THE TOP 100 PREVIEW: SU&SD Newsletter #77

Matt: I HAVE HACKED INTO THE NEWSLETTER. BLEEP BLOOP. GREEBTINGS EARTHLUNGS, I COME BEARING GLOOD TIDINGS OF JOY. That’s right! It’s a newsletter!!!(!)

Tom: okay.

Matt: Let’s not bury any more ledes this year - this month’s Exclusive package of Bonus Bits for supporters of the show contains an early edit of our FIRST EVER EPISODE of the long-awaited Top 100 Show.

Tom: It’s ROUGH! There’s a whole lot of extra polish and shine that we want to put on this thing before presenting it proudly to ‘The Internet’ - but I’m stoked with how well the meat of this thing turned out. It’s very close to exactly what we envisioned when kicking around early ideas for the project, and I think it’s simply a really fun watch.

Matt: I reckon what we’re most excited about with this series is the way that it’s different to things we’ve done before - we’ve always been pretty stringent on not allowing in-jokes and running gags to bleed *too* far into our reviews - it feels like a recipe for closing off entry points, so we’ve tried our best to never go TOO hard on sentient pears and worms? But this is DIFFERENT. And that’s cool! We’re aiming to make this a series that evolves as it goes - something that can grow and horribly mutate, and we’re looking forward to you folks chucking a glob of your DNA into the mix too!

Note: We didn't know what pictures to use for this newsletter - so here's some assorted images of recent travels.

Tom: Grotty! With that in mind, do let us know what you liked or didn’t like about this format! We’ve already got a whole bunch of ideas for how to improve and change the brass tacks of it - but we want to make sure this new pillar of our future video output is as strong as it could possibly be. The next set of episodes have us covering The Quest for El Dorado and can't wait to give this a proper launch in late January.

So, maybe now is a good time to briefly touch on plans for the next year of the site? This year held no shortage of fantastic table games. We’ve talked about tonnes of them on the podcast, and a select spicy few in our video reviews! But there’s definitely a strong feeling amongst the team that whilst the games have remained as great as ever, the review format sometimes doesn’t quite cut it. Next year, we’d like to continue experimenting and provide a more diverse selection of videos that aren’t just cut-and-dry reviews. That’s not to say we’re not going to do the straightforward reviews of great games like we always have; we’d just like room to make bigger projects like the John Company video, and to try our hand at broader topics that aren’t confined to just one game and a product review of it. That John Company video was an incredibly rewarding project, and I think I want to make more like it - some serious, some completely silly!

Matt: Also, to ensure that Tom understands that sometimes games can be serious, I made him watch Jumanji.

Tom: I can’t believe they trapped the real Robin Williams in a real wooden box for 20 years just to get him loopy enough for his first five minutes on screen in that film.

Matt: Tom’s passion project for the end of this year has been very visible - mine still remain HIDDEN, and I WILL NOT REVEAL MY SECRETS. Some exciting collaborations are coming next year, and as I reach the end of my studio technology tunnel, I cannot WAIT to start making some really chunky videos.

I think we both pretty strongly despise the word ConTeNT? But heck, I think this year we’re starting to get on track with providing a better flow of CONTENT while also carving out even more time for passion projects and bigger, new things. I think we all agree that we could have done better in terms of providing juicy bonus bits to you - our supporters - but considering how frequently we’ve floundered in the past I’m really proud of the foundations we’ve achieved. Tom has been instrumental in so much of it! What a guy!! Whoa!!! Somebody stop him!!!

Tom: Aaa! Please no I’ve done nothing wrong officer!

Next year, I think we’ve got a more concrete plan for how these bonus bitlets are going to be posted through your inbox - focusing on giving a little bit of early insight into projects, and continuing to make some silly extra videos about things we’re excited about. Something I did not have time to put together before PAXU was a breakdown of the process of making the John Company video, touching on some of the research that ultimately didn’t make it into the final thing. I think the moment has somewhat passed for that, now, but I want to actually tackle similar ‘companion pieces’ to our core videos so that donors get more than just early access.

Matt: I’ve spent a LOT of this year working on pipelines and infrastructure that’s going to let us pump RAW FUN into your houses with greater ease, and I cannot wait to get stuck in to having a lot of fun making wicked-cool int-er-es-ting THINNNNGS.

Tom: 2024! It’s an exciting year! We’ll have more news about specifics soon, but until then have a fabulous holiday break! Seeya!

What are we video games!  🎮

Tom: First off! A huge and shameless plug here for Super Crazy Rhythm Castle. My lovely flatmate made this game! It’s kind of an unholy union between Overcooked and Guitar Hero - a rhythm game where you’re juggling hitting notes with other tasks like corralling a crowd away from meteor strikes or avoiding security systems as you break into a bank vault. Really silly, and I’m so happy that it’s out in the world; we’ve been having a tonne of fun seeing what awful tasks the game expects you to perform next.

I’ve also been really, really enjoying Cobalt Core now that it’s properly out. A fantastic addition to the roguelike deckbuilding genre that has a pleasing spatial element and an absolutely electric soundtrack. There’s a quality to the music in this game that’s so hazy and gooey! I can’t get enough of it.

Quinns: I’ll second that Cobalt Core is a ton of fun! But I’ve actually been playing something a *touch* grander in scale, maybe you’ve heard of it: Cyberpunk 2077?

Allow me to add my voice to the chorus saying that Cyberpunk 2077 is honestly really pretty great now, actually. At this point it’s barely buggier than plenty of other AAA games are at launch, some of the more open-ended missions are a joy to tackle, the combat frequently feels slick and dramatic.

I’ll be honest, though. I’m really just playing for the art direction, which - now you can pootle around a Night City that’s been comprehensively optimised - is frequently breathtaking in scope and imagination. When I quit the game I often left myself the treat of facing my character towards a particularly awe-inspiring vista, just so I’d have an open-mouthed “Wow” moment when I booted the game up again. But I enjoy the micro as well as the macro- you’ll frequently find my avatar squatting by a piece of furniture or some NPC’s booty shorts, just to look at the fun day-after-tomorrow styling on the 3D model.

Just dutifully slog through the first few hours so you can get to the point that the game opens up fully and sort of “gives you” the city to play in. I don’t know what they were thinking with the introductory mission chain, but the best thing I can say about it is that it ends.

Tom: I need to go back to this - I started playing it just as BG3 came out and so didn’t spend long playing. But I too was just enthralled by the atmosphere and weightiness of the world. Glad to know that those introductory missions get out of the way eventually, though!

What are we music!  🎵

Tom: Jonny Nash has played the part of my ‘being on a train’ music this past month - some lovely, warm guitarwork that’s delicate and charming. The new Danny Brown record ‘Quaranta’ is really something - I’ve always had a soft spot for his particular brand of abrasive hip-hop, but seeing a softer side to the guy on this record paints the arc of his career with even more vivid colours than before. I’d very much recommend listening, even if you’d bounced off of his quite divisive voice in the past.

Finally, though, a weirdly earnest recommendation. Arthur Beatrice is a band that absolutely should have gotten more recognition than they did. Their record ‘Working Out’ is back-to-back bangers - a phenomenal chamber pop album of elegant, catchy compositions that stick long after listening. The big, sticky HOOKS on this thing! Unbelievable! Just a very straightforwardly excellent pop record that flew under seemingly everyone’s radar in the nearly 10 years that have passed since its release.

What are we watching? 📺

Matt: Did you know that cartoons are amazing? I’ve been absolutely blown away by Scavenger’s Reign this month - an unbelievably rich, horrible slice of alien worldbuilding. And then we’ve got new episodes of Invincible! I’m perhaps a little late to the party, but this is the year that I’ve finally realised that yes, I *do* love superhero stories? Gen V - the new spin-off from The Boys is pretty excellent, and I’m hungry for more more *more* of all of these things.

Tom: Scavenger’s Reign is absolutely excellent - and a really fantastic series to watch alongside playing through Earthborn Rangers recently! Both of these were recommended to me based on my love of Rain World, and maybe my favourite single aspect of that game - the modelling of the ecosystem around the ‘player character’ - is fully represented by both these bits of media. It’s a good time to like exploring!

What are we reading? 📚

Quinns: I have the easiest of recommendations for every single one of you this week: Did you know for just *$2.99 a month* you can get access to Shonen Jump’s vast library of manga?

For anyone (like me) who’s ever had to spend £12.99 on a single new volume just to find out what happens next in their favourite story, this service feels like breaking the law. But it’s *not*. You just pay your 3 dollars and you can read more than 150 chapters of subversive smash hit Chainsaw Man, or more than 90 chapters of delightful comedy of errors Spy X Family. And that’s just for starters! There’s also One Punch Man, Sakamoto Days, Promised Neverland, and so much more.

Also, you can download issues to your device for easy reading on a plane, so long as you don’t mind the exciting minigame of turning the page to something unexpectedly raunchy and hoping your seat neighbours don’t see.