The Besties Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Russ Frushtick
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- Leisure
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It's Game of the Year meets King of the Hill as four of Earth's best friends – Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Chris Plante, and Russ Frushtick – rank and review their favorite video games. Because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games?
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A Souls-like for Fans of N64-era Mascot Games
Special guest Lucy James (GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Frames Per Second Podcast) joins Frushtick and Plante to discuss Another Crab’s Treasure. Have you ever wondered what it would have looked like had Rare made a Souls-like in the early ‘00s? Now you have an answer! Plus, the crew shares updates on other games they’ve been playing, from Stellar Blade to TopSpin 2K25.
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Falling in to the Fallout TV Show
Duck and cover! This week, The Besties discuss the first two episodes of the excellent Fallout TV series. Then, they talk through the ways the Fallout approach could alter the trajectory of video game adaptations. Plus: a bunch of great listener recommendations!
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Chicken Soup for the Gamers' Soul
This week, The Besties share their favorite “rainy day” games! These are the games we dig out when we’re feeling blue and need something that provides a quick dose of comfort. Turns out our list is quite long! In the back half, we do the rare Besties spoilercast with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — a.k.a. one of 2024’s best games.
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Pepper Grinder and Princess Peach, Together at Last
This week we've got a game inspired by the SNES era and a game that probably shouldn't have come out at all. We'll also find out just what Justin thinks about Dragon's Dogma 2, and what's going on with the Stardew Valley 1.6 update.
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Arise with Dragon's Dogma 2
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the best game of the year? Or is it the buggiest? It might be the most divisive! This week, The Besties talk about the wildly ambitious (and difficult to run on most hardware) fantasy RPG from Capcom. Plus, we take a deep dive into the reader mail pool. Did we mention we keep all the letters in a pool, Scrooge McDuck-style? Because we do.
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Rise of the Ronin is Assassin's Creed with Killer Combat
Team Ninja has been busy!
In the past five years, the studio released Dead or Alive 6, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Nioh 2, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Their latest game, Rise of the Ronin, compiles everything they learned into their most ambitious project: a sprawling open-world samurai adventure set in a recreation of mid-19th century Japan.
Rise of the Ronin takes the “something for everyone” approach, blending the exploration and loot systems of recent Assassin’s Creed games with the quick-reflex sword fighting of the studio’s Nioh series. This video game smoothie is quite delicious — if you can stomach the occasional funky chunk of game mechanics.
In the back half, we talk about our favorite under-appreciated open-world games.
Customer Reviews
Besties is the bestest
Only just discovered
Great podcast talking about all things gaming related
Hosts are very knowledgeable
Great for gamers
They’re dads with great chemistry, though Russ is the best. I used to think he was a bit much but either he changed or i did and now I’m very much here for him. I bet he’d be great to play d&d with. I also like when griffin laughs and he sounds like Timon from the lion king. What a treat.
Hilarious
I have been listening to The Besties for a couple of years now and have recently expanded to some of their other podcasts, like The Adventure Zone. These guys are absolutely hilarious and smart and just brilliantly entertaining. And surprisingly wholesome! Keep it up guys, love everything you do!