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Submit Your Question For The MinnMax Show Podcast (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-27 20:32:33
Imported:
2026-01

Content

FYI: Due to an embargo for Cairn, there won't be an early episode of the podcast this week. All versions will go live on Thursday, including the archive of the raw Backstage Pass version. Please submit an example for this episode of when a game's reception has completely flipped after its release, positively or negatively.

This week for community questions on the podcast, we'll have Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, and Jeff Marchiafava. It's your turn to make the show better by leaving a question, news story, BetterQuest goal, or anything else for us to read on the show as a comment below! We’ll choose our favorite and iam8bit will ship out the great prize below for the winner! We'll stop pulling questions around 8am Central on Wednesday.

On this week’s episode we’ll be talking about...

Gaming's Biggest Reevaluations (Submit your own example of a game that had its reception completely flip, from ho hum to a masterpiece or vice versa)

Cairn

Fable 2026

Fable 2004

Cyberpunk 2077

Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator

Perfect Tides

You could do us a favor by subscribing to the audio version of the podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, telling a friend, leaving a review, and subscribing to our YouTube channel!

https://apple.co/3lRbzbE

https://www.youtube.com/minnmax

You can also find the Blue Sky Samurai vinyl for sale in iam8bit’s online store, and you can use the promo code CHAMPAGNEDREAMS for 10% off everything under $100. Psst… please don’t post that promo code anywhere else on the internet. It’s a MinnMax-exclusive thing. https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/all

Files

Comments

Virgil B

What’s something you did regularly but have since phased out? I used to watch twitch every day but I’ve noticed I haven’t watched it in like a year or two

Fancygraham

Elbow, Moose Jaw, and Climax. These are all places in Saskatchewan. What are the funniest or unique names of cities/towns/villages you can think of in your state or province? Sincerely, Graham from Melville (AKA Smellville), Saskatchewan

Jerry Young

Hello Minnmax! It wasn’t mentioned on your most anticipated show but wanted to urge you to check out escape from ever after if you are paper mario fans. It’s really good! For reevaluation, I would nominate days gone. It seems like as the games patched and more content was added, the perception of it got better and better. Maybe not masterpiece levels but much higher than where it started.

McGreevy

For the biggest gaming revaluation of all time i would like to direct your attention to the 2019 Two Tens: where is Outer Wilds? The greatest game of all time?

Stevelution

When you go to a new country or new city what’s one of the first things you like to do? I’ve always tried to do a food tour in the first two days of a new city to get a sense of the place.

JG

Bioshock infinite has to be one of the biggest critical ‘180s’. From 10s across the board, to a post-release interrogation of the game’s narrative and themes which found it lacking in all regards.

Denham Harry

Why aren’t game trailers good anymore? It feels like there hasn’t been any growth in that area in a while! The last time I remember being wowed by a trailer was the Marathon pre-rendered announcement one.

Travis in Fargo

You ever have a paper route or similar “kid job?” Big T in ND

Victor Pham

No question, just FUCK ICE

Joey Smith

Fable 2 is my favorite of the series and was my intro to RPGs as a whole. Sadly there is no legal way to play it on a modern system. What is your favorite game currently trapped on outdated hardware? Also abolish ICE.

FelixA

Hi gang! First off, even though I'm Canadian I want to thank you guys for using your platform tn showcasing the atrocities of ICE. Your city's resolve and strikes are inspirational. In lighter news. I am thinking of getting into Sektori. I know Jacob is hot on it and so is Grubb and Rykert. Do you have any rituals when it comes to score or time chasing games? I myself used to do finger apm warm ups via (Starcraft) before diving into rhythm based games on the keyboard. I'm not even sure if it helped.

Chris L

With the ps6 possibly coming out later than we thought, is it possible this generation lasts longer because of hardware costs and tarrif situation?

Luciano Comassetto

Do you ever think about who's listening when you critique a game? Does that ever give you pause thinking that maybe someone that worked on a game you're talking about is a minnmax fan and listens?

Fancygraham

Prey (2017) had a pretty mixed reception when it first came out. And yea, the last chunk of the game is kind of a weak point. But I think it’s looked upon more fondly nowadays. I played it in 2022 just before Elden Ring came out and had a blast with it.

Pelicanman

For biggest reevaluation, a quiet candidate is Mass Effect 3, which was swallowed up by ending controversy at release, but now it’s held in seemingly universal high regard. For my question: Will there ever be a great or even good game explicitly about the pandemic ?

Dominic Cichocki

Hello Mini Sodas! Ben, I've heard the spiel for New Show Plus so many times I have to ask: when will we have a vote option that's just "GET INTO SEA OF THIEVES?!?" Thank you, -Dominic from Chicago

Jacob Schumer

Nier: Gestalt/Replicant was panned on release, but became something of a cult classic further elevated by Nier Automata. The remaster had dramatically improved reception.

Keaton Johnson

Somewhat related to current events: what's your favorite anti-authoritarian piece of media or real life experience?

Leif Dion

Rooting for you guys from Idaho. Fuck ICE, stay safe y'all

Travis in Fargo

In honor of old Bilbo’s accidental riddle: what have you got in your pocket? Perennially Pensive on the Great Plains

David Green

Hi MinnMax, I recently started play Klei’s 2015 game Invisible, Inc. a game I’ve meant to check out since its release after hearing Austin Walker’s passionate defense of it during Giant Bomb’s game of the year discussions and several hours in I am loving it. My question is what is the latest you’ve played a game after its release and did it live up to the hype

Mike Lynch

Hey y'all. How many clocks do you have in your house right now? (Physical wall clock, digital, cell phone, etc.) Did you have more or less than you thought?

Travis in Fargo

What’s your 10 o’clock snack? Hungry in Hungary

McGreevy

Regarding Fable, i was confused by Ben's lack of enthusiasm on the reaction stream. It showed almost everything I wanted. The biggest miss is no Demon Door confirmation, for the cohorts who are into Fable is a denial of Demon Doors a damning deal breaker?

RynaGoGo

People hated Fina Fantasy 13 so much when it came out. I feel like everyone agreed that the music was great but that was about it. I personally had a great time and didn’t quite get the vitriol. But maybe I’m just a basic guy with a smooth brain. PS: Thank you for the Minneapolis video. I’m proud of you, thank you for using your outlet as a voice against the terrible things happening in this country. Fuck ICE.

PoorAndCurly

Hey Minnmax, I remember when the first Nier came out in 2010 and no one really liked it, even Joe Juba gave it a 6.5/10. Even without mentioning Automata, the release of Nier Replicant really changed the perspective on that one. - Owen from Denver

Sjors Boomschors

Hi all, greetings from the Netherlands! I was recently trying to convince a friend of mine to play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but he waved me off saying he doesn't like "RPG's". It got me thinking about the broadness of the term, and what actually defines an "RPG". Is it the freedom of choice? Emphasis on (creating your own) story? Character/class building? What about all the RPG flavours like JRPG, ARPG, etc? What is your definition of an "RPG", or how would you nuance it? And to circle back to the origin of my question, how would you describe Clair Obscur in terms of genre/mechanics to convince someone skeptical to give it a try?

CaffeineDad

Hey gang! FFXIV is the biggest example of going from bad to good. The game had to blow itself up in real life and in the game’s story before it could come back as the MMO that we know today. Question: Seeing as how Ben Hanson is a Double Fine superfan, could Kiln be the first (kinda) fighting game to crack the upper ten on MinnMax’s Two Tens? The only other thing close has been Rumbleverse in 2022 at number 20.

Adventure

biggest reevaluation: I feel like the obvious and easy answer is Bioshock: Infinite which I feel was lauded upon release and has become almost verboten to speak about in critical circles now. Question: Do you feel like games have an outsized burden vs. other media to be "something new" or "revolutionary" or "genre pushing"? As someone who plays a lot of games I am always hungry for one that is stretching for something unique, but does that come at the expense of appreciating consistent quality?Which in itself is hard to do and is not guaranteed by any means. For example: Hades 2 wasn't less of a labor of love, talent and effort just because it built off of Hades.

LawlWorthy

So many times in our lives we do something for the last time without realizing it was the end. What was something you did actively knowing it was the last time

PhillyYeetSteak

(i submitted this last week but am trying one more time lol) Hey Minnmax! I recently bought a replacement battery for my ps5 controller off amazon for like $15, and now its charge lasts longer than it ever has. Do you have any third party/unofficial gaming purchases that you are especially happy with?

Juniper Cain

2014 saw the release of Wolfenstein: The New Order, the majority of Wolf Among Us and Walking Dead Season 2, Alien Isolation, Transistor, Titanfall, Mario Kart 8. Nominated for GOTY that year alongside the actual winner were Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls 2, Hearthstone and Shadow of Mordor. Dragon Age: Inquisition won GOTY. I might be cool with that myself but a decade on, and especially since Witcher 3 came out a year later, most people in the gaming landscape and even in the Dragon Age fandom, *really* do not agree with this.

Tess

Good day, MinnMax! If you could zap the full contents of any book into every single persons's mind, would you and which book would it be?

LawlWorthy

What is a movie you’ve watched so many times you can’t help but say the lines along with the movie? I remember my dad had watched Tombstone (great movie btw) so many times that he’d put on only to lay down on the couch with his eyes closed saying the lines right along with the characters

Piet van Rosmalen

I was bummed to hear about Sands of Time being cancelled. It has my favorite love story in gaming. What’s your favorite video game love story? Cheers! Piet from Rotterdam Netherlands

Sam Hookom

What is a very recent video game weapon that you would put into the cannon (pun intended) of video game weapons? For me it would be Higgs’ guitar from Death Stranding 2: On The Beach!

Aging_Poorly

Some examples of games that don’t glow as much as they initially did: Deathloop - multiple 10/10s from big-name sites, was favored to be GOTY; barely talked about today. Starfield: initial metacritic scores were high 80s. Puzzling early glowing reception. Weird weeklong honeymoon period. Ninja Gaiden Black had a 94 metacritic score in 2004. Almost completely undiscussed for the following 20 years. Super Mario Sunshine had a 92 metacritic score at release and now many fans hate the game. Games that now shine: Outer Wilds now has a high 80s metacritic thanks to reviews on alternate platforms, but was an 82 in 2019 at release. Many peoples’ GOAT. Terraria got an 81 on release, now fundamental gaming. Resident Evil Village (8) is an 82 on metacritic, somehow. People talk about it like it was a 90. Ghost of Tsushima was not beloved by critics in 2020 on release. 83 on metacritic. But then yotei became one of the most anticipated games on the PS5. Soma landed good-not-great with critics at an 84, and no one seemingly played it. Now it’s hard to listen to mainstream gaming podcasts where half the panel doesn’t say “one of the greatest ever, *amazing* game.”

J.Vaso

Your evil twin podcast MaxxMin starts airing. What kind of media do they focus on?

Femke Smit

Hi gang, I only got into gaming semi-recently as an adult, and I really don’t understand the appeal of triple-A games. It makes way more sense to me to spend my money on a number of indie games, which are all likely to be interesting, specific experiences, instead of on only a single much bigger, probably more padded out triple-A game. Am I missing something here? Should I broaden my horizons?

pork bun powered

Biggest reevaluation dud->masterpiece: The obvious answer is Death Stranding. Masterpiece->dud: I don't know if it's quite a dud, but Wildermyth went from a game I thought was the greatest ever to "just ok".

SlyCut

Hello all, What's the best game that isn’t fun to play?

Treethan

Daikatana was trash but then became beautiful

Jon

Alex Honnold climbing the Taipei 101 skyscraper this past weekend seems like a great bit of coincidental marketing ahead of Cairn's release. What are some other great coincidental marketing moments for games?

Brady Griffith

In the theme of Gaming Reevaluations, I went back and looked at the first Two Tens from 2019, and I would love to get y'all's reevaluations of that list - obvious flips from 1-10 to 11-20 or vice versa? Games that are missing (Outer Wilds fans, rise up)? 1. Resident Evil 2 2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 3. Dreams 4. Disco Elysium 5. Control 6. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 7. Mortal Kombat 11 8. The Outer Worlds 9. Death Stranding 10. Ape Out 11. Dragon Quest Builders 2 12. Baba Is You 13. Wargroove 14. Fire Emblem: Three Houses 15. Grindstone 16. Days Gone 17. Devotion 18. What The Golf 19. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 20. Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night

Derek Amundson

It was cold in Minenapolis. I spent the weekend angry and wanting to fight Nazis. What is the best game about beating fascists?

Geebeesee

Taking it back to BetterQuest! What new skill or hobby did you pick up in 2025? What motivated you to get started?

Swansonge

In times of distress, what are some outlets you use to escape and recenter yourself? Video games? Spending times outside and/or with your family? Helping your community? Something else?

Jason Wojnar

Gaming’s Biggest Reevaluation: contemporary reviews praised Simon’s Quest’s ambition, but it seems to be mostly derided now because of its convoluted puzzles. Questions: Did you ever get into a game because of extenuating circumstances? For example, a console broke and forced you to play something older or maybe there was a game you only played because it was on the school computer (Like Oregon Trail). I haven’t played my PS5 in weeks because of the problems with electricity in Kyiv (if you don’t know, russia is trying to destroy the energy infrastructure). However, I now play my switch a lot more and got into picross and actually played through the old Mario platformers from start to finish. I don’t know if I ever would have done either of those if we didn’t have this humanitarian crises on our hands. Silver linings I guess.

DigDuggy

Hey MinnMax! There was a game from last year (you know the one) where in a sudden turn of events, the main character was able to solve their problems by finding salvation in Jesus. It was unexpected and reasonably controversial, but for better or worse it definitely stuck out among the most interesting moments in a game I played last year. With that in mind, what established video game character do you think would have be the most amusing to see suddenly turn to Christianity to save the day? Reevaulation: Donkey Kong 64 was an N64 favorite by critics and fans when it released, but a lot of people dog on it for the backtracking to get an absurd number of collectibles.

ItIsBGun

It's an intense time in the world and certainly in Minneapolis. Thank you for being vocal about your stance, despite the risks that may pose for MinnMax. It feels like there is a community-wide Better Quest underway... We admire you. Keep going. Two options for questions: 1) Have you ever played a game that, once you finished, activated you to go out and make a meaningful change in your real life or community? What was it and what did you change? 2) I'm moved and inspired by the images of joy as resistance coming out of MPLS (e.g. singing, mutual aid, vigils). What game gave you the most tangible experience of liberation-focused joy? Ben in Denver

Sweet Karoline

Heya Cohorts, There are some really bad games out there but what game of these amazing franchises are the worst? 1) Mario 2) Zelda 3) Final Fantasy 4) GTA 5) Smash Bros Stay safe out there.

Kraven Morcome

I am going to take a swing with a prediction for biggest re-evaluation being Marathon. It had a disastrous reveal and then by the time the art scandal happened it seemed left for dead. But I think that the success of Arc Raiders has actual opened the causal market to the idea of extraction shooters. It will not be the biggest game of 2025 but it will not be mocked in online circles like highguard is currently experiencing.

Brian Martinez

What's scarier: having Ben and Janet point out all of your idiosyncracies in a scripted podcast or having Haley and Sarah critique your bodies before killing you in the Sims?

Fossil Arcade

What makes you a good dad? And if you're not a dad, what makes your dad good (mainly when you were very young)? Be specific, Deepest Dive style.

Richard Hayes

2026 Better Quest Goal: Starting from scratch, I want to publish a demo for a small game on Steam. I have Game Dev experience, but have never published to Steam before!

Sky Fellowship

What's a notable game mechanic that failed to land with you? For example I am a huge Resident Evil fan, but Mr. X in the RE2 Remake was never anything more than a time wasting annoyance in an otherwise great game. Every time I tried entering a new room only for him to suddenly appear, only ever resulted in a groan, followed by repeating the same actions over and over, see him, turn around and run away, lead him to a room where you can wait to get past him cause his A.I is terrible, then run all the way back to the new room I wanted to explore 5 minutes beforehand. So glad they changed how these mechanics worked with future games, RE3 and RE8 did this much better to the point I actually did feel fear and did enjoy the mechanic.

randomlyrossy

I feel like Ben will have thought about this. But what do you think they're doing on videos like the Developer Direct to make the people sound like they're in a sound booth when they're standing in the middle of an office?

Zach Bugge

As the Father of a 1 and a half year old who is learning to walk, I've actually found that observing him learn how to balance has made me better at Baby Steps. Has being a parent made you specifically better at any video games?

Vilis

Alright MinnMax-horts, Those who are longtime Resident Evil fans have hierchies of the mainline games, and the question is: where do you think Requiem is going to land in the line up? Are already pre-determined there is no way it could surpass 4, or 2, or whatever your top slot is? Have you seen something to suggest it would be on the low end of the pile? Alternatively: What's ranking of the mainline Resident Evil games?

Brian Lyness

Hey campers! With the release of Cairn upon us & having played the demo myself last year The Game Bakers have really caught lightning in a bottle with how rich, detailed & compelling their climbing mechanics are. There's nothing like the experience of overcoming a section of mountain. It feels completely fresh. When was the last time a game genuinely felt like a breath of fresh air? Thanks Brian

CrabPalace

What bad game do you most wish was good?

Sincerly, Eric

A lot of people love to discuss Remaking old games or RPGs into todays graphics. Or upping them like DQ7. Is there a current game that you would like to see get degraded? How fun would it be to play Cyberpunk in the style of an old Contra? Or play Clair Obscure as a 2D-HD made game? Any examples of this or games you all would like to see be De-Made? Wish you all the best. (Thank you for your recent coverage and spreading awareness. As Geller would say Fuck ICE Forever)

Fachasaurus

Has a video game ever unlocked a new level of appreciation for everyday life? Only after seeing the rain physics in DriveClub did I really start to notice the rain while driving IRL. Now I find myself mesmerized by how water beads pool up on the windshield or swishes away with the wipers. Something so mundane in our day to day that you wouldn't have thought about without experiencing a version of it in a video game!

dietcoke

I haven’t seen much coverage about this, but do you think Nintendo will ever address the fact that most switch 1 games display in 720p on the switch 2 in handheld mode? I mostly play my switch in handheld mode and other than a few games that received switch 2 updates most look pretty terrible. It seems bizarre that Nintendo has no workaround or system based option to get around this. Just curious for the cohorts thoughts.

Will K.

I've loved Capcom's approach to evolving Resident Evil over the years. After the relative disappointment of RE 5 and 6, it seemed like they went back to the drawing board with RE7 and rebuilt the series. Even with the success of 7, they've continued to innovate on the series alongside the also very successful remakes, which themselves were innovative takes on how to approach remakes. What IP would you want to see receive a similar reinvention and how would you do it?

Michael Johnson

I feel like I've lost touch with modern gaming. I listen to the podcast every week but very rarely have I heard of any of the games you talk about, and every year I find myself slipping further behind. I still play SNES games from my childhood frequently and I'm happy playing Red Dead 2 for the sixth time. How do you guys balance playing any old stuff with all the new stuff, do you have any other hobbies? Just playing one game in my mid-30s fills all my free time when I'm not practicing my instrument now that I'm going back to school. On one hand I'm happy with what I have, on the other there are new games I want for the Switch 2 that I just can't afford either with time or money and it bums me out.

Benjamin Hable

Hi MinnMax! As I'm working as a self employed motion designer and AI is breathing down my neck, I often times think about changing my career trajectory completely when push comes to shove. (I'd rather do something completely different than butchering my creative output with LLM slop.) As a thought experiment: what would each of you choose as a second career option if you had the chance to choose whatever you want and what would you choose for each other? Sincerely, Ben, second guessing in Austria

Bryan Tylec

Has Rockstar’s ongoing labor dispute and blatant union busting caused any of you to re-evaluate how you want to cover GTA6 when it releases? I know, in the past, MinnMax has been generous enough to allow cohorts to make their own decisions on stuff like that (Microsoft and that Harry Potter game, in particular), but I haven’t really heard you guys discuss this topic yet. No judgment from me, either way.

Rikimaru

Hey MinnMax! Action games are back! With Beast of Reincarnation, Onimusha, Phantom Blade 0, and Tides of Annihilation on the way, it feels like there is more interest than ever. But an "action" only game has never won GOTY at The Game Awards. Which game has the highest chance to break that trend? For context, winners of "best action game" are rarely even nominated for GOTY like DMC 5 in 2019, Returnal in 2021, Bayonetta 3 in 2022, and Armored Core VI in 2023. Since 2014, the only ones to be nominated are Doom, Hades, and Black Myth Wukong. Thanks for all you do for the community! We stand with Minnesota <3 - Riki from Utah

Dylan Holck

I’ve been playing Fantasy Critic this year (drafting games based on OpenCritic score), and I was surprised you can use your precious picks on games that haven’t even been announced yet, let alone for 2026. Knowing this, please rank the following 6 games that people have deluded themselves into thinking is imminent, from least likely in 2026 to most likely. -Final Fantasy 9 remake -God of War Greek game -Half-life 3 -Mario 3d platformer -Ocarina of Time remake -Persona 6

Travis in Fargo

Sometimes when I need to mainline hope in humanity, I listen to the song Cheek. by The Chariot. The song contains a lengthy excerpt from Charlie Chaplin’s speech in “The Great Dictator,” which always inspires me and made me cry into my oatmeal yesterday. Do you have any tools like this for staying hopeful? Also, do yourself a favor and listen to that song. Hopeful(?) in the Heartland

Thom Blackburn

With that new game starting a train, what other game could be improved by replacing the main character with a train?

JTDenton

Fallout: New Vegas was so broken at launch that the game could not even be saved properly, among many other issues. This has, of course, been completely forgotten about, as it's now often held up as the pinnacle of the Fallout series.

Chris Pelley

Hey everyone. No question this week. But if you see this, I hope you have a good day.

Tristan Welsh

What's up miniature maxers? Tell me about your favorite physics interaction in a video game. For me it's Half Life 2, using the gravity gun to fling saw blades at zombies in Ravenholm. I've been chasing that high ever since! Also shout out to when the enemy ragdolls go crazy in dark/demons souls. Really takes the edge off such an oppressive game.

Tokyo Game Life

Upcoming reevaluation: Virtual Boy! With Nintendo adding it to NSO with new features, I think people will realize that “hey, some of these games are actually pretty good.” Or will this not happen purely because of the inherently cumbersome form factor?

Graham Jones

Hey CompLuvinCohorts, Rank the best Minnmax themed shows: - new year predictions - video game music episode - two tens making the list - two tens ordering the list - minn max awards - 6 shooter episode - games that minnmax missed - reaction episode to gaming convention (GDC or Summer game fest)

Random Oil Man

Gaming revaluation: It's not there yet, but I reckon in a few years people will realise that Pyre was Supergiant's best game. Also... Is there any hobby that hasn't had a game about it?

Eric Trapp

What is the largest sum of money or grandest non-monetary reward (or combo) you’d need to receive to Cairn your way up the Taipei 101? If the 101 is a no-go, what is the biggest/weirdest thing you’d climb for money and fame. FUCK ICE

thejjuan1

Gaming's Biggest Reevaluations that are needed : Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. This game has the same opencritic score as Clair Obscur. A 92. But I felt like no one cared about this game unless you are Maximilian Dood and Kyle Bosman. Why is this?

Neal McMahon

I’ve been playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 for the past couple of weeks, and I’m completely hooked. Somehow, I’m more addicted to picking flowers than doing almost anything else. It’s such a smart design choice—every time you pick one, your Strength XP ticks up just a bit, dangling that perfect little carrot on a stick. What’s the smallest mechanic you’ve seen that ended up having a surprisingly huge impact like that?

BEEFCAKE

Growing up we had so many games for kids. Now it seems its just Nintendo and some indie devs pushing quality kid appropriate games. Why did the game industry feel like they had to mature as their then core audience became older? PS Princess Peach showtime is my daughter's favorite game. She plays it almost everyday.

Michael Nickley

Hey MinnMaxers! If one video game soundtrack were the score to your life, which one do you think sounds the most quintessentially “you”?

Duderado

What are the best games to play while listening to external music not from the game? My music-listening and gaming time conflict more than I'd like and I want to do better at combining these hobbies.

K-Ham

I think I'm most fascinated by specific characters that have captured the hearts of gamers without any commercial success. As one example, take NIGHTS from SEGA. Whenever he appears in a Sonic crossover game, everyone is like "oh God bless him, our proverbial son has returned." Meanwhile point me to one person who has actively played a NIGHTS game. Ever.

Hypnos

What makes the people of Minneapolis so uniquely incredible at fighting against what's happening and protecting their neighbors? Real question - would love your perspective. Thanks for putting the whole country on your backs ❤️

SenttheProphet

Big props for the Ice Off on Friday! Awesome to see the team up with Giant Bomb, and a beautiful representation of this community and what we are about Rather than just a game of living through a reevaluation, some consoles have gone through huge shifts in perception. Two that stand out to me: - PS3's initial rough launch due to the price tag (and other issues), while competing against the Xbox360. By the end of the generation the PS3 as the console of choice -Wii U becoming a beloved console, long after poor sales and being considered a poor competitor at the time

Jack Seage

Ahoy hoy, CLC's! For game reception flipping post release I'd have to go with No Man's Sky, since it's sort of had two major reevaluations. For my community question: If you asked 100 people to name a Shakespeare play what do you think the top 5 results would be?

Toke F.

Have you ever tried to invited your friend to the movies only for your friend to say "No I dont think it's worth it, I will wait until it lands on streaming." (This is a chance for Ben to vent)

Matthew Phelps

Howdy gamers. For a major flip post release, I feel as though a major 180 happened for Bioshock Infinite, or at least on Ken Levine as a creative. I seem to remember a huge amount of hype (including a 10/10 review from Game Informer's own Joe Juba back in the day!) but nowadays people seem to have soured on the game, and soured on Ken Levine as a creative ever since the mass exodus from Irrational Games happened and he rode his golden parachute over to a new studio to make Judas for an indeterminate amount of time. What do you guys think about Bioshock Infinite 13 years on, and is Judas even on anyone's radar? As a kicker question, for those of you who still do some writing here and there, how do you go about doing research in this day and age? I've been kicking around with trying to do some writing about games myself and find it incredibly difficult to do reliable research without having to slog through AI-assisted searches and a wave of clickbait that seems impossible to filter out. Love the show and hope y'all are staying safe and enjoying life.

p9xm

Game reception flip: Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls both somewhat fit into this. They were pretty popular and well liked (GI's Joe Juba gave Heavy Rain a 9.5), but with time the writing, narrative, gameplay, and direction have been cast in a much more negative light (not helped by Quantic Dream being revealed to be a very toxic workplace)

ayr

Are big name actors actually beneficial for triple a games in 2026? It feels like they've mostly been underwhelming performances and something that most gamers are indifferent about. You can argue, like in the case of Cyberpunk, that a big actor could be more of a distraction than anything. I think it's telling that GTA6 hasn't revealed a single a-lister name when it probably has hundreds of celebrities lining up for roles. Would love to know your thoughts, solidarity with Minneapolis and much love 🫶

p9xm

Question: Recently, friend of the show Kyle Bosman has been streaming Fallout New Vegas for the first time, with what many chatters have described as a build they have never seen before, and playing the game in a way that oftentimes does not complement said build. Have you ever played a game "incorrectly" like this, or in a way that is probably not intended? How did it go?

Stuart Roth

I was able to see John Woo's Hard Boiled (1992) in theaters last week and it owned bones. Afterwards I learned it had a sequel in video game form called Stranglehold (2007) which sounds interesting. Has anyone here seen the movie or played the game? And more generally, what are your favorite movie video games?

Jacob Mazanowski

When was the last played with toys and what did you play with?

Matt Garrecht

Game flip: My biggest 180 on a game has to be Final fantasy 12. After just recently finishing FF10 my expectations for what a Final fantasy game should be were not exactly met: the gambits and turned based combat felt too much like an MMO, while the setting and characters that were so completely different to FF10 that I bounced off it hard. Dropping it shortly after getting to the Sandsea with a real sour opinion of it. However, years later after seeing it on a few top ten lists I gave the zodiac version a go. Something clicked and I got into it deeply, running gambits to have a more balanced party helped me get what worked about the combat, something I was struggling with the first time. Doing the hunts helped me enjoy the combat a lot too. I was also able to appreciate the world and story coming at it again after some time had past too. It made me realise how strongly my preconceived expectations effect my enjoyment of things sometimes.

Clayton Dexter

What initial game opinion of yours has aged the worst? Which one is the best?

heavyshadowsound

Gaming's biggest flip: Bioshock Infinite. I think it was once heralded as a masterpiece but in the years since to many, it hasn't aged gracefully. I also wonder when Judas is gonna be done haha

Travis in Fargo

If you HAD to write a book in one month, and it couldn’t be just some dumb children’s picture book, what would you write? Reading in the Red River Valley

Luis

Cyberpunk 2077 is my pick for the ultimate flip. I ignored the disastrous launch and the $10 clearance bins because I only had a base PS4 at the time. I waited until I had a powerful PC to jump in for the first time this year, and after a 67-hour run, it’s easily a masterpiece. It’s rare to see a game go from being literally pulled from digital stores to becoming a gold standard for the genre, but the 2.0 updates finally let the game's quality outshine its rocky history.

Shaun McAlpne

I see we are talking about Cyberpunk this week. Definitely one of my favorite games of all time. I have now beaten it 6 times. Now my question is what would you like to see in the sequel that the first game did not offer. I just loved the world of Cyberpunk and it would be awesome to get an interesting new game plus mode similar to Starfield. That was the only thing interesting Starfield had going for it. But what is something you would love to see in a sequel?

Gumbo Machine

Here's a potential question: What is your favorite obscure gaming platform (i.e. not PC, mobile, or "big 3 console") of all time?

Hisham Berro

Have a mod ever "saved" a game for you? I tried to get into Hollow Knight several times, but everytime I would get overwhelmed by how big it is and by the amount of backtracking you have to do. Until I found a mod that allows fast traveling between any discovered benches, this completely saved the game for me and I don't think I would have finished the game without it. So have a mod ever saved a game for you and do you guys play with mods?

Oliver Smith

Question for everyone: (though slightly targeted at Ben as a fellow Screamer/Forza guy) What's your favourite video game car?

Felix davin

Hey Minnmax. While hiking in gorgeous nature you stumble upon a mysterious cavern, entry indicated by humming cairns; inside is a magic lamp with a sign saying "here slumbers Talia" : would you rub that lamp ? Cheers from Paris.

Brocquin Alexander

Man, I bought Bioshock Infinite with all the 10/10 hype and now I feel like the only person who likes it.

Kraven Morcome

Hey MinnMax, Do you have a game series that makes you feel like "actually you're playing wrong and you do need to play it like this to get the most out of it."? Mine is Resident Evil. I'm all for more people coming into the franchise, but if you play an RE game once and then move on you didn't really experience an RE game. In 2025 I finished getting the platinum for RE 1 through 8. That was 8 games, 41 playthroughs, 242 hours, and I feel like i just scratched the surface.

Noah Torjesen

Hey MinnMax, Back in July 2025 I took an unintentionally long break from watching MinnMax content due to not finding the time. But in October, I went back to where I left off and proceeded to attempt to catch up on all podcasts, bonus pods, interviews, and new show+s, and of course Gotye content. After lots and lots of hours, this podcast I’m listening to now is the first one I’ve been in time for in 6 months, and I was able to catch up on everything! What is YOUR biggest binge or catch up achievement? Thanks for all that you do!

WeGoGiant

Hi MinnMax. I moved to Minneapolis last summer and I've been attending an event called Nerd Nite, a once a month hangout where 3 local nerds each give a 15 minute presentation about whatever topic they know. I knew immediately I wanted to give a presentation and just hours ago I delivered a talk about video game speedrun communities and how they work together to find the best possible routes and solve impossible problems. I know video games are an obvious topic for everyone here, but if you had to give a 15 minute presentation (with PowerPoint) about any topic of your choosing besides video games, what would it be?

Luca Alberti

Hello MM crew! In terms of flipped reception one of my favourite examples is Donkey Kong country: Tropical Freeze, the game originally came out in 2014 on Wii U to an okay Metacritic score of 83, probably tied to lack of enthusiasm for the platform and/or "just another platformer from Nintendo " but as the years passed it consolidated as one of the most acclaimed 2D platformers. Do you think we sometimes dismiss games as "more of the same"? What if this year's Yoshi or Call of Duty were legitimate GOTY contenders?

John Jenkinson

Hey y'all If you have fears in real life, do you still avoid those things in game? Or is it easy to overcome those fears? E.g I'm afraid of death, so I don't like playing Hardcore modes in games.

Gary

What are you guys' purchasing habits like, do you hyperfixate on a product and research everything up front, or are you ok with purchasing something large on a whim?

L Stockler

Hey! Considering the success of the adaptations of Fallout and Last of Us to series, do you guys get excited with other adaptations? Do you get mildly excited with the coming adaptations of things like God of War, Horizon, Zelda or whatever else?

Jakob

In terms of game reevaluations, I thought of Alien: Isolation. I never played the game myself but hearing people talk about that game now, it feels like it didn't get the right appreciation at the time. It is also interesting looking at the metacritic reviews, because it got a 79 on both PS4 and Xbox at the time, but 4-5 years later when it got ported to the Switch it earned an 83. I don't know if the Switch version is better or it is because people had ended up appreciating it more after the original release.

Kajkacz

Hey y'all! Whimsical from Warsaw here, I am curious what's your take on the change in cyberpunk genre. It's a weird one since it's based on near- future tech, and what that is changes quite quickly. I remember reading somewhere that Gibson had to explain to someone that in Neuromancer there are no mobile phones since they weren't invented yet when he was writing the book So how do you like your cyberpunk? Do you prefer the retro futuristic ones, are ones that keep up with the spirit of the times?

b_wood

I would compare Ben’s comedic style to Seth Meyers. His comedic style is charming, hyper-speed, dad energy. Do you agree? How would you describe Ben’s comedic style?

Dan Adam

Hey team, long time listener, first time caller. When you are playing a game that you know you will have to discuss for your professional job (such as for a review, podcast discussion, video essay, etc.), how does this impact your enjoyment of that game, compared to if you were choosing to play for "fun" in your free time? Does knowing you will have to discuss specifics about the game take away some of the joy? Or conversely, does being forced to dive deep into the mechanics of the game give you an overall greater enjoyment? Keep up the great work everyone, you make us in Minnesota proud.

nikkinom

hey minnmax Has the situation in Minneapolis changed your relationship to politics? Thoughts on the future?

resnet

Hi MinnMax! Classic dating app question: mountains or seas but instead which do you think have better games overall, mountains or seas?

Harrison Holt

There’s some great examples of reevaluations in the games industry that often aren’t spoken too much about. A topical one is certainly Fallout New Vegas. Launch week New Vegas was rough, with memory leak, bugs and more. It’s now considered a fan favourite, and currently has the TV show centred around the content initially created in the game! I feel like you have to also look toward Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain was the first game that really realised the vision from David Cage, and while in a lot of ways it was cool, now it’s just clumsily written and full of Cageisms. Last one from me is Bioshock Infinite. Now I love Bioshock Infinite. I played it at launch, and really enjoyed it. Many critics were praising the story. TotalBiscuit, infamously hard to please at the time, famously called it “the greatest story ever told in a videogame”. But now, we consider the politics of the game shallow, with incoherent themes and lots of regression from the gameplay of Bioshock 1 and 2.

Cameron Hall

Hey all, Cameron from California here! With Double Fine featured prominently in the Xbox Showcase this year, it was weird seeing that office in non-Two Player Production fashion. Do you think it is marketable to a wider audience to have such polished dev spotlights? Or is it missing the authenticity of a real team at that point?

Katatat

Hi MinnMax, due to my ever increasing backlog which has countless long RPGs, I would like to know: If you were in a room where time did not pass, what are the top three games you would play and cross off your list?

Craig Stuart

Hi MinnMax, with Bloober hinting at a game reveal in February and many believing that this could be a return of Rule of Rose. What would be your obscure game or game series that you would wish to be revived and given the (insert number of As) treatment? P.s. could this be the game Alanah Pearce prophesised?

Josh Lamm

In a recent episode of Get Played, a user by the name of Mikey Wombat asked "What scented candle would you release to go with a game of your choice?" I thought it was a great question and lead to a great discussion. I'd like to hear your answers. By the way, if this gets chosen as "question of the week" I plan to track down Mikey Wombat and make sure he gets the prize. No pressure, though.