Scanline Talks

You could also call this Best Old Game, if you hated being pithy and also wanted to insult these games. But in any year, MOST of the games we play aren't from that year. They're from years previous, sometimes many years previous. Of these, which ones defined our 2021? The Nominees Are: Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late [cl-r] Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link...

The difference between Chinese and Japanese, aka "Riichi" mahjong, is the concept of the Yaku. Basically, it's a bunch of special forms your hand can take that allow you to call a win, and give you extra points. As a bunch of newbies to the scene, we have strong feelings about which ones are best. So Nick is gonna join us to figure it out. The Nominees Are: Chiitoitsu Toitoihou Riichi Iipeiko Rins...

There are a lot of bad things about the way technology has allowed games to be changed. Gacha mechanics. Live service hellscapes. Free to play torture. Patching out things that are fun because they're not what the devs "intended." But also? There's DLC, or other add-ons. And sometimes those add-ons really freakin good. Let's celebrate the ones that are. The Nominees Are: Patch 1.28 (DragonBall Fig...

We're pretty heavily invested in good writing in games around here. This also leads to a love of a well-written and rendered character. But we're also kinda queer dopes, so sometimes we just love a handsome boy. Listen, people be containing multitudes. The Nominees Are: Cole (Deathloop) Julianna (Deathloop) Veronica Villensey (Overboard!) Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village) Nagi Usui (NEO The...

Even when a Gundam show is bad, you often get good model kits out of it. That's the blessing of this hobby: even when you lose, you can win. Plenty of good Gundam plastic model kits, or gunpla for short, came out this year. Let's decide the best ones. The Nominees Are: MG Eclipse Gundam RG Hi-Nu Gundam MG Ginn RG Zeong HG Xi Gundam Full Mechanics Calamity Gundam HGBB Gundam Barbataurus HGBB Gundam...

This is the longest list of nominees for any category, and there's a reason for that. Around here, we love action and fighting games. And out of all the playstyles created for them this year, which was the best? Let's see. The Nominees Are: Giovanna (Guilty Gear Strive) Nagoriyuki (Guilty Gear Strive) Goldlewis (Guilty Gear Strive) Happy Chaos (Guilty Gear Strive) Marci (Dota 2) Longsword (Monster...

As much as we love surprises, it can swing very hard the other way. Sometimes you are all primed to love a game and it just whiffs, hard . It is therapeutic to vent your frustration, anger, and sadness, but at the end of the day, it just sucks to feel like this. These are the Biggest Disappointments of 2021. The Nominees Are: Disgaea 6 Disgaea RPG Pac-Man 99 The Medium New Pokemon Snap Mario Golf:...

Who doesn't love a good surprise? It's nice to look forward to games, and have them come out and be everything you want. But what about things you didn't know you wanted, or didn't imagine you could ever get? These games are the Best Surprises of 2021. The Nominees Are: Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier Super Robot Wars 30 Bowser's Fury GBO2: Code Fairy Guardians of the Galaxy Power Rangers: Bat...

When you start streaming, you quickly learn that there is a difference between a game that's good and a game that's good to stream. Certainly, lots of good games also stream well. But when you try streaming one of your favs and realize it's no fun to watch, that's an eye-opening moment. The games on this list are not going to be nominated for any other category, but when we streamed them in 2021,...

The Nominees Are: Mario Party Superstars Jackbox Party Pack 8 Melty Blood Type Lumina Hell Let Loose Mahjong Soul Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Mario Golf: Super Rush Pokemon Unite Gundam Battle Operation 2 Knockout City Halo Infinite Final Fantasy XIV Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier Forza Horizon 5 One category left for today: Stream Friend, where we talk about the games we streamed in 2021! I hope you'...

Welcome to Scanline Media's 2021 Gimmick Awards! We're starting off with a favorite of ours. We're paid anime critics (every time I say it it's surreal, but it's true!), and as you might expect that leads us to having strong opinions on anime. But of all the anime and manga we covered in 2021, what was the best? The Nominees Are: Akagi: The Genius That Descended Into Darkness Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Th...

Now we bring things to a close. The curtains fall on the first single player Gundam game in years, with a conclusion that leaves us feeling a little mixed. Without a doubt, Code Fairy as a whole has been a great experience, and a game we'd both recommend. But it doesn't TOTALLY stick the landing, in ways that are a bit confusing. If you want to find us on Twitter, Jen is @jbu3 and Six is @sixdettm...

As it turns out, Volume 2 was so much of a banger that we wanted to make this a three parter after all. Alma's absence is our gain as this second part starts with a bang, giving us new mission types, new perspectives, and new mobile suits, only to reunite us with the lucky redheaded newtype for a thrilling conclusion. We'll be back for Volume 3, which I'm sure will end perfectly happily and nothin...

Jen and Six both have caught the fae fever! In the wake of Volume 1 of the episodic Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation Code Fairy, a single player Gundam story about an all-girls squad in the One Year War, the two simply had to convene to talk about. Whether we'll come back to talk about Volume 2, or just wait til the end to record again is unclear at this time, but we definitely want to talk mor...

After nearly two decades, Metroid Dread has arrived. Once little more than a rumor and an easter egg in a Metroid Prime scan, not only is it here, but we've had time to beat it, ponder it, and now assemble to talk about it. Six is joined by friend of the site Lee to discuss the latest Metroid game. You can find Lee on Twitter at @UnstableArk , and Six at @sixdettmar .

This is all Marth's fault. Smash used to be a good, wholesome game of classic Nintendo characters. Now it's all, waifu, sempai, uwu, nakama, airdash, triangle jump, fuzzy guard, yaoi paddle, BL, glomping... it's lost. It's all because of how many swords are in the game. ...Wait. How many swords are in the game? Let's figure that out.

A lot of text has been typed about how many Gokus are in Dragon Ball FighterZ. It's a lot, of that we can be certain. But there are different numbers generated, with different logic and methodology. Six and Kyrie are here to tell you the REAL skinny on "The Goku Number." Recorded live in person, so it's a LITTLE echo-y, but it's otherwise good sound quality.

CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of a fictional incestual relationship, non-graphic purely the relationship. Also we spoil Twelve Minutes. The Playlist podcast returns with a guest in tow! Our usual crew of Jen, Kyrie, and Six are joined by friend of the site Ryan on this bright evening. Ryan is VERY mad at Twelve Minutes, with good reason, but they and Jen have really been enjoying Psychonauts 2. Six...

Just because it's a relatively quiet period doesn't mean there aren't new releases to talk about! Jen, Kyrie, and Six are here to talk about the classic mystery solving of Famicom Detective Club, Atlus's overpriced Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne rerelease, and the baffling nature of Miitopia.

Experts of the Taroverse, assemble! Six was originally booked to host this podcast, but as discussions proceeded in the buildup to recording, it became obvious that they were just not up to the task. Instead, friend of the site Ryan has graciously taken the wheel to guide a podcast on the Drakengard Legacy with Jen and Kat. Buckle in, they're going DEEP. If you want to find our hosts on Twitter, y...

Sony has announced it has 25 new IP in development! This after they killed off their single most creative studio for CREATING new IP (Japan Studio), and we dread to think what they will release. So the heck with Sony. Let's draft our OWN game console lineups, using exclusively dead or defunct series. Draft game time!

Like a lot of Switch gamers, Jen, Kyrie, and Six have found themselves engrossed in the latest release from the popular but infamously unwelcoming Monster Hunter. They say Rise is "the easiest to get into yet." That's true! But that's actually a fairly meaningless statement, as the series has always been terrible to get into. How much better is this one, actually?

We decided to watch some Gaim! May the Fruits be with you as we delve into Urobuchi's try at tokusatsu. Dance tropes, fruit armor, and some very bizarre takes on what a "job" is. Welcome back to Kamen Ground, folks.

It's been a while since we just talked about what we've been playing: let's do that! Jen and Six talk about Super Mario 3D World, Bowser's Fury, Slime Rancher, The Medium, Suzerain, and a whole host of Steam demos. Join us! Our intro music is the Title Theme from Super Mario 3D World, and our outro music is Glass Desert from Slime Rancher.

With the first episode of That's a ShenMood, we claimed we'd play through the Shenmue series and talk about it throughout 2020. But, much like Ryo Hazuki, we quickly learned that the task we'd taken on was harder than we could have ever imagined. We also learned that Six has a powerful procrastinator streak. But finally, we return. Jen, Kyrie, and Six discuss Shenmue 2.