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The Besties Battle Bracket: twists! (Patreon)

Published:
2024-04-02 04:01:01
Imported:
2026-06

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The Besties Battle Bracket returns! This time, we're choosing the best twist in video games. We're judging said twists on 2.5 metrics:

Rubric:

Does it make any sense?

Does the rest of the game's narrative hold up outside of the twist

Tie-breaker: How loud would the gasp be?

The contenders:

Last of Us Part 1 vs Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty

BioShock vs Portal 

Metroid vs. Final Fantasy 7

Star Wars: KOTOR vs. Spec Ops: The Line 

Shadow of the Colossus vs. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 

Mass Effect 2 vs. Halo 2 [RIP: Halo vs. Resident Evil]

Red Dead Redemption vs. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 

Dead Space vs. Silent Hill 2 

For the comments: 

What is the least surprising "twist" in a video game?

Related links:

The trailer for What Dreams May Come

The 9/11 movie in which Adam Sandler plays Shadow of the Colossus

The writer of Spec Ops: The Line on its removal from Steam

Seriously, don't click this link until you finish this episode

Files

Comments

Saga Nadow

Still reeling from Griffin calling Bastilla Shan “Dave Batista” 🤣🤣

Ccchloister

If I had any doubts about the ethics of killing a colossi, they were pretty much confirmed by the tragically framed death cinematics. Then again, I’ll always take the side of a BBB ( Big Beautiful Beast) so I was in for a sad time regardless.

Garrett Jackson

I could have sworn that Braid was going to be in this twist bracket. Dang.

IHaveARussFrushtickBodyPillow

I have now been given dirty looks while walking my dog for just straight up screaming' "FONTAINE! HIS NAME IS FONTAINE! IT'S FRANK FONTAINE" as you four struggled to remember Atlas's true name in Bioshock.

ThanaThots

I think FF7 takes it over Bioshock, even if you don’t factor in the Cloud identity crisis. A jrpg where a main party member that you play with for almost the entire game dies permanently?! Absolutely wild twist in the story and from a meta perspective as a player.

harrowgate

loved the episode but gotta say it's absolutely wild to say red dead was lacking a narrative! the game digs into john's relationship with his wife and kid, and how he's caught between that chapter of his life and the one previous to it, his days running with the gang. the major standoffs in that game are all with people john once bled alongside, and rdr2 twists that knife even further by really digging into the relationships of the gang/its family-esque structure

Liam Granlund

Best game twist is Ai: The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative and it's not even close (although it came out in the late 10 years so i get why it isn't here.) Also came here to defend my love for Spec Ops the Line! Totally get that it feels so on the nose, but the game is really about the myth of heroism and rugged individualism as framed by the hallucinations of an obsessed American military soldier and it will always be special.

Sven

That match up between portal and bioshock was tough!!! Those are usually my go to examples!

Julia

But what about SOMA? Totally thought it should go up against Dead Space

Charmanderson Cooper

How is no one talking about the biggest game twist of all time??? Giovanni is the missing Viridian City Gym leader!!!

Tuoman

Crying laughing at the don’t wake the wind fish

CPT_Turboshaft

HOW is the Mass Effect 2 twist not that the Collectors (big bads of the whole game) were actually Protheans!?!? ME2 has a few solid twists in it, and you guys picked the worst one. How is an intro a twist?

glassfunyun

The idea of "what is a twist" is apparently more debated than I thought. Some of these didn't really seem like twists. Personally, I wouldn't really consider Link's Awakening a twist. I mean technically it is I guess, but the name pretty much gives it away. Whereas the twist in Red Dead was totally out of nowhere for me and blew my mind (and I wasn't even playing the game - I was just watching my brother play!). I think we literally yelled at the tv when it happened. Still loved the episode though! Would love to have the option to submit ideas for future bracket seeds.

BucklingSwashes

God damn it I should've seen the "arm-wife twist" twist coming from a mile away. Well played.

Casey Francis Alger

My personal favorite twist is meeting Vendrick in the Undead Crypt in Dark Souls 2.

Patrick Hightower

At what point are we considering the start of the Twist in Last of Us? I feel like the torture scene made the hospital not all that surprising.

Mike Hansford

This whole episode was so full of twists, and it was amazing. :)

Nick Macaluso

I say this as someone who loves TLOU1 (and 2 but that's not what's in this episode) I think it has no place in this episode. Nothing about what happens at the end is a twist. It makes complete sense that he wouldn't be down for any of what's happening and would do anything to rescue Ellie. Whether or not that's what Ellie would even want, Joel was never going to allow them to kill Ellie for a world that he doesn't even believe is worth saving anyway. It'd have been a twist if he had just walked away and forgot about Ellie, frankly.

Nick Macaluso

Also I want to say, I DO think FF7 should be in here, but I don't think the Aerith thing should be the reason. It's certainly a crazy thing that happens, but I'd almost argue it's not a twist so much as a very unexpected thing to happen in a game at that time. I think the big revelation about Cloud's backstory that finally comes together when Tifa and him fall into the Lifestream is the actual twist that the game has been building to the whole time. EDIT: Oh Griffin brings that up immediately lol

Yuusic

I love the fever dream state of their recording. Also back to back champion BioShock lets goooo

Colin Mallee

Absolutely astonished that the twist at the ends of Shadow the Hedgehog wasn't included in here. Darn shame.

Jesse K

Top Twists of this episode - Instantly dismissing SH2 with no discussion at all because no one had played it, followed only by the twist that the 'too late' time everyone kept referencing was 10:30.

SeaWalt

It suffers from the curse of nostalgia but I still think about the last level in halo reach. Every level before (especially as a kid) had an end point that felt generally satisfying, usually in some sort of win even if it involved sacrifice. But the last level there was no obvious end, you just kept fighting until you couldn’t anymore and it was the first time I actually felt stressed in a halo game. The rest of reach is fine but the last level I think stands out.

pisseer

Idk if you guys can edit these but you do spoil Red Dead 2 really casually and I feel the thing you say has a heavy impact on the story

Matt Swanson

This was a fun episode, loving the late night sleep over energy. Amazed that Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons wasn’t included in the brackets though. I thought that was a brilliant little game that had a twist that was both narratively and mechanically satisfying and shocking. I still think about that one a lot — it was one of the first that I felt could only have been delivered in the medium of games, where a lot of the other twists in games were things that just as easily could have been a movie.

Jonathan Shea

Halo 1 twist was huuuuuge for me 🥹

Dan Reeser

I don't think a twist involving fridging a girlfriend is worth a vote to move forward.

David Bauer

I think the least surprising twist is in Doki Doki Literature Club, even knowing nothing about the game going in. I played it at someone's strong recommendation; it is *not* my genre. I couldn't tell if it was a feature of the genre or just my paranoia, but I could tell something was wrong very early on. On another note, I was sad not to see Inscryption make it to the discussion, but I understand the limitations that were set. I think it easily outperforms the bottom half of the bracket and it would make my personal top 5. Not only does it have twists, the twist opens up the narrative and game play in fascinating ways.

mod2amaryllis

just started the episode still in the first bracket but i think the twist of tlou1 isn't the murder spree, it's the fact that ellie will have to die. the rest of the game operates under the assumption that ellie and joel will have a life after the fireflies.

Elyse

I have to agree with others that maybe my definition of twist might be different from the guys’. For instance, I don’t think the TLoU twist was a twist at all— just a sudden escalation of the stakes. But it doesn’t turn the narrative on its head at all— which is what I consider to be a twist. Something being shocking isn’t enough for me to consider it a twist. It has to recontextualize the rest of the piece, imo.

Monty

I'm late, but I don't understand how Shadow of the Colossus is on the list because it never feels good killing them.

MetaRidleyScott

This was the greatest episode of podcasting since the Keyser Soze reveal made me realize how cool twists can be. And since that was before podcasts existed… plot twist: this is the best podcast episode ever.

Keegan

I know this must have been hell to record, but the exhausted energy on these is extremely entertaining to listen to

Daniel

Great episode! Although I still don’t understand and completely agree with The Last of Us twist that was picked as an actual twist. I feel like that’s just the story unfolding and happening. I honestly thought when you first mentioned TLOU, I thought you were going to say the twist was when we got to play as Ellie

Isaac Smith

BIOSHOCK over PORTAL?? Im going to signal my disagreement by continuing my pledge in protest

Daltraxx

Think something should only be put in the bracket if someone in the cast nominates it (and would presumably fight for it/portray why it deserves to be there). Haven’t even played Silent Hill 2 firsthand and know it was done dirty. Nonetheless a great episode as always.

Andrew van Baarsen

I gotta say, the thing justin said about portal is wrong "unless you do something, you die and the story is over" If you die in the fire in portal, it loads again and put you back on the treadmill, making it very obvious that you were supposed to do something.

Noah Wood

I gotta say, I hope that in future episodes, you stick to games that at least one of you actually played. The conversation around Silent Hill 2 was a total bummer, nobody could actually make a case for it, so why even have it? What I love about your brackets is that usually somebody is passionate enough about the game to make their case for it. When nobody has played a game, it just feels like it's just there to pad the bracket rather than to generate interesting discussion.

Jon

The ending of Spec Ops really sticks with me. It's after the twist, when you are fully aware of how sick you are, and the American "good guys" are trying to arrest you and take away your gun and you have a few seconds to decide if you want to keep on killing people, or let them arrest you. I was genuinely conflicted about about what I wanted to do, and just when I decided to start shooting, the soldier lunged forward and snatched my gun away. That felt like a well-earned ending for me. Of course, I reloaded after the credits to try shooting first, and was rewarded with the toughest fight of the game so far... Wasn't really fun, and the ending felt like total nihilism, but it's cool that was an option. Later on, I loaned the game to my friend. When he gave it back, he said he played the multiplayer for a while and couldn't get into it. Didn't even touch the campaign.

BoomBrawl

I really should replay bioshock

Rashad

It's crazy to me 3/4 of this podcast hasn't finished KOTOR. #1 Twist without a doubt. And while we're high diving BioWare, how about the awesome twist in Jade Empire! Does nobody remember Jade Empire!?

Broman Dema

KOTOR is hands down the best twist. I'm sad you all haven't finished it.

Steven Dinger

Four games about how you're the bad guy and not a single one of them is Braid?

Katie Leffel

Omg I got my callout in my birthday month and russ said my last name correctly WEEEE!!

Luke

Literate Shellfish

Late catching this episode but I wanted to let the Besties —and anyone interested— know that if you want to learn lots more about Spec Ops the Line and how it got made, plus read some of Walt Williams excellent writing you should totally check out the book Significant Zero by him! It focuses pretty heavily on what it’s like to get into writing video games and chronicles the making of Spec Ops from start to finish. It’s a fascinating read for anyone interested in video game writing or just wanting a little backstory on the game!

Druma

I know I’m late the party, but I’m still surprised that none of you included Ocarina of Time with Sheik being Zelda. I feel like that was such an impactful reveal that made a big difference in how you viewed the game. It also played a pivotal role in showing that Zelda isn’t just a princess in need of rescue, but that she’s her own strong character fighting on her own front.

Beard4Charity

Lol I’m so disappointed, I love the twist in Silent Hill 2. So impactful for me. I’m crushed!

Kyle Keller

I know I am super late to this but it will never not confuse me why this group really dislikes Spec Ops: The Line. "It has a multiplayer mode, thereby defeating it's message" -- the multiplayer mode was forced by the publisher and developed by an entirely different dev. For a group that stays pretty looped in on the developers, this is surprising to hear this decades later! "The only correct way is to not play, this is a $65 video game" Is the only way to "correctly watch" Apocalypse Now to "not watch it"? It's a game, its meant to be played and enjoyed, and then reflect on the themes and storytelling? I get it's not y'alls tea, but these lines of logic don't make sense

specwill

Just catching this now, and I kept expecting Braid to come up! I remember being like 18 and thinking that twist was sooo amazing.