Triple Click Picks: The Games You Should Play (Vol. 4)

Fall is in the air, which means time for pumpkins, football, and lots and lots of video games, for which you will need lots and lots of podcasts. Welcome to Triple Click, where we bring the games to you. This week we are talking about our Triple Click picks, the best 10 games that we would recommend to all you find listeners out there. So let's pick them, shall we? I'm Jason Shryer. I'm Kirk Hamilton. And I'm Maddie Myers. Hello. Hello. Hello. Another week of Triple Click coming at you. Another week from our office. And now with a slightly more baritone Kirk Hamilton. I know, this is fairly sick as we record this, and everyone's going to get to hear what it would sound like if my voice was like a six. It's actually about a tritone lower. I could hit it a low E flat yesterday. And I'm actually kind of gauging my recovery from this cough that I have by how low my lowest note is. So like, you'll be an F tomorrow and then a G. And at some point, I'll be back up to an A. And then I'll know that I'm. Oh, you think it's going to keep getting getting lower? No, keep getting higher to go. My lowest note will get higher as I get better. This the one upside of being sick is that, you know, being able to be like, yeah, it's kind of, it's kind of, it's very powerful. I get to spend a couple days being a baby. I mean, you should just record yourself saying the same thing and then just put them on together as like a harmony as a. Like build a nice big E flat major network. Exactly. All right. Before we go to the show, we have to of course inform everybody out there that we are a listener supported podcast. We are only able to make this show because of all of you fine folks out there. If you would like to make the show happen, go to maximumfund.org slash join, become a member of our network maximum fun and support us. And your money, make the show happen towards us making this thing every week plus, making bonus episodes every single month for all of you fine members out there. And if you join, you will not only get a massive backlog of bonus episodes, including last month's, which was on the legend of Zelda tears of the kingdom, which we we dove deep into that game and the story and everything about it. And this month's episode for September, we are doing an episode about AI. And we're talking about a couple of AI movies called her and ex machina. And then we're going to talk about AI in general. It should be a very fun episode. And of course, many, many others. So once again, you're on the maximumfund.org slash join, become a member. But as for today, this is not a bonus episode. This is a regular episode. Did you guys know that? It's an important episode. Kind of a special episode. Not a bonus episode. Yeah. It is a special episode. Today, this week, we are updating the triple click picks. So the triple click picks are a list of 10 games that triple click officially recommends. Those games there, they're allowed to put triple click picks in their promo trailers. That's right. And they get the stamp of approval. They do. As everyone knows, they do. They get the stamp of approval from triple click. So these are 10 games that the three of us kind of unabashedly recommend. They're games that we would be happy to tell anybody out there to play. The games were really stoked about. They're all pretty modern games. And then we talk about a lot on the podcast. They're part of our canon here at triple click. What we hold dear in terms of the art form. Yeah. Just classics. Just a couple of classic videos. Modern classics. More than a couple. Yeah, that's true. 10 specifically. 10. Really five couples. We picked the random number of 10. Maddie, really, it's five couples. That's true. It's five couples. Games. So yeah, so here's the number 10. So all these games are pretty modern. And our rule of thumb in general is like they're looking at modern games. So here's what we're going to do today. We're going to go over the list of 10 games. And we'll read them in a sec. This is the we last updated these last November, November of 2022. We're going to go over them. And then we're going to talk about some games that have come out. Since our last update, that could potentially make the list. And then we'll kind of the three of us will kind of mull over live on the air, which games should go what they should replace, will make some pitches, will make some debates. And then by the end of this episode, we will have a new list of 10 games. So here's what we're going to do first. We are going to go through all 10 games one at a time. And each of us is going to give a one sentence description, or one sentence summary of why that game is on our list. So we're going to go in order. And number one, I'm going to throw it to you, Kirk, and then Maddie, and then I will go, and we'll just kind of rotate around. So Kirk, why don't you start us off? Okay, so I am giving one sentence on why this game is currently on the list. And it has to just be one sentence. Sure, yeah. Good luck. One sentence. So my game is Disco Elysium, which I believe has been on this list since this list existed. But that's not my sentence. My sentence is... Well, technically that was part of the sentence where you said my game is Disco Elysium. Yeah, I was just introducing it. You haven't started the sentence yet. So my sentence for why this is on there is one of the most well-written and elaborately crafted role-playing games ever created, semi-colon, truly a case study in masterful main character role-playing. Period. That's my sentence. Okay. I don't know if that was correct. Yeah, interesting grammar. It's a great sentence. Yeah. I lost my way for a second there, but I found my way home. You found your way home. You followed the North Star. We're really invoking the podcast Just King Things here by challenging ourselves to keep to a certain sentence length. And to see how elaborate of a run on sentence we can craft. Yeah. Maddie was channeling Cameron when I did that. Maddie, number two. Okay. Return of the Obradin is also a master class in narrative but more importantly, an example of mystery game storytelling and clue finding that I still think about every time I play a new mystery game. Period. Well, standard by which other mystery games are judged. That's a good one. Absolutely. Absolutely. One of the greats. That's not part of the sentence though. That's just, that was just a freebie. So you can't, you can't put that on the bottom. Jason, I saw the suggested game that you just snuck on there and I was about to do the same thing. So that's. I just thought too great. A little behind the scenes for everyone. We're adding, adding games to the list as we go along. I love it. Next step we have Hollow Knight, which is a game about a tiny bug who does massive things. Man. Okay. And that's enough. That's why it's on the list. That's true. Who wouldn't want to play that? Next we have Outer Wilds. And my sentence about this game is the best game about exploration that I have ever played. Mm. Strong. And there's a banjo. Strong. And there's a lot of banjo. There's a lot of beautiful music too. But really, it's that feeling of exploration. Maddie? I shouldn't, I shouldn't be a backseat driving any of these sentences. Who am I to add anything about the banjo? Take that out. You're a professional editor. It's fine. It's a reflection. Yeah, well, but not, not in this, not in this moment. In this moment, I have to talk about another video game. Yeah. Hades is an isometric fast-paced, rogue light in which you play as bisexual icons, and romance, slash, dual your way across the ancient Greek underworld, fall in love, and fall in love with the game, because it's great. I don't know. Not a great sentence. Not one of my best. Great game, though. Yeah, I think we're going back and forth between saying why the game is on the list and simply describing the game. Yeah, it's hard. You kind of got to decide to do one game. The game review is hard because you generally need to describe what the experience of playing the game is like, but also how it makes you feel to play, and doing all that in one sentence. No mean thing. No, it's tough. But we're amazing at it. Metroid Dread is pretty cool, but mostly I'm here to make Maddie happy. That's true. I can't deny it. But I would argue maybe the best game on the list, but I didn't get to rate the sentence for it, so that's why that's not officially on the record. Though you did just say it, so I guess it is. Well, it is in general on the record. It is generally on the record. The official sentences, which will be written in stone. So number seven is the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. And my sentence about it is in 2022, this was the best game ever made. And arguably still is question mark. Question mark, question mark. Spoilers. You don't play Zelda in it though, so. That's true. Next, Maddie. Right. Divinity Original Sin 2 is a game I should probably actually play, because it's on this list, and I know so much about it that it's kind of messed up that I haven't bothered to install it yet. It is pretty good, though. There is maybe another game you can play. I can think of one, I can think of one that we might even talk about later on this very day. Spoilers, man. So many spoilers here. Been a little foreshadowing. It's not a spoiler. It's foreshadowing. Yeah. Next up is Persona. Well, you're speaking of Stephen King. Yeah, foreshadowing. It's one of the really big spoilers that the game that we dedicated an entire month of coverage to might get on top of everything. Anyway, go ahead, Jason. Persona 5 Royal is next on list. This is a game about drinking coffee, eating curry, and hanging out in the rain. Mm-hmm. That is true. It is. It is. That's what it's about. And it's pretty fun. Good music. And last, of course, we have Elden Ring, which is a game about accidentally falling off cliffs. Yeah. There you go. Okay. So. All right. Let me read through the full list. Let me read them all list. Read them all, Jason. Yeah, please. Disco Elysium. Return of the Aberdeen. Hollow Knight. Outer Wiles. Metroid Dread. Breath of the Wild. Legend of Zelda. Breath of the Wild. Divinity. Original Sin 2. Persona 5. Royal. And Elden Ring. So those are the 10 games that we had picked in November of 2022. Now it is time for the three of us to kind of get to the meat of this, which is really debating what games should be on here, how we felt about some of the more recent games that came out. Would we recommend them full-throatedly to anybody? The way that we would these other 10 games? And what do you guys think? Should we go in order or do each one I kind of make pitches? Why don't we go in order? Let's go in order. Okay. Sure. So I made a list. It's just kind of a random order. Yeah, I was going to say. I'm just kind of saying we're going to go in order. And that order is. Well, just the order that I listed in them. Yeah, exactly. Great. So. So we're going to go in kind of, we're going to talk about games that, for the most part, came out this year, but also we're going to include a couple of games that we had reason to revisit this year for one reason or another or became more of a point of discussion this year. And we're going to start with one of those, which is Cyberpunk 2077. Now we have not yet talked about Phantom Liberty and us revisiting the game. We're actually going to do that next week. But for now, I think since we've all been playing it and we've all been playing kind of the new cyberpunk and some of the new, the big new updates they've added, I think it's worth at least a discussion point of whether this game should be on the list. So what do you guys think? So can I speak to this because I've actually been playing a lot of cyberpunk. Yeah, you've finished more than either of us. Yeah, you played a lot more than most of them. So I had played through a lot of cyberpunk last year. I think it was last year, last fall, on the Steam Deck, I was streaming it from my PC. And I decided, okay, I'm going to play through this thing and got pretty far in it. So I kind of got to know the main story beats. I got, I think, up to the last mission, did a lot of side stuff, which doesn't actually take that long if you don't do all the side stuff. And was like, oh, this game is good. They're writing it. This is pretty cool. But playing it on the Steam Deck, I will say now that I have gone back and played the game again on my new gaming PC with all the bells and whistles and my sweet ultra wide monitor. That it is a... Having played it a second time is helpful a lot of ways because it's a very dense, complicated world. I now know who everyone is. And I'm more of a tuned to what's going on. Anyways, this most recent playthrough, which I've been doing for the past week or so, of the 2.0 version, and also a Phantom Liberty, thanks to early access from CD Projekt Red, which I believe that we've all had. Has been pretty revelatory for me. This 2.0, which we'll get into next week, in which I think is a pretty common sentiment online, so it won't surprise anyone. It really feels like, okay, here we are. This is Cyberpunk. This is kind of what it, quote unquote, should have been at launch. This is the finished state of the game. And it's a really, really good game now. It play is great. It's really fun. They've made combat a lot more fun. There's a ton of quality of life and little polished things that are improved. But then again, it's also still the same basic story. And that story is really good. I would... I think the fact that I am really considering making an argument for adding this game to our... to the TurboClick's picks is pretty wild, given how that would have just been out of the question for a year or two, just because... I think both because of the state of the game was in when it launched, and also just because of the narrative against the game. So some of that is fair criticism, and some is just a little bit... It's unfair. It's just a byproduct of the terrible launch. But I will say, without even including Phantom Liberty, which I've played some of, and seems extremely strong, and is really, really entertaining and cool, just the base game is freaking cool. It's a really, really good role-playing game, with I think a great story that I've just found to be provocative and interesting and funny, and at times really moving, including one of the best video game romances. Maybe the best video game romance I've ever experienced with a female V and Judy, just incredible stuff. So anyways, I think it's remarkable that this game is even up for consideration in my mind, and I do think maybe we could consider it, because there aren't really any games like this on our list. We don't really have any big, meaty sort of actiony, first or third person mega graphics RPGs like this, The Witcher 3. There really isn't anything like that. So it would sit in that space, and I do think that it would be a worthy addition. So that's my pitch for it, based on what I've played over the last week. Yeah, so I'm not at a place, I'll throw to you many in a second, but I'm not at a place where I've played enough to really be able to offer an informed opinion on this. I've only played like eight hours, so I'm just out of, I'm just into the second act, I'm doing quest to go find Evelyn, with Judy and stuff, I'm up to that quest line, which actually coincidentally is exactly where I stopped playing the first time around in 2020, so it's kind of a fun, full circle moment. But there definitely parts, especially after playing Valder's Gate 3, you really start to notice like when, when a game doesn't, has some kind of logical flaws, or like doesn't notice something that a chitive notice, and I've definitely had some moments like that while playing, like when you'll choose one of the kind of non-critical pieces of dialogue, like in the dialogue tree, there's yellow, if you're advancing the conversation, and then there's optional things like that are in blue, and if you choose one of the blue ones, sometimes it'll like take the conversation in a thread, but then you'll choose a yellow one, and it'll act like you didn't just have that conversation you had, and it'll sometimes like repeat information in a weird way. There's some parts of it that are definitely still a little bit rough. That said, I love the new changes, the new perk system and skill system is really cool. It finally feels like the cops actually make sense, and like their actions make sense. It still kind of feels like it's trying to straddle the line between Deus Ex and GTA, and doesn't really land on either side, particularly amazingly. There's some of the immersive Sim aspects that could be better, could be a little smoother, and some of the sandbox aspects, obviously, that could be, but it's definitely improved both of those parts of the game. So, I'm definitely not against like including it on the list, but I can't exactly, I haven't played enough to be like, yeah, I can fully recommend this game, and the parts I've played, I've definitely noticed like a couple of niggling flaws, but yeah, I don't know. I don't have a strong opinion, so I guess I'll abstain on this one. I have a thought, but Maddie, I'm curious what you think. Just sort of a broadly about this question of adding into the list, since we are going to talk about it in depth next week. I think you should answer Kirk, because I feel almost identical to Jason, but I can provide some further details about where I differ, but go ahead. So, I think that like, I think there's a lot of interesting stuff to say about this game, and we're going to talk about it at length next week, so I don't want to kind of rehash it, or save stuff that we'll just have to rehash next week. I think that right now for this question, that we should table it, and maybe consider this game again, which I know it'll be in like a year, but it could be that in a year, like I haven't finished Phantom Liberty, and Phantom Liberty is really, really good, like from what I've played in it. It is some of the coolest RPG stuff I've done in a long time, and we'll get into this next week, because we'll both have played that, we'll all have played that more, and also like, I think have a little bit more in depth to say about how it compares to Baldur's Gate 3, as one type of role-playing game. But then also, I think the more both of you play, the more the things that it does very well, in particular, the combat, which has become very, very fun, and just the storytelling, like the writing, and just the way that it tells the cinematic first-person story. It kind of comes into its own, and it becomes clear that it is its own type of RPG that isn't Baldur's Gate 3. But I think we'll talk about that later, and that just makes me think we should table this, and include Phantom Liberty, and maybe consider it again in a year. Okay, pending, and the answer is perfect. I agree completely, because I have also noticed some of the exact same issues as Jason, but I want to give the game a chance to fully win me over, because I actually always thought the Johnny Silverhand storyline was really cool, even if you go way the heck back, and triple-click history. No, I know, yeah. I listened back to it for 10 hours of it, way back when, and thought that Keanu's performance was really cool, and I'm very excited to see the new stuff, but I just don't feel totally confident about advocating for it. We'll see. TBD for next week. Okay, cool. All right, let's keep going. Next up, we have Diablo IV, the action RPG from Blizzard, which came out a few months ago. We've all played it. We all were really enjoying what we played in it. This is another one where I'm the one who finished it at the three of us. Yes. Yeah. I played a lot more of it after we talked for what it's worth, but I never did it. Right, because you switched classes. Yeah, I switched classes. I played a lot of multiplayer with friends. And since I'm already talking, I'll say, this is kind of a tough one in terms of how we think about the triple-click picks, because on the one hand, I do feel pretty confident recommending Diablo IV to anybody who's interested in the type of game that it is. I think it's extremely fun and playable, especially the multiplayer, multi-class experience. Switching classes was fun, and taught me a lot about how the game works, and also taught me that it's a better game than I had initially thought it was in terms of how creative you can be in terms of just combat, flipping around the battlefield, using the dodge mechanics, leveling up your skill tree. All that stuff feels super freaking good. However, it's not Diablo III. There's some things I think about it that I've got to like, well, I miss the Diablo III of it all. And also, I don't know that I would personally rank it above some of the other games that we have in the running here, and the games that are in our initial top 10, yet I would recommend it. I think that's a good thought experiment. Like, look at this list in me. Like, what would I replace in this list? Exactly. And if you can't find anything, then maybe there's no answer. I'm with you. Maddie, I think it's a pretty strong game. I don't know if I would really like, have it take any of these other games place? So I'm not sure where it would fit on here. It's also, I also feel like these games, the games that we include on the triple click picks tend to be more broadly appealing. And I think Diablo games tend to be appealing to a certain type of person who wants the game to play while listening to podcasts or while hanging out. Or talking to friends. Watching numbers go up. And I definitely don't think that's for everybody. I mean, just as my own kind of thought experiment, all of these games with the exception of maybe a couple like Elden Ring, I would feel comfortable telling my wife to play, whereas Diablo IV, I know she would not care about. So for me, that's always kind of an interesting kind of a good metric as a way to approach it. Yeah. I think we don't really have a brain off game on our list. Our games are all very intellectually engaging, which I think are the kinds of games that we like. Well, that's not true. Hades, I think you can. Yeah. I would say they're Hades and Elden Ring. I don't agree with that. Hang on. No way. I think Hades is a much more engaging game than to go. Thinking about brain off as meaning. Well, let me, let me, let me expand what I'm saying. Yeah. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Very different. So I think I'm talking about a podcast game. Like a game where you just are like, I just want to veg out. I don't want to think about it too much. I just kind of want to watch some numbers go up. And in that case, I think Hades and Diablo IV are actually very interesting comparison points since they're both I've symmetric action RPGs. Hades is very difficult and requires a lot of intellectual engagement. At least when I play it, like I'm not in that, I'm not to a place where I can just space out and play that game. I have to really think about what I'm doing, my build, my, what, you know, what's coming up in the next room because it's a road like it's very unforgiving. Where Diablo, I mean, if you're just, unless you're taking it to a really high difficulty level, it's really just pretty much cruising around hitting a tack, especially with some of the bills, like the bill that I made for my sorcerer eventually was just, I had one spell and I had just maxed out that spell to the point where I could just crush anything and I just kind of chilled out and beat the whole game. Now some people really like that. I think this was actually a thing that I've seen people saying about Starfield as well, where we were looking for something like outer wilds. We want a game that's going to really engage our curiosity and our, you know, make us really think and kind of go, like, meet it halfway and we get a lot out of that because those that's, those are the kinds of games that the three of us really like. And I think the list is indicative of the games that we like. And so because of that, Hades is a better fit for this type of game for our list than Diablo IV, even while Diablo IV does have plenty of things to recommend. Okay. So I don't, I think we're all in agreement that Diablo IV does not make the cut as much as we enjoy that game. Sorry, Lilith, you were a cool villain. Next up, the Legend of Zelda tears of the Kingdom. I mean, dude, is there much to say here? All hated it. What a piece of crap this was. Biggest disappointment of the year. Is there a way to put to replace something on the list and add a little asterisk that's like, but you should still play the game that it's replacing? Because I mean, obviously we're, we're strongly considering replacing Breath of the Wild with tears of the Kingdom. And tears of the Kingdom, I think, as we have all said in different ways is, you know, pretty straight up upgrade over Breath of the Wild. It really adds a lot of interesting ideas. But I do still think Breath of the Wild has a lot to recommend it. It is an extremely good game. And I don't know. Like, I struggle with imagining a world where no one plays Breath of the Wild because they only play tears of the Kingdom. I'm very curious what that will look like over time. But this isn't a list that is like, you should only play these 10 games. No, it is. It is. If you can only play these 10 and if you play anything else, snipers are positioning. You're right. That is very true. If you meet, if you met someone at the bar somewhere on their like, oh, your video game podcast or what 10 games should I play? I've never played a video game before. You would recommend these 10 games. And I think that is a pretty easy substitution. Any disagreements? I'm for it. I also personally like tears of the Kingdom better. Yeah. I think the girls are better. It is a better game. I like it more anyways. I like it more. I got to say, I simply enjoy this. As we got into on our Beanscast. I think the way that that game thrilled us and the ending of it, I think the narrative was so good. The narrative was stronger. Everything was stronger. Everything was stronger. They really took it over the time. Yeah. Just a total upgrade. Okay. Next up, we have Octavef Traveler 2. Did either of you play this or was I lonely with it? Yeah, I played a little bit. Did I play the chunk of it? And I really, I mean, I am very frustrated by the fact that I haven't played more because I really do take you at your word that it's one of the best games of the game and one of the best JRPGs you've ever played. And that means a lot to me. Your recommendation on it means a lot. And I really, really like what I've played. So I'll say that. But I've only played five or six hours. Okay. Yeah. I haven't played it at all, but I do feel like I should. At the very least for gaming the year, consideration of Polygon. Yeah, sure. I'm giving for my other job. Are there other advocates of Octabeth 2 at Polygon? I hope so. You know there are. Of course there are. And I trust you to Jason. It's just, I'm sure even for me, I'll find something to enjoy there. So maybe that's a TB. Maybe we kick this kick this can down the road. Yeah, I mean, I do think I think Octabeth has traveled to. It's a really special game. I think that I imagine that a lot of people saw that and were like, oh, I didn't really love the first one. So I'll skip this one and count me in that boat only to then discover that holy shit. This is one of the best games ever because it improves upon the first game and some transcendent transcendent ways. But we can kick that can down the road. TBD. Can I do it? Can I throw a quick thought experiment at you to chew on for when we do? Sure. Pick the can back up when we get farther down the road? Sure. It's that we have one Japanese role-playing game or a Japanese style role-playing game on this list and that is percent of five Royal. True. And I would be curious, especially if we all managed to play it, to hear that debate because we are percent of five Likers on this podcast. But I could also see something coming along and knocking it off. I would say that percent of five is maybe in one of the weaker positions on this list compared to some of the other games. It's an older game compared to some of these others for one. And maybe I could both travel or two. I mean, Jason, I'm curious what you're going to say. Do you already think it could replace persona? Well, there's such different games that almost feel silly. Despite them both being role-playing games made in Japan, I don't really care. Also, it could just replace something else. Well, no, I'm not necessarily saying like one could definitely replace the other. I just don't think you can make a one-to-one comparison of like, well, this does what it's like they both try to do such different things. See, that makes me more excited to try. I mean, percent of five, percent of five is a game about rhythm and like following a routine and structure and school life. And all these other, all these interesting themes about like youth and independence and all that good JRPG stuff. Act about two is nothing like that. It's a game about exploration with a D&D party. And like an interesting, just kind of like save the world, well, not even save the world. Like a bunch of vignettes and like kind of interesting stories. And it's just a completely different game. Despite the fact that they both have term-based combat. So it's as, I don't know, as like it's the same as like comparing percent of five to Balder's Gate 3 just because they both use turns in their combat. They're just so drastically different that. But let's, this is a TBD. Well, we'll save this for next time along with Cyberpunk. Speaking of Balder's Gate 3, next up we have Balder's Gate 3. I think this is another kind of, seems like another easy swap word divinity original sin 2 has been superseded by its successor. But what do you guys think? Yeah, can we talk a little bit about Balder's Gate 3? Just because I finished the game since we last talked about that enough. Yeah, we've never talked about it. Well, I haven't talked about finishing it in playing all the way through Act 3. Because when we last left it, basically saying, oh, Act 3 is kind of messy. There's bugs. We're not really sure how it's going to turn out. We love the first two acts. But now that I finished it, I think I can pretty authoritatively say at least for myself. Wow, what a game. Like, top to bottom, start to finish. Just an incredible, incredible game. Great endings, great writing throughout. Really cool choices that you have to make. Really throughout the whole game. You're kind of always in the process of changing your mind and changing your character's self and making these decisions. It isn't like you just get to the end and then you choose which way you're going to go. Though, of course, there are some major inflection points in the narrative. So yeah, it was, I really just found it incredible through to the end and think they've gotten Act 3 pretty patched up and have fixed a lot of the issues. Though, of course, there are still plenty of bugs. And I do think, yes, this is a pretty easy one-to-one swap for Larian's previous game, depending on original send to you as much as I love that game. Maddie, any thoughts from you? You still got to play a lot more. I mean, this is the only one of those two I've played. But I have played enough Baldur's Gate 3 to feel pretty confident in advocating on its behalf, especially when I look at its position compared to the other games on this list that I have played and also knowing just from hearing about it from other people besides just you two that Divinity, original send to, has just as much of a learning curve if not more than Baldur's Gate 3 does. And that was one of my complaints as the person who wasn't familiar with Larian's games heading into those episodes was that learning how the game worked just from a moment to moment level was very hard. And with that in mind, I have learned how to play Baldur's Gate 3. I now enjoy it significantly more and can't recommend the RPG of it all enough. So, yeah, I definitely feel confident replacing an older Larian game that is either just as harder, even harder to learn how to play with something that is more accessible to a modern audience. And I know has a lot to recommend it. Right, just as hard to learn to play and crucially lacking in a lot of the role playing stuff that makes Baldur's Gate 3 so special and cool. Yeah, so, okay, easy swap Baldur's Gate 3 for Divinity, original send to, all right, next up we have Hollow Knight Silk Song. And she first came out and had a leave. Can't believe that just came out and we played the whole thing. Easy swap. Wow, easy Hollow Knight, set song for Hollow Knight. Wow, incredible. All right, next up I'm going to throw a couple of remakes that you guys that came out this year and were both well received, Dead Space and Resident Evil 4. Both remakes of great games, both great remakes, do either of them make our cut today. I don't think so. I really want to put a horror game on our list. But right, we don't have a horror game. We like them though and we do talk about them. And if I were to pick between these two, which have similar constructions with one having been influenced so clearly by the other. And the Dead Space remake is probably what I go with. I'm excited. I've thought about that game a lot since I've played it. But it's legit hard to think of what I would take off. Like at this point, we've done some easy swaps. But now we're entering the difficult territory where I'm like, but I want to take it into the game. Yeah. Because they're all so darn good. What am I going to do? Take freaking elder ring off the list? That's crazy. I can't do that. I mean, we don't have a horror game. And I think that's okay only because we talk about them some on this show, but not a lot. Maddie, I know you and I kind of play more horror games, I think. And then we really talk about very not Jason's jam. Yeah. Horror is not my, this is not my genre. It's very much. And I know, I know we had you play these two games, Jason. And you thought they were fine, but they didn't sweep you off your feet. Yeah. I mean, I had finished Resident Evil 4 way back in the day. Of course. So I, the remake was familiar territory. And yeah, I thought Dead Space was good. I just had no urge to keep playing after I played for the podcast, which generally is just a silent list. Right. Okay. But if you two felt strongly about including it, I don't think we do. No. The horror game that sticks with me the most over time is that game, Soma, the frictional games, game Soma. That's a cool game. I think the cost of the narrative. I think the cost of the narrative is Soma for the list. I'm not. I'm just throwing it out here because this, this caused me to think about horror in general. And well, what's the horror game that if I were just going to recommend to anybody? And I don't know if there would be that one necessarily, but just because of the story, the story is so genuinely unsettling and interesting. I think about it all the time just because I don't know like, yeah, like that idea, the idea of transferring your consciousness and of the kind of possible horrors that that could lead to. Like that just comes up in a lot of the media that I watch and a lot of sci-fi. And it's explored so effectively in that game. Anyways, just kind of a random thought there. That horror game. More than any other horror game. Really just stuck with me. Yeah, that's a cool horror game. It is. That's true. Yeah, but this isn't our best horror games list. All right. So we'll be replacing the Legend of Zelda tears of the kingdom. Okay, let's keep doing a couple of more contenders. Next up, we have Star Wars Jedi Survivor, which is an interesting game. I think it's a game we all enjoyed. It's also a game that was marred by technical issues on the PC. I played it on PS5 and it was like totally fine. But a lot of people have complained about the way it is run on PC. And yeah, I mean, it's a it's certainly it's a good game. Is it something it is worth? Is it worth considering for this list? I'm going to say this is similar to the dead space remake for me. It's not a horror game, but it is a game where it's like it's number 11 on the list. I enjoyed the heck out of my experience with it. It's just not quite enough to replace some of my all-time faves. And again, at this point, you're competing with the Elden Rings and Metro Dreads of my heart. You're competing with games by which I compare all other games. And as Star Wars Jedi survivor, one of those, no. Right, because it's not enough to be just a good game for this list. Yeah, it's not for this list. It isn't enough to be just a good game in life. Or maybe it'll make one of our top ten lists. Yeah, it is congrats to them. Maybe it'll be enough to maybe it's going to have to make one of our top ten lists, but that doesn't mean it's an awful time list. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, so it's not just 2023 we're talking about here. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing is if a person was sitting down with some kind of personification of the three of us named triple click. Some horror horror. What? Come on, killer. It has just our different appendages. Yeah. When it's constantly fighting with itself over a sweet code. It's like, kill me. But also play horror, that is good. So basically if that, if that horrifying creature was recommending games, I can't really imagine it being like the first thing you should play is Star Wars Jedi survivor. Again, that I would call composite, inspired at times. And also again, that I lost demon for technical reasons. I was playing on PC that they finally issued an update that I think makes it better. It's never going to be great on PC. It's always going to kind of have that stutter. But I think it's better. I played a little bit of it. And I picked it up and I was in some base kind of running around. And I didn't even really remember what was going on. So that made me both realize, oh, I'd have to start this over, which I would do. It's pretty fun. Maybe sometime when I have more time, which will be never. But also that if you start a game and you have that feeling and it isn't like, oh man, I'm so glad to get back to this because I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. It's kind of a sign that the narrative has, you know, has lost steam. Which I think that it just feels like this game runs out of steam after a certain point. So yeah, I know. I don't think we put it on. Well, there's only so much Star Wars. One can one can only so many Star Wars stories. One can take, especially after Andor, like comparing it. Yeah. All right. A couple more potential contenders. Case of the Golden Idol. This had come out, I believe, by the time we were talking about last year's list. But since then, it's gotten a couple of DLCs. And it's awesome. Which are great. Been a game that we've kind of discussed and had more time to mull over and let sink in with us. This is a very strong game. This is, of course, a mystery game where you are kind of this omniscient narrator or observer on a bunch of tableau scenes or murders. And you have to figure out what's going on. And it's just got this very unique deduction mechanic where you kind of learn things about each scene by examining people's inventories and things or objects around the world. And you collect nouns and verbs. And then you have to use them to kind of fill in these madlibs style descriptions of what happened. I think I'm the only one who's played all the DLC and it's all been fantastic. So it's been a game that has been like consistent. Like I've been playing it throughout the year and still enjoying it. So it's stuck with me. It's still waiting on the last DLC, but I played the first one. It's fantastic. And it's connected to the first one. I think you'll really enjoy it. So I actually, I think it could be a strong contender. And I'm going to have to think for a second about what it might, what I would suggest to replace. But you guys give me, give me some thoughts while we, while we roll this over. I'll say, I think it could replace Obradin, at least in my heart, which I realize is a controversial statement in this group. No, no, no, say more. But I feel like the experience of getting to the end of Obradin involves some wild guesses or at least it did for me. And that entire experience I think was fantastic, but it had a few moments in the end where I kind of felt like the guessing wasn't as fun as it could have been in terms of putting clues together and deducting from the information that you have, which I think is a very difficult thing to design for when you have limited clues. And you're looking at all these historical documents and situations. And I think golden idols design made that experience both more difficult as the game goes along. And also more rewarding when you made a guess that was right, because it would always be clear why that guess was right. Even if in the moment of you guessing it, you were like, well, this is crazy. You could always then be like, wait, but it makes sense though once it had been confirmed. And that sensation, I have found myself comparing other games to it, thinking about it as an example of a mystery game in much the same way that I once did with Obradin. It just feel like it improves on some of those core conceits that I had complemented Obradin for so much over the years. Interesting. Kirk, any thoughts? I don't think that that's as crazy of an idea as I might have thought. Like, Obradin is an amazing game, but it is kind of interesting to compare the two. And really, like, I don't know, I could kind of see Golden Idol being a bit of a more approachable game. Like, just because it doesn't have the first person part, it's not quite as mysterious. They do a little more scaffolding and they help you through it. Yeah, I don't know. Like, I'm really torn. I don't necessarily think we should replace Obradin because Obradin has a magic that I don't know that Golden Idol quite has because Golden Idol plays so much out for you. So it's a more difficult decision than I would have thought. And I don't know. I don't know. What do you think? So I don't necessarily think one has to replace the other just because they're similar types of games. I think there are other games on this list that I would maybe be inclined to replace with Golden Idol. I think... Yeah, we haven't yet advocated for what we're taking off the list. We do do that sometimes when we come in and we're like... For persona. It's tough because I think when you have 10 games and two of them are like... You know, mid halfway mystery, solid new logic puzzle games, it's tricky. It's true. Just because we don't, for example, have a Witcher cyberpunk style RPG on this list at all. Right. But then again, it's our list so we can do whatever we want with it. So yeah, that's not totally off base or anything. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. But the thing is, the thing that really is kind of a hiccup for me is the art style which I know will turn off a lot of people. And even though I got used to it, it's still pretty off-putting and unsettling and disconcerting. But yeah, I mean, I could see Golden Idol replacing persona. I could see it replacing Hades. Those to me feel like games that I wouldn't mind seeing going. To me, Obergins is still as incredible as it was. And I feel timeless in a way that I wouldn't want to lose it. I get it. It's just such a special game that is unlike anything that I've been done prior. Let's put a pin in it and once we're kind of looking at what we're taking off and what we're putting on. Okay. Then maybe if there's a little space we can think about adding it. Because I do think it's very borderline and I agree with everything you're saying. And I do feel like persona 5 Royal is in an interesting spot. And I think you saying Hades is also kind of interesting. I could see Hades coming out. Let's get to the next intender and then we'll talk through the whole list. So the next winner is Marvel's Midnight Suns. Yes. But you guys are both super high up. That came that actually came out in December. So right after we record. Right. No, I'm really glad that we put it on this list because I think it absolutely deserves consideration. I put it on because you shouted out Lilith in the Diablo section and I was like, Lilith, well how could we forget Lilith's debut in the world of video games as the antagonist of Marvel's Midnight Suns? Which I can't recommend enough. For me, I could easily replace Versona 5 Royal with this because this is the turn-based, hearty-based narrative game of my heart. This is Wolverine joins a book club founded by Blade. I mean, even if I weren't really into Marvel comics, I would think that's adorable. If only you could pause cutscene. I think that that replacement is a really provocative and interesting call. Like, I'm not opposed to that. Just this Versona 5 Royal. It's great, but I don't know. It's a lot of creepy cooking up with your teacher and stuff in that game too. Midnight Suns is just, that's got magic. Yeah, they're very good. Midnight Suns is like, yes, it's going to start slow. There's going to be a lot of Doctor Strange and Tony Stark's at the beginning and you're going to be like, why did they start with these two characters? Is it just the strength of the MCU of it all? Why did they think I wouldn't be willing to go along for a story about Peter Parker and Wolverine or something? Right. I would have been. And I do think that was a mistake on their part. It's always hard to recommend a game that has a slow start. But you know what else has a slow start? Versona 5 Royal. Yeah. It's a game that doesn't even start until you're about to end it. We'll start at a slow end. In a slow middle. Are you both in favor of adding Midnight Suns to the list? I love it so much. I know you do Jason. I haven't played enough to weigh in. I kind of love it. I kind of love it. I'm kind of on board. I would kind of be on board with replacing Versona 5 with Marvel's Midnight Suns. I really love it. I really love the game. I think it'll probably always be in a weak position on this list because Jason hasn't played it. No, I have played it. I have played it. Yes, that's true. It deserves some recognition for being as awesome as it was. Like having played through the entire thing all the way to the end, I really think that it's a better game than a lot of people even realize. Like people who didn't play it. Just because it didn't get as much discussion in as many places as maybe. I totally agree. And putting it on this list does feel like it honors that because it's really a very special game. It's very special and the combat is freaking quick. Yeah, and it's fun as hell. It's really fun. Here's a potential version of the list with four substitutions here. One, Disco Elysium 2, Return of the Overden. Three Hollow Knight, Four Outer Wilds, Five, The Case of the Golden Idol, Replacing Hades, Six Metroid Dread, Seven Tears of the Kingdom, Replacing Breath of the Wild, Eight Baldur's Gate 3, Replacing Divinity, Original Sin 2, Nine Marvel's Midnight Suns, Replacing Persona 5, Royal, and Ten Elden Ring. Wow. Wow. I don't hate that list. And I also, every time we do this, I try to really embrace not being precious about it. And we'd encourage listeners to also embrace that. That change is a part of life and it is kind of fun to just throw things out and change them. It is. It's just a list. It's a video game list for a podcast. So in the end, it changes probably good. And I don't hate anything about that list. I think another factor here is that Hades 2 is eminent that's coming into Early Access. Very good point. Very good point. Persona 6 is probably coming in the next couple of years as well. So maybe we can give those series a little break. Some of this is updating our list with newer games and games that are more a part of the conversation and also advancing ideas introduced in the older games. So yeah, so we do have if we make those changes, we do have two logic puzzle games, plus like outerwiles, which is sort of a logic puzzle game. But hey, those are the taste of games we all love. Yeah, I mean, it really does reflect the kinds of games that we love. Okay, it does. Yeah, a good list for us. I think we do it. I think that's a good list. So this is our final list. Yeah. Can I read them in order? Please do. Okay. In order, Disco Elysium, Return of the Obradin, Hollow Knight, Outerwiles, the Case of the Golden Idol, Metroid Dread, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and Elden Ring. I mean, 10 good video games to me. And amazing video games. Awesome. We got a list. All right, black smoke. Video games are good. It's coming from the chimney. We have a new triple click picks. It is good. We are kicking. I'm making a note that the next time we do an episode where we talk about triple click picks, we will discuss Cyberpunk and Octopath Traveler 2. But in the meantime, that is our list. All right, let's take a break. And then we'll be back with one more thing. Hi. This is Laurie Kilmarton. And I'm Jackie Cation. And we have a podcast called The Jackie and Laurie Sean. Max Funnett. It's very exciting. Because what do we talk about? Comedy. Standard comedy. We both do Standard comedy in half since the dawn of Christ. Well, Jackie, is that offensive? It is offensive. To me, because she've aged me. We started in the late 80s. And we're still here. You can't kill us. So go to the Jackie and Laurie Sean on Max Funnett. And listen to that. The Jackie and Laurie Sean. New episodes Monday. Only on MaximumBun.org. The Jackie and Laurie Sean. Greatest Trek is the podcast for all your modern Star Trek needs. It's funny, informative, and now it's also timely. That's because every Friday, right after the release of a new episode of Strange New Worlds, Picard, Lower Decks, Discovery, or Prodigy, we bring you a review of that episode. There's some great new Star Trek coming up and we're going to cover all of it. You'll like our show because we're both former video producers, so we bring a lot of insight into the production and filmmaking aspects to these episodes. And we also have a very refined sense of humor, so we make lots of delightful fart jokes along the way. So Come See Why Greatest Trek is one of the most popular television recap podcasts on all of the internet. Subscribe to Greatest Trek at MaximumFund.org. Or in the podcast app you're using right now. And we are back from our thing Kirk, why don't you kick us off with that provocative title? Hell yeah. Okay, so I have a podcast recommendation. This comes courtesy friend of the show Justin McLeroy, who he recommended this on his wonderful Games Podcast The Besties last week. I had heard about it before. I think I maybe saw it in the Pocket Casts recommendation, but then it has a very memorable name, which I'm about to say. So when he said that he loved it and had not laughed so hard at a podcast in a long time, I was like, okay, I'm going to listen to this. So I listened and it is wonderful. The podcasting question is called, who's shat on the floor at my wedding? And it is a podcast about two or really three women trying to answer the question, who shat on the floor at our wedding? Karen Whitehouse and Helen McGlocklin are the couple who got married in question. They're married in 2018. And at their wedding, they're a turd. A mysterious turd was found in the bathroom on the floor, and it was not clear immediately who was responsible for it. And so their friend Lauren Kilby, who is honestly one of the funniest people I've ever heard on a podcast. They just happen to be friends with this hilarious lady. Takes on the mantle of detective, though she is not as detective at all. And the three of them set out on a true crime adventure to answer the question, who shat on the floor at my wedding? And I have not listened to the whole thing. I have listened to a few episodes. I have laughed very, very hard at it. It's just one of those shows you start listening to it. You think you're like, all right, well this is going to be funny. And then immediately there are such funny people. They're kind of in the height of like pandemic delirium. So they're like really just having a good time cracking each other up. And the detective Lauren Kilby is so funny and so good at playing it straight, like pretending that she really is a detective on the case. But I mean, honestly, I can't even try to describe why it's funny. I think people should just listen to it. If you're looking for a very, very funny true crime podcast that is, you know, very much a send up of true crime while also having an actual mystery at the heart of it, I just can't recommend it enough. It's so, so funny and just really great. Do you know if it has a satisfying ending? Like do they figure it out at the end? I don't. I'm assuming that they do, but I don't know. I really couldn't say where it's going to go at this point. They've like brought in a lie detector. Oh man. It's going off. That's, man, I will totally listen to this. But really it's, I think this is going to be one that's about the journey either way. But it will definitely, definitely make you laugh if you're looking for something funny. So yeah, that's who shed on the floor at my wedding. It's just a podcast. It's on all the podcast apps. Highly recommended, very funny show. Maddie, what's your remember thing? My one more thing is a television show called Spider Games that was released in 2001. I've seen, I've seen some of your police guy posts about this. Yeah. So I posted on Blue Sky, which is a social media website that I'm on, I guess, about how somebody should make a version of the television show succession, but it should be about who is going to replace Bobby Coddick if he were actually going to step down an Activision Blizzard. And somebody responded to me to recommend this television show Spider Games, which has that exact premise. It's just that it was made in 2001. And it's about a fake video game company called Spider Games that's spider with a Y. I was hoping you would spell it out for people because that's very important. I need to sell this out to the people. Although they could also just go to the YouTube channel of a user named Spider Gamer, for whom this is almost the only thing they've ever uploaded, aside from the real world movie from that same time period. This is not a good television show, but I have laughed extremely hard at it. And perhaps more importantly, it is weirdly similar to succession to the point where I really want someone to ask, is Jesse Armstrong his name? Who is the showrunner's successor? Yeah, Jesse Armstrong. As to whether he has at least seen Spider Games, because it does have a fatherly patriarch who is engaged in some shady deals, he's a bit more of like a Russian mobster on this show as opposed to whatever Brian Cox is doing on succession, which is just being Shakespearean and terrifying. He's much more of like a mob bus figure. But he has four children and one of them is a woman who is functionally shiv and the other three are characters who are basically Conor Kendall and Roman, and sometimes the rules change around a little bit. But they're so incredibly similar that it's uncanny at points, and it makes me want to do some sort of elaborate video editing project where I like put all the audio for succession over furniture spider games. It's terrible, no one should watch it. But again, I've been laughing really hard out of it, and I'll just read a quote from it. There's a point where the Shiv Roy character gets attacked at night in her office by a man who turns out to be sort of the Tom Wombsgams figure who seduces her, and she says, while brandishing a knife at him, who sent you? Nintendo, Sega, and if that doesn't sound like a show you want to watch, then I don't know what you're doing listening to Triple Click. So yeah, it's called Spider Games. It's all on YouTube, and MTV will probably never take it down, because I don't know that they ever should. Wow, I can't really just say it. I can't really just exist it, wow. 2001, that's some flint of Sega Nintendo. So it's like the thick of the Sega Nintendo. Mortal Kombat being too violent, and one of the fictional games they're developing is called Witch Wars, and there's arguments internally about whether Witch Wars is too gory and whether they're going to piss off the United States Senate or whatever. That's the kind of thing people are worried about. 2001, yeah. September 11th happened and delayed the release of the finale. You know, it was a time. Yeah, it was a time. Nice. Okay, my one more thing is a book. Another book, this is called Number Go Up by Zeke Faos. And so I'm going to describe this book by telling you guys the premise that he brings up in the introduction, which is he says he started this two-year investigation, thinking that crypto was dumb. And by the end of the two-year investigation, he realized that crypto is dumber than anyone could possibly realize. That's funny. This is like line goes up that folding ideas video with a similar name. So Number Go Up, this is a phenomenal book that I highly recommend. I've already told like five people in real life who I know are like, have some interest in crypto in some way or another. I've told them they have to read this book because it is just incredibly entertaining and well written. Here is where I must disclose that Zeke is a colleague of mine. He works at Bloomberg, although I don't know him personally. And I've never actually met him. But still full disclosure. He works with me at Bloomberg. And there's actually, there's an excerpt from the book on business week that will probably sell you on it. If you go check it out, we'll link it in the in the show notes. I'm already sold out. But so he started off this investigation as like looking into Tevver, which was, which is one of those sketchy like kind of stable coin companies where they say each of their fake virtual currency is somehow worth a single dollar. And it just explodes from there. And this the as a reporter, a lot of it is written in first person because he's going out and talking to people and going on these like crazy adventures to crypto conventions and to like Portugal, like compounds where crypto barons are having parties. And then he winds up like in, well, I won't spoil it. But he winds up in Southeast Asia like on this expedition to like, he winds up tracking down this kind of like scam farm where they like basically are human trafficking people into like coming up with those text message scams where they text you the wrong and it's like it seems like a wrong number. And then they try to build a relationship with you. But those are like, and it's just a crazy ride that is just so entertaining and he's such a good writer and storyteller that it's just impossible to put down even if you like don't know anything about crypto. It's really just an incredible book that I cannot recommend more highly because it's just it really it not only does it do the service of just like telling an entertaining story and being well written and fun to read. It also does the service of just like deflating so much of these ridiculous crypto scammers and making you realize like, I mean, I think all three of us and a lot of people, especially people who are tuned into gaming have realized from the beginning that crypto and NFTs and all this stuff was just this ridiculous scam that had no real world function and was just kind of a disaster that that like if you you can make a lot of money. But if you were left holding the bag. Yeah, you can make a lot of money in the same way that if you're playing musical chairs, you can get a chair. But whoever's left standing at the end of the day is going to get screwed. And this book is all about that and just really does the steep dive into that world in a way that I haven't seen anything else do. So yeah, cannot recommend it highly enough. It's called number go up, which is kind of one of the slogans of the some of the crypto world's and yeah, it's also really sad and will make you angry because of the way that like people are taking advantage of and there's a chapter about, for example, Axi infinity, which is that game that everyone was talking about for a spell and everyone was talking about how it made people and the Philippines like really wealthy and they were able to quit their jobs for it. And of course, Zeke goes to the Philippines and discovers that a lot of people got con and scams and totally screwed and and through a way their life savings because this was their one shot to like make money and it's just really like really infuriating to read in many ways. But the book is incredible. I love all of this kind of crypto stuff. It's fascinating. Yeah, yeah, cool. That is it for this week's episode Kirk Maddie. I will see you both next week to talk cyberpunk. Yeah. See you next week. Bye. Triple Click is produced by Jason Shryer, Maddie Myers and me, Kirk Hamilton. I edit and mix the show and also wrote our theme music. Our show art is by Tom DJ. Some of the games and products we talked about on this episode may have been sent to us for free for review consideration. You can find a link to our ethics policy in the show notes. Triple Click is a proud member of the Maximum Fun Podcast Network. And if you like our show, we hope you'll consider supporting us by becoming a member at MaximumFun.org slash join. Find us on Twitter at TripleClickPods and email the TripleClick at MaximumFun.org and find a link to our discord in the show notes. Thanks for listening. See you next time. MaximumFun. A worker-owned network of artist-owned shows supported directly by you.