The Besties

Russ Frushtick, Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy

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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20 episodes
Updated Friday
Explicit

Episodes20

Newest first

Splatoon Raiders Might be the Most Fun Switch 2 Game Yet
The guys are back again to talk about the magic and wonder of Splatoon Raiders, a game that finally made us all agree that Splatoon is really kinda awesome. We've also got some reader mail to dive into and whether we can actually find someone who inverts their horizontal axis.
Friday · 54 min
The Halo Remake Is a Metaphor for the Xbox Mess
In the back half of this week’s episode, we chat about Halo: Campaign Evolved, a video game that has the misfortune of representing everything infuriating about the modern Xbox strategy. Fortunately, other games exist. To soothe the soul, we start with an inspired murder mystery, a surprisingly deep Spelunky-like, and the 1.0 of Palworld.
July 24 · 59 min
Assassin's Creed vs. a Train That Does Backflips
This week’s games represent two ends of the video game spectrum. On one side, we have Denshattack, an indie game about a train that performs skateboard-style tricks in a fantastical version of Japan. On the other end, we have Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, a decadent remake of a beloved but dusty Ubisoft open-world game. Guest Jeff Grubb from Giant Bomb helps us chat about these two very different delights!
July 17 · 49 min
Nintendo Is Playing the B-Sides
Rhythm Heaven returns after an eleven-year hiatus with Rhythm Heaven Groove. It’s a fun game, but something’s changed. The series? The boys? Nintendo? We find the answer. Plus, Frushtick talks about life with the Steam Machine. It’s neat! It’s expensive! And it’s a reflection of the moment!
July 10 · 56 min
Sony Kills Discs, Nintendo Revives Star Fox
Griffin needed to take this week off, but our guest was more than prepared to talk about the week’s huge gaming news. Stephen Totilo, the founder of Game File and former EIC of Kotaku, explains the cause and fallout of Sony’s decision to cease physical game production in 2028. In more joyful news, Nintendo remade Starfox for the second time! And Frushtick and Plante have impressions to share!
July 3 · 52 min
2026's Best Games (and What's Still to Come)
Midway through the year, The Besties share their top contenders. However, don’t make any bets on these being our final picks for our GOTY list, because the back half of 2026 is unprecedentedly dense with new releases. To set the stage, we curate our most anticipated games. Also, The Grinch 2.
June 26 · 58 min
Uh Oh! We're Drowning in Games Again
This week, we throw our own summer festival of video games by opening the grab bag! There was so much stuff to play, it took all three Besties working on different piles to separate the “Yes!” from the “Yuck!” Want a meta Sherlock Holmes mystery? How about overlooked DLC to a Besties favorite? Or maybe you want to hear about Steam running on Android emulators? Friends, we have something for everyone!
June 19 · 1 hr
Everything We Loved from Summer Game Fest
We watched all of the Summer Game Festival events and curated the upcoming releases that we think you’ll enjoy! Plus, Frushtick and Plante attended SGF Play Days in Los Angeles and went hands-on with tons of games, from the new Tomb Raider to Stranger Than Heaven. Was this episode recorded alongside Nintendo’s big announcement? Were we struggling to retain control of our brains? Yes and yes.
June 12 · 55 min
007 First Light Is Like a Great James Bond TV Series
007 First Light is the new game from IO Interactive, the developers of the beloved stealth series Hitman. So you’d be forgiven for assuming this entry in the Bond canon would emphasize sleuthy spycraft. Instead, IOI created something akin to a season of James Bond television, spotlighting its strong story above everything else. Was that the right choice? It depends on which Besty you ask!
June 5 · 1 hr 5 min
Mina the Hollower Is GOTY Quality
Mina the Hollower is a delicious 7-layer dip of beloved video games. It looks and feels like a gothic Zelda, but its influences stretch far beyond Nintendo’s action-adventure series. The Besties are joined by Jason Schreier (from Bloomberg and Triple Click) to burrow through one layer after another to uncover its many secrets. In the back half, we talk about the big news of the week: Dragon Quest 12’s development reboot and the end of Destiny 2.
May 29 · 1 hr 19 min
Forza Horizon 6 Wants You to Love It
Forza Horizon 6 wants you to be happy forever. It features a colossal open world that reimagines Japan, stuffed with more free cars than you’ll ever have time to drive – let alone upgrade. You can win races or lose them; either way, you’ll get rewards. Even its trees will gladly explode into tinder on contact with your vehicle, because the game would hate for a pesky forest to get in the way of chaotic car fun. All of this makes for a fun game. So why are we craving friction? The Besties try to
May 22 · 58 min
Mixtape Is a Musical Magic Trick
Mixtape arrived alongside a flood of euphoric reviews and a variety of discourses across various social media platforms and gaming groups. With a tiny bit of distance, we talk through what does and doesn’t work about this riff on the modern musical with the help of Friends Per Second co-host Lucy James! Heads up: After the main conversation, mailbag, and honorable mentions, we’ve included a full spoiler convo on the game. We hope you enjoy it!
May 15 · 58 min
Saros is More Bullet Heaven Than Bullet Hell
Saros is the continuation of decades of bullet-dodging action games from Housemarque. But it has most in common with the team’s previous game, Returnal. Is this game welcoming enough to bring newcomers into the pseudo-series? We find out! Plus, a humongous collection of other stuff we’re playing and watching, including a Korean reality TV series that pits different types of spirit mediums against one another! Look, we’re just as surprised, confused, and delighted as you are.
May 8 · 1 hr
Vampire Crawlers and a Big Besties Update
This is a big week of change at The Besties. But before we get to the news, we all want to chat about one of the strangest spinoffs in indie games. Vampire Crawlers adapts the iconic Vampire Survivors into a dungeon crawling, roguelike deckbuilder. And... it mostly works? Stick around until the end of the show, when we chat about a big change for the future of The Besties.
May 1 · 58 min
Tomodatchi Life and the Magic and Wonder of Super Nintendo World
This week we're diving into Nintendo's bizarre life sim, Tomodatchi Life: Living the Dream, which allows a bunch of Miis to eat cigarettes for breakfast. Griffin also regales us on his experience visiting Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios, and we explore the total nonsense going on with handhelds these days.
April 24 · 56 min
Pragmata Is Like Dead Space with Optimism
Announced in 2020, Pragamata has finally arrived. Capcom’s new third-person shooter puts you in the boots of a space marine-type who must overcome evil robots on a moon covered in 3D-printed skyscrapers. Which comically sounds like a pretty standard video game premise. But this isn’t your standard shooter. You must solve puzzles in the middle of combat, team up with an adorable robo-kid, and navigate some classic 3D platforming in low-gravity. Kinda Funny’s Andy Cortez joins us to discuss this o
April 17 · 59 min
For Super Mario Galaxy The Movie, We Get Help from Get Played
How do you talk about a film as strange as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie? You call in backup. Get Played’s Matt Apodaca joins us to talk about the blockbuster sequel. Does a film need a story? What’s the worst sin in adapting a video game? And which voice actor stole the show? Plus, Raccoin!
April 10 · 1 hr
Creature Kitchen Is an Alternative to Expensive Gaming
This week, the Besties chat about two relatively low-priced games that have won over huge audiences: Creature Kitchen and Scritchy Scratchy. In the back half, we talk through the recent PlayStation price hikes and consider what alternatives gamers have as the hobby gets more and more expensive.
April 3 · 1 hr 5 min
Marathon Is Both a Miracle and a Monster
Frushtick and Griffin were Destiny dudes, and yet it's Plante who has fallen in love with Bungie's new extraction shooter. What's so appealing about Marathon? Is the extraction genre's difficulty a dealbreaker? Who is this game even for?
March 27 · 54 min
Slay the Spire 2, a Big Hole, and a Resident Evil 9 Spoiler Chat!
Welcome to The Besties March grab bag. There are simply too many new games, so to cover as much as possible, we split up the workload. Griffin talks about the surprisingly complete Early Access release of Slay the Spire 2. Plante, of all people, explains how to get into Marathon. And Frushtick . . . well, he found a big hole. To avoid Resident Evil 9 spoilers, skip to ~20 minutes after the return from ad break.
March 20 · 1 hr 6 min

The Besties

Splatoon Raiders Might be the Most Fun Switch 2 Game Yet

The Halo Remake Is a Metaphor for the Xbox Mess

Assassin's Creed vs. a Train That Does Backflips

Nintendo Is Playing the B-Sides

Sony Kills Discs, Nintendo Revives Star Fox

2026's Best Games (and What's Still to Come)

Uh Oh! We're Drowning in Games Again

Everything We Loved from Summer Game Fest

007 First Light Is Like a Great James Bond TV Series

Mina the Hollower Is GOTY Quality

Forza Horizon 6 Wants You to Love It

Mixtape Is a Musical Magic Trick

Saros is More Bullet Heaven Than Bullet Hell

Vampire Crawlers and a Big Besties Update

Tomodatchi Life and the Magic and Wonder of Super Nintendo World

Pragmata Is Like Dead Space with Optimism

For Super Mario Galaxy The Movie, We Get Help from Get Played

Creature Kitchen Is an Alternative to Expensive Gaming

Marathon Is Both a Miracle and a Monster

Slay the Spire 2, a Big Hole, and a Resident Evil 9 Spoiler Chat!