With Game of the Year coverage out of the way, the gang sits down to finish it all off for a topical discussion of the year in games. Scott is joined by Spencer, Crystal, Elvie, and Lorelai to go over as many topics as they could in 12 20-40 minute segments.

Part 1: Friend-Type Games – Crystal
Part 2: Dynasty Warriors – Lorelai
Part 3: Silksong – Spencer
Part 4: Blue Prince – Scott
Part 5: The New Age of Handhelds – Crystal
Part 6: The Remastering of the Classics – Lorelai
Part 7: Final Fantasy Tactics asks us What is a remake? – Scott and Lorelai
Part 8: We have to talk about Rematch – Scott
Part 9: Unique Artstyles and Designs of 2025 – Elvie
Part 10: Nightreign – Scott
Part 11: Questions – Everyone
Finale: What do we want out of 2026? – Lorelai

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on social media @gamesline.net, Scott, Lorelai, Crystal, Spencer, and Elvie.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions, send them to our email podcast@gamesline.net!

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Edited by Lorelai and Produced by Lorelai, Crystal, Elvie, and Scott

The post The Gamesline Podcast Episode 81: Game of the Year Special Edition appeared first on Gamesline.

Honorable Mention: dirtbag MAHJONG

This came out of nowhere for me. I missed the Kickstarter and only ended up buying it because my fellow Bluesky Mahjong freaks started posting about it on release. dirtbag MAHJONG is a combination of mahjong with a visual novel story that had me rolling with laughter from the jump. The humor is crass and stupid in all of the best ways. It’s a game about a bunch of complete assholes playing mahjong together with HP pools, attacks you can build up to, and so many dumb ways to play. It’s a genuine delight that does a pretty good job tutorializing Mahjong. The game is exactly what the title says it is: a bunch of complete dirtbags playing Mahjong. A goofy mess of pure fun from start to finish.

Honorable Mention: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

I think it’s a phenomenal game that everyone should play if they have the ability to. Clair Obscur is carried by some incredible performances and some phenomenal art design. The background details of every area shine. It’s a fantastic game that lives up to the legacies of the games that inspired it, but it falls on its face for me in the end. I can pretty much guarantee that if I had beaten the game without doing some of the Chapter 3 sidequests, this would have been in my top five. But one of the main character’s sidequests contradicting the way she acts in the finale completely ruined it for me. The more I think about that decision, the less I liked the game, until it fell off my list.

Honorable Mention: Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

Hey, they made a great Assassin’s Creed game. This spot was bouncing between Ghost of Yotei and this, both games I greatly enjoyed my time with, but one just slightly edging out the other. I am a sucker for open world collectathon checklist podcast games and this one just really did it for me. I think part of it is me just being really into this era of Japanese historical fiction. Being the Nioh/Samurai Warriors freak that I am, it’s fun to go, “I KNOW THAT GUY” every once and a while. All and all it ended up being far more enjoyable than I expected and I don’t regret the 87 hours I spent with it at all. Being able to stealth through the game as Naoe or just barrel in as Yasuke gave me two play styles for whatever mood I was in, and that really tickled my fancy.

10. Octopath Traveler 0

Hey, did you know that if you just have one narrative throughline and more linear storytelling, the Octopath formula works a lot better? I thought they did a lot towards improving their storytelling with Octopath Traveler 2, but this is a much better story that flows from beat to beat rather than being multiple stories that don’t really feel connected. I was someone who did play Champions of the Continent and liked the story they were trying to tell, so it was great to see it put out in a form everyone could enjoy. Its biggest issue is that it is based on a gacha game that brings in everyone from the series, which does make some of the character moments feel lacking while its overall story shines. I would rather have somewhat weaker characters to go with fun turn-based action than great characters with a weaker overall narrative. I’m hoping they do DLC to take a look at some of the other stories that the mobile game has told because there’s some really great stuff in there.

9. Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

I honestly didn’t think I was going to be writing about this game at all this year. I was burned out, I watched its community be destroyed by grifters, and I was pretty close to uninstalling and being done after finding a lot of the patch story to be lackluster. But then the 7.4 patch came out, and suddenly I was back! I’m enjoying the game more now than I have in a long time. No more burnout, I’m enjoying the game on its merits rather than logging in every day out of some daily necessity. These days I log in to work on pointless achievements and spend time with friends, and it’s been a healing experience. I went from averaging 20+ hours a week to four, and it’s completely rekindled my love of the game and the time I spend on it. I didn’t think I’d ever be an achievement hunter in the game, but playing with a casual purpose is such a relaxing time. Hanging out in space and macro crafting as second screen material while I work is just a nice diversion. I’m making progress towards something, but it’s also relaxing listening to the sounds of crafting while I’m playing other games on my Steam Deck or second monitor.

7.4 came with something I sorely needed, the final raid series, and god damn is it a good one. Finally a raid with no bad fights and all bangers. Seriously, the biggest advancement in Dawntrail has been in the quality of their fight design, and the Heavyweight tier has been incredible to grind out my weekly clears. Do I wish we spent more time in Tuliyollal instead of the cyberpunk city? Oh god yes I do, but what we got this patch was so much better than I expected and has me hooked for what’s coming.

8. Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To

There are two games on my list this year that I think are important for the same reason: experiencing things from a different culture than my own. The game is dripping with the queerness and the Arabic culture of the people who made it, and it’s a genuine delight from start to finish. The main story fleshes out all of the characters, their world, their culture, and the way magic works. It’s a fascinating way to immerse myself in something different. My only complaint is that after you finish the story, the dating sim fully starts and there is a lot less of the match-3 puzzle gameplay. To this day, my morning routine has been to load up a game on Endless Mode, and play until I lose. It’s a zen start to my day, listening to great chill music while I swap tiles to make lines to make things disappear until I lose after around 10 minutes.

7. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

I probably wouldn’t have gotten this if I hadn’t gotten a little preview at PAX. I thought it looked good and didn’t fall into the HD-2D trap of muddied visuals from everything needing to have the same fidelity. The demo challenge of an underleveled party going into midgame dungeons was a lot of fun, and led to me snagging the release version for myself. Needless to say, it was a great decision. If you’re going to do a remake while keeping the core of the original intact, this was a pretty incredible way to do it. Not to mention, Dragon Quest II getting an entire extra game worth of stuff added to it that is not only challenging and fun, but surprisingly well written, building up a true end to the trilogy and providing a new experience for someone who had played the originals before, is super fun to see.

6. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

When I played Rune Factory 5, I called it a promising start for a new team of developers that had to figure the series out. I was hopeful for the future of the franchise, even while I took major issues with the game. I don’t think they have it 100%, but Guardians of Azuma gives me great hope for the future of the franchise. They gave me a fantastic game with fun town building as well as fun action. The action is where it needs to be for a game like this—the real thing they still need to work on is farming. I found the farming to be relatively boring, and the town management a little lackluster as well. Still, an incredibly charming cast of characters and an overall story that left me very content made this one of my most played games this year, and it’s still one I come back to when I just want to chill out and grind a little.

5. Coral Island

Last time I talked about Coral Island, I spent a significant amount of time gushing about its core while still lamenting the fact that it was not a true 1.0. This year we got two major patches which brought it to a place where I can fully say it feels like a real and complete game. Not only did we get a massive update that adds an underwater farm, and the initially introduced mermaids finally getting characterization, we also got a fantastic online co-op mode that has made the game more than worth revisiting. Coral Island is also steeped in Southeast Asian culture, being developed by Indonesian studio Stairway Games, and it really does make it so much better than just “Stardew Valley in 3D”. If you like the farming style games, this is not only a great one, it might actually be the best of them.

4. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

When they announced this, I didn’t have a lot of hope. Previews left me feeling skeptical, and the state of Level-5 as a company makes Fantasy Life i feel like a complete miracle. I was worried it was going to be a game that lacked what I loved about the original, and never have I been happier to be wrong. While I would have loved more varied crafting between all the different crafters, every single craft is fun to pull off, every combat style feels great and has some incredibly fun abilities to play with. Every party member that can join you adds something to the game, whether it’s a crafter who sometimes attacks or regularly throws out buffs and debuffs or the fighting class characters who do a surprising amount of damage while being competent elsewhere. Your crafters can also aid in crafting, and gathering friends can help you by chopping trees to make farming materials so much faster. When you factor in the procedural dungeons, a procedural open world dungeon, and more content than you could play through in a reasonable amount of time, there is something to constantly do and unlock. I thought I was done when I finished the main story, but I keep coming back because there is still something new for me to do after 200 hours.

3. Warriors: Abyss

Who would have thought that a repetitive Dynasty Warriors roguelike would have been one of my most played games of the year? Look, I don’t have a lot to say about this game: the localization is bad, multiple abilities are incredibly confusing to understand, and there is no story to care about at all. But there  is an incredibly fun and rewarding gameplay loop where every character feels different, every stage is fun to blast through, and it goes fast enough that it never feels like it’s wasting your time. It’s been updated multiple times with DLC from the Atelier series, Ninja Gaiden, and more. Every new character they add has been a blast to play with. Is this the best Roguelike of the year? Probably not, but god damn it’s the most fun I’ve had with one in a very, very long time.

2. Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Dynasty Warriors is back! After the disaster of Dynasty Warriors 9 and the sales failure of Samurai Warriors 5, I thought they were done with Musou. But this year they really came back with a vengeance. They finally hit the right formula with deeper movesets and more varied combat, alongside numbers so big that past games wish they could see a KO count that high. Having a big map to run around with multiple sidequest opportunities, along with an emphasis on telling a single story of one person acting as a mercenary, leads to a much meatier story that allows character personality to shine through a lot of visual novel style cutscenes—with a ton of “so bad it’s good” voice acting that filled me with delight. Seriously, the English dub is a thing of beauty with some absolutely hilarious line delivery that captures the magic of the early games while still being something a little more directed. My only issue is the game has gender counterparts that do nothing to change the story, other than making the gayest Lu Bu straight if you were to be able to play as the female character. 

1A. Game of the Year: Unbeatable

I’m not a rhythm gamer, but Unbeatable grabbed me in a way I didn’t expect, and I’ve even been bopping through the arcade mode every morning for a song shortly after I wake up. The story is where this game shines. I keep going back to Chapters 3 and 5 which are where the whole point of the game solidifies. If you go into this wanting a game where music is illegal and you do crimes, you can play Chapter 2, but the chapters where they were going through the actual story they were telling, those hit me hard in the feels. It’s like the writer held a mirror up to my face and said you, this is you. I’ve never felt so seen. There is so much to chew on with the story they told, and while it definitely has some messy transitions and pacing, all of that fits the vibe and truly hit me. The main thesis of the story really is about someone who was lost finding themselves and regaining the will to live through both music and fighting for the people around her.

“I don’t know who I am right now. But I am better than who I was before. I am seven years different. And I am seven years better. And I refuse to be worse than who I was before.”

1B. Game of the Year: Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars

You all knew this was coming. Suikoden was one of the most formative games for me growing up. It’s lived rent free in my head since I played it on release. It was a franchise where I had finally accepted that it was dead and gone and the only way we’d ever see anything like it was through spiritual successors like Eiyuden Chronicle. And then after that game had an incredibly successful Kickstarter, suddenly a remaster for the original was announced. You had an active social media presence, you had Konami interacting with fans for a few weeks and then…

Radio silence.

Suikoden was dead again. There was no news, no updates, the social media that was so active went completely silent and whenever they got asked, they refused to say anything. I was sure it wasn’t going to happen. I was back to being mad that they got my hopes up, that my long dead franchise was still dead. Konami was just faking coming back to being a gaming company. All that hope that myself and the other Suikoden freaks felt had become a lie from a company who was only pretending to care about games again.

Then the release date reveal happened… 

My hope was restored. Literal tears on the podcast as I felt an overwhelming wave of joy that I would be able to share this thing I love so much with friends who would never have the chance without shelling out hundreds of dollars on original discs. Something I could share on every system. Then TGS came around and not only were we getting the remasters, we’re getting a stage show, an anime, and a mobile game. Not only was my favorite franchise alive, they seemed to be making the series a core component in their return to video games. I have cried tears of joy more than once over the past year as they continue to show that they care and are acting like they want Suikoden to be one of their tentpole franchises. I don’t know about corporate, but the people on the team sure feel like they have a real passion for everything.

But what about the game you ask? Well, there are two ways to do a remake: you can do the HD-2D thing like Dragon Quest or you can upscale the backgrounds and keep the original work as close as you can. They went with that second option for this one and they nailed it; even going back to address complaints that the fanbase had about background details. There are two games in this world where I would be angry if they remade the spritework: Suikoden and Chrono Trigger. I’m happy to say that the character sprites weren’t touched at all. In some ways the high resolution backgrounds with the original sprites can feel a little off, but the spritework is such a huge part of the charm and personality of these games that if they had messed with it I would have been sent into a violent seething rage.

All of the jank from the original releases is still there. Inventory management in Suikoden 1 is genuinely terrible and always was, but it also was the first RPG released on the Playstation, coming weeks before Final Fantasy 7 completely changed the environment. The story is quick and to the point, with my first playthrough of the remaster being about 20 hours to get everything while going out of my way to talk to every single NPC. The localization of Suikoden 1 sands some edges off, sometimes to its detriment, but is an overall improvement over the original release. If you don’t have the nostalgia for some of the sloppy editing, you’re getting a better version now than you did before. 

Suikoden 2 got the biggest upgrade in this release though. I think it goes to show the power of the story they were telling that it’s still considered one of the best RPGs of all time despite having an absolutely horrendous translation. The translation errors of the original were so numerous, with some NPCs having lines of code in their text boxes. This was a lot less charming than the “All this killing in front of a children” moments from Suikoden 1. With the translation fixed, it’s far easier to appreciate the rest of Suikoden 2’s strengths. Tons of minigames to waste your time with, tons of characters, incredible villains, and sprites that do fit in a lot better with the upscaled backgrounds. This release of Suikoden 2 is by far the definitive version of the game. I wish they could have put the inventory management from 2 into 1 to make it a smoother experience, but overall both games are an incredible experience that I think everyone who wants a great JRPG should pick up. Meet these characters I’ve been obsessed with for the last 30 years of my life, and the woman I named myself after!

The post Lorelai’s Top 10 Games of 2025 That Aren’t Game of the Generation Nioh 2 appeared first on Gamesline.

It’s another week which means it’s time for John and Lorelai to regale you with all the news and games they can handle. John finished up Digimon Time Stranger while both of them have been playing a lot of Pokémon Legends Z-A and the newest Umamusume: Pretty Derby update. Lorelai’s here to finish talking about DIspatch and Dragon Quest I/II HD2D Remaster.

In the news, Ubisoft halted trading and might be getting bought, Valve announced a bunch of new hardware, and GTA6 was Delayed again. We also got trailers and leaks from the Mario Galaxy and Zelda movies, Metroid Prime 4 Previews are looking interesting, and finally we talk a little about the Japan focused State of Play.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Social Media @gamesline.net, Lorelai, and John.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions, send them to our email podcast@gamesline.net!

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Edited and Produced by Lorelai

The post The Gamesline Podcast Episode 74: Pocket Digimon appeared first on Gamesline.

New Mario & Luigi RPG. Has the Bros. Moves and abilities like the classic games! Mario and Luigi are trying to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. November 7th 2024, “Mario & Luigi: Brothership“.

Nintendo World Championship: NES Edition trailer. This was announced before. There are online leaderboards. A lot of the tricks are things actual speedrunners do. Out July 18th. There’s also a physical deluxe edition.

Fairy Tail 2. Pretty standard looking JRPG. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who likes Fairy Tail. Out this Winter.

Fantasian! Thank god it’s off Apple Arcade. You can bend spells to hit multiple enemies, and send foes “to another dimension” to deal with later. Out Holiday 2024.

Nintendo Switch Sports update. Basketball will be added. Two-on-two and three point challenges. Out Summer 2024.

Mio: Memories in Orbit. Looks cool, not a lot of info. Might be a Metroidvania?

New update for Disney Illusion Island. Detective themed. Out today.

Girlies rejoice! Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which is basically Animal Crossing plus Sanrio, is free from Apple Arcade jail and will come out for the Switch.

Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports, has soccer, basketball, golf and tennis. There were some solid Looney Tunes sports games on SNES, so hopefully this follows suit.

Among Us update. This got leaked a bit ago, thanks IGN. New roles. Noisemaker, Tracker, and Phantom. Noisemaker puts out a sound when killed, tracker can plant a tracking device on specific crewmates, and phantom can turn invisible at will. Update out today.

Farmagia, monster raising and farming RPG. Has more of a Pikmin thing going. November 1st 2024.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. Seems like a very straight port. Includes the levels from the 3DS version. Out January 16th, 2025.

Dragon Quest III remake! The remake for III is out November 14th, and they’ve announced a separate remake for the first two games is due in 2025.

Funko Fusion. C’mon man. Out September 13th.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD trailer. We already know how this will go. Out June 27th.

THE NEW DENPA MEN. I guess we know what Genius Sonority has been up to. Free to play, out July 22nd.

Metal Slug Attack Reloaded. Tower defense Metal Slug. Tons of units, over 300 characters in five factions. Has VS mode. Out today.

Darkest Dungeon II out for Switch.

Switch Online games. A Link to the Past Four Swords, Metroid Zero Mission, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark has online multiplayer.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. A new game in the series! Combine with items or with your buddies to power up.

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. Has all the classic vs Capcom games and The Punisher. Has rollback netcode! And a ton of concept art and music. Out this year, also on Steam and PS4.

Super Mario Party Jamboree. They detailed a few of the boards. Also includes old boards from the first two games. There’s also a 20-player mode as well. Out October 17th.

2D Zelda game. But it’s actually a ZELDA game. You play AS Zelda. It’s called Echoes of Wisdom. Women can do things. Zelda uses a staff to echo items so she can clone things. You can even echo monsters you defeat. Out September 26th. There will also be a Switch Lite based on Zelda as well.

Just Dance 2025 Edition. 40 new songs including Ariana Grande, Enur, Sia, Green Day, Lady Gaga, and more. Out October 25th.

Another trailer for Lego Horizon Adventures. Actually, I think it’s the same trailer. Out Holiday 2024.

Stray‘s coming to Switch as well. Out Holiday 2024.

Tales of the Shire, a Hobbit game with decoration and city building. Holiday 2024. Gandalf is confirmed. #Gandalf

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection—finally Investigations 2 officially out outside Japan! Has the original sprites as an option as well. Out September 6th.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, new game from Kodaka and co. Tactics game, but the story is basically just DanganRonpa again.

Romancing SaGa 2 remake. All the classic battle actions are available. Revenge of the Seven, out October 24th.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It’s going to be on regular Switch, huh. Sylux from Hunters seems to be the villain here. Out 2025.

The post Bulletin+: Nintendo Direct 6/18/24 appeared first on Gamesline.

Akira Toriyama Has Passed Away

Confirmed by his production studio, Bird Studio, Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1 due to acute subdural hematoma. He had since been interred to rest in a private ceremony amongst close loved ones.

Toriyama’s influence on the world is unmistakable largely thanks to Dragon Ball, while he has also changed the trajectory of games in Japan with contributions to Dragon Quest. On top of his other projects such as Chrono Trigger and Dr. Slump, Toriyama’s iconic style and stories have often been cited as huge sources of inspiration in not just comics and games, but sweeping the feet of whole swathes of cultures and communities.

Close friend and One Piece creator, Eiichiro Oda, eulogized Toriyama, describing him like “a tree” that has taken root, establishing a legacy of “branches” that has and would continue to influence many. Shōnen Jump has published a compilation of numerous other statements from various industry figures, such as Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and Dragon Quest co-creator Yuji Horii. Translations of their statements can be viewed here.

Among one of several of Toriyama’s final projects he had creative involvement in, the video game adaptation of his manga, Sand Land, is set to release this April.

What the Hell Is Happening With Warner Bros?

Corporations continue to stay corping, and Warner Bros. Discovery has been announcing a smattering series of wild decisions.

First off: CEO and President of the Global Streaming and Games division J.B. Perrette has made a statement boldly stating that he hopes to move the company away from the “volatile” AAA market, instead hoping to focus on the free-to-play and live service games space. Perette acknowledges that the WBD’s success is dependent on reliably working with well-established franchise IPs—although their recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League hasn’t met the publisher’s expectations.

WBD goes on to shut down Rooster Teeth, in a process and transition that current general manager Jordan Levin states may take several months. Rooster Teeth was a subsidiary of Warner Bros. since 2022.

Having its roots initially starting out as an independent production comedy group that also produced various series such as Red vs Blue and RWBY, Levin asserts that The Roost Podcast Network will remain in operation. Numerous alum from the original Rooster Teeth have since gone on to produce their own independently-run work. It is currently unclear what will happen to Rooster Teeth’s library of content after this shutdown.

WBD is also intending on retiring games from its Adult Swim label, which would officially pull them from all platforms and storefronts. A company representative told developers that they are not transferring ownership to developers due to “logistical and resource constraints.”

Calling WBD unscrupulous is an understatement: The film and television sectors of WBD has long been taking scrutiny for various other measures, mostly infamously for the nefarious scrapping of the unreleased film Batgirl, with similar actions more recently reflected in their intentionally just as criminal handling of Coyote vs. Acme.

Meanwhile, fans are just hopeful for MultiVersus‘ return, catching on that several of the game’s social media channels are reawakening with some activity.

*taps mic* testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

— MultiVersus (@multiversus) March 5, 2024

The Fallout Franchise Flourishes

Fallout’s TV series adaptation is officially real: The series is scheduled to premiere on Amazon Prime on April 11.

Conclusions to a Couple of Gaming Crimes

A judge has officially settled the terms between Nintendo and Tropic Haze, the developers behind the Switch Emulator yuzu. The defense must now pay Nintendo $2.4 million and cease all development and distribution of the emulator.

Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who was traced to have leaked major classified documents on a Discord server agrees to accept a 16-year prison sentence. Teixeira has pleaded guilty to all six counts charged against him in exchange to not be charged with additional counts by the prosecution under the Espionage Act.

In other news…

Voice actress TARAKO has also been confirmed to have passed away. In games, she has played Monokuma in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and various roles for the Super Robot Wars titles. She has performed for numerous characters in anime throughout her long career, most known for having held the role of the titular protagonist of Chibi Maruko-chan for over 35 years.

More games studios continue to announce they are shuttering: Deck Nine Games, developers who have contributed to Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, Life Is Strange: True Colors, and Telltale’s The Expanse have announced closures around the same time Sony has gone through a period of hundreds of layoffs last week. Eggnut Games, developer of Tails Noir has also made the difficult decision to close due to “persisting complications in funding.”

The 20th BAFTA Games Awards has officially announced their nominations list for this year. Baldur’s Gate 3 has secured about 10 nominations across several categories. The awards ceremony is taking place on April 11.

Following Sting’s official sendoff and retirement from wrestling, one of his sons goes on to reveal himself as having been running a Destiny YouTube channel for some time.

Fellow games journalists who used to work at Hard Drive have launched a new, independently-run publication called Palette Swap. The team hopes to focus on both serious writing and satire their Hard Drive alum is known for.

Mass Effect is getting a co-op board game. To be published by Modiphius, the game’s storyline is set to take place during the events of Mass Effect 3.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is coming to PC on May 16.

Currently trending card game Balatro has been removed from some console storefronts due to strict anti-gambling restrictions in various regions. Publisher Playstack states that this is due to a ratings bump of the game stemming from the mistaken belief that the game contains or encourages actual gambling.

Following an unsurprising, tepid response, Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones has been seen already getting price cuts on storefronts.

But more baffingly, Overwatch 2 has an upcoming collaboration with Cowboy Bebop.

The post The Bulletin: Rest In Peace, Akira Toriyama appeared first on Gamesline.

As always you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, @mavsplaniamania, @horngal, and @ErikaMiaou.

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The news hasn’t slowed down either! IGN’s whole situation is kind of a mess right now, the Epic v. Apple case continues to be a disaster leaking some redacted info about Nintendo, Genshin and Honkai Impact are having a crossover, Twitch officially states that being sexy is not a crime, Ubisoft’s employees are now starting trial against the company following many workplace abuse allegations, a new Dragon Quest themepark has opened while the series is expecting some big news hitting its 35th anniversary, Blizzard continues to be in a rough spot with few active projects and several high profile resignations, and we remember the influential Berserk mangaka Kentaro Miura, who unfortunately passed away.

As always you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @scottblah, @lvmaeparian, @mavsplaniamania, @ErikaMiaou, and on Instagram @fataleflare.

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You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

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As always you can support us on our patreon, and follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, @JudgementScythe, @Solonface, and @lvmaeparian.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

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For me, this was a year where I started with a clear assumption that gradually got torn away as time went on. While I expected certain games to be in my good graces, and they absolutely still are, so many hidden threats seeped out of the woodworks and weaseled their way into my heart. On top of all the new hits, I actually went back to play a bunch of older games for the first time, such as games I’ve meant to play for years and years but never really got around to doing it. To start off my list, I’m gonna write a few bits about those games, and why I think they hold up, and should be given a shot even today.

The Atelier Series

I’ve been meaning to play the Atelier series for like, what, five years or something? I’m huge on the Neptunia games and they’ve always been sold to me as those but with an extra bit of polish and a whole lot more gameplay direction. For once I actually feel like that selling point was right on the money, and boy does it rule. The Atelier games are all about cute girls doing alchemy and going on adventures with friends and family members while they solve generally laid back mysteries. While there are some entries that go more serious than others, I’ve found myself especially enjoying the Dusk Trilogy of games, which take place in a really grim post apocalyptic world, but almost entirely ignore this. Using a grim spooky setting as the backdrop for upbeat lesbian adventures is like my fucking ambrosia and if you’re the type of person who maybe is into that sort of thing then I highly recommend picking up Atelier Ayesha or Escha and Logy if you get the chance.

Final Fantasy VIII

So I haven’t gotten incredibly far into FF8, but I am absolutely in love with pretty much everything it has going on. This is a AAA juggernaut revolutionary game for the time where they make you spend like five minutes watching a man freak out and get a leg cramp falling over himself trying to ask a girl out on a date. For the time especially that’s incredible, and I found myself continuously impressed by more and more of the game’s presentation and ideas. People say a lot of games were ahead of their time, and that usually applies to complete failures or overlooked niche hits. I’d argue, however, that Final Fantasy VIII was the type of game that was absolutely appreciated for specific reasons back in 1999, and can be appreciated for even more twenty years later. Oh yeah the draw system by the way? Kicks ass. You know it’s a good FF game when everyone’s a Blue Mage.

Titanfall 2

You know I do a whole lot of talking about how Halo Reach is my favorite shooter of all time, and like, one of the best games ever made. In the time since Halo Reach, I’ve been increasingly disappointed both inside and outside the Halo series, as everyone tried desperately to either throw out any semblance of clever design and balance in favor of aping Call of Duty, or worse, Battle Royales. Titanfall 2 however, is one of the best damn shooters I have ever played and it is a CRIME that it didn’t get the staying power of any other big name shooter. With tons of options for traversal, a bunch of different mechs that all feel meaningfully different, and a co-op mode that’s a thousand times better than the suckfest that is Call of Duty Zombies, there’s just so much to do that it’s always a fun time. Sure the game is a little rough around the edges, with a very freemium style UI and an aesthetic that is simultaneously the best and worst, but it’s still a game I kept having a blast in no matter how many hours I threw in. I still haven’t even done the campaign which everyone hypes up so much, and I’m this in love with it! Please try it if you can because it’s a hell of a lot better, and has a much more cohesive design philosophy than any other FPS released in the last decade.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

https://t.co/bUyb7Lrf6R pic.twitter.com/RZ361MOIbl

— RMT (@horngal) June 18, 2019

I like the Dragon Quest games now! As someone who actively avoided the franchise because I thought they would be incredibly boring and ugly, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed playing through the eleventh major installment. Though I still don’t care for the overall appearance of the game, something about seeing high fidelity Toriyama characters works surprisingly well, and the monster designs more than make up for whatever disgusting humanoids the game throws at you over the course of its 100+ hour campaign. Though the series did end up being as faithful to the core tenants of a JRPG as I expected, that never made it boring, and the characterization of even the most simplest of mechanics made things feel much more impactful than they actually would’ve seemed to be. I’m excited to dig into a bunch of the back catalog of this endless thousand game long series now that I know more about it, and maybe finally understand what’s going on with that crazy “Rocket Slime” guy everyone’s always talking about.

Also!

So yeah! Go play those games! I also highly recommend Radiant Historia, specifically for the 3DS. It’s a great game that uses time travel in an actually clever and well considered way, and I really enjoyed it for its unique tone and feeling. Crosscode is a pretty good banger from last year too, taking the atmosphere and concepts of an MMO and popping them into a puzzle-filled RPG. Anyways, 2019.

10: Indivisible

Indivisible is by no means a perfect game, but it’s also one that I genuinely had a blast playing for almost the entire time I spent with it. Sure the backtracking got a little annoying, and there was a lot left to be desired in the story department, but I found myself completely unable to put this game down until I beat it which is something that has become increasingly rarer as the years have gone on. Hopefully with future updates inbound, Lab Zero can clean up any of the lingering issues with the game because there really is a lot to like. With a colorful cast, satisfying thwacks, and a whole bunch of womens for me to go “wahow!” at, I think Indivisible was well worth the time I gave it.

9: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

I might not be the wildest Castlevania head out there but god damn do I love me Symphony of the Night. With the rough history of Kickstarter-backed spiritual successors, everyone was afraid that Bloodstained might just sputter out and die at release but luckily this wasn’t even close to a Mighty No. 9. There’s so many systems in this game that it sometimes gets overwhelming, but interacting with them and fooling around with exploration and different character builds is still fun in a way that pretty much no other game in the Metroidvania genre has done in years. It was pretty easy to cheese most of the game, but you get to do so by turning into a bunny girl demon so who can possibly say if it’s bad or not? There’s still lots of content coming to this game down the line, and I’ll totes dive back in for some more hoppin’ and choppin’.

8: Kingdom Hearts III

Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that a Kingdom Hearts game could end up this low on a top ten list, but Kingdom Hearts III really gutted me in a lot of bummerific ways. It was still fun, and it was an outrageous spectacle in the way that I expect Kingdom Hearts to be, but there was just something…off about the whole thing. I don’t know if it was an overfocus on the Disney side of things, a mostly sterile interpretation of those properties from a series that once pit Cloud Strife against Hercules with complete and utter sincerity, but after waiting over ten years for a true blockbuster follow up to Kingdom Hearts II, we got what feels like yet another side game. 

There are moments where Kingdom Hearts III shines, where it delivers on years and years of plot build up and emotionally resonates with the deepest most innocent parts of our brains. Unfortunately for each time of triumph, there’s a handful of “what could have been”s and “what should have been”s. Throw into that the series’ worst handling of female characters to date and damn, I just couldn’t help but shake my head. I still love Kingdom Hearts, and I’m excited to play the DLC, but Kingdom Hearts III deserved better than this.

7: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

I like that when i see a boss for the first time now this is how it goeshttps://t.co/aJ00OyZt11 pic.twitter.com/h0NPxAgUIB

— RMT (@horngal) March 29, 2019

When Sekiro is good? It’s easily one of the best games you could ever play in your entire life. Full of blistering high speed high stakes combat- the natural progression of FromSoftware’s design ethos after Bloodborne– this is a game that rewards your mastery of its mechanics more than almost any you or I could name. The fight against Genichiro on the top of the castle towards the middle of the game is one of the best vibe checks in gaming; one that’s patient but demanding. Gradually unraveling the ways you can use your sword to fuck shit up feels sooo satisfying, and the adrenaline you get from slamming your sword into any of the game’s bosses after a long battle feels amazing.

When Sekiro is bad though? It really just bums you all the way out. For a game that succeeds at 1v1 battles, it has a propensity to increase the difficulty by just…tossing in an identical second enemy that you have to contend with. This wouldn’t be a problem if you could use your tools more but all of your tools use up /the same/ currency that doesn’t even regenerate upon death so you always feel like you have to save them rather than actually experiment with them. Sometimes fights go on just a little too long (looking at you final boss), and sometimes they’re just way too short! While I appreciate FromSoft branching out and getting a little wild with their game format, and I think that they mostly pulled it off, I wish they had the courage to not rely on a lot of the trappings people have come to expect from Souls games to complete their package.

6: Death Stranding

God I wish I was the babyhttps://t.co/l3ZVZ9Qk8z pic.twitter.com/sp2Z3IJfEh

— RMT (@horngal) November 22, 2019

Speaking of games I wish weren’t held back by something hey when the hell is Kojima going to let himself have a proper invested editor again? I’m of the mind that when it comes to designing and executing on unique game mechanics Kojima is almost second to none. The man has an incredible way of nailing not only a consistent atmosphere that keeps you engrossed but incredibly wacky and imaginative things to do that no one else would even dream of trying. It’s just a shame he has to hold himself back with his weird hyper specific tastes and mediocre script writing! Why!

MGS V, while being one of my favorite Metal Gear games, already painted a troubling picture for what Kojima considered to be “a good story,” and Death Stranding pretty much followed its exact blueprint. While I loved the core gameplay loop of Death Stranding, the social narrative of creating easier ways for others to play the game alongside you, and the overwhelming and oppressive atmosphere the world cultivates, the core narrative was kind of just a bummer. More than anything it made me feel disappointed in the game as a whole, a cohesive whole brought down by some of the worst D grade TV writing has to offer. 

That said though the gameplay was truly incredible stuff that one would never have expected from a major AAA release. Walking is a big deal that actually matters, combat is a tertiary system you want to mostly avoid, and you spend most of the game building roads and other random structures out in the middle of the wilderness so that you get “likes” which don’t actually do anything! It’s great! When people call Kojima a visionary it’s because of stuff like this, these are really great, unique, and well implemented ideas that make Death Stranding a game like no other. I just hope that for Kojima’s next project he can maybe get someone else to proof his work, that way we can get a whole lot less of Die-Hardman telling us how to recharge a motorcycle’s battery over and over, and more of Die-Hardman telling us how stacking pizza correctly is real important shit.

5: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

There’s not much I can say other than I love Fire Emblem so of course this is here, here are some miscellaneous thoughts. 

• Some of this game’s writing sucks ass but almost all of the character writing is top notch stuff. It relies heavily on tropes, but the way that each member of your house plays off each other means you’re gonna have a hard time not falling in love with all of your rowdy students/soldiers/killing machine. 
• It’s not Fire Emblem Fates: The Incest Olympics! 
• Edelgard is my wife.
  

  4: Disco Elysium

Man we never get any fuckin’ real RPGs anymore! Ever since Mass Effect and the Bioware format in general took to the scene we’ve had to sit by and watch as voiced protagonists and bombastic set pieces limited what could happen in experiences meant to be molded out of various options. While there’s been plenty of stuff going on in the CRPG scene between hits like Pillars of Eternity and Divinity: Original Sin, the combat in those games has always been a huge hill I could never overcome due to various issues and personal sentiments. Thankfully Disco Elysium came, kicked ass as a completely original Role Playing Game, and didn’t make me do a million clickings or strategizings to experience what it had to offer.

I feel like everyone’s said what makes Disco Elysium good by now, but I’m just gonna reiterate that, it’s very good. Kim is one of the best partners in video games, and gradually seeing what kind of person he is over the course of your interactions humanizes him in a way that most writers could only dream. The character building is incredibly unique with a huge slew of unique personality options that most games would never consider “something you spec into.” I don’t want to spoil anymore of this game than what you might’ve seen online but if you love to read and enjoy leftist politics I cannot recommend Disco Elysium enough.

3: Control 

Control Rules https://t.co/eNF4P0fQXO pic.twitter.com/vNhOOyqRcb

— RMT (@horngal) September 1, 2019

I am the hardcore Alan Wake head. I think at Video Game Choo Choo, more than any other website, you will find a lot of Alan Wake heads. With good reason too! Remedy has this incredible style and direction that they put into all of their games that few can even dream of matching. Wearing their influences on their sleeves, Remedy has the courage to do what no one else in the business is even trying to do: Incorporate both musical sequences, and Full Motion Video to full effect in a 2019 big budget title. 

Seeing an SCP game brought to life outside of the clunky vaporware that is Containment Breach is the best shit ever, and having it all be delivered in a similar format to the best television show of all time, Twin Peaks: The Return? Incomparable stuff. Add in a strong female lead who doesn’t rely on any tropes to be sick as hell, a ton of easter eggs about Alan Wake, and some of the most thought out and realistic environmental design that actually encourages you to read signs to figure out where to go next (!!!) and you have a recipe for yet another Remedy classic.

2: Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

1: Devil May Cry V

The hype shithttps://t.co/bdm1DWFHsT pic.twitter.com/2VIqxrJRhG

— RMT (@horngal) March 26, 2019

Pullin’ shots – aimin’ dots – Yeah I don’t miss

Branded by Fire – Born in the abyss

Red hot temper – I just can’t resist

All this vengeance inside me

All of these thoughts runnin’ through my head

Arm on fire, veins burnin’ red

Frustration is gettin’ bigger

Bang Bang Bang – Pull my Devil Trigger!

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