It's time for the only game of the year list that matters: completely unsponsored and horribly biased. This time around we learn that Chance was forcibly sent to French immersion school as a child and has never gotten over it, Chamberlain actually has feelings and Alex has more patience and affection for puzzles than should be possible.
It's been a good year for games. Enjoy our picks!
Yes, like it or not, it's a real holiday. We may not agree, heck, we don't even last to the end of the show, but there will at least be some cool trailers (Control 2?!).
As far as what we have been doing, Alex is so busy being an exceptional husband that all he has time for is Stardew Valley with his wife. Chance takes a chance on Stalker 2 and is not immediately disgusted. And Chamberlain has played Borderland 4 for so long that its terribleness has worn away and now he is just shooting rippers in the head and enjoying it.
Best of the year next week!
One of us is trying to play new things. Chamberlain finished up Possessor(s) before moving on to Borderlands 4, which is somehow worse than Alex described but still digital crack. Chance tried Expedition 33, again, and dropped it, again, before playing more Silksong, again. And Alex played Dispatch, again, before playing Silksong, again.
There may be clues to game of the year recipients in the above paragraph.
Alex has returned, riding the Dispatch hype train. Heck, he was conducting it and tries very hard to pull everyone else on board. Chance almost gets on, as he is almost done with his most recent Fallout 4 playthrough. And Chamberlain doesn't even see the train. He is busy with another lower end metroidvania. This time it is Possessor(s), which he admits he is playing just because no one else is.
Chamberlain has finished Outer Worlds 2 and is reasonably pleased with it. It's no Avowed, but it scratched an itch, mostly because there were 20 points invested in guns. He also tried Bloodlines 2 so that you don't have to (and you shouldn't). And Chance was so stung by his buggy experience with Outer Worlds 2 that he retreated all the way back to Fallout 4 and will not return until his gauss rifle wielding smooth talker rules the wasteland.
In the rarest of occurrences, all three of our heroes are playing (or at least played) the same game at the same time: Outer Worlds 2. Played because Chance ran in to a game ending bug, started over, and was just not 'immersed' enough to continue. Neither Alex nor Chamberlain are saying that this is the greatest game of all time, but it is entertaining in spite of its problems. Basically, they will tolerate mediocre combat if it means pitting space scientologist/communist soviet era Russians against late stage capitalism gone mad Americans against the nerdiest nerds to ever nerd.
There's charm here, trust us.
Chance. Chance doesn't love ninjas, at least not enough to play Ninja Gaiden 4. He bought it, but running through mediocre looking environments killing things at a firm 60 FPS was not good enough for him. It was more than good enough for Chamberlain, who loved it and highly recommends it as a very forgiving 'hard' game. All three have started Outer Worlds 2, but Alex has played it the most, because he loves Obsidian more than ninjas and ponied up for the early release.
Side note: Chamberlain does not love ninjas enough to put of with Double Dragon Revive. No one loves ninjas that much,
Sorry to say, no Alex today. We that remain will do our best.
Chamberlain hates what he thought he would like, tolerates but eventually abandons what he thought he would hate, gets emotionally involved with a 4 legged lighthouse, then settles in with Ninja Gaiden 4, a game so difficult he can only play it sober. And Chance can't find a place to be comfortable, stating at least two play throughs of Resident Evil 4, one of Baldur's Gate 3 and even a multiplayer session of Ghost of Tsushima before giving up and just watching movies. 2025 may have peaked.
Both Chance and Alex have played their games of the year and are planning on coasting the rest of the way to 2026. Chance finished up Ghost of Yotei, which was excellent if a bit short on content, and then moved on to Absolum, a brawler that Chamberlain was interested in until Chance brought up comparisons to Hades. Alex did all there was to do in Silksong, leaving nothing to do but finally (FINALLY) play South Park The Separate But Whole. And Chamberlain played Metal Gear Solid Delta, a remake of a very old game, before learning about love, death and demons in Sorry, We're Closed.
Yes, there is still Silksong talk this week. Alex has moved to within spitting distance of the end, having bested Skarrsinger Karmelita at the expense of a controller and strained fingers. Chance is celebrating Ghost of Yotei day and encourages all others to forsake their current worship practices for this new, improved version. Who doesn't want their god to feature global ray tracing at 60 FPS. And Chamberlain fixes the ending of Mafia The Old Country before insisting that everyone else is wrong about Silent Hill f being any better than a swift kick in the fellas.
Yes, there is still a lot of Silksong to talk about. Chance has finished it twice, having failed to distract himself with Dying Light: The Beast. He actually can't stop and it is becoming concerning. Alex finished, and has some less than nice things to say about, Borderlands 4. He, too, then, was sucked back into the bug orbit. And Chamberlain played Silksong for four hours, got angry, then retreated to linear action game Mafia: The Old Country, because it was more familiar and much, much more forgiving (in spite of all the revenge murders).
It's a spoiler episode! Silksong spoilers, because Chance has finished it, Alex has started it and Chamberlain is scared of it! Borderlands 4 spoilers, because Alex can't get enough of Randy Pitchford's nonsense! And Lost Soul Aside spoilers, because Chamberlain is a gaming hipster who only plays things that no one else has heard of!
Silksong has actually, honestly, really and truly come out and only Chance has put any time into it. No spoilers this week! Alex has Silksong downloaded (fighting Windows and Steam issues all the way) and will be playing it shortly, having put some time into the first Yakuza Like a Dragon to fill the preceding hours. And Chamberlain has Silksong installed but will not be playing it for at least a week and a half. But he did play RoboCop Rogue City Unfinished Business and some of Mortal Kombat 1, both of which were mediocre!
*sigh*
The Silksong counter is now at seven days. Chance and Alex are passing the hours by replaying Hollow Knight, with Alex wrapping the whole thing up in a new personal best time. Alex also found ALL of the Lego games on sale and is revisiting his childhood. And Chamberlain, who is so far removed from his childhood that he has forgotten it entirely, surrenders himself to one of his worst vices: a "new" Earth Defense Force game.
Spoiler! Hollow Knight Silksong has a release date! This is the happiest that Alex has been in six years. Also, we may not be recording in two weeks when it comes out, for science. Chance watched a ton of movies and has been inventing quests for himself in Tears of the Kingdom, this time at 60 FPS. And Chamberlain played a lot of things. The good (Ninja Gaiden Ragebound), the bad (Among Ashes) and the boring (Shadow Labyrinth).
The education of Chamberlain continues. This week: immersive sims are a thing that he has already played and he didn't even know it. Path of Exile II, which he has been enjoying, is not one. Alex has relapsed into XCOM II, which is excellent, but is not an immersive sim. And Chance has finished Donkey Kong Bananza and is struggling internally between Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Assassin's Creed Shadows, neither of which are immersive sims.
It is time for Chamberlain against the world (again). He tried Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and he hated it. A lot. No one else feels this way. He also threw money at Path of Exile 2 which is most enjoyable, when the sound works. Alex declares Final Fantasy XIII the worst Final Fantasy and Chance betrays not just some but ALL of his principles buy purchasing a Switch 2 and *gasp* enjoying Donkey Kong Bananza.
Chance has officially hit the credits of Death Stranding 2 and has almost nothing but nice things to say about it. It is hard to argue with shirtless hand to hand guitar battles. Alex is catching up on the Final Fantasy games that he never played. This week it is XIII, a game that still looks good and whose writing is still bad. And Chamberlain has returned to his gaming comfort zone: 7/10 games with obvious flaws and a lot of heart. Karma is a walking sim crossed with Orwell by way of Inception and Somber Echoes is a metroidvania with a good map, and sometimes that is all that is required.
Only one of your three heroes is not suffering from the annual summer games drought. Chance is still enjoying Death Stranding 2 and promises there is so much more to it than Tomorrow's feet. Alex took Chamberlain's lack of love for Metaphor personally and is playing it again to feel confident in his own opinions. And Chamberlain has gone all the way back to Hollow Knight, which is awesome, and whose map he still hates with more passion than is appropriate.
There is still only one new release of note, Death Stranding 2, and Chance is still all about it. Yes, Kojima still has somewhat cringey takes on the fairer sex, but the menus are awesome and walking from one place to another never gets old. Alex is working through his Steam backlog, this week sampling Chrono Cross and Mortal Kombat 11. And Chamberlain hates everything. He hated I Am Your Beast and he didn't exactly love Metaphor.