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CORE 398: 2023 And Me
Well what do we have here? Our year-end MASSIVE round up of the best games of the year, including a load of categories you won't find anywhere else. Check the RSS feed or Patreon for a FULL text list of the games we covered. Can you guess our number one? Listen and find out!
Group Category #1 - Most Anticipated Games of 2024:
Scott:
Space Marine II
Shapez 2
Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League
Jon:
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Dragon's Dogma II (Honorable Mention: Hades 2)
Beau:
Like A Dragon 2: Infinite Wealth
Hades 2?
FF7 Rebirth
Group Category #2 - Biggest Surprises of 2023:
Scott:
Robocop
Death Must Die
The Finals
Lethal Company
Rogue Trader
Jon:
Remnant 2
RoboCop: Rogue City
Bang on Balls
Death Must Die
House Flipper 2
Beau:
WoW SoD
Dead Space Remake was actually really good
AR is better than you think (Quest 3 is awesome)
M$ actually bought ABK
WoW SoD
Group Category #3 - Best Non-2023 Games of 2023:
Scott:
Mark of The Ninja
GW2
WoW: Dragonflight
Jon:
World of Warcraft - Retail, Classic, & Hardcore
Octopath Traveler
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Beau:
Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Darktide
Stacklands
The CORE Crew's Top 5 Games of the Year:
Scott:
BG3
Phantom Liberty (yes it counts)
Starfield
Sea of Stars
Diablo IV
Jon:
Baldur's Gate 3
CyberPunk 2077 w/ Phantom Liberty
Final Fantasy XVI
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Beau:
Baldur's Gate 3
Dead Space Remake
Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name
Wartales
Diablo 4
CORE's 2023 GAME OF THE YEAR:
Baldur's Gate 3
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CORE 515: Nintendollars
02:45:08|Nintendo's surprising decision to make physical Switch 2 games more expensive than digital versions. EverQuest is relaunching in a format designed for time-strapped adults and old farts like us, Capcom is patching out some “accidentally” written incest from Street Fighter 6, Clair Obscur's devs confirm there's no canon ending, new gameplay footage dropped for both Exodus and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. And loads more on top of that!Scott- Crimson Desert- Dragon Quest Builders 2- WoW MidnightJon- Crimson DesertBeau- Crimson Desert- Slay the Spire 2- Diablo 4CORE 514: Crimson Desserts
02:17:55|Crimson Desert launched today, reviews are mixed as expected, amazing open world, minimal story, no traditional leveling, open-world jank. John is at Disneyland! DLSS 5 announced by Nvidia, AI-yassifies characters without permission from devs like Capcom. Listener indie game Garden and a Goat announced, wishlistable on Steam. WoW Midnight discussion, level boosts are hard without knowing your class…but maybe no more? Pinball FX Williams Collection recommended, Pinball Map app finds nearby machines. Evoker alt class tried and abandoned. And loads more!CORE 513: Ramdemic
02:17:08|Nerdtacular 2026 tickets holding at early bird pricing, plus a swag bag-only option now available at frogpants.com. News:- NetEase pulls funding for Gang of Dragon — future of the game unknown- Valve still targeting 2026 for Steam Machines despite RAM shortages; rumored to be a factor in Sony/Xbox strategy shifts- EA lays off Battlefield staff post record-breaking launch- Jeff Kaplan on his Blizzard exit — plus his one Overwatch regret: making it too team-focused when players want to shine individually- Fortnite raising V-Buck prices- Timberborn hits 1.0- Xbox pushing "everything is an Xbox" / Project Helix, leaning into Windows 11- Valve reports 6,000+ games made over $100k on Steam last year Shared Play: Slay the Spire 2 — all three played it, early GOTY contenderScott: WoW: Midnight (great time, nearly max level, campaign a little cheesy), Thysiastery (turn-based dungeon crawler, very positive on Steam). Also: The Instance now posting Fridays at frogpants.com/instance.Jon: Finished and 100%'d Resident Evil RequiemBeau: Slay the Spire 2, more Star Trek Voyageur, dipped into new Diablo IV season (may have bought the Doom skin)Feedback: Listener thinks he catches Scott being simultaneously terrified by AI and delighted by one-button AI rotations in WoW. And he is wrong about it.CORE 512: Sony Goes Yoink
02:35:13|Looks like Sony is officially getting out of the port business and going all Nintendo on us again. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake is indeed happening. Highguard is officially leaving in just a few days. MetaCritic got weird with AI over the last few days. The games we played, a lake correction, Zillow and WoW, and some Diablo 2 stuff!GAMES PLAYEDScott- World of Warcraft Midnight- RoadCraftJon- Resident Evil: RequiemBeau- Legend of Grimrock- Star Trek: Voyager- The Killing Stone- Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon- OverwatchCORE 511: Claws Out
03:17:31|March 2026 is shaping up to be a massive month for gaming, with big hitters like Crimson Desert, Marathon, Pokémon Pokopia, Slay the Spire 2, Solasta 2, Death Stranding 2 on PC, and the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection all loaded up. Also, Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are out at Xbox, while Sony raises a few eyebrows by signaling a potential end to PC ports. Our eyebrows are defiinately raised. Marvel's Wolverine finally has a September release date, and Valve finds itself in legal hot water as New York's Attorney General sues over alleged illegal gambling promotion to kids among other things. Also, Overwatch is going mobile with Overwatch Rush. Weird.GAMES PLAYED:Scott- Overwatch- UFO 50 (with Van)- Abathor (with Van)- Worms WMD (with Van)- TowerFall (with Van)- Duck Game (with Van)- Boomerang Fu (with Van)Jon- Biorand Resident Evil 2- Resident Evil 6- Resident Evil RequiemBeau- Darkhaven (demo)- Vampire Crawlers (demo)- Dead Spies (demo)- Pragmata (demo)- Wanderburg (demo)- Underkeep (demo)- Esoteric Ebb (demo)- Arms of God (demo)- Armatus (demo)- Wild Blue Skies (demo)- Farever (demo)- Rune Dice (demo)- Twilight Imperium (demo)- John Carpenter's Toxic Commando (demo)- Far Far West (demo)- Baldur's Gate 3 (Honour Mode)- Overwatch- Marathon Server SlamCORE 510: Creation of Ashes
03:01:43|That ashes of creation thing is just getting messier and messier by the day. Also, Unity wants you to type your next casual video game. We will explain. GAMES PLAYEDSHARED PLAY THIS WEEK- Diablo 2 Resurrected – Infernal Edition- Overwatch- Dobbel DungeonSCOTT- Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp- No Man's Sky – Remnant Mode- Escape from Ever AfterJON- Mewgenics- TR-49 - Resident Evil 2- FortniteBEAU- Baldur's Gate 3 – Honour Mode- Star Trek VoyagerCORE 509: The Play of State
01:25:56|As we prep for the State of Play today, we talk about the games we played this week, and hit the news about all the Warlocks coming to all the Diablos. Highguard and 2XKO getting big layoffs, and the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3 TV show!Games Played This WeekShared Play- Jon & Beau: MewgenicsScott- Animal Crossing (on Switch 2)- Goblin Sushi- V-Rally 4Jon- Mewgenics- Dragon Quest III HD-2D RemakeBeau- Yakuza 3- Marathon- Crimson Desert- Game with Balls- Ravenswatch (as Merlin)- Skate Story- Overwatch- Enshrouded (Solo)- DeadlockCORE 508: Just Take Off The 2
02:41:12|Overwatch might be making a big play with some re-branding, a slew of new heroes, and loads more. Will it put things back on top for the team shooter to beat? We talk about that, plus the Ashes of Creation mess, Steam hardware talk from Valve, and what might be the end of all things Outer Worlds.GAMES PLAYED- The Midnight Walk (Scott)- Butcher's Creek (Scott)- LUNARK (Scott)- Resident Evil 2 (Jon)- Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (Jon)- Super Nintendo (Jon)- Pirate Yakuza (Beau)- Overwatch (Beau)- Valheim (Beau)