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The Besties Battle Bracket: first stages

🕑 Added 2024-03-05 05:03:34 +0000 UTC

Comments

Shannon Lee

I love that y'all aren't an echo chamber.

ashenone

Agreed!

Adam Meeks

Wait, wasn't it Ridley who stole the Metroid? Shocking for Metroid Frush to get the bosses mixed up! But seriously, this is great content! Happy to support my favorite video game book club.

Will Gosson

I know it got axed, and I love the Northern Undead Asylum but I always considered the Undead Burg as the real first level of Dark Souls and it absolutely slaps.

Shay Park

ok besties, best ladder bracket when

Grant Cameron

Worst ladders has to be skies of arcadia for their overly large ladders with no slide option. Or fighting force, which were so fiddly you almost always fell past them!

Shay Park

the discourse on ladder climbing across video games is so important and yet so underrated. love a game that lets me jump up and slide down those rungs.

Daniel Urban

Bioshock will not disappoint you, first level and beyond

Daniel Urban

Y'all scared me putting the eventual winner in the last pairing, I thought you weren't going to include it and I was going crazy

Nick Fielding

Hi Besties! Would really love to get the main Besties episodes in here ad free. 🙏

Isaac Smith

loving the invented names/justifications for each pairing. never change, chris plante

Chris

For the time being, we're keeping the two feeds separate. But that may change at a later date!

Chris

Thank you for this helpful feedback!!

Ian Phippen

it seems like episodes are going to the free feed first or missing from this one? Will that change at all?

Kári Kárason

Like these episodes! But really dislike the use of metrics! I feel like it would be more fun and interesting to just discuss all the qualities of the things in question, instead of forcing things into categories. Just image in game of the year discussions used metrics, I feel like it makes it way more rigid and a bit arbitrary what wins. Other than that I'm excited for future brackets!

Sacha Greif

Suggestion for future bracket: best videogame soundtrack and/or theme!

Josh C

Man, all the talk about Central Yarnham but no mention of the ACTUAL first level... wandering around the inside of a refugee hospital until forced to fight a werewolf unarmed in the dining room and dying.

Stephen Power

Another great episode for the Patresties crew! I was just playing through some of the Fallout: New Vegas DLC for the first time, and it occurred to me that I might never have played the DLCs without the Ultimate Version's availability on Game Pass. It made me wonder what other great DLC exists out there for games I already love, but might not have had the budget or time for when they initially released?

Lily Noonan

The late night sleepover energy y’all are bringing with these episodes is truly worth every penny of being a supporter!

Andrew van Baarsen

The only game on this whole list I've played is Mario Bros :(

Michael Frent

Sorry, replying as I am listening. I love playing through all the MGS games. MGS is my favorite series that I replay every year or 2 and still enjoy it. I get the old player controls of MGS2, but because the game was designed with that in mind it works well for me. Nowhere near the vastly improved controls of MGS5, but its all put together in a way that works well for me.

Michael Frent

I'm with Super Mario 1 looking "not old" even though it looks old. It's because the art is done in a way that it's timeless. When it comes to 8 bit pixel art, it looks great. Though it was improved with the sequels, it's still great visually. I think this is further expounded by how we see modern games attempt 8 bit art and at it's peak is around a similar level. When modern games do, they often are on a level of some of these classic games. In addition to that, Mario 1 art is still used in merch now, and brought back again and again in new games like Mario Maker, Mario 100, and Mario Odyssey . Nintendo knows that they have a timeless look with Mario in Mario 1.

Runswithspoons

Love these episodes. Not entirely sure I'm totally sold on basing everything on a rubric, though. Feels like it shoehorns things a bit. It makes more sense to me to only bring in the rubric if there's not a consensus on who should advance. I would also love to hear more about how y'all felt about these in the context of when they came out (whether or not you use this as a final decision). Most games quickly show their age, so hearing how it was to first play them would bring some awesome context to games I may not have played. Thanks!! RWS

AbalonePrime

Awesome episode, lads!

Charlie Phillip aka Donavan McDab

The slumber party energy in the first few minutes is gonna be hard to top

Jan Vonhoegen

Great episode! Surprised nobody’s mentioned God of War 3 yet…what a cinematic and epic opening. Definitely had my jaw on the floor back in the day.

Chris

YES!!

Chris

Strong agree!

Shay Park

the chaos of that tiebreaker!!! genius 🤌

Matthew Vinkler

Shoulda called this one Training Day

Kat K

Exactly! I'm a huge fan of both Uncharted and Mission Impossible, so I'm sure I was absolutely insufferable after the movie was over and I got to tell everyone I was with about my Fun Fact.

Lukas Johnson

I was thinking the same thing!

AaronElWhite

This was such a fun episode and I vibe with the Top 4 big time. Definitely had a hard time accepting any time that crazy tie-breaker came up, though. since other levels should have absolutely no bearing on what the best first one is. Argh!

AaronElWhite

How interesting! And then it comes around full circle in DEAD RECKONING, I guess, when M:I replicates the train sequence at the end.

Trapezoid

I would have nominated the opening of Mass Effect 2 for best “first level” (not really a level, per se, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of the best openings to a game I’ve ever experienced)

David Molnar

Wow no Pillar of Autumn? How can you have a best first level list and not even include pillar of Autumn in the bracket!

Sterling Haws

FFVII train scene is untouchable. Glad Griffin is there to voice my fanatic FF bias in nearly every episode 😆

sven sven

I remember having my jaw drop for that uncharted 2 opening. I had never played anything like that before.

Stuvious

Can't forget NieR Automata! That opening level kicks ass.

Brad MacDonald

Loved the episodes, cool hearing my name during the sonic level part. Love how BioShock came in first, I actually only recently (2 years ago) beat that game for the first time and it was incredible. Already can't wait for more and can't wait for the next poll.

Improv Tabletop

If we're going Metroid, I probably would've chosen the Frigate Orpheon from Metroid Prime. It does have the drawback of making you lose all your powerups at the end in a pretty stupid way, but I love the atmosphere of walking into this ruined enemy ship with no idea why everything's in shambles.

Kat K

Fun fact! The train sequence in Uncharted 2 was directly inspired by the opening sequence of Mission Impossible 3 (the scene where Philip Seymour Hoffman has a gun to Ethan's wife's head and is counting down from ten). Amy Hennig said on stream one time that she saw the movie, loved that scene, and wanted to create a level in a game that felt similar (starting in media res in a high-stakes situation and making the viewer think "how the hell did we end up here??" before jumping back in time to the actual start of the adventure).

Alan Bradley

Same except Skull and Bones somehow...?

Jonathan Standish

Totally agree, emerging from the vault for the first time is easily the most memorable moment out of anything I've experienced in a game!

Jade

I was very confused this morning seeing "the Kraid sequence" mentioned in the description. Thought maybe they counted like, the first quarter of the game as "the first level."

Jade

Surprised not to see more comments about the intro to Super Metroid being Ridley, not Kraid.

Dustin Belyea

In my first apartment I had a windows event as my alarm clock (because I didn't have an alarm clock and was pre-cellphone). The event was to turn the volume to max and then open the .mp3 of city escape. My significant other still hates the song. I still love it.

Chris “Handjob ghost that came out the tv” Nelson

Dunkin’ on the Bible should be a shirt

VacantExpressionComics

How could The Besties forget the first level in Kingdom Hearts 2, featuring memorable vibes like "when do I get to play as Sora?" and "Oh my God wait seriously when do I get to play as Sora??"

ThanaThots

Great episode! Personally I feel like an important part of a good first level is its ability to be a great tutorial without feeling like a tutorial. I think with that in mind Megaman X and BotW rank pretty high, and I’ll never forgive Mario 1-1 for taking them from me!

David St. John

in super metroid btw

ThanaThots

I agree, Mario 1-1 left a lot of bangers in its wake! Also TotK opening is almost completely linear, whereas BotW’s Great Plateau lets you go to the shrines in any order. Chris mentioned those swelling moments like in Fallout 3’s vault opening. I feel like BotW had a great one of those moments when you exit the cave at the start and stand on the cliff side overlooking the world, with the music swelling and the title card drop.

David St. John

I sense a disturbance in the force... a thousand voices crying out in pain... canceling their Patreons.... because the besties got the scary alien lizard names wrong

Casey Francis Alger

My personal favorite is the Forest of Fallen Giants from DSII: SotFS. I think the worst? Taris from the original KOTOR.

Caleb Tretter

I'm glad uncharted 2 made it so high! Yall should totally play through them again for the show. I think they all hold up as fun lil romps, even though uncharted 3's story is complete nonsense

Chase Curtin

Portal 2 is the best for me. The glados powering up moment is amazing

Stephen Taubner

I refuse to accept Plante’s SLANDER of Doom 2016’s Mars environment. It’s not just sand and generic labs, it’s a metric shitton of sand, some really moodily lit labs, and a weird elevator ride! Jk of course, love the episode and love y’all. Keep up the good work

James

Great episode. I feel like the missing question for the rubric was "how much did the first level get you fired up to play the rest of the game?" One suggestion for future brackets: crowdsource the rubric! Or at least crowdsource feedback about the rubric prior to recording.

Daniel Anderson

Man, I feel like Plante mentioned this in passing a year or two ago and everyone shrugged it off—but man, SNIPER ELITE 5. It’s opening mission plus all the rest are massively fun. Can I interest you in dropping into a German-occupied, French village where you sneak through orchards, farms, and cobble stone city centers with winding alleys and corridors to rescue resistance fighters and sabotage radio towers??? YES PLEASE WHERE DO I SIGN? Anyone who hasn’t given it a good faith try should definitely do so. Mission #3 Spy Academy is an all-timer.

IHaveARussFrushtickBodyPillow

Glad you guys gave some love to the Megaman X franchise. It's my favorite franchise, and one that I desperately hope gets another iteration. It sort of lost its way near the end, and they definitely ran out of "Element + Animal" boss combination, and Capcom seems to HATE Megaman at this point, but there is nothing better than the feel of MMX.

William (Biggggg5) Mason

“Do we allow graphics the grace of, ‘well it was a different time’, but not gameplay?” …yes. 100% without question 😂.

V Astris

Vagrant Story would’ve been my RPG pick over FF7.

BassToad

Shout out to City Escape. That level rewired my child brain. It's just so cool at every turn. Sonic escaping arrest by jumping out of a helicopter and using a piece of metal as a snowboard? I listen to Escape from the City all the time because it whips ass

Charlie Dalton

Oh you guys scared me almost taking out Central Yharnam in round 1! Just to give it even more credit: CY includes everything up to Father G. I was surprised that you guys didn't like Cleric Beast, but it's a completely optional boss (weirdly, given how prevalent it was in the marketing).

Bret Scofield

Yeah, me too.

Astromanaught

Why do you guys hate on the controls of metal gear solid so much? I think it is completely fine. Are they the best ever?no, but I think they're good. I have recently went back and played MGS2 my old PS Vita and absolutely love it. In my personal opinion it's better than many of these

Chris

Yes, such a great opening!

Zardoz

setting a tone and providing a vertical slice of the gameplay, while setting up a subversion expectations off the bat. that makes a memorable opening for me. it sets up the world and gives you a compelling place in it! mgs2 tanker succeeded in these respects and always jumps in my head as an example. also, ff9 opening is leaps better than ff7 (even if you don't get to be an eco terrorist, at least you kidnap a monarch)

ames

I know it’s got major nostalgia points, and probably was amazing at the time, but I have never made it through the first level of FF7 because it bores me to sobs. The random encounters drive me crazy, and it doesn’t make me want to play the rest of the game at all. (Not the fancy new remake, which I also haven’t played bc the price point is way too high for a game that I’m meh about the original.)

Katie Jewel

currently listening while stuck in my balatro prison of my own creation (i can't stop playing it)

Chase Wheatley

Not sure if it counts as a “level” but I think Mass Effect 2 has one of the greatest opening sequences in video games.

Caleb Spronk

Botw The Great Plateau first round discussion: TheGodfatherLookHowTheyMassacreeMySon.gif... Sure it continued on in the bracket, but only on technicality. I truly advocate replaying it again, I'd argue the "linearity" is only in appearance and why it's a master class of first levels.

David Tobin

Absolutely killer line up there! I’d add TLOU, RE2 and Half-Life 1 as some honorable mentions.

mmmcranberryjuice

It's literally all about how well the first level sets the vibe. Kirby taught me that when I was 8 and it remains true

Alan Bradley

Hard to imagine any opening sequence more impactful than the moment you emerge from the vault in Fallout 3, though honestly the stuff prior to that moment isn't great

TJ

Came here to say this exactly!

Monty

Love the new episode. It's weird and cheesy, but it's unfortunate Saints Row IV is not included in this list for the most cinematic opening I have seen in the PS3/Xbox360 generation