I rewound the creepy voice part at 1:49:30 about a dozen times when I was listening to the podcast yesterday. I was in stitches for about five minutes. Watching the video version today I can't believe that was Haley's voice.
Wait, Kelsey has a cluster of upper crust bubblers? I would be afraid to bluster about my cluster of upper crust bubblers, lest they lose their luster! Hell, I reckon I'd be quite flustered about my upper crust cluster bubbler bluster, buster!
I know this (seemingly) isn't the community for this, but '1000xRESIST' and 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes' deserve a lot more love and publicity. I'm thankful Kelsey, Jacob and Haley brought them to my attention during previous episodes. So many fantastic indies this year. Can't wait for The Two Tens!
@@finerdly I'm right there with you. I finished it over a month ago and am still reflecting on everything. Haven't given a story so much thought since Disco Elysium. btw, check out Welonz if you're looking for an in-depth playthrough w/ commentary on Chinese / HK culture.
@@jonathanbaird thanks, I'm now already 30 minutes in 😁 I already watched a different playthrough, but I still have questions, soo .. and just the soundtrack alone I love so much
@1:03:23: "back in my day, shooters used to be about people shooting one another, and now it's about throwing orbs into full health bars..." lol! 😂😭💀 @1:02:32: 😂
@37:58: in a smaller group, "several" usually refers to between 3 and 5, but the word "several" is a non specificific descripter meant to summarize an approximation. In a smaller group of, lets say 10-20, "several" can mean 3 to 5, but in a larger group, lets say 100, ""several" may be consiered 7 to 10, so technically he wasn't wrong. Infact, Ben is less correct in saying it's 2 or 3 because "2" is already represented by the "couple" discripter. 3 is the base start for using "several," but it can be more depending on the size of the group your attempting to describe. Hope that clears things up, lol! 😂
I had to come see the video version just for the live reactions before the patreon read. Great work as usual now back to work with my coworkers staring confused at my laughter.
Jeff's theory of hero shooters is spot on. Overwatch was the first. It is like art. People love Rothko's and pay millions. However the market is not flooded with other versions of Rothko's because we already have THE Rothko.
I felt more pure joy playing Rebirth than I've felt in a long time, so it's hard to imagine anything topping it. The only game I see coming close is Metaphor. Shadow of the Erdtree was great, but I'm burning out on souls games.
Nine Sols is my GOTY at the moment. Before that, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore and Penny's Big Breakaway, Stellar Blade were top of my list. I can see Ys X, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Astro Bot fighting for a spot in my top 3 by years-end, though. FF7: Rebirth, Unicorn Overlord, Kunitsu-Gami and Dragon's Dogma 2 will probably be up there if I can finish them in time! There's more I'm failing to mention, too. What a year again.
nine sols is really cool but i kinda don’t love the map design and overall size. the game oozes style and flare but i think i might have cherished animal well and pop lost crown more as metroidvanias. glad to see it’s getting love tho!
Correction: the 2000 player count of the concord beta was on PC (steam). Still not good for that platform, but I’m guessing it was much higher when factoring in PS5 players. This is in response to JeffMs “only 2000 people played it” comment
Mine is also Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but in very close second is 1000xRESIST, which is probably the best story I have experienced in a game since 13 Sentinels or Disco Elysium. It is a gorgeous story that affected me on many levels.
My theory on the prevalence of dungeons is that it comes from real life. Like people who lived in ancient Europe would travel around and find even older castles and dungeons and the stories got passed on for centuries until today where they are still popular in fiction
So far for me 1. FF7 Rebirth 2. LAD: Infinite Wealth 3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 4. Dragons Dogma 2 5. Tekken 8 and shadow of the erdtree maybe the best dlc ever
Honestly, yeah. I personally would not spend any money up front to play a new hero shooter. If I really like the game I might buy skins, though (if they don't annoy you with microtransactions).
It especially makes it hard to convince friends to buy it for 40$ when they can just dowload OW2, Halo infinite, fortnite, apex legends, marvel rivals, etc for free
If that means they don't fill the screen with adverts for their currency or whatever it could be worth it to me. But if that nonsense is still there I fail to see why I should pay up front.
I said "I'm not buying a new table to just seat the same number of people" - 2 months later. Designed and built a giant dinner table that comes apart in case we ever want to move it
FF7 Rebirth easily for me. Erdtree was great but it’s DLC and just more Elden Ring. Stellar Blade is up there as well. Black Myth Wukong looks like it will be a strong contender, but I don’t see anything topping Rebirth for me this year.
personal GOTY is infinite wealth, feels like helldivers 2 actually has all the big award show type awards on lock tho, maybe a sign of a weak year when a MP title has all the momentum but yeah 2024 been kinda quiet nothing sticking around in peoples minds or in the discourse (aside from shadow of the erdtree but again its dlc)
Yeah, it's Balatro for me right now. It would have been Infinite Wealth, but the ending chapter took it from a 9.5 to 8.5-9 game. Resolutions/ Ending battles weren't satisfying at all. Then probably Dragon's Dogma 2, followed by Tekken 8. Haven't finished Rebirth yet, or Granblue Fantasy Relink, so my opinion may change once i beat them. Also just started SMT V, so we'll see. (And I've only played 30 minutes of Lost Crown, & 2 hours of Nobody wants to die, so they don't count yet)
@1:08:34: WTF Ben?! How is it possible for each subsequent sentence you speak to become progressively more awkward and freakin' hilarious, simultaneously?! I'm freakin' dead, bro! 😢😭💀
I love how everyone, especially Leo, just lets it get quieter and quieter and just lets Ben go further and further into his word association/ attempt to form a joke in complete silence, lol! 😂
Rebirth to me, by a long shot. I haven't played the latest Yakuza yet but they released so many lately I have yet to catch up, and you can't really play those games back to back.
I don't have a ton of time to play games so this year I've only played Shadow of the Erdtree, Helldivers 2, and Indika (based on Jacob's comments on it). So far I'd give it to Helldivers 2. Shadow of the Erdtree was a good time and might be more deserving when you look at how much went into it (bigger than a lot of base games) but Helldivers 2 is simply just more fun, even playing solo. Shadow of the Erdtree suffered from balancing in my opinion, bosses were too easy or too hard with barely any in between. Or were too hard to solo but too easy when using a summon. The hard bosses you're practically forced into using 1 of like 6 cheese builds out of the hundreds the rest of the game encourages you to try and use. Helldivers while difficult you can bring just about any loadout and make it work even on the harder difficulties with the exception of Helldive, the hardest difficulty. Those missions do pigeonhole your squad into bringing specific loadouts but you can simply just not play that difficulty and honestly you probably shouldn't with randoms. Even when Helldivers is too hard it's usually still fun as the chaos unfolds. Erdtree just frustrates me to no end lol (insert that "frustrating" scene from beerfest). I am at the final boss.... no I haven't beat him yet. I'm about a dozen more attempts away from cheesing it with a stupid build I look up online.
Helldivers 2 is amazing. Though my squad of friends would never agree that you can bring any loadout. For some reason they won't let me bring the 380mm HE barrage 😂
@@mart8577 ah man I'd find a new squad because I'm almost always bringing it. 😂😂 "I'm getting my 380 in there... Uh... Guys... Run... I dropped it when a rocket barrage rag dolled my ass." 😅
Can we make a DLC the GOTY caaaaause right now... Personally... Despite playing a lot of this year's big heavy hitters. None of them have came close to Erdtree.
So far for me it's a close race between Rebirth and Infinite Wealth. I lean Rebirth because of higher-highs with the mini-games and better endgame challenges, but both have some missteps with their larger plots that leave the door open for a surprise GOTY to jump in later. Shadow of the Erdtree would be #3, DD2 #4.
This comment is for Ben: Pysch Odyssey is being distributed by Limited Run Games as a collector’s Blu-Ray set. Limited to 2000 copies. I’m not a fan of Limited Run myself, but wanted to get the word out to you asap in case you want your own copy
We'll DM you two Xbox codes if you support MinnMax on Patreon at any tier before August 1st! www.patreon.com/minnmax
Incredibly unhinged energy during the community questions 11/10
Haley is actually so goddamn funny, lmao. Truly an invaluable addition to the group!
Agreed.
I love her positivity on things as opposed to Janet's negativity. Both are very much needed imo and love when either of them is on the podcast.
I can't imagine MinnMax without her at this point
I come to MinnMax for the sage advice. "You can sit on anything these days." I'll be thinking about that all day.
I rewound the creepy voice part at 1:49:30 about a dozen times when I was listening to the podcast yesterday. I was in stitches for about five minutes. Watching the video version today I can't believe that was Haley's voice.
That was such a funny moment.
I don't know what you guys were on, particularly Ben, but I think this was the funniest MinnMax Podcast ever. Great episode =)
Did they collectively take a bong hit right before the ad? Lmao
Take a bong hit? I think you mean rip a bong load
Ben was especially unhinged this episode and I'm all here for it
There needs to be at least one person absolutely lounging per episode, loved the energy
Ben slowly editing OBS layout live is legendary at this point 😂 (don’t stop, it’s authentic and no one (should) care/s)
Wait, Kelsey has a cluster of upper crust bubblers? I would be afraid to bluster about my cluster of upper crust bubblers, lest they lose their luster! Hell, I reckon I'd be quite flustered about my upper crust cluster bubbler bluster, buster!
I laughed so many times during this episode. Great stuff!
Cozy Leo makes me want to take a nap.
I know this (seemingly) isn't the community for this, but '1000xRESIST' and 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes' deserve a lot more love and publicity. I'm thankful Kelsey, Jacob and Haley brought them to my attention during previous episodes.
So many fantastic indies this year. Can't wait for The Two Tens!
I never play games like 1000xRESIST and it’s easily my GOTY.. it’s so good.
@@finerdly I'm right there with you. I finished it over a month ago and am still reflecting on everything. Haven't given a story so much thought since Disco Elysium.
btw, check out Welonz if you're looking for an in-depth playthrough w/ commentary on Chinese / HK culture.
@@jonathanbaird thanks, I'm now already 30 minutes in 😁 I already watched a different playthrough, but I still have questions, soo .. and just the soundtrack alone I love so much
@@jonathanbaird oh and Jacob Geller had a chapter on 1000xRESIST in his new video, that was also pretty good
@@jonathanbaird Welonz was a great tip btw, I also watched a bit of her Outer Wilds (GOAT imo) playthrough - just nice cozy vibes on that channel
This episode might've been the best I've ever seen. I laughed far too hard.
This episode was hilarious. 😂 Keep up the great work!
Good energy this episode
Hey, thanks Sonic!
@1:03:23: "back in my day, shooters used to be about people shooting one another, and now it's about throwing orbs into full health bars..." lol! 😂😭💀
@1:02:32: 😂
@37:58: in a smaller group, "several" usually refers to between 3 and 5, but the word "several" is a non specificific descripter meant to summarize an approximation. In a smaller group of, lets say 10-20, "several" can mean 3 to 5, but in a larger group, lets say 100, ""several" may be consiered 7 to 10, so technically he wasn't wrong. Infact, Ben is less correct in saying it's 2 or 3 because "2" is already represented by the "couple" discripter. 3 is the base start for using "several," but it can be more depending on the size of the group your attempting to describe. Hope that clears things up, lol! 😂
I love Leo's energy in this episode. Very chill.
Any game with Kiryu in it is game of the generation.
I had to come see the video version just for the live reactions before the patreon read. Great work as usual now back to work with my coworkers staring confused at my laughter.
haley i loved the chappell roan fact my life is genuinely better knowing :)
LOVE "Two Tens" check-ins throughout year.
I hope more people check out Until Then. It's an incredibly moving narrative game based in the Philippines.
Something changed right before the ad and I hope you guys stay this way forever
This was the funniest question block in a while. It's always funny, but damn, this time was fire
Jeff's theory of hero shooters is spot on. Overwatch was the first. It is like art. People love Rothko's and pay millions. However the market is not flooded with other versions of Rothko's because we already have THE Rothko.
Great show! Good to hear that there is a meetup in Chicago! I may stop by!
great cast great vibes. love the more unhinged relaxed pod. cozy Leo no filter makes me happy
@1:41:14: Leo's "the guy on the couch" energy is the best!!
😂👌
I felt more pure joy playing Rebirth than I've felt in a long time, so it's hard to imagine anything topping it.
The only game I see coming close is Metaphor. Shadow of the Erdtree was great, but I'm burning out on souls games.
As someone who didn't play RPGs growing up - TIL people know dungeon as "video game level" over "underground prison".
Nine Sols is my GOTY at the moment. Before that, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore and Penny's Big Breakaway, Stellar Blade were top of my list. I can see Ys X, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Astro Bot fighting for a spot in my top 3 by years-end, though.
FF7: Rebirth, Unicorn Overlord, Kunitsu-Gami and Dragon's Dogma 2 will probably be up there if I can finish them in time! There's more I'm failing to mention, too. What a year again.
Nine Sols also my top 1 right now
nine sols is really cool but i kinda don’t love the map design and overall size. the game oozes style and flare but i think i might have cherished animal well and pop lost crown more as metroidvanias. glad to see it’s getting love tho!
if Erdtree doesn't count its also Nine Sols for me. Real disappointed that next to none of the game channels have covered it.
JeffM lives!
Very good, very funny episode. Excellent work Haley.
Rebirth baby. Shout outs to Sand Land though.
long time since a podcast made me laugh so much! great episode!
@1:26:43: Things take a sinister turn when Ben makes a truly shocking admition...
😯😱💀
Leo's reaction to this news is priceless!!😂
Good episode. I liked most of the community questions.
Correction: the 2000 player count of the concord beta was on PC (steam). Still not good for that platform, but I’m guessing it was much higher when factoring in PS5 players. This is in response to JeffMs “only 2000 people played it” comment
Mine is also Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but in very close second is 1000xRESIST, which is probably the best story I have experienced in a game since 13 Sentinels or Disco Elysium. It is a gorgeous story that affected me on many levels.
Unicorn Overlord might be my GOTY. It’s so good that I literally bought a Steam Deck just so I can stream it to a handheld and play more.
My theory on the prevalence of dungeons is that it comes from real life. Like people who lived in ancient Europe would travel around and find even older castles and dungeons and the stories got passed on for centuries until today where they are still popular in fiction
Kunitsu-gami deserves a Deepest Dive.
So far for me
1. FF7 Rebirth
2. LAD: Infinite Wealth
3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
4. Dragons Dogma 2
5. Tekken 8
and shadow of the erdtree maybe the best dlc ever
Good year
A correct list
The Nick Cave Gladiator 2 pitch sounds absoultely unhinged, I need that to happen!
Heck yeah, Helldivers 2 is totally my GOTY so far
@36:52: Leo Max Chillin'!! 😂
🔥😎🔥
1000xRESIST or Banishers are probably my picks for my personal GOTY. Both very unique and very good games in their own ways!
NES World Champs is sickkkkkk dude
Crucial insight from Ben, "Well, you can sit on anything these days."
i love the question where jeffm answered he built a piece of furniture or something. because there was a math joke involved.
@21:25: Damn Kyle, tell us how you really feel, lol! 😂
Honestly crow country, pacific drive, and animal well have convinced me that indies will carry this year
Does Kelsey not play Trails? Definitely a must play for jrpg fans
The number of funny yukks in this episode was over 9000!
It's thursday everybody!
For Concord I really think not being free to play is the biggest disadvantage compared to the competition
Honestly, yeah. I personally would not spend any money up front to play a new hero shooter. If I really like the game I might buy skins, though (if they don't annoy you with microtransactions).
It especially makes it hard to convince friends to buy it for 40$ when they can just dowload OW2, Halo infinite, fortnite, apex legends, marvel rivals, etc for free
If that means they don't fill the screen with adverts for their currency or whatever it could be worth it to me. But if that nonsense is still there I fail to see why I should pay up front.
I said "I'm not buying a new table to just seat the same number of people" - 2 months later. Designed and built a giant dinner table that comes apart in case we ever want to move it
Don't forget to beat NG+ in Kunitsu-gami, it has new final boss and true ending.
@10:30: my guy, are you good? Lol! 😵😂
Kelsey is 100% on the money. 1000xResist number one, followed by Yakuza 8 then Helldivers 2 for me.
EA College Football 25 is the GOAT THE GOAAAAAAAAAAAT
I didn't expect a Jelinsky reference here.
Always expect a Jelinsky reference.
Rebirth hands down no question
Best games for me this year is Balatro and Nine Sols
FF7 Rebirth easily for me. Erdtree was great but it’s DLC and just more Elden Ring. Stellar Blade is up there as well. Black Myth Wukong looks like it will be a strong contender, but I don’t see anything topping Rebirth for me this year.
@1:53:15: The Truth Behind The Queen's Death!! 😰
@1:19:40: Haley classes up MiNards humor...😅
@1:29:14: "Dongs & Dragons"😅
@1:45:15: Haley Hates Mediums, lol!! 😱🐶
2000 played Concord on Steam. We have no data on player numbers on PS5.
personal GOTY is infinite wealth, feels like helldivers 2 actually has all the big award show type awards on lock tho, maybe a sign of a weak year when a MP title has all the momentum but yeah 2024 been kinda quiet nothing sticking around in peoples minds or in the discourse (aside from shadow of the erdtree but again its dlc)
Yeah, it's Balatro for me right now.
It would have been Infinite Wealth, but the ending chapter took it from a 9.5 to 8.5-9 game. Resolutions/ Ending battles weren't satisfying at all.
Then probably Dragon's Dogma 2, followed by Tekken 8. Haven't finished Rebirth yet, or Granblue Fantasy Relink, so my opinion may change once i beat them. Also just started SMT V, so we'll see. (And I've only played 30 minutes of Lost Crown, & 2 hours of Nobody wants to die, so they don't count yet)
Yeahhhh Infinite Wealth really falls flat at the end hey?
My GOTY is Prince of Persia the Lost Crown.
FFVII rebirth and it’s not even close.
You know it’s a slow year when the best game of the year is Final Fantasy remake: Ubisoft edition.
@1:08:34: WTF Ben?! How is it possible for each subsequent sentence you speak to become progressively more awkward and freakin' hilarious, simultaneously?! I'm freakin' dead, bro! 😢😭💀
I love how everyone, especially Leo, just lets it get quieter and quieter and just lets Ben go further and further into his word association/ attempt to form a joke in complete silence, lol! 😂
Is rebirth the only game Ben has finished this year?
Its Shadow of the Erdtree, no question.
Runner ups Dragons Dogma 2 and Prince of Persia imo
Rebirth to me, by a long shot. I haven't played the latest Yakuza yet but they released so many lately I have yet to catch up, and you can't really play those games back to back.
@1:34:00: Haley calls Ben's bluff...
I don't have a ton of time to play games so this year I've only played Shadow of the Erdtree, Helldivers 2, and Indika (based on Jacob's comments on it). So far I'd give it to Helldivers 2. Shadow of the Erdtree was a good time and might be more deserving when you look at how much went into it (bigger than a lot of base games) but Helldivers 2 is simply just more fun, even playing solo. Shadow of the Erdtree suffered from balancing in my opinion, bosses were too easy or too hard with barely any in between. Or were too hard to solo but too easy when using a summon. The hard bosses you're practically forced into using 1 of like 6 cheese builds out of the hundreds the rest of the game encourages you to try and use. Helldivers while difficult you can bring just about any loadout and make it work even on the harder difficulties with the exception of Helldive, the hardest difficulty. Those missions do pigeonhole your squad into bringing specific loadouts but you can simply just not play that difficulty and honestly you probably shouldn't with randoms. Even when Helldivers is too hard it's usually still fun as the chaos unfolds. Erdtree just frustrates me to no end lol (insert that "frustrating" scene from beerfest). I am at the final boss.... no I haven't beat him yet. I'm about a dozen more attempts away from cheesing it with a stupid build I look up online.
Helldivers 2 is amazing. Though my squad of friends would never agree that you can bring any loadout. For some reason they won't let me bring the 380mm HE barrage 😂
@@mart8577 ah man I'd find a new squad because I'm almost always bringing it. 😂😂 "I'm getting my 380 in there... Uh... Guys... Run... I dropped it when a rocket barrage rag dolled my ass." 😅
glad to see Kyle step off his golden throne and grace us with his presence.
????
Can we make a DLC the GOTY caaaaause right now... Personally... Despite playing a lot of this year's big heavy hitters.
None of them have came close to Erdtree.
It's Erdtree, baby. It's DLC, but it's a complete experience and a great addition to a masterpiece.
Exactly it's a great 'addition'
38:30 A complete Cat-Ass-trophe
@29:15: 🤔
Didn't Tears of the Kingdom get released in January?
@1:09:32: Ben 'attempts" to not explain Patreon...😅
I’m generally anti DLC for GotY talk but….
Erdtree, bro. What else would it be?
For me, Rebirth is the best game of the last 66 years.
So far for me it's a close race between Rebirth and Infinite Wealth. I lean Rebirth because of higher-highs with the mini-games and better endgame challenges, but both have some missteps with their larger plots that leave the door open for a surprise GOTY to jump in later. Shadow of the Erdtree would be #3, DD2 #4.
1000xRESIST
ben was on fire. very progressive of him to be pro female horses, cool with people getting pink eye, and using a racist gun to shave your nads
I mean ff7 rebirth is pretty much a perfect game.
Algo
Leo’s cat for regular podcast guest, please!!!
This comment is for Ben: Pysch Odyssey is being distributed by Limited Run Games as a collector’s Blu-Ray set. Limited to 2000 copies.
I’m not a fan of Limited Run myself, but wanted to get the word out to you asap in case you want your own copy
Kelsey! It’s ok to defend what you like in the face of mega-apathetic Ben and NES hater Kyle. NES Championship is super fun! No caveats needed!