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Poll: Pick future Besties Battle Brackets
🕑 Added 2024-04-03 15:09:18 +0000 UTCWe hear you! You love the sleepover energy of the Besties Battle Brackets. But you want a bit more clarity on our rubrics. Or maybe you'd prefer different topics. Whatever the case, we want to learn what episodes you'd like next!
Let us know of other potential topics in the comments! And share what you enjoy about the show so we can expand on that!
Comments
Adam Meeks
Perhaps a best spin-off game bracket?
Teagan Mulford
There are so many good bugs in video games, and I think insects are a good way to show off design...best bugs/insects would be an awesome topic someday :)
EtherEli
I voted best second game and would be happy with most of the others but I also feel like it’s a good discussion to have on series’ that are older. I think there are some titles, but I don’t want to NameDrop and influence the potential bracket, that either get flak when they first come out for differing from their predecessor, or maybe the opposite and they ride the first game’s coattails and get glowing reviews despite not being that original just because of the momentum from the first one. There is one particular title from last year that springs to mind. That’s why I think it would be a good discussion to have on games that have had a while for the hype or hate to die down and actually get judged on their own merits. I’m thinking of so many examples that saw opinion change over time, even if it doesn’t win out this month I’d love to see the topic visited in any future episode. It’s not particularly time-sensitive after all. Plus there are some great indie sequels that have just been announced or are forthcoming in the next year or so and it would be cool to have a solid foundation for what we recognize as important or detrimental to a quality sequel.
Bendyfang
I voted for best Sega console because the Sega Nomad was cool as hell. It was basically a switch.
Ryan Hill
would love to hear one for best movie tie-in game! we're unfortunately out of the peak era of there but there's a lot to talk about. also an episode on best unlockable character, or even broader, best unlockable/cheat code (even though we all know it's darth maul in THPS3)
Hollie
Who is the best romancable character and why is it Garrus Vakarian.
Trevor David Black
My brain says best 2nd game, but my heart says best inanimate pokemon...
APortableMagic
Lots of good options! Honestly, Best Romance feels so messy and I have to vote for it 😂 Also, maybe some of these episodes or there’s a version of this idea where they don’t have to be brackets but each Bestie’s Best Of list?
SlimLeaper
Best sports game…sports games get no love but there are some all-timers that should be talked about Best game for replayability…I’m usually a beat it and put it away guy but I recently played OG RE2 with Leon and then Claire and wondered what other games do this well
Jeff Taylor
Really enjoying these episodes. I do think better time management will help as they get quite rambling near the end. There is a charm in that, but it can get a bit all over the place to follow
Elyse
Been really loving these episodes! Would love to hear y’all’s romance picks, hahaha!
mitzvahmelting
best romanceable character would be fascinating because i have NO CLUE what any of the besties would even be looking for in a romanceable character. i have a mind meld with all my queer friends on tumblr where we all know exactly what kind of scrungly characters each other gets into, but the perspective of the besties guys would be so so foreign to me hahaha
Alexander
Its dreamcast tho right?
Jon
I'm gonna need an enthusiastic forty minutes on how amazing Lock-on technology was, supplemented by a well researched history on how hard or expensive it was to implement and why it never caught on.
Benjamin Heasly
Yeah, music!
Sir Robert Cashew
Feeling v alone in Segaland
Dustin Siegel
Hey, Maybe don't record the episodes when you are so tired that you feel the need to rush through it.
Matthew Scott
Oh man…I want to hear the Besties talk N64 so bad. Feels like peak nostalgia for them and me both
Audrey Cox
Need some female POV on this romanceable character debate, imo
Peter Komistra
Some ideas for brackets: * Besties Battle Battle Bracket (best fight in a game) * best music (could also be split into best theme, best battle music, villain theme, etc.) * best chill games (I think the vibe contrast between the topic and sleepover energy would be fun) * series with the highest average quality (so you gotta keep all the Final Fantasies, Resident Evils, Sonics) * best non-combat mechanics * best games for introducing new folks to the hobby * most frustrating game that's worth finishing (stealth From Soft bracket?) * best game that isn't worth finishing / has steepest drop off in quality. Maybe you hit a real high point like Andrew Ryan in Bioshock and then the rest is ehhhhh. * maybe rank someone else's GOTYs of the past 16 years, or top metacritic games across 16 years * best game-related non-game media (Double Fine docs, recent TV adaptations, books) * once you have enough of these, a bracket of best Russ rubrics
Mac Pohanka
Least Romanceable character?
protoform
Can’t wait for Russ to weigh in on the romanceable characters based on this last bracket discussion.
rbar
There's an Into the Aether episode where Chris walks Brendon and Stephen through the history of the dreamcast and he is very entertaining while doing so.
Tyler N Capeta
Damn, these are all really good ideas
Andrew Birmingham
I almost went for best second entry but then saw the romance. They are both pretty close so I’m guessing a lot of the fellow Patreons are like minded. 😅
Frankenjam
In true brackets style I think you guys should do another poll after this one with only the top voted options.
Jacob Troxell
Best romanceable character is going to have some quality cringe discussion.
Dan Reeser
Baldur's Gate 3 better sweep the romance category. And the romance category can easily become most hostile work environment. Side eye to all Mass Effect games.
Dan Reeser
So many good ones! How do we make this rank choice voting?
Joel Castelli
I want all of these! But would especially love best N64 game
Alice
let's get sexy
Benjamin Paulus
Best City in a Video Game - not explicitly designed or inspired by a real place.
Sandy Archer
Some of the we are really strong
Kirk Hamilton
Best (FF7) Weapon
Matthew R
All good choices, tbh
Jester Rubella
I want roguelike just so every round there will be a debate about what constitutes a roguelike and the bracket will be changed on the fly constantly
Max!
Best Game that should never have been made? You guys have such good insights about the industry it’d be cool to hear you guys decide officially which game was the “hardest” to get made/finished
Eryk Nielsen
"Best defunct gaming website," mostly so we can listen to old Joystiq anecdotes.
DenimMudslide
Love this. If we get to hear it sometime, I hope they take time to ridicule those publishers which cut the true ending off a game and sold it back to us as DLC (looking at you, Dead Space 3).
DenimMudslide
Fantastic suggestion
AaronElWhite
These are some strong choices! I love a lot of them. I voted but, I'd be thrilled with any of these: Best Sidekick Best Rougelike Best Second Game in a Series Best Mascot Best Romanceable Character I'm really enjoying the chaotic, almost delirious vibes of these episodes, and the rubric shenanigans.
Myles Donohue
the virgin Best Romance-able Character vs the Chad Best Roguelike
DenimMudslide
Wow, this is such a great idea for an episode. These levels are almost always the ones I remember most years after finishing the game. Since you've brought up Remedy, we can't leave out that bonkers level in Alan Wake 2. The airport fight in Max Payne 3 (song was Tears by Health) has always held a special place in my heart, too.
Chuck McDuck of the Duckburg McDucks
Ah! But isn't the Gravity Gun more of a misused tool? :D
MechRepairGuy
Best seconds/worst seconds. If you're thinking about the best seconds your mind already goes to the worst. Of course we're on iteration 7 of everything anymore so we'd really have to reach back into the vaults.
Chris Bobb
Best game…in California Games.
Chris Laun
Best Metroidvania?
Peter LaCara
Pfft. As if the Gravity Gun doesn't take this easily.
Bryan McGee
It's very funny to be the only person who voted for best sega console.
bjorktribe
My Dreamcast is still hooked up, and I got it a brand new VM2. My heart belongs to the Saturn though.
Rob W
Best romanceable character only if Russ describes the sex in detail
Taylor Dorsett
But make it best rougelite
Michael B.
My favorite part of these episodes is Russ’s discussion criteria.
L.B. Morse
Same! The whole soundtrack was pitch perfect for the nostalgia of the era, and the vibe of each level. Truly a masterpiece of a soundtrack.
Todd
The laugh I let out when I saw the percentages for best sega console after I voted for it. Listen, I just wanna hear you guys talk about how cool the Dreamcast was.
witchcatcher
I’m very interested in multiple of these, which is why i’d like to suggest the next of these poll to allow multiple choices!
DMAN
Best rogues is the obvious choice, but can I take the moment to ask why in the world y'all put SH2 in a bracket if none of y'all had ever played it to the point of experiencing the twist?
David Miller
Throw my precious Hades boy Thanatos in the romanceable characters bracket
BucklingSwashes
Shredder's Revenge has such an incredible soundtrack from beginning to end. I was honestly furious that it wasn't nominated by any major award shows that year.
DukeDingle
I'm very excited for how much Justin will hate the Pokemon idea
Snoozy
I like topics that boil down to more than just preference of a particular game, so I voted for best second game. That feels like it could lead to discussion about franchise evolution, moreso than just the games themselves. But I'll admit that "dumber" topics like Pokemon based on objects sounds like a ton of fun.
BucklingSwashes
I would love to see a Best Romanceable Character episode. I know it's going to be extremely subjective, but I can't wait to hear the discussions/arguments. Also, I know it would be unusual and potentially unfair to have multiple characters from the same game on there, but both the Mass Effect series and Baldur's Gate 3 have so many all-time greats that it feels kind of unreasonable NOT to allow more than one. Tali, Astarion, Liara, Lae'zel, Garrus, Karlach... Each of these have amazing writing and acting, in addition to some incredibly memorable and often very touching scenes. If I had to pick one from each, it'd be Tali and Lae'zel, primarily because in addition to the romances themselves being so well-written, each of them also have a massive degree of character development that makes it feel like they really grow over the course of the story, which is improved even more if you follow their romance path.
Joe Moore
Y'all just a bunch of horndogs voting hard for the romanceable character episode. The answer is clearly Princess Elise in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
Casey Francis Alger
Best island to buy property and build a house on from Riven: The Sequel to Myst.
David Tobin
😜
Chane Larkin
Boo this man! Jkjkjk
Chane Larkin
Well, Plante maybe - I think everybody else generally recognizes BOI as possibly the goat
Chuck McDuck of the Duckburg McDucks
I picked "Best Weapon" but we all know it's Crissaegrim from Castlevania:SotN, so I guess it's not really a necessary discussion.
Chane Larkin
Oh man, I have been playing so much of both those games the last week. My sleep schedule is effed
JayKnicks
Need mascots bracket so bad
L.B. Morse
Topic proposal: Best singular musical moment in a game (i .e. The Ashtray Maze in CONTROL, or the Raekwon/Ghostface track that drops when you battle Shredder in SHREDDER’S REVENGE).
Cindyy
Pleaseeeeee. I wanna hear about all your pixel childhood crushes
Faith Quist
Invite the guys from Something Rotten on to do "grittiest gritty protagonist"
Majima Cookie
I would love a sincere discussion of sequels that improve upon the original. I feel as though it used to be far more common, though usually because the turnaround would be a year or two at most. There was definitely a time period where the first game you made was almost always a bid to get a sequel, to finish developing your ideas
Nicky Bodsworth
Agh these option are too good... I want to vote for like 3 of them.
L.B. Morse
This!!!
Ultimate Danny 5000
Can you add to the sleepover energy with some hot gossip and/or scary stories where the ad breaks would normally be?
The Spouter-Inn
Best Idle/Incremental Phone Games would be my dream ep
Faith Quist
I end up feeling strongly but in a "god I wish I could be in the conversation to make my point" way, not actually getting mad that they aren't approaching things how I would.
sirusXsirus
Freaking love this show and all the hosts. Thanks for giving me a cool video game club that I want to be part of.
Dan
I love the pod but the bracket episodes are not my fave tbh
Anthony Basilio
Best diegetic UI!
Mat Yunker
I love arguing about rules. Gimme an hour of debating the rubric itself.
Josh Andrews
I like the rubric chaos however, I don't want it to be the sole reason anything advanced. I loved that Griffin had the secret rubric in his heart. Pirate life forever. It's more of a guideline anyway. Also I would love the a bracket on the best ride or die character. That character that just screams we in this together no matter what. Such as BD-1, Garrus, Diddy Kong, Sgt Johnson etc.
Jason Mariotis
I’m also throwing in my appreciation for the diffuse rubrics, love the sleepover energy, too. Would you consider as a bracket topic “best/most fun glitches in a video game”? I have really found memories of trying to go off the map in Blood Gulch in the original halo during a sleep over as well as trying to get that weird miss no. Glitch in Pokémon red.
ThanaThots
Seconding the chaos!
Glorious Griffin
So many good choices!
sven sven
I can't wait for more Muk jokes
Derek Springer
Best Pokemon whose names are the reverse of another pokemon. The Muk Cup.
Tom
How about best 13 Sentinels character for Chris to paint all over his Cybertruck?
Bret Scofield
I'd love one that is something like 'best short games' -- they can define the criteria more, but I'm always looking for interesting things like Norco, Citizen Sleeper, Braid, the Stanley Parable, Samorost 3, Her Story, Never Alone, Season, etc.
Michael Sullivan
There's definitely a difference between "sleepover energy" and "not wanting to be there" energy.
El Pescado
I’m here for the chaos. I need Hades vs. Spelunky. Cadence of Hyrule vs. Cave Noire. Binding of Isaac vs. Dead Cells. Shiren vs. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
Brad MacDonald
Haven't had the chance to listen to new besties just saying y'all are the bestm
Garbanzo Ben
Lol except for best sega console which is sitting at a hot 0% of the vote at the moment
Garbanzo Ben
News you can use is always fun. N64 games, second games, and rogue likes are all good options. Best weapon also sounds like a pretty good time
ames
lol I would be so lost on that one. I know Besties don’t do videos but that would be a sweet little Patreon slideshow.
IHaveARussFrushtickBodyPillow
Whatever you guys pick, maybe do it an hour earlier? Y'all very clearly lose steam at the tail end of the recording.
Isaac Goff-Mitchell
Some potential categories that could be fun: Best one and done games (games that came out of nowhere and had no sequels) Most overrated game Best multi-decade franchise Best console generation Best unique game mechanic Best video game music
Samuel W
I like topics that otherwise couldn't/wouldn't exist in a "regular" Besties episode. Go niche, personal, or just straight up dumb with it. Probably goes without saying that I voted for the Pokemon one.
dilkbottle
Best Balatro jokers
DieselDonkey
Strong Dad vibes, I'm here for it
Andrew Owens
Lot of heat on this list
Brad Heyen
Exactly this
Taylor Kelty
vs Hades vs Balatro!
DieselDonkey
2%! We can do it!
ames
Omg romanceable character. Now, SADLY, the characters I most want to have my person romance are rarely options 😭 Persona 5, WHY CAN’T I DATE YUSUKE. (See also Ignis in FFXV) But also—AC:Odyssey? My Kassandra has left a legion of broken hearts and satisfied bodies behind her, lol. Can’t tie her down, she’s got merc work to do!!
Stephen Vallely
Anyone emotionally invested enough to be mad about the rubrics should relax and enjoy the silly. Let the boys cook and have fun.
DieselDonkey
Roguelike would be good for reccs but I think the Pokémon one would be funnier
Ella Mozier
I personally love the wild rubrics, I feel like they make the conversation much more interesting. Otherwise, I feel like lots of the matchups just turn into what is the better game - not necessarily the topic of the battle.
The Biggest Papa
Best romanceable character is a one way ticket to finding out who the horniest bestie is and there’s no going back
Taylor Kelty
I simultaneously can not wait for and yet am so afraid of all of you talking about which romanceable character revved your engines the most.
DieselDonkey
C'mon, guys! You know inanimate object Pokémon is gonna be some good Jokes material
Corpo_Canine
Y'all should brainstorm design of a Besties fighting game. I'm talking stats, move sets, ultimates, skins, stages, etc. I realize this is kind of a visual thing, but we have great imaginations.
Beefy Belo
Best magical beans in gaming. Do best magical beans in gaming.
Casey Fetta
most unhinged anthropomorphic video game characters
Tyler Willing
Hades easily top 5 in both Romanceable character and rogue like.
Luke
Best sidekick but only if we have an honorable mentions for worst sidekicks. Ashley from Mass Effect, 100%
David Tobin
Anything but Roguelikes! They’re so ever present and tedious at this stage. I’d take the poison of live service games over them any day of the week.
Monty
Russ will somehow find a way to put Metroid or Spelunky into the romanceable character bracket
I am a robot who turns into a car and I find no humor in this
Can I pick "all of the above (Except Pokemon)"?
CPT_Turboshaft
I think it would just be better if listeners could contribute some ideas or things in the bracket. I feel like the Besties missed on A LOT of the twist discussions by talking about the wrong parts of games.
TheZeldaMuse
The fucked up rubrics that have to be debated about before deciding which option wins a round is literally some of the best part of these episodes.
Henry Hunt
Best Nintendo Wii games (and why is it BoomBlox as directed by Stephen Spielberg)
Joe Payne
Best roguelike is just giving them a chance to praise spelunky for an hour haha
Kevin Proff
Can we pick top 3? A bunch of these would lead to the anarchy I crave from these goofs.
William Sobel
It's not so much clarity on the rubrics so much as it feels like ya'll aren't even taking the conversation seriously? I know that sounds silly since it's largely a comedy show but bending the rules and not taking the rubric at least a little seriously feels bad to listen to
Leo Siebert
My pitch is away with the rubrics, tiebreakers only
El Pescado
Best Roguelike is the best option. Best Pokemon based on an inanimate object is my second choice
Chane Larkin
I would very much like to hear the boys tear themselves apart over Spelunky vs Isaac
Walter Blakey
I don't need a decision justified. I just need to know what wins in a bracket format obviously. (Also please do roguelikes)
Landon Pate
Best romanceable character so Hoops has diarrhea the whole time
X_Blade_Mage
Best second game in a series, has got to be Soul Reaver from the Legacy of Kain series
TaterBe
I feel like best mascot could be a huge opportunity for NY Giraffe content.
Lindsey
I was thinking "Best expansion/DLC" could generate some fun battles! Like Shivering Isles versus Burial at Sea would be so fun to listen to lol
Ross Felder
I'm here for the pillow fights and the restructuring of brackets halfway into the episode.
Jenna Stoddard
I love the idea of you guys duking it out over romances. But of course we all know Garrus is the best
Joshua Whitmore-lyons
I'd love to see one on the best performances in games(like yknow acting)!!
Greg
It is shocking to me that the Pokémon option isn’t winning. That seems like a no-brainer
Tartar biscuits
Love the energy except when someone complains they have to stay up past 10pm
Mathilde Ronan
Even if most romanceable character does not win this time, can you please do an episode on it in the future 😆
Monty
If it's romanceable character there's no question it would be Plante
Patrick
Honestly I could get behind any one of these!
Paige Reiring
I don’t care about rubrics that are coherent. I am here for the chaos
