Post "What brackets do you want to hear next?" by "TheBesties" from patreon

Roger

Do a Best Game Dad protaganist bracket - Joel(TLOU), God of War you know!

Joanna

Best UFO 50 game. A game of the year ep but just for the UFO 50 games

Michael Kane

Best Kojima game would be fun!

Daniel

oh you know what? I do think its time I hear the handheld versions of best console no games, and best launch line up. I also think best LAST games on the console, because pretty much every game console ends on a whimper, and Id really love to hear the best one. The rubric could be best star, best slate, and which console got the longest tail to it (PS2 Da Best)

MajorDX25

I merely feel the vibe of the a Besties-verse echoing through time and space! 🤣

Jody Anthony

MajorDX25 is a time traveler.

MajorDX25

Best Game Food (that is, food in games like Monster Hunter or Castlevania Wall Turkey, etc)

Thunder-Ruth

Any chance of a "Best game of the half decade" some time next year? If I remember correctly the bestie gotys for 2020 onward so far were Resident Evil Village, Hades, Elden Ring & Baldur's Gate 3. If you bring in other high placing games like Inscryption, Animal Crossing, Metroid Dread, Tears of the Kingdom, Lies of P, Tunic... PLUS the games that place highly in this years goty discussion of course.

Tiago Moura

Make a bracket of brackets!

Spughetti

Best game to co-op with a non/new-gamer

Dustin Siegel

A Bad games tier list. Which of these known to be bad games are secretly good?

Walker Weber

Exactly

billfromamerica

Fallout

billfromamerica

They did an episode similar to this! Look up the episode titled "The definitive power ranking of star wars video games"

Randy Simon Jr

I think you guys could do an episode on like "best release day" or like, most hype release or something. Based on crowds, lines, sentiment in the industry. Rubric could include something about 'did the game live up to the hype'

16-Xray

I would've said best twist, but then you'd have to spoil Outter Wilds

16-Xray

Had to stop the latest episode halfway through and finish it the next day. Couldn't remember echo point nova by the end. For braket- best time jump, or maybe best disruptive or theme changing mid-game mechanic?

Clam Copeland

I love the home base idea

Kevin Toney

Not just cars, I'm talkin helicopters, horses, etc.

Logan Biedermann

best speedrun game, best long game, worst game to play at night, best 'worst' game

J. Mark Madison

Best rival

Y0GEL

- best arcade cabinet - hardest level

ames

FFXV for the win here, imo. I want all of those meals.

ames

ugh a game that can make me sob because of character death is a game I will play eight million times and cry every time.

ames

Someone upstream (waaaaaaay upstream and maybe multiple someones) said character you most want to hang out with and YES. (Me? Either Gladio from FFXV or Zagreus from Hades. Just good bros.)

Ethan Smith

Best survival horror!!

X_Blade_Mage

Best Storyline

Mitchell Sugar

Best Hub World! Potential contenders: Firelink Shrine, Delfino Plaza, Gruntilda’s lair

Chris

best mortal kombat fatalities

Chris Bobb

Best couch co-op games

Matthew Spainhour

Best video games featured in television/movies

Evan

Funniest games

Kody Woolbright

Yessssssss

Paul Dunford

What about something like the best "joke" items in video games, like items that are meant for a good gag instead of actual practical use. Either that or something like the most emotional/shocking deaths in video games

James Prothero

Most contentious gaming argument

Kevin Toney

Best vehicle in a video game!

Amanda

Game starter packs maybe? If you've only played X, here's what else to try

Elyse

I love best first boss!!

Benjammin’

Most interesting ecology in a game world

Arthur

Best game that never got a sequel

Arthur

Best ending

I wanted to so see how many characters you could put here and omg this is insane WHY would any person need this many characters

1) Best gaming snack. Sample Criteria: Residual Residue (sticky,dust,grease), Ease of Use (packaging, depth of bag/box/can), Taste, Caloric Impact 2) Most interesting, not necessarily best game play, 4x game that you would all play, and finish, in its entirety. Like a multiplayer run of the besties playing Crusader Kings 3, or Civ 7, or Warhammer total war etc... 3) Second the best peripheral nom, as there are probably a bunch that a lot of us aren't aware of

Slam The Impaler

Yakuza is the one for this!

Slam The Impaler

Best and most rewarding Easter egg (something functional like an item that you can actually use till the end of the game not post game where there is no more content)

Doug

Best soundtrack/sounds :)

Tim Johnson

Best third entry in a franchise. I want to see Halo 3 vs A Link to the Past vs Civilization III vs Super Metroid vs Bowser's Inside Story vs ME3 vs God of War 3...

Nicole Levay

Ohhh love the food idea!!!

Joanna

Best co-op

Nicole Levay

I love this!

Brad MacDonald

Damn 300 comments! That's crazy

Al Sharp

Video game food you want to eat the most IRL

Dalton Keibler

Best cozy game Best pixel art Best online co-op game

Luke 'Punquillity' Elias

Best game peripherals (steel battalion controller, flight sticker, guitar hero controller, etc.) Best co op/2 player experience Best (insert genre here) game setting

Will Candler

Worst Game in a Franchise

Casey Francis Alger

Best Stats System.

Alex Waterston

Best easter egg. Best fighting game fighter/best fighter fighter Best first hour of a video game.

Peachy AnnaBelle

These have both kind of been said, but I like them for the Cozy time of year: tastiest looking in-game food, best home/base of operations (ME's Normandy, Fallout 4's Settlements, Link's cute little houses)

It’sahMeBronnyG

Best game with a barn yard animal

Max!

I’d also love to hear you guys just really commit yourself to a classic character ranking of some sort? Smash bros power scale list is the obvious example but you guys could do anything

Curtis Harding

Best voice acting / performance? I think that could be rad. If it’s too broad, you could break it down by platform, too.

Anthony Householder

Best Character Voice

Emily Lewis

Also a May the 4th special, Best Star Wars Game

Trevor David Black

Which bestie would survive longest in a Mortal Kombat scenario

Jake Davis

Best Mini Game Library/collection of mini games in a single game

Walker Weber

Best franchise redesign. Example hell divers 2, mortal kombat 9, ocarina of time, breath of the wild, mario 64, risk of rain 2, world of warcraft

ran

best crossover? sonic and mario, marvel vs capcom, smt iii nocturne featuring dante from the devil may cry series?

Kenny Lanza

Best mini-game within another game? Golden Saucer games in FFVII, Infinite Wealth's numerous games or eleven stretch it to things like Animal Crossing or Donkey Kong 64 having entire games within them.

Ryan Giglio

Poll for most important genre in video game history

Bishibosh44

Can we do a bracket for Best Besties Rubrics? Ranking the best of Russ' Woes and Foibles might be on point. Okay. For real though. Best Games that Never Got a Sequel!

Directional Joy

Best ‘stinker’ character (an individual that makes your journey difficult). I stress that the difficulty MUST be intentional and/or part of the character’s personality.

L.B. Morse

Best Level Progression / Skill Tree Mechanics

L.B. Morse

Best Singular Musical Moment in a Video Game (That Maybe Even Elevated the Game to Greatness) [i.e. The Ashtray Maze in CONTROL]

Rob W

I'm just waiting for the meta bracket, where the topic is best rubric

JD

What game had the best TV ad / spot? (I still remember Gears of Wars set to Mad World)

EtherEli

Ho boy im sure I’ll think of more later but some that could be interesting: 1. Best side quest? (include or exclude MMOs here, might be a minefield) 2. Best gaming handheld (similarly, might be better or worse to include the recent wave of emulators and maybe not good since the steam deck is such a front runner, who knows!) 3. Best Early Access title to hit 1.0 or “make good” (maybe Hades or BG3 are too obvious for front runners, maybe not! Thought of it during the recent Windblown discussion) it is a topic that fascinates me, especially how for you guys there’s this debate of when a game is done enough to review that I think might feed into it well 4. Best intro/cinematic? 5. ???

Jon

Nominations: Cuphead, Super Hexagon, Celeste...

Jon

Best bite-sized skill game. Short sessions, demanding gameplay, huge "fuck yeah" moments when you can earn them. Rubric: 1. Which game has the most satisfying wins? 2. Which game most respects the player's time? 3. Which game has the most well-tuned skill progression?

J. Brian

Best town/city? Couldn't be that many, right? right?

Elaine Wong

Putting in another vote for best food crafting / cooking experience in a game! The rubric could include things like: - Which is most likely to actually achieve the recipe from the basic crafting ingredients - Which looks the tastiest - Which buff effects are the most reasonable to achieve from the ingredients Tie breaker: If you had to inhabit one world and only eat its food, which game would you choose

Caleb Ackerman

I had no idea!! I started listening around spring 2022 so I'll look back from there.

Patrick Hightower

- Best Guilty Pleasure Game - you know it isn't good, but you love it anyway. - Best (Strangest?) Gaming Peripheral - R.O.B., Steel Battalion controller, VMU, Trance Vibrator? - Best Vaporware - what could have been

billfromamerica

They've done this! Look back around their 10th anniversary. I want to say 2020-2022ish

billfromamerica

They've actually done the best of the decade bracket. It's in the regular show. It's somewhere around 2020-2022. Look for the 10th anniversary episodes. It's around there.

billfromamerica

Underwater level! Love that

billfromamerica

No! The jankiness is part of the fun!

billfromamerica

Best soundtrack for sure

ames

I think the reason there is just Russ’s brain, lol

Harrison Stanley

Best re-release! (remakes,remasters and redos included) that balance between core experience and quality of life upgrades

Brad Young

Best (coolest, most useful, weirdest, whatever) Character's ability (power, unique skill etc.). Maybe limited to innate abilities, not like "has big sword."

Boz Luhrmann

Best soundtrack Best reveal—could be plot-based, or something like botw revealing that the great plateau is only part of the world.

Caige

Best Needle Drop (use of licensed non-soundtrack music e.g. Paper Planes in Far Cry 3) Best One Man Show (indie games with a single creator) Best Scary Level in a Non-Scary game (e.g. We don't go to Ravenholm) Best DLC level (More Mass Effect Citadel, less horse armor)

Noah

Best Parody Game (could be parody of a genre, parody of another game) Best Exercise Game Best MMORPG (I like to cause problems)

Morally Ambiguous Wizard

Best NPC companion Best puzzle (single or in sequence) Best "quest-giving" mechanic (i.e. go to npc with a ! over their head, or listen to a dark souls character talk, or go to a quest board)

Cosmo Rettig

Best Search Action Game Most Disappointing Game

Zachary Martel

What video game characters are best suited to survive in other video game worlds? You could set 4 or 5 worlds as tests and debate about their chances.

Andrew Toms

It's a bit too early for it, but I would absolutely love a meta-bracket on the best rubrics you guys have come up with. They're always so unhinged lol

Michael Olson

Best first 5 or 10 minutes of a game

Rich Wilson

Best in-world food Best vehicle (seconded from Sacha) Best powerup

billfromamerica

I love episodes where you compare characters. More of that please! Character you'd most want to have a beer with. Protagonist you'd most want on your side in a fight. That kind of a thing!

Sunny Liu

Game with the best open world - not best open world game, but rather evaluating the design of the open worlds. Best NPC hangouts/downtime - I love when I get to have moments of just chilling and hanging out with my party in some RPGs, in-between all the excitement and adventure.

Mike

They did this one already it’s in the brackets collection!

Mike

Best couch co-op. It’s a little different from party games but I think the rubric could also include something about “best for non-gamers”. I need more games to play with my wife!

Clint Cornelison

Best emersive level design/texure/lighting - games that are impossible to not feel like you're there.

Clint Cornelison

Best comfort/chill/VIBE games... we'll be needing them soon enough. Games where you go - and just be. For some it's stardew, some it's forza horizon, some love that megaman legends/digimon world life (me)

skullman

Best launch titles

Bret Scofield

Best games to play at childhood sleepovers

Sacha Greif

Best music and/or theme Best game world (specifically the world itself, not the whole game) Best dialog Best vehicle

Emily Lewis

Best Edutainment Games Best Licensed Game Best Cozy Game Best Collectibles Also something like Best Journals/Audio Files/Backstory Unlocks?

27Lizards

Sauces

Eric Juneau

JRPGs vs CRPGs

Gavin Hancock

Best Guilty Pleasures Best Non-Gamer Game Best Game to play for 1000 hours

Alex Duplessie

Some potential brackets: Best collectors edition, best roguelike, best adaptation (film/tv/theme park/etc.), best cozy game, best e3 announcement

Mac Fullerton

Best trailer

James Lancaster

Boomer Shooter!

Lucas Stearns

Best Fishing Mini Game Rubric ideas: How much fun/complex/satisfying How did it impact the actual game Tie breaker: if you had 15 minutes on your commute and could only play one, what would you play

TheLazyDog

Best cozy game!

Ella M.

yakuza has so many good options for this. cabaret club czar from 0 and 2, pocket circuit, DONDOKO ISLAND????

Andy

Best FIRST game, either of a series of games, or first from a publisher

Krista Brenholt

Best adaptation game. As a kid I was obsessed with the SpongeBob Movie game and the Curious George game for GameCube. You’d have to exclude Simpsons Hit and Run though as the obvious winner I think though lol

David Monterrosas Ustaran

Best game the besties are not cultured enough to actually give a fair chance at GoTY

Nekolink330

Best co-op game to play with your SO

Sandy Archer

Best worst games. Failure games that you love in spite of it

Donnie Halinka

I just ask that you look at the rubric with everyone before you start the episode. Or, do not and build the rubric as you go. But listening to you try to figure out how fun it is to defeat your friends at Rock Band for three rounds before you finally threw the rubric away was tough.

Jordan

Most "of its time" video game protagonist. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)

David Molnar

Get super meta with some bracks. Worst Besties opinion. Best Besties opinion. Most unreasonable video game hill to die on.

zach winstead

Mist surprsing game (ether mechanically or story)

Devin White

Best spiritual sequel. Games like BioShock to System Shock, Dragon Age to Baldur's Gate 2, Yooka-Laylee to Banjo Kazooie, Pillars of Eternity to Baldur's Gate 2, Splitgate to Halo, etc. I'm imagining the categories would be: * Which game evokes the original better? * Which game carves out a new space better? * (Tie breaker) Which game had the most amount of time between it and the game it's a spiritual sequel to?

Christian Killgore

I feel like flying the gummi ship in Kingdom Hearts should count.

Ella

Best soundtrack!

Ben Mardana

Best video game based on a movie/tv show Best movie/tv show based on a game Best walking simulator Best underwater level Best game for first timers Best idle game Best search action game Best metroidbrainia Best open world game Best scary game Best one hit wonder Best game you've never heard of

TyRyanArt

A few other options that came to mind Animal Crossing Puzzle League (New Leaf) Virus Buster (Brain Age 2) Dr. Wario/Pyoro (WarioWare) Frog Fractions 2 (Glittermitten Grove) Chao Garden (SA2) Geometry Wars (PGR) Demon Tower (NITW) Beetle Mania (SMRPG)

Aflex

-Best boss final phase -Best jump -Best underwater level -Best geographical transformation (botw->totk, wow pre-cata -> wow post-cata)

PAPA WEAVE

100%. And the tie breaker category would be "which would make for better content in an episode of Monster Factory"

Zack Houser

Best non-combat focused game. (Sports games, farming sims, walking sims, puzzle games, racing l, etc) Worst weapon in gaming history. Best “unique controls”’game. Could include special controllers or unique control schemes like Skate or RAD.

Aflex

PICO Celeste in Celeste

Emily

Me loading up Final Fantasy X just to play blitzball

Emily

BEST FISHING MINI GAME. My personal motto is that a game can't be good unless it has fishing. (Not all games that have fishing are good, but it's a requirement to be a Good Game.)

Brice Todd

Best gimmick controllers/ games with these controls! (E.g. dk bongos, guitar hero peripherals, dance dance revolution, etc.)

Rocki Raccoon

scariest enemies!! just imagine jack baker up against pyramid head.... i just got shivers.....

Jesse K

I like the brackets a lot, but you could always think about other options for the bonus episodes- reviews of game movies, retro game reviews, ‘cool games inc’ style game pitches, etc

Christian Killgore

You did best final boss, but what about best first boss? Rubrics ideas would be: How well does it introduce/teach vital game mechanics? Does it give you that I want to keep playing this game feeling? Tie breaker: who would you rather work for?

John Richards

Best lowest tier enemy pawn. I.e Haol’s Grunts vs Mario’s Gumbas, Zelda’s Bokoblins vs Sonic’s Buzzbombers, etc.

Will Smith

Best character creator

Christian Killgore

Gwent (Witcher 3) Wheels (Sea of Stars) Junimo Kart (Stardew Valley)

Gem Newman

Best movie/TV show/book *about* games

RoboCop911

Best game with more than 10 total entries in the series

Emily Janecdotes

Best review by a bestie. Best FMV. Best fishing mini game.

Joe Ely

Most iconic bad guy you kill 1000x times (Mario Goombas, Halo Elites, Zelda Bokoblin)

TyRyanArt

Best Game within Game For example: Triple Triad One of the Kirby ones (Brawl Ball maybe?) Professor Layton's London Life Mario Bros (From Advance series) Tekken Bowling I'm imagining more specifically longer experiences. Ones you can genuinely sink a lot of time into and stand on their own outside the main game.

Tim B

Take the Resties Required Reading List and bracket battle them to determine the best game(s) of all time

Shmueli Berdugo

Best character progression

Peter Morain

Best Mystery Game (Deja Vu, Obra Dinn, Golden Idol games, Disco Elysium, Overboard, Strange Horticulture, Outer Wilds, Gone Home, Backbone, etc etc)

PAPA WEAVE

Some Options: - Best Besties Winner / Best Game of the Decade(s) - Best Indie Game - Best AAA Gane - Best Game Soundtrack - Best Publisher - Best Developer (It's FromSoftware with a bullet btw)

Shopcreeper

Best Cooperative Campaign

Kevin Gahman

Best genre of games

Monty

Best Besties Child

Audrey Cox

Best storytelling

Nicky Bodsworth

Best games on Xbox game pass

Caleb Ackerman

Best besties winner! Take the goty winners since the podcast started and put them against each other

Lindsay M.

Best puzzle games

Kaizoku Risu

Best asymmetric multiplayer games

Alexander Moralez

Best of the Besties Best, so rank all of their games of the year and see if BoTW can beat TowerFall

KaiserRoll22

Here's a couple! - Best Sidekick - weirdest gameplay mechanics - Best year of games

Hannah Coleman-Zaitzeff

Best Motion Control Games Best OST Game with best side quests Best faction in a game (or faction you would want to be a part of)

Hannah Coleman-Zaitzeff

Best cozy game

K

Best controller

Will Gainsborough

Hello fellow Pittsburger.

Will Gainsborough

Best food in a video game Best crossover in a video game Most satisfying video game Best hair in a video game

Austin Bridges

Best (iconic) melee weapon

Trevan Haskell

Best fan game or mod

Dorian Young

Best map

Dorian Young

Best co-op

Jody Anthony

Best soundtrack

Clay

Best hyped-up game, judged on how wild the hype got and how good the game actually was. Tie-breaker, time from announcement to release.

Carson Ogen

Best Mobile Games! (If that's too general, maybe best non-free to play mobile games).

Wade

Best genre-defining games (rogue for roguelikes, stardew valley for farming sims, etc!)

bushwackdill

Uh Sonic Adventure 2 anyone

Justin Glier

I know yinz don’t play city builders and grand strategy games. You’ve stated your reasons. I still want a modern city builder and/or modern grand strategy bracket. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT! Love you, guys. Thanks for bringing joy and distraction to us all.

Grant

Best basic enemy to beat up. Thinking like putties from power rangers

Muncle

Most innovative

Tristan Weber

Best music in a video game

jahr

Best Odd Lots: Beak Capitalism Chicken Sandwich Expert Ok, cooking game

James Knapper

Best arcade game

James Saldivar

Best celebrity appearance in a game(def jam games, danny trejo in like a dragon, etc.). Best sports game. Best companion. Saddest or most meaningful moment in a game. Best game to play if you've never played a game. Best horror game. Best game based on a franchise.

Matthew Straume

Best Arcade game Best fictional company (in a game) Best game promotion/marketing lead up to release

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• Best power-up (if you could use it in real life) • Best bathroom break game • Best game to show friends who aren't gamers but are people of taste and other wise wide cultural experience that might persuade them, and you, that you haven't been wasting your time all these long years • Best reading game • Best game soundtrack (licensed) • Best game soundtrack (original) • Deathmatch of the above two categories • Best song specifically created for a video game • Best character creator • Best minor side-character that never got their own game but should though, right? • Best educational game • Best game with actual characters where nothing gets shot or dies (and they have to actually not die not just bloodlessly evaporate) • Best game world where it would actually be nice to live and not horrifying • Best in-game fashion (lol like you guys would know) • Best videogame hair-style • Least-worst FMV game

bjorktribe

Worst game you played anyway because you liked it.

Andrew P

Best gaming snack Best base/hub world Best spaceship

Sebbo Mode

Game with the most/best "juice". I would love to hear you try and pin down what makes a game feel "juicy". First example that comes to mind is the feel of the guns in Destiny.

Jeffery Clark

Best handheld emulators Best Nintendo IP Best historic moments in gaming Best video game auteurs/icons of the industry (Kojima, Miyamoto, etc.) Best video game movies Best PS2 games

Ian Pytlarz

I like hearing stuff you guys are uniquely able to comment on sometimes, so how about ‘Best game that was a critical failure’ and/or ‘worst game that was a critical darling’

Sebbo Mode

I love this one!

VacantExpressionComics

Best Death Screen / Game Over Screen

Bradford Spurr

Best Mobile Game Best Split Screen Co-op Game Best Online Multiplayer Game Best Standalone/One-and-done Games (Games that only had one entry, no sequels)

Joshua Emanuel

Best opening cinematic Best soundtrack

DoctorButt

Best couch co op, or best mobile game!

Kat

Best open world?

AJ

Best in-game game (not minigames per se, more like Gwent in Witcher 3, Queen’s Blood in FF7, Caravan in New Vegas, etc… games that could just basically be standalone). Best/most iconic first level or opening area. Best mini boss (not final boss)

Matthew Trimble

Best 4th wall break?

AaronElWhite

Best Indie Game from a Solo Dev Best Video Game Soundtrack/Score Best Turn-based Combat System Best Tactics RPG Best Final Fantasy Best Zelda

Paige Reiring

Best box art

Kenneth Herrell

Best couch co-op

Kenneth Herrell

Best controller.

Michael Brosius

Best evolution of a game series

Kenneth Herrell

Wow after Cataclysm is one of

Devon Kelly

Best of the worst?! Biggest bust?! Most overrated

Daniel Lunsford

Best “Go to/never gets old” game. What is the best game you can pick up when you have nothing else to play or what game never gets old? Best potential for a sequel that never happened. What game do you think deserved a sequel and didn’t get one or which game do you think would most thrive from getting a sequel? Last one, best “dead” game franchise. Kind of ties into the last idea.

James

Best UFO 50 game. Best game to play with your SO

Joe Payne

Best minigames (let’s goooo like a dragon)

Joe Payne

Best decision

Parker Mazure

Best/ Most Important / Most Innovative Game Series (Zelda, Pokémon, Mario, Halo, etc)

Tyler Stercula

Best villain Most surprising game Best soundtrack/score Best companion Best game about speed

Parker Mazure

Best/ Most Important / Most Innovative Game Series (Zelda, Pokémon, Mario, Halo, etc)

Emily D

Best additional hardware for a console

Brandon

I'm not sure how to word this, but best evolution of the game map/environment. For example Elden Ring after beating Starscourge Radahn. I can't think of other ones right now, but I know many exist!

andrew gallagher

Best puzzles or best big puzzle could be good

BeanieBoy

Take the Besties SOs and friends favorite games of all time and bracket those against one another

Keith

Best Knockoff! The best game that was clearly made to cash in on the success of another game. The example that comes to mind is Dragon Quest/Warrior Monsters. A rubric point could be how much that game in turn influenced the series it was “inspired by.”

BadStar

Best AI-Sidekick / Companion (It’s Garrus from ME2, but still good to hear why he beats everyone else 😂)

Big Chowder

need Griffin and Kirk Hamilton to talk favorite video game sound effects

Nicholas Shumate

Best UFO 50 game

Daniel

Best controller most interesting developer (not studio but also studio if you wanted) Most disappointing Best game worth the wait (long dev cycles) Most interesting peripheral (dreamcast da best) Best Dog Game Best Liscensed Game Ufo 50 Bracket Best Under 2 Hours Best Map (both literal map but also best place to explore)

Brute Farce

Best "vibes" game (season specific)

Tj Martin

Best Besties GOTY or Best Music

Ben Roth

Best Expansion/DLC. Recently, I feel like there have been so many insanely good expansions that, in some cases, were maybe even better than the base game? Outer Wilds, Cyberpunk, Elden Ring, etc. Horse armor will win of course, but what can you do.

Jacob Smith

best Lore in a game or franchise?

Elliott Rabbit

Best mobile adaptation (I'm thinking games released on PC or console then had a mobile release like Balatro or Vampire Survivors) Best GOTY (besties version) Best fishing mechanic Best overarching story (so like begin, middle, end, heroes journey, etc)

Keith Twombley

Finalest Fantasy

Jeppe Mulich

Best writing Spookiest game Best classic developer/studio

Casey Mitner

Best game world you catch yourself daydreaming about, even if it's a hostile or nonsensical world.

Michael Cahill

Best Classic Video Game Magazine. Nintendo Power, EGM, PlayStation Official, PSM, Game Informer, Game Pro, Dreamcast Official

Matthew Beckett

Best Unofficial Alternate Game Modes (e.g. nuzlocke, cariomart, no hit runs)

Serious Puffin

Best protagonist mentor-figure

witchcatcher

Best robot

Robert Miller

Coolest weapons that are bad actually (coolest/bad-dest/which one makes you the most sad that they're bad) Characters that Nintendo will put in the next Smash if they aren't cowards (Most fun/which would make Nintendo the biggest cowards/weirdest choice) Games that haven't had a sequel in a long time and also you wish they did (how good would it actually be today/how much do you all like the last entry/how long has it been) Best nostalgia bait (how much do you like the thing it's baiting/how much do you like the bait itself/biggest gap) Best game announcements of your careers (how big was the crowd pop or public sentiment/how good did you think the game would be/how good was the game in real life)

Who's Jordaddy

Best gamer snack? Best Easter Egg?

Taylor Sinople

Most interesting in-game faction Best “podcast”/flow state game Best voice acting

Cax

Best original game mechanic

Orb_Is_Horse

Best horse/rideable buddy

Brad Nagy

Best Final Fantasy game. Funniest writing.

Taylor Sinople

Most moving scene/moment Best sandbox gameplay Best game world to explore

Chase Curtin

Best cliffhanger ending to a game, best Kinect game.

Devon

Best one liner would be pretty good :)

Lucas Mathew

Best video game peripherals, best video game worlds

Michael McGuire

Best “peak console” game- when a console is about to be retired but one last game comes out to push the hardware to its limit and really showcase the promises of that generation (Death Stranding, MGS3…. I’m sure some other games that aren’t made by Hideo Kojima).

brocha goode

Best first weapon Best ‘Besties’ game of the year Best game which hasn’t won Game of the Year Most memorable performance of a voice actor Best mandatory stealth sequence Best licenced game (I.E LOTR, Marvel, ect) or best movie tie in game The 2000’s that’s aged the best (both in terms of fun to play, and statements/jokes that haven’t aged like milk) Best ghosts in games Best cooking mechanic/ food you want to eat

Dayten Rose

Best video game title!

Arthur

Best music!!

Arthur

Best game opening/intro/first level. (I’m thinking Uncharted 2 train sequence, God of War colossus battle, even super Mario 64 stretchy Mario face title screen.

Joanna

More Zelda brackets!

Kazimir Sheputa

Best sandbox or crafting games! I know there’s a lot to choose from but that might make it a more interesting discussion

Elijah Guess

The best character “barks” (like links “hiya!” Or NPC’s in Skyrim saying ““Never should have come here” Or maybe just the best sound effects, like sonic coins etc. Basically I want Justin to have all of them in his soundboard and the chaos of playing them over and over trying to see which sounds best or most iconic

Kurt from Cincinnati

Best tutorial.

Adam Lindeman

Best Frushtick guest. New York Giraffe? Jean Baptiste? TEXARKANA TUMBLEWEED?!

Alec Maure

Best handheld console

Shart Carbuncle

Most relatable video game character. This could be looked at in a few ways. Is it a particularly well-rounded and naturalistic depiction of a person? Maybe it's a caricature that represents something you hate about yourself, or deals with a struggle that you share.

Dan K

Or at least did the same ideas better than the original

Sean Marz

Best tie-in video game. Best line of video game dialogue. Worst boss battle in video games. Best mode of traversal (morphball, double jump, Spider-Man swing)

Nick Muffet

Too lazy to check if most iconic first level has already been done.

Dan K

Most "ahead of its time" game

Mixmaster Moose

Best "bad" game

Alec Maure

Best co-op game for sure

Josh Andrews

Who is the best escort mission npc? We all know Escort missions suck but which npc actually tries to make it enjoyable, either through making funny comments, listening, survivability, just fun to hang out with. Winner is your npc for all escort missions going forward

Faith Quist

Best marmite game. Games people either love or hate but are rarely neutral about. Criteria could be 1. How valid is the praise for it? 2. How valid is the criticism for it? Tiebreaker: which one are the besties themselves the most polarized by?

Alec Maure

Sigh... Anthem.

Thingsathirdman

Best signature power-up / upgrade ability. What acquired character augmentation is best. We've come along way since Pacman power pills.

Brett Johnson

Search action games

Alec Maure

Best video game movie? Best worst video game movie?

Justin

Best arcade game

Thomas Dempsey

Best video game webcomics.

Pat Bepis

Best "remake/remaster". Would love to hear the besties wax philosophic on what makes a remaster "good", i.e faithful to the original vs responsive to modern dispositions

Max!

Best game to 100%!

MetaRidleyScott

Best Dreamcast. Dreamcast the best but which Dreamcast is the best Dreamcast? The og white Dreamcast? The black sega sports Dreamcast? Dreamcast! (this is not a serious suggestion)

Connor Ray

Best flash game

Connor Ray

A video episode on YouTube of the best box art!

J. Mark Madison

Game where YOU feel the coolest

J. Mark Madison

Best villain

Colin Archer

Best original game score. Maybe best music from a series or favourite composer. I would love to hear the 4 besties discussing their favourite game music.

Christopher Wendt

Best adventure/mystery games

Eryk Nielsen

Best campaign! Titanfall 2, Starcraft 2, Doom Eternal, some games that aren't the second in a series, etc...

Mateo Paradis

Seeing a lot of "best"s. Let's get some worsts, eh? Worst stealth sequence Worst quick time event Worst early game grind Worst battle pass

LiamG

Best Pokemon

Anthony Wallace

Best menu ui/ loading screen.

Amos Catto

best blitz ball captain from final fantasy x

Jenny Stone

Best short games (under 10-ish hours)

Max Friedman

Best game within a game (e.g. Gwent)

Brad Durbin

Best bestie. Meaning, best NPC "best friend" in a game. We all already know who the best Bestie is.

Ryan Parker

Best mobile game? With a rubric for how bathroom trip-friendly it is. Should also limit it to games launched on mobile first, cause there are too many good ports.

Kit Geraghty

best gimmick/attachment (e.g. wii fit board, amiibo, pokewalker, etc)

Will Jones

Best platformer has been shouted out a couple of times, and that's a great idea. My suggestion would be "Best action set piece" though this may be a little niche. "Best narrative" perhaps?

Jeremy

The most beautiful failure. Either something that was really great that flopped or something so hyped up that fell flat

Nicole Levay

Best character creator/representation Best “chore” game Best glitch? My sister and I would spend hours in a THUG 2 level because one of the walls wasn’t properly clipped and would launch us into the air so we could do crazy tricks Best video game fake US president (Meyers in Phantom Liberty, etc.)

Duncan Hamra

Best game that is secretly teaching you something about the world and isn't books-level boring.

Chasbene

Best video game soundtrack or best individual music piece

Benjamin Heasly

Best music and/or sound -- in isolation and/or as integrated with gameplay.

Dan Brown

Best/worst mount e.g. Roach VS Agro. (SOTC is my all time favorite game and Agro has some of the worst control but also one of the saddest scenes from my childhood)

Nathan Berger

Best movie tie-in game

Fezsrcool

Best equipment? Best "love mechanic"? Like, you got so many games with romance options now, which games make it the most fun? Or most tasteful?

Chasbene

Best GOTY

Noah Wood

Best Multiplayer Map Best Co-Op game

Alex Gurtcheff

Best OST!

Elias Helfer

By the way, I guess I'll use this opportunity for a bit of feedback: I'm ambivalent about your bracket episodes. Specifically, I get supremely frustrated by listening to you bicker about your rubrics instead of taking about the subject.

Joseph S Highe

Best Genre Mashup Game Best GoTY game Best Game Box Art

Mike Davidson

Inspired by Tripleclick: best video game party (i.e. in-game social event with food and entertainment for the characters to enjoy; NOT best group of heroes/companions).

Charmanderson Cooper

Best stand up arcade cabinet game

Joe Ruscio

-Generational brackets IE best 8 bit game, best 16 bit game etc. -best trendsetter IE metroid, castlevania, rogue, demons souls, mario -best console based on aesthetic appearance of the console itself. Games not factored in - best peripheral - best licensed game from movies and/or tv shows

aaron

best platformer

Jim Redding

Best 3D Platformer - Banjo Kazooie, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, etc.

Ben Wood

Best “collection release,” ex: master chief collection, 3D all-stars, ezio trilogy, Nathan Drake collection

Elias Helfer

Most inventive game company.

Dan Reeser

SSX3. settled law.

Francesco Zabban

Best minigame within a game, or best hardware acessory

WarioTush

Stinkiest bestie feet!

warriorsoprano

this !!!

Dan Reeser

Best prequel

The Biggest Papa

Best starter weapon (ie wrench ratchet and clank) Best game to introduce to your kids

Chane Larkin

I'd also like to float "best npc/party member" HK-47 stans sharpen your knives

Leo Herzog

Best Opening Sequences

Elias Helfer

Best movement power in a game. Rubrics: Which feels the best to use, and which is used best in the game, meaning how it's integrated into levels in interesting ways? Tie breaker: which is most integrated into the game world - or I suppose it could be which one you'd most like to have in real life?

Daniel Meyer

Best game-within-a-game! Think like Gwent from the Witcher, Queen’s Blood in FF7 Rebirth, etc.

Ben Wood

Best video game movie

Dylan Hewitt

Best “hear me out” game would be cool to hear! Basically the best game you love playing but feel like you have to defend because it’s weird/taboo/embarrassing etc.

James

Best Sequel

Jared

Best soundtrack? Though tbh to make this really land I think snippets of it would have to be entered into the episode.

Brendan Linwood

Best video game-branded snack foods! Have everyone eat them on air for a terrible and hilarious listening experience

Rich Molloy

Best press conference

Darion Montez

Best collectable sound effect?

Ben Wood

Best AAA yearly release series

Notes Reviews

Best hair for a character (my bet is Sonic)

February

best of besties GOTYs? or best top selling games of a particular year?

Bob Tyler

Best Little Guys in a Game

Luke Gialo

Best Movie Tie-In games

Dan Stone

Best game for each besties member.

Adrian Kenyon

Best final game for a console. Some consoles, particularly handhelds, have lasted a while into the next gen and had amazing games come out in that time. For example, the original Paper Mario! Idk if you include Limited Run style games, like new retro style games released for old consoles, probably just ones that released in close proximity to other titles also released for the console.

Aeide

Best song from a video game

Ben Wood

Best clone of a game that became more popular than the original

Arthur

Best games that make you feel really cool

CPT_Turboshaft

Best sidekick

Garfunkel Horseman

Which franchise had the best jump from 2D to 3D

Chane Larkin

Might be a bit of Mandela effect, but have y'all done a "best open world" bracket?

Samantha MacHardy

Best licensed game

Johnny Van Cura

Best Dreamcast

Ian Stokes

Best Steam Deck game

Gavin Anderegg

Are there any games that you replay regularly? Not sure if that would work well for a bracket, but every year around the holidays I think “maybe I should check out WoW again?”. Maybe even a “best holiday games” bracket could be some chaotic fun!

Casual Flying

The masochistic side of me wants Justin and Russ to suffer through a best JRPG but only in the hopes that they find something to love. Aside from that … best Peripheral would be fun!