The Besties Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Russ Frushtick

In a year full of surprise sleeper hits, Lies of P might just be the most surprising -- Pinocchio trappings and ridiculous title aside, it's one of the most solid replications of the Souls formula we've ever played. Join us for a discussion of what sets it apart from other entries in the genre. (Hint: It's the P-Organ.)

Also discussed: Remains of the Day, Sea of Stars, Hammerwatch 2, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC, Stray Gods, Inland Empire, Willie Nelson

The goal of Gunbrella is to find those responsible for your wife's death by wielding the murder weapon: a gun that turns into an umbrella. Of course this isn't any umbrella. It can block bullets, zip you into the sky, and grind rails like a pro skater. We really enjoyed the developer's previous game, Gato Roboto; can Gunbrella take their talents another step forward? In the second half, we make sense of this month's big video game industry controversy: Unity's baffling decision to change its payment structure, infuriating tons of developers and potentially causing a glut of delays as designers move their games to new engines. See a full list of everything discussed on the episode (plus links!) at Besties.fan.

This week's game, the classic JRPG-inspired Sea of Stars, seems like it'd be up the alley of a couple of this podcast's humble hosts, and definitely not up the alley of some others. Well, guess again, buckaroo! Because it's got crossover appeal that we absolutely did not see coming.

Also discussed: Karateka, Baldur's Gate 3, Fae Farm, Game Changers: The Video Game Revolution, The Beauty of Games, The Faculty, Who Shat On the Floor at My Wedding

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon might have one of the video game-iest ass titles in the history of games, but that doesn't stop it from being an absolute barn-burner of a mecha action game. Join us as we dive into our history with the series, and extol the virtues of the demo discs of yore.

Also discussed: Starfield, No Man's Sky, Baldur's Gate 3, The Righteous Gemstones

Starfield inspired Frushtick to take a ship deep into the cosmos of No Man's Sky. After seven years and tons of updates, the sci-fi game is a stunning alternative for people who crave the awesomeness of space more than the dramatics of a traditional RPG. We also talk about the fantastic Shadow Gambit, a stealth tactics game for everybody -- not just fans of the genre. Also discussed: Retro Bowl and Only Weird Games. For more info and links to all games, follow our newsletter besties.fan.

Todd and the gang have cooked up another big ol' game for us: The outer space frontier explorin', space ship buildin', dude blastin' open world RPG known as Starfield. How well does Bethesda's formula apply to the infinite cosmos? We have some thoughts.

Also discussed: No Man's Sky, New World, Finity