|
My best of year list skews a little into the previous generation of games - having not owned a PS / Xbox since the PS2 era I've spent a bit of time trying out goon highlights from the PS4 back catalogue this year. 10. Inscryption (2021). Picked it up due to goon hype and wasn't disappointed. Great concept, great execution. 9. Fortnite (2017). A game for dumb babies that actually plays pretty well now that no-build is a thing. 8. Marvel's Midnight Suns (2022). The XCOM reboots have all been incredible and so this was a day one purchase despite misgivings about how a card system would be wedged into the XCOM formula. Personally I find the Whedon banter annoying and the abbey exploration stuff garbage, but the core combat gameplay more than makes up for it. The morning -> combat -> night cycle feels more addictive than XCOM, and I'm sure deliberately so: things like having the rewards from your previous mission only available in the morning phase and similar little tricks appeals to some lizard part of my brain. Which is fine but somehow I'm offended by it because of how noticeable it is, I'm sure there's a thousand other psych tricks that are also woven into the game that I don't really mind because I'm not super aware of them. Would probably be closer to the top of the list if at least half of the non-combat gumpf was cut. 7. Slay the Spire (2019). This was my podcast game of 2022 and probably my first "card" game except for playing online versions of Dominion. Fairly simple concept with quite complex can focus as much or as little on it as required. 6. Tetris Effect (2018). Tetris perfection. My only regret is that I don't have a PSVR to experience it in all its glory. 5. Returnal (2021). Already a great game, its DLC really brought it into its own by stripping away all of the slower-paced stuff and delivering the core gameplay of shooting and dodging. Feels incredibly smooth. Sound design, haptics and the music (even the ambient music in each biome has the hook of "Don't fear the reaper" weaved into it, which is incredibly neat) are satisfying and feel intuitive. 4. Know by heart (2022). I bought this mostly to throw a few bucks to the makers of Pathologic 2 on the vague hope that they'll be able to deliver the next chapter of that, but it's actually a great story on its own, with Ice Pick Lodge's trademark depressing style shining through. 3. Bloodborne (2015). First played around March this year, and I've already gone back and beaten it again four times since. My metric now for if a game is good is "would I prefer to just play bloodborne yet again?" and not many beat it out as an option. 2. Death Stranding (2019). It's Death Stranding. 1. Elden Ring (2022). What can I say that hasn't already been said better by others in this thread. I'd never played any of the preceding from games except for giving bloodborne a half-hearted shot when it came free with my PS5 - I think I bounced off it within the first 30 minutes. I therefore went into Elden Ring completely blind to the fromsoft "style" (and found soulsborne advocates in games threads annoying and weirdly fixated). I was almost immediately impressed by the faith that fromsoft had in people to dump the player in this sprawling world with no rails and very little handholding at a time when games are increasingly being designed and developed as tightly-controlled narrative experiences. This felt like a throwback to an older style of gaming and delivered something that I never knew I was missing. There's too many great moments to list them all, but by far the fondest memory for me came from exploring a cave in Liurnia like many others I'd come across. But what's this? A passage that goes out the back of the mine and opens onto a ledge outside? Then making may way along the side of a cliff, climbing ladders, dying a bunch of times to annoying harpy things, finding a Magma Wyrm at the end of the journey, and then emerging from a cave into the soft golden colours of the Altus Plateau. It was an incredible Gaming MomentTM that far surpassed anything else in recent memory, and all the more because it wasn't some scripted event like so many of other games that pull a similar trick. Thanks 2022, the world might be on fire but the games have been good and plentiful.
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 17:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 12:09 |
|
|
Tirade posted:There's too many great moments to list them all, but by far the fondest memory for me came from exploring a cave in Liurnia like many others I'd come across. But what's this? A passage that goes out the back of the mine and opens onto a ledge outside? Then making may way along the side of a cliff, climbing ladders, dying a bunch of times to annoying harpy things, finding a Magma Wyrm at the end of the journey, and then emerging from a cave into the soft golden colours of the Altus Plateau. It was an incredible Gaming MomentTM that far surpassed anything else in recent memory, and all the more because it wasn't some scripted event like so many of other games that pull a similar trick. Not to mention of course the whole thing is optional since you can take the elevator instead of going through that area. Though that's another thing about Elden Ring, how much of its amazing content is optional and not required to finish the game.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 18:26
|
|
|
TTYD is one of two GameCube games I still own physically. The other being Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 19:18
|
|
|
Item Getter posted:Not to mention of course the whole thing is optional since you can take the elevator instead of going through that area. Though that's another thing about Elden Ring, how much of its amazing content is optional and not required to finish the game. But the keys to the elevator are hidden in two side areas with only the vaguest of hints as to where they are (one of the areas can be found if you run into a certain NPC who tells you to go there for a different reason and if you have one key, then its item description says where the other is). So basically both paths rely on the player doing quite a bit of exploring with no handholding. And yet it doesn't feel cheap, it's part of the wonder of the place and its willingness to let you have an adventure.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 19:45
|
|
|
Amazing OP, Rarity. And on to the list: 10. Elden Ring This is FROM's masterpiece. In scope, it's unmatched. The lore is weird and fun. It's a wonderful game to play. It has a hot witch. But, whenever I'm playing it, something in the back of my head just whispers, "Wouldn't you rather be playing Bloodbourne or Demons' Souls?" My inability to answer "No" to that voice is why it only takes the number 10 slot. 9. Fortnite My partner has loved Fortnite for years. She plays basically no other games. I used to tolerate it so we could play together, but with the arrival of Zero Build mode, I'm actually finally really enjoying it. Getting rid of the stupid houses and embracing the mayhem has made it my favourite competitive multiplayer game of the year. After all, what other multiplayer game makes jumping into the passenger seat of a truck hurtling towards you and then shotgunning the driver to death so much fun? 8. Final Fantasy XIV I can't remember where I put Endwalker last year. I think it was either 2nd or 1st. This year XIV doesn't have a shiny expansion to push it that high, but I really enjoyed the patch content and my island is looking snazzy. It remains a lovely hug to come back to when I can't think of anything else to play at that moment, and ultimately, that's what I want from an MMO. 7. Ghost of Tsushima I like Sony's narrative heavy first party games. They're fun. But generally I find they're a bit like junk food, great in the moment, but they leave no real lasting impression. Sushi Ghost is my exception to this rule. The story is nothing to write home about, but it's beautiful, and the gameplay clicks with my on another level. I played on Lethal, and every fight being a dance of death over in seconds where you've either won or your bleeding out on the floor, was everything I wanted from an samurai/ninja combat game. Also, running into an enemy base shouting something along the lines of "COME AT ME!" will never not be fun. 6. Paradise Killer PARADISE KILLER. From that weird electronic exultation on the title screen I knew that this was going to be a game I would vibe with. I like weird murder mysteries. I like strange occult poo poo. I like vaporwave. It's all of those things in an open-world island exploration game. I thought that ultimate explanation misses the mark somewhat, but the journey to that ending was such an all encompassing mood that I didn't mind. 5. Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origin Jack is the Final Fantasy protagonist we didn't know we needed. His undying need to kill Chaos sets of a game that is much deeper than it immediately lets on. Initially the lack of budget for this game is very clear, the graphics are... terrible, the between mission dialogue system is bizarre, the HDR implementation seems like it's trying to blind you in parts. If you look past that, however, you'll find a jewel of a game. The job system is great, the DLC is fun, the story is insane and somehow pulls it off. If you'd told me last year that this game would have transcended the memes and made it to number 5 on my top 10 of the year, I would never have believed you. Also, in the next DLC early next year, Jack apparently gets a gun. All is right with the world. 4. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous In the ending I erased the premise of the game from existence. 10/10 3. Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion Crisis Core is a bad game that I love. Reunion is a less bad game that I love more. It still has Crisis Core's dialogue, and you still want to tear your hair out any time Genesis is on screen, but the gameplay is the perfect crystalisation of what the original Crisis Core could have been, and the second half of the game is still great. I can't in good faith recommend this game to people because of its first half, but as someone who already liked it, goddamn they knocked this remaster out of the park. Speaking of which... 2. Tactics Ogre: Reborn As far as I'm concerned, Tactics Ogre is one of the best games ever made. This remaster does not change that, and the orchestration and voice acting even improve it somewhat. If you liked Final Fantasy Tactics or Triangle Strategy, I recommend you this game unreservedly. (Law Route, Best Route.) 1. Lords of Infinity This game isn't out yet (perhaps making me a time travelling god from the future), but I spent a lot of time testing it (voluntarily) this year. The sequel to the choose your own adventure novellas Sabres of Infinity and Guns of Infinity, this game keeps what was good about those games while upping the complexity by an order of magnitude. The concept is that you've gone through hell in war (in the previous two games), and now you're back home on your country estate. What do you want to do with yourself? Do you want to manage an estate and try and get your finances in order (assuming you didn't pay off your debt through morally questionable means in the last game)? You can do that. Would you rather become an undercover agent in a conspiracy to overthrow the government? You can do that too. Perhaps you'd like to try and ignore all that political stuff and instead get drunk at the officers club? It's an option. Not only do you have incredible freedom given the genre, the amount of carry over of your choices between games is unbelievable, with plot threads opening or being modified by choices you made off hand two books ago. When this releases next March, anyone with an interest in the genre should play it. (After playing the previous two games because they're awesome too.) Easy List 10. Elden Ring 9. Fortnite 8. Final Fantasy XIV 7. Ghost of Tsushima 6. Paradise Killer 5. Stranger of Paradise - Final Fantasy Origin 4. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous 3. Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion 2. Tactics Ogre: Reborn 1. Lords of Infinity CottonWolf fucked around with this message at 12:33 on Dec 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 19:47
|
|
|
I hate to double post (I don't) but I've just gone through this thread in its entirety and its maintained its "best thread of the year in Video Games" status.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 20:18
|
|
|
CottonWolf posted:10. Elden Ring To me Elden Ring is at least equal to my other two favorites, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, but I totally feel this sentiment in some way. It's like, Elden Ring is sooo much Dark Souls in one package and really that is all around awesome, but I can't help but feel that the amount of content led to a package that wasn't as tight as their previous games, especially the more recent ones. We should all probably get used to it though because after the success of ER I'd be surprised to see the more limited scope of the earlier games return.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 20:41
|
|
|
From Soft's next game is going to be mission based though
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 20:49
|
|
|
its actually more tight than all the games that arent sekiro
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 20:50
|
|
|
I made a supplemental list Top 22 Elden Ring Moments in Elden Ring 2022 in no particular order despite the numbering 1) Opening the door to the world for the first time. There’s a crazy looking castle in the distance, a guy to talk to, a giant monster to not go near, and a ruined church that looks easy to reach. I thought it was a truly amazing experience at setting the stage for how big the game was. But then… 2) Expanding the map and being impressed by how much was revealed. And then again. And again! 3) Every step forward into the Haligtree being worse than the last. But pressing on anyway because i had to know what’s down there 4) Getting caught in a teleport trap and finally escaping back outside to find the sky an oppressive red color and the landscape blasted, blighted, and full of giant rear end horrible monsters 5) Encountering that first dragon early on. The way he lands. The music kicking in. the desperate horseback battle as everything around you burns. 6) Let Me Solo Her becoming a video game hero to hundreds of players 7) Starting new game+ and realizing just how much stuff i had missed the first time 8) The feeling of awe and dread and wonder as the final boss: Elden Beast made its appearance (i didn’t enjoy the fight all that much in the end, but it was a hell of a first impression) 9) Picking up the lategame katana Rivers of Blood and going mad with power 10) Sticking with my early choice of Zweihander and crushing all before me 11) Going into an optional side area, fighting an optional side boss, climbing into a coffin hidden behind a waterfall, and getting taken to an even more secret side optional area. That’s the kind of nonsense you might have heard as a rumor as a kid about zelda or whatever. 12) Reading a player’s note at the edge of a cliff that said something like “DANGER! Ranged Combat!” a quarter second before getting sniped to death by a far off archer mob. Even with the endless repetition of jokes, i adore the message system in Fromsoft's games and love what it adds. 13) “It’s just an elevator, Tarnished. How far down could it go?” 14) Getting frustratingly stuck on a boss. But, due to the dual power of complaining on the internet combined with just taking a break, coming home from work and winning in a complete state of gamer zen 15) Stopping in the middle of a boss fight and wondering where the hell he went off to, and then being obliterated as he comes back to the arena from space and lands like a fuckin meteor 16) Following other people’s journeys thru their fanart, or twitter, or posts here or wherever. 17) The way the world is designed makes me want to stick my nose in every corner of it and being rewarded for doing so (even if the reward might just be a fancy leaf), without any icon showing me where to look, or checklist to uh, check against. Just a lot of “oh what’s that? It looks cool, i better head that way” 18) Meeting the Two Fingers for the first time 19) “Oh god, what the gently caress is that!?!!” and sprinting away on Torrentback, (this can apply to any number of encounters, take your pick) 20) Getting the Azur Comet spell on my mage playthrough and using it as the Delete Boss button 21) Figuring out how to beat the Fire Giant. 21a) learning he has a second phase. 22) Beating the game for the first time and immediately turning around and starting ng+. I’ve never done anything like that for any game, ever. a kitten fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Dec 23, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 21:01
|
|
|
a kitten posted:I made a supplemental list I really appreciate the enthusiasm as a fellow Elden lord but some folks itt haven’t played Elden ring but will, and imo it would serve them well to not know some of these specifics
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 21:08
|
|
|
a kitten posted:14) Getting frustratingly stuck on a boss. But, due to the dual power of complaining on the internet combined with just taking a break, coming home from work and winning in a complete state of gamer zen People think this bit is an exaggeration from From cultists but its incredible how often it works. You get your rear end kicked for hours but next day you wake up with Malekith Brain or whatever unlocked now that the knowledge has had time to move from your brain to your muscles and you're an anime protagonist next time up.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2022 21:08
|
|
|
veni veni veni posted:To me Elden Ring is at least equal to my other two favorites, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, but I totally feel this sentiment in some way. It's like, Elden Ring is sooo much Dark Souls in one package and really that is all around awesome, but I can't help but feel that the amount of content led to a package that wasn't as tight as their previous games, especially the more recent ones. I think Miyazaki's tendency to fly against the current of what the rest of the industry is doing + the difficulties of game development post-covid will mean that Elden Ring is the only game of its particular kind. But who knows, I certainly don't think smaller scope games are off the table at all whatever the case. edit; I'm biased tho, I'd def prefer more games in the vein of BB or DeS BeanpolePeckerwood fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Dec 24, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 00:01
|
|
|
Elden Ring is an incredible masterpiece (I started it again today on the Deck and all my 2023 gaming plans have flown completely out the window) but I definitely do not want every new Fromsoft game to be like Elden Ring. If it can be like this where they do it once in a while as the culmination of multiple smaller games worth of learning and fine-tuning mechanics that would be perfect to me.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 01:01
|
|
|
One day someone will make a game with the open world depth of BotW or what people claim is true of Elden Ring, but with the Combat of DMC/Bayonetta and I will go insane and disappear for a year.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:03
|
|
|
CottonWolf posted:1. Lords of Infinity oh drat I've been waiting years for this one
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:04
|
|
|
Natural 20 posted:One day someone will make a game with the open world depth of BotW or what people claim is true of Elden Ring, but with the Combat of DMC/Bayonetta and I will go insane and disappear for a year. Wishing this for FF16
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:06
|
|
|
Waffleman_ posted:Wishing this for FF16 
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:08
|
|
|
Natural 20 posted:what people claim is true of Elden Ring it is true and it is why it is claimed as such. lo.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:12
|
|
|
Stux posted:it is true and it is why it is claimed as such. lo. Yeah I imagine it is, I've just not played it myself!
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:20
|
|
|
Where the hell did the year go? It doesn't feel like it was that long ago I joined in on this for the first time. It's been... a year of highs and lows for me but the gaming has been great throughout. Let's see if I can make me a ding dang list once more. Honorable Mentions: Wandersong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xfmb7S-aAI This absolutely would've made my list if I had actually played it myself. But I discovered this game through watching an LP of it. Boy is it a real treasure though. Super charming. Incredibly earnest and heartfelt. It was an experience I needed while my life is in a weird place. If anyone hasn't heard of or played this I highly recommend giving it a go. The world is in danger but you aren't a hero, you are a bard. It's cute, it's wholesome, it's got a lot of feelings. A real good one. Ocarina of Time: Randomizer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynXS-g3cht8 It's seriously insane how robust the Randomizer for this game is now. It's still getting updates and new features! I put Majora's Mask Randomizer on my list last year. I still love Majora's Mask more as a game but as a randomizer experience Ocarina of Time is the better one I feel. If you are a fan of the original game and want a reason to revisit it I can't recommend this enough. It breathes fresh life into the game and it's absurdly customizable to your preferences and skill level. Splatoon 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xh-HuNsoBw I really did love this game a ton but once I finished the single player and got my fill of multiplayer up through the first splatfest it fell off pretty hard for me. I'm not sure why it fell off because I enjoyed every minute I played but I guess it's just enough degrees to the side of my wheelhouse that it didn't stick. Still though it's a pretty fantastic game and I adore the series all the same for how unique, stylish, and fresh it is. Splatoon is basically it's own genre of music and I loving love it. --- Short Version 10. The Forgotten City 9. La-Mulana 8. Dicey Dungeons Reunion 7. AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative 6. Vampire Survivors 5. South Park: The Fractured But Whole 4. Apex: Legends 3. Live-A-Live 2. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet 1. Elden Ring. The List: 10. The Forgotten City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDF3VFaHSz0 I tried this out at the beginning of the year at the recommendation of people from last year's thread and enjoyed it very much. You find yourself landed in a strange underground city, seemingly having been thrust way into the ancient past. There is no escaping and if a single person commits any act of sin everyone will die. It's up to you to explore the city, get to know its inhabitants, and figure out the mystery of whats going on and try to prevent the death and destruction of everyone. It's very enthralling. You can definitely tell it started life as a Skyrim mod in places, such as the stiff character performance and the occasional jank in the environment but it absolutely doesn't detract from the overall experience. Was a nice fun way to start the year. 9. La-Mulana (The trailer linked is for both games but this entry is specifically for the first game!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC8oLp73tSs I've known about this game for like a decade, it's one of my boyfriend's favorite games ever. Even played it a couple of times. But this year marked the occasion of me finally playing it through to completion which was a great experience I enjoyed. La-Mulana is an incredibly dense experience and it's one that does not hold your hand one bit. This game is well-known for it's difficulty both in its exploration combat and in its complex puzzles. But none of it is unfair, you're given the tools and the information to figure it all out. Accompanying the stellar gameplay experience are some beautifully rendered pixel environments and an amazing soundtrack to really sell that sense of adventure and mystery among the crazy ruins. If you've somehow never heard of this game and are interested in a Metroidvania style adventure that really tests your abilities and brain, please give this a try. 8. Dicey Dungeons Reunion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVsWXAAccVg Oh man this game. This game. It's been a huge favorite of mine for years and this year we got surprised with a big free DLC expansion. A roguelike where all of your equipment is fueled by dice rolls. On the surface that might sound like RNG Hell but the experience is so meticulously and cleverly designed around the concept that you actually have a surprising amount of control. Success comes from learning how to improvise with what you roll and how to manipulate dice with your equipment to get them where you want them. What seems like a simple premise at first becomes a surprisingly deep combat system with a lot of options available on how you go about your play. All wrapped up in a really cute, charming art style. And I'd be remiss to not mention the godlike soundtrack made by chipzel full of jazzy, game-showy, chiptuney jams that you can just vibe to. I love this game so much. 7. AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRBu6Es0qc4 Uchikoshi's Wild Ride never stops. From the brain that gave us the Zero Escape series. This is the second game in the Somnium Files series. Though this story is written in such a way that you don't need any knowledge of the first game to enjoy it I still highly recommend the first game too. Part visual novel, part escape room puzzle game, part murder mystery. It's a game full of fun characters and the story manages to straddle the line between dark murder mystery and extreme goofball nonsense perfectly. Throw in some wonderfully heartfelt character moments and you got a nice meaty sandwich of a game. I can't say too much without ruining some context but the basic idea here is that there's a murder mystery and you are solving it by going into the dream worlds of characters where poo poo can get surreal and funky. Definite recommend if any of this sounds intriguing to you. 6. Vampire Survivors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMkS6GcxFU How is it that some of the most compelling games end up being the most simple? The concept here is simple: you kill enemies to level up, level up to get more gear, get more gear to kill more enemies. Repeat & Survive. Literally all you control is the movement of your character, everything else is automatic. And yet I've lost so many hours to this game. There's just some element of pure joy to having your character build run exponentially out of control as the game throws a ludicrous number of enemies at you until it struggles to run. Layered in this experience are a ton of unlockables and progression to make and a frankly ridiculous number of characters to change up every run. Sometimes all you need is a game to turn your brain off and just watch crazy poo poo happen and this game does that in spades. Also this game is literally only $4 while the DLC is only $2. They could be charging 3x this amount and it would still be worth the money. It's insane the bang for your buck this is. 5. South Park: The Fractured But Whole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5iH-uKHmfo This game has no right being as good as it is. I had played a decent chunk of Stick of Truth and enjoyed it so I while I expected to enjoy this game I didn't expect it to grab me so drat hard. It's South Park so whether or not you enjoy this game will hinge heavily on how much it's style of black comedy and crudeness jives with you. If you do jive with it though underneath the ridiculousness is a startlingly deep RPG system. On the surface none of the mechanical systems are all that complex on their own but everything layers together in a way that gives you a lot of freedom and is a lot of fun to engage with. You get a huge amount of customization in your character that really lets you fine tune how you want to function. You start off by picking one of three starter classes but as you go through the game you'll gradually unlock more classes to pick from as well as multi-classing (up to 4 by the last stretch of the game) to mix and match your own skillset. On top of this there's a wide variety of gear to let you further hone in on what you want your playstyle to look like. And then you get a metric shitton of allies to fill out your party with. I played on the Diabolical difficulty (read: Super Hard) for 99% of the game and while most of it wasn't that hard to handle there were definitely times where the game really made me work for victory, especially towards the end. There's also some combat challenges from DLC (which I think most editions of the game get bundled with now) that are legit some hardcore difficult battles to work through. Exploration is fun even if nothing super innovative. Exploring the world basically plays somewhat like a Paper Mario game, where you call upon various allies and use various abilities of your own to navigate around. The story is... well it's a South Park episode. It was entertaining but again that'll hinge on how you respond to South Park in general. Honestly everything about this game is just super polished and again I have to reiterate that it's weird that a South Park game of all things is this good. I spent about 20~25 hours on the main story and now I'm playing the DLC stuff and I'm still not tired of it. If you like a good RPG and the South Park name doesn't scare you away I highly recommend giving this one a shot. 4. Apex: Legends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha_VsTDmoGg This one is a surprise for me. As literally my first experience with the Battle Royale genre I wasn't sure how I was going to respond to it. But I finally got intrigued enough to give it a shot with a friend and got hooked pretty hard. Even when I'm crashing and burning real hard because my aim is horrible I'm having fun anyways. Even the bit of anxiety at first with playing with random other people was quickly assuaged. With the press of a button right at game start I can mute the other people in my squad and this isn't even really a detriment like you might think. This game has an incredibly robust pinging system that lets you communicate effectively and quickly with your teammates without ever requiring voice. This is also backed up by the characters having their own voice stabs for what their doing that keeps you aware of whats going on. Everything is designed in a way that I went from a baby who had never played a BR before being anxious about playing with other people to now having... 145 hours played jesus christ what the gently caress. Speaking of the characters I specifically appreciate the large cast of queer characters this game features. Bloodhound is non-binary, Valkyrie is a lesbian, Gibraltar is gay and the latest character to be released this season is a trans woman named Catalyst. That's not even listing everyone either. It does my queer heart good to have a game willing to have all these queer characters front and center. Hell the entire reason I decided to give the game a shot to begin with was because the internet erupted when they made a couple canon: Bloodhound (Non-binary) & Fuse (Pansexual) are dating and even got to kiss in an official lore video. It made a lot of idiots mad. It was great. Anyways uh... yeah Apex is pretty cool and fun and has dominated my life in a completely unexpected way. 3. Live-A-Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tQt3Nq8hTw I was one of the people that had played this originally through emulation with a translation patch. I loved it to pieces then when I experienced it for the first time. So to suddenly have news of a full remake thrown at me was insane. Nobody in their wildest dreams could have expected this to happen. But it did and I'm so happy. This remake is good too. Featuring the iconic and gorgeous HD 2D art style, a touched up modernized soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura herself, and the addition of voice acting this was basically a dream come true for any fan of the original game. All these years later and there's still nothing else like Live-A-Live. Each different character has their own story and each story is its own little genre to boot. Play as a wrestler in the modern day who wants to be the strongest fighter in the world and experience a combination of Mega Man & Street Fighter. Play as a little adorable robot companion in the distant future while an Aliens-esque horror plot takes hold around you. Each character and story is like its own little experiment in what stories you can tell and what gameplay you can put together in a JRPG shell. It's like a little variety chocolate box in game form. There's more beneath the surface that I won't elaborate on but this game is an incredible piece that I highly recommend everyone go experience. It's so very good and the remake is fantastic. 2. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMqv0EKZPw This is simultaneously the most ambitious and well-realized Pokemon game in years and a big mess. Let's just address the elephant in the room right away: Yes this game runs bad. Yes it looks terrible. Yes there's a lot of bugs and issues and this game should've been left in the oven for more time. I still loved every single minute I've played of it in spite of all the issues. Once you move past the problems this game is the best Pokemon experience in recent years. You are given a lot of freedom even during the early portion of the game to run off and explore on your own and once the game truly opens up you are left to your own devices. You don't get railroaded down one path, you don't get fenced off from places by NPCs telling you No. You get to run off and decide your own journey. There is actually a set level to every objective and region and such so there's an "intended path" of the order you go through objectives but the game doesn't stop you from throwing down with pokemon 30+ levels above you and getting your rear end kicked if that's what you want to try to do. And it's great! Pokemon has always had a problem of railroading the player too much so this game just being open and free from the word go is fantastic. The storylines are a breath of fresh air too. They aren't like groundbreaking or anything but they are enjoyable stories with fun characters. I enjoyed all three of the main plotlines in this game. The finale is some amazingly good JRPG eats and I wouldn't dare spoil any of it for anyone. Also this soundtrack kicks rear end. Pokemon has never had bad music really but they really stepped it up this time around with a lot of great bangers. I suppose it helps that a handful of tracks were composed by Toby Fox himself. I've put a lot of hours into this game and still am probably not quite done with it yet still. It will always be a shame that any talk of it will be with an asterisk beside it because of the underbaked technical issues the game suffers. But it's still be an incredible experience as someone that's been someone on-and-off with the series. I got into competitive battling for the first time ever with this game! I never thought I'd ever do that with how overwhelming all the nitty gritty training stuff always sounds but they made it super accessible this gen. Good stuff. 1. Elden Ring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXiKBnzpBQ Surprising no one Elden Ring clocks in at #1. With the 100+ hours I put into it there was no way to justify putting it any lower. This game is just incredibly sublime. I was doubtful at first of how they would ever manage a Soulsborne style open world game and with how long the wait stretched out I think a lot of people were worried about how the game would be. Unfounded worries as it turns out now. What even can I say that other people haven't already? The world is mind-numbingly huge and gorgeous and there's something to find in every little corner and crevice. The sense of discovery in the game is unmatched and its one of those experiences you'll wish you could forget and experience all over again. Finding Siofra River for the first time had my jaw on the floor. You can just lose yourself in exploring and chilling out in the world without even progressing anything. It's a gorgeously crafted world. I'd recommend everyone give the game a shot even if you aren't typically into Soulsborne games because it is just a magical experience. It also probably makes for the easiest game to try to get into because for the first time you are given an incredibly powerful option for dealing with difficult roadblocks: If it sucks, hit da bricks. You are very rarely forced into a roadblock to progress. If you find yourself ramming your head into a difficult enemy you can't seem to win against just go somewhere else for awhile. Elden Ring truly does feel like a culmination of everything From Soft have been doing. Like every Soulsborne game that came before was building up to it. I can't recommend it highly enough I lost my life to this game for weeks it's an incredible experience. Also you get a very good horse friend and you can feed him raisins. YoshiOfYellow fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Dec 29, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:24
|
|
|
YoshiOfYellow posted:Also you get a very good horse friend and you can feed him raisins. Ending talk: Letting him down was the only regret I felt in the Frenzied Flame ending
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 02:49
|
|
|
 You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about. Apparently a patch just a few days ago added faces to all the nameless NPC models so you won't actually see this anymore 12 - Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten Utawarerumono is a weird series. The original game released in 2002. It got an anime, ports to consoles, and a few spinoffs. It was fairly popular in its time, but didn't really have any staying power. Then, bizarrely, it got revived 13 years later with a remake and a pair of sequels. Monochrome Mobius is the latest in the franchise, despite the different branding. I suspect the branding is an attempt to draw in new fans, communicating that it can be enjoyed without playing any of the others, as well as the fact that it has completely differently gameplay. I'll discuss the gameplay of the others further down this list, but Monochrome Mobius is a fairly standard JRPG. It doesn't really have any frills or gimmicks; it's just a solid, polished experience. The slice of life moments are enjoyable, and it just feels pleasant to exist in the world they've created. I don't really know who this review is for because you've either already played the other games and know you want to play this, or you haven't, in which case I don't even recommend it.  11 - Witch on the Holy Night Witch on the Holy Night is a visual novel by the same group that did Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night, finally getting an English release a decade later. It doesn't go quite as hard as F/SN, the game that made type-moon a juggernaut instead of just a one-hit wonder, but it has a lot to say with its quieter moments. Type-Moon's strength, to me, has always been in the ability to have a really cool world, where it feels like almost anything could happen, but where everyone is tightly constrained by rules that you learn as the story progresses, without sacrificing emotional impact or strong characters on the altar of having cool action scenes. Witch on the Holy Night, to me, felt like it stepped a little too far away from that formula, and, while it's by no means bad, it's not an all-timer for me. I don't know if it's an issue with me, the translation, or the original work, but I found the explanations of the magic hard to follow, and the villains felt a little lacking; a little too obviously background figures for the real story it's telling. The real story is quite good: three people who barely know how to communicate and haven't had a normal human relationship their whole lives get forced to exist side by side, and form bonds despite not really wanting anything to do with each other. I just wish the supernatural action sequences were either more focused, or cut out entirely.  pictured: riveting gameplay 10 - Rune Factory 5 We're in my top ten proper, and in the farm game block. People lambasted RF5 for having abysmal performance, but fortunately I have a superpower that lets me ignore framerates. I was rewarded with a pretty dang fun game, full of enjoyable characters and a rewarding sense of progression. The gameplay is a massive improvement over Rune Factory 3 and 4, but the characters are a bit weaker. Just a solid entry in a series I enjoy.   9 - Rune Factory 3 I went back for RF3 after finishing RF5, because people kept saying it was the best one. And I gotta say I agree. The farming sucks and the combat is only a little bit better, but everybody in this game is just completely off their rocker. There isn't a single normal, sane person in this game. drat near every conversation is funny. In addition to the squid-hating mermaid pictured above, there's the girl who speaks in opposites, the witch who keeps injecting people with strange concoctions, the shopkeeper who will do anything to get you out of her store so she doesn't have to work, and on and on. Truly a magnificent cast.  8 - Harvestella The thing I most want to say about Harvestella is something I can't say without spoiler tags. The one thing I can, and will, say outside of tags is: if you saw this as yet another harvest moon clone and wrote it off, give it a second consideration. It's more like a JRPG with farming elements than Rune Factory's farming with JRPG elements. Growing your own crops to make your own food, which is your only source of healing in dungeons, gives the game a vibe which is more important than the pure gameplay considerations, in my opinion. Harvestella is a game that lives or dies on its vibes, and it absolutely nails them. If you're still kind of unsure, here's a midgame spoiler: one of the dungeons is a space elevator.  7 - Great Ace Attorney Chronicles It's Ace Attorney. The mysteries are slightly worse than average, but the characters are better than average. Susato, Ryunosuke, and Herlock Sholmes are my very good friends. It was very funny when the game designed for the 3DS, which uses the 3D, makes you do a magic eye to see it on the Switch.  Apparently this was the only thing I screenshotted. I am proud of taking it down at the level I did, though. See also: me being naked because someone (wrongly) told me that you have more i-frames in a fast roll than in a mid roll 6 - Elden Ring Most of the things I have to say about Elden Ring that haven't already been said are unkind things not in keeping with the spirit of this thread. So instead I'll focus on the part I loved the most: the dungeons. I found myself wishing I could just spend all of my time in dungeons, because they were so good. Stormveil castle stands up as possibly the best zone in a Soulsborne--or if it isn't, it's close. My most treasured memory was probably the extremely stressful trek through Redmane Castle, which either has no site of grace for a very long time, or I missed one; the sense of mounting tension as I only barely made it to the end was incredible. The mini-dungeons are slightly more mixed: caves are usually (not always) just a few rooms then the boss; mines have really obvious asset reuse. But even then, almost all of them have something unique and memorable about them. And the remaining categories of mini-dungeons, crypts and hero graves, just don't miss. Hit after hit of them. Hero graves in particular are trap houses that put Sen's Fortress to shame, and I had an absolute blast in all of them.  5 - Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth 4 - Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception Putting these together because they're a two-parter. Mask of Deception ends on a cliffhanger, and Mask of Truth picks up directly where it left off. I played them back to back and they're almost inseperable in my mind. Mask of Deception gets the slight nod, and the higher rank, but they're best thought of as a single experience split over two games. As I said up above in the Monochrome Mobius section, Utawarerumono is a weird series, which debuted in 2002 and went dormant for nearly 15 years before getting sequels. These are those sequels. The games themselves are an odd combination: roughly 2/3 visual novel and 1/3 SRPG, by playtime. People claim a lot of wordy games are like visual novels, but this is the real thing, made by the company that invented the phrase "visual novel". The distinguishing line, to me at least, between a proper visual novel and other wordy video games is how the story is presented. Is it like a book, with non-dialogue prose describing the things that happen? Or is it like a movie, where all the prose is dialogue, and it depicts movement rather than describing it? Utawarerumono is firmly in the former camp for most of its runtime, which is rare for these sorts of hybrid games. Even something like 13 Sentinels is more movie-style than book-style. And it's a drat good visual novel. I found myself lost in the ordinary moments of bonding between Haku and his crew of weirdos. The game is razor-sharp humor when it wants to; while Rune Factory 3 is the game on this list that made me laugh the most, this is the game that made me laugh the hardest. I don't want to spoil the cliffhanger between the two games too much, but the beginning of the second game is some of the tensest media I've experienced this year, in a good way. The remaining third of the game is, weirdly, an SRPG, and an astonishingly competent one. I can honestly recommend it on that basis alone. The mechanics flow together well, and the difficulty is a nice balance. The core mechanic that sets it apart from other SRPGs is the Zeal gauge, which some attacks build and some spend, and which instantly gives you another turn when it hits 100. It's a lot of fun to play with. https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/aa-YL8iuxCZGRQ4z9faU-U-0TF9eq85O2Qq0FQjOmtU/https/i.imgur.com/B0iOd0R.mp4 look at this little doofus go 3 - Pokemon Scarlet Using my superpower to not be bothered by performance issues, I have made a startling discovery: despite being widely lambasted, this is the best pokemon game ever made. It was a joy walking around and seeing what pokemon lived in each new area. Nemona an Arven are incredible characters. The music slaps hard. The new pokemon are stellar. Klawf in particular is a gem. I found myself spellbound from beginning to end and honestly have trouble imagining being so put off by the performance to call this game actually bad. The multiplayer is also weirdly fun for being completely unstructured: it turns out that just existing together in the pokemon world is a great experience.  pictured: a functioning qr code, on a sign sticking out of a corpse 2 - AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative The consensus opinion is that this game is slightly worse than the game it's a sequel to, but honestly I feel the reverse: it's slightly better. People rag on it a bit because the mystery isn't diegetic but like...it doesn't matter? To me, at least. The mounting confusing followed by the reveal was no less cool because of that. And the moment to moment in this game is, better on average. AI1 had a lot of really strong parts, but it also had some pretty severe lows. This game feels like it just evened it out, so the entire game is the same quality as the good parts of AI1. The somnia themselves--that is, the puzzle rooms, for people who haven't played the first game--are a wild improvement. Instead of being trial-and-error dream logic puzzles, they're now basically all different genres. There's a game show one, there's a horror movie one, and so on. By constantly rotating the ideas, none of them have time to get stale, and they don't have to rely on kind of frustrating puzzles like the first game did. All in all, a great experience.  number big 1- Atelier Sophie 2 I think we can all agree this was the most important release of February 25th, 2022.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 03:36
|
|
|
Okay okay here's the real writeup 1 - Atelier Sophie 2 Gust does it again. Gust-made games have dominated my lists for as long as we've had these goty threads. As long as they keep going the way they've been going, I don't really expect that to change any time soon. Sophie 2 is definitely the best the gameplay has ever been. The alchemy has a ton of depth, and it's extremely satisfying. I can't tell you how many hours I spent trying to figure out how to make the best bombs possible. Gust has spent the last few years really stretching their wings on making games that feel like their budgets were much higher than they really are. They're industry leaders on anime graphics these days, and have mastered the art of cutscenes that feel cinematic without needing to do motion capture or creature bespoke animations for every scene, just with carefully chosen camera angles. The zones in Sophie 2 are gorgeous, and their careful design really goes a long way towards selling the sense of adventure without actually needing to be any larger than your average JRPG dungeon. The game world feels like a world big enough to live in, without needing to make a world that takes a hundred hours to explore. The story strikes the perfect balance between the low-stakes "just existing" stories Gust used to tell and their more modern forays into more traditional narratives. The usual Atelier mood is used to great effect in telling a story about someone who wants, more than anything, to just live with people. After a few entries in a row that I enjoyed but wasn't raving about, Gust is back at the top of its game. Last year's goty, Blue Reflection: Second Light, released November 2021. This released February 2022. Two absolute all-time bangers, back to back like that, is an incredible accomplishment. I really cannot express enough how eager I am to see where Gust goes from here. See you all in Atelier Ryza 3!
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 03:37
|
|
|
Stux posted:its actually more tight than all the games that arent sekiro Disagree but I also don't think it detracts much from how good the overall experience is. It was the first Souls game where I would (not even on purpose), walk into areas that I was completely over-leveled for that ultimately felt like I missed out on the challenge they would have presented. Also due to the sheer size it's definitely got some degree of copy paste that isn't present in their previous stuff. This does not mean it isn't one of the best games I have ever played, because it is. But either we are talking about something else or have a different definition of "tight"
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 03:40
|
|
|
I didn't really finish a lot of games this year, a lot of start-but-not-finish. 9. Genshin Impact-Added a lot of new content not including a new nation, a new element, a card game I already put over a dozen hours into. 8. Street Fighter V-Really carried me through the dregs of spring, the final patch buffed my main real hard. 7. Guilty Gear Strive-Crossplay is finally here and they made good changes in the last couple weeks to remove my main complaints. Other than nerfing Sol so badly that I have to play someone else which sucks. 6. Monster Hunter Rise PC-Didn't play the switch version because I want 60 fps. 5. Triangle Strategy-Good, not great. I hate how new game+ works. 4. Marvel Midnight Suns-Fun, too many bugs though, you get Hulk way too late in the game. Balance is whack. 3. Tactics Ogre Reborn-Completely overhauled systems, basically a new game from the other versions. 2. Elden Ring-Big fun, beat it way before the first patch so stuff like arcane weapons literally didn't work. 1. Xenoblade 3-My first real big "can't put it down" game. I'm gonna miss these kids until the expansion story, maybe.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 05:57
|
|
|
5. Gran Turismo 7: Too many Skylines, annoying menus with nice jazzy background music, and a ridiculously good photo mode. Classic GT stuff. I love the cafe with bits of history for each car (Tom Matano talking about the NA Miata  ), and the multiplayer from GT Sport is excellent.4. Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster: I’ve been working through the pixel remasters and they’re all good but VI has always been my favorite of the classic FFs. And the music! It’s so loving good! 3. The Witcher 3: It’s still great and the next-gen update is sweet. Adding raytracing to an older game isn’t always that cool (I didn’t think it added much to Portal, for example) but I really like it here and the other changes they made are very welcome. Hard to believe I didn’t like the game the first two times I tried it. You mean? Bart nice! 2. Horizon Forbidden West: The story couldn’t quite match the first game but I still loved it and dumped 200+ hours into it. So many great characters, such fun combat, such an amazing looking world. 1. Citizen Sleeper: I hadn’t heard anything about it but it was on game pass so I tried it out and was blown away. Really interesting setting, full of great characters and stories, and a fantastic soundtrack. It’s rare that a videogame story actually sticks with me the way this one did. Games I’d like to play in the next week but probably won’t because I’m busy hanging out with my pal Geralt: Norco, Stray, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, God of War Ragnarok Eyud fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Dec 24, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 09:59
|
|
|
I keep forgetting it exists and keep getting reminded as I make my way through actually reading the lists in the thread, but the devs of 13 sentinels talking about how disastrously it did(I think it's opening week was an all-time low for the company or something like that) while also seemingly explicitly ignoring the grand slam hit that a PC release would be continues to be hilarious to me Just put it on steam. Just loving do it, I want to play it, and I barely play games anymore. JUST DO IT
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 10:20
|
|
|
Are the Pokemon Scarlet/Violet issues things that could ever be patched or is it just stuck like that
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 11:40
|
|
|
Hey, I played some games this year. Wowee. Some I'd even completely forgotten I'd played until I went back and checked achievement/trophy lists and my Steam history. Is Time Compression real? 1. Disco Elysium - Didn't play it until this year, but very aware of the game's reputation - and it lives up to it. A game about failure, so very relatable. Easily my personal game of the year. 2. Signalis - Not only is this game a great stylistic achievement but the story goes places and had posters in the game's thread dissecting it for a while. I love it as a whole package - the art, the music, the style, the themes. 3. Pentiment - It's a new Obsidian RPG! Except it strips away most of the traditional RPG features and focuses in on narrative choices. Whatever, the point is that it's a very engaging murder mystery. 4. Death Stranding - Another huge one I didn't play the year it came out. What a strange and fascinating game, the act of delivering packages across rough terrain might sound dull as a gameplay focus but in the hands of Kojima and company it becomes highly fulfilling. 5. Tunic - A cute isometric action game with light Souls-like gameplay that slowly morphs into a hybrid of Fez and The Witness. It's weird and very unique. 6. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - Calling this "Minecraft but with a Dragon Quest skin" is horribly reductive, because it's so much more than that... but it's also not a terrible description. One of the best crafting/base-building/adventuring games I've played. Incredibly long story mode but very fun throughout. 7. Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye - I loved Outer Wilds, it's fantastic. This expansion, while very ambitious and daring in its own way, just didn't quite hit me in the same way the original game did. The puzzles are fun, the process of discovery is excellent but IMO it is lacking something. But hey, being a "fine" expansion to one of the best games ever made isn't bad at all! 8. Deathloop - I didn't find this game to be nearly as good as what Arkane has previously done, but it's got good bones and I'm a sucker for the genre. Fantastic presention but parts of the game feel unfortunately rushed. 9. Return to Monkey Island - A great return for this series. It's not the sequel that fans have spent decades imagining in their heads; nothing could ever truly live up to people's dreams. Instead it chooses to confront itself. I ended up loving the art style - it looks quite good in motion. 10. Grounded - Again, a departure from what Obsidian usually makes. Definitely the best unofficial "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" game that exists, which is admittedly a small subgenre. The survival bits are sometimes a little overtuned, but thankfully the developers have listened closely and tweaked a lot of the things that people complained about since launch.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 12:53
|
|
|
Item Getter posted:Not to mention of course the whole thing is optional since you can take the elevator instead of going through that area. Though that's another thing about Elden Ring, how much of its amazing content is optional and not required to finish the game. Exactly! In my first run I didn't look up anything online and so missed like half the content, finished zero quests, and loved every minute. The experience I described was even more memorable because it was my own journey in the game. It was an incredible piece of game design and my respect for it only grew when I found out that it was an optional path. Most other game developers would have it as the capstone to a critical quest but here it was a weird side thing. I later found out that it's a bit of a from soft thing to have large portions of the game that are entirely optional - my first run through of bloodborne missed the clinic, Cainhurst and the Choir entirely. It seems like such a wild design choice from a financial perspective for a company to spend so much time developing such large optional areas and it only makes me respect them more.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 13:33
|
|
|
veni veni veni posted:Also due to the sheer size it's definitely got some degree of copy paste that isn't present in their previous stuff. there is at least one boss that is in all four souls games and ds1s back half includes 50 capra demons, 50 taurus demons and 50 dragons legs in a red pond.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 15:11
|
|
|
thhis is especially ironic bcos in the other games this stuff was almost literally copy paste level of inclusion, and in ER even the repeated encounters have some uniqueness to them and the dungeons with shared tilesets develop into very involved layouts unlike bloodbornes attempt at it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 15:15
|
|
|
I burnt out on gaming this year. The grind of last year didn't carry over very well and I was not in a mood to try out new games on a seasonal model or forever game. So I got into a different hobby: Plastic Gundam Model Building or Gunplas. Here are my top ten Gunplas I built and the games I associate with them. 10) HGUC RX(79) EZ8 Gundam / Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak The RX(G) EZ8 Gundam was the first model I built. It was rough. By the time i got to the RX(79) EZ8 Gundam it was not my first rodeo. I have cut myself on my hobby knife at least 4 times, put too much glue on my fingers 5 times, bitten accidentally and intentionally into a piece placed incorrectly and cut off a joint once or twice. Coming to this model was refreshing in its familiar design. Add on top of it the clear quality of life changes made since the RX(G) design and it went a lot smoother with a lot less hand pain. While the overall bulky design and shape is tiresome for me, it remains a creature comfort that i still return to to try something different, maybe applying a different paint here or trying out water decals.' Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak for me this year was a tiresome game. the grind called and I said OK sure. My heart isn't in the right place here but the QOL changes, the emphasis on playing with people and shift to an MMO-like end game made playing it more alive than previous iterations. What stood out to me the most was the NPC additions on hunts that made the solo play lifestyle more bearable and less of silent struggle. I will still light a fire under my soul for the tough and rough fights, just not with this generation of Monster Hunter. 9) HGUC RGM-96x Jesta / Destiny 2: Witch Queen I should qualify that the RGM(98)D Jegan ECOAS and RGM(98) Jegan (Anti-Ship Armament) are also in this category because they are all clear different usages of the same underlying model: the RGM98 Jegan, a generic model that has worn out its welcome for me. But designs change over time and its made readily apparent that the Jesta is built different. Some under the hood changes made here or there, some tweaks to the joints and and legs that make it different and more fun to build than the other two Jegan models i built this year. This was the 9th model i built this year and at this point I am very much on for the ride. Destiny 2 this year went up then down then up again and then up again. I am very much burnt out on the seasonal content model of gaming. At this point I pick Destiny 2 to do the story stuff and occasional raid content. Unlike previous years, there was QOL changes and modifications made to the game that made it more enjoyable with less friction on the seasonal grind. If I had to rank the seasons thus far: Risen, Seraph, Haunted, Plunder. 8) EGUC RX78-2 Gundam Full Weapon Kit / Citizen Sleeper / I was a Teenage Exocolonist This was a model that was highly recommended to me because it was fun and simple to build. Sure enough, it was a blast. the presentation of the model was great despite the simple underlying features. I honestly look forward to loving this model up with new paints and markers. Both Citizen Sleeper and Teenage Exocolonist occupy the same brain space right now because it really is about the presentation. Solid text based adventures with light game mechanics that are about selling the vibe man. Citizen Sleeper has this persistent gloom and doom but keeps enough light on at the end of the tunnel that makes it lively and engrossing. Teenage Exocolonist is fab and worth repeating with one of the coolest CYOA loop mechanics I've read implemented. 7) MG Rick Dom (2022) / Elden Ring Big model with posable fingers!!! Mind-blowing to me, but old hat to those already in the know apparently but I had a lot of fun just with the upper half of this model and the hands alone. the supporting legs and waist feel really simple when compared to the posable fingers but there is still plenty enough reason to go back and keep touching up on this model. dont think I've quite explored all these vernier rockets and their coloring but ill be sure to go back to it. Elden Ring is Dark Souls but Open World!!! I was deeply engrossed in just wandering, exploring what they had made and trying to combat along the way. this honestly was enough. But whatever complexity it had by the end, I was ready to go back and just see what i missed on youtube. 6) HCUC Moon Gundam / Metal Hellsinger I kind of started building this model and promptly forgot the time. its like when you get into a trance and the rhythm of nip, clip, ship just engrosses you. from start to finish, it was a fever dream of building. one that i mostly attribute to playing this games soundtrack at the time. Likewise, I dont remember playing Metal Hellsinger. i remember listening to a soundtrack that induced in me a melodic shoot and move. i remember keeping time with mouse clicks and foot stamps, alternating beats on a constant 4/4 time. i remember creating impromptu melodies with gunshots and finishers. I don't remember actually playing Metal Hellsinger. 5) HG-WFM Beguir-beu / Across the Obelisk Compared to the other models, this stands alone as different because of this design. It was enjoying to pick apart how different it built compared to the other gundamish models and how alien it is to have tri-mount feet that fold like a bug. The weapons feel a bit awkward but then it comes together like a praying mantis and I'm sold. Across the Obelisk was intended my Darkest Dungeon substitute this year as a run based dungeon crawler and it quickly became my Monster Train substitute instead. As a quick pick up and play game, it exceeded my expectations through how the cards and enemies become a knowledge test, one easily discernible thanks to its graphical and style design. 4) Kyoukai Senki Nyuren / IXION Talk about a pleasant surprise. if you were to show me a mass produced model without telling me its a mass produced model, this is it. every part of it looks generic, from the hands to the legs and its dumb 3 piece waist. once it was assembled, i quickly took to it because it flowed so well. the simple arms make it look like an armored core arm while the legs look fabulous with the high heel feet. I gave it additional melee weapons from other sets and it absolutely slays. i also turned the feet backwards so it looks fabulous. IXION is a city builder game in space. Unlike the other ones i played this year, including Rimworld, IXION is set apart purely by the mechanical and story integration. you aren't just building a settlement; you are building a space colony. You will have growing pains, food shortages, space issues, stressful policy issues that make or break your final hope for humanity. Mistakes are quickly identified and solutions are long and painful. It all comes together wonderfully as you grow and make mistakes. 3) JGSDF Type 7 Nacchin / Warhammer 40K: Darktide This was a pleasant surprise. I went in expecting a simple boxilike design and came out loving the small details. The cat feet, the changeable eyes and the individually jointed fingers as well as the fully openable cockpit all came together nicely as a small and adorable weapon of war. Im sure there is some dark reason why a military or civilian would need to pilot this thing. Like wise, Darktide presented a Warhammer universe I know nothing about. What sold me was the melee and horde combat, intricate in how a fist to the face gives enough space to slash a zombie or dog to death or just a meaty whack from my hammer will smite the HERETIC NURGLE MONSTROSITY BACK TO THE PIT FROM WHENCE IT CAME. NO QUARTER CAN BE GIVEN, NO PARLEY LEVIED, ONLY THE RIGHTEOUS FURY OF HAMMER AND THUNDER WILL PART THE WAVES AND BRING VIOLENCE TO HEAVEN. Female Fanatic Zealot VA is my spirit animal and voice of the year. Seriously go listen to her scream blood for the emperor, skulls for the golden throne. 2) RX-75 Guntank / Slipways WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Its got tank treads, Itsgot guns on hands, put it together: Its a guntank. I put this together just giggling because it looks so silly and great. \ Slipways is simple. you make connections between planets. You make input-output connections between multiple planets. You make input-output circles of increasing complexity between numerous planets because you need to keep making connections for more science for ways to break the connections or create new ones. You send out space probes to look for more possible connections to keep making circles to keep growing. its mathematically simple and complex. Go pick this up because it would be my game of the year if not for: 1) RGUC RX-93 nuGundam / Victoria 3 This was the model that sold me on making more gunplas. Prior to this, i built the RX(G) Gundam, the HG-IBO Barbatos and the HGUC MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam. The first was crude and unrefined, inflexible and lacking in color or style. The second felt weak and flimsy and didn't pose well without relying on its weapon to prop it up. The Zeta Gundam just sucks. once I bit into this model, I got it. it came to me in a stupendous clarity and awe at how loving cool they made the knee joint. (also im sorry i actually did bite into the knee joint because i realized i hosed up). If a model can get into this level of detail and intricacy without losing the fun and joy of assembly, i am down for other models. Granted i still have issues with it like the shield piece falls off too easily, the funnels bits in the back destroys any balance it has and looks dumb, and the weapons it comes with are a bit boring, but it sold me on how detailed and intricate gunplas can be. Victoria 3 clicked with me in a way that hits me deep down. the system in play is deeply flawed but compelling. the minutiae of how the grand strategy plays out can be irritating but for good reason because this is a paradox game here that is focused on trade and production and how the two lead to unwanted outcomes like war, colonization, and social changes. Its simultaneously engrossing and gross in how it portrays everything. At worst, it becomes like an idle game, waiting for your production to finish so you can pop off, at best it becomes a soul sucking glimpse into how work and economies can function or malfunction for better and worse out of a misguided attempt of industrialization. Of course, I am reading too much into a game system that has shown to be deeply flawed but its sitting in the deep recesses of my mind taunting me and going: This is why you got an economics degree you nerd.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:13
|
|
|
goat post
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:19
|
|
|
Needs pictures (of gunplas)
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:21
|
|
|
post a pic of your g(undam)oty imo
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:21
|
|
|
GUNTANK WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:21
|
|
|
GUNTANK WOOOOOOOOOO I also got into gunpla this year but only did three models, with one on backlog and another on preorder.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 12:09 |
|
|
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2022 19:23
|
|