The Giant Bomb GOTY podcasts complain thread.

This whole thing where they discuss runner-ups for hours and then just say "but x game/thing wins it" without any explanation or discussion needs to stop. It happened in previous years and it's happening this year too.

Also come on, the northies again? Throw that out in favor of better categories. So much wasted potential in some of these categories.....I'm almost looking forward to "biggest dissapointment" and "worst game" and "worst ending" only because I'm tired of hearing about TWD, Frog Fractions and FEZ. <----these are good games but other games came out this year too.

@SaturnPrime said:

I have not listened to the Day 3 podcast yet. This is more a reflection of GOTY as a whole.

A sizable amount of the community will believe the Bombcrew as an editorial whole is above criticism, but I think the number of pointless or obvious categories so far this year is disappointing. It is far more interesting to hear discussion and occasional heated argument than a collective of people evaluating a single relatively pointless but impressive moment. The stakes are not just low, they are lower the bar so far lower with some of these categories. This has moved from a well intentioned move away a few years ago from traditional console categories to a pigeonholing awards and appreciation in a way that makes it less enjoyable to read, listen to, and to take recommendations from. While I did not play Kid Icarus, I can now feel sympathy with those that felt that game got dismissed too quickly. My wife and I call it the "shitshow" effect. (We remember around the time of the first Live Live Show Alex or Jeff using the word "shitshow" to describe a game or movie in a GB or Screened podcast or video. Then everyone on the forum began using it and it being used on terrible quicklooks by others.) Once a game is "shitshowed" like Binary Domain or Kid Icarus was, it's impossible convince the small group otherwise. I think it is admirable that some did try Binary Domain again.

I think the Day 1 podcast and write up did a bad insufficient job of explaining why the Hot Line Miami soundtrack was good, especially since no one really steps up as advocates for the other titles. I thought the Max Payne 3 soundtrack was amazing and similarly fit the mood of the game, as did Journey towards the end. Honestly it felt like what do you want to listen to in the car above all else and that felt so disappointing.

I hope the next two days have a noticeable improvement. I have enjoyed the GOTY podcasts less than in recent years or compared to a regular weekly episode. I think the fake TV shows are great but ultimately they are just a thing that is released at the same time as the videos wrap ups and podcasts. I commend the work put into them.

I played Frog Fractions. It's cute, and funny. But there is some serious magpie (Oh, look at this shiny) groupthink at GB going on about it, along with Jaavik / From Ashes, and the HLM soundtrack. These aren't my awards, but this simply isn't as revelatory as Brad makes it out to be. My eyes didn't roll back, time did not stop, and I did not begin to smell colors.

At some point, will GB have categories like best credits, best QTE, best single player headshot, or worst Cards Against Humanity card? Will it matter to the community as long as a podcast comes out? What is the point then? I can't say I value these "extra" awards more than what IGN or Gametrailers or Destructoid announces. Quite the opposite and that is disappointing.

While GOTY should not be combative or "real criticism", I think the transparency the podcast and constant video production throughout the year provides gives GB an opportunity to distinguish itself. The mechanics of these categories and occasional lack of advocates has led to a disappointing reception in this user so far. It is less a sausage making podcast and more a sausage fest of celebrating the same things that were trumpeted all year. GB should reconsider the flexibility of allowing new categories.

At some point, it is more interesting to hear opinions: is FTL or Hot Line Miami a better game? Forza or Most Wanted? Can't we manufacture some categories that way? Best download-only PC game? Best Driving game? I hope we see it and we can really dig in. Throwing in some thoughts like game theory, reward schedule, and synesthesia could benefit these GOTY discussions over "sick dubstep beats".

So what you're saying is that "shitshow" is the fillibuster of Giant Bomb. The nuclear option. Just have to whisper the word and suddenly shit just STOPS.

@Phatmac said:

@TurboMan said:

Not too much to complain about thusfar, except Brad continually calling The Walking Dead busted on consoles...

Played it on a PS3 and didn't notice too many issues other than a stutter in between decisions every once in a while... far from "Busted"

My 360 version had numerous hitches and awful frame rate which made me have a terrible time with it. I still love it but for some people the console version is busted for me at least.

is that for every 360 version though? PS3 worked fine for me, wondering if TWD might actually be one of the only games where the game runs better on PS3 than 360

@TurboMan said:

@Phatmac said:

@TurboMan said:

Not too much to complain about thusfar, except Brad continually calling The Walking Dead busted on consoles...

Played it on a PS3 and didn't notice too many issues other than a stutter in between decisions every once in a while... far from "Busted"

My 360 version had numerous hitches and awful frame rate which made me have a terrible time with it. I still love it but for some people the console version is busted for me at least.

is that for every 360 version though? PS3 worked fine for me, wondering if TWD might actually be one of the only games where the game runs better on PS3 than 360

360 version ran awfully for me as well

Just getting tired of Jeff hate so many games, or facets of games, that are almost always universally praised.

I get it that he has his own tastes, but it's getting tiring. I'm starting to think he goes against the grain on purpose. Even some of the Bombers are starting to say, "Uh... what?" when he says "<GAME> is crap!"

@Vrikk said:

Just getting tired of Jeff hate so many games, or facets of games, that are almost always universally praised.

I get it that he has his own tastes, but it's getting tiring. I'm starting to think he goes against the grain on purpose. Even some of the Bombers are starting to say, "Uh... what?" when he says "<GAME> is crap!"

I think that at some point when you've been doing this kind of work for so long, the 'games played:time" ratio will get so fucked and dealing with behind the scenes business that at some point you just get burned out and stop caring. I'm noticing similar feelings with other veterans like Garnett Lee and Adam Sessler.

Edit: I don't mean to say that Jeff's personal opinions aren't valid. They totally are and he does bring up good points (i.e. TWD going for the 'I'm a little girl' card too much). It's just his perspective is unique and rare among the gaming masses.

The surprise game discussion kind of pissed me off, honestly, for one reason: Asura's Wrath is not that good of a game.

While I understand some people love how absolutely ridiculous the title is, sitting there mashing buttons to watch what is essentially a game-long cutscene with QTE's is in no way fun, or intuitive. The fact that it WON, let alone was even nominated over ZombiU, is a complete fucking joke.

I just listened to "Paper Planes" for the first time and holy shit is that song awful.

These GOTY podcasts have been pretty shit on the discussion front. Too many dumb categories. Best use of skrillex?, Northies for no reason?,best walking dead episode?. I prefer when it was just platform awards and GOTY. We get it guys youre trying to be different by having weird categories. I also dont get how they think FEZ looks good.

@laserbolts said:

These GOTY podcasts have been pretty shit on the discussion front. Too many dumb categories. Best use of skrillex?, Northies for no reason?,best walking dead episode?. I prefer when it was just platform awards and GOTY. We get it guys youre trying to be different by having weird categories. I also dont get how they think FEZ looks good.

The lack of prolonged discussion almost makes it seem like there was already a a decision off-air when i listen to the GOTY podcasts.

I just listened to "Paper Planes" for the first time and holy shit is that song awful.

@laserbolts: I understand why they think Fez looks good but that I think what they meant to do with that category, or what it inadvertently became was "Most Unique Looking Game" rather than "Best Looking Game." Personally it seems really silly to compare a game like Fez to Far Cry 3. Fez has a pretty clean and unique look but it's just more 8bit pixel pandering in many ways. At the same time they very off handedly dismissed Mark of the Ninja and that game looked really good too if you want to start talking about quirky, downloadable titles. I haven't played Journey so I can't really speak for it's graphics but they looked nice in videos I saw. Nicer than games like Far Cry 3? I dunno about that. It's very hard to compare when FC3 has to essentially render and showcase a lot more objects in the world while Journey has a much more simpler approach to certain geometry.

In the end, as usual listening to these can be kind of a bummer because during regular Bombcasts and Quick Looks the guys just joke around and have fun which is what most people here like them for. When it comes time to these deliberations and they start throwing down their actual opinions on games thats when you realize "oh, these guys despite being super funny have totally different opinions than I do" and that can be really jarring especially when they just completely dismiss a game you hold in high regard over something you couldn't care less about.

@CaptainThunderpants said:

@Vrikk said:

Just getting tired of Jeff hate so many games, or facets of games, that are almost always universally praised.

I get it that he has his own tastes, but it's getting tiring. I'm starting to think he goes against the grain on purpose. Even some of the Bombers are starting to say, "Uh... what?" when he says "<GAME> is crap!"

I think that at some point when you've been doing this kind of work for so long, the 'games played:time" ratio will get so fucked and dealing with behind the scenes business that at some point you just get burned out and stop caring. I'm noticing similar feelings with other veterans like Garnett Lee and Adam Sessler.

Edit: I don't mean to say that Jeff's personal opinions aren't valid. They totally are and he does bring up good points (i.e. TWD going for the 'I'm a little girl' card too much). It's just his perspective is unique and rare among the gaming masses.

The problem is that often he doesn't feel the need to justify his opinion, other than say "I just didn't find it fun to play" or "I just didn't like it". If you're being critical, at least try to put into words WHY you don't like it. That being said, he is often the first to back down from an argument if he feels he is in the minority.

Such a shame that spelunky never made it... (yes I know it's on the pee cee for freeee).

I thought I'd never say this but I'm not a fan of awards that are just made to award specific games. Frog Fractions is fine but to make an award for it is just lazy. I want awards that are more contentious.

For people that don't like the Northies I'd like to let you know that they're retiring the Northies after this year.

@ThePickle said:

What exactly is Jeff's issue with Binary Domain?

I don't know, but I have been playing the game lately and more I play it, more it brings Eat Lead: the Return of Matt Hazzard -flashbacks.

@Phatmac said:

For people that don't like the Northies I'd like to let you know that they're retiring the Northies after this year.

I hope they take Use of Skrillex with them. That seemed like a waste of a category.

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

You know if it were up to me, I'd get rid of all those categories and even go as far as to get rid of the overall top 10 list. It's awesome that Giant Bomb lets us peak into their deliberation process, but it makes it pretty apparent that there's almost never a solid consensus on anything. It always seems to be about who wins the argument rather than which game is the more deserving. To put it differently, I feel like if they were to start over we would get a completely different set of winners. The whole thing feels rather pointless to me.

On the contrary, I found the individual top 10 lists fascinating to watch. So far they've been very eloquent in justifying some of their choices, and seeing more "obscure games" (like Frog Fractions) is very refreshing.

Also, Journey should have won best music bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh I'M SO ANGRY !!!!

@Getz said:

@TurboMan said:

@Phatmac said:

@TurboMan said:

Not too much to complain about thusfar, except Brad continually calling The Walking Dead busted on consoles...

Played it on a PS3 and didn't notice too many issues other than a stutter in between decisions every once in a while... far from "Busted"

My 360 version had numerous hitches and awful frame rate which made me have a terrible time with it. I still love it but for some people the console version is busted for me at least.

is that for every 360 version though? PS3 worked fine for me, wondering if TWD might actually be one of the only games where the game runs better on PS3 than 360

360 version ran awfully for me as well

360 version is completely fucked, the PS3 is less fucked and the PC is only marginally fucked. Framerate wise, that is. The PC version is fucked in a different way with all the save issues. But I think would I rather roll the dice on the save issue than have the immersion killing stutters every time the camera changes angles.

@Manhattan_Project: The phrase "marginally fucked" made me giggle.

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

Pretty tired of the Frog Fractions stuff. It really is dumb.

Also tired of all the Fez talk cause Fez is not that great...

@Rasmoss said:

@CaptainThunderpants said:

@Vrikk said:

Just getting tired of Jeff hate so many games, or facets of games, that are almost always universally praised.

I get it that he has his own tastes, but it's getting tiring. I'm starting to think he goes against the grain on purpose. Even some of the Bombers are starting to say, "Uh... what?" when he says "<GAME> is crap!"

I think that at some point when you've been doing this kind of work for so long, the 'games played:time" ratio will get so fucked and dealing with behind the scenes business that at some point you just get burned out and stop caring. I'm noticing similar feelings with other veterans like Garnett Lee and Adam Sessler.

Edit: I don't mean to say that Jeff's personal opinions aren't valid. They totally are and he does bring up good points (i.e. TWD going for the 'I'm a little girl' card too much). It's just his perspective is unique and rare among the gaming masses.

The problem is that often he doesn't feel the need to justify his opinion, other than say "I just didn't find it fun to play" or "I just didn't like it". If you're being critical, at least try to put into words WHY you don't like it. That being said, he is often the first to back down from an argument if he feels he is in the minority.

Exactly. If his feelings are warranted AND he backs it up then great. I know he doesn't owe us plebs anything, but if we want to take him seriously and not start thinking that his tastes are too damn refined to love anything (like Captain stated), then he should say why he doesn't like these games.

And his reasons needs to be justified. For example, him saying he didn't finish Journey because he lost his partner during a sand riding scene is completely insane. He never saw the end of the game, and therefore some of the best parts of it.

@ShaggE said:

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

Well Max Payne 3 seems to be getting looked over completely by them anyway. I think Ryan was the only one who played the whole thing and it didn't even make his top 10, so I guess that says something about how much he cares to remember anything about it. I agree, though. That climactic trek through the airport, guns blazing while that song's playing is massively awesome. I could see why they would choose Paper Planes in FC3 over it, though. It's a shitty, douchey song played to a montage of shitty, douchey people. It's pretty funny.

@Phatmac: I really liked Vaas but I don't think he should have been best new character. I really think Javik should have won it because he was just as interesting and his story actually had a arc to it. I was kinda have listening while playing Halo 4 but I swear they were talking about what Vaas could have been and I think that is a big strike against him to me. Just cause he could have been great doesn't mean he was. He was cool but in the end he went nowhere.

The only thing that I really went "huh?" about was the criticism about Clementine not being a realistic enough child character.  If anything, Clem seems like the most realistic and well acted of any child in a game that I can really think of.

@ShaggE said:

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

QFT

This is not really a complaint but did I miss the part of the year where they talked about Frog Fractions a bunch, either on the podcast or elsewhere? It seems to have come out of nowhere.

I don't have any issues with the winners themselves since I don't really have a stake in any of them except perhaps Best Character but I didn't even play Far Cry 3 and I agreed that Vaas needed to win.

I do kind of have one issue. Walking Dead Episode of the Year as a category? Really? It's probably cos I'm sick to death of hearing about that goddamn game. I'm so with Jeff in the eventual GOTY debate, as I also am whenever Dark Souls is mentioned ever.

@OneKillWonder_ said:

@ShaggE said:

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

Well Max Payne 3 seems to be getting looked over completely by them anyway. I think Ryan was the only one who played the whole thing and it didn't even make his top 10, so I guess that says something about how much he cares to remember anything about it. I agree, though. That climactic trek through the airport, guns blazing while that song's playing is massively awesome. I could see why they would choose Paper Planes in FC3 over it, though. It's a shitty, douchey song played to a montage of shitty, douchey people. It's pretty funny.

Since HEALTH technically did the soundtrack for Max Payne 3, it's not a licensed song. It's a bummer, but it's true.

I think I have grown tired of these lesser GOTY categories like "Use of Skrillex" or "Best Walking Dead Episode" or the "Northies" only having one nomination (even if they're retiring it next year). It was funny once, but I think they have officially jumped the shark. Keep the categories that matter and stop giving pointless awards to very specific things you find cool.

@Neurotic said:

This is not really a complaint but did I miss the part of the year where they talked about Frog Fractions a bunch, either on the podcast or elsewhere? It seems to have come out of nowhere.

As far as I can remember, there never was such a part of the year. Frog Fractions is just a gigantic part of the zeitgeist right now. It only came out a couple months ago.

@Phatmac said:

For people that don't like the Northies I'd like to let you know that they're retiring the Northies after this year.

I hope they take Use of Skrillex with them. That seemed like a waste of a category.

My only complaint is that I haven't listened to any of them in fear of spoilers because I may eventually get around to playing the games discussed. Eventually. But probably never.

@wjb said:

@OneKillWonder_ said:

@ShaggE said:

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

Well Max Payne 3 seems to be getting looked over completely by them anyway. I think Ryan was the only one who played the whole thing and it didn't even make his top 10, so I guess that says something about how much he cares to remember anything about it. I agree, though. That climactic trek through the airport, guns blazing while that song's playing is massively awesome. I could see why they would choose Paper Planes in FC3 over it, though. It's a shitty, douchey song played to a montage of shitty, douchey people. It's pretty funny.

Since HEALTH technically did the soundtrack for Max Payne 3, it's not a licensed song. It's a bummer, but it's true.

Well the way they dealt with the Max Payne 3 in the "Best Music" category sucked; yeah, opinion and all...but c'mon.

@Vrikk said:

@Rasmoss said:

@CaptainThunderpants said:

@Vrikk said:

Just getting tired of Jeff hate so many games, or facets of games, that are almost always universally praised.

I get it that he has his own tastes, but it's getting tiring. I'm starting to think he goes against the grain on purpose. Even some of the Bombers are starting to say, "Uh... what?" when he says "<GAME> is crap!"

I think that at some point when you've been doing this kind of work for so long, the 'games played:time" ratio will get so fucked and dealing with behind the scenes business that at some point you just get burned out and stop caring. I'm noticing similar feelings with other veterans like Garnett Lee and Adam Sessler.

Edit: I don't mean to say that Jeff's personal opinions aren't valid. They totally are and he does bring up good points (i.e. TWD going for the 'I'm a little girl' card too much). It's just his perspective is unique and rare among the gaming masses.

The problem is that often he doesn't feel the need to justify his opinion, other than say "I just didn't find it fun to play" or "I just didn't like it". If you're being critical, at least try to put into words WHY you don't like it. That being said, he is often the first to back down from an argument if he feels he is in the minority.

Exactly. If his feelings are warranted AND he backs it up then great. I know he doesn't owe us plebs anything, but if we want to take him seriously and not start thinking that his tastes are too damn refined to love anything (like Captain stated), then he should say why he doesn't like these games.

And his reasons needs to be justified. For example, him saying he didn't finish Journey because he lost his partner during a sand riding scene is completely insane. He never saw the end of the game, and therefore some of the best parts of it.

I didn't mean to imply that Jeff became some arthouse snob. This is the man who brought Ghost Problems to the world and wanted Saints Row to be GOTY last year.

@CaptainThunderpants said:

@Vrikk said:

@Rasmoss said:

@CaptainThunderpants said:

@Vrikk said:

Just getting tired of Jeff hate so many games, or facets of games, that are almost always universally praised.

I get it that he has his own tastes, but it's getting tiring. I'm starting to think he goes against the grain on purpose. Even some of the Bombers are starting to say, "Uh... what?" when he says "<GAME> is crap!"

I think that at some point when you've been doing this kind of work for so long, the 'games played:time" ratio will get so fucked and dealing with behind the scenes business that at some point you just get burned out and stop caring. I'm noticing similar feelings with other veterans like Garnett Lee and Adam Sessler.

Edit: I don't mean to say that Jeff's personal opinions aren't valid. They totally are and he does bring up good points (i.e. TWD going for the 'I'm a little girl' card too much). It's just his perspective is unique and rare among the gaming masses.

The problem is that often he doesn't feel the need to justify his opinion, other than say "I just didn't find it fun to play" or "I just didn't like it". If you're being critical, at least try to put into words WHY you don't like it. That being said, he is often the first to back down from an argument if he feels he is in the minority.

Exactly. If his feelings are warranted AND he backs it up then great. I know he doesn't owe us plebs anything, but if we want to take him seriously and not start thinking that his tastes are too damn refined to love anything (like Captain stated), then he should say why he doesn't like these games.

And his reasons needs to be justified. For example, him saying he didn't finish Journey because he lost his partner during a sand riding scene is completely insane. He never saw the end of the game, and therefore some of the best parts of it.

I didn't mean to imply that Jeff became some arthouse snob. This is the man who brought Ghost Problems to the world and wanted Saints Row to be GOTY last year.

I think Ryan actually put it best in an old podcast when he said "Jeff you don't hate things, you hate when other people love things".

I had to shake my head when Patrick said you could not win the firefight in the Prologue of Spec Ops.

@Demoskinos said:

@TheVeteran13

I just listened to "Paper Planes" for the first time and holy shit is that song awful.

Awfully good!

Nah, I meant awful in the "it makes me want to vomit" kind of way.

Just to clear up any confusion you might of had.

@razielrioux said:

I had to shake my head when Patrick said you could not win the firefight in the Prologue of Spec Ops.

It's sad when Patrick talks out of his ass. He's done a lot over the past couple of weeks to quell the hate he usually gets. His performances in the GOTY videos also did a lot to endear him. But when he makes blanket bullshit statements that are factually incorrect? It just... gah.

Hey guys! 
 
I have nothing to complain about.

I didn't get the Please Stop Nintendo part. I mean, if they were to return to their former self, it'd be like it is now - more Mario games.

Muahahaha.

@rjayb89 said:

I didn't get the Please Stop Nintendo part. I mean, if they were to return to their former self, it'd be like it is now - more Mario games.

Muahahaha.

The Please Stop Nintendo was in reference to Nintendo's continued willful ignorance with WiiU features and the like.

@President_Barackbar said:

@rjayb89 said:

I didn't get the Please Stop Nintendo part. I mean, if they were to return to their former self, it'd be like it is now - more Mario games.

Muahahaha.

The Please Stop Nintendo was in reference to Nintendo's continued willful ignorance with WiiU features and the like.

Yes, now they're getting into the details. Damn it, Nintendo, have you learned nothing from your competitors!? Also, learn to internet!

I dont agree with a majority of it

I still watch and listen though because I hate myself and enjoy some of the crew

I can't believe they didn't take any of those PETA protest games into consideration when discussing the URL of the Year award. I mean, clearly Mario Kills Tanooki is really somethin' else.

@Humphreys said:

@wjb said:

@OneKillWonder_ said:

@ShaggE said:

I must say, I was surprised that the HEALTH track in Max Payne 3 didn't get mentioned for "Best Use of Licensed Song".

Well Max Payne 3 seems to be getting looked over completely by them anyway. I think Ryan was the only one who played the whole thing and it didn't even make his top 10, so I guess that says something about how much he cares to remember anything about it. I agree, though. That climactic trek through the airport, guns blazing while that song's playing is massively awesome. I could see why they would choose Paper Planes in FC3 over it, though. It's a shitty, douchey song played to a montage of shitty, douchey people. It's pretty funny.

Since HEALTH technically did the soundtrack for Max Payne 3, it's not a licensed song. It's a bummer, but it's true.

Well the way they dealt with the Max Payne 3 in the "Best Music" category sucked; yeah, opinion and all...but c'mon.

Max Payne 3 is just gonna be swept under the rug this year.. and with all the complaining about games and endings this year... especially from the AAA titles, Max Payne 3 was one of the few games to have an ending, that you know, ends and wraps things up. It bums me out that it wont get the props it deserves.

And can't really use the whole, it was released next to Diablo 3 excuse, as Diablo 3 seems to be completely forgotten about.

@Oldirtybearon said:

@razielrioux said:

I had to shake my head when Patrick said you could not win the firefight in the Prologue of Spec Ops.

It's sad when Patrick talks out of his ass. He's done a lot over the past couple of weeks to quell the hate he usually gets. His performances in the GOTY videos also did a lot to endear him. But when he makes blanket bullshit statements that are factually incorrect? It just... gah.

@troll93 said:

PATRICK!!!! You can kill all the troops at the end of spec ops, you dying is you failing that part of the ending.

Okay, y'all do realize that this is a completely optional and not readily apparent part of the game, right? I don't know if all of you found this out on your own or not but I certainly did not. After I raised my gun and took a shot, I eventually went down. At that point I figured there were probably two endings; one for going peacefully and the other going out guns blazing. The fact that there are only two achievements tied to the epilogue (not prologue razielrioux) kind of cemented this to me.

It was not until going on Gamefaqs that I discovered that you could, in fact, kill all the troops and emerge "victorious." So, while Patrick is indeed misinformed, I do not blame him for it. Can I expect that he go in and understand every single facet of the game? Perhaps, if he reviewed the game, but he didn't and played it on his own time to see what was up with the game and so he could talk about it for GOTY stuff.

Furthermore, for all the hate the Patrick is getting about this, it's not like anyone else corrected him about it (including Jeff, who reviewed it AND was on a post-mortem podcast with someone who worked on the game).