ladies and gentlemen, this is our Game of the Year 2024 episode.

[00:03:23] This is our... How many Game of the Years have we done? How many years have we been in business?

[00:03:27] We have been doing this since December 2019.

[00:03:31] So, I actually think we've been doing... Is that right?

[00:03:35] Oh my gosh, really?

[00:03:36] Yeah. Our first episode before Cameron worked at Bungie was Destiny 2 Shadowkeep.

[00:03:42] Holy smokes. Is that right?

[00:03:45] You know, it is fun to go back and listen to old episodes.

[00:03:48] And we have such a huge library now.

[00:03:52] Like, pretty much any game that you've ever considered playing, we've got an episode on it.

[00:03:58] Like, we're a little behind, but we'll get to it eventually, right?

[00:04:02] So, like, we've got a massive backlog.

[00:04:05] I think that's one of the beauties of our podcast, not to toot our own horn, but our podcast is because we're not like a gaming news show,

[00:04:12] which is the predominant sort of format of every other games podcast.

[00:04:17] You can just go back in time and listen, and it's like, you just have this whole library.

[00:04:23] So, anyway.

[00:04:23] You'll probably find it, and if you don't find it, send us a message, and we'll let you know if we will consider it.

[00:04:31] Well, Jake, let's dive in.

[00:04:34] So, just so people, if you're going to hear this episode.

[00:04:38] So, we're going to do our Game of the War.

[00:04:40] So, we have the Game Awards reacting live to that on Thursday, December 12th.

[00:04:47] We're going to do a reactions episode to that that's going to come out before this.

[00:04:50] So, we're recording this December 10th.

[00:04:52] You guys are going to hear it, like, the week of Christmas around their parts, or maybe a little bit before that.

[00:05:00] But we're recording it now because lots to say and, like, lots to do, and Jake's going to Mexico.

[00:05:05] So, you know, you got to get it done.

[00:05:06] Ya, vamos.

[00:05:07] A Mexico.

[00:05:09] Yes.

[00:05:10] And with that, Jake, let's dive in.

[00:05:12] What is going to be the format?

[00:05:14] We've changed our format from year to year, so we haven't had really, like, consistent format.

[00:05:18] And we don't do really, like, top five just pure Game of the Year, right?

[00:05:23] We kind of do things a little differently.

[00:05:25] Jake, how are we going to break down this Game of the Year episode?

[00:05:27] Yeah, so we have changed it quite a bit.

[00:05:29] I would say that this year from last year, probably the least amount of change that we've had doing our Game of the Year episode.

[00:05:36] So, what we're going to do is, because this is a pre-order bonus podcast and we always do everything by categories,

[00:05:42] we essentially just, like, pick our top three from each category, pick a winner, and then we'll pick our Game of the Year.

[00:05:49] So, for example, for narrative, that category, I have selected three that were my top narratives.

[00:05:55] Cameron selected his.

[00:05:56] And then each of us will kind of go through those.

[00:05:59] We'll go back and forth, and then we'll each, like, announce which one is our best narrative of 2024.

[00:06:05] Then we'll move on to game design category.

[00:06:07] Same thing.

[00:06:08] I have my shortlist.

[00:06:09] Cameron has a shortlist.

[00:06:10] We'll go through those, and then we'll each pick what our number one for game design is.

[00:06:15] And then what we're doing this year is, for the impact on the industry, we just picked one that we think that will be really influential.

[00:06:24] That in one way, in one form or shape or whatever it is, it will have an impact on the industry.

[00:06:32] And then finally, we'll just pick our Game of the Year, and it'll just be one.

[00:06:36] If you're sticking around, if you are a Patreon sub and you have access to the Extended Edition,

[00:06:42] we will each offer just one game in these four categories.

[00:06:46] The Best Family Game, since Cameron and I are both parents and we game with our kids,

[00:06:50] so we have games selected that's Best Family Game.

[00:06:53] Our Biggest Surprise this year.

[00:06:55] Our Biggest Letdown of this year.

[00:06:58] And then finally, the Biggest Spectacle of this year.

[00:07:02] So that's really how this episode is going to go.

[00:07:09] And with that, Jake, let's dive in.

[00:07:11] Game of the Year 2024 Pre-order Bonus Podcast Top 3 Narratives, Narrative Games, however you want to define it.

[00:07:22] Jake, let's start with you.

[00:07:23] What's your...

[00:07:26] Do you have an order, like a three to one, or are you just giving three in this category?

[00:07:31] I feel like it's hard to rank them.

[00:07:32] It is really hard to rank them.

[00:07:33] I'm just going to give three, and then I'll give you the one that is the number one pick out of all those.

[00:07:37] Okay?

[00:07:39] So I'll just go through.

[00:07:40] My three are actually all indie games this year.

[00:07:46] Oh!

[00:07:47] Okay.

[00:07:48] Yeah.

[00:07:48] And I do...

[00:07:49] Mine are not.

[00:07:50] I do want to...

[00:07:51] I do want to clarify.

[00:07:53] I specifically decided not to pick any DLC.

[00:07:57] So Elden Ring Shadow of the Erd Tree doesn't show up anywhere here.

[00:08:02] But if we did...

[00:08:03] We typically don't do DLC.

[00:08:05] But if we did, it would have easily been my game of the year.

[00:08:08] But just so.

[00:08:10] Okay.

[00:08:11] All asterisks.

[00:08:12] All caveats.

[00:08:13] Out of the way.

[00:08:13] Okay.

[00:08:14] So my top three narratives this year were 1000x Resist.

[00:08:19] 1000x Resist.

[00:08:21] Oh, nice.

[00:08:23] Man, I still have not played this year.

[00:08:24] Oh, dude.

[00:08:25] It is amazing.

[00:08:27] I don't know if I could play it a second time.

[00:08:29] But it is obviously incredible.

[00:08:32] My number two...

[00:08:34] I actually came around to this.

[00:08:36] Or the second one that I'm offering, I guess, is Dread Delusion.

[00:08:42] And I'll talk about that a little bit more.

[00:08:44] But I have that on this list.

[00:08:45] And then the last one that I have is Arco.

[00:08:48] This is where my personal and professional life bias probably shines the brightest.

[00:08:55] Just because Arco has a lot to do with Latin American literature.

[00:08:59] Literature, there's a lot of callbacks to a specific period in Latin American literature called the Boom Period from the 60s through the 80s.

[00:09:09] So that's why Arco kind of makes a narrative list for me.

[00:09:14] Arco, so great.

[00:09:16] Yeah.

[00:09:19] 1000x Resist.

[00:09:20] Sorry, say your third one, your second one.

[00:09:22] Dread Delusion.

[00:09:24] Dread Delusion.

[00:09:26] Yeah, I played a little bit of Dread Delusion.

[00:09:29] And honestly, it was like giving me motion sickness.

[00:09:34] Well, it's like Morrowind on acid.

[00:09:38] It's like Morrowind on acid.

[00:09:39] And you can even turn off the wavy textures.

[00:09:43] But I really wanted to, Jake.

[00:09:47] I really wanted to.

[00:09:47] I couldn't do it.

[00:09:49] I've got a really bad astigmatism.

[00:09:51] So that type of stuff makes it even way worse.

[00:09:53] No, I ended up turning off that texture, honestly.

[00:09:57] But 1000x Resist, I still have not.

[00:10:00] For whatever reason, that one just completely fell off my radar this year.

[00:10:05] And I keep hearing it get like popped up every now and again.

[00:10:07] And I'm like, oh yeah, I got to go play that.

[00:10:09] And then I just forget.

[00:10:11] It looks like it's 25% off on Steam right now.

[00:10:13] I might just need to go buy it.

[00:10:14] I will say the reason why that I haven't like formally recommended this specifically to Cameron

[00:10:21] is I do think that Cameron, you would really enjoy the narrative.

[00:10:26] But I do not believe you would enjoy the gameplay that much.

[00:10:30] Which is why I think for you...

[00:10:33] What kind of gameplay is it?

[00:10:34] There's very little gameplay.

[00:10:35] It's mostly walking around and talking to people.

[00:10:39] Walking simulator style?

[00:10:41] Yeah.

[00:10:41] I mean, it's in a 3D space, right?

[00:10:44] So you have to traverse different areas.

[00:10:47] And you have to kind of...

[00:10:48] There's one mechanic where you have to like zip to different nodes to get across specific spaces.

[00:10:55] But that is the number one reason why I haven't been able to recommend this to you.

[00:11:01] Because there really is very little gameplay.

[00:11:06] Fair enough.

[00:11:08] Yeah.

[00:11:08] And I admit I do have to be like in a certain headspace to play.

[00:11:16] I mean, I do like those experiences every now and again.

[00:11:21] But it definitely has to be like the right moment.

[00:11:24] So that's good to know.

[00:11:25] So yeah, keep that in mind.

[00:11:25] And then...

[00:11:28] Sorry.

[00:11:28] And then you said Arco and...

[00:11:35] Dread Delusion.

[00:11:36] Sorry.

[00:11:36] And Dread Delusion.

[00:11:37] Sorry.

[00:11:38] Man.

[00:11:39] Game of the year.

[00:11:40] I can't think straight.

[00:11:41] Dread Delusion.

[00:11:42] Didn't get a chance to play.

[00:11:43] Jake, what pops out to you on Dread Delusion?

[00:11:45] Why is this one in the narrative conversation?

[00:11:47] You know, honestly, at the very beginning, I thought it maybe up fronted a bit too much

[00:11:51] with its world building and jargon specifically.

[00:11:54] But I just could not resist.

[00:11:57] And like this game has like one central hub.

[00:12:01] And then you have to go to three different areas to kind of like complete main questings.

[00:12:05] And each of those main areas has like a really prominent narratively based side quest.

[00:12:10] And I could not help but really get sucked in narratively.

[00:12:15] What was happening in each of these regions?

[00:12:18] Why it was happening?

[00:12:19] Who was getting infected?

[00:12:20] What would be the outcomes based on who I decided to help within these different factions?

[00:12:25] And so Dread Delusion, in my opinion, had just really excellent world building.

[00:12:30] Even though it was maybe a steep learning curve up front.

[00:12:33] By the time I had really gotten to know all the different areas and spoken with a lot of different people,

[00:12:40] the world building there is just incredible.

[00:12:42] And I mean, the writing, the moment to moment writing is also really good.

[00:12:46] Characters are not one dimensional.

[00:12:48] And they have good motive for their behaviors once you kind of dig into it.

[00:12:53] And so that's why I ended up picking it.

[00:12:55] Like when I first wrote this list, I didn't have Dread Delusion in there.

[00:12:59] And then it kind of went back through and I was thinking through all the games I had played.

[00:13:02] And I was like, you know what?

[00:13:03] By the time I ended Dread Delusion, I could actually keep up with all of the jargon.

[00:13:09] I could keep up with the stuff that was kind of going on and why it was happening.

[00:13:14] And it just sucked me in in kind of a subtle way.

[00:13:17] So that's why it's on here.

[00:13:21] I love that.

[00:13:22] And then Arco, I did obviously play.

[00:13:26] And that is, yeah, I mean, that's just fantastic storytelling.

[00:13:32] I actually didn't put it on my list only because I knew that it would be.

[00:13:36] For sake of diversity.

[00:13:39] For sake of diversity.

[00:13:40] But yeah, I mean, Arco is like, what a special game, man.

[00:13:45] I think there is nothing else like Arco.

[00:13:48] Yeah.

[00:13:48] And what it accomplishes.

[00:13:50] And we talked about this on our episode.

[00:13:52] I think the highlight for that on narrative is it accomplishes so much with so little.

[00:14:00] What was saying and says so little.

[00:14:02] Yeah.

[00:14:03] Right?

[00:14:03] Like there is text and there's dialogue.

[00:14:05] But like there's not really a ton of exposition.

[00:14:08] And they don't say things outright that you kind of infer are happening.

[00:14:14] And it's just a master craft in that sort of subtle style of storytelling.

[00:14:19] And it's so effective.

[00:14:21] We talked about that a lot on our episode.

[00:14:23] But yeah, I think that's incredible.

[00:14:25] I highly recommend that you all go and listen to that episode we did on Arco.

[00:14:30] All right.

[00:14:30] So those are mine.

[00:14:31] But what are yours, man?

[00:14:33] What are yours?

[00:14:33] Yes.

[00:14:35] Narrative 2024 for me.

[00:14:40] Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

[00:14:42] It was good, man.

[00:14:44] Yeah.

[00:14:45] Yeah.

[00:14:45] I mean, look.

[00:14:46] This is a rehash spin with a whole bunch of sort of added break the fourth wall story elements

[00:15:01] from like the original Final Fantasy VII added to this game.

[00:15:09] But and I know like the end of I think I think that here's the thing.

[00:15:14] Like, is it the best narrative ever?

[00:15:16] Like, I don't think it is.

[00:15:18] But and I think part of the reason I'm giving it is because I realized that this is part

[00:15:23] two of a three act story.

[00:15:24] Right.

[00:15:24] And so I'm giving it like a little bit of leeway understanding that it's like part two

[00:15:30] of like three acts, which I see kind of as one thing.

[00:15:33] But if you look at it that way, I do think it is like it's a phenomenal and like just

[00:15:38] impressive achievement for how they took that old story and how they did something really

[00:15:43] try to do something like really interesting with it.

[00:15:45] And like I just I even though a lot of it doesn't work or maybe it's like a little zany, like

[00:15:50] a little wacky to a lot of folks out there.

[00:15:53] I just super appreciated what it tried to do and like what it attempts to do.

[00:15:58] And a lot of things I think it was successful.

[00:15:59] And I think the thing that it's that it's most successful in is taking that original Final

[00:16:07] Fantasy VII story and just expanding it and making it bigger and grander and interesting

[00:16:11] ways that deliver on sort of this new experience of an old game in 2024.

[00:16:17] Yeah, I mean, I totally agree with you.

[00:16:19] I think that I mean, it sure has middle of the second of the trilogy syndrome.

[00:16:26] But at the same time, this is kind of the moment in the story where everybody in the

[00:16:32] main parties, they're like priorities start shifting away from we need to get revenge on

[00:16:37] Shinra to wait.

[00:16:38] What exactly is Sephiroth doing to the planet?

[00:16:42] And why do we need to be concerned about that and Meteor?

[00:16:45] Right.

[00:16:45] And so I think people stop.

[00:16:47] I don't know.

[00:16:48] And I think that actually that kind of transition makes sense for a number two in a trilogy where

[00:16:53] they're starting to realize that, oh, this is much bigger than Shinra.

[00:16:57] This is much bigger than us individually and the motives and that kind of by happenstance

[00:17:03] have united us as a team or had us form a team.

[00:17:08] And now we're united with a singular motive.

[00:17:10] Right.

[00:17:11] After what happens with Aerith.

[00:17:12] So I agree with you.

[00:17:14] Like, yeah, you feel the awkwardness.

[00:17:16] But I do feel like that this as a as the remake really delivers on that in a good way.

[00:17:23] Yeah.

[00:17:24] And I also love the fact that I'm I'm playing that game and I'm understanding the story of

[00:17:29] the original game better because I'm playing it with like graphics that I can actually see

[00:17:34] the people and like and and like voice dialogue voiced excellent pretty excellent excellently.

[00:17:43] That's not a word.

[00:17:44] Pretty greatly.

[00:17:46] I don't know.

[00:17:46] I don't know.

[00:17:47] Jake, where am I very well voiced dialogue throughout for the most part that kind of

[00:17:56] expands my understanding of the original story, which I'm, you know, a huge fan of and I've

[00:18:00] beaten a couple of times.

[00:18:01] So, yeah.

[00:18:02] Yeah.

[00:18:03] So F7 Rebirth.

[00:18:04] And then next up was is Metaphor Rephantasio.

[00:18:08] Nice.

[00:18:09] Now you've made it further than we had in our episode.

[00:18:13] Yes.

[00:18:14] And I still just to be clear, I'm giving this like top narrative marks, even though I

[00:18:19] still haven't even finished it.

[00:18:20] So I haven't even gotten like to the to what I think most people consider to be like the

[00:18:26] best parts of that game.

[00:18:27] But even just that initial like 15 hours that I played and shockingly 15 hours is still

[00:18:33] like basically an introduction, which is just insane.

[00:18:37] And so I may never finish that game.

[00:18:39] But even in that just 15 hours, what this game manages to accomplish and what it's setting

[00:18:44] out to do.

[00:18:46] Just it kind of blows me away that they are.

[00:18:50] They have pulled off.

[00:18:52] They literally call the game Metaphor Rephantasio.

[00:18:55] And the game is literally a metaphor on like various political, racial, social issues and challenges

[00:19:06] in real life.

[00:19:08] And they somehow pulled it off and made it cool and made it weird and made it like really

[00:19:14] interesting.

[00:19:14] Yeah.

[00:19:14] And it I don't think I've seen another game like be so heavy handed with that aspect and

[00:19:20] not come off as like really corny.

[00:19:22] But this game just does it.

[00:19:24] And they're just they're not shy about it.

[00:19:27] And they do it really expertly.

[00:19:29] So, yeah, it has to be in this category for me.

[00:19:31] I like how you put that right.

[00:19:32] Like most time heavy handedness like this would be really off putting.

[00:19:36] But in Metaphor Rephantasio, it really works like it seems to make a lot more sense that

[00:19:43] it is that way where every so often it's just like, what is a utopia?

[00:19:49] You know, what does that look like?

[00:19:50] And why don't we have it right now?

[00:19:54] Yeah, I like that.

[00:19:55] Well said.

[00:19:56] And then that was to what's your final one?

[00:19:59] And my final one, I mean, there's a lot that I could put here, but.

[00:20:03] But I think recency bias is going to take it again.

[00:20:08] I haven't finished this one either, but I've played enough to know that this is going to

[00:20:12] be in my top for the year for narrative.

[00:20:14] And it's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

[00:20:17] They nice.

[00:20:18] They're killing it.

[00:20:19] I mean, they're killing it.

[00:20:21] And just the first few hours, they're nailing the Indiana Jones vibes.

[00:20:25] This is as interesting as any of the films.

[00:20:28] And I'm a huge fan of the films.

[00:20:31] And even just like the side stories, like the nerdy Indiana Jones archaeology stuff that's

[00:20:39] just littered throughout this and walking around through Marshall College and just looking at

[00:20:44] all the detail and the environmental storytelling of like the 1930s.

[00:20:47] So killer, man.

[00:20:49] Like so killer.

[00:20:50] It's amazing.

[00:20:51] Yeah.

[00:20:51] I mean, I've hardly played this, but I almost feel like when I'm getting from it and I've

[00:20:58] only made it to the part in the beginning.

[00:21:00] This is hardly a spoiler.

[00:21:01] It's pretty early on where I've met, you know, finally caught up with Father Antonio.

[00:21:07] Yep.

[00:21:07] Yep.

[00:21:07] Yep.

[00:21:08] Yep.

[00:21:09] Yep.

[00:21:11] Yep.

[00:21:12] Yep.

[00:21:12] Yep.

[00:21:12] Yep.

[00:21:12] Yep.

[00:21:22] Yep.

[00:21:30] Yep.

[00:21:32] yeah yeah and i think it almost does that a little more than the other like even the original

[00:21:37] trilogy did for me like of course in the original trilogy you're always you're punching nazis and

[00:21:42] you're taking down nazis and you're anti-fascist all good things right and it's all there but in

[00:21:48] this game i i feel like they're really zoomed in on that like all this talk about mussolini right

[00:21:55] and all the fascists and i love any i love indy's uh like subtle remarks like uh against fascists

[00:22:06] like when you grab money you like steal money from from uh like some guards or something you're like

[00:22:11] he's like fascists don't need money

[00:22:16] which is just my favorite things though actually is the amount of biscotti you get to eat man

[00:22:21] there's a lot of biscotti there's just i mean it's i didn't realize that that was such a heavy

[00:22:27] part of the the lore 1930s diet okay so sorry tangent here but i i was at costco today like getting some

[00:22:35] last minute things um there's some biscotti there they have like you go to the snack section and they

[00:22:43] have like this box of biscotti and i was just like oh okay dude i've been playing indiana jones

[00:22:49] i really want to buy some biscotti you're crazy i held off because i was like i'll just i'll just

[00:22:57] you know mow through this entire thing like as soon as we leave the store but dude after seeing so much

[00:23:03] biscotti and seeing indiana jones eat it i'm almost like is biscotti to indiana jones what spinach is to

[00:23:10] popeye in this game like what's the biscotti how come there's no biscotti sponsorship yeah i mean

[00:23:19] listen as much as we all understand and enjoy ihop where's the major biscotti brand right that needs

[00:23:27] to hop on indiana jones with the great circle yesterday like where are you man where are you

[00:23:33] i don't know what the major biscotti brands are but that's why you know xbox you're dropping the

[00:23:38] ball on this marketing cross-promotional material imagine you could win a lifetime supply of biscotti man

[00:23:45] i just feel like a lot of no we can't go on this tangent i won't do it i was gonna say i feel like

[00:23:51] a lot of games marketing is just poorly there's so many missed opportunities just poor execution all

[00:23:57] around it's the ihop marketing like head of marketing bumps into the microsoft marketing guy at some dinner

[00:24:05] party and the ihop guys like is so the xbox is how they doing these days and the guy's just like

[00:24:13] you know what what if what if we got together right yeah because there's just such a massive

[00:24:21] demographic crossover of all of the ihop i'm pretty sure the only people go to ihop are boomers so i don't

[00:24:28] know what what's i'm not cameron what are you talking about nothing against ihop nothing is ihop i'm just

[00:24:34] saying like all of my controllers are stained with syrup from ihop if anything do the chilies

[00:24:39] crossover because the triple dipper has blown up so big buy a triple dipper get xbox points right like

[00:24:46] that's such an easy it's it's not easy guys like i don't know yeah but imagine if dude they should have

[00:24:52] just had a partnership with costco and like on their biscotti because i want biscotti now dude

[00:25:00] i in the biscotti looks so sorry guys this is our game of the year episode this is the last here's

[00:25:06] the thing is biscotti biscotti seems dry i think the only biscotti i've ever had has been really dry

[00:25:10] so usually people dip it in like a tea or like a coffee right i think so but the you can get the

[00:25:17] ones that are like half dipped in chocolate too you know or like a glaze or something those aren't in

[00:25:24] indiana jones pre pre 1950s they probably didn't pre glazed or chocolate biscotti

[00:25:31] well anyways jake yeah those are my three narrative of the year i think there's there's some other ones

[00:25:36] i could have mentioned i actually wanted to mention as an honorable mention i actually did i know this

[00:25:41] game didn't get a lot of marks for its narrative but i actually really enjoyed for what it was even

[00:25:47] though it was like relatively simplistic i actually quite enjoyed uh the dragon's dogma 2 narrative

[00:25:54] i just thought it was like oh it wasn't like the greatest dialogue or anything it wasn't like

[00:26:00] it didn't have like great production or anything like that but i was like i was kind of like

[00:26:04] intrigued by it and it has an interesting twist at the end that actually majorly impacts the game and

[00:26:10] so i appreciated it for that what a nice honorable mention uh folks we do talk about that in more

[00:26:15] detail honor dragons dogma 2 episode so i do recommend going and digging that one up too to

[00:26:21] to see and hear more of what cameron's talking about well let's move on to design game we gotta

[00:26:29] announce our winners oh that's right i'm sorry we're doing we're picking a winner i picked winners

[00:26:37] i have winners prepared is that what we're doing okay you're right you're right so out of my three

[00:26:42] out of i'm gonna have to make a point cameron's making a narrative winner this is too hard this is

[00:26:47] too hard it's unfairly difficult but for me i ended up picking between a thousand x resist dread

[00:26:54] delusion and arco i picked 1000 x resist wow oh man i might really have to play it is um it's like

[00:27:05] 15 bucks on steam yeah i mean it is just heart-wrenching but it is also somehow it manages to wrangle all of the chaos

[00:27:20] of these different disparate like themes and scenarios and circumstances and throws it all

[00:27:27] into like this pressure cooker of tension between i mean it's dealing with it's dealing with like

[00:27:36] chinese diaspora it's dealing with um pandemic it's dealing with the huge surge of racism towards

[00:27:43] asian americans at the beginning of the pandemic it's dealing with high school drama it's dealing with

[00:27:49] you know tensions between a mother and a daughter and more all these things kind of simultaneously and

[00:27:55] it almost feels like you see that on paper and i think the hunch is to be like no dude you got to

[00:28:02] cut some of these because it's going to get too messy and this game is messy but it makes it all work

[00:28:06] in a way that i think is just out out of this world man um yeah highlighted by a really interesting

[00:28:14] voice acting style and just holy cow thematically this thing goes into deep dark corners of your soul

[00:28:23] um and pulls and stretches there so love this narrative it's my number one narrative of 2024

[00:28:32] love that jake uh yeah mine is gonna have to be

[00:28:36] final fantasy 7 rebirth i think i walked through my rationale that's definitely my pick for

[00:28:41] for a narrative of the year despite i think the division around this i it just didn't grab like

[00:28:47] metaphor as as much as i respected what it was doing it just didn't grab me like emotionally

[00:28:52] and i think rebirth admittedly comes with this insane score production just presentation that's kind of

[00:29:05] you know very very top tier but that stuff matters and i think that does matter like it's you know

[00:29:11] it's uh the presentation matters and so that combined with kind of what they actually did with

[00:29:17] expanding the original story uh that's makes it for me my number one for narrative very nice very nice

[00:29:26] all right now okay now we're ready design best game jake what are your three best designed video games

[00:29:33] for 2024 um i don't think any of these will be a surprise really to most people i think a lot of

[00:29:38] people have praised these games for game design uh the first one that i have here is astrobot

[00:29:45] um yeah no kind of no question right it feels that's also my first one yeah i mean it feels like

[00:29:51] it feels like uh super mario or like super mario galaxy 3 in a lot of ways um and yeah i mean just

[00:30:00] just an amazing game i think overall in terms of how levels are designed and repeatability and

[00:30:05] how it just freaking feels to jump and platform despite it being a really simple game um number

[00:30:11] the the number two that i have here on this list is animal well now um i did not go like super deep into

[00:30:20] animal well i like beat it and then i did a little of the extras but animal well i just think as far as

[00:30:27] metroidvania goes has the most like fresh abilities that you get as you're exploring and because those

[00:30:37] abilities are so different and i'm just going to mention too like you get a bubble wand and a yo-yo

[00:30:42] for example and in metroidvania usually people are like double jump mid-air dash you know um and i just

[00:30:49] think that like those abilities allowed for interesting puzzles and creative ways of thinking about how to

[00:30:56] navigate through the well so that's why that one is uh on this list for me and then finally i have

[00:31:02] final fantasy 7 rebirth on here um it almost feels a little bit like cheating because um it's not too

[00:31:11] different from final fantasy 7 remake however they add new mechanics or make them more robust like the

[00:31:17] companion like synergy attacks um and just having new playable characters right as well i don't know

[00:31:26] like being able to play you know red 13 and kate sith having them in the mix um but also i think when

[00:31:33] it comes to like just game design broadly i really like this idea of instead of doing one like massive

[00:31:40] open world it's kind of like a bunch of um linked together open hubs so it sets a really good cadence

[00:31:47] for pacing um when it comes to story stuff when you want to go out and when you want to just explore

[00:31:52] with the exception of gongaga oh my gosh really hated exploring that area that was the low point

[00:31:58] for both this game so bad um but like queen's blood right like a game that just dude queen's

[00:32:07] wins game of the year queen's blood man dude if that's a that's a game awards thing if this gets

[00:32:15] announced and if this gets that's the thing i thought i forgot to mention at game awards that i

[00:32:21] just remembered recently it's like dude they got to announce that queen's blood standalone for mobile

[00:32:25] like yesterday it's gotta happen did that needs yeah fantastic like really really loved queen's blood

[00:32:33] um obviously just like the combat is so stellar it's just this wonderful fusion of turn-based

[00:32:38] thinking but like action playing yeah um yeah so i put it in there for best game design

[00:32:45] um those are my three astro bot animal well and then final fantasy 7 rebirth

[00:32:52] very nice jake um yeah my three for design best design games of 2024 astro bot obviously

[00:32:58] um yeah i just think there's no question this is unequivocally uh just amazing video yeah like

[00:33:08] i mean just so well there's that in fact i need to crack it open and go like get all the bots and

[00:33:14] play like the speeder and stuff that they added i haven't i haven't touched it since we beat it

[00:33:17] speedrun levels are pretty cool yeah i need to open those up second only to that is uh prince of

[00:33:26] persia the lost crown this is uh for me my favorite metroidvania ever ever uh hands down i think it

[00:33:36] has the best combat of any metroidvania i think it has the best platforming of any metroidvania um

[00:33:42] i just think man they just do such cool stuff with the progression of the abilities with the

[00:33:50] metroidvania elements of accessing new areas with like the challenge of the platforming gets to be um

[00:33:59] celeste levels in a lot of places and it's just crazy like what they do with that and when you combine

[00:34:06] all that package together it is just a meticulously designed experience it was so good um and then

[00:34:13] number three for me is i wafted between two here um but i think in the end i'll just go with what i

[00:34:20] played more which is tactical breach wizards nice tactical breach wizards yeah this is just a

[00:34:25] tightly designed room to room um like tactical it's like tactics puzzle game yeah and it's a

[00:34:37] combination of those two elements and then the challenge of like completing levels under certain

[00:34:43] conditions that makes it just really addicting and then the design like the design is just uh

[00:34:50] figuring out how to finish each scenario that you get put in under a certain number of turns or with a

[00:34:58] certain number of conditions that you have it's just really addicting and just really well

[00:35:04] thought out and executed and yeah this is like one of my favorites of the year and i think it was

[00:35:10] fantastically designed so those are my three very nice yeah i need to get around to tactical

[00:35:15] breach wizards it's getting a nice little resurgence i feel like right now too just kind of

[00:35:19] making a lot of end of the year lists um okay let's see so out of the three that i mentioned

[00:35:27] astrobat animal well and final fantasy 7 rebirth

[00:35:30] uh my pick for best game design is final fantasy 7 rebirth

[00:35:36] um wow okay man that combat system carries that game to new heights it is so good it's even better

[00:35:45] than it was in remake then you add queen's blood and it's like okay then you add queen's blood i even

[00:35:50] liked doing a lot of monster hunts just like um like the big kind of bounties i i don't know

[00:35:56] they're not called bounties right but like those types of things like within the different open

[00:36:00] world hubs um i love doing that stuff i loved riding chocobos like i love that open hub sort of uh

[00:36:09] progression just not the green chocobos just not the green chocobos dude get those out of here

[00:36:16] um but like uh golden saucer too right like even the mini games and stuff in there just like direct

[00:36:23] upgrades i feel like from uh from the og yeah that's that's my best game design 2024 is final

[00:36:32] fantasy 7 rebirth yeah great pick man i think um combat system one of the best for sure

[00:36:43] just the amount of diversity and the encounters the strategy and like tactical elements of the

[00:36:51] battle system like queen's blood like all of it when you take it all in together it is it's an

[00:36:58] astounding achievement i mean it really is that's incredible but ultimately i'm gonna have to give

[00:37:04] the best design game for me is uh is astrobot yeah very nice this game is just it's just it's like

[00:37:13] it's like the ipod of video games nice it's like the ipod video of video games it's just like sort of a

[00:37:25] kind of a more classic game that is just incredible to look at crystal clear 4k 60 fps on your playstation

[00:37:37] 5 runs like an absolute dream chocked full of just pure joy fun physics uh incredibly designed

[00:37:48] levels platforming everything just feels meticulous and it there's not a bug or a piece of jank in

[00:37:55] sight in that entire game and it is it's flawless i mean it's nearly flawless and and maybe even as

[00:38:02] flawless i don't know i don't remember like playing a game and just feeling like that level of a polish

[00:38:08] like probably since like super mario odyssey yeah um and it's maybe like second only to that in terms

[00:38:14] of what it's accomplished but yeah it is it is a it's just an incredible achievement and incredible

[00:38:21] like piece of of game design and i hope they make more of these and i hope they keep expanding on this

[00:38:26] uh because it's that's fantastic yeah please please will they expand more on this and give us astrobot

[00:38:33] to um take it to new places just keep making this world bigger adding stuff just keep on going man i

[00:38:41] want to see that's a whole new for hopefully that's a new franchise for those guys yeah um yeah okay so

[00:38:48] that is our best game design um so most impactful for the industry 2024 just to uh just a quick reminder

[00:38:56] we just picked one here i think um this is a category that historically we've kind of just like

[00:39:02] omitted from our game of the year episodes but cameron and i were talking and we were just like you know

[00:39:07] what you know why not throw out a game that we think is going to have the biggest impact like in

[00:39:12] one way or another you know and the ones that we think that can we'll do that and what why why we

[00:39:18] think that and so um i'll go first um there's a little bit of bias with my pick here and but i think

[00:39:26] for the indie sphere this one is actually a really subtle but it's going to be a really big game changer

[00:39:33] and we're going to see that a lot in the next few like two years even and my pick is rusty's retirement

[00:39:41] um oh so rusty's retirement is almost essentially an idle game right you really don't have to interact

[00:39:48] with it very much where its novelty lies though is that and this isn't the first game to do this but

[00:39:55] i think it's the first game to do this and make waves as it's doing it is um you just have it occupy

[00:40:02] like a fourth of your desktop screen while you're doing everything else so i have something

[00:40:09] like 50 plus hours in rusty's retirement because i have it going just on the side of my computer

[00:40:16] while i'm doing other things for work right um and it's like seven bucks it has a really simple

[00:40:24] gameplay loop with massive grind in it it's so rusty's retirement is like a farming sim right so if you

[00:40:30] get enough uh whatever the in-game currency is called then you can harvest a new type of crop

[00:40:36] which is going to take longer but it will yield more money overall and why i think this game is

[00:40:42] going to be so impactful is because as soon as it released i saw i counted i think four other indie

[00:40:48] devs that stopped the projects they were doing so they can make a game like this one a game that

[00:40:55] doesn't take up your whole desktop that is really small and it is something that you can just have

[00:40:59] going on the side of the screen and check in on every 15 minutes while you're doing something else on the

[00:41:05] computer and so i i really think that it's that specific type of game design where we're going to

[00:41:09] see a lot more games like this just idle games but meant for desktop not idle games that you check in

[00:41:15] on your phone every every few times during the day but just something that you can have running in the

[00:41:20] background that's not like eating away at a bunch of your you know computing um while you're working

[00:41:27] so i'm expecting that we'll see this is and i and i kind of mean this probably for the the really

[00:41:32] small indie sphere um with indie games that probably the ones that aren't getting big publishing deals

[00:41:38] with like devolver digital but like those indies kind of outside of the ones that reach the public

[00:41:44] attention we're going to see like a bunch of these idle sims desktop idle sims i think is what they're

[00:41:49] being called pop up everywhere so that's my pick and that's my defense i love it that's a surprise pick

[00:41:56] i did not expect that jake and i haven't actually tried this one yet but yeah it's five bucks

[00:42:01] um i have like 50 hours in it because i hardly have to actually play it but it's nice to check in

[00:42:07] on my farm every now and then 10 000 positive reviews on steam oh this game oh shoot this was a while

[00:42:16] ago but i'm pretty sure this game sold already over 100 000 copies yeah that's great i mean yeah it makes

[00:42:25] sense that this would be like highly impactful because if you can do that well with like a

[00:42:31] essentially like a browser desktop game yeah so solo dev no publisher as far as i'm aware

[00:42:39] um i think the full retail price is like seven bucks and i i want to say it took them like about a year

[00:42:47] to develop so a super quick turnaround as well well that's an amazing idea yeah

[00:42:57] well jake i'll give you my biggest impact i'm going to kind of cheat here i've got i think i have

[00:43:02] two and i think it remains to be seen who's going to be the winner which is one of the things about

[00:43:09] uh impact on the industry but i'll just give both of these this is you you know that i like to uh

[00:43:17] wax a lot about kind of the state of the games industry and the financial side of it and

[00:43:21] trends and stuff and like kind of the big space um so i think from that perspective the two

[00:43:27] biggest impacts this year are helldivers 2 and marvel rivals oh yeah tell us expound on those ones

[00:43:37] yeah so helldivers 2 i think is fascinating because it is a different kind of game that

[00:43:51] released with a different new-ish model that was phenomenally successful that model being the

[00:43:59] 40 up front that model being a 40 up front no skins and then sort of a simple battle pass

[00:44:07] and it reached like you know over 500 000 concurrent players obviously that's dropped off a lot

[00:44:13] so that's why i say like is it going to continue to kind of maintain the momentum probably not but i

[00:44:20] think what the game has already been phenomenally successful because of that initial uh because

[00:44:27] that initial success and like the amount of investment that it took to make that kind of game

[00:44:33] compared to what it returned i think it's it's it's a phenomenal success and it proved that you could

[00:44:41] kind of get away from the freemium model a little bit or that you could kind of do both and still find

[00:44:49] success and that's a huge deal for the games industry right now because the games industry is really

[00:44:55] struggling and they're trying to figure out like what models are going to work on the other side of the

[00:44:59] coin you have marvel rivals which marvel rivals what they're doing interesting is they're giving you

[00:45:04] all the characters right out of the box and so you have 33 characters already right now which is crazy

[00:45:12] yeah uh because in you know in any other normal kind of freemium model like you're gonna have the slow

[00:45:18] drip feed of characters and then you're gonna have like booster packs to get access to new characters

[00:45:23] where what they're doing is they just have an insanely flushed out like cosmetic store

[00:45:27] like so skins for your favorite characters and so from a from a consumer and then you have battle passes

[00:45:33] that you can grind uh endlessly right like so they'll release new ones and you can just pick up

[00:45:40] kind of like halo infinite but the difference is is here is because i think because of the uh

[00:45:44] the design and art direction that they've chosen and because they have net ease money behind it

[00:45:51] this game is just gonna be able to pump out like endless cosmetic content

[00:45:55] and maps and so if they can just keep the player base alive and the fact that it's free

[00:46:02] and then the fact that has a great art design and it's based on an interesting ip

[00:46:07] i think this game has the wheels to potentially be very very big um which i think is good news for

[00:46:14] consumers because i think the marvel rivals consumer model is is a relatively it's i think it seems like

[00:46:19] a healthy one to me so something to compete with the amount of content and stuff that fortnite can put

[00:46:26] out yeah exactly like it's uh is it derivative and is it very similar to offerings that are already on

[00:46:35] the market yes but it's made some decisions and it's done something successfully that i think give

[00:46:40] it probably the strongest chance we've seen in a long time to catapult and actually take market share

[00:46:46] from those top dogs that just continue to dominate year after year after year like the fortnite's war

[00:46:51] zones yeah um fifa you know call of duty like like that group um it has the best chance we've seen in a

[00:47:00] long time now could it still fail absolutely uh but who knows like it'll be interesting to see where

[00:47:08] that game is in six months i've actually been playing it and i've been playing it with my kids

[00:47:13] because it's free to play we can jump in we can play the ai there's a million characters

[00:47:18] they're having a lot of fun like i'm having fun it's just like a simple really simple kind of

[00:47:25] overwatch style like hero shooter and it's well done so nice yeah that is that is super interesting uh

[00:47:33] yeah the hell divers 2 model is one that i think will be on a lot of people's mind they made it work

[00:47:39] we don't have to talk about concord but concord right try to do something similar concord wasn't

[00:47:45] like marketed very it had like one big moment and then nothing so i don't know hell yeah there's

[00:47:54] too like had a better marketing strategy than that or more robust one right it's still kind of a

[00:48:02] mystery as to why concord failed so badly like so so so so badly because if you you know if you put

[00:48:08] up like marvel rivals and you can see why maybe i think you can see out some obvious things maybe

[00:48:15] but even then it's like games are weird nobody really knows like why do things pop off i don't know

[00:48:21] like power world why is why did power world have two and a half million concurrence is it because

[00:48:29] it's like a pokemon ripoff and a bit a little bit probably it's got guns yeah i don't know it's

[00:48:36] it's wild um something really i saw this article shoot i cannot i can't find it though sorry oh here

[00:48:45] we go this is from games radar concord died with a perfect 69 players nice holding its platinum trophy

[00:48:55] so like nice one of the rarest platinum trophies on playstation but it looks like in this article but

[00:49:04] the surprise 70th 70th just came out of nowhere so that's one of the crazy things about that and i

[00:49:12] remember somebody on social media they posted didn't concord have like a a controller like a

[00:49:19] specific special controller that came out yeah dude it's it's insane to me that like something that

[00:49:28] people put all that time and effort and money and resources into is just gone yeah and there's you know

[00:49:34] that secret level amazon prime anthology has it's like wiped from the face of the earth it's it's

[00:49:41] insane yeah you can't even touch it right but it had all this stuff i mean like they were expecting a

[00:49:47] lot if it had its own controller and it has an episode on the secret level show i mean my theory is

[00:49:53] is i don't think that they audience tested well enough like the universe and the world and the

[00:50:00] characters they created and i think that that side of it just had zero appeal to like anyone

[00:50:06] interesting clearly yeah so i think they i mean you know yeah it just but you know who again who knows

[00:50:17] that's all theory right you don't really know why well jake with that it's time to reveal

[00:50:26] our game of the year 2024 and again just to reiterate jake and i don't pick a collective

[00:50:33] game of the year because that's way too hard that'd be so you're getting you're getting our individual

[00:50:39] picks for game of the year so basically you get two two game of the year picks for the podcast

[00:50:44] i can't even remember jake do you remember what your what ours for for last year uh my indie pick

[00:50:51] for last year was on guard i remember that i actually have the document 2023 that was your indie

[00:50:58] that was my indie my game of the year last year was uh alan wake 2

[00:51:04] oh okay i'm remembering this let's see oh yeah boulders gate yeah oh yeah that was easy for you

[00:51:12] wow that was not even jeez that was

[00:51:19] liza p last year best combat i loved liza p um do you see new dlc for that it's coming in

[00:51:26] q1 or q2 2025 oh very cool very very cool yeah i had narrative boulders gate 3 alan wake 2

[00:51:38] cyberpunk phantom liberty and then game or game design tears of the kingdom

[00:51:45] liza p jedi survivor dredge dredge man that's a good one but that was then but that was then

[00:51:56] this is now jake what is your game of the year 2024 my game of the year for the year 2024

[00:52:03] 24 is none other than the backroads western gunslinging arco um i loved arco i think if you

[00:52:17] listen to our episode you can hear me gushing about it in in lots of detail um arco takes game

[00:52:24] of the year for me and this is always a really tough obviously decision to make this year felt

[00:52:30] really tough because i felt like i had this big cluster games that i really loved near the top

[00:52:34] but when i was kind of just like weighing pound for pound my enjoyment enthrallment enthusiasm and just

[00:52:41] desire to keep engaging with a game and one game that really was hard for me to put down um

[00:52:48] that was elden ring shadow of the urdry but that's a dlc um but in terms of full games this is arco

[00:52:54] um i just think i enjoyed every bit of that game um just kind of the way that i game right now just

[00:53:02] doing the podcast and all the other responsibilities that i have it is pretty rare that i will take my

[00:53:08] time to do a lot of side content in a game that i will really fully explore like a game has to really

[00:53:14] really have me gripped um in its clutches for me to take that kind of time to to do that because

[00:53:21] it's more time and i don't have a whole lot of time arco was one of those games that did that for

[00:53:26] me i loved how it ended man my chest was just hollow when i hit that ending um grew to love all

[00:53:33] the characters i loved how those stories this sort of anthology type of storytelling how they all

[00:53:38] coalesced into this beautiful wonderful final act um and i yeah like you said this subtle storytelling

[00:53:45] where even though this villain doesn't have like long drawn out cut scenes at all really and they're more

[00:53:53] of a myth like a ghost or a phantom than they're an actual character for the majority of the game

[00:53:57] but you still get to that final boss and you still hate them with the passion that you know tico has

[00:54:03] going into that final battle um so yeah arcos arcos game of the year for me um it nudged out it

[00:54:11] elbowed its way in front of a few others but yeah i just think games that i thoroughly enjoyed that

[00:54:16] were all killer no filler for me arcos number one fantastic pick jake oh arco is uh yeah definitely

[00:54:27] one of the best best games i've played this year super kind of a big uh surprise as well yeah

[00:54:35] i agree kind of like kind of came out of nowhere um and cameron my game of the year 2024

[00:54:46] period of on this podcast

[00:54:50] is final fantasy 7 rebirth nice this game is a

[00:55:05] i think it's the i think it's the complete i think it's the complete package it's got endearing

[00:55:12] characters incredible graphics incredible gameplay combat beautiful environments super fun systems

[00:55:23] uh heartfelt moment heartfelt funny like quirky moments combined with serious

[00:55:34] like scary intense moments um

[00:55:39] and a a score and like a music that's that's probably the best music like in any video game

[00:55:46] and i think when you combine all those together for me it was the best like most complete experience i

[00:55:52] played this year uh for sure and yeah i mean it's it's just a fantastic like achievement on all levels

[00:55:59] it's incredible like that this game exists because it is so incredibly huge yeah

[00:56:05] and it's so big in fact that like maybe i could even take points away from it because it's just it's

[00:56:11] like too big and then you've got some of those open world sections and then you have like gungaga which

[00:56:17] is a whole section they probably should have just taken out of the game 100 but despite all that like i for

[00:56:25] the for the first 50 hours of this game like played like i did all the open world stuff because the game

[00:56:32] was just so good that i just wanted to i actually just wanted to play the game for what it was

[00:56:38] and then you throw queen's blood in there and it just elevates it to another level you have one of like

[00:56:43] the best probably honestly like if i'm being straightly honest probably my favorite like video game card

[00:56:50] battler yeah probably ever uh and it's like inside this game that's already they could have taken that

[00:56:59] out completely and you still have like a game of the year contender but the fact that it's here

[00:57:03] is just kind of wild um so yeah final fantasy 7 rebirth uh must play uh probably have the most hours in

[00:57:14] this game than any other game this year uh fantastic uh can't wait for number three

[00:57:20] neither can i man that's gonna be a great great finish i'm super confident in that and yeah queen's

[00:57:28] blood is better than gwent just gonna say it gwent who went who which is overrated uh

[00:57:40] well ladies and gentlemen that is our game of the year podcast for 2024 jake

[00:57:44] any final thoughts or feelings or things you want to put out in the world any comments on this year

[00:57:52] in gaming 2024 before we close out our game of the year episode and our final episode of the year uh

[00:57:59] for the time that it will release right so 2024 was an incredible year but also incredibly bittersweet

[00:58:08] in that it seems like the content of games that we get of quality games that we get out has never been

[00:58:15] higher but the folks who are making them are suffering in new ways right and what i mean by that is

[00:58:22] um listen to an early episode of our um podcast we talk a lot about crunch because that was a big concern

[00:58:28] and no longer are we talking about crunch and whether or not it exists right in a lot of these studios

[00:58:34] we're now talking about financial stability and we're talking about um games and uh executives

[00:58:41] leaning towards safer big blockbusters um and so it's a it's kind of a a time in gaming where there's

[00:58:49] a lot teetering on the edge unfortunately but um i don't know there are a lot of really talented

[00:58:56] people in the games industry who are making really wonderful games and so my hat's off to you thank you for

[00:59:01] producing this huge wonderful batch of high quality games in 2024 that we got to enjoy and um we'll be

[00:59:08] doing our best to just support the great work that you do so thank you that's kind of the last thing i

[00:59:13] want to say is to all these studios and developers that made these wonderful games thank you for doing

[00:59:17] what you're doing uh for providing lots of entertainment and providing lots of conversation

[00:59:21] for cameron and i to have this year um thank you for the games

[00:59:27] yeah i love that yeah i mean games we don't celebrate developers enough but yeah i just think

[00:59:33] i think game developers are just the most talented people in the world like they

[00:59:39] i tell my brothers both work in tech or one of them still does and i always tell like the people i work

[00:59:46] with at bungie who are especially like on the direct game devs by they're the smartest people that i've ever

[00:59:52] met in my life i mean they're you have brilliant people i mean brilliant like people that could be

[01:00:00] making three times what they're making uh going to work at facebook or google or like whatever and

[01:00:08] would just dominate they would kill it but they're working on games because they have this intense

[01:00:12] desire to create like special experiences for people and they just want to do it they just love it

[01:00:19] um and these people are just insanely talented and so we always talk about like how it's a miracle

[01:00:23] games get made it absolutely is and it but it happens because of these people who care enough

[01:00:30] and are just crazy talented and so one thing i'll say is like if you've ever been a crazy like negative

[01:00:37] nancy crazy person on the internet who's just all they do is talk bad about games you probably don't

[01:00:43] listen to this podcast which good but the internet has become such a especially like twitter and those

[01:00:49] places it becomes just such a dark place that it's just any and twitch even like i do turn into twitch

[01:00:56] every now and again it's so negative it is so negative like like the hate for every game that comes out

[01:01:02] it is astounding to me and so my my hope for like 2025

[01:01:09] is man we just gotta find it if you like video games at all like you gotta find a way

[01:01:15] to find like joy and positivity or just leave the hobby

[01:01:21] um so i'm calling you out but no i think the people listen to the show like 99.99 percent like they

[01:01:27] they just are in it for just the joy and love of games which um and just appreciation for this art

[01:01:33] that gets made well 2020 2014 excuse me 2024 very tough year in the games industry there's a lot of

[01:01:40] question marks there's a lot of unknowns uh that being said we still got a ton of amazing video games

[01:01:48] despite all that people keep saying like oh it's gonna be like a slow year and it never is man it's

[01:01:53] never it like the the crazy top of the line hits never stop coming and it just makes it such so

[01:02:02] exciting to be i think about movies and i think about books and like those things i don't i don't get

[01:02:09] like the level of excitement and investment and kind of the the art of those things and i know other

[01:02:14] people do for me it's video games and so i just get so pumped to see what people are working on

[01:02:21] and i'm more excited at the anticipation of kind of the next thing even than probably when i actually

[01:02:27] play it i was telling jake like we have the game awards on thursday and i'm dude it's like christmas

[01:02:34] morning i'm so excited to see what these studios are working on like i can't wait like the trailers

[01:02:40] and the reveals and the hype it's almost more exciting than like actually playing the game which

[01:02:45] is crazy but sometimes that's how i feel so yeah uh 2025 will gta 6 save video games uh we shall see

[01:02:52] we'll see if it even makes 2025 but there are a lot of eyes looking towards that one so it'll be an

[01:02:58] interesting year well jake that's the end 2024 that's our game of the year episode if you like the show

[01:03:05] please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice you can also follow us on twitter

[01:03:13] uh at pre-order cast and on blue sky we need to add a blue sky link to the podcast description

[01:03:19] hopefully we'll get that soon uh and then you can follow us there if you've transitioned over from

[01:03:24] twitter but if not you can come just join us in the discord the link to that is in the the podcast

[01:03:30] notes come join us we have great conversations in there we talk about our thoughts on video games we

[01:03:35] post about news we talk about a whole bunch of stuff it's a fantastic community and finally if you

[01:03:41] want to support us directly you can at patreon.com slash pre-order cast where you can get the extended

[01:03:46] edition of this game of the year episode where we are going to continue the conversation

[01:03:50] talking about additional categories such as our favorite family games our biggest surprise of the

[01:03:56] year our biggest letdown to the year and then our biggest spectacle you can get that if you sign up

[01:04:01] patreon.com again slash pre-order cast um at the extended edition tier or anything above that

[01:04:09] you'll get access to those episodes thank you so much for listening and have a great night all right

[01:04:44] i'm gonna try to restrain myself because i tend to rant about this category i i care way too much

[01:04:51] about what's considered a good family game um but i will say when picking like the best family game this

[01:04:58] is what i have in mind it doesn't have to be a multiplayer game it has to be a game that the family

[01:05:03] kind of rallies around and what i mean by that is it's a game that we're all playing maybe on different

[01:05:08] save files but it's one that we're talking about like at the dinner table it's one that um my kids

[01:05:14] are asking for me to help with in some way they're like oh dad can you help me with this can you help

[01:05:19] explain what's happening here it's a game that we're all playing and that we're all enjoying

[01:05:23] oftentimes that's going to be a multiplayer game but sometimes it's not which is the case of

[01:05:28] this year um best family game in my opinion from 2024 is astrobot

[01:05:35] uh anybody of any level like any like uh gaming ability and anybody of any gaming age can enjoy

[01:05:45] something out of this game there's stuff to talk about like that one level when you get like the

[01:05:50] mouse ability to shrink i mean my kids and i were talking about that forever it's a really fun game to

[01:05:56] watch it has the speed run levels it's got lots of collectibles my kids are asking me a lot about

[01:06:03] playstation history like dad who is this astrobot like who are they you know made after who's this

[01:06:09] supposed to be some of them i have to look up you know like puppeteer like dude i didn't know about

[01:06:14] that game um uh and i don't know how many people did but like my kids i mean it's worked for

[01:06:21] playstation because my kids are like very interested in uncharted now they love the the nathan drake

[01:06:28] astrobot is one of their favorites right um but i mean just we can have a conversation about it and

[01:06:33] we can have fun talking about it and fun playing it and it's a game that we can easily like pass the

[01:06:38] controller around the room and everybody can cheer each other on so astrobot is my pick for best family

[01:06:44] game yeah yeah yeah astrobot was my kids i asked them their top three favorite games this year

[01:07:45] number one was astrobot like hands down astrobot um and then

[01:07:54] my kids loved cat quest 3 that was and that one does have local couch co-op um it's a great one

[01:08:04] it's pretty straightforward there's a lot of cat jokes everything is cute and fun it's not super hard

[01:08:09] but but having the the opt-in like drop in drop out second player is a huge one

[01:08:19] cat quest 3 dude it is it's like easily in effect meets that criteria it's most likely going to be a

[01:08:34] very good family game you know um let's see and then uh i think my kids actually picked flock

[01:08:41] they loved flock but um my kids ran into uh some sort of bug that prevented progress

[01:08:50] um so they fell off it pretty hard and i looked up workarounds online and i didn't find anything

[01:08:57] because you know it's a smaller indie game and there tends to be less info like that on the internet

[01:09:01] for smaller games so that was their top games this year but yeah astrobot far and away their favorite

[01:09:07] game my biggest surprise it i had a few in mind for this but i'm settling on flintlock the siege of dawn

[01:09:25] um because it was super fluid it very much feels like a double a game but definitely a double a game

[01:09:32] along the lines of like the plague tale series where it's really polished and the mechanics feel

[01:09:37] really good and the game really seems to make a lot of sense for its size and kind of what it's

[01:09:42] accomplishing um had fun combat had good bosses um and i was just surprised like how much momentum

[01:09:49] was there in the game i got really fuzzy on the narrative at the beginning but by the end um i

[01:09:55] had empathy for the the main characters so that one really surprised me um wasn't really expecting to

[01:10:01] sink a lot of time into it or think about it much but i ended up beating it and enjoying it quite a lot

[01:10:14] yeah what have you got oh nice yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah that's a great pick i actually uh feel

[01:12:08] quite similar i mean you know if you haven't already go listen to our episode on star wars outlaws um

[01:12:16] yeah with john but yeah i was so shocked playing the game same i'm kind of repeating what you said

[01:12:22] but playing the game and then looking at reviews and a part of me is like wait wait a second but

[01:12:26] what but what about all this really good stuff in here like everybody talked about like the the

[01:12:32] difficult one of the first stealth missions right um being really annoying but which yeah sure okay

[01:12:40] we get that but like yeah the progression system the way that you get abilities upgraded and they're

[01:12:46] tied into side quests and the way that you don't actually have like a character level but it really

[01:12:50] works i'm yeah obviously cameron and i agree on this but um good that's a great pick for biggest surprise

[01:12:58] i am fudging this one a little bit because the first 12 hours of this game were bliss and then it

[01:13:27] just went over a cliff for me and that is uh dragon's dogma 2 so uh well i'm i'm choosing it for

[01:13:39] biggest letdown and i'll explain i'll explain why and it's it i mean it's primarily this like the first

[01:13:46] 12 hours of that game or so were just freaking incredible the exploration the way the pawn system

[01:13:53] worked the the pawn banter like i still love the high fives that you would give your pawn after like

[01:13:58] a successful battle against a monster um the environments looked really good uh the story had

[01:14:04] enough intrigue to kind of keep me going and then it just kind of petered out like as soon as you cross

[01:14:10] into like the southern part of the game i just felt like wait a second is this this is like we're doing

[01:14:17] all the exact same things except in a desert instead of a forest um and then the story started i feel

[01:14:25] like getting a little more disjointed uh having to do a whole lot of travel really it felt like it just

[01:14:31] started becoming a drag fighting the same monsters and just doing a lot of walking and not a lot of

[01:14:38] not a lot of doing i just felt like the second half of the game just really dragged and so

[01:14:43] that's that's why i'm considering it for my biggest letdown i was fully anticipating had you asked me

[01:14:48] like five or six hours into dragons talking about two i was like oh dude this is definitely going to be

[01:14:51] game of the year 10 contender but it just did i mean the final moments i think were super cool the

[01:14:58] final boss fight is really incredible but yeah it just let me down i didn't even think i didn't even

[01:15:05] bat an eye considering any game of the year stuff thinking about dragons dogma 2 all right what's your

[01:15:20] biggest letdown hmm i will i will rebut that it actually ran beautifully on series x yeah yeah um

[01:17:34] here's here's a kicker for me we were really nice about a lot of game awards aside from our own in the

[01:17:41] in the regular episode um this is nominated for best narrative in the game awards and

[01:17:51] i could think of a lot of other games that i think rank much higher than hellblade 2 right but then

[01:17:57] again this is a category that i take a lot of issue with because it's final fantasy 7 rebirth which

[01:18:02] obviously amazing right like a dragon infinite wealth metaphor re fantazio senwa saga hellblade 2 and

[01:18:07] then silent hill 2 and i feel like senwa saga hellblade 2 and silent hill 2 don't really make sense

[01:18:14] in best narrative but but really senwa saga does not make sense in this one listen to our episode on

[01:18:23] if you haven't to get our kind of full rundown of it but yeah this game was weird um because the

[01:18:30] marketing came in like the big push came in kind of late but xbox had always been talking about this

[01:18:36] kind of like what you're saying like in like in terms of an rpg i don't think they were ever

[01:18:42] positioning this to go toe-to-toe with god of war and i don't think they were trying to market it like

[01:18:47] that but that's how people took it man people really were like this game has is not god of war and my

[01:18:55] initial reaction was like it's not trying to be god of war but at the same time it's like well maybe

[01:18:59] you should have tried a little bit you know what i mean maybe it should have maybe it should have done

[01:19:05] a little more nice okay so that's your biggest letdown hellblade 2 let's you know we just talked

[01:19:24] about how we need to quit being negative about games yeah they do unless it's ghost of yotai

[01:20:14] that's the only exception that cameron and i have yeah it really is i'm laughing this is an audio

[01:20:38] only podcast but folks cameron's asking me this and i'm smiling the biggest smile because the best

[01:20:44] spectacle for me was hellblade 2 cinema saga like this game it's wild so this game ran 30 fps on

[01:21:04] series x and let me tell you i did not give one single hoot that i was not playing this game at 60

[01:21:11] fps it didn't need it honestly i i know like i know that we're all really upset and mad that

[01:21:19] not all games on ps5 and xbox series x are always at 4k 60 fps right and in part some of that's

[01:21:25] justified because that's kind of what they pitched those consoles to be right hey here's your 4k 60 fps

[01:21:31] machine um but this game i didn't even notice to be honest that i was that i had less frames

[01:21:38] like it was just so beautiful so detailed i mean the closest thing i've ever seen to photo realism

[01:21:46] in a video game um there were a few moments so i was actually debating between this and frostpunk 2

[01:21:54] actually for best spectacle um i ended up picking this yeah i so i ended up picking hellblade 2 though

[01:22:01] because there are a few moments they're not exactly boss fights let's just call them like

[01:22:06] checkpoints i guess like significant checkpoints in this game that took my breath away where i put the

[01:22:12] controller down and just kind of let the scene wash over me um because they were just so gorgeous

[01:22:18] they're so beautiful and the the representations um because there's a lot of metaphors sort of baked

[01:22:25] into this there's a lot of allegory of what these giants that you face mean and what they represent and

[01:22:31] sort of why they come to be where they are um and the way that they're represented visually just

[01:22:37] just drop dead gorgeous stunning and this was on a series x right so that's why i ended up picking

[01:22:43] it but yeah frostpunk 2 i guess just honorable mention was was um in the running for me for best

[01:22:49] spectacle um i don't have the fanciest pc with the top most top of the line specs but man let me tell

[01:22:55] you the bleakness of what you were dealing with and like just seeing that like as you're going through your

[01:23:04] town and you're watching different machines carve out spaces of the snow where you can harvest or build

[01:23:11] new areas there's a very specific aesthetic in art design um that works incredibly well to give you

[01:23:18] for me like it's probably the most spectacular in terms of spectacle like city builder that i've played

[01:23:24] even though you're really just looking at like a bunch of dark oil like brown and black colors and snow

[01:23:31] it's just a gorgeous game i really loved looking at that game anyway hellblade 2 is my pick though

[01:23:40] and you cameron what was for you the biggest spectacle oh not like hyper specific

[01:24:32] yeah his legs are bigger than the rocks man yeah it is it is super wild i'm glad you picked that

[01:25:31] because um now i didn't play ff7 as a kid um but it even still surpassed what i kind of imagined

[01:25:39] the really limited art style or like a graphical power of the ps1 could accomplish like it went beyond

[01:25:47] what i imagined and what i would have imagined as a kid that seemed to be yeah yeah that game is just

[01:26:13] massive um i know they had said it's too much i i know you already said that but it's like it's it's

[01:26:25] really astounding that they put all that in there yeah i threw in the towel so fast

[01:26:36] yeah dude i can't do this it was too much um great pick for best spectacle yeah that was on my short list

[01:26:43] two of games to pick um was that yeah final fantasy 7 rebirth uh yeah sorry i was just i was just gonna

[01:26:54] say um about dio i i texted cameron this and i want this on record cameron how many grams of protein

[01:27:02] a day is dio consuming in order to have the body that he does nice holy cow all right folks there you

[01:28:09] have it if you want to look like dio you need to be blessed that is a lot of calories man 3,500

[01:28:17] 4,000 a day folks please would you look up chris bumstead mr olympia yeah yeah february is

[01:29:36] completely outrageous and then march will be consumed by was it monster hunter wilds comes out like the last

[01:29:43] say february so to me that's all of march is monster hunters wild it has 100 player lobbies

[01:30:13] not going out of your way for it okay dude okay guys sorry we're gonna end that on this

[01:30:27] cameron sent me a screenshot of the path of exile like ability star constellation upgrade

[01:30:34] and i just turned my phone all the way off i think dude i saw that and i was just like this is

[01:30:42] and each of those nodes is like probably like you get a 0.573 percent resistance to this oh okay there we go