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Ron Funches joins us for a double header! First, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is the first new side-scrolling Castlevania in over a decade. Is it worth the wait? And second: Ace Combat 8 is the most decadent entry in the long-running series. But is this an entry point for newcomers, or has the series locked on to hardcore plane nerds? Plus, the boys saw some documentaries! Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Even though we were traveling for the live show, we still made time to play new games! Echo Weaver is a Metroidvania in the style of Outer Wilds, but simplified from 3D to 2D. It’s a little rough around the edges, though not enough to tarnish its big ideas. Plus, Griffin joins Plante on the Dragon’s Dogma train with the updated Dragon Dogma’s 2: Dark Arisen. But have some of those changes led Plante to reconsider his fandom? So many mysteries! To get the answers, I suppose you’ll just have to listen! Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Sure, we expected Star Wars: Galactic Racer to be good off the pitch alone. A new studio, featuring members of the Burnout team, is creating a spiritual sequel to the Nintendo 64 podracing game? Yes, please! We didn’t, however, predict the game’s creator would splice a clever story and an inspired roguelike structure into the racing genre. Our GOTY conversation just got a bit more complicated. Plus, we discuss how Galactic Racer is one part of a larger trend of delightful Star Wars games that have a fresh vision for the franchise. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Control Resonant is technically a sequel to 2019’s Control. But developer Remedy has (as they often do) opted to stretch the definition of sequel as far as possible, converting the third-person shooter series into an open-world action game. Shockingly, it works… once you get your sea-legs. Plus, we talk about how the release of Gears of War: E-DAY falls in the shadow of the brutal layoffs and changes at Xbox. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is the biggest exclusive for the Nintendo Switch 2 — quite literally. A completionist run of the new tactics RPG could take you 200 hours. For some fans, the epic length will be a decadent pleasure. For others, like Plante, it’s a threat. To guide us through the huge adventure, longtime Fire Emblem-lovers Griffin and Frush share what works and doesn’t. Meanwhile, Plante wonders if the current list of exclusives has made the Switch 2 a worthwhile upgrade. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Most of the time, we chat about games we enjoy. So many games debut every week, and picking promising new ones is relatively easy. But every so often, a game with high expectations ends up being a colossal disappointment. Wolverine, we’re sad to say, is one of those games. And yet, we’re making lemonade from lemons. Because all of Wolverine’s flaws make for a good conversation about what we expect (and hope for) from video games. Especially ones that cost so much. Speaking of expensive stuff: Frush shares hands-on impressions with the Steam Frame.  Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

The last time Capcom made a new Onimusha game, George W. Bush was President. But Onimusha: The Way of the Sword would have you believe the series never missed a beat. This week, Ron Funches joins the guys to talk about the ways this new entry blends Devil May Cry and Dark Souls tropes into something fresh and surprisingly welcoming!  Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

The Blood of Dawnwalker proves the old adage, “The worse the name, the better the game.” The debut from Rebel Wolves, a studio composed in part of CD Projekt Red veterans, is a grim fantasy RPG set in the Carpathian mountains in the thick of the Black Plague. It looks and feel at first like the The Witcher series, though give it a few hours, and you’ll see this isn’t reheated leftover. It’s got vampires and time management and bears too powerful to be bitten by a bloodsucker! To talk about this gem, we’re joined by Fire Escape Cast’s Mary Kish! Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Blood Dungeon is a spectacular evolution of the Vampire Survivors formula. Developer Messhof plops the auto-shooting, upgrade-building bullet-heaven genre into something a bit more strategic and conscious of your time. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the art looks, at first blush, like Spelunky by way of a child’s sketchbook. In the back half of the episode, we chat about what to call these games, and then pick some of our favorites. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Fields of Mistria has finally hit 1.0 after a couple of years in Early Access on Steam. Does the “official” release rise to the level of Stardew Valley? Or is this anime-inspired small town simulator doing something different? And is 1.0 just a new beginning? We discuss all of that and the hot new handheld! Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Big Walk is the game everyone wanted during the pandemic. Not-so-coincidentally, that’s when the project began development. The multiplayer open-world adventure is developer House House’s follow-up to Untitled Goose Game. But where Goose Game hinged on you pestering NPCs to solve puzzles, Big Walk tasks you with pestering and supporting your friends. Or to put it succinctly: Big Walk is a game about communication. Though, as we explain, it’s an experience that requires some careful scheduling. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

Beast of Reincarnation is the new game from Game Freak, the studio that creates every mainline Pokémon game. But friends, this is nothing like Pokémon. The action-RPG calls to mind series like Dark Souls and Onimusha. Is it… good? Guest Ron Funches joins to help us find out. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

The guys are back again to talk about the magic and wonder of Splatoon Raiders, a game that finally made us all agree that Splatoon is really kinda awesome. We've also got some reader mail to dive into and whether we can actually find someone who inverts their horizontal axis. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

In the back half of this week’s episode, we chat about Halo: Campaign Evolved, a video game that has the misfortune of representing everything infuriating about the modern Xbox strategy. Fortunately, other games exist. To soothe the soul, we start with an inspired murder mystery, a surprisingly deep Spelunky-like, and the 1.0 of Palworld. Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

This week’s games represent two ends of the video game spectrum. On one side, we have Denshattack, an indie game about a train that performs skateboard-style tricks in a fantastical version of Japan. On the other end, we have Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, a decadent remake of a beloved but dusty Ubisoft open-world game. Guest Jeff Grubb from Giant Bomb helps us chat about these two very different delights! Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!