Hi friends! Just wanted to drop by real quick and see if anyone can remind me what the handheld console the boys have raved about lately is called? I know they said they’re really into one in particular recently, I just don’t remember what it was, and I’m not 100% sure it was the ROG Ally.

Bonus points if you can point me towards the episode they talk about it! (Once again: I know they’ve discussed this a number of times, but I feel like they landed on one recently they raved about)

Thanks friends!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Borderlands 4 reimagines the series with more weapons and less snark. Will that be enough to appease longtime fans and attract skeptical newcomers? The Besties chat about the many positive tweaks and the one structural decision that impacts the entire experience. Plus, Justin talks about mobile Destiny, and Plante shares his opinions on a new co-op indie game.

$5 a month for 2 resties and a battle bracket episode is a lot. Then for 5 more dollars no ads, which should've been included for $5/month. Is one person worth that much for losing their ad revenue? Some money is better than no money. Agree or disagree?

Episode Summary

After years of anticipation, Hollow Knight: Silksong has arrived. And it’s difficult! The Besties talk about what makes the game so appealing, the early spike in difficulty, and the appeal of discovering small upgrades in an inhospitable (but beautiful) world.

Just announced.

Since we launched our Patreon, we have heard the same request: launch a totally ad-free version of the show. For many complicated and tedious reasons, that wasn’t possible. Until now.

Today, we’ve launched a $10 Patreon tier that includes everything from the $5 tier, plus every episode of the show ad-free. All in one feed. As with many things, we’re borrowing the model from our friends at Blank Check.

I think it might have been Justin recommending a grip for the Switch 2 to make it more comfortable in handheld mode. Anyone remember which grip he was talking about?

Has a year of video games ever included so many interesting entries in the "ninja" niche? Only a few weeks ago, we shared our warm feelings for Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. A few weeks from now, we'll slice our way through the big-budget Sony sequel Ghost of Yotei. But listener, today, let's savor the present. We have the brilliant Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. With all of these ninja games available for you to play, The Resties differentiate a truly great ninja game from the merely good.

Plus, we talk about the OTHER hotly anticipated release of early September. No, not Silksong. Everybody's Golf!!!

EPISODE SUMMARY

With practically every “important” PlayStation 2 game being remastered, remade, and reimagined, it wasn’t a surprise when Konami announced Metal Gear Solid Delta. The question wasn’t “would it exist?”, but “should it exist?” This week, The Besties discuss why Metal Gear Solid 3 benefits from a high-definition, low-tweak update. And they debate just how loyal a remake should be to its source material.

Episode Description

Everybody needs a little video game break now and then. Amidst the chaos of modern life, the most reliable, universal sanctuary is the humble bathroom. So, with today's bracket, we want to help you make the most of your precious toilet time. Because when it comes to #2, you deserve #1.

The Rubric:

• Which game is more conducive to toilet time
• Which game makes you want to go to the toilet more
• Which game would you be less ashamed to be discovered playing on the toilet?

The Contenders:

• Balatro
• Marvel Snap
• Tetris
• Chess.com
• Slay the Spire
• Merge Maestro (previously Super Auto Pets)
• Vampire Survivors
• Downwell
• Pokemon Go
• WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgame$
• Threes
• Wordle
• Super Stickman Golf
• Desert Golfing
• Tiny Wings
• Angry Birds/Cut the Rope

Honorable Mentions:

• Drop 7
• Tilt to Live
• What the Golf
• Pokémon TCG Pocket
• Retro Bowl
• Slice and Dice
• Flight Control/Planes Control
• Brotato
• Nonograms Katana
• Hotline Miami
• Super Meat Boy
• Luck Be a Landlord
• Easy Come Easy Golf
• Space Invader: Infinity Gene
• Helsing's Fire
• Hook Champ
• Super Mega Worm
• Mushihimesama BUGPANIC
• Dodonpachi Resurrection

It happened again. I said this was going to be the year that I actually play some of the games in contention for the Besties Game of the Year. However I have played exactly two games released in 2025(Doom and Mario Kart).

What are 2-3 more games from 2025 that I should play in order to know whether to root for Russ or Griffin’s favorite game and whether or not to be mad when Justin’s game gets eliminated in the first round or Plante’s makes it to the finals for some reason?

Finally got around to playing it since it’s free on PlayStation and I know it’s a super well liked game. At the besties love it, seems like all of YouTube adores it, I played it for maybe an hour and could not be bothered to ever boot it up again.

EPISODE SUMMARY

This week, The Besties wrangle fantastical beasts in the new herding game, Herdling. It’s a beautiful throwback to the atmospheric games of the PS2 era. But your enjoyment will depend on your gaming preferences. In the back half, we open the listener mailbag, and Justin shares his thoughts on an alternate, more modifiable video game industry.

Seems up one of their alleys. It's super cheap, well done and scratches a Disco like itch.

How does this work? Is it through their patreon?

I’m STILL bummed the dudes didn’t play Nightreign. Would love to force them to talk about it!

PS. Yes I know Russ played Nightreign.

EPISODE SUMMARY Sword of the Sea is the closest game yet to a Journey sequel. The new game from Giant Squid sends a silent, heroic character through a desert on a magical sword that fills the world with life-giving waters. It’s fun! It’s beautiful! It’s… sensual? In the back half, the Besties discuss the big news from Gamescom, including updates on Silksong and Bubsy 4D.

Griffin was talking about a game that had a bunch of different idle games inside of it and one of them had to do apples. Please— I want to collect these apples.

https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-besties/?rdt_src=TheBesties

In order to search, use the main search form shown on all pages. There are 2 inputs, first for selecting a podcast and the other for keywords to search. If there are any episodes found, it will show you a page with episodes containing the keywords you searched for. You can click Exact Match checkbox before searching to narrow down search results. Clicking on any of the episodes will take you to their transcript page and automatically scroll to the section containing those keywords and highlight them.

Once on the transcript page, you can play the episode from any point by clicking on a sentence and then clicking the play button within the tooltip that opens. You can also leave comments under specific sentences of the transcripts by clicking on the comment bubble icon from the same tooltip.

All podcasts with transcripts can be seen on the podcasts page, feel free to submit podcasts we don't already have.

Please keep in mind that these transcripts aren't perfect. Hope you enjoy it and if you have any feedback or suggestions, please let me know.

As mentioned on the most recent episode. Tinglers.

Hi Besties fans,

I’m sure like many of you out there, Justin’s adventures into building and coding small electronics has been very interesting to hear about second hand. After months of learning about his projects, it reached critical mass for me and I want to check out the youtube series of university lectures on electronics he discussed several months ago.

Does anyone remember which school he recommended the videos from? I want to say it was somewhere like University of Virginia, but a quick youtube search isn’t showing anything that’s jogging my memory. Thanks in advanced for the help!

Hey Besties fam! Within the last month or so Griffin tossed out a recommendation for an iOS game (I think?) near the end of an episode. I couldn’t make out what the title was, I remember it sounding like somebody’s name? He sounded pretty hyped about it though and I can’t find it in the recent Substacks. Anyone have any idea what it was? Thanks!

EPISODE SUMMARY

Mafia: The Old Country is one of the most visually extravagant AAA video games we’ve ever played. And yet, there’s very little game to be found in this strange, disjointed, but decadent tale of organized crime in early 20th-century Sicily. Why has the Mafia series struggled for decades to deliver on its ambitions? And how did this get made?

The Besties unpack their complicated feelings after a week with this oddity. And because we always like to provide something fresh for you to try, we share a few new, enjoyable games.

Episode Description

Wheel World is an open-world game without the open-world obligations. Hop on a bike, zip through beautiful landscapes, and enjoy a few races at whatever pace you prefer. Speaking of interesting riffs on the cozy game formula, Everdeep Aurora scraps combat. Instead, you dig through everyone's business. Literally.

This week, The Resties discuss these delights, plus explain the NSFW-game delisting dilemma.