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50. The Second Annual Goppies!
2 Playsin 7 hours
Join us for our final show of 2025, the second annual Goppies, where we give awards to our favorite (or least favorite) games of 2025!
00:00:00 - Show Start
00:06:24 - The SMH
00:10:59 - The Multiplayer Slop
00:17:05 - The “GOOD FOR YOU”
00:23:07 - The “I can’t believe it’s not butter”
00:30:01 - The Elvis
00:36:48 - The Dad
00:45:59 - The Trophy
00:52:05 - The STAN
00:57:34 - The OMG
01:04:24 - DK Bananza Spoiler
01:04:40 - Spoiler over
01:05:20 - The WHOA
01:09:19 - The 28-3
01:16:43 - The “There is Always Next Year”
01:21:50 - The “Is it Friday yet?”
01:26:36 - The Classic
01:30:35 - The Brady
Follow us on X/Twitter
Podcast - http://www.x.com/gameoverplastic
Midnight- http://www.x.com/midnightdt
Sean- http://www.x.com/seanlikestobake
Hodge- http://www.x.com/hodgebaba57
Video and Audio edited by: Hodge OR Midnight (episode dependent)
Intro and Graphics by: Hodge
Intro music created by: Hodge
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the 50th Episode and The Goppyz Awards
00:00:38
Speaker
We are 50 years old today! Welcome to the second annual Games Over Plastic Awards show, aka The Goppyz. I'm one of your hosts, I'm Sean Mason, I am going to be the lead host here because I... i you know I like award shows, well, some award shows, and I am hosting our award show like I did last year. And yeah, this is Games Over Plastic. Yep, we're 50 years old today, guys. And as always, I'm joined by two wonderful
Holiday Reflections and Winter Weather Comparisons
00:01:09
Speaker
people. I'm joined by one of my favorite co-hosts, and his name is Hodge.
00:01:15
Speaker
Hodge, how you doing? I'm good. I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I always, I've been looking forward to this episode for, cause last year's was so much fun. i was so, I've been looking forward to the copies all year. So I'm very excited. I'm, I am not filming this one though, from the bunker of my parents' house with like my headphones. I'm actually back in my spot. I got to spend some time with my family and ah yeah, it was a lot of fun. So I'm happy to be here and talk some copies with you, with you fellas.
00:01:44
Speaker
All right, well, we're glad that you're not, um you know, bound up in a Harry Potter closet. So there you go Also joining me, as always, is the man who lives in a state that is often much warmer than where Hodge and I live. Hodge's former residence, Texas.
00:02:06
Speaker
Midnight, how you doing? Yeah, it's actually been kind of annoying how warm it's been. I've had to turn on the air conditioning and stuff. like it's been It's honestly been 80 degrees. It was 80 degrees on Christmas, and I'm like, this doesn't feel right. There was like a one there was like a warm front that went through the country that I guess just missed the Northeast because it's been like 10 degrees here like every day. But it was like 70 degrees in Missouri on Christmas. That's insane. Yeah, it's 50 here.
00:02:31
Speaker
yeah It didn't feel right. Yeah, it's currently... I will tell you right now what it currently is here. It is currently... Seven degrees Fahrenheit here. And that is a drop from last night where it was 37 at midnight last night.
00:02:45
Speaker
Windows is telling me that it's 70 degrees Fahrenheit here right now. But it says cooling, cooling trend over the next two days. I'm still, I'm very jealous. Yeah, it's 42 here. So the snow's gone, but it's still cold.
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah, 42's all right. i could I can survive that. 42, Jackie Robinson. I'm all right until it hits the 30s, and then I get a little annoyed. And if it gets much colder than that, then I'm really annoyed. I don't i don't have that i don't have that Ohio blood anymore. I'll take the 30s in the winter.
00:03:15
Speaker
Yeah. Now, I used to go out in shorts. I'd i'd go out in like hoodie a hoodie and shorts in like 20 degree weather, no problem when I was at you know in Ohio all the time because you just grow accustomed to the cold. But after I've been down here for seven years, my blood has thinned. So I'm like used to the warm now, I feel like. So when it gets colder, I'm like, oh, fuck, it's cold. You guys should see yeah some of my students. It'll be like five degrees out. They'll have a T-shirt and shorts on. And then like it'll be like 70 and they'll have like a big jacket on. It's like, dude, what are you doing?
00:03:42
Speaker
yeah I'm doing great, though, to answer your question. i'm I'm really happy to be here for the Gopies. My cat is happy. I can't wait. I can't believe we're 50 years old. Episode 50, Sean. I can't believe it. And yeah, I can't wait to go over these awesome games, man.
00:03:58
Speaker
Yeah.
Podcast Format and Listener Engagement
00:04:00
Speaker
Alright, well for those who who don't know, this is ah Games Over Plastic, a podcast about video games where we talk all things video games. um We come to you guys bi-weekly.
00:04:14
Speaker
Every Monday we go live on YouTube, podcast services everywhere. You can like us, leave us a comment, subscribe to us, really anything helps. Leave us some feedback. Sometimes we read listener feedback on each episode. So if you have a comment, question, you know let us know. We have a lot of cool, fun stuff planned coming up. This is one of our it's always like our our annual end of the year episode of the Gothies. This is our own award show. We make up the awards. I have some fun names for them. um but yeah that's what we're gonna do we usually do uh what we're playing but because we're you know it's award season uh we're getting right into the award show here and yeah um oh one more thing if you did not we had a nice christmas episode last time we played some fun uh fun christmas game and i accurately predicted that i would do better on hard mode than beginner mode which is
2025 Game Awards and Recognitions
00:05:10
Speaker
really funny. It's actually funny. I talked um to my parents about those quotes and I, I played them the quote and I had them guests too. They did much better on beginner mode than I did.
00:05:22
Speaker
Yeah, I actually, I did it for my parents too. I think we did nine or 20 total. I can't remember what it was. 18, 19 total. And my mom got 15 of them, right? She did. She goes, yeah, but a lot of people don't like Christmas as much as us. was that's fair.
00:05:37
Speaker
So she got him ah most of them. All right. Well, let's get started with the annual Gopies. Here we go. We have 15 boards here. 15. That's right.
00:05:49
Speaker
Move over, Jeff Keighley. We got 15. That's right. And the order is going to go. Hodge is going to go first, followed by Midnight. Then i you know I'll round it out with my award. And then I will let you know we are going to end with our game of the year for 2025. And i will make a A little note um with each award, I will say like, oh, this this game this award is restricted to a game that came out in 2025. Some of our awards are not 2025 based.
00:06:19
Speaker
So just letting the listener you know listeners know here. So are we ready to get started? Yeah. All right. Here we go. The first award of the second annual Gopies is the SMH, the Shaking My Head Award. This is the I Can't Believe I Spent This Many Hours Award.
00:06:38
Speaker
And Hodge, this this can be from any year. doesn't have to be 2025. Hodge, you're up. Yeah, so this one, I don't think it won last year. I could i could be wrong, but I'm definitely going to be going with Helldivers 2.
00:07:04
Speaker
i put I got my PlayStation wrapped thing, which Xbox apparently couldn't afford to do this year or whatever, so Xbox didn't do theirs. But this was my most played game of the year at 91 hours I put into it this year. So I played this game for quite a while.
00:07:20
Speaker
It's still a fun-ass game. i actually just bought... I think I showed you guys I got a DualSense Edge because I traded in a bunch of stuff at GameStop. So I got like 80 bucks. And so I'm very excited. i haven't been able to try because went home obviously for Christmas. But so I'm very excited to try Helldivers with that controller because the paddles are going to be a game changer.
00:07:40
Speaker
But yeah, I spent 91 hours in Helldivers, so I can't believe I spent this game is now over a year old. I still can't believe I'm spending this much time in it. So yeah, Helldivers too. All right. right All right. All right.
00:07:53
Speaker
So for my shaking my head, um i actually went with Call of Duty, the newest one, Black Ops 7.
00:08:08
Speaker
Because I played this game for about two hours and this game is horrible and I can't believe I spent that much time with it. Two hours was way too much. This game was not worthy of two minutes. Horrible game.
00:08:22
Speaker
Call Duty sucks. It's two hours of your life. You'll never get that. I'll never get it back. I could have watched the movie. It's funny you said that because I was very tempted to make our creators my choice. And it was going to be the same thing if I can't believe I put three hours into that game because I fucking hated it. so yeah But I went with Helldivers. I went with a little more positive spin on it. But that's funny that you that
Games We Wish People Would Stop Talking About
00:08:44
Speaker
you say that.
00:08:44
Speaker
because Yeah, yeah that's that's what I'm going with. Call a Duty. If you want an honorable mention, though, I'll give you... um what was that game called? Unicorn Overlord? Because that game, it was like 60 some hours and I just, like I said before, I don't think it really justified that runtime. Like it was a good game, but by the end I was really like, all right, can we can we wrap it up, you know?
00:09:05
Speaker
But ah yeah, I'm going Call Duty though. All right, so this so we got we got one under the spectrum of 91 hours, a typical, RPG or JRPG for Midnight and I. And then we have a two-hour game, which is a typical indie game for Hodge. There we go. yeah All right.
00:09:22
Speaker
My I Can't Believe I Spent This Many Hours award, my Shaking My Head award, goes to a game that came out back in 2001 that i have put... This is really bad.
00:09:33
Speaker
I put around 150 into it, and that is Dr. Mario
00:09:45
Speaker
And you know what the saddest part is Those 150 hours, a majority of those have come since, like, September. lot of the time, you know, I would be... in I was kind of in a gaming rut, so i kind of just went back to, you know, what I...
00:10:03
Speaker
was comfortable with and I was playing Dr. Mario 64 a lot and I got, you know, i love Dr. Mario. i like it more than Tetris, but I put so many hours in this and when I looked my, wow, i I really can't. And then I come to think of it like, yeah, you know, I'll play 30 minutes here, 30 minutes there, 40 minutes here and it just adds up.
00:10:20
Speaker
I love the game. It's awesome. It's the greatest. It's the best version of Dr. Mario. um But yeah, Dr. Mario 64. Yeah, we need a new Dr. Mario game and it should be the Dr. Waluigi.
00:10:35
Speaker
surprised there's not more games from that franchise because you think that would be like very ubiquitous like Tetris. um and you released a mobile version, but it's not like that good. I know in the year of Luigi in 2013, they released Dr. Luigi on ah the Wii U. It was like a Wii U downloadable game.
00:10:55
Speaker
And that game was pretty fun. Nice, nice. All right, our next
Games Similar to Other IPs
00:11:00
Speaker
award. So that was just our Shaking My Head Award. The next award an award i don't think we did last year. This is the Multiplayer Slop Award. This is a multiplayer game you enjoyed. You actually enjoyed playing, so you didn't waste ah you didn't waste time playing. You actually enjoyed. We are going to say is going to be like a 2025 game, so a game that came out this year. um Odd, you're up.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah, so my honorable mention is what I was going to win, but then we kind of we did change this one to be 2025. My honorable mention is Walkabout Mini Golf, a ah ah VR mini golf game that I played with Meatball, Pweb, John, Seahawk a little bit. Just a bunch of guys we'd get together and play mini putt, and it was a lot of fun. But since we're doing this year, i will say that it was an awesome return to this series, and that is Battlefield 6.
00:11:57
Speaker
I put a lot of time into this game. I did eventually fall off just for other stuff, but this game was insanely fun. i think it actually beat Call Duty in sales this year, if i remember right I think I saw something about that, but I could be wrong. But this game was just...
00:12:13
Speaker
so good, especially after Call Duty's been so bad for so long that going back to that quote unquote boots on the ground ah combat and playing like a realistic military shooter. It it was a whole lot of fun. i had so much fun with this game. I mean, I still have it installed. I'll probably go back and play it here and there every once in a while. But yeah, this game was just so much fun getting a whole squad together. It was dumb that you could only squad up with four people. You couldn't do bigger squads, especially when it's like 64 v 64. It's like, how can you not just have multiple squads together is that that's the only miss the only problem with it but overall fantastic shooter so much fun and yeah i'm happy i put as much time into as i did it's great i'm yeah i'm glad that know a lot people were really excited about black ops a lot of people were really excited about battlefield 6. um yeah and from all the reports are that you know call of duty really you know kind of
00:13:11
Speaker
Kind of threw in the towel this year. They they kind of released a another lackluster product, and you know EA was like, you know what? We got them! Yeah. Yeah, Call Duty sucks. um Yeah, I have the same game as you, Hodge. So Battlefield 6 is
Proudest Gaming Moments of 2025
00:13:29
Speaker
also my award here. Although i didn't actually play it that much. This year I hardly played any multiplayer games. It was mostly all, you know,
00:13:39
Speaker
single player, mostly RPGs, you know how I do. um So I probably only put in maybe six to 10 hours on Battlefield 6 between the beta and the actual launch. But I did mostly enjoy my time. It was a fun game, you know, played it with ah our friend D.L.B. that we did the episode with and our other friend Killshot.
00:13:58
Speaker
um Nick. Yeah. So we had fun. You know, I played a little bit. I played once, I think, with the Spank Bank, too. We got in there and we had a fun little time. um So, yeah, it was good. It was a pretty good, fun game. um I'm not that huge of a Battlefield guy usually. Like, I don't get into those giant modes that have, like, the vehicles and stuff. And I feel like sometimes the modes go on too long. Like, I don't want to play, like, a 45-fitted match. But...
00:14:18
Speaker
but It's definitely a very solid game. um I did have fun. It is my most enjoyed multiplayer game this year, definitely. Far superior than Call of Duty. If i have to choose one, I'm gonna play Battlefield every time this year, for sure.
00:14:33
Speaker
Sean, what about you? And on that note, we do need to promote Midnight to do a Call of Duty ranking episode. So he's ah really, really telling us how bad Call of Duty is, but he yeah did rank the Call of Duty games.
00:14:45
Speaker
but out there And Midnight, I'm surprised. wait We did that. We did rank. I'm some surprised you didn't put Mario Kart down, you know, we're you know getting trashed by me in Mario Kart. Oh, my God. I actually forgot about Mario Kart for some reason. um I'm still going to go with Battlefield 6. Mario Kart, honorable mention. We did have fun. Yeah. And Sean did trash me. He's he's good at Mario Kart.
00:15:05
Speaker
oh Not that good. All right. So for me, I only played really two multiplayer games all year in 2025. One of those was Mario Kart, but that is not my winner. And my winner is a game I'm currently still playing, and that is Kirby Air
00:15:23
Speaker
Ooh, this game is freaking awesome. City Trial Online with 16 players is freaking insane. It is so good. And every time i play it, I love it. I discover something new. Last night, I absolutely got... I finally got the... high I was playing last night. I got the Hydra board. So I got all three parts. And I'm riding the Hydra.
00:15:45
Speaker
All sudden, this freaking guy comes out of nowhere. He had a super power-up where he got like... You know, like the Kirby Sword power-up? I'm sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah, well yet like sometime you're like a special move and he got that and he became giant and had the sword thing and he was going crazy with it and that's that annihilated me.
00:16:03
Speaker
Oh And I was so mad cuz there's only 12 seconds left in the match and if you end the match Without a board you get put back for like that little event match after you get put on like the the default crappy compact star Which is like horrible they got put on that. i was so mad at the hydro board now. call back stuff I was so mad. But yeah, Kirby Air Rider, super fun game. I freaking love it. It is so much fun.
00:16:27
Speaker
Yeah, I have one honorable mention that we didn't talk about because I couldn't remember if Sean played it or not or if he was going to choose it. But that is Split Fiction, which is also technically a multiplayer game. And i I really loved that game as well. But when I was thinking about games I enjoyed, I put way more time into Battlefield 6 than, I mean, Split Fiction is obviously a story based game. So But that was definitely another one that I wanted to shout out for multiplayer because it was fantastic.
00:16:52
Speaker
But, yeah. All right. Those are some ah some great games, guys. Battlefield and Kirby Air Riders. Very, very close games. Very, very similar. Yeah, very similar.
00:17:04
Speaker
We're already moving on to award number three. This won a brand new award, and this is the the good for you award. This is a game you can't wait for people to stop talking about. like You guys are like, come on, freaking shut up already. Stop talking about it. We get it. And a Hodge, remember, doesn't mean it's a bad game. We just were like, we're good for you. You understand.
00:17:25
Speaker
We get it. Hodge, you're up. I'm going to go with um Hold on. I think it, I got to make sure it came out this year.
00:17:37
Speaker
pa pay pip do Where is it? Now, of course it's not listed as, it doesn't have its date. um I'm going to go with it anyway, cause I'm pretty sure it came out this year. And that is ah the last of us part two, cause it came out in the complete edition this year.
00:17:59
Speaker
People are still not shutting up about this stupid game. ah I mean, okay game, as I've said many times. But that's what going with because I'm using it as a loophole because people still talk about this game and Season 2 came out, which brought it back into the conversation. But ah it'll be a great day when people stop talking about this game. So, yeah, so last part two so and Last of Us Part So Part 3 comes out? Yeah.
00:18:22
Speaker
Yeah. alright ah I think one of the main reasons people are talking about The Last of Us Part 2 so much is because our very own Midnight finally played it this year. Remember, we had the decision. It was a big episode on whether it was good or bad. Yeah. And it's partially my fault. You know, I'm a trendsetter. So, Green Game, by the way. It's just never not talked about. It's because it's so good.
00:18:46
Speaker
All right. sure The Good For You Award for me, the game that I want people to stop talking about. Not really, because I think for the most part, they honestly have stopped talking about it until the game awards. And that's Clear Obscure Expedition 33.
00:19:03
Speaker
Because this game, in my opinion, is is just overrated. It's overrated. I do think it's a good game. A great game, even. Like I said, I give it like an 85, 86. I enjoyed it. It might even win some awards for me. Who knows? We'll
Surprising Gaming Moments of the Year
00:19:16
Speaker
see. But people just really... It just did win an award.
00:19:20
Speaker
Yeah, well, yeah. Just got this one, right? this is This might not be an award that it wanted to win, but... ah But yeah, like... I don't know, man. It's just like people act like this is the definitive RPG or the definitive JRPG of all time. And I'm just like, bro, have you ever played another RPG?
00:19:38
Speaker
Like ah they act like this is the first turn-based game that ever came out. Like they didn't play Persona. um You know, they didn't play... mar your favorite Mario game had the frickin click to react buttons right the Paper Mario RPGs and stuff yeah like that this game doesn't do anything super original it's just it's just you know has great music and fun combat but anyway Claire Obscure 33 for me I'm hating a little bit but I do still like the game don't turn feather me too much That was actually the first thing that came to mind when I i was talking about the thinking about this award. I ultimately didn't choose it, though, but I think it's a tremendous pick.
00:20:17
Speaker
I thought both of you were going to pick it, if I was being completely honest. yeah I love that meme that you see where it's like ah you know Final Fantasy came out and it's like literally no turn-based RPGs and then it's like clear obscure. That's funny because that's how people act sometimes.
00:20:32
Speaker
ah Sean, take it away, sir. Alright, I've made it pretty clear about my my thoughts on Clarex here. I think it's a great game, but I have said that it is not the... I think there's so many other games that do what it also does. But for me, it is actually a game that just recently came out a couple weeks ago, and this is Metroid Prime 4.
00:20:53
Speaker
I've lot of talk about Metroid Prime 4. I'm not a Metroid Prime guy. i only played the first one, have not played the second or the third one, but i'm hearing I'm seeing a lot of hate thrown at Metroid Prime 4, and I kind of want people to stop talking about it, just because like people who play it are like, oh, this is a great game, and I'm hearing and a lot of people talk about it who have not played it, and they're talking about how, oh, this isn't a real Metroid game. We got some open-world crap.
00:21:19
Speaker
And some, uh, you're go riding through a desert on a motorcycle. This isn't Metroid Prime. It's like, guys, stop talking about Just go play it. You'll probably like it. Everyone who seems to, everyone who's played it seems to enjoy it, except for, maybe a handful of people I've seen who've played it. It's yeah, it's not for me. So many people are enjoying this game. So just, please, just stop talking about it. Go and play it. That's what games are for, to play. Have fun.
00:21:42
Speaker
Talk about what you like. That's fair. I mean, I'm never going to play it because I didn't like the remaster. So if people like it, awesome. I don't care.
00:21:54
Speaker
No, but what I'm saying is people people are talking about it because it's like they're they're talking about how like it's not a Metroid game. Oh, yeah. i just Whatever. I don't care. I've i've played two Metroid games in my life, and i think they're both mid, so I don't really care. but mr i I haven't heard anyone talking about it. I was legitimately almost going to choose KCD2 for this award, but honestly, the only people who talk about it are people in our Discord. I don't hear about it anywhere else, so... I can't really say that that's talked about too much. So, but that's kind of what I was almost went with. So I think it's probably the same of it's in your bubble. I haven't heard anyone talking about this game. It came and went. I completely forgot it was even out when, when I saw the reviews. A lot people are talking about it. a lot of people. Yeah.
00:22:39
Speaker
Yeah. I haven't heard anything. So it's but not in my circles, but yeah. I was going to say, ah yeah I don't think hardly anyone's really talked about KCD too much until recently when the devs were kind of throwing shade on ah them getting robbed. That was funny. They were like, we've been robbed because they didn't win any awards, I don't think, which is a shame.
00:22:58
Speaker
No, they didn't. Yeah. It happens, you know. Not everything can win everything. Mm-hmm. All right. Are we ready to move on?
00:23:09
Speaker
Yes, sir. all right. Our next award is the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Award. And this is the favorite game that felt so much like another IP. All right. Hodge, you're up.
00:23:21
Speaker
Yeah. So my game, it doesn't feel like another video game IP, but it feels like something else. And that is ah The Midnight Walk.
00:23:31
Speaker
ah This game, it just feels like a Tim Burton. That's another IP. Yeah, so it's like another IP, but not a video game IP is what I meant. But yeah, so it's like it's like a Nightmare Before Christmas or a Tim Burton type thing. or the lake I think it's Lakin is what that was called, who makes Coraline and...
00:23:49
Speaker
Paranorman like it has those vibes so well done. And I absolutely loved this game. I know me and ah our buddy mid Meatball always talk about just it's one of the greatest VR experiences I've ever had playing that game. Like it's a good platformer walking sim kind of.
00:24:06
Speaker
uh game in 2d which is where i went to just kind of get clean up the platinum uh after i beat it but playing it in vr it's like an 11 out of 10 experience it is so cool and yeah it just feels like uh it just feels like you're playing a a stop motion tim burton type movie and it's phenomenal so that's what i'm going with the midnight walk
00:24:30
Speaker
This game looks good. I mean, how you've spoken so highly of it. It look it screams like right up your alley. So it does look good. It looks awesome. I need to play it. Yeah. And it's it's it's a quick game. It's like four or five hours to be walk through the whole thing.
00:24:46
Speaker
I think I got this plat in six or seven hours. I can't remember. But I beat i beat the entire thing in one day. And yeah, it's awesome. All right. Good stuff.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yeah. So for me, ah Hodge, I think you might like this one. So my favorite game that felt so much like another IP is, and I honestly, I don't know if this came out this year, um but I think it might have, and I don't care. I'm just going to go with it. It's Fortnite Ballistic Mode.
00:25:16
Speaker
Did that come out this year? I don't know. I think so. I'm pretty sure it did drop this year. The ballistic mode of Fortnite is kind of like CSGO, Counter-Strike Global Offensive. It is that turn-based kind of search and destroy style. You know, you got five versus five. One team's trying to plant the bomb. The other team's defending the bomb.
00:25:35
Speaker
You got one life per round. And it was just a lot of fun. I played it with my friend, DLB. We put in quite a few hours of this, a dozen hours or more. And we never play Fortnite, so that's a lot. and We were having a good time, man.
00:25:47
Speaker
I wish this game mode was a bit more popular. I feel like people are missing out. This game's awesome. People should play this mode. That way the devs you know continue to support it and make more maps and stuff. Dude, it's super fun. like ah You buy weapons, and then you go out there, and you kill people, and you plant the bomb, and then you do Fortnite dances and dab on people and do all kinds of shenanigans, and it's good times. um And it really is fun, and I like it, and I will go back at some point, and I recommend other people play it. Fortnite Ballistic Mode. It's free, of course. It's Fortnite.
00:26:15
Speaker
So... Get in there and try it out, people. If you ever like Search and Destroy or CSGO or even not, if you just want to try it, it's it's good. Did you run around as Peter Griffin or Homer Simpson killing people?
00:26:28
Speaker
No, I didn't have those skins, unfortunately. I got like some basic skins. um But I do have Gundam Style the Dance. so I remember I bought that. For some reason, really I really bought that. You said Gundam Style.
00:26:40
Speaker
Gundam Style, whatever. I'm not Korean, dude. Gangnam Style. Do I look Korean to you, Sean? 2012. I'm not a Korean weeb, but that was, you know, that was song was funny. It was a hit. Yeah. yeah So I, I got, I'm doing the dance and it's funny in that game. Like the whole team can come up and like synchronize and like everyone does it together. It's cool.
00:26:59
Speaker
I don't like Fortnite, but I understand why some people do like it though, because like it does have a fun vibe with all the characters and dances and stuff. It is just fun. Yeah. I, uh, the, it, it went into early access December of last year. So it probably didn't get really popular until this year. So.
00:27:16
Speaker
Yeah, I hope it's doing well. i I mean, I think it's a good mode and I hope it continues. And people, if you're listening to this and you've never tried it, you should try it. Yeah, it's good. Sean. All right. Well, the game that I can't believe it's not butter is Claire Obscure Expedition 33. This felt so much like.
00:27:41
Speaker
I could say it could feel like Persona, it could also feel like a ah a Final Fantasy game, ah one of those more modern Final Fantasy games. Just from the menu system, like we talked about the turn-based combat. Now again, it's not doing anything revolutionary, something we haven't seen before, but that's what makes it feel so much like another IP. and it's It's crazy to me that this was like their first game that they created. and you could definitely see the inspiration of like you know final fantasy 10 final fantasy 7 some of the later final fantasy games definitely persona and really felt like that and i i think that that is why it might have resonated resonated with me so much because i'm not i'm not big into like uh french stuff often um
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah, it really worked out. liked it and it introduced whole new group of people to turn-based combat. And yeah, now they can go back and play some of the older games or they continue to think that, you know, turn-based combat was invented back in April.
00:28:44
Speaker
That's right. That's right. Crazy that it took them. It took, ah you know, video games like basically 40 years to come up with like this turn based stuff. Wild. Yeah. Well, yeah. i remember you had like Dragon Quest.
00:28:56
Speaker
Right. In like the 80s. And then for like 40 years, everyone just forgot that turn based combat was a thing. And Clear Obscure brought it back. Yeah. Someone someone was at a yard sale. They found the old Dragon Quest one that was called the Dragon Warrior. they're like, we should bring this back.
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah. So shout out to them for bringing it back. Yeah. Crazy.
00:29:17
Speaker
Good stuff. Good stuff, Sean. All right. So that was the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Award, which, I mean, do they even sell that anymore? I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. Yeah, yeah of course they do. i like see my My brother had some over when we were at Christmas.
00:29:31
Speaker
He was using it. He ate it with a spoon? That's wild. and He mixed it in the mashed potatoes. um I personally, I'm a natural butter guy. It's way healthier for you. Eat real butter, people. But, yeah, no, they still sell the I Can't Believe it Not Butter Margarine.
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah, Melanie Mack would agree with you. Yeah. Well, there you go. She up to these days. haven't seen anything about her in forever. now Ask Locke. Right. Locke knows. He's posted about her regularly.
00:30:00
Speaker
All right. Well, that's going to bring us to our next award. And this is the Elvis, the video game song of the year. So a song from a 2025 game that really just stuck with you. So, Aud, you cannot pick the entire Claire of Scare soundtrack. um Yeah, it's gotta be a song.
00:30:18
Speaker
yeah Darn. All right. My video game song of the year comes from a game that I loved this year, of course. And that is from Death Stranding 2, actually. It is Wood Kids Any Kind of Love Choir This entire album, I actually have it. I just got on. Oh, I pre-ordered it.
00:30:46
Speaker
early this year but i just got on vinyl finally the soundtrack for death trying to and wood kid did the majority of it because unfortunately the artist who did most of the first soundtrack passed away so they had some songs from him that weren't completed yet and they finished them put them the game but wood kid mostly did soundtrack and this soundtrack is insane it was difficult to choose because rainy's thing or the story of rainy isn't a fantastic song ah There's a lot of just amazing songs from the soundtrack, but the one that stuck with me was the choir version specifically of Any Kind of Love, and it's just a beautiful song. In the in-game music player, I would put it on all the time while...
00:31:25
Speaker
while playing. And yeah, so this game really stuck with me. Obviously, I'm sure you guys expected me to choose a Claire Obscure song, which is definitely an honorable mention. That soundtrack is amazing. I do love that soundtrack, but this Woodkid song is really what stuck with me. So that's what I'm going with.
00:31:42
Speaker
That's good. Yeah. I mean, I know a lot of people do rave about the music in that game, too. I mean, this is a tremendous year for video game music. It's actually really hard to pick for me. There was so many a lot of things to choose from.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah. Midnight. All right. So for the Elvis video game song of the year, it's time to show some love for Claire Obscure, because this is one area where they absolutely crushed it, just knocked it out of One of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. And for this, I am going to go with the song Lumiere.
00:32:16
Speaker
Dim, dam, da-de-lam, da-de-lam. from Claire Obscure Expedition 33. And this song is awesome. This is the one that's like, actually, I don't, I'm not even gonna try to sing. It would be horrible. It'll be in the video, don't worry. I'm gonna try to sing mine, don't worry. Yeah, but you know, let's see.
00:32:38
Speaker
So for Lumiere, you know, it starts out with like, dee, duh, dum dee, duh. but bo you know that one i don't know but it's just an amazing beautiful song i absolutely love it um i have the choir version up here right now it's so good hodge stop laughing at me laughing because you're describing it even though i'm going to put it in the episode i say they're hear in that episode i have yeah i have two think that's one word Pretty sure tone-depth is good.
00:33:11
Speaker
But I'm quoting Simon Cowell from the American Idol PS2 game. Anyway, that is my pick. Clear Obscure, Expedition 33, Lumiere. Amazing song.
00:33:25
Speaker
Amazing soundtrack. Before I do that, Ha, did you ever play that American Idol PS2 game? No. You don't remember the microphone for PS2 that came with, like, SingStar? I... My buddy had a karaoke game for PS2, but it wasn't an American we had the American Idol game, and... Oh, you were bad? Ooh.
00:33:44
Speaker
Um... Yeah, it was. Simon would let you know. Yeah, Simon would let you know. All right, moving on, though, to my song of the year. comes from one of my beloved video game franchises of all time. It comes from Trails, but not from Trails in the Sky. Because remember, back in February, we got Trails through Daybreak 2, which was a brand new entry in the Trails series for America. It came out in 2023 in Japan. But, you know, we're getting to the point now where they're releasing day and date, which is fantastic.
00:34:11
Speaker
Which a lot of people didn't like, I heard. Daybreak 2. It's something that a lot of people didn't like. It's just they think it's ah a lot weaker than the most recent entries. I liked it. not my Not my favorite. Again, I think it is weaker than some of the more recent recent entries. But this song is called Style When You Stick to
00:34:36
Speaker
And this is this comes from a is a battle theme during one of the chapters that kind of one of the chapters that kind of drags a little bit. But this this kind of brings it and kind of makes it all the much more worth it is a very upbeat.
00:34:51
Speaker
um Kind of intense song and it's really good. I freaking loved it. And it's currently still on my video game music playlist. It's awesome. um Yeah, it reminds me of something you would find in like a beat-em-up game almost. Something that's really like, kind of get you in that mood, get you in that fiery mood. I i really liked it. So yeah.
00:35:14
Speaker
So again, that is style when you stick to it. All right. Well, I'll hear it when I'm editing the episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just heard a lot of people didn't like Daybreak 2 that much. But I have heard, though, on a more positive note, that the one that's coming up next. Oh, it's Horizon, Beyond the Horizon. Yeah, ive i heard i heard I saw a video where some dude said he already played it, and he said it was yeah it was great. It came out in Japan last year, yeah. Yeah, i heard I heard that one's really good. So, like, back to form. so Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited for it comes out in January in like three weeks, think. January. Yeah, Sean, I'm playing Trails in the Sky part one right now.
00:35:52
Speaker
I'm in chapter three and I am enjoying it. So wait, you got you had to put up the visual three because I don't know what three means. So thank you. How do you hang on? Hang on. How do you do two with two fingers? i still You do two with two fingers.
00:36:06
Speaker
You do that. It's this. It's that.
00:36:11
Speaker
Texas. Look, man, you got to be nice to me. All right. Stop bullying me. Okay. Very fragile. I'm fragile. Like Death Stranding 2. Great character. Christmas vacation, right?
00:36:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fratgy, Christmas. Okay. That was just referenced in a podcast I was sitting listening to. And someone's like, that was our podcast. No, a different one. oh They stole it from us then. Cause we talked about it too.
00:36:38
Speaker
Yeah, they stole they stole that quote that came out 40 years ago. Yeah, we we made it up. yeah fri Anyway. right. All right. Moving on to... Speaking of dads, oh, look at this.
00:36:51
Speaker
Talking about dads. This is the the Dad Award, and this is the proudest video game in moment of the year for you. doesn't have to be from a 2025 game. It's going to be from any moment you're proud of from video games. So... um We're going to bring it to Hodge because ah Hodge reminds me of a dad.
00:37:10
Speaker
So, dad, you're up dad. He looks like a dad. i always joke that women and some women, I'm always, I always date women with daddy issues and I'm pretty sure it's because look like a dad. Oh, you just said daddy. Oh, I know i hate that. i hate that.
00:37:24
Speaker
Oh, that's what I only use it in dad and then when it's like daddy. I know. I just, I can't say that. Like I have, oh my God. When I hear a student say daddy, I'm like, dude, guys, you're like, You're in high school, dude. You're almost adults. What is wrong with you? You can say daddy in elementary school. You can't daddy high school. No, you can't. Once you hit age five, you're done.
00:37:43
Speaker
Hard cut off. You're definitely done in high school, though, for sure. yeah you're You're big done. Yeah. Anyway, my prosmo, it's not from a game specifically. It is. I'm I i think we kind of did this last year, too. it It's not really game specific, but my proudest moment was holding off from buying a PS5 until or PS5 Pro until I had a trade in and got it for cheap because I think I got mine for two hundred fifty bucks or something like that. And it was before it raised in price. I sold my series S because I don't use it anymore. I only play my series X. And I bought that thing for $300. I sold it to GameStop for $275. The fact that I basically spent $25 to own that thing was awesome. And so, yeah, I sold that and I got my PS5 Pro. And that system has been awesome. And so my proudest moment was because when they announced it, I'm like, I'm not spending that much money on it. Though I would have bought the 30th, which I tried and our friends got it and scalped them instead.
00:38:42
Speaker
ruining my chances of getting one but uh that was the only time i would have spent full price for one so i waited and i got it for literally like 200 bucks or something because i also had trade in money and stuff so yeah that's my price moment getting a ps5 pro for cheap because i waited so you basically rented a series s Pretty much, yeah. I love that. It's like blockbuster transaction right there.
00:39:06
Speaker
Hell yeah. Alright, I like it. Yeah, it's good. It's a good one. I just love how I always get shit because, you know, I'm so frugal. And I am. but Let's be honest. But I love that Hodge's gaming moment is that he saved good money i will say this on a PlayStation 5. Hodge is not frugal at all.
00:39:23
Speaker
No, Hodge spends his money. That's for sure. Because it's not going anywhere with you. Once you're gone, it's gone. So I like the church as a scam. Yeah, but it's like my VR 2 and PS5 Pro. I'm sure it's just on a scam. It's for your relatives. It's a scam! The only thing I got ah full price of in terms of like this, I bought the Portal. Even though I said it wasn't worth the money, but when I got it, streaming had been added. So I think the Portal is worth its price now, but I just thought PS5 Pro and the PSVR 2 weren't worth their prices, so I waited until they got cheaper. And and i stood by my stood by my morals for that one, or my...
00:40:00
Speaker
whatever for that. But yeah, I don't know. I'm happy I got them, but I'm happy I also got them cheaper. because I didn't think they were worth it. Oh, for sure. I think the Pro, isn't it like $700 now or some shit like that? Yeah. $750, I think. Well, $7, yeah. It's an awesome system. Not worth that much. It's a great system, but I got be honest. I don't know if I've noticed a difference between it and the base PS5 at all, other than that it has more storage, which is nice. But it's great. It's nice.
00:40:25
Speaker
I mean, I have noticed because a lot of if a game does have the PS5 Pro enhancement thing, you can usually play it with ray tracing at $60, and that looks fantastic. but yeah Yeah, I'm sure some games aren't really utilizing it, so some probably don't play any different, but when they do use it, it looks great.
00:40:45
Speaker
All right. well So my proudest moment, right? The dad is what we're doing. is This is for you, Sean. Okay. This is for you, but don't make fun of me too much because I know you're more hardcore than me. You're a Chad. You're a giga Chad and you're better than me. But my gaming moment, because I'm not as much of a Chad as you, was beating Octopath Traveler 2 and beating the final boss. You didn't even beat it.
00:41:11
Speaker
I just said to be nice to me. and You didn't actually beat it. You didn't beat the super secret boss. Okay, did i I got the credits and I got the achievements that says you finished the game. So I i would disagree. I did beat the game. I just didn't beat the optional boss. that was I tried him. He kicked my ass. He beat the shit out of me. and You don't have to beat side content to beat a game. well to get the actual yeah To get the actual ending, you have to. so you know i did Rolling credits is beating the game.
00:41:39
Speaker
i don't know, Jim. Jim! I beat the game. I got the final. i beat the final boss, which was pretty tough in my opinion. proud to you It was pretty tough in my opinion because it actually required me to like stop and go out and farm for like 15 hours and do a bunch of stuff to get stronger. My team wasn't strong enough and then I had to go back and then I finally beat his ass and it was a great feeling and it was a great game. Octopath Traveler 2 is one of the best JRPGs that I've ever played. I mean, I don't have an extensive experience. and I've only played like a handful or dozen at most, but it's a phenomenal game. Everyone should play Octopath Traveler 2. And I actually want to play Octopath Traveler 0 at some point. Sean, have you played that? I don't know. i will talk about it later.
00:42:19
Speaker
Oh, okay. But yeah, so I did try, you know, Sean, like I said, GigaChad, Sean, he beat the optional boss. I tried the optional boss and he destroyed me so thoroughly that I instantly was like, nope, can't do it. Like he wiped my team in like one or two turns, like instantly. And I was just like, yeah, yeah this ain't it.
00:42:38
Speaker
I mean, the optional boss was the first time in the game where I actually died more than once on a boss. It was tough. It is a tough boss. It takes a lot of strategy, whereas compared to some of the other bosses, it's like no strategy. You kind of just go in there you kind of do what you want. But I am proud You played Octopath Traveler 2, one of the greatest games of all time. And you liked it, which I was really happy Loved it. Yeah. Yeah. I was really happy. Didn't just like it. Loved it. It's a great game. I mean, takes everything the first game does and just takes it to the nth degree. Phenomenal. I'm really happy you played it, though, and I am glad you played it.
00:43:13
Speaker
It's in my top 20 games of all time, Sean, actually. I loved it. And ah yeah, to echo what you said, yeah, like the entire game was kind of a cakewalk. Like I just beat every boss f pretty effortlessly, like without dying. And then when I got to the final boss, you know, of the main story-ish, that was when I realized like, oh shit, I'm not ready. Like I lost a couple times and I was like, all right, I better go farm. Better go prepare. All right. That was mine.
00:43:39
Speaker
All right. um Yeah, that's a great one. All right. For me, the proudest video game moment of the year for me, my dad is ready goes back to Dr. Mario.
00:43:52
Speaker
So usually when you're playing the arcade mode of Dr. Mario, it's kind of like that. Just like you you do a level and you go to the next one. um you get to level 20 and you get like the ending cutscene but you can keep going most people it's it's really tough but i played for uh so much that i uh i got to the i um matt i would just do like a um like a a save state and then if i was done playing i would just close the game and then i would just reboot up the save state but if i lost i would go back to level one um I hit 99 hours, 99 minutes on it, and it the clock just, like, didn't... I mean, 99 minutes, 99... 99 minutes, 99 seconds, and the clock didn't reset. And then I got to level 99, and once you beat level 99, just stay at 99. You just keep going.
00:44:37
Speaker
um I currently still have this save file, and I just randomly... That's the one I randomly play. I max out the high scores at, like, 999 million. ninety nine nine nine And yeah, I got there in Dr. Mario and I never thought I would because I used to think level 20 was really difficult. And then now I'm here, you know, from Midnight's favorite ah rapper, you know, started from the bottom. Now we're here.
00:44:59
Speaker
Shout out to Drake. Wrapping on Degrassi. You're muted.
00:45:07
Speaker
Oh, damn. ah Yes, I was gonna say shout out to Drake. And where the fuck is Iceman, Drake? you guys You guys probably wouldn't know. He he teased that he was going to have a big summer album called Iceman, and it's still not fucking out.
00:45:18
Speaker
Newsflash, it's about to be New Year's. It's not summer anymore. Drake's too busy. He's too busy getting shot by Rick on Degrassi and getting in wheelchair. I guess. I've never seen Degrassi. Oh, I used to watch him. Iceman is too busy dominating the NFC North right now.
00:45:32
Speaker
Iceman's a boss in Mega Man. Well, I can't wait for that album, that Drake album. We're going back. There you go. Great pick, though. All right. Very good. That's our dad. And now we're on to the mom. No, moms don't play video games. We know that.
00:45:51
Speaker
Come on, guys. The game that made you the best sandwich. Whoa! Nice. All right. Next up, we have, kind of goes along with being proud, but you't have maybe you weren't proud of it. Maybe you're like, wow, it's my favorite one I got, but I'm not proud of it. And that is the trophy. and This is your favorite trophy slash achievement you got. um I have mine ready to go, but Hodge, you're up.
00:46:16
Speaker
Yeah, mine isn't from a 2025 game. Doesn't have to be. Yeah, but it is the fact that I went back, played Hogwarts Legacy, and got that platinum. I loved this game. I loved it so much, and I was very happy to... Because some games, when I earn the plat, I'm like, I'm just kind of doing it to do it. But this one, went knowing that you had to go back and replay the opening four times, I was like, oh my god, that's going to be a drag. But that I had so much fun with it, and knowing that...
00:46:46
Speaker
and So basically to get the plat, you have to reach a certain point in each house. And but it's like the same game, obviously, but each house you get to that point in a different way. And it's really cool how you do it. I don't want to spoil anything, but you just it's different every time, depending on your house. And so it's a lot of it was actually a lot of fun doing that to finish it off. But yeah, the game, it was it was just a blast. I loved every moment of that game.
00:47:14
Speaker
And so, yeah, getting the Platinum Hogwarts Legacy, that is my proudest trophy of the year. Nice, nice. um To echo that theme, my proudest moment is also a platinum. And that was, I think it's my only platinum this year. I'm not sure, but think so. And that was when I became the director of the FBC, Hodge. As listeners will remember, Hodge gifted me for Secret Santa, Control. And, you know, because I have so much respect for Hodge, you know, he's the dad of the podcast.
00:47:46
Speaker
I was like, I can't just beat Control. I gotta get the platinum. So I did, I got the platinum. I'm now the director of the FBC. Control is a great game. I am looking forward to Control 2. And I am now a lightweight a Remedy fan.
00:48:01
Speaker
I say lightweight because I'm not to the levels of Hodge. You know, they're not, they're not, you know, they're not Larian for me. But I do like them. i like I think they make great, interesting games. So shout out to Control and that Platinum, which was slightly annoying to get, particularly just that one where you had to spend like 100 skill points or something because you had to do like a ton of like extra backtracking and stuff, which I don't usually do.
00:48:24
Speaker
But it wasn't that bad. Honestly, I only spent like 28 hours. Maybe it wasn't anything crazy. I don't think. But that's it. Control Platinum for me. Wait, so you got the Platinum for Holog, but you couldn't get the Platinum for me in Occupat Traveler 2?
00:48:37
Speaker
There's no way, dude, I could get the Octopath. That boss would still be kicking my ass today. There's always a way. There's always a way. All right, but that's a um mine is also a platinum, but mine does not mine falls under the the the premise that Hodge said where he's kind of just doing it to do it because I was there. And that was the Star Wars Battlefront II, or Battlefront Collection Platinum. This is a Marshall Commander. And this is mainly because i had to grind for hours on each weapon um
00:49:08
Speaker
killing certain soldiers, getting streaks with them. And then it would have, there'd be a cool down where you had to like swap weapons. You couldn't do it. You had to like, wait another five minutes to use that weapon again. i remember just doing this. i would just be like, all right, gonna do this for two hours. Then i'm gonna take a break.
00:49:23
Speaker
I'll come back tomorrow do for another two hours, take another break. And it took me like weeks to do it just because that's what I had to do. And I would, I cheesed it where I would be in like training mode so I didn't have to like end the match. I could just stay there and just not do the objectives and just kill things. um It was a lot of fun because I do love star those classic Star Wars Battlefront games and it was really fun actually going back and playing them and just getting through and getting the... ah um all the trophies for both of the games and it made me really uh sad that we never got a real battlefront 3 not not talking battlefront 1 from 2015 and battlefront 2 from 2017 i'm talking you know battlefront 1 2004 battlefront 2 2005. ps2 let's get battlefront 3 made by um in who made those games i can't remember they're defunct studio now um um it's the same people who did uh
00:50:14
Speaker
the saboteur why can't think of the name uh oh my god i think i pandemic yes this pandemic yeah let let's get let's get them bring them back let's get battlefront 3 and just make it just like the old battlefront games because that's just what we need in the year 2025 Yeah, the only reason I didn't play this collection was because I heard it was completely busted when it came out. and i was It wasn't that it was busted when it came out. The online, like if you were going to play like online with other people, it was. Oh, okay. Yeah, because I remember that was fine. Yeah, because I was really excited to do that because I was so looking forward to playing this online. Because I loved these games growing up. I had them on PS2. I played the living crap out of them. Me too, yeah. So was excited to do that online with people. When I heard it busted, I was just like... It's fixed now, but it's on that point. Maybe I should get these at some point because I so as well i loved these games so much growing up. And I i actually replayed because Xbox had them back compat, so me and my cousin played a split screen it for a little bit and so still holds up. Love these games so much. So good. So I might have to get this eventually. Are these EA? Yeah.
00:51:23
Speaker
Yeah. No, no, no. Those are the other games. Those are the old ones. No, those are the new ones. Well, I think EA did the redo because they only did the redo, but... Yeah. Yeah, okay.
00:51:33
Speaker
Yeah, because I was going to say if it was EA, it will almost positively come to... No, this is definitely not EA because they would have required me to log into that stupid EA account and my EA account doesn't work, so... don't know who did these ones. All right. In Galactic Conquest...
00:51:50
Speaker
from battlefront one great it was done by aspire yeah aspire yeah yeah anyway yeah so battlefront trump games yeah Yeah. All right. All right. Next up, we have The Stans, the character of the year. So a character from a game that came out in 2025. And I put a little caveat in here. You cannot name my L. Yeah. So I'm sorry. that I'm kidding. What? I'm kidding. Okay.
00:52:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's okay. Yeah, because mine's my own. No, I'm kidding. My character of the year is actually Hazel from South of Midnight. Oh, good one. Yeah, this this game, obviously, we've said it a million times. It's like a six and a half, seven out of ten. It's not a great game by any stretch.
00:52:42
Speaker
but but the story and like setting and all that is so good and hazel is such a is such a fun character like she's she's not like a girl boss or whatever she's just a really well constructed character and i i loved i basically love this game for its cut scenes like it's really which is why i know like we said before you could turn off the combat to play this game like And so it it just it wasn't it was an OK game. But the story and music and everything was so good that I really enjoyed it. And like like we've said, think on our last episode, if if you ever do find it free or whatever, it's worth a playthrough, think.
00:53:20
Speaker
And in my opinion, I really love this game. But Hazel was such a good character and I really loved her story. And so, yeah, that's so that's who I'm rocking with. I'm going Hazel from South Midnight.
00:53:32
Speaker
Good pick, good pick. ah She's also up there in my top two or three probably. She was great. yeah Other people should probably play this game if you get it on sale or on a subscription. And probably you should consider turning off the combat because it's yeah it's really it's not very good. yeah But the story in music and music and the platforming is okay. And it's just it's it's pretty good.
00:53:52
Speaker
So... For me, my character is from Claire Obscura Expedition 33, and you guys are trying to to ban me, but you will not be successful because I didn't pick Maelle, Hodge.
00:54:04
Speaker
I do love Maelle, of course, Jennifer English. God, she killed it with this with that voice acting. She's amazing. Like i so I've said before, when she has those moments where like she's freaking out because of the visions, like...
00:54:15
Speaker
Her voice acting is so good in that, like that it literally gave me like anxiety, like as a viewer watching it, like she's freaking out so much. but phenomenal She's She's amazing and I love her. But Jennifer English for the record.
00:54:29
Speaker
ah My character is actually Verso. Verso, voiced by Ben Starr. um He killed it. Awesome voice acting. Awesome character. I really love his conflicted arc. He's kind of caught in the middle of what's going on there. um And ultimately, he decides to, well, I don't want to spoil much, but, you know, he decides to kind of protect his little sister kind of deal. Yeah. It's just a great character.
00:54:49
Speaker
It's awesome. He killed it. He did a great job with his voice acting range and emotion, too. He's a very key character to the story. He's he's a very key character to the ending and which route you take. And I thought Verso was awesome. I love Ben Starr. I think he's a great voice actor. He's one of my favorite voice actors after Jennifer English. Jennifer English is number one.
00:55:10
Speaker
But yeah, Verso from Claire Obscure Expedition 33 my pick Great pick. And there's a lot of people from that game you could have picked, too. Yeah, you can really pick any character. The characters in that game were awesome. My backup behind Hazel, like my honorable mention, was actually Sael. I loved her. She was such a great character. Yeah, she's great, too. Underrated, yeah. Yeah.
00:55:32
Speaker
Yeah, Sean. Alright, mine comes from Trails Through Daybreak 2, and that is Walter Krohn, also known as the Direwolf, aka Enforcer Number 8.
00:55:46
Speaker
This guy is freaking awesome. He's associated with Ouroboros, who's usually one of the factions that you like fight with, and in Trails Through Daybreak 2, he's You actually get to use him in your main party and he he becomes like a ah main, not a main staple, but he is usable in your party. He is freaking awesome. He is like the definition of just like tough guy and like knows what he's doing. He's he's kind of just a definitive, just like awesome badass.
00:56:14
Speaker
He's f freaking so cool. He just fights with his fists too. Like everyone's using these weapons and he's just fighting with his fists. He's great. is He has these powers, he's like he's easy he's ah part of Ouroboros, so that they're super powerful like organization. And he's always trying to like, it's like kind of like always like the one step ahead of everyone. He's f freaking awesome. I love him.
00:56:34
Speaker
um Performance is great. Yeah, he's great. He's very sarcastic too, which is like phenomenal because love sarcasm as hopefully everyone can kind of pick that up.
00:56:46
Speaker
Very sarcastic person. So yeah, Walter Cron, he's so cool. Love him. And in Troster Daybreak 2, he does a tremendous job.
00:56:58
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. Good stuff. Good stuff, Sean. Speaking of Trails, funny side tangent, but ah I'm playing you know Trails in the Sky first chapter and I'm in this town and it's funny, there's this character, Professor Epstein, and I was like, ah that's the interesting. yeah that's Anyways, thats continue, sir.
00:57:21
Speaker
Yeah, Professor Epstein, Epstein Files, you know, they're coming out. i think um i think where' I think some of our characters might be in them. Like, you know, could happen.
00:57:33
Speaker
yeah Anyway, let's move on. Moving on, yeah. All right. All right. Next up on our award list, we're up to award number nine. This is the, oh, my God. This is the surprise of the year award. The OMG, the, oh, my God. So here we go. Surprise the year. This could be a good surprise, whoa surprise, a, wow, this is a terrible surprise. This could be really anything. So, Hodge, take it away.
00:58:02
Speaker
So my surprise came this year, but it was about a game that did come out this year. That's good. good that Yeah, whatever. I guess that's fine. Because my surprise of the year was me finding out that I don't like Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil.
00:58:18
Speaker
Because, so, as I've said before, back in 2020 is actually when I, I know came out in 2019, but 2020 is when i played Resident Evil 2 and I had no experience in Resident Evil and I fell so far in love with that game that I was like, oh, I'm going to love Resident Evil. Like this is going to be like the the series that I'm now addicted to. And I played three or I played seven next. I really loved seven. And then I went back to three when that came out and I was like, that this one's OK. And then i played eight and I was like, oh, this is pretty good.
00:58:49
Speaker
And then I finally I'm like, all right, time to get to the goat because this was spoopy season of this year. I'm like, let's get RE4. It's remade. So it's even going to play better. And I got through it and I'm just like, I just don't like how action heavy this game is. I really don't like. Then you have like these swarms of people coming after you, but you only have two clips in your gun and takes four five shots per person. I'm like, this isn't fun. Like I what is going like I liked in RE2. You didn't have much ammo, but there's only two freaking zombies that walked around. cat agrees doesn't like re4 either and i'm like so i was so so so so in love with re2 and 7 that i was just like expecting for being the pinnacle of the series according to everyone to be amazing but it was just a it was a letdown for me i wasn't fan i might go back and beat it one day just to i don't know, give it another chance. Because there are, you know, there's those games where you give it that second chance he end up falling in love with it. So, maybe. But as of right now, it was a big surprise to me that I just didn't like it. And maybe one day, but for now, not a big fan. So, my OMG is OMG, I don't like RE4. So...
01:00:05
Speaker
All right. There you go. I've never played it, so I got nothing to say on that. That's crazy. Sean, did you want to say anything about that? that's crazy because my award was that the OMG was that Hodge likes RE4. This is crazy. No, I'm kidding. No, understandable.
01:00:19
Speaker
Not for everyone, you know, but I'm glad you gave it shot. All right, Midnight, you are up. All right. My OMG. And, you know, this is an award, like you said, that you can take in many different directions. And the direction that I decided to take it with was my surprise of the year was avowed and how much hate it got, despite being a good game, in my opinion. No, it is a good game. All right. This game is extremely overhated and I don't understand it. Like there needs to be an investigation as to why people are.
01:00:50
Speaker
making it their job when it came out to hate on this game. I saw videos like, oh, look at this. You can't interact with this section of the environment. Oh, look at this. This isn't Skyrim. Like, well, it's not made by Bethesda Game Studios, you fucking retard. Like, obviously, it's not Skyrim. Sorry, I know you don't like that word, Sean. But Avowed was a great game. and It was a good game, in my opinion. I give it like an 82 on the midnight critic scale. um I think this game had a really good story. It starts off slow.
01:01:17
Speaker
So people probably got turned off because it was a little slow. You know, it's a dream scourge. You know, it's an enemy that you can't necessarily see. You have to dig into it to figure out what's going on. um But there were good characters. The companions weren't all of the best, but the actual like story characters were quite good. um Like that, the chick that runs like the Inquisition or whatever, she's kind of like a villain. I thought she was pretty awesome. And actually there is a way where you can like, if you play your cards exactly right, you could be evil and kind of side with her, which was cool.
01:01:45
Speaker
But I thought this was a good game, man. It had a great choice and consequence. It had very fun combat. It had great graphics. The story actually was good. It just starts all slow. And the only real complaint that I had with this was that some of the campaign some of the companions were boring. And my cat agrees. He hates, you know, he hates how overhated this game is. So Avowed is mine. All right.
01:02:06
Speaker
Okay. Not too bad. i think actually I think a lot of people, it came out right around KCD 2 as well. so i think i kind of heard it. Yeah, that's true. KCD2 is a landmark title. Yeah.
01:02:17
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I actually, I didn't beat it. I just kind of fell off it at one point, but I liked what I played of that game. I thought it was fun. So I don't, I didn't, it's not like I can't be the barometer of if it's great or not, but from what I played as someone who doesn't really play those types of games, I i enjoyed it. So yeah.
01:02:35
Speaker
I don't think because it was funny because what did he get? Like a 78 or something on Metacritic or something like it was high 70s, low 80s, whatever it was. And i't I don't know. felt that kind of fit it. But yeah, people were acting like it was scoring like 30 on Metacritic. it's like, no, it wasn't that bad. i feel like it's the I hate to say it, but I feel like it is the Xbox tax of it's on Xbox. So we have to dislike it more than we should kind of thing. And that's just kind of the vibe I got from it. But yeah, yeah, I thought it was fine.
01:03:03
Speaker
that is I'll say. Yeah, and I'll say this. I, uh... Cat, shut up, bro. I'll say this. I actually, I beat The Outer Worlds 2 recently, which is also from Obsidian. It was a pretty good game, but Avowed is better. I like Avowed better than The Outer Worlds 2. For sure. Avowed is a better game for me. I liked it more. So, anyways, Sean?
01:03:24
Speaker
You're wrong, sir. Good day. I'm kidding. day. No, and understandable. All right. So for my, oh my God award, it it is I'm just going to put it at this because I'm not going to spoil anything. It is just the ending of DK Bonanza. That is all. For those who have played it, you know what I'm talking about.
01:03:48
Speaker
I beat it. I can't think of what it is. The ending? You got the actual ending? i don't know. I beat the game in the credits rolled. Did you beat the optional boss? No.
01:04:00
Speaker
No. There's... um Did you you actually figure out what like you got? That was a huge surprise. like No one knew that was coming. I don't remember. i I was kind of ready for the game to be over by the time I got to the end of it, so I don't really know. I don't remember.
01:04:17
Speaker
I'm being honest. have All the ending of DKP is in a lot of people's minds. That's all. You should know. You know what, Midnight? You know, put your hair. I'm going to put a spoiler hat on, and I will say it for the audience. So I'm going to do a spoiler hat here. The ending is when you get to New Donk City.
Shocking Reveals and 'Whoa' Award Moments
01:04:34
Speaker
That was freaking insane. No one saw that coming.
01:04:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Didn't mean anything to me. I don't care. All right. Spoiler hat is now Hodge doing his impression of me. He's like, oh, i don't remember.
01:04:51
Speaker
That's a classic midnight. When he said it, i remember, but it's, I don't, whatever. And the, uh, the actual, um, main villain. That was a huge shock. That's a huge shock.
01:05:02
Speaker
Oh, that, yeah, I didn't expect that. Cause it came out of nowhere, but I also don't really care about DK. So it didn't mean anything to me. Well, you, sir, leave. All right. Bye.
01:05:14
Speaker
Bye. All right. There we go. all right. No. Okay. For our next award, very similar to the OMG, but this is a little different. This is like a moment that you were like, what just happened? Or your jaw was just dropping. This is the the whoa a award.
01:05:33
Speaker
well Whoa. Hodge, what moment left your jaw dropped and you were like, wow. I honestly couldn't pick one. It's all from the same game, but I couldn't pick one. It's literally just the end of every act of Claire Obscure. the Just every time we got to the end of some chapter, it was a moment that was just like, wait, what no way they just did that. I mean, I guess if I really had to pick one, I'd go at the end of Act 1 of Claire Obscure.
01:06:01
Speaker
But every and even the end of the prologue, the end of Act 1, the end of Act 2, 3, the epilogue, every ending was just like, what the hell just happened? Like, left me floored wanting more of this game. And so, yeah, I i i could go, i guess, I'm going to say the end of every act, but if I have to pick one, it's the end of Act 1.
01:06:21
Speaker
And just, yeah, that that game had a lot of moments that I was just like, damn, I can't believe they did that. But, yeah, that's what I'm going with. Okay.
01:06:32
Speaker
Good stuff. Good stuff. I decided to go with Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Several moments, actually. Specifically, the one that I'll kind of focus on because saying several moments is too generic.
01:06:45
Speaker
are Some of the huge castle battles in this game, like they they put you in like castle defense battles. One in particular, it's like a full-on siege and it takes place over multiple days. And you're getting up and you're like preparing for the siege and then you're getting up and then You have to fight them off and then you're getting up and then you fight them off again and then you get them all you get up and then you have to like stop a plot and then you're getting up and then people are starving and eating shoes and you're trying to find food because you were under siege for so long and then you're getting up and you fight them off again. And it's just like it's a really long but but it doesn't feel like...
01:07:15
Speaker
like draining or annoying or anything. Like it's just an awesome epic event. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 did things that I haven't experienced in and virtually any other game, like how they put you in like this medieval world and make you feel like you're there and make it feel like, you know, you're, you're really contributing like, oh, we have to stop them from getting up these ladders and, you know, we got to defend this castle or we're all going to die. And like,
01:07:37
Speaker
awesome game and yeah I'm gonna say Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 really tons of moments but specifically some of the big castle battles were awesome
01:07:48
Speaker
awesome awesome yeah i know that was that's a great yeah I know Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 did blow me away I couldn't believe how like um How like everything just matters, everything, every little thing you do just matters in that game. But yeah, that's a great pick. It was in consideration. For for me, I'm gonna go err on the side of the Hodge here. It's basically Expedition 33. It's kind of like the big story twist that you kind of find out near the end of Act 2. That kind of just was like, I like did not believe what was going on there. That blew me away. i
01:08:24
Speaker
I was at a loss for words and I still am like that. I can't believe that they did that. Like that is so weird because it was hidden so well. um That's yeah that's a big thing about these like these moments. A lot of times you can kind of like especially in video games, you can kind of like, oh, this is obviously this is what's going to happen. But then when you get one of those moments where it's like, whoa.
01:08:45
Speaker
So what? Yes, like Bioshock.
01:08:50
Speaker
I mean, Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite had those moments. Dude, is Judas ever coming out? No. and Bioshock, such great games. Everyone should go play Bioshock right now. do you Stop this podcast. Turn it off. Go play Bioshock. Judas is cursed because he turned on Jesus, you know?
01:09:06
Speaker
yeah True. That's true. Turned on Jesus. That was uncool. Turned on Jesus, you know? There you go. Yeah. All right. Foul on the play. Flag on the play.
01:09:18
Speaker
All right. Speaking of ah flags in the play for award number 11, we got the 28-3 award. Shout out all you Falcons fans. The biggest letdown of the year. Your biggest letdown. twenty eight three Still can't believe it.
01:09:34
Speaker
Unbelievable. We almost called this the double doink, but Sean didn't want to hurt. Oh, it's the double doink. Matt Ryan can't believe it either. Still cursed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Disappointments and Criticisms in Gaming and TV
01:09:45
Speaker
That that game, it won me 300 bucks, so I couldn't be too upset. But anyway, maybe my biggest letdown of this year was FBC Firebreak.
01:09:55
Speaker
ah As you guys know, and anyone listening knows, Remedy is my favorite studio. It's not even close. I love every game they make. So when they came out with FBC Firebreak, I actually thought it looked pretty fun, but I remember saying during the reveal... This looks like a game that's going to be very fun for me for about two weeks, and then I'm going to move on.
01:10:14
Speaker
And it didn't even make to two weeks. I played it for maybe three nights with some people. We saw almost everything the game had to show. It was it wasn't a bad game by any stretch, but it just it didn't catch me at all.
01:10:26
Speaker
It was just fine. It had some, you know, remedy weird humor in it that was pretty good. But, yeah, it just it was very... I don't know. It's crazy that because it takes place in the world of control, you would think it wouldn't be bland, but somehow it managed to be a bland game. And I'm like, it was just such a letdown for from coming from a studio that I love so much. It it really sucked that this game came out, was very mid and just kind of died. I know they're trying to keep it alive. They're trying to add content to make it popular again, but
01:11:00
Speaker
It's a losing battle if I'm being like, it's very rare for a live service game to be revived. Like No Man's Sky did it. It's about it. it's It's really hard to come back from a dud launch. So it sucks. But yeah, that game is pretty much dead. And yeah, it's a bummer. I was looking forward to it. I knew it wouldn't be like amazing and take up my life, but I thought it'd be better than what we got. So that is my biggest letdown of the year. FBC Firebreak.
01:11:30
Speaker
Yeah, that was just a game that nobody asked for and nobody wanted. um And unlike No Man's Sky, No Man's Sky is not a game that relies on a thriving community. It's mostly single player, like you rarely even see other players. So FBC Firebreak to be revived role relies on a thriving community because you have to matchmake with other players. So everybody has to come back at the same time. And yeah.
01:11:52
Speaker
That's not what we want Remedy for. We don't want Remedy for it to do like a generic shooter. We want awesome narrative, ah you know, atmospheric games. Good stuff, good stuff. um I didn't play it, but good stuff. um For me, my biggest letdown of the year,
01:12:09
Speaker
was the ending of Claire Obscure Expedition 33 because it was so bad. It was so bad. Both endings were trash. Both endings didn't make a lot of sense. I mean, they make sense, but in the in the context of like what these characters have been fighting for all this time and what their personality and what their wants would be. But neither of these ending choices really make any sense. Neither of the, none of these endings have any shred of happiness. um And there was a third ending, which was very obvious um that they could have went with and they did not. So for me personally, i know this, you know, everybody can have their own opinion and that's fine. i know there are people who thought the endings were good somehow and that's fine. But for me,
01:12:50
Speaker
Mid-whack endings, which brings the game down. Still like an 85 for me. Great game. Good to great game, but nah. Those endings, nope.
01:13:02
Speaker
Sean? You're welcome to your opinion. Yeah, thank you. The biggest wet down of the year for me. Was it that? No, I'm i how dare I was thinking about it. It was definitely in consideration. But for me, it is um the poor adaptation of The Last of Us season two. um You know, i I, you know, I think it started off strong and then it progressively just got worse and worse.
01:13:30
Speaker
And I think you could definitely see the episodes that Neil Druckmann, who's, you know, the creator of The Last of Us, had his hands in. Those were some of the more stronger. Those are some of the more stronger episodes where and then and the episodes that were not really in his hands. um didn't really do great and now watching Fallout I'm just like wow this is like it makes it look even worse because Fallout is so good so yeah that was the biggest letdown for me because I really like The Last of Us Part 2 I actually prefer it over be The Last of Us Part 1 so seeing season 2 just kind being like oh god
01:14:07
Speaker
Not good. Fallout is is really good. Fallout's just a fun time. you know I still haven't seen episode two of season two. I got to watch that later. but i tried to watch it last night, and I don't know if Prime was having an issue, but it said the episode is unavailable. I'm like what the hell?
01:14:21
Speaker
So I'll try tonight. Well, I know Prime was working because my parents texted me last night and said they are renting a movie on Prime and that they're going to see it come out of my account. So i said, okay, no biggie, because I have the Prime account.
01:14:34
Speaker
I will say i i agree. Obviously, i am the more hater of Last of Us Part II, but I remember still the episode where they have the zombie break-in episode.
01:14:46
Speaker
at the city in Jackson. And I was like, this is so walking dead. Like it did not feel like last of us at all. I was like, everyone who was a name had plot armor. It was just the most walking dead crap I'd seen in a forever. Like I thought this showed it a lot of good, but it did mostly not great. And that I just will never forget that, that zombie like,
01:15:10
Speaker
swarm at Jackson being like, Oh, this, that was just so walking dead. Like, and not the good parts of walking dead. There's walking dead at some moments, but stuff like that, where it was just plot armor out the ass. I'm like, Oh, that's just, yeah. So I, I, I do agree that the, even though I'm not big on the game, the show was a step down from even the game, but yeah Yeah, I am. Look, I am kind of looking forward to season three, though, and I might be one of the only people. no I'm looking forward to season three. eight and We'll see it in 2028.
01:15:42
Speaker
Yeah, I don't. Yeah, because I am team Abby after playing the game and because the actress who plays Abby is kind of hot. I am looking forward to season three. Let's let's see it, man. Let's do it.
01:15:52
Speaker
Yeah, I just I have a feeling they're going to lose almost the entire audience. Oh, yeah. people who aren't Because when you see that neither Joel or ah what's her face, Ellie is going to be in the show. It's like, yeah.
01:16:07
Speaker
yeah I think Sean and I are in the minority of people that are excited about it. Yeah, i just will see we'll have to wait I just feel like casuals who aren't fans of the game aren aren't going to stick around when they completely change the cast for an entire season. But we'll see. Who knows? Sean and I will enjoy it. We have no idea how they're going to do it. we We really have no idea. They haven't really said anything.
01:16:28
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, Neil's gone, too. So, yeah. Don't be a bigot sandwich. Yeah, don't be a bigot. right Anyway.
Personal Reflections and Future Gaming Interests
01:16:37
Speaker
So, um yeah, so Falcons, you you blew a 28-3 lead. so there you go. All right, and speaking of um combats, the there is always the next year award.
01:16:50
Speaker
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I have to say the 28 three. Right. So I remember watching the Super Bowl to 28 three. This was the moment, Sean, when I finally stopped hating because I was a Tom Brady hater. Yeah, I hate. and yeah know, he's a Michigan guy. i'm I'm a hater. Dude's too perfect. He looks too good. He's winning everything. He's got a supermodel wife like fuck this dude. Right. But when he when he came back from 28 to three, um I finally had to stop hating and just admit it. I'm like, this dude's the goat.
01:17:17
Speaker
He's the goat. Like, I couldn't argue anymore. I'm like, this dude is amazing. I remember watching it in college with a bunch of Packer fans and they were so mad because they're such Aaron Rodgers guys. They were so mad. They were like the entire first three quarters. Oh, Aaron Rodgers, he's so much better than Brady. like yeah. Yeah. Okay.
01:17:36
Speaker
Yeah. How about that? Yeah. Go sit down. Hey, you should be liking Rodgers. You know, Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah. Rodgers is fine. I don't i don't have a problem with Rodgers. I have a problem with the Steelers. the Steelers suck. we need to give it to Tomlin. But please continue. All right. So speaking of the comebacks, there is always next year award. This is the game from 2025 you missed, but are playing on playing in 2026. Odds?
01:17:59
Speaker
odd Dustborn. <unk>s Already been gone. Jeez. Um, this was a little tough for me for two reasons. Cause played every big game from this year that I wanted to.
01:18:14
Speaker
So it really, there wasn't any huge ones that really went by me. And so I looked at my list. I'm just like, you this is tough, but I think I'm going to go with, um, Blueprints.
01:18:26
Speaker
I didn't play this game, but it is an indie first person puzzle game, which is right up my alley. And so I have a feeling I'll love this game. And it was, you know, really well renowned. Everyone loved it, apparently. So I feel like I will like this game. it It was never on my radar as a game that I was like, I really want to play that. just, don't know, nothing about it stuck out to me. But hearing what it is and how much people loved it, I feel like I got to give it a try. I think I actually have it on PlayStation. I think it was a PS Plus game. It was a PS Plus game, yeah.
01:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, so I have i have it. So i I think I am going to play this game. ah Really quick, my honorable mentions were Croc Remastered and the Gex Remastered both came out this year, which I really want to play. And I want to get back to Oblivion Remastered because I really did enjoy that game. But I technically played it, so it's really not a game that I haven't played. So that's why I didn't pick that one. So yeah, Blueprints is the the game from this year that I'm going to get to next yeah I think that's a great pick for you because, you know, I don't like puzzles personally, but you do. And yeah, I mean, that game has got like a 92 Metacritic or something. yeah and you know, scores are kind of stupid, of course. But I mean, when a game is that high on the scale, there's got there's something to it. know what I mean? People really like it. So I think you'll enjoy that. That's cool.
01:19:40
Speaker
Yeah. um For me... Mine is actually Borderlands 4. Now this is a game that I wasn't all that interested in, but they kind of won me over when I saw the gameplay because it just looks really fast and fun and fluid. It just looks like a good time. I also heard pretty good things. I'm pretty sure Lockmore enjoyed this game and other people enjoyed this game.
01:19:59
Speaker
um So one of these days when I have some time, I kind of want to fire up Borderlands 4 and just have a little bit of fun, you know, shoot some stuff, get some guns, you know, pick a fun character class and, you know, build them out and see what's going on out there in the wasteland in the borderlands um so yeah borderlands 4 was my pick that movie was horrible by the way don't watch the movie what are you talking about masterpiece oh yeah surprised it wasn't nominated for best uh adaptation at the at the keely's if it was that year i mean they gave it until dawn i mean come on
01:20:32
Speaker
it was It was probably better than Until Dawn. I don't know. They both suck. Sean, what say you? ah Mine, I alluded to it earlier, is Octopath Traveler Zero. I do already have it bought. i I own it. just haven't started playing yet. going to play that in January, though. I'm really excited for it. freaking love Octopath 1, love Octopath 2. I'm going to love this. how You know I am.
01:20:51
Speaker
so I'm really, really looking forward to it. Sorry, sorry. I was going to that is a great cozy January game. It's snowing outside and you can sit back with some coffee and play Octopath. Doesn't get much better, does it? Yeah. Some um honorable mentions for me was the 100 line defense academy. I really want to play that game, too. And I know that's like a like a 200 hour game. So I got that ball pit is up there for me as well. um Blueprints as well.
01:21:20
Speaker
I debated doing ball pit, but I'm like, I don't know if I'll ever get to it really, but who knows? Um, the diehard movie tie-in game, you know, that's up there too, you know, um, speaking, I had diehard for the NES back in the day.
01:21:33
Speaker
It's fun game. Oh, look at you. fun game Um, all right, but yeah. Oh, and, um, Tony Hawk pro skater three and four. That was, uh, honorable. Yeah.
01:21:45
Speaker
yeah I got play that too. All All right. Next up, the Is It Friday Yet Award, your most anticipated 2026 release. The game that you're like, 2026 is here?
01:22:00
Speaker
I cannot wait. Just pump it into my veins. Give me that heroin. Let's go. Hodge? Yeah, this is obvious. that Everyone who knows me knows. It's Control Resonant.
01:22:14
Speaker
I cannot wait for this game. It's... I just, I gushed about it on our episode of the of the reactions and yeah, I was losing my mind when this got revealed. i actually just started replaying Control on my portal while I was home because the streaming on Portal is awesome. I played a bunch of games while I was home. I played a bunch of Vampire Survivors. I platinumed one or two games while I was home. it's It's an absolute blast playing on the Portal, but I'm gonna play it on my TV now that I'm back in my apartment. But yeah, Control, I'm loving it. I love that game. I'm happy to... It'll be kind of a here and there game. I'm not going to completely binge it because I've already beaten it twice. But I'm replaying the first one and I'm very excited because I want i don't want to play it too close to the release of Resonant, but I want to replay it before Resonant. So I just kind of started it again. Yeah, I cannot wait for Control Resonant. I know there's probably other stuff that I am excited for next year, but...
01:23:11
Speaker
and when when this When I looked at this award, I knew immediately was this one, so I didn't even think up any honorable mentions. I'm sure there's plenty, but yeah, Control Resonant is the game I am so excited for for next year. Right on. Good pick.
01:23:25
Speaker
good page When do you think it's going to come out? When you think it will be released? What month? um I mean, as far along as it is, or spring, but I'm not sure. because i'm trying to think when Alan Wake 2 came out. i think it was a summer game, if I remember right. i can't But I don't know. I could see it being either spring or fall. I don't know.
01:23:45
Speaker
I have no idea. Hopefully it's earlier than later. But I don't know. Okay. So is it Friday yet for me? My most anticipated game is not GTA 6, although that's an honorable mention.
01:23:59
Speaker
Another honorable mention that I'll give you is Clockwork Revolution from InXile. That game looks awesome. Looks like RPG Bioshock. Like Super RPG Bioshock. Looks cool. And...
01:24:13
Speaker
or I should probably say, but my actual pick for this award is The Expanse, Osiris, what is it? Osiris Reborn, The Expanse from Alcat Games. This is a game that's coming out next year. Alcat Games is a CRPG developer, most known for their, you know, so ah was Rogue Trader?
01:24:38
Speaker
Yeah. Warhammer Road Trader game that came out was very well received and they have several others too. But this one kind of looks like more like third person action. If you've seen it kind of almost more like Mass Effect. But yeah, very good looking game. I am very excited about this.
01:24:54
Speaker
So The Expanse Osiris Reborn. I like The Expanse. I watch the shows on Amazon and stuff. I think it's a good show. It's interesting. And I'm looking forward to this one. See what they do.
01:25:07
Speaker
Yeah, I've never read or seen The Expanse, I don't really know anything about this. but ah if you do you like sci-fi? Space stuff? If you do, check it out, maybe. Yeah, isn't it and on Prime or something, this show? Yeah, it's on Prime.
01:25:21
Speaker
Yeah, i don't know. Sean? Alright, I think mine's pretty obvious. It is GTA 6. Been waiting for this game since 2013. Been waiting for this game for a Sunday night. Been waiting for this forever. I'm really excited for GTA 6. I cannot freaking wait. It's gonna hit. I know it is. I know I said that last year and the year before that, but um I'm confident this year. I'm very, very confident it's gonna hit this year. Super pumped. So many good games going on next year, though. Like I said, the new Trails Beyond the Horizons coming out. um
01:25:53
Speaker
Yeah, so GTA 6, can't wait. The Halo campaign remake or whatever campaign of all, whatever they're calling it, it's coming out. I can't wait for that, too. Just so much goodness. Seven Deadly Synth Origins. So, yeah, but GTA 6, it's going to be awesome. I'm to lost in that world, and I'm going to quit my job and become a full-time GTA streamer. It's going to be great.
01:26:17
Speaker
Hey, I'll tune in. Yeah, exactly. I'm going to role play as a Florida man. Nice. Yeah. Star Wars Galactic Gracer is another one that I'm excited for. Honorable mention, but.
01:26:30
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah. But GTA six. All right. All right. Moving up. We have two awards left. Number 14, the classic, the game of the year that didn't release in 2025. So your favorite game that you played for the first time in 2025 that did not come out in 2025.
01:26:48
Speaker
um Hodge, you're up.
Favorite Games and Game of the Year Selections
01:26:51
Speaker
Yeah, mine is no surprise. I've already talked about it this episode and I've talked about it a million times before that. And that is Hogwarts Legacy.
01:27:15
Speaker
I loved every moment of this game. It would have been probably my game of the year of the year it came out. I'd have to really go back and look at what else came out that year. But I think that was actually 2023. I think Alan Wade came out that year. So 2022 put it as my game, but 2022.
01:27:30
Speaker
twenty twenty two yeah Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. It might have been. But anyway, it's my favorite of the year that I played of this year that didn't come out this year. And like i said, I loved getting the plot. I loved everything. Just exploring that castle it in like full scale. It was so, so fun. I love this game. The plot was probably the weakest part of it, but it was still good. But yeah, this game loved every moment of it. So Hogwarts Legacy is my game of the year that didn't release in 2025.
01:27:58
Speaker
So yeah. right okay pick flippendo good stuff all right so for me i could have went with octopath traveler too because i beat it in uh this year and and possibly i don't know if i did my like favorite games of all time that actually might rank higher or i'm not positive but i'm gonna go with a different one that's like very close uh because you you know i love this franchise fire emblem three houses
01:28:40
Speaker
the game that I'm going to go with because this game was awesome. I love Fire Emblem, as you guys know. It's probably my favorite Nintendo franchise. I cannot wait for the new one, by the way.
01:28:50
Speaker
If that comes out next year, that might be my most anticipated. Actually, i don't know when that comes out, though. But anyway, not going to change my pick. Fire Emblem Three Houses is my the classic game of the year because this game was phenomenal. Everyone would should play it. I want to go back and replay it another time and pick a different house, see how it changes things. Although I went with the Empire and that that was the correct choice in my opinion.
01:29:13
Speaker
So Sean, when you replay it, I recommend Empire. But of course, do you do you, sir, please? All right. For my game, the age and come out in 2025, it is East
01:29:39
Speaker
East 10 came out in October of 2024, but I didn't get to it until um January of 2025, and it blew me away. I couldn't believe It was my favorite East game. It was unbelievable. slow It started off slow, but then really picked up, and it it blew me away. Compelling story, phenomenal characters, and I highly recommend it. And they're doing a re-release of it, the Nordics version, which comes out in February. So if you have not played it yet, I highly suggest it.
01:30:07
Speaker
Yeah, Yeast 10 Proud Nordics is coming out. They did the Atlas thing. or They're like, oh, here's a super version. And I am waiting on that version. Yeah, it's really good. I'm going to play it. I'm excited. I'm excited for more people to play it.
01:30:22
Speaker
Nice. Very nice. was going to say, I was like, i said said Nordics came out in 2023. It's Proud Nordics. Proud Nordics is the new one, yeah. okay all right all right and finally our final award the goat the brady the game of the year the best game from 2025 that you played or your favorite game from 2025 that you played um hodge tell us why the game of the year in 2025
01:30:55
Speaker
Before you do that, do you guys think last year, famously, we all had the same pick? This year, I don't think that's to case. Do you think any of us will have the same this year? don't know. I don't think so. so no i think we're going to have three different games this year. Because my game of the year, no surprise, mon ami, is Claire Obscure Expedition 33. It's going to be in the light of eternity.
01:31:30
Speaker
ah this is This game has... we I didn't redo my top 10 when we did our 11 through 20 because i was really hungover and didn't feel like doing it. But i this game might sneak into my top 10. I'd have to really think about it. I loved this game so much, start to finish. i loved both endings. Sorry, man.
01:31:50
Speaker
I almost earned the 100% on Xbox. When I replay it on PS5, I will... 100% it. I couldn't beat Simon, but apparently there's a lot of good ways with my L to beat bosses.
01:32:01
Speaker
But, yeah, I love this game. I'm not a turn-based person. I'm not an RPG person, but this game captured me from the start. I think it's... It not it wasn't really the gameplay. I did enjoy the gameplay, but it wasn't the gameplay that cashed me. It the story of this world. It was incredible. The voice acting, the music, everything about this game. I loved it. i don't think it should have swept every single award at the Game Awards, but just because like, even if it objectively or subjectively is the best in each of those categories, I think other games did a lot of stuff well. that could have beaten it like game direction could have been ds2 uh other stuff it it could have lost plenty of awards and still been my game of the year but uh yeah i loved this game so much it was really tough because ds2 was great yote was great but this game in another year those games would won but this game just captured me and i loved every every moment of this game so it it is my game here clear obscure expedition 33 and i'm excited to see what they do next
01:33:03
Speaker
All right. Right on. Good pick. um Yeah. So this was a great year. There was a lot of great games. um Of course, Death Stranding 2 came out and I absolutely loved it. Ghost of Yote came out and I absolutely love that game. You guys know how much I love Ghost and what a phenomenal game it was.
01:33:22
Speaker
Ghost of Yote is like a 93 on Midnight Critic. I love that game. Amazing. But Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.
01:33:46
Speaker
Hodge was already writing is my game of the year because it was just a little bit better. Just a little, it's like a 94 or 95 on Midnight Critic. It is, it's an, it's pretty much a masterpiece. Things that they did in this game, like I said, the immersion in the world, the choice and consequence, the great characters, Henry of Scalets and Hans, Sir Hans Capon, ah hilarious characters. It's just a great game. It's a great experience. The combat is a little bit intimidating at first, but once you get into it, it's actually a lot of fun. with Like the Master Strike and the parrying and, you know, picking your directions when you're attacking. It's awesome, dude. This game is great. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. I'm so glad I played it.
01:34:25
Speaker
That is my game of the year, and I can't wait to see what War Horse does next. What a great studio. Yeah. Great pick, awesome pick. That was in my consideration.
01:34:38
Speaker
But ultimately, i did not go with Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. I went with the game that Midnight Slandered earlier, and that is The Outer Worlds 2.
01:35:01
Speaker
This is my game of the year. I thought the Elder Worlds Elder Worlds 1, one of my favorite games of all time. I think Elder Worlds 2 is better. I think it takes everything it does and takes it the nth degree. i think the writing is phenomenal. It's a return to full and for obsidian with their ah hilarious writing and their awesome just overall world building. I loved it.
01:35:24
Speaker
Insane. crazy cool super side quests um awesome story really great characters companions are really cool it's phenomenal if you like um you know bethesda style games or obsidian style games the other world's two is right up your alley and it's it's phenomenal game and um yeah outer world's still my game of the year uh so many good games though i mean shout out to like you know all those you know my two trails games that came out this year uh silk song came out this year expedition 33 came to come deliver and sue um discounty so nintendo switch welcome tour yep welcome tour um yeah um even rune factory i know midnight you didn't like dk bonanza yeah dk bonanza um yeah i thought that might have been your pick no no um
01:36:12
Speaker
Definitely not my pick, no. But so many good games um that came out this year. You know, I really did consider actual Rune Factory, Guardians of Azuma. I know you didn't like it, night but I really did consider it.
01:36:25
Speaker
I mean, the main thing that turned me off was the voice acting, honestly. like I just, I don't know. i I picture myself as the main character, and when I hear a voice that's so not me, I'll just leave it at that. If you picture yourself as the main character, you should just go play Blade of the Zelda.
01:36:43
Speaker
Well, yeah, I should play that Legend of Zelda, shouldn't I? I have a Breath of the Wild now on my Switch 2. I'm going to get to it. Yes. So good. Wait. Say that again. what What game do you have?
01:36:57
Speaker
Breath of the Wild. i thought said Breath of the Wild 2. I'm like, what? No, I said Breath of the Wild on my Switch 2. Oh, okay. I thought you said Breath of the Wild. I was like, wait, what? No, no, no. Yeah, I got that super early. It's not That's crazy. Probably never will be out.
01:37:09
Speaker
Came out in Japan like five years ago. I'll get Cheers of the Kingdom as well at some point. I want to play those, but you know time is a thing. It is a thing. You are right. The thing that restricts us.
01:37:22
Speaker
All right. Well. Good pick, Sean. Good game. Not as good as Avowed, but good game, sir. Yeah, agree to disagree. um All right. well Oh, and another shout out to ah Split Fiction. Again, that game was so good. It should won couple game awards. Like, it didn't win anything. And that game was phenomenal. Like, it shouldn't have won Game the Year, but it was it was so good. It was such a fun co-op game.
01:37:46
Speaker
And, yeah, I love that game. This was a good year. Yeah, this was phenomenal. We've had some good game in years. There were other great games that we didn't even mention. Let's give the Weaves some love. How about...
01:37:57
Speaker
What was that one and two HD remaster that I played? Dragon Quest. Well, there's Dragon Quest. Suikoden as well. Yeah. Suikoden was great. Dragon Quest, I'm sure, was great. Those remasters. Yeah. So great year for games.
01:38:09
Speaker
Yeah. Most definitely. All right. That was our award show. We had our 15 awards here. um Let us know in the comments, you know, some of your award winners or if you have some awards that you'd like us to see um talk about. I had a lot of fun this year. It great year. um The last, you know, second half of the year for me, not even second half, just kind of like the last fourth of the year kind of kind of wasn't the best for me. I didn't really...
01:38:33
Speaker
get as much gaming that i wanted to do just because I was kind of distracted with things and kind of just fell into a rut. That is going to change in 2026. And you will find that out on our special DLC episode next week, our gaming resolutions, where we're talking about some gaming resolutions and gaming goals we have for the the year of 2026. So, but yeah, I hope you guys had fun with this episode. um Hodge, final thoughts on it?
01:38:59
Speaker
No, I like I said, I love doing these copies. I guess as you guys know, every time I think of an episode, it's always let's rank something or do something like that. So I love I love doing this stuff and hearing what everyone else's choices. Obviously, I have my choices for every award, but hearing what else other people say about it, even if I don't agree with.
01:39:18
Speaker
you know Claire Obscura being and overrated and all that kind of whatever. But like it's it's fun to hear other people's opinions. And I was actually very shocked that ah not because it's a bad game, but I was shocked that Outer Worlds 2 was your game of the year because I just haven't heard anything really about this game. I have heard though that it's better than the first one and it's just kind of fallen to the wayside and it shouldn't because apparently it isn't. ah it is a phenomenal game and I actually do want to play it eventually. I played the first one. I loved it. I didn't finish it for some reason, but I loved it. And so I want to get to two. I'm probably not going replay the first before I do it, but I do want to get to two eventually. So I guess that could have been my ah game of now always next year. But yeah, I do want to play that eventually and I
01:39:59
Speaker
will hopefully but yeah I just love doing these copies I can't wait for what we got planned for next year and it's gonna be a lot of fun so yeah midnight yeah midnight sure yeah so my final thoughts here are you know this was a lot of fun Sean as always thank you for hosting and really coming up with this award show last year and it's always great this is the most wonderful time of the year not just because of the holidays not just because of Christmas and New Year's and all that fun stuff um But really with our podcast, I really love how we end the year with like a lot of really fun episodes. you know we got Christmas and then we got the copies. And then I'm really looking forward to our first two episodes of next year, which are our gaming resolutions, like you mentioned. And then we have our fantasy draft, which is going to be all. I love the fantasy draft. You know, we're going to we're also going to reveal who won the last one. So I'm just excited for what's coming up. And yeah, a lot of fun.
01:40:52
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. But that was it. Yeah. That was our copies. It's our last episode of 2025. So I hope you all, for for those who have listened and and enjoyed us for the year, I hope you all enjoyed us and I hope you continue to listen to us in 2026. Have a wonderful, safe new year. So hope you had a happy holiday and yeah, but yeah, we're just going to take it out from there. So um yeah.
01:41:15
Speaker
Bye guys. Bye. That's it. That's our show, guys. You know what? You've made it this far into the show, and I'm sorry to admit that um you have wasted an hour and 39 minutes that you will never get back of your life because you listened to three people talk about awards for video games. But you know what? If you like that, that's more power to you.
01:41:37
Speaker
So good night. Good luck. Surely you can't be serious. I am serious. Don't call me Shirley.