Scanline Talks

You'd think after everything, we'd be free of games by now. But no- games returned, despite everything. Jen takes point with Metroid Prime Remastered, which finally got her to spend more time with the certified all-timer. Then Six explains their befuddlement at the strange tone and choices of Like a Dragon Ishin!, where historical fiction meets... weird ideas of treating people. Finally, Kyrie's w...

It all comes down to this. No more left, it's time we declared Scanline Media's Game of the Year! The Nominees Are: Drainus Elden Ring Gran Turismo 7 Immortality Kirby and the Forgotten Lands Live A Live Pentiment Pokèmon Legends: Arceus Potionomics Signalis Splatoon 3 Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin The Quarry Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge Touhou Mystia's Izakaya Wit...

Critters. Monsters. Creatures. Little guys. Whatever you call them, games employ wonderful artists to imagine what sort of beings might reside in their worlds. This one's for all the friends out there. Join Jen, Kyrie, Six, and guest Allen as we find out the Best Creature of 2022. The Nominees Are: Kleavor (Pokemon Legends: Arceus) Hisuian Typhlosion (Pokemon Legends: Arceus) Hisuian Zoroark (Poke...

There's always the moments, right? The ones you tell your friends about, the ones you clip, the ones you tweet about. The ones you tweet AROUND because they're too cool to spoil. Every year generates a lot of them, and 2022 was no exception. It's nice to sit around and celebrate things. But in any meeting of minds, there must be a loser. The Nominees Are: Quelling Noble Pokémon (Pokèmon Legends: A...

You've heard the Best Anime Character (or you should have, go listen!), and so you probably guessed from that name that there's a Best Game Character. Well guess what- you're right. And we're gonna decide who wins it right now . The Nominees Are: Iron Fist Alexander (Elden Ring) Livingway (Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker) Shez/Arval (Fire Emblem Three Hopes) Bridget (Guilty Gear Strive) Testament (Gu...

Time brings wisdom and perspective. Or, that's the theory anyway. My Game of the Year for 2012 was Tokyo Jungle. At the time, I was writing for a site called Press X or Die. Jen wrote for that site too, and while the articles part of that site died years ago, its forums at least are still kicking. (She didn't write a GotY for 2012, though her 2011 was Dead Space 2). And you know, it was only month...

We still think of ourselves as game critics first and foremost here. That's weird, isn't it? We cover anime every week without fail. We've got more than 300 episodes of anime coverage! And yet, the passion that started this site still defines us, if only two ourselves. It has been a gradual process of accepting that we're anime critics, too. And that's important to who we are. Let's talk about the...

One of the big projects of 2022 was giving Iris In Audio more love and attention. This has been Kyrie's push to be sure- she's writing up the Winners post for this category, too! For me (Six), it honestly still doesn't come as naturally. Film has never been an important thing to me. I have some movies I like, as does anyone, but I never invested time or effort in the medium. Coming to it later in...

Anime has tunes too, you know! I don't know why I'm saying this accusatorily- I'm sure YOU knew that. It's us who had to change the category this year because we realized all the things we were leaving out of That's My Jam. And a jam these are indeed. Let's talk anime music. The Nominees Are: BAD CANDY (Girls Frontline) Chikichiki Banban (Ya Boy Kongming!) Kibun Jōjō ↑↑ (Ya Boy Kongming!) Daten (C...

The rhythm is going to get you. It's only a matter of time. We had some serious bops in 2022, but which is the boppiest? Jen, Kyrie and I (Six) are here to tell you what makes music good. Boy, I hardly feel qualified to do this. The Nominees Are: Mirror of the World (Baiken's Theme) - Guilty Gear Strive Like A Weed, Naturally, As A Matter Of Course (Testament's Theme) - Guilty Gear Strive The Town...

We watch a lot of anime, every year. At the time of this writing, we've covered 280 anime so far in Oops All Anime's history. Naturally we've also watched a lot of anime on our own time. Add all that together, and we have some THOUGHTS. We also have a huge database to compare new anime characters against. But, y'know? Sometimes a good tsundere just works. Let's decide the Best Anime Character of 2...

Stop the presses- we got one wrong. This is unprecedented, but we have to change a category's winner. We wouldn't go back because we played more and felt differently, or because we rolled the arguments around in our heads and decided we made the wrong call. No, we're going back because a friend pointed out that in the Biggest Disappointment category, we were arguing based on incorrect information....

One of our traditions over here at the Gimmick Awards is this category, in its various incarnations. The name might confuse, but it's a straightforward idea: in any variety of action game, moves and tools are given to specific characters. Which character has the most interesting and fun overall toolset? When this category started, our focus was purely on fighting games, but over the years we've br...

Games are really hard to make. Simply getting one out the door is always an achievement, something to be proud of. And these awards started as a celebration purely of games, though they've elevated to being one of more types of media. But we can't be all smiles. Sometimes choices are made with games that are just... disappointing, you know? We get our hopes up, and seeing them be destroyed stings....

Welcome to the start of Scanline Media's game of the year celebration, our Gimmick Awards 2022! Over the course of four weeks, we'll be publishing thirteen categories, each its own podcast and paired write-up on the site for winners. We're opening the year on a staple- Best Surprise! At the ripe old age of 33, I am harder to surprise than I used to be, but the delight of the unexpected still hits...

And that's a season (nee cours)! After 12 episodes, The Witch from Mercury is going on break until the next season, and so are we... if we come back at all? Join Allen and Six as we talk about the season as it's been, and how 12 turns a lot of that on its head, for good or for ill. Though, I don't need to be too coy- as you will discover quickly, we're mostly of the opinion "for ill."

The second-to-last episode of the cours! Shaddiq holds his breath, Suletta catches her breath, Vim curses under his breath, and Delling doesn't waste his breath. Step aside, Type-Moon, there are TWO witches on this holy night. And is that an Aerial upgrade I spy? Damn, gang- this episode's good, so was the last, and I think the next will be great as well. I'm just hoping the break between cours do...

We're all hustling and bustling as the year winds down, but you KNOW we're never too busy for you! Sit down with us as we talk games- Jen says the Callisto Protocol is as much Punch-Out!! as it is Dead Space, Six has come around on Spelunky 2 after initial crushing disappointment, and Kyrie has sold out... her potion stock in Potionomics. In chronological order, our music is 8bit23 by Koichi Morit...

Oh boy, we sure are winding up for a mid-season, end-of-cours finale. Can you feel it? Schemes, misunderstandings, unfortunate coincidences… and into all of it, we're gonna toss a few new witches and their gundams and see what happens. I uh… I have a guess. I think it's gonna end badly for our pals.

On this episode, a turning point, as Allen listens with polite bemusement as Six lays out a theory as to what exactly is going on in this show. We get our first team duel, we see the triumph of the GUND format over the technology that almost killed it, and Miorine has already forgotten she's trying to start a medical company. Three episodes left, gang. It's about to start poppin', for real. And Si...

G-Witch. Listen. Listen listen listen. You gotta stop writing checks. Do you HAVE a bank account? These are going to bounce! No one can cash these! Settle down, build a foundation, follow through. THEN write checks. But stop touching a dozen interesting issues with no commitment to truly engaging with them, and a clumsy handling of what little you try! Please. I'm begging you.

It's time for a talkie episode. I like talkie episodes, Allen is less a fan, but either way, the thing about talkie eps is, you have to talk a lot. And G-Witch? Not great at the talking. So, here we are, an episode that's a blessing and a curse, but might free the show from the Curse of Gundam, in more ways than one. Even if it's sloppy, if this fixes the trap they built for themselves in the plot...

They put out another Call of Duty. Its politics suck. Some things never change. But they might be worse in this one than you think... and yet, the campaign is also probably more interesting than you think? They made another Modern Warfare, and they couldn't decide if they wanted it to be a tribute to MW2 or a pointed note about everything wrong with that game. It's a mess, and it's (sigh) really f...

Refresh Rate returns with another episode of Jen, Kyrie and Six recounting standout media and experiences from the past month. After bouncing off Sonic Frontiers hard, Six has fallen into Freedom Planet and its sequel, finding there what they couldn't in the series that inspired it. Jen is braving the season of death in Harvestella, and finding there's less harvesting than you'd expect given the n...

A twist in the Elan Saga! Allen and Six are hanging with Lilique the Homie this week as we unravel the mystery of Why Are You Like This Starring Elan Ceres. It turns out... we now know why he's like this. To be fair, it was pretty clear from the start, it was just hard confirmation. Wonder what the next draft will be like....