Scanline Talks

Here we are, folks. Game of the Year- the capper to the Gimmick Awards. We've said a lot over the course of this month, so no big preamble: I'll let the conversation speak for itself. The Nominees Are: 1000xRESIST Chants of Sennaar Children of the Sun Crow Country Dragon Quest III HD-2D Dragon's Dogma 2 Dungeons of Hinterberg Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Helldivers 2 I Am Your Beast Kerbal Space Program 2 Lorelei and the Laser Eyes Metaphor: ReFantazio Mouthwashing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Riven (2024) The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom UFO 50 Unicorn Overlord Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

Games. Turns out, you tend to play them. In years past, we have often tried to talk about the elegance of particular systems and mechanics before, but we never had a category exclusive to that. Debuting this year, we wanted to award our favorite mechanics from 2024. The Nominees Are: Mind Chess (Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit) Learning Languages (Chants of Sennaar) Bullet Guidance (Children of the Sun) Lane Rails (Deadlock) Memories (Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake) Pawns (Dragons Dogma 2) Bravery Points (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Stratagems (Helldivers 2) Bond (Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom) Team Up (Marvel Rivals) The Car (Pacific Drive) The Starry Expanse (Riven [2024]) Fast Talk (Star Wars Outlaws) Possession (Slitterhead) Rewind (Tetrachroma) Guard Thrust (Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes]) Tactics (Unicorn Overlord) Special Training Plan (Zenless Zone Zero) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

Sometimes, a singular moment shines through and is so bright, you can't help but take notice. This may be the last year this category takes the form it does, so let's send it off with some of our favorite moments from games and anime. Please note, this podcast will spoil many moments from all the games and anime we list, so if you wanna go in without knowing, you may wanna steer clear of this pod. But regardless, here are the nominees! The Nominees Are: Propaganda Theater (1000xRESIST) Eustace Steps Up (Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit) Tearful Reunion (BanG Dream: It's My GO!!!!!) Arriving in the Warriors Floor (Chants of Sennaar) Feint Kamehameha (Dragon Ball GT) Goku Going Super Saiyan 4 (Dragon Ball GT) You Dropped Your Crown (Dragon Quest III HD-2D) Get Out of the Car (Emio: The Smiling Man - Famicom Detective Club) Nier Denied (EVO 2024) Shikikan Reunites with Kalin(a) (Girls Frontline 2) Spot Dodging a Raging Blow (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Hectic Extraction (Helldivers 2) Debugged Consoles (Lorelei and the Laser Eyes) Sleeping by the door (The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today) "I Lived, Bitch" (Metaphor: ReFantazio) Collapsing Bridge (Riven [2024]) Peanut Butter's Home Run (Summer Games Done Quick 2024) A Quiet Commitment (Unicorn Overlord) Primm Saves the World (Unicorn Overlord) Suo Teaches Humility (Wind Breaker) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

You know, despite our ambitions of being a gaming coverage site, we talk about a lot of anime. Our most frequent and consistent shows are about anime and manga, so of course we had to dedicate a category to it. In one of our more prestigious awards, we discuss our favorite anime and manga of the year from 2024. The Nominees Are: BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!! (Anime) Delicious in Dungeon (Anime) Dragon Ball (Manga) Dragon Ball GT (Anime) The Elusive Samurai (Anime) Heterogenia Linguistico (Manga) Martian Successor Nadesico (Anime) Our Dreams At Dusk (Manga) Overman King Gainer (Anime) Ranma 1/2 (2024) (Anime) Turn A Gundam (Anime) Wind Breaker (Anime) Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (Manga) Yotsuba& (Manga) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

...And here are the Instrumental songs, which is to say, the ones that aren't lyrically focused- the human voice is still allowed as an instrument! The Nominees Are: Objection! 2011 (Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit) Pit of Peril (Astro Bot) Maybe Everything Will Be Ok… (Crow Country) Go Home, Little Stamp aka Bow Wow Wow (Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth) Pride [Beatrix's Theme] - Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Extraction Suite - Helldivers 2 Zero's Theme (Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite and Beyond) Captain America's Theme (Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite and Beyond) Warriors in Arms (Metaphor: ReFantazio) Main Theme (Mouthwashing) Gehn's Theme (Riven (2024)) The Youkai Trail Trio* (Touhou Mystia's Izakaya) Calm Before Tomorrow's Storm (Touhou Mystia's Izakaya) Fighting Off The Powerful (Unicorn Overlord) Heir to the Dragon Lords (Unicorn Overlord) Roger that (Zenless Zone Zero) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky. *A Hushed Night Begins/In High Spirits/Come One, Come All

Music is a weird category for us, or rather pair of categories thanks to it being split in twain. We aren't music crits, and we don't cover the music industry or its releases. Instead, we discuss music via its presence in other things we cover- games and anime. Anime openings and closings, themes in games, that sort of thing. We'll leave the record industry to the experts. The Nominees Are: Haruhikage by MyGO!!!!!! (BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!!) Hitoshizuku by MyGO!!!!!! (BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!!) seisyun complex by kessoku band (Bocchi the Rock!) Otonoke by Creepy Nuts (Dandadan) Jaka Jaan by Zedd feat. C&K (Dragon Ball Daima) Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku by Field of View (Dragon Ball GT) Plan A by dish// (The Elusive Samurai) VERSUSIA [Versusia's Theme] by Tsutomu Narita (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Welcome to the PARADE! [Vikala's Theme] (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Radiant Dawn [Queen Dizzy's Theme] by AISHA (Guilty Gear -Strive-) Symphony [A.B.A.'s Theme] by Naoki Hashimoto (Guilty Gear -Strive-) King Gainer Over! by Yoshiki Fukuyama (Overman King Gainer) It's Going Down Now by (Persona 3 Reload) Iinazukkyun by ano (Ranma 1/2 2024) Beneath the Purple Cherry Blossoms Once Again by 二色幽紫蝶 (Touhou Mystia's Izakaya) Turn A Turn by Hideki Saijo (Turn A Gundam) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky. Hironobu Kageyama

2024 was full of surprises. Not all of them good! 2024 was a rough year, y'all. But sometimes surprises can be wonderful, and in this category we explore the things that caught us off guard in a good way. All sorts of things can be involved in this category, be it patches, games, DLC, or in one case, an entire restructuring of games distribution. These are the Best Surprises of 2024. The Nominees Are: Castlevania: Dominus Collection Celeste 64 Dragon Ball FighterZ Patch 1.38 Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club The Jackbox Survey Scramble Killer Instinct 10th Anniversary Update Kinki Spiritual Affairs Bureau Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Steam Family Sharing Update Terry Bogard in Street Fighter 6 Tetrachroma UFO 50 Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. Webfishing Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

From Best Character, two phantoms were born. The spotlight-haver and the supporting act shouldn't be fighting with each other. It's not right. But I'll let the supporting acts brawl amongst themselves, that's just entertainment. The Nominees Are: Eustace Winner (Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosector's Gambit) Larry Butz (Ace Attorney Movie) The Para Para Brothers (Dragon Ball GT) Genba (The Elusive Samurai) Tsubasa Fukuyama (Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club) Nemesis (Hades II) Maria Campanella (The House in Fata Morgana) Byron (I Am Your Beast) Eislein Burchelli Meijal Hulkenberg (Metaphor: ReFantazio) Lacey (Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: The Teal Mask) Straight Cougar (s-CRY-ed) Nix (Star Wars Outlaws) Profi (Stella of the End) Knights of the Rose (Unicorn Overlord) Hayato Suō (Windbreaker) Billy (Zenless Zone Zero) Lucy (Zenless Zone Zero) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky. The rules summary music for this category is City of Reason by Alkemie from Pentiment, whose character Andreas won Best Game Character in the Gimmick Awards 2022.

This was a category separation we felt very good about when it occurred to us: why are we having leading characters going up against background characters? Why don't we separate this into Best Major Character and Best Side Character, so it's not "this character is cool but they aren't very important to the plot so they're cut?" I like this much better, and I hope y'all do too. The Nominees Are: Bang Bang Fire (1000xRESIST) Anon Chihaya (BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!!) Tomori Takamatsu (BanG Dream: It's MyGO!!!!!!) Mara Forest (Crow Country) Baby (Dragon Ball GT) Lord Tokiyuki (The Elusive Samurai) Shikikan (Girls Frontline 2) Michel (The House in Fata Morgana) Morgana (The House in Fata Morgana) Jeeves (Jeeves and Wooster) Saku Fukuzawa (The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today) Yukichi (The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today) Heismay Noctule (Metaphor: ReFantazio) Alain (Unicorn Overlord) Belle/Rin (Zenless Zone Zero) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky. The rules summary music for this category is flanged drum by rj lake from EL PASO, ELSEWHERE, whose main character James Savage won our Best Character category in the Gimmick Awards 2023.

"Action Toolkit" is the best phrasing we could come up with, but it's like... you know when you play a game, and you push buttons, and it feels good? Yeah. That. A nice wall jump, a cool counter, a great set of tools that come together to form a playstyle and concept that feel good and engage your brain. Not everything on here is an action game. It does kinda exclude turn-based games, however. The Nominees Are: Madeline (Celeste 64) Globule (Decline's Drops) Kez (Dota 2) Thief (Dragon's Dogma 2) Witch's Staff (Hades 2) Doctor Strange (Marvel Rivals) Jeff the Land Shark (Marvel Rivals) Luna Snow (Marvel Rivals) Peni Parker (Marvel Rivals) Engage Gundam Booster (Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2) Yi (Nine Sols) Pepper (Pepper Grinder) Darkrai (Pokemon Unite) Ho-Oh (Pokemon Unite) Psyduck (Pokemon Unite) Sargon (Prince of Persia The Lost Crown) Night Owl (Slitterhead) Burnice White (Zenless Zone Zero) Miyabi Hoshimi (Zenless Zone Zero) Tsukishiro Yanagi (Zenless Zone Zero Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky. The rules summary music for this category is Pizza Deluxe! from Pizza Tower, whose main playable character Peppino won our Best Action Toolkit category in the Gimmick Awards 2023.

It would be wonderful if all that was necessary to make a great work of art was a good idea. Unfortunately, this isn't so, and the road to making an idea into real art is full of pitfalls, and chances for things to go astray. Or perhaps not astray- perhaps these artists made exactly what they meant to, and it's on us for seeing a different, better possibility in them. Whatever the case, these are good ideas gone wrong. These are the Most Misguided of 2024. The Nominees Are: Dragon Ball GT Dragon Ball PROJECT:Multi Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Jackbox Naughty Pack Long Gone Days Marvel Rivals The McRib Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance Palworld Princess Peach: Showtime! Rabbit & Steel Solo Leveling Tactical Breach Wizards Tekken 8 Tetris Forever Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky. The rules summary music for this category is Faith to Face from AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative, our Biggest Disappointment "winner" from the Gimmick Awards 2022.

We're starting the Gimmick Awards with one of our most passionate, intensely discussed categories every year: Best Fighting Toolkit. We love fighting games around here, and we love to talk about character designs and movesets. God bless Jen, who is very patient with Kyrie and I every year in this category. The Nominees Are: Monk (DNF Duel) Nen Master (DNF Duel) DIO (Dragon Ball FighterZ) Mr. Satan (Dragon Ball Sparking Zero) 2B (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Beatrix (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Versusia (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Vikala (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) A.B.A (Guilty Gear Strive) Queen Dizzy (Guilty Gear Strive) Slayer (Guilty Gear Strive) Asura (Modded Marvel 3) Cyclops (Modded Marvel 3) DMC5 Vergil (Modded Marvel 3) Hinata (Modded Marvel 3) Akuma (Street Fighter 6) Ed (Street Fighter 6) Terry Bogard (Street Fighter 6) Reina (Tekken 8) Tsurugi (Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes) Kaguya (Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

This is the latest sampler for Novel Not New, our patron-only show! Want more like this? For just $5/month over at patreon.com/scanlinemedia, you can get access to monthly episodes of the show, as well as over 50 backlog episodes. All sorts of different games, a wild variety of guests, a bounty of tones and atmospheres. All yours: so check it out! After months of internal discussion, we finally sat down to play the visual novel deckbuilder epic Library of Ruina. This tale of just the one City begins as it is simply the worst of times, with a society divided by class but united by the common language of systemic and personal violence. Into this mix we insert the Library: a supernatural place where a iron-hearted woman invites guests to their deaths, turning them into books to enrich her knowledge and draw her ever closer to her goal of becoming human. This is simply our starting point- because oh baby, beLIEVE me we are off to the races from here. If we didn't have an expert joining us in the form of kb, I shudder to think how lost we'd be. Our Guest! kb This Month's Game! Library of Ruina Next Month's Game! Private Eye Dol Opening Segment Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo Misericorde: Volume One Depersonalization Volcano Princess Star Wars: Jedi Survivor That Which Gave Chase The Decagon House Murders

And yet? The Netflix Gundam is still gonna be better than the Legendary Gundam. ...Ah, I really dug myself a hole with this one. I am not talking about the ZGMF-X666S Legend Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny. Nor am I talking about the machine known as "The Legendary Gundam" from a Mobile Suit Gundam AGE spinoff. I am talking about the live action Gundam movie that the movie publisher Legendary is supposedly working on. That movie, will be bad. Requiem for Vengeance, is also bad. But I bet that movie will be worse.

And so we come to the close, at least for now. Six expansions in one go?! Yeah... there isn't much to say about most of them, from a lore perspective. Our journey heads to Panda monks, to time-travelling orcs, to legendary weapons, to breaking those magical weapons or Tinker Bell will die, to hell and back, and then to... dragons. What a long, strange journey it's been. And will continue to be going forward, I suspect. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here!

Our journey into WoW Lore continues! With Vanilla behind us, Six and Allen guide Jen on to the early expansions: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. Six forget Cataclysm existed until the middle of the recording? Yes! Does it mess things up? ...No not really! Jen cracks the riddle of The Premise of Every WoW Plot, and we can all go home. Buuuut, we're not going to. We'll see you next ep with more Lore. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here!

The latest expansion to World of Warcraft, titled The War Within, is getting rave reviews with critics and fans alike. And yet, in some ways there has never been a worse time to start WoW. Certainly, the game is the most confusing and newbie-unfriendly it's been in ages. They won't even tell you the story of the game, and they actively try to stop you from playing it! We can't imagine what on earth they're thinking. But we can try to help. Join Six, Allen, and Jen as we unpack the story of World of Warcraft, and its lore.

At Otakon 2024, I spoke with Justin Leach, Katrina Minett, and Christophe Ferreira of Qubic Pictures. We spoke about work in animation and production, perspectives, and bumping into the language barrier.

At Otakon 2024, I sat down with Akihiko Orikasa and Kensuke Yamamoto of Studio Orange. We spoke about the uniqueness, challanges, and misconceptions of 3D anime.

At Otakon 2024, I had the opportunity to speak with Uki Satake. We spoke about her role in crafting anime openings, interest in voice acting, and how to best take care of one's voice.

Well, we always knew this was possible... last week was a disappointing downbeat, with a series of pretty rough episodes. We all knew GT had its reputation as "the worst" for a reason, and with episodes 9 through 12, it... wait. Wait no, this is AWESOME! I mean, you know, ups and downs, but the Para Para Brothers are ALL TIME characters! This RULES! The beat definitely has us with this batch of GT episodes, as we mark 75% of the way through the Black Star Dragon Balls Saga. Can the show keep this pace up? I guess we're going to be asking that for the entire run of GT... maybe we should just enjoy the highlights while they're here. And they're definitely here. Thank you so much to @Merik_MERIMO for our awesome new podcast art!

It's not all sunshine and rainbows for our viewing. Quite early in, in spite of some refreshing episodes, we have hit our first bump in the road. Pan, Goku, and Trunks fight their way out of Imecka and land in a planet of giants, then deal with marriage obsessed catfishes. We are keeping the faith, but it will be seen if we are rewarded for it.

Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise is one of the most beloved in the world. Three great shows, a lot of video games of varying quality but with a huge fanbase all the same, and... then a black sheep. Even in a series where the missteps are treasured, there is one thing the community rejects: Dragon Ball GT. Aired immediately after the end of Z, GT was made by the animation team for the anime, without Toriyama there to write the scripts. In a sense, you could think of it as a whole anime as filler. Or perhaps it's better to think of it as the filler seizing the reins of its own destiny. Either way, it's the WORST. Just a terrible show, with no redeeming qualities. Or... so Kyrie and Six have been told. But after a certain point, an excess of condemnation backfires. What really is GT? Can it actually be that bad? The hell with it. Let's watch the whole thing. For the time being, this will be on the Scanline Talks podcast feed, but once everything is established, we'll fully give it its own feed. We're working on podcast art too!

The unknown journey ends, and reveals that there wasn't much mystery there at all, really. Jen, Kyrie, and Six slump in their chairs and marvel at how hard this game has flopped, and to what degree it's poisoned what came before, for them. Is Rufus the hero of this game? Do you ever see a dog and decide it must mean you're in a different dimension? Why is Zack on the cover of this game when literally nothing he does matters even slightly? We have answers to some of these, and some we don't. What we know is, we're done. And thank god for that. A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

The penultimate episode is here, and things just keep turning for the worse for our hosts. We deal with some very contrived plots, ponder over the nature of meta-narratives and it's failings, and gripe about the side missions. It's almost over, so it can't get much worse... right? A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

After a slight upturn in quality at Gongaga, Chapter 10 breaks everyone's spirits as the gang makes their way into Cosmo Canyon. It also happens to be the most racist chapter in the whole game! Fun!! A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

We tackle only one chapter in this episode, but boy is it a DOOZY. We travel to Gongaga, encounter too many bosses, and Tifa finds herself in the belly of the whale. Not like metaphorically like in the Hero's Journey, like a big damn whale monster. This chapter is weird. A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

Our podcasters finally arrive in chapter 6. Jen and Six call for some time off for some fun in the sun. Kyrie disapproves, but is outvoted. A lot of minigames later, a boss fight happens. Chapter 7 happens. Our podcasters arrive in chapter 8. Jen and Six call for some time fun in the Gold Saucer. Kyrie disapproves, but is outvoted. A lot of minigames later, a bo- A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

After defeating a giant snake, the gang finds themselves deep in some mines, spilling out into the Junon area. We face off with some Turks, explore the world, and get into one big confusing parade. This game is certainly making... choices. A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

Six and Kyrie are back to settle it. One number was never enough, so we have come back to scour the Dragonball Xenoverse 2 cast to try and stump the mighty dragon Shenron. Things get a little silly. Recorded in honor of Akira Toriyama's 69th birthday.

One of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth cast a long shadow over the release schedule. Not only that, but our coverage plans, too: with press getting early copies, dropping reviews day-and-date with the launch, what merit was there to us crunching and rushing to release a podcast about it a week later (and making ourselves miserable in the process)? But we definitely wanted to cover it! So what was the solution? Well, you're looking at it: a seven-part in-depth discussion of the game as we play through it, far more granular than a single spoilercast could hope to be, capturing the ups and downs as we fall in and out of love with this game. Where we're end on it, we still don't know. Just like we still don't know Sephiroth. Join us. A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

Six took some time to go to the movies! Attending the LA Premiere, Six was able to see the US release of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom! Kyrie and Six hash it out about what is, all told, a pretty strange and fascinating movie. We talk about cool robots, bad wars, and the experience of attending the premiere. This was supported by our patrons over on the Scanline Media Patreon! Be sure to check that out to support our work!

Take a breath, y'all! Dragon's Dogma 2 released a few hours ago, so we're good! No more big video game releases for 2024, we can all go home! And hey, while you're at home, chillin, why don't you listen to what we've been up to? Kyrie has been digging Vanillaware's latest, the strategy RPG Unicorn Overlord. Jen has answered the siren call of prestige TV with Shogun. Six has been nostalgizing with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot after the loss of Akira Toriyama. And though nobody here has touched Skull & Bones, we've still been getting way into pi- hmm maybe I shouldn't finish that joke! But old games sure are cool! In chronological order, our music is 8bit23 by Koichi Morita, Overworld Day by Mitsuhiro Kaneda from Unicorn Overlord, the opening credits music from Shogun composed by Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Nick Chuba, The Adventure Begins! by Yasushi Asada, Noriko Murakami, Keisuke Ito, and Eisei Kudo from Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, a medley I mixed of the Gameboy, GBA, GameCube, PS1, PS2, PSP, and Sega Saturn console bootup music, and finally the Wii U console bootup music to close the episode. You can find us on Cohost and Twitter at @jen-and-aster and @jbu3 for Jen respectively, @KyriePage and @KyrieAPage for Kyrie respectively, and @sixdettmar for Six on both.

It all comes down to this: Best Game. Game of the Year. Call it what you like. We play a lot of games, and every year we make ourselves pick an overall winner. And people keep telling me 2023 was an incredible year for games, so surely this is gonna be a really hard list to cut down! The Nominees Are: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo Street Fighter 6 Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Pizza Tower Lunacid Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Wildfrost Armored Core VI The Making of Karateka El Paso, Elsewhere Alan Wake II Void Stranger Pokemon Unite Super Mario RPG Gravity Circuit Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @yonsoncb on Twitter!

When Scanline Media started, we wanted to focus on games. But over the years, from doing weekly anime podcasts and where our general interests as a site went, anime and manga became so much of our coverage. Here are the anime and manga that stood out to us as some of the best of the year. The Nominees Are: Gunbuster Tenchi Universe Trigun Record of Lodoss War Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (manga) Teppu Vinland Saga Oshi no Ko Space Adventure Cobra Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Pluto Hikaru no Go Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @yonsoncb on Twitter!

In our longest category, we decided to let 2023 sing it's heart out. These tracks, be them anime OP or standalone songs, struck a chord with us. The Nominees Are: Iron Lotus (Library of Ruina) Anger's Remorse (Alan Wake II) Yoton Yo (Alan Wake II) Dark Ocean Summoning (Alan Wake II) This Road (Alan Wake II) Herald of Darkness (Alan Wake II) Togenkyo Alien (Gintama) Mukanjyo (Vinland Saga) Paradox (Vinland Saga) Idol (Oshi no Ko) Mephisto (Oshi no Ko) You Won't See Me Coming (Gankutsuou) Active Heart (Gunbuster) Toppo wo nerae! ~FLY HIGH~ (Gunbuster) Zenryoku King (Ohsama Sentai KingOhger) Try and Fight! (Ohsama Sentai KingOhger) The Circle [Bedman? Theme] (Guilty Gear Strive) Just Lean [Johnny Theme] (Guilty Gear Strive) RAIN CODE (Master Detective Archives: Rain Code) I Will Remember You (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) bloom (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @yonsoncb on Twitter!

Instrumental tracks have often gotten the short end of the stick in our Gimmick Awards, and it's high time we changed that. These tracks backed some unforgettable moments or created an unmistakable atmosphere in 2023, and the following stood out to us. The Nominees Are: H.T. (Trigun) It's Pizza Time! (Pizza Tower) Theme of Kai (Gravity Circuit) Mystery Labyrinth (Master Detective Archives: Rain Code) The Storyteller (Paranormasight) Stand Your Ground (Final Fantasy XV) Hammerhead Theme (Final Fantasy XV) And My Name's Booster (Super Mario RPG) Fight Against Culex (Super Mario RPG) Yet Another Winter Again (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) God Only Knows (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) Rocky Planet Descent (Kerbal Space Program 2) Jool Atmosphere (Kerbal Space Program 2) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @yonsoncb on Twitter!

Every year, we fight over fighting games. We're enthusiastic about the genre (that's an understatement) and it's a delight to see the new ideas and spins on characters that surface as new games and DLC release. Sometimes, it's the little things that make all the difference: a few tweaks to a classic character to reinvent them. Sometimes it's an entirely new concept. Let's talk about the candidates for Best Fighting Game Toolkit this year. The Nominees Are: Suisei Hoshimachi (Idol Showdown) Juri (Street Fighter 6) Jamie (Street Fighter 6) Marisa (Street Fighter 6) Ryu (Street Fighter 6) Brawler (DNF Duel) Spectre (DNF Duel) Hinako Shijo (KoF XV) Anila (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Siegfried (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Asuka R# (Guilty Gear Strive) Bedman? (Guilty Gear Strive) Johnny (Guilty Gear Strive) Kimberly (Street Fighter 6) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.

Most fictional writing runs on characters, and it is to these characters that fandoms attach themselves. It's these personalities, and often their visual designs as well, that people find so magnetic. Well, we're not looking for the most magnetic person here: some of these folks are not exactly easy to stan! That's fine. We're here for broken people. We just wanna pick the character we find the most compelling. The Nominees Are: Xiao (Library of Ruina) Luke (Street Fighter 6) Halara Nightmare (Rain Code) Temenos Mistral (Octopath Traveler 2) Ayre (Armored Core 6) V.IV Rusty (Armored Core 6) Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3) James Savage (El Paso, Elsewhere) Noriko Takaya (Gunbuster) Jung Freud (Gunbuster) Jeramie Brasieri (Ohsama Sentai KingOhger) Rita Kaniska (Ohsama Sentai KingOhger) Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) Saga Anderson (Alan Wake II) The Koskela Brothers (Alan Wake II) Alex Casey (Alan Wake II) Askeladd (Vinland Saga) Saber (Fate/Samurai Remnant) Peche Montagne (Mobile Suit Gundam UC Engage) Female Fanatic Zealot (Warhammer 40,000: Darktide) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.

I am open to other perspectives, but a lot of the love of games to me is down to how it feels to hit a button. When the jump feels bad, the game is bad. When the jump feels good, the game is good. That's oversimplifying, intentionally. But so many games ARE just a collection of button presses, and how good they feel to hit. Platformers, action games, shooters, MOBAs, all of these are represented on our nominees. Whose buttons feel the best to hit? Let's decide that. The Nominees Are: Peppino (Pizza Tower) Chai (Hi-Fi Rush) Kai (Gravity Circuit) Spark (Spark the Electric Jester 3) Blaster Stance (Star Wars: Jedi Survivor) Wild Dancer (Like a Dragon: Ishin) Sybil (Pseudoregalia) Xeku Zwei (Gundam Battle Operation 2) GM [Gatherroad Type] (Gundam Battle Operation 2) Alex [CA] (Gundam Battle Operation 2) Sisquiede (Gundam Battle Operation 2) MSN-04FF Sazabi (Gundam Battle Operation 2) Woundwort (Gundam Battle Operation 2) Mega Mewtwo X (Pokemon Unite) Mario Mario (Mario Wonder) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.

While we have catagories for entire games and shows, it's important to hightlight the moments too. Sometimes the entire work isn't a winner, but that's what can make a moment more remarkable. These moments from games, shows, and real life stood out in 2023. The Nominees Are: "We Sing" (Alan Wake II) The volume slider/"Always remember me" (Paranormasight) Battle an Unruly Princess (Void Stranger) Drive Rush Countering (Street Fighter 6) AngryBird Winning EVO (Street Fighter 6) Drunk History (Like a Dragon: Ishin) Yotan Yo (the movie) (Alan Wake II) The Dam, Take 2 (Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon) Being the Problem (STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator) Aranea Drops In (Final Fantasy XV) Sailing the Coast (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) Proper Shield Surfing (Modded Breath of the Wild) First Sortie (Gunbuster) The Final Campsite (Final Fantasy XV) Aqua Decides to Try (Oshi no Ko) Karaoke Success (Disco Elysium) Finding the Bullet (Disco Elysium) Exploring the Depths (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @yonsoncb on Twitter!

I don't mean to shock anyone, but I, Six, am a bit of a jaded exhausted 30-something. Depending on who you are, you might consider that a redundant descriptor. Regardless, a lot of my experience these days is seeing a game or anime release, and knowing pretty quickly whether or not I will care. And, frankly, usually being right! Not that this is an achievement, a lot of us feel this way. The media landscape is just more predictable than it once was. This makes surprises all the more meaningful. Sometimes you're ambushed by something cool you've never heard of before. Sometimes you think you know what you're in for, and you are wildly wrong. Whatever the case, we have to cherish the moments our expectations are pleasantly defied. We don't get as many as we used to. The Nominees Are: Street Fighter 6 The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog Call of the Night Hi-Fi Rush Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo Disgaea 7 F1 23 Lies Of P Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Yggdra Union Wild Hearts Oshi no Ko Suika Game Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.

2023 was... listen. We're here to celebrate. To have fun. But it wasn't a great year, all in all. There was a lot of dark shit. And when talking about it, even in a fun "year end podcast" situation, it's easy to get grim and depressed about everything. It's not that that's wrong. It's worth dwelling on the world's ills. But the Gimmick Awards aren't about that, and we didn't want to have a bunch of downer awards. We don't do Worst Game for a reason. So as part of an effort to change the vibe around the (metaphorical) office, we decided to do the Community Effort award- a celebration of all the cool stuff fandoms did in 2023. The Nominees Are: Steam Deck users go above & beyond Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 translation Kurohyou translations Palette Swap The Off Season 2 - LEGALIZE MUTE CITY Fan Wikis telling Fandom to shove it PPSSPP making games better than the PSP Boukenger perfectly preserved Giant Bomb Premium: Now on Internet Archive Pokeclicker CoH Homecoming Dustloop Site Overhaul Here's our write-up for the winners! Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2023 is Ippai by kamatamago, and our art is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.

Ok. So we know what characters we're looking for from the gacha. We know what characters we can't get from the gacha. And we know about some truly spectacular dresses, though that's not particularly helpful. There's nothing left but to roll the gacha. Again. And again. And again. ...Hey Kyrie did we want to set like a MAX, or- This is the latest in the "Numbers" podcast series, where we use math to joke about fighting games.

Granblue Fantasy hits its tenth anniversary this year. For the mega-popular gacha game, what better celebration than a bunch of other products to hook in those who aren't into the gacha? This has inspired Granblue the Animation, the action RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and yes, Granblue Fantasy Versus, and its sequel Rising. As you might expect, these games shine a spotlight on some of the most popular characters in the game, selling you on their appeal. But, speaking of selling... what if someone were to pick up Granblue today and try to get all the characters included in their copy of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising? Would it be expensive? Would it even be possible? Well, let's find out. ...Right now? No no no no. This is going to take a whole podcast just to set up all the specifics of the QUESTION. On Part 2 we'll answer it. Or... try to. Let's just say there were some challenges in the process. This is the latest in the "Numbers" podcast series, where we use math to joke about fighting games.

Scott Pilgrim, huh? I dunno what anyone sees in this guy. Regardless this new Netflix anime follows a new story in the Scott Pilgrim series, commenting on the series impact on culture, reflections on the characters, and a lot of video game and anime references. We bring on Jackie of Ultimate Despair Reprise to gush about this new anime. Spoilers ahead, we watched the whole series for this episode! Editor's Note: This was supposed to be a request episode (which we will still do!) but some life stuff came up. We hope you enjoy this episode in it's stead. We also accidentally call this Oops All Anime, but hey. You know the drill.

As the holiday season ramps up, we here at Scanline are prepared for a yearly ritual: playing all the games that we feel like we should have an opinion on before we record the Gimmick Awards, our yearly Game of the Year (and more than game) awards. That makes this the last stop of us just chatting normal games before we dizzy ourselves with our obligations as critics. To that end, Jen has been mourning the loss of a rival in F1 2023, Six has been modding Metal Gears on Steam Deck, and Kyrie wanted to see what's so remade about the Super Mario RPG Remake. Plus, we've all got thoughts on the 25th Anniversary Update for Half-Life. In chronological order, our music is 8bit23 by Koichi Morita, The 23 Enigma by Ian & Ethan Livingstone featuring Julie Seechuk from F1 23, the Steam Deck startup sound, Nuclear by Mike Oldfield from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Calling to the Night by Natasha Farrow with lyrics by Nobuko Toda, composed by Akihiro Honda, and arranged by Norihiko Hibino from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, In The Garden by Yoko Shimamura from Super Mario RPG Remake, Hazardous Environments by Kelly Bailey from Half-Life, and then a reprise of 8bit23 by Koichi Morita. You can find us on Cohost and Twitter at @jen-and-aster and @jbu3 for Jen respectively, @KyriePage and @KyrieAPage for Kyrie respectively, and @sixdettmar for Six on both.

The Nintendo 64, PlayStation 1, and Saturn were a pivotal moments for video games. 3D video games had arrived in full force, and the industry has never turned back. But Jennifer, Kyrie, and Six turned back the clock to dive into nearly 50 games that defined the generation, and we decided to sort the best of the best.

Fighting game tournaments are great, and a LOT of work to run. Shoutouts to the tournament organizers, the streamers, the casters, and more that make these tournaments run. But think about this for a moment: if a King of Fighters XV tournament is hard to run, how difficult is it in-universe to get these lunatics with magic powers and demonic possession and GUN ARMS to not only play nice to run a fighting tournament, but also to actually make it a good experience to watch? Seed it for good matches, build around TV primetime, and more? Probably really easy, right? So Kyrie and Six are gonna just do it. This is the latest in the "Numbers" podcast series, where we use math to joke about fighting games.

Around here, Bethesda's games are pretty divisive. We can all agree they're deeply flawed games, but to what extent their unique charms prevail against those weaknesses varies person to person. Jen still holds some affection for Skyrim, Six can't stand it, and neither have anything but disdain for Fallout 4. So what's the vibe with Starfield, their latest and most ambitious work? It's... charming. Though neither Jen nor Six has spent a ton of time yet- both around a dozen hours at time of recording- there's enough to want to get together and talk about the experience. And why not have mics on while we're at it. You can find our hosts on various socials: on Twitter, Jen is @jbu3 and Six is @sixdettmar. On Cohost, Jen is @jen-and-aster, and Six is once again @sixdettmar.

Life moves pretty fast. Despite that, we all found times for a few games that we weren't playing for other podcasts this month, and time enough to sit down to talk about them. This year has seen Jen finally coming to appreciate baseball, and by extension baseball video games in MLB The Show 23. Kyrie has fallen for familiar comforts under friendly names by plugging her friends into Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth. And Six has been playing Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and frowning at it... and reading the announcement for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, and SCREAMING at it. In chronological order, our music is 8bit23 by Koichi Morita, The Real Thing from MLB The Show 19 by Cook Classics featuring Outasight, Shooting Stars by Bag Raiders, The Handed Down Name from Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth by Yuzo Koshiro, Prelude - Tales from Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker by Masayoshi Soken, and then a reprise of 8bit23 by Koichi Morita. You can find us on Twitter at @jbu3 for Jen, @KyrieAPage for Kyrie, and @sixdettmar for Six.