A few weeks ago, game developer Double Fine surprise-dropped a 22-hour documentary about the seven-year creation of Psychnoauts 2. At least that's the premise on paper. In reality, the stunning TV-length doc is a fearless look inside the day-to-day life of a video game studio -- warts and all. The documentarians, employed by Double Fine, have unprecedented access to practically every person and room . Frush and Plante talk about the series, called Double Fine PsychOdyssey, along with The Last of Us TV adaptation. Plus, a delightful new retro gaming book is a perfect gift for video game newcomers.

The best gaming documentary of all time [The Resties]

It's Game of the Year meets King of the Hill as four of Earth's best friends – Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Chris Plante, and Russ Frushtick – rank and review their favorite video games. Because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games?

Video Games

Games & Hobbies

Leisure

This week, The Besties share their favorite “rainy day” games!  These are the games we dig out when we’re feeling blue and need something that provides a quick dose of comfort. Turns out our list is quite long! In the back half, we do the rare Besties spoilercast with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — a.k.a. one of 2024’s best games.

Chicken Soup for the Gamers' Soul

This week we've got a game inspired by the SNES era and a game that probably shouldn't have come out at all. We'll also find out just what Justin thinks about Dragon's Dogma 2, and what's going on with the Stardew Valley 1.6 update.

Pepper Grinder and Princess Peach, Together at Last

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the best game of the year? Or is it the buggiest? It might be the most divisive! This week, The Besties talk about the wildly ambitious (and difficult to run on most hardware) fantasy RPG from Capcom. Plus, we take a deep dive into the reader mail pool. Did we mention we keep all the letters in a pool, Scrooge McDuck-style? Because we do.

Arise with Dragon's Dogma 2

Team Ninja has been busy! 

In the past five years, the studio released Dead or Alive 6, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Nioh 2, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Their latest game, Rise of the Ronin, compiles everything they learned into their most ambitious project: a sprawling open-world samurai adventure set in a recreation of mid-19th century Japan.

Rise of the Ronin takes the “something for everyone” approach, blending the exploration and loot systems of recent Assassin’s Creed games with the quick-reflex sword fighting of the studio’s Nioh series. This video game smoothie is quite delicious — if you can stomach the occasional funky chunk of game mechanics.

In the back half, we talk about our favorite under-appreciated open-world games.

Rise of the Ronin is Assassin's Creed with Killer Combat

This week, the squad puts on their armor, grabs their swords, and mounts their gallant steads to charge into Unicorn Overlord. The tactics RPG is the latest game from Vanillaware, the developer of niche masterpieces like Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels. In the back half, Justin introduce the team to Banishers, a game that blends Witcher and God of War. How did we not hear about this one until now? And how often does a game depict a healthy marriage like this one?!

The best gaming documentary of all time [The Resties]

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