The Besties - The Most Anticipated Games of 2025

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

In the world of video games, 2025 will be an incredible year. The Besties collect over 25 games they can't wait to play in the coming months. We promise there's something here for you! And to think: we still don't know what will launch on the Switch. Well, maybe Frushtick knows. 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!

I sort of have watched Wicked Part 1 yesterday, and it is obviously a feast for the eyes and the ears. You started what? Wicked. Wicked. Part 1. I watched Wicked Part 1 yesterday. It's a feast for the eyes and the ears. Yes, understood. But I don't think people are ready for how much of the stuff they like is in the first one. Because, man, I don't know. I'm trying to imagine the trailers. For Part 2. Hey, everything you like is in the second, is not in the second movie So they're doing this first movie and then in a year they're gonna come back and be like

Let's do it again with none of the songs you like And also the story is wild We've stretched out an hour of content into presumably another 2 hour and 40 minute long movie And all the good songs, they're in act one guys. I don't think people are ready for the second act, the second movie. The for good is gonna be like 20 minutes long

because it's the only good song in the second act. First of all, I don't know why you didn't think this would be part of the show. This is really feels like part of the show. This isn't a cold open. You guys don't care enough about this. I just wanna- I care a lot about it.

I'm saying Wicked Part 2, the rumor I've heard, is that they're gonna be doing songs from other big shows. They're gonna be pulling in tracks from 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I love that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Starlight Express. Starlight Express are gonna be doing songs from.

They're gonna be doing cats again. I'm not that girl. I'm not that smart. It could be like a crossover remix of Putnam County and you guys don't know enough Putnam County songs for that to have landed either. Hey listen, we should record a cold open. Let's do a cold open.

Yeah, okay, sure, hold on. If we're doing a cold open, I just wanna make sure that it's gonna be entirely about Children of Eden, the more popular show by the Musical writer of wicked yeah, just make sure that I want to make sure that we're like broadcasting to an audience It's big yeah. Yeah, it's as big as the spark of creation Yeah I'm a smart, I'm creative! I'm no head into a cold open!

You are the light of the world! God smell. Let's get that cold open. Let's record a cold open, one normal one. Let's get the cold open going for the gamers. Let's talk about Pac-Man's ass. Where does he shit the dust? Holy shit, his mouth is his ass!

You're actually just eating the last pack reds Okay for real the code open this time here comes egg steam My name is Justin McElroy and I know the best game of the week. My name is Griffin McElroy and I know the best games of 2025. My name is Christopher Thomas Plant and I am here from the future. Whoa! My name is Russ Frosch and I am here from the future. Whoa! My name is Russ Frosch, and I'm in this game, the Wii. Welcome to the Besties, where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive entertainment.

It's a video game club, and just by listening, my friend, you have become a member. We have you in our clutches. I'm stalling because I'm pasting in the list that Russ asked me to paste in. Amazing. What are we doing this week, Chris Plant? This week, we are talking about

the most anticipated games of 2025. We have at least at minimum 16 exciting bangers. I'm gonna say- Probably closer to 20. 17, 20, maybe 25, maybe 30. You stick around, you find out, you're gonna know what you're gonna be enjoying for let's say at least the next three months because in the video game industry, by six months from now, they'll have announced like a hundred more things that we didn't even know about and

will somehow be our game of the year. But for now, this is what we got coming to you right after the year. But for now, this is what we got coming to you right after the break. Shape it up to be another great year for video games, at least that's my take. That's my headline looking at the list of games coming in 2025. Maybe we should start with the acknowledgement that we have no fucking clue specifically about the games

we'll actually really enjoy this year, because I feel like we didn't do great last year. We put up a lot of fucking bricks last year. Do we have our list? Do we still have that handy somewhere? We already did our sort of like post. We reviewed it. Post, and it was a mixed track record, I would say at best. Yeah. Fans of the genre will love that episode.

Well, the only games that we can really call out here as our most anticipated games are games that have like marketing budgets to do trailers a year out. So we don't have the like next Bellatrio. We don't have the next Animal Well necessarily. We also notably don't have the Nintendo Switch 2 and what that's going to be and what that's going to look like. I have to imagine that. I have one. Russ, sorry, Russ does have one. He likes the little magnetic torsons. But that's actually from his uncle. And not actually from his work. Yeah, I can't actually talk about that yet,

but it's great. I mean, I can't talk about it. It might be bad, but it's not bad. Even with that big sort of like a gap in what we know is coming this year, it's a pretty good looking list of games coming out. I am kind of fucking blown away by how we know is coming this year. It was a pretty good looking list, games coming out in 2020. I am kind of fucking blown away

by how excited I am about this list. You wanna start Russ? Yeah, I'm gonna start. And my first pick for most anticipated game is, and just to be really clear, I know I said I had a Nintendo Switch 2, but I don't. But if I did and I was playing the next 3D Mario game, Just to be really clear, I know I said I had a Nintendo Switch 2, but I don't. But if I did, and I was playing the next 3D Mario game, I would say it's really, really

good, but I don't have one. So my most anticipated- Yeah. Go ahead. Your most anticipated- Is a game that has not been announced or acknowledged by Nintendo, a new 3D Mario game, specifically like a follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey. Okay, so wait, can I ask you a question walk us through this?

Yeah, do you have some reason to cuz like yeah, they're a fucking capitalist business and they want to sell consoles They're gonna put fucking Mario on there. It's been long enough. Hey. Hey do not wow Bernie Sanders calm it down Yeah, can I just say laying that? That I think any company, usually yes, except Nintendo, a company that has been pretty strident about not making all the money it possibly could, if it requires doing things well. They, I would say, generally launch with some fucking bangers, right? We know it's gonna launch with Metroid Prime 4, more or less.

It can't just be Metroid Prime 4, so I think it's fair to say it's either gonna be a three Mario game or like a Mario Kart 9. I think it's fair to say it's Metroid Prime 4, arms two. I think that's pretty fair to say. Well, there were already two arms in the first one, so it would be four arms this time. True.

Thank you again, Russ, for illustrating the point that we have no fucking idea what's coming down the pipe from one of the biggest, most exciting players. Wait, wait, wait, but if you were putting money down right now, if we each had a dollar and you were putting money down, would you bet, yes, there is a 3D Mario game coming? Yes, I would bet, yes, yes, I would believe that, yes.

I think that's a reasonable. I think that it's so weird to plant your flag and say like, I'm going to enjoy something that doesn't exist. I think it's much more moving to say, I've looked at something and I've made a judgment. I'm staking my professional reputation on the fact that this will be good. What you've said, you've just done the easy thing,

like if there is a new Mario game, it will fuck. Like yeah, Russ. Good job, man. Cl Mario game, it will fuck. Like, yeah, yeah, Russ. Good job, man. Cluck shot. They needed that support. They needed it. They needed it. They needed it.

I think that's the only game on this list of unannounced titles, so someone else can do one of those. OK. OK, I'll go. My first one up actually has a release date. Most of these don't. Atomfall coming out on March 27th. It is the new game from the developer of Sniper Elite,

a series that I started with having disdain for and gradually came to love as it became less about x-rays and internal organ shots of themers. That's still there for what it's worth. It's still there, but it's now I think a much richer pseudo open world experience. There's another sniper league game coming out this year, interested in that too. But this is, let me pitch it to you, Fallout New Vegas in alternate history, 1960s London? Sound good?

Yeah. Sounds good to me. Sounds good so far. We'll definitely check this out. Also, I said London when I meant England, but forget that. I think they have such a great scope and sense of world building that I'm really jazzed to see what a, I don't know,

kind of like different version of the Bethesda formula could look like. So, that's it. I'll be honest, don't know a whole lot more about this game because I've been kinda keeping my eyes off it, but I do know this, it's inspired by the real 1957 disaster, like in the UK, UK that a nuclear disaster. Do you know about this, oops? No, no, that's wild.

I was gonna say, this feels like something that your BBC loving mind would be familiar with. But yeah, that's it. What else y'all got? Yo, here's a real one. This one's coming out February 21st. It's called Like a Dragon, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I almost didn't put it on my list because I was like, somebody got it. You knew someone was gonna get up in there. This is a sequel to Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. It stars Goro Majima, who is the eye patch wearing psychopath for a long series, protagonist and deuteragonist. And in this one, he is a pirate. He has become a pirate and he gets to explore different islands In the Hawaiian archipelago and now it's a beat-em-up again, and it looks fucking absolutely bonkers

I I usually tend to gravitate towards the turn-based RPG Iteration of this series. I'm willing to make an exception for this because every trailer tend to gravitate towards the turn-based RPG iteration of this series, I'm willing to make an exception for this because every trailer I've seen makes it look like absolutely my shit and so I am fully, fully on board. Where did we leave Mr. Goro previously? I believe he helped kick all the asses at the big corporate headquarters tower

at the end of Infinite Wealth. There was that great, probably one of my highlights of the whole bit of that game that takes place in Japan is where you go visit the former buddies of yours who are now living in this snowbound kind of ramshackle community and have to convince- Daigo and Taiga and all those guys. And you have to convince them to come help you out

and they're like, fuck you, man, and then you have a huge fucking brawl in the snow that is absolutely amazing. Yeah, I think Goro Majima is a fucking great character and this seems like it is going to, it didn't feel like they had left much meat on the bone with Infinite Wealth, but it just seems like they're really fully taking the limiters off

with this one and saying, why can't he be a pirate also? So yeah, I'm in. I wanna just briefly say, Fable, it is absolutely my most anticipated, I love that franchise so much. And I will say also, this is just a gut thing and you all tell me what you think. I'd give even odds that this makes it out this year.

I feel- You think it's coming out. Even odds. I'm saying even odds that this makes it out this year. I feel- You think it's coming out. Even odds. I'm saying even odds. I'm saying like, I am saying you must anticipate 2025. This is a delay that would not surprise me at all. Well, yeah, as a franchise that is known for- I mean, it is, yes. So, but I'm really excited to see a franchise like Fable

that is so specific. If you didn't play it, which makes sense, kind of missed a generation of people at this point, it was an open world action RPG that was much more about like your life choices. It was made by Peter Mullen, you who wanted to bring more like emotion into this, this formula, uh, so that you would raise a family and you would have a kid and you would marry someone and you would have like a very sort of primitive good and evil scale

that you could rig by eating baby chicks. Like it's a wild thing. And I'm really excited to see what people who, uh, care about it. And like, they get the tone. There's a trailer with Richard Ayoade narrating that makes it clear like they get what makes it cool. I just, I need to see something about what makes it a video game, I feel like.

And I'm nervous about that, but that's what makes it anticipated. It's also weird because like the original Fable games, I think have like a very pretty video gamey core to them. Sure. But the weird Mali new X factor always made it like, like a much weirder experience. Like the, I think in the third or the third one,

you were like deciding things about your city. Like do you burn the orphanage down or do you like put the orphans to work in your factory yeah and that's i think the big x factor is it going to be like a pretty straight ahead like action rpg fantasy game or is it going to be like have that weird edge stuff yeah will they where that will there be room for it to be weird like that yeah is the question yeah here's hoping That is the question, yeah. Here, Shopen. Russ?

Okay. I'm gonna pick Elden Ring, Night Reign as a very weird, unexpected, standalone installment to Elden Ring that I don't think anyone fucking saw coming. It is basically, it's a rogue- like Elden Ring game with a like a battle royale circle thrown in where you're like racing to level up your character as the circle moves in and There's like all sorts of random encounters that you can have and different bosses that you fight and it's all like

Incredibly co-op centric obviously the previous games had a lot of co-op to them But it was always very it's all like incredibly co-op centric. Obviously the previous games had a lot of co-op to them, but it was always very hinky and hard to get into games with people and this is built around co-op. So I feel like Night Rain Russ is one of those where if it like, there's a very good chance it could be like the big, like our biggest thing, like would that we just go absolutely wild for it.

Like if this works, I feel like it either is like absolutely obsessed or like, no. Like I don't feel like there's a lot of middle ground. I agree with that. I feel like it's gonna be either like, we're like gangbusters or be an absolute miss. Yeah. It's incredibly ambitious.

It's also not directed by Miyazaki, who obviously is the like steward of a lot of the major from software games, but that doesn't rule out the possibility, like he started as like a, you know, lower person on the totem pole that got brought in and basically transformed that entire company. It doesn't rule out the possibility that there are other people at that company that also have insane ideas

and want to execute. Yeah, especially when it's such a big departure, right? I mean, why not? So I'm cool with it. If they wanna do a fucking new Elden Ring game every year and make one of them a cart racer, fucking go for it, man. I mean, I don't know about that. I would say that the taste level is there with these games.

I feel like there's a good track record and I don't feel like Namco Bandai would be like slapping Elden Ring on something in a couch Crap Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait say that back to yourself. Well, you're right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know about from software ring four swords Yeah, this is a publisher that has a habit of doing that with some other games I they do a lot of great stuff, but they are not afraid to put up a brand name. No, no, no You're a hundred percent right. Um, hey, I got one Yeah, desfalote. It is the new game being published by Panic.

It's made by two indie developers. It is about an eight-year-old who's kicking around a soccer ball in Ecuador in 2002 on the cusp of Ecuador qualifying for the World Cup. What is cool about this game is it looks like it was created, like the 3D worlds that you're going around with, is that LIDAR technology? The technology that is kind of in like Connect, where you can capture 3D spaces using like

all the different like little beams, little dots of light. I don't know if they did that or if they just took a bunch of photos of the world and then pushed it on. I mean, you really have to see it. Like it's incredible. Yeah, and then they also captured a real sound in Ecuador and they have all this archival video footage.

So it is building out a world from over 20 years ago but using all of this like real information from this place to create it. Um, and then the game itself looks like just a chill kind of hangout. You just kick the ball around and get into trouble playing soccer or football. I guess it's the more appropriate term here. Yeah. Uh, in your community Looks chill as hell.

This is like such a big departure for David Jaffe. Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Twisted! Twisted!

Can you even imagine? Yeah, this looks really good. I'm gonna do one real quick. Monster Hunter Wilds comes out February 28th. I've, in prepping for this, I was like, I'm gonna do one real quick. Monster Hunter Wilds comes out February 28th. In prepping for this, I was like, all right, let's see what's like the big angle that Monster Hunter Wilds is taking that I could say is gonna set it apart

from the other monsters. Yeah, because the last ones are pretty identifiable, right? Because they had the hook shot in Rise and they had like riding shit. And World was just like a huge, huge expansion of the formula. Right, like a reboot. This looks much more like World than Rise. It looks a lot more...

Serious isn't maybe the right word, but it definitely looks like instead of being a game about plucky hunters who kill animals as a very established sport, it looks like these wild monsters are fucking killing all of us and we have to do something about it. So it looks like there's a lot more sort of seriousness and desperation about it. But there's a lot of like interactions that you can see in all the gameplay trailers that look insane. Like at one point you use your hookshot to pull down like the side of a mountain on top of a monster. It looks like you have,

there's a bigger emphasis on mounted combat. So there's a lot of like racing through the desert as you're being chased by sand worms that you're just kind of like taking pot shots at. I just fucking love Monster Hunter. And I didn't get quite as into Rise as I did into Worlds. And so I'm kind of excited for, you know, a new big meaty multiplayer Monster Hunter game to drop

and for lots and lots of people to be playing it because that is absolutely my shit. I think this is also the first time they've launched one simultaneously on PC. Yeah, I'm not sure about that. Pretty exciting, I think. Yeah, Worlds launched on console, and so did Rise was on Switch first,

and then like a year later the PC version came out. I think- The PC versions have been so, so much better and so like the idea of hopefully this being Steam Deck verified, I would be, Jesus Christ, that would really actually- It would be great. I mean, that's my concern is the reason I fell in love

with Rise is because I could play it in a handheld. Right, exactly. There was like a lot of like downtime in Monster Hunter games but whatever, I'll play remote in a handhold. There was a lot of downtime in Monster Hunter games. But whatever, I'll play Remote Play if it works. I'm also stoked that both the games I've done so far are out in February. You're not gonna have to wait long for those, which is very exciting.

Juice? I'm gonna take a little bit of a swing here because I don't know, but if Marvel 1943 Rise of Hydra works, it will be very good. If Marvel 1943 Rise of Hydra works, it will be very good. Amy Henning is directing that. If you don't know Amy Henning's work, you do actually. You do actually know it.

You do actually, if you're uncharted and many, many others. Sorry, Juice, it's Amy Henning. Henning. Henning, I said Henning. Henning is the gerund form, the past participle of Henning. Ah, thank you. That is like such, thank you guys.

Thank you, and thank you to me, I guess, for being able to take that and grow so well. Because like a lot of people would get, A lot of people would be so embarrassed, they'd be like, cut that from the show, but not juice, because he wants to keep it 100. Okay, Amy Hennig worked on Michael Jordan, Chaos in Windy City.

Now it's making a Marvel game set in 1943. And I don't know, man, the cinematics look cool. It's a different take on Marvel stuff. I think it's a smart idea to move it to a different, like, era, new continuity, all that stuff. I think it looks neat. Maybe it'll start. You remember that Captain America game

that they put out like four or five years ago? Yeah, oh, I think it was like, it was way longer than that. But yes, that's kind of what like I feel like we've been missing from the Marvel games is like they've tried to like free to play and obviously they have a lot of team based fighting games. Yeah. But having like a single player narrative kind of thing could be really, really cool.

I mean, I feel like Spider-Man proved that there's room for it. If you can get the budget like a little bit more reined in. Hey, Russ, 2011. Wow, that was a while ago. On Captain America Super Soldier, that was good though. I mean, there's many Marvel characters that would be better in an action game, right? Then like Captain America is a really good video game hero.

Like there's a lot you could do there that makes a lot of sense. Like I think Iron Man is a bad video game hero really because the ideas of like the things that Iron Man is good at are not fun to I think recreate in a video game. But anyway. Well and Black Panther's in this game as well, right? Yes, that's a great fit, right?

Yeah. That's fantastic. So Spider-Man, I feel like I said, so many games. He can do both. Yeah. Russ, I feel like, has had so many games. He can do both. Yeah. Russ, I'm up again. We have a little game called Doom, The Dark Ages. Yes.

Which I guess is the third installment of this rebooted Doom franchise that came out. I'm not even gonna say, I'm gonna say 2016, but that might be way off. All these games rule in different ways. I really liked, obviously the first one was like, oh shit, they figured out a way to make Doom feel modern and incredible.

And then the second one was like, we're gonna add fucking crazy platforming sequences and just like kind of ramp up the art design to like an insane degree. And now they're going back into the past. Gameplay wise, I don't know how this is gonna be different, but realistically speaking I've enjoyed the other two so much that If it's honestly just like more of the same, but it's in the fucking medieval times and I'm fighting crusaders

It looks a little bit more like open-world II. I'm like big big spaces where you I mean, they've done big space Yeah, but I mean like a matter of like I think you pilot like a medieval mech at some point. Sure. Historically, yeah. Yeah. I also, I don't know how much time you guys have spent looking into the lore of the new Doom franchise, but it's pretty fucking entertaining to see how they like back their way into making this all make sense with like the original Doom games and Doom 3

and now into these new games. He's a surprisingly deep character at this point. Is there a YouTube video I can watch on this? I'm sure there 100% is. We'll find one. You know what's weird about this one? Griffin and I actually found out about this a year plus ago,

because Travis got an audition and he was like, hey. He's gonna be the new Doom guy. He's the new Doom guy. He's the new Doom guy, no. Unfortunately he doesn't talk, which is not a problem. They're doing a medieval Doom, I'm like, all right, Travis, whatever.

Sure they are. Sure pal. Yeah, I got, let's go with Promise Mascot Agency. Y'all know about this one? Nope. Oh boy, I'm excited to tell you that Paradise Killer Team has a new video game. And oh, oh, the genre?

The genre? Open World Narrative Adventure Mascot Management Simulator? You've been waiting for one of these. Thank you. You've been waiting for one of these. Thank you. You have been waiting for one of these. You are an ex-Yakuza who now manages mascots. Mascots are not costumes with people inside. They are real creatures.

And then I'll be honest, I can't figure out what the game is other than it being open world and then also kind of looking like a Yakuza game because you are managing mascots the way that you managed the bars and host bars in the game. I wrote they have power when you say you perform many games like fly a truck, sex bed, and then sex with mascots. Not sure about that last one,

but the trailer does end with a- Wait, wait, wait, you wrote that or they did? I wrote that because I was- Okay, because I don't wanna levy sex with mascots just on anyone. No, no, no, no, no, no, you can put it to me. It's, the end of the trailer is your character on what looks like one of those kind of like rotating

Austin Powers sex beds Yeah, sure so I think guys watch this watch a fucking trailer for it looks and this game looks bananas It looks like it has sort of goat simulator vibes Maybe a little bit in the terms of it being an open-world chaotic goofy more like a goatie simulator with deep business management mechanisms in it as well. It looks fucking great. I'm so in thank you Chris for this gift. Yeah, I gotta add this to the old wish list.

I'll go next. I got, what do I wanna bust out? I'll just go ahead and say Pokemon Legends Z to A. Wow, we're really taking some bold stances today. I mean, it's been a minute. It's been a minute since the last, I'm honestly just saying this because- You're just saying a new Pokemon game.

I'm desperate to, I still, last week, Henry got back into Scarlet and Violet. And like, the extent to which we had, it's almost a little sad Because like that game and Kirby and the forgotten land there's games that we still play that we have beaten the ever Loving shit out of and I am so desperate For a different thing that regardless of the quality of Pokemon Legends Z to A Which is set in the same world as Pokemon X and Y, which is one of my favorite generations,

all right, I'm on board with that. I was Luke Warm on Pokemon Legends Arceus, but like a new Pokemon game I can play with my son, set in the universe of one of my favorite generations, I'm on board. I really don't need to know much else than that. Justin, you look so sad. I was reading something else.

Oh, okay. I was reading the plot of the movie hereditary You know what? I'll do a double cuz that one barely was anything. Tales of the Shire a life sim set in the Shire This is what I'm talking about Griffin. This is what I'm talking about I need us four to be like, you know, it's gonna be Bob the fucking Hobbit life sim It's a hobbit life sim. I Sometimes some holiday seasons, I go back and watch those flicks.

They hold up pretty dang well. And I'm excited to just fucking chill. Everyone wants to live in one of those houses built into the side of a hill with a big round wooden door. Now you can do that. No, you realize how much leakage there probably is in that fucking house? That's constant maintenance.

A lot of leakage. Humidity is a huge issue. This is not a good place. I'm not worried about it, because I'm stoned out of my fucking mind on that long bottom leaf, son. This game is developed by Wedo Workshop, which hasn't made any games before,

which is kind of interesting, but they did make all the costumes and things, I guess. They already got that all saved in their computers. There is not a great- They don't even have to make any shit. They already made it. March 25th, 2025, get there. Not a great reputation for the recent

Lord of the Rings games, but maybe this'll turn the corner. I'm sorry, do you mean Shadow of Mordor? No, I mean the Golem game, which was known as one of the worst creations of my god. Well, that's one. Shadow of Mordor came out 10 years ago. Here's the easy one.

Hey, hey, it's Justin here, and I'm here to tell you that they're gonna be releasing a new Slay the Spire game. They're gonna call it Slay the Spire 2. It's probably gonna be the best game that comes out next year. Did you see that trailer? Did you see that VGA trailer? Oh, oh, yeah, Sleigh of the Spire is, I mean there's really not a lot to say about it,

because we've talked about it at length. What do you see in that trailer that's like, oh this looks brand new? The class just at the end of the title, the two at the end. I'm really not playing that close to potential because I'm on, I'm on board. You know what I mean? I'm just saying it's going to be good. I like Hades 2.

I just knew there was a Hades 2 and then when it was out, I played it. Love it. Yeah. Fantastic. It is interesting though, because like these games, you, the MO for these games tends to not be a sequel. It tends to just be like, we're going to add more cards and more

That's true. That's true. I do think that that too is probably a reflection of how much I Feel like games these days earn their two, you know what I mean? like you got to like earn it and I feel like Slay the spire at this point I have spent so many hours in that it really would take a big thing to get me excited again and get people talking about it again. And I think that Slay the Spire 2,

I think that they're riding the wave of goodwill that they bought with everybody getting obsessed with the first one. And they're getting that free word of mouth wave. And I think that's fantastic. Yep. They've certainly earned it. Why don't we take a break And they're getting that free word of Mouth Wave, and I think that's fantastic. Yep. Yeah, they've certainly earned it.

Why don't we take a break, and we'll do the rest of our lists right after this. Gentlemen, we have a game called Metroid Prime 4. Now this is one that actually has been announced. We don't have a game called Metroid. Well, I do. I've been playing it. I have been playing it. don't have a game. Well, I do. I've been playing. I have been playing it.

I love a game. Nevermind, forget it, sorry. I feel weird about this one for a couple of reasons. One, they released that gameplay trailer and it looked like Metroid Prime, which was exciting. I wasn't like bowled over by it. I also feel weird because Metroid Prime 3? It was fine. It was okay.

It wasn't great. But I do think given the time and the fact that they essentially rebooted this game from scratch, development wise, I feel like they know what they're doing. I also am really encouraged by the stewardship of Metroid Dread, which was so fucking good. I realize it's a different developer, but I think Nintendo has dialed in what to expect

from a Metroid game and it's not a lot of fucking cutscenes and talking and backstory of Samus. It's straight up you're in a creepy ass planet shooting at alien jellyfish. So I'm encouraged. I think it's gonna be, I think it's gotta be a launch game for the Switch 2 and it's, you know, fuckin'.

So are you, here's what we're talking about most anticipated, are you rest fresh to it currently, endorsing a reality where Switch 2 launches in 2025 with Metroid Prime 4 and a new 3D Mario game. I am endorsing that reality, and here's why. Think about the Switch launch year. You had both Mario Odyssey and- I just wanna say one, just real brief,

I wanna call attention to the fact that you are on a podcast about video games and your tone with me is insane. You've got to calm down. Okay, now- I'm excited. You're excited. You're excited. Please, we are both full grown men with children. I know.

You've gotta have some warmth and some kindness and love in your heart for me as you explain to me why you think this is gonna happen. I do, I do, Justin. I have so much warmth and I can't wait for the coming year. He's killing you. No, it's gonna be- No, no, no. I'm very excited about this possibility. and I hope that the coming year is killing you. No, no, no, no, I'm very excited about this possibility. I want you to be right, because I feel like

that's gonna make up for the fact that the console itself won't be very exciting. I mean, it's gonna have two more Ks than it currently has, so that's exciting. Probably some frame rates will be there, and it's magnets this time. It's not clicks, it's exciting. Probably some frame rates will be there. And it's magnets this time. It's not clicks, it's magnets. I'm so fucking over the moon excited for the Switch 2.

I don't know. Wait, have you all heard the latest rumor? I did hear a crazy rumor today. The best rumor about the controls. That the Switch, the little handles come off. You put them on their side, and they are mice. It's a mouse? You got side, and they are mice. You got some PC gaming baby double mice.

Hell yeah. Love it. That is, I think, what we are currently missing from the Switch 2 is what weird bonkers-ass shit did Nintendo jam in here that won't be used a year after the Switch 2 launches. I like the mice idea is such a recognition of, hey, like 90% of the games that get sold on the Switch 2 launchers, right? I mean, I like the mice idea is such a recognition of, hey, like 90% of the games that get sold on the Switch 2

are indie games from PC. We should just make it a PC. And I could use those Joy-Cons as mice all day long. That is an ergonomic pleasure. Ergonomic. I'm optimistic. I do wish that the Joy-Cons looked a little more comfortable to hold. They've once again driven down that road of yikes.

Oh, those are all leaks, Russ. You don't know what it'll actually look like, Russ. Hey, I got one more game for you. Death Stranding 2 on the beach. It's been over five years. Can you believe that? Five years since we all unanimously loved Death Stranding. And- Wait, it's not been over, wait, wait, wait. It has been- I know we were joking earlier. Over five years. Death Stranding came out October, 2020, did it not?

No, false. It came out in 2019, November, 2019. It came out before the pandemic, which is absolutely bizarre because it is a game about the pandemic. Well, he knew. Because he started it. I will say it came out before the pandemic

really got popping here. Stateside, but it was still a going concern in November of 2019. Okay. It came out Stateside, let's say three months before. Death Stranding or COVID? Sorry. I wanna be clear. Death Stranding hit America

three months before COVID. Zero case of Death Stranding. Yes, correct. The script, from what I understand, was written for Death Stranding 2 on the beach, was written before the pandemic, because scripts have to be written so far ahead of the games. But Kojima, I guess, changed it all up, retooled it, because he's like, hey, you should probably, probably think about this.

So that means we get to see how did Hideo Kojima process the pandemic, the video game, which I cannot wait. I do not know what to expect, but I will say this. There is a character that is a stop motion puppet that chills out on Leosidus' shoulder. And the stop motion puppet moves at a different frame rate because it is stop motion. Fuck yeah.

I am hyped. It really is amazing because if you look at Death Stranding, you're like, oh, he's processing the pandemic, but no, he just imagined that that's what it's going to be. So what the fuck is the next step of that down the weird ass rabbit hole of his brain? I cannot fucking wait for this game. I am very excited too.

I feel like Griffin in particular has not given, I don't know about Justin. Justin, did you like Death Stranding? Justin came around. No, God. Really? I thought you did. No, no, no, no, no. I liked a lot of- Genuinely? No, no, no, okay, sorry.

Sorry. I really liked Death Stranding conceptually. I had a point where I was like- We all liked it conceptually. Well, no, no, no, but I had a point where I was like kind of clicking with it and I took a step away for some besties thing and I found it impossible to return to.

That doesn't surprise me. Even like a week away, it was really, really hard. It is a UI. I did have a time where I was like, I was vibing with it. Like I got it, but I was. I think a lot of people rightly got stymied by the beginning of that game, which is pretty terrible, and didn't get to the point,

the meat of it and the actual core gameplay of it, which again, I've said this before, but I'll reiterate, is I think the strongest gameplay game that he has ever made. Oh yeah, I think by far. It is like a true game game rather than being like, hey, it's a movie and sometimes you get to move Snake around sometimes.

The problem is you have like five hours of movies to start movie. And sometimes you get to move snake around sometimes. The problem is you have like five hours of movies to start and then you have maybe 10 hours of yes. And then you have that good. I think we all very cogent. Is there. Is there any reality in which this game does not like lean more into the things that made Death Stranding kind of divisive? I feel like I this is going to be more of the same to the things that made Death Stranding kind of a divisive.

I feel like this is gonna be more of the same and not necessarily trying to make an experience that everybody can vibe with more. I don't think it will be that case only because the kind of post, like post release content for Death Stranding, the DLC game of the year edition or whatever, made it a more enjoyable game game

Like it focused on like weird-ass shit where the combat was like improved You could I thought that was across the yeah and all this stuff like it was very it's a very like He's trying to do a lot of different things and trying to find the fun in a lot of different places And it's not a hundred percent successful. I guess the hope would be that if he gets another bite at the apple, he can separate the things that are like, enjoyable about it from the things that are just kind of like, cruft, like sort of zero in a little bit on what makes that core thing pleasurable without getting in the

way with a lot of like- Cut every cut scene by 50% and I think you're there. I mean, that's definitely not fucking happening. No way. There will be double the cutscenes in this game. And inventory management out the window. I think it's fair to say none of us can predict what this game is because every single game

he's ever put out has always had some sort of crazy left turn to it. Yeah. So it could be something else. What else? What else? Subnautica 2 coming out. We don't know hardly anything about it,

so I don't wanna spend too much time on it. It's gonna have co-op for the first time, up to four player co-op, which I think is pretty neat and exciting. Oh wow, I didn't realize the first one didn't have any online play, that's crazy. No, and what I love about these games is setting up shop, the extent to which you can

kind of build your little outposts, which is such a necessary component for surviving and progressing in the world. It is one of my favorite games, and one of my favorite genres to do that in. At least the first Subnautica. I was left a bit cold by the second one. No, that's funny.

Which was called Subnautica Below Zero. It just didn't, I don't know, it wasn't as good. Yeah, it wasn't as good. So like, we don't know a ton about Subnautica 2. There's a trailer that came out during, I think, the Xbox, some Xbox showcase last year. No release date or anything on that. I do want to hit a game that almost certainly has to come out this year because there was a huge demo

for it during Next Fest, we talked about it then, Heroes of Hammer Watch 2, the sequel to one of my favorite ARPGs. I was very intrigued by what they had going on in that demo and I'm hoping it's something that I can really, really sink my teeth into. Just a lot of hack and slash loot shit in a really accessible package.

You get a town that you upgrade, you have characters, different classes, lots of stuff to unlock and lots of ways to customize your guy. I'm all about that shit. I'm realizing that my list is really as much a most curious as I am. I'm most anticipated about the things

that I'm most curious about, and I think Judas falls into that category. It's a game from Ken Levine, who has not released a game for a very long time. He was talking about this game in 2015, which will be a decade when it was released. When it's released next year by March is what they have said in financial statements, we'll see.

It's, you know, it looks Bioshock S, the hook from the inception of this is supposed to have been that it's a replayable experience where you can make different choices when you play the game repeatedly and see how those, as he described them, narrative Legos kind of interact with each other and change the story. It's a sci-fi thing that does look, like I said,

similar vibes to Bioshock, but I'm just really curious about it. I'm curious to see what all this has led to. One thing for you hoops. I think it's gonna be like Mooncrash, basically. Like, you know. Look, we, I would want, I wanna give Hoops another pick because I'm glad that he mentioned this game

that's not going to come out this year or next year or maybe the year after that. Judas. There's no world. No world. This game comes out this year. I mean, money is not infinite, Chris Plant. Uh, I don't know if you remember the name of the last Bioshock, but Bioshock Infinite

was the budget. They will keep funneling money into it. I don't think we have any reason to think that this game is coming out in years. I'm just trying to be a realistic and I want to give you if it comes out great that's gravy but I want to I want to let you have full four picks of games that are gonna come out this year okay Outer Worlds 2 I think is a very safe bet yeah I think that I really Outer Worlds 1, I think is a very safe bet.

I think that I really, Outer Worlds 1 did not blow me away. I was not head over heels in love, but it was a very consistent level of enjoyment. The first area was a lot richer, I thought, than the rest of it, but I thought they were doing a lot of really fun, interesting stuff. I do worry a little bit that Obsidian is maybe stretching themselves a bit thin.

Uh, at this point they got a lot of projects going on. Um, but I, I thought the outer worlds had like a fallout, but fun vibe to it. That was cool. And, or like, um, it has, it is actually more accurate to say, uh, starfield, but, but fun. But yeah, Outer Worlds is a fun franchise. It is weird that they're both, they're releasing a fantasy open world RPG

and a sci-fi open world RPG in the same year. Yeah, and 2K, Judas, they're releasing that this year too. Archive, right? Right over. 2K Judas, they're releasing that this year too. Classic 2K. Okay, I've got two more on my list. One of them is Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta, which is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3. We replayed Metal Gear Solid 3 like a year ago,

however long that was, and there was, I think, a lot of rightful concern that the controls were kind of hard to get into, and I completely agree. Like, it's very, those controls are fucking insane. They were Kojima controls to a T. So I think, honestly, just modernizing the controls alone, and also having more or less the same story with improved graphics, like bring it on.

But I'm very excited to see how they evolve that whole format, because there's just so much to love about that game. It is the most cogent story Kojima's ever told. It mostly kind of makes sense, which is a lot more than you could say for a lot of the other games. If I could say, if they do what you're suggesting and do not improve the inventory and camouflage management in the game,

then they have not actually fulfilled the lowest possible bar. That's true. I do think those are elements that like at least have hotkeys for like the last four... ...camouflages that you used. I did like the fact that in the inventory you could spin Snake around until he puked, and if that's not in there, I will be bummed. You got to. Otherwise. And so the last game I want to mention is a game that probably won't come out this year.

In fact, I actually bet on it. One of my predictions for 2025 was that Grand Theft Auto 6 would be delayed into the following year, and I think it will be, but if it does come out, it is definitely incredibly anticipated for me, but we say that with a asterisk. It's hysterical that you would say that and not include silk socks.

It's like, does the defeat. Hey, Team Cherry, I'm done. Make it or don't, I'm done. I don't care. I don't fucking care anymore. Delete it. Do it, delete it, I don't fucking care anymore, I'm done. I will say this, do yourself a favor

and pop on over to the silk song subreddit. It's hysterical. Fucking, every single day, they have a faked Steam page with like new announcements that didn't happen and everyone's upvoting it because they think it's, they've reached a point of insanity that is, I guess, rightful given the fact that this game has been in development for so long

and there's just been radio silence. Fuck, I hope this game comes out. And so does Chris Plant, who predicted it. But straight up, Russ, just don radio silence. Fuck, I hope this game comes out. And so does Clint, who predicted it. But straight up, Russ, just don't anymore. Yeah. Just you don't have to anymore. That's what I've realized is like, my world is big enough and rich enough

with enough beauty and love and joy inside of it that I don't need this ghost haunting me any longer. You can just banish it from your mind. There is no Hollow Knight Silksong. I think When Nintendo has their inevitable switch to third party Direct or whatever the fuck they call it. It will be in there. Okay. Okay, cool. That's my that's my car. I hope so Are we doing like honorable mentions now because we we all shared for

You just added a few more there. You just threw in some spice on it. Is that what's happened? Because if we do, I have a whole bunch of honorable mentions. I've got Citizen Sleeper 2, extremely excited for that. But I'll be honest, I was completely content with the original. I'll take more, but I didn't know I needed more. I saw you put Earthblade on here.

Is that actually supposed to come out this year? Because I'm really bad. Really speaking about another game that has been in development for, I think, 10 years. But I- Not that long, come on. It's not that long. Hey, fresh, guess when I saw Earthblade for the first time?

When I was literally at Matty Thorson's house on the launch of Towerfall. It is- Jesus Christ.'s that long. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. And it had been in development for a while at that point.

That's the new Metroid, or sorry, search action game from Metroid. Yeah, it looks like an open world Celeste. Yep. It looks fucking sick. I'll play that. It looks sick. Baby steps, will that come out this year?

I don't know, but I'm ready for it. What is that? I'm ready for the king of QWOP. I'm ready for the Foddy-like master, Foddy himself, to get in here and release a game with the developer of Ape Escape. Yes, please. It's the round baby man going up a mountain game.

Yeah. Into it. And then just one more, Tanooki Pong poem summer from the developer of Curse to Golf, a game about being a Tanooki who delivers mail on a bike, but like it's X-game style. Tanooki real or not? Tanooki? Are Tanooki real? Yes.

Yes. Just question this. You don't have to throw a big party about it. No, I know. I understand you. Simple question on whether or not to make you real Like mythical tanuki where they can like turn into stone real no Well TBD TBD, but to new key that I want to drop big testicles

Yeah, I want to drop my my little my little guys here as long as plants leaves So in a few seeds here, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. Yeah baby, speaking of huge testicles. Talk about a good fucking name for a game that's going to get me extremely pumped, the New World of Steam. Yeah, I think so professor.

Let's go, put me in your hat. We'll see if Gabe allows it. Avald, yeah, I do think Avald will be good. I think Avald will be a good video game. It's a city that has been working out for a hundred years. I think it'll be good. Here's one. Sinking City 2, guys. If you know, you know, Sinking City was an open world HP Lovecraft

detective game where you're in a city that is sinking. As you're trying to solve like a Lovecraftian mystery they're making a sequel it was actually pretty good it's by Frogwares the developer of the Sherlock Holmes games so that's gonna be out and then lastly 33 Immortals that seems like a really do you guys know 33 Immortals? Uh, I know the name. So the name- okay. It's a co-op action roguelike for 33 players. It's 33 people teaming up against, like, gods.

So, 33 people and sort of a vampire survivors- It's a- it's a, um, like, raid as a- as a concept, right? So you're raiding with large groups of people and you jump into these big raids where rather than a four player thing, it's a massive raid on these massive ops. Oh shit, this is Thunder Lotus. They did Spiritfarer and Sundered.

Oh, yeah. Wow, that gets me hyped. Yeah, me too. Two very good games, and the idea of a 33 player game, I don't know, there's something about that number that, I don't do a lot of online multiplayer, but there's something about that that appeals to me, there being that many people. I'm looking at the trailer,

and it looks actually a similar vibe to Night Reign, where there's like, I think you fight in like different areas of the map, and eventually kind of everyone comes together. Comes together, right, yeah. That sounds fucking sick. Yeah, it looks cool. Yeah, I'm into this.

Yeah, it looks really cool. Uh, so anyway, those are the ones that I'm thinking. I snuck a few bonus boys in there. I do just want to say there's been rumors of Final Fantasy IX Remake percolating over at Square Enix. If that just gets announced this year, I would be... Nine was the Cutie boys one, right? I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you doing a great Final Fantasy Nine.

That was the one with the cute PS1 graphics, right? You mean the PlayStation 1 game? Yeah, it had PlayStation 1 graphics. No, but it was cuter than Final Fantasy 8, right? It was more throwback Final Fantasy. Yes, it wasn't like... You had the Dark Mages and the... Yeah, D.V.V.

Yeah, Kilo Guys. Yeah, the Kilo guys. It is a standout fucking classic that not a lot of people played because it was so close to the end of the PS1 lifecycle. I don't know, there's just been rumors about it for a long, long time, and I would be over the moon because it is one of my favorite JRPGs ever. Too cute.

Okay, I think we did it. That was a fuckload of most anticipated games, way more than we normally do, so hopefully people enjoyed that. Do we have any honorable mentions unrelated to most anticipated things you've been currently playing? I would love for you to talk about yours, Russ.

Okay, so this is coming back in a way that I was not expecting. I've been playing Pokemon, new Pokemon Snap, which was the Pokemon Snap game that came out, I think in 2021, if you don't recall, you take pictures of Pokemon pretty much yet. I remember at the time, not totally vibing with it because there was a lot of grinding required to like unlock things and you'd have to replay levels over and over again

It turns out that level of grinding is so fucking perfect for a toddler because my son is completely Enraptured by it. It's the thing that has like made him jazzed about Pokemon, which is very exciting because I am jazzed about Pokemon and it's kind of a great just like side by side game because he can do call-outs and like talk about the things he's seeing and only occasionally does he grab the controller and yell scan and screw up my perfect shot of fucking Raichu. Yeah. So it's been really lovely it's a great even you know just as like a co-op experience has been great there's no actual co-op play but just again a lot of people can kind of gaggle around a TV and take turns and it feels

Pretty legit. I would love to see another one. I've almost beaten this one But if you're looking for a yeah toddler friendly Pokemon game, there you go between like Christmas holiday break and being sick and snow now, both of my kids have been home for a long time, and Henry and I have gotten very, very into Minecraft Dungeons, which is a game we played a little bit on Xbox, because I think it was free on Game Pass,

but he has it on Switch also, and so I picked it up on a Steam sale on my Steam Deck so we could play online play kind of without having to share a screen, you know, one person having to pause the whole game whenever they change their inventory and shit. We've gotten really into it. I'll say what this game does really, really well. easy genre for a younger kid to grok and instead of getting mired in like build shit and like oh you got to get the extra 10% crit chance for on your gloves and socket this gym and all of the stuff that you can kind of like choose about your character or like the random enchantments you find on all your gear are very tangible things like this perk makes enemies explode when you kill them or this perk refreshes your potion faster

so you can have a more heal. Everything is so easy to understand and it makes finding loot a lot more exciting for a younger kid, because everything he finds has some mix of very obvious, very tangible stuff. It is a great game and we have gotten pretty deep into it. And so I've really, really enjoyed it

much more than I ever thought I would. I loved when I played it. I thought it was like a great encapsulation of Diablo without the like, oh, you get 30% more damage. I've tried Path of Exile 2, I've tried the Diablo 4 expansion. This has hooked me more, mostly because I'm playing it with my son,

which is like my favorite way to play games, but also because like, I don't know, when you find a new thing, you know exactly what it's going to do and it makes it feel a lot more exciting and meaningful. I would love a Minecraft Dungeons 2. I don't know if that is something that they have kicked around, because this game,

I don't even think they support it anymore, but yeah, it's great. I have been playing a lot of Hieronymus Bosch's Brutal Orchestra. Hell yeah. It came out in 2021. I was just looking for games in this genre and I stumbled across it.

It looks like, it looks kind of like an art style similar to like a Binding of Isaac, that kind of thing that like gross, cute kind of look, but it is a turn-based roguelike where you are killed and you are in purgatory where you meet a demon named Bosch who says you were murdered. And if you let me help you journey through purgatory, I'll help you become strong

and I'll help you wait for the person who killed you. So when come to purgatory you can be waiting for them to kill them and so you set out on this journey through purgatory and You meet all kinds of different Maniacs like absolute weirdos in purgatory some of whom are like clearly allies Some of whom are just kind of like insisting that they're going to come with you. They're all very strange. They'll have very different abilities. But the central idea that kind of sets it apart

is enemies have different colored blood, basically called pigment. So abilities take different colors of pigment to use. So when you're in a fight, you're not only thinking about which abilities to use, you're thinking about which enemies you want to attack to get their pigment so you can use your other abilities. So if you have a one that leaks a particularly useful kind of blood, maybe you want to attack him slowly, make him last longer, so you can get more of that like resource to use in the fight.

So that's a really interesting take on it it's also really the characters that you meet are just as like Flawed as they are powerful. So there's like real trade-offs with everyone one character for example is a Stand-up comedian who doesn't believe in himself and his two attacks are a very weak heel that he triggers by crying and a very weak slap and But the more times he does the very weak slap The better he gets at healing and the more times he does the very bad heel the better He gets at attacking so you can do a bunch of bad heels to save up for a really strong attack

But every character has these like trade-offs and you can only choose one character that you wanna take with you. The other one is selected by the game to like pair with it because it's like very difficult. The game is genuinely so funny. I have laughed out loud many times by playing it. Even when you run into characters you've met before, the dialogue is repeatedly really good.

It's just great. I don't know how we missed it the first time, but if you search for Brutal Orchestra, it's really, really, really good. It's, yeah, it's great. Point, you have anything? I'm still just playing vanilla-ware games on my Retrograde Pocket 5, all of which I own, by the way, just so people know.

I got one of those coming on Friday, I'm very excited. It looks great. It is absolutely fantastic. The OLED screen makes all the difference, especially for games that are so much about their art, like Muramasa, Dragon's Crown. The law plant, if you talk about a weird new handheld that you bought, you got to put a YouTube tutorial about how to buy it how to set it up in the besties chat

That's the law. This is such a good segue Because we're gonna be doing a deep dive into weird Handhelds next week in a very special episode with a very special guest. I know I'm jumping ahead but Russ from Retro Game Corp will be joining us next week to talk about handheld gaming. A long requested guest from the listeners. Excited to do this. And so I'm very excited about that. But before we do, I wanted to thank some people from the Patreon. Hopefully you guys dug some of the patreon episodes that we dropped recently

But yeah, if you want to support us you can go over to patreon.com slash the besties and do that there I wanted to thank Caterday 84. We have Kato we have Roland and we have Mel and Krath thank you for being patrons of the besties and thank you to everyone else who has supported us and we have Mel and Krath. Thank you for being patrons of the besties. And thank you to everyone else who has supported us and shared the show and given gifted subs over the holidays. That was awesome to see. That's all still possible, obviously, but yeah, we really appreciate y'all.

I kind of jumped ahead on the next week thing, Justin. I'm sorry. I asked a little bit. No, that's okay. I liked it. It was very organic. It was very exciting. It just fits so perfectly. 2025 2025 maybe this is a more mature

Show with more tasteful transitions. We were also talking about Indiana Jones next week. So I was like mid fucking sentence We reverted But yeah, we will talk about Indiana Jones next week long and long delayed weird timing nothing personal against Indy You did this thing. Microsoft's fault really. Yeah, fine you Phil. Phil asked us when he should launch it and we ignored our requests So that is gonna do it for us until next time. My name is Justin McRoy For all the besties be sure to join us again next time because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games? Besties!