Kind of a weak year of podcasts as someone who has been listening for about 6 or so years. The older cuts were messier and better for it. It was their original intention to air all thoughts and keep it transparent. Things that hurt it for me:
1. The "put 50 games on list, say 1 word about 45 of them and immediately cut." So unnecessary. Every game doesn't need to rep every category. Diluted a lot of real discussions, especially early on.
2. Alex's attempts at streamlining forcefully: "this doesn't hang" x500, "i think this wins" 2 sec into convo x100, etc. He had some moments, but way too much of this. Got repetitive fast for me.
3. A big time year where their list of games just didn't mesh with my interests. I know this isn't their fault and they shouldn't care what I like (I get that), but it enhances my enjoyment when I have a horse in the races and I often felt like I did not. Didn't think I'd miss Austin, but having nobody to pull for stuff like Tokyo Mirage Sessions & Stellaris hurt. Also, missing mentioning huge Nintendo releases like Fire Emblem Fates, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Sun/Moon, and not even a nod from fighting dudes on Pokken (which was excellent with a substantial campaign.) And nobody played Tyranny? We need Rory in these.
This isn't to say anything about the site quality necessarily, I'm still a die-hard fan. Just felt it was an off year. Last year I thought they knocked it out of the park.