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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:Fuckin hell yeah Mirror's Edge gently caress YEAH MIRROR'S EDGE 
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Dec 31, 2022 10:41
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Rarity, what a list! drat!
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Dec 31, 2022 10:43
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Rarity posted:gently caress YEAH MIRROR'S EDGE You just made my week. I love those games so much. I's crazy, after so many years you're almost to PS4 gen where you can play ME: Catalyst and Bloodborne
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Dec 31, 2022 10:51
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Shinji2015 posted:
Oh man, y'all are making me so happy right now    edit; I must seize another opportunity to post what I think is the greatest videogame commercial of all time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgky0MmxSqk BeanpolePeckerwood fucked around with this message at 10:54 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 10:52
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:you're almost to PS4 gen where you can play ME: Catalyst and Bloodborne In like a decade maybe 
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Dec 31, 2022 10:55
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lmao
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Dec 31, 2022 11:00
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Will Rarity get to Demon’s Souls in 2023??? I sure hope so
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Dec 31, 2022 11:02
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:edit; Oh, that was adorable 
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Dec 31, 2022 11:13
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Thank you for the kind, kind words everyone! It really was a list from the heart and it did change twice while writing it yesterday. As I was noting things down I realised how much I cared about them more and how much happier I felt when talking about them.  These classic games holding up so well is the best part about it. I also am really proud of pushing myself further into genres and games I would not have normally tried and not giving up. The 120 star challenge might be a better accomplishment for me than just about anything else this year BECAUSE my depth perception in 3D platformers is so incredibly awful and I had less confidence in myself than when I played Sekiro (no summoning!) Great year and next year can only bring more classics and hopefully more games I am able to complete by myself Thank you for all of your amazing lists, I have been glued to reading them and added a number of games to my schedule. (Citizen Sleeper being one!)
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Dec 31, 2022 11:21
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Goddamn Mirror's Edge getting a #1 this year. These lists are loving fire lot of great opinions from y'all.
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Dec 31, 2022 11:24
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I've been all over the place this year and didn't play as many new games as I thought and stuck with a bunch of old on top of the new, but it's what I did this year, so it's what I got. 10. Fallout: New Vegas This time around, I decided to play as someone who only used shotguns (and w/ the caravan shotgun you get at the start, I could at least keep it up until I got the other ones) and went with Independent as Caesar's Legion sucks and also I did a little too much for Yes Man anyway cuz I was just minding my business in the NCR MP offices when some dude came up to me and told me he was going to kill me, but Veronica and I did not agree with this and then we proceeded to wipe out the NCR troops on the Strip in self-defense because come on dude I am just trying to chill here. I was going to do a melee/fists run next, but because I don't play with mods (wow), it crashed one too many times past my tolerance and so I've shelved that idea for now. Maybe next year, who knows. 9. Sleeping Dogs I love Wei Shen because he's such a tremendous gently caress-up of a human being while also being scarily competent at ruining other people's lives. It's still one of my top 3 open-world games mainly because of the cars and motorcycles and how badly you can gently caress up other people with your fists and I don't think I'll ever take it out of that section even when I'm old as hell. 8. Red Dead Revolver I'll be honest, I really didn't give much care about Redemption 1 or 2 and I know that's not fair cuz they must be pretty good games for so many people to enjoy them and/or thoroughly criticize them from a place of love or whatever, but I love Revolver way the gently caress more cuz it's more stupid and I also enjoy the gunplay a lot more than the other two games. It's also got a multiplayer mode that I really enjoy since you can be everyone and everyone has their own dumbass gimmicks that make them a real threat. 7. The King of Fighters XV I really enjoy playing KoF games and my favorite is a toss-up between XI and 02UM, but I really love XV. The auto-combo thing is still annoying, but being able to do EX modes outside of MAX mode and the fact they include like all of the previous main entries' music libraries into the game that you can also set for each stage is very good. I'm excited for my friend Shingo to come back. 6. Darkest Dungeon I still haven't beaten this thing but I like coming back to it and trying out different things. Maybe for 2023, I will actually finish a run because I love everything up until the endgame. gently caress the Jester. 5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 It still kills me that we won't ever see 3+4 barring an act of god or something, but what's here now suits me fine. I'm still not one of those high-level players who can do a 150+ trick line over the span of a minute and a half, but it keeps the fingers busy. 4. Days Gone The best 6/10 video game that I enjoy a lot. I don't know what it is about this dumb game, but fighting hordes and clearing hostile areas is a lot of fun and so I felt compelled to do another run and managed to get through to near the end before the end of this year. Shame about the director or whoever being a loser, or the fact that there will not be a continuation of this, but that's not really gonna take away from my enjoyment of this at all. 3. PowerWash Simulator I did up to what was the end just before the full release and then I started all over and picked up all of the achievements along the way aside from the two "get a gold medal in challenge mode" ones cuz I'm not here for that kind of thing, I'm just here to vibe and clean stuff. The story did manage to surprise me in a way that I probably should've seen coming, but the last few levels that I got to were a lot of drat fun. 2. Let It Die I like the silly weapons and the causing of mild inconveniences for other people online and the selection of tunes while climbing this lovely tower. It's still in the middle of celebrating its 6th anniversary and I will still be playing this thing into 2023 because I have a problem. 1. Hot Wheels: Unleashed This is probably the most fun I've had with a racing game in a while. Even the lovely cars in this game can stand a chance once you master how to properly drift and when to time your boosts. There was a period where I forgot how to roll my car in the air for races where you need to know how to do that in order to stay ahead (it's right stick on PS4) and I just kind of tried to wing it while the camera was all out of whack and I didn't know if I was going to land on my wheels or not. The music is pretty good, too, and the editing options you have for your car or for the tracks are incredible.
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Dec 31, 2022 11:34
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10 - Stray A brave game with very cool artistic direction, a touching story, and overall a good time. I want more of these things 9 - Into the Breach The patch brought so much new good stuff to an already nearly perfect game. 8 - Picross 8 It's Picross, but more. 7 - Inscryption While it has it's flaws in later parts of the game imo, and looses some of what makes it special, it's something one should have experienced. 6 - Ghost of Tsushima DLC Awesome art direction and gameplay, one of the games that triggers the "just one more icon on the open world"-thing for hours on end until it's suddenly early in the morning. The DLC was fine, though I didn't like the story as much as others, but it added cool new mechanics to an already pretty well designed game. 5 - Cyberpunk 2077 It didn't make my GOTY list when it came out. Too many bugs, too many let downs. With the patched PS5 version, a lot is forgiven and I had a great time finally getting the platinum on this. 4 - Xenoblade 3 This one might be up there with some of the best Final Fantasies for me. 3 - Metroid: Dread The best controlling metroidvania I ever played, with an awesome presentation, cool level design and memorable boss encounters. The EMMI sections added a true element of dread to it, and even though some where a bit fiddly to complete, I blasted through this game to 100% completion like I seldom do. 2 - Ghostsong Started another playthrough right from the credits. I usually don't do this. Loveletter to a lot of Metroidvanias with a couple of new twists, awesome soundtrack, artdirection inspired by Hollow Knight and Super Metroid-like level design. Hard to believe this is the first game from this dev. 1 - Elden Ring Everything has been said already. Honorable mention: Horizon: Forbidden West. Bounced off it, but now enjoying the gameplay a lot. Maybe the story will grab me down the line? No idea, currenlty having fun blasting robots. tuo fucked around with this message at 11:38 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 11:36
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  Honorable Mention: The Excavation of Hob's Barrow - A small horror adventure game taking heavy inspiration from Lovecraft and British folk horror like the Wicker Man. It's a well done game, with solid puzzles, writing, graphics and all.  10. AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative - Like the first, it's a crazy bizarre game with a surprising story. Maybe not quite as good as the first game but really entertaining overall.   (minor gameplay spoiler, first 15 minutes)9. The Case of the Golden Idol - A solid puzzle game taking after The Return of the Obra Dinn. It had some neat storytelling and pretty good puzzles, but it could have been more challenging. Still a really good game, I hope to see more like it.  8. Stray - Cat game! It's a really well done, small game. I liked the style and setting quite a bit, and it had a good story.  7. Last Call BBS - Unfortunately the last Zachtronics game, but a good one to go out on. As challenging as all the earlier games, but now with more variety.  6. Horizon: Forbidden West - A good followup to the original. The story, graphics, world design and everything were top-notch, and it's all-around what you'd expect out of a modern AAA open world game. It made some missteps, however. As many others have noted, Aloy constantly explains the answers to puzzles and re-explains game mechanics that (especially if you played the first game) you're already very familiar with. The combat system just has too much going on, with so many elemental damage types and special attacks that it becomes tedious to keep track of. Though really, its biggest issue was that it came out at the same time as Elden Ring. Forbidden West might well be in the GOTY running if it had come out last year, but after Elden Ring it just feels outdated.   5. Immortality - I think this is the best of Sam Barlow's FMV games. It does a great job depicting 3 different eras of filmmaking--each of the movies is believable and really well done. (major full game spoilers) Figuring out the rewind mechanic was a really fantastic, totally unexpected moment. The overarching plot was also decent enough. It was surprising at first and, at least with how it played out for me, suprising enough through the end. I know a lot of people ended up looking up a summary and feeling disappointed, but I thought it worked out pretty well while actually playing the game, seeing things revealed piece by piece and putting it all together yourself.  4. Return to Monkey Island - I played the first two Monkey Island games a million times growing up. I still have the floppy disks. There's no series I'm more nostalgic for. Return to Monkey Island exceeded all my expectations, and was a fantastic addition to the series. I really appreciate that rather than try to reboot or reimagine the series, it picked up the old story while reflecting the many years that have passed in the meantime. I know the ending is controversial, (ending spoilers) but I think it fits well with that passage of time--that while Guybrush's conflict with LeChuck is important to him and to who he is, even Guybrush realizes that over the years his relationship with Elaine and his kid have become so much more important. It's also a perfect synthesis of the endings of MI1 and 2. I was expecting this to be a disappointment and was very wrong. I'm really happy this was made.  3. FFXIV: Endwalker - I picked up FFXIV this year after seeing all the praise in last year's GOTY thread. It's good. I'm only rating Endwalker here because it's the best part of the game and so I don't crowd out all of the other games I played this year, but for reference: Endwalker > Heavensward > Shadowbringers > Stormblood > ARR. It's interesting to see what can be done with a game's story when it plays out over hundreds and hundreds of hours. In FFXIV there is a lot of filler--while there aren't too many 'kill 10 rats' quests, there are a whole lot of meaningless FedEx quests, especially in the early part of the game. However, as you get deeper into the expansions, the quests tend to become a lot more meaningful and relevant to the overarching stories. And that overarching story is really the best part of the game. Endwalker manages to tie together threads that start very early on in the game--literally 300+ hours of gameplay earlier--and does it in a very satisfying way. It's an impressive feat.   2. Elden Ring - Elden Ring is everything that open world RPGs should be. It presents a mysterious, challenging world that begs you to explore it and then rewards you when you do. Where most open world games now give you precise quest markers and waypoints for where to go, Elden Ring drops you into a vast world with little guidance beyond an occasional vague beam of light pointing off to the distance. It's up to you to figure out the rest, which makes it so much more satisfying when you do. And the exploration is truly phenomenal--the best areas and bosses in the game are entirely optional, secret areas that you have to go out of your way to unlock. The writing, as understated as it is, has some great bits as well. (minor detail about a boss) A gigantic general who loves his tiny horse so much that he learns to manipulate gravity so that he can keep riding him! Elden Ring also wins my personal awards for this year's Witchiest Witch of the Year and Best Video Game Romance.   1. Pentiment - Pentiment is a beautiful game. It's a story about a particular historical period, it's a story about the practice of history itself, it's a story about the passage of time, it's a story about the stories we tell ourselves and how those stories are adapted, altered, or forgotten over time. The art style is perfect for the game, and the different writing/typing styles for different characters' dialogues is a brilliant touch. The story is intriguing. (gameplay/story spoilers) Murder mysteries you can unravel pieces of but quite fully understand, while feeling the weight of needing to accuse one of several plausibly-guilty suspects. Seeing how the small town evolves over the years, seeing how your choices have impacted things many years later. And it is a game where it feels like your choices matter. Where you actually can change the lives of the people in the town, by convincing people to get married, to learn about the old ways, or even just by letting someone take your hat. And where even if you can't change the bigger events, you can understand why they happen. I really hope we keep seeing more of these Night in the Woods or Disco Elysium types of games that focus more on story and reactivity than on combat systems or epic geographical scope. Pentiment is also a very close runner up for both Witchiest Witch of the Year and Best Video Game Romance.
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Dec 31, 2022 12:48
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You guys there are currently a couple of INCREDIBLY tight races in the top 10 
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Dec 31, 2022 12:52
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Rarity posted:You guys there are currently a couple of INCREDIBLY tight races in the top 10 Don't believe the lies! 
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 13:17
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Jerusalem posted:Don't believe the lies! Lmao
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Dec 31, 2022 13:24
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This year was a bit of a mixed bag - the most new games I've ever played at around 125 or so, but in terms of average quality probably one of the weakest years ever. Regardless, I managed to find some words about ten games I played this year. First up, Honorable Ment-wait hold on The gently caress You Paradox Interactive Award Empire of Sin Ok I gotta be upfront this game is not good and is genuinely unfinished and barely playable but I have to talk about this game. what the hell is wrong with Paradox for letting this game die This is like. the exact video game I've wanted for years - set in 1920s Chicago, you build an mobster empire of alcohol, sex, and gambling to take over the city against various enemy (or ally) factions punctuated by party based XCOM-like gameplay. Sounds rad as gently caress right??? like city of gangsters but an actual game, or civilization but George Washington has a tommy gun!!! Unfortunately the game sucks! The game was abandoned and only one of the two advertised expansions has been released, over two years after launch, with no signs of any further post launch support beyond the few first initial months. The systems and mechanics are half assed and barely functional, if at all. Like apparently your crew members can get arrested and you have to bail them out but I never saw cops do anything beyond patrolling the streets and awkwardly leaving the area if they got too close to a combat encounter. Trading between factions is pointless because they almost never have anything useful, and having even the slightest negative relationship means trading is functionally impossible. You can make crew members underbosses to strengthen their assigned neighborhood but there isn't any point to this because why would you pay someone like 2 grand a week to stand still in an office to give you a 5% income bonus to gambling rackets? but goddamn it the premise alone carries this game so hard. you choose one of like 20 characters inspired by real life mobsters and gangsters of the early 20th century as your player character, and build a crew from a list of like 50 potential recruits, all with their own combat roles, stats, backstories, and relationships with each other. it's unironically extremely cool to run around the city shooting up enemy rackets and your right hand man suddenly runs up to you begging to go meet their estranged brother, or you get a pop up that your two new recruits are now intimate lovers, and get combat bonuses whenever they're physically nearby each other. The XCOM gameplay is exactly that, even with a ripoff overwatch ability. none of the combat roles are too deep, and there's only a handful of weapons for the handful of weapon types, but goddamn is extremely satisfying when late game snipers can clear out half a enemy team in one turn, or demolitionists can throw grenades that explode into more grenades down a choke point. The combat is perfectly serviceable and in that weird spot of being not good enough to praise much but works well enough to suddenly make 5 hours disappear. Having to manage the different rackets, districts, and neighborhoods is extremely underbaked, and most of the time it's just wandering around taking over whatever you want while the enemy AI, both in and out of combat, helplessly looks on. think less empire building and more empire domination. I hate Paradox for not following through on this game because despite this being literally unfinished in every sense of the word I played this game, and only this game, for like a week straight. I put like 30 hours into this game because even though the gameplay loop was barely functional and the memory leaks would sometimes crash my entire PS5, I still managed to have something resembling fun, but for the most part Empire of Sin gave me nothing but dashed hopes for something better. I'm so sad this game isn't good, but at least it was mildly entertaining enough to hold me for a while. FEET TO THE GROUND LETS GO is burned into my brain. ok now for the HM - Best Pre-2022 Release Batman: The Enemy Within I had a major craving for a Batman game a couple of months ago and I didn't want to replay any of the Arkham games, but I didn't want to go too far back and emulate PS1 games or whatever, so I decided to play Batman: The Telltale Series, one of the first monthly PlayStation Plus games I redeemed years ago. I enjoyed it enough to buy The Enemy Within AKA Batman Season 2, and wowie this is probably Telltale's best game. So the story is a bit more railroaded than your typical choice based adventure games, even for Telltale. Like in episode 2, I initially thought the episode would branch into two different paths whether or not you decided to cooperate with a villainous character on a plan that could very easily go wrong, but nope, there's maybe a couple of moments where Batman can go "well, I dunno about this" but the wack as hell plan marches forward. Here's the thing though - it works. In The Enemy Within. Batman is undercover for the majority of the season, so your choices throughout the game aren't whether or not you want to do one thing over the other, it's about the balancing act of caring about the people in Bruce Wayne's life with those in Batman's as he navigates the criminal underworld in a way typically not seen in Batman media. For example, the major overarching focus of the game is the relationship between Bruce and John, an oddly pale skinned former Arkham inmate. Depending on how much you listen to and express genuine care about John's struggle to adapt to life outside of Arkham, and especially his brewing attraction to Harley Quinn, the final episode can see John either turn into a inspired vigilante who wants to work with Batman to clean up crime, or a broken mess who feels the only voice he can truly listen to is the one in his head. It's really engaging to be able to witness John be shaped by your actions and words, and I'm glad Telltale focused more on expanding the character interactions Bruce/Batman can have than make another typical ~choices matter~ affair. The game really doesn't feel as on rails as it is when both allies and enemies alike are as well written as they are here. Highly recommend playing both of Telltale's Batman games. but The Enemy Within is a lot more immersive, better paced, and cohesive overall. HMs - 2022 Releases Life is Strange Remastered A really good game brought down by a really lackluster remaster. This was my first time playing LiS, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the entire experience. I knew some spoilers about the game beforehand, like the twist main antagonist, but most of my knowledge about the game came from people either really loving it or thinking it was a cringe simulator. The worst the game did for me personally was make me groan at some outdated dialogue, even for 2016, and maybe laugh a little at some ridiculous but probably not supposed to be intentionally funny scenes. LiS is a picture perfect capture of a very significant time for many people in that GenZ/millennial crossover group, myself included. Even though I couldn’t necessarily relate to any character in a major way, the sense of time, place, and atmosphere radiating off of Arcadia Bay made it one of the few times I ever truly felt a sense of immersion, of being pulled in and kept there, by a video game. I really liked Max and Chloe, and honestly my biggest complaint is I wish they had more time on screen. Sometimes it was hard to justify their actions or feelings, even if they already have been friends years before. But I also wanted to see more scenes of them together, because they had a great dynamic and chemistry. The supporting cast in general is good too, even if a lot of them are more archetypes or tropes than anything else, but every minor character fulfills their role at least pretty well when they show up. The remaster itself is probably the worst thing here though. I played this over two months after its release and there are still a plethora of mostly graphical bugs and glitches, like this weird lighting and bloom effect that occurs on the edges of the screen randomly, or Max jittering up and down when doing certain animations. Thankfully nothing really gameplay wise was affected, besides two instances of teleporting to a different spot on the map after a cutscene and the rewind sometimes taking a few trigger presses to register or speed up. A lot of characters just look…dead, and don't really emote at all, and it's hard to believe these are their supposedly upscaled and mocapped models. In the end, the half-assed remaster thankfully did not really deter me much in actually enjoying the game itself, and Life is Strange Season 1 is definitively in my top 20 games of all time. 2 months later addendum: For about a month straight after I finished this I could not stop listening to the soundtrack for this + Before the Storm. I didn't realize how loving awesome the music for this game is during my playthrough. A small collection of some incredible indie rock. Funnily enough, True Colors has a significantly weaker soundtrack despite half the songs being made specifically for it, but the DLC Wavelengths uses licensed music just like LiS1, and just like LIS1 again, every song is tremendous. One of many games that gave me brainrot and I didn't even realize it until a week later. 4 months later addendum: After playing the 2016 release of Life is Strange, I think the remaster was kinda needed, and now that a lot more of the technical issues have been cleaned up, the remaster is, in my opinion, the definitive way to play Season 1. I think the remaster retains enough of the original artstyle while also enhancing the overall graphical fidelity to make the 2016 release not necessarily obsolete, but harder to go back to over half a decade later. Ghostwire: Tokyo Admittedly this game getting a spot in my HMs is more out of pity than anything else. I did really enjoy my time here, getting about 25 hours for a full completionist playthrough in a beautiful Shibuya virtualscape, and it is rather unfortunate this game came and went with little hopes for future content and possibly even a sequel, but it does have its problems, like the boring but serviceable checklist open world, weak plot and nonexistent characters, and divisive combat. I still think this is at least worth trying out, especially when it comes to GamePass in the spring. The Quarry Very much a proper successor to Until Dawn. The pacing is better, the lore and story is interesting and not overly complicated, the characters are honestly probably better, and it looks absolutely fantastic with a PS5/OLED combo. Facial animation is absolutely stellar, and the art style does well to accommodate it. It's kinda wild how much more budget and tech this game has behind it than any of the DPA games, even the one released 8 months prior in House of Ashes or 5 months later in The Devil in Me, but that's probably more the difference of yearly Bandai Namco money vs one-off 2K/Take-Two money. One thing I didn't realize until I hit the game's abrupt ending was how much less…well, scary this game is compared to prior Supermassive works. There really isn't any horror, like, at all. Sure, some tense moments like saving a friend from a monster or "holy poo poo" moments like someone suddenly missing half a face because they got a little too touchy with a shotgun, but i think the combination of less QTEs and an intentional focus on the (literal and figurative) campier aspects of the horror genre made this feel more like an entertaining joyride rather than a thriller/horror showcase. I still enjoyed it and think it's the best Supermassive game, but I also wish the game actually tried to make me feel something. Genshin Impact Was My Most Played Game For The Third Straight Year Award Genshin Impact Did the mommy? meme irl when yelan was revealed. peak gaming moment …and now for my 2022 Game of the Year list, starting with… 5. AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative Nirvana is a lesser whole than AI 1, but it's still a great game that is a must play for fans of adventure games, visual novels, etc. Good music, great humor. some of the best characters I've seen from Uchikoshi, and an almost perfect 12-15 hour start to a 30 hour game. Thing is though, one of my biggest problems with this game is the second half, Mizuki Route, is both significantly less interesting and worse paced than Ryuki's. Mizuki is somehow just not a good protagonist, and I think a lot of it has to do with her not really having as good of chemistry with Aiba as Ryuki/Tama and Date/Aiba. She's basically perfect: superhuman abilities, insanely wealthy, well liked amongst her peers, but every single other character is deeply flawed to some extent and it makes her stand out badly. On top of this, her routes just aren't as engaging or funny as Ryuki's, and part of this is because the stakes get higher when she's the protagonist, but it also means I can't get invested in late game revelations because I'm just going through the motions waiting for someone more interesting than Mizuki to show up on screen. The timeline twist is whatever. It sucks that the basic premise of the game is actually just a red herring intended to gently caress with the player instead of leading anywhere interesting but fine I guess. The 'final' killer isn't really earned. Like, it makes sense when explained, but also, it just kinda falls flat because it feels like the game just chose someone out of lineup rather than actually build up to it. The three protagonists thing is fine, but it's kinda dumb how a throwaway joke in AI 1 gets turned into a major plot point here. Supporting cast is a mixed bag. Tokiko, Ryuki and Tama are all excellent. Date and Boss are great. Aiba, Iris, Chikara, Komeji, and Moma are good. Everyone else is just there. Gen is a visual gag given way too much screen time. Lien is a lame trope. Kizuna has no character in a game filled with outlandish ones. Shoma kinda sucks. Amame is just…there until the game remembers she exists. Bibi is just Mizuki but Corina Boeteger is speaking in a lower register. Everyone else is basically just a gag. I have no idea why Pewter was brought back when more than half of his screen time is just him being told to shut up. It’s a funny-the-first-time call back to AI 1, but when it happens literally every single time he shows up it’s not really a joke anymore. I seem down on this game but honestly it's because of two things: one I don't remember much of AI 1 so I have no point of reference for improvements and 2. The second half of the game is a major step down in quality and a major momentum killer, and it sort of retroactively hampered my opinion of the game overall. I really enjoyed my time because the investigations are cool, the Somniuns are mostly great, the humor in the first half is hilarious, and it's a fun ride until the very moment Mama randomly appears on screen late in the game and it becomes clear Kodaka had no idea how to fit the main twist into the game without literally explaining it to the player. 4. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Honestly, there isn't much to say here just because this is a good Borderlands game, and nowadays most people have decided whether or not that in of itself is a compliment or an insult. I’ve been a fan of the series since 2009, so to me, more Borderlands is good. Really solid entry that looks good, plays well, and actually has decent humor. Wonderlands probably has one of the if not the funniest scene in the series when Torgue blows up the ocean. The endgame changes are cool but the DLC being different skins of the endgame without actually changing or adding anything noteworthy blows. Thankfully the main game itself is good enough even that you can easily ignore the DLC. The side quests/towns are easily half the content of the game, which is good if you only care about getting through the game and nothing more, and a big plus if you want a surprisingly robust 50+ hour playthrough. 3. Needy Streamer Overload An intense rollercoaster of emotions. This game does not hold back on making you feel like poo poo, nor making you do some hosed up poo poo. It does balance it out by being 80% light hearted and comedic, but that other 20% is pretty outrageous and cringe inducing (the ‘good’ cringe). When applied to NSO, 'I can fix her' is way more of a central message of this game than it is a meme. I was looking forward to this game all of 2021, and this was the first 2022 release I played, so a pretty strong start. Banging soundtrack, great main character, engrossing story/routes and overall messaging. My only complaint is the game really doesn't have 'endgame' content in the sense that the overall goal of every playthrough is to reach 1 million subscribers, but reaching that milestone doesn't really do anything, because the real objective is to hit day 30, and see whatever ending your combination of subscribers and Ame's various health totals give you. This is fine, but it does mean that the game doesn't really have an answer for certain conditions being met earlier than expected and just coasts along, maybe stopping for a RNG event or two before day 30 hits. If anything, this is a well made video game that takes a real and genuine look at how content creators, specifically women and Vtubers, have to balance their personal life with making said content, and the sacrifices they have to make, the choices they have to live with, and the constant stress they never really escape from, along with critiquing the importance we as a world give the internet and internet culture. Some people might compare this to Doki Doki Literature Club (despite both games being completely different) but I honestly believe this game blows DDLC out of the water in any specific comparative measure. 2. Saints Row (2022) Back at Gamescom 2021, when the trailer for this game kicked off the event, I teared up. Saints Row is not only a video game series I love, it shaped my childhood and I might not have even continued playing video gamesbin general. It was the first series I fell in love with and to this day have fond memories of each and every entry. I remember playing Saints Row 1 and showing my mom overhearing Johnny Gat threatening to skullfuck a rival gang leader and not understanding why she was so upset, I just thought he sounded cool and funny. I remember the day Saints Row 2 released and GameStop was my 'kid in the candy store' moment. I remember begging my mom to buy the Saints Row The Third HeyDay shoes. I remember thinking Saints Row IV was one of the coolest games ever, because it showed no matter what, Saints Row was always fun, no matter what form it took. Saints Row is my second favorite video game series, only dethroned a few years ago in Persona. Ignoring Gat out of Hell and Agents of Mayhem, a standalone release to SRIV and a spinoff game following up after GooH respectively, eight years have passed since the last true entry in the Saints Row catalog. I’ve been waiting for the Saints to come back and declare it their time now to get this poo poo started, and it finally happened in August of this year. Honesty is the best policy - the opening mission of Saints Row sucks. It tries to match the same energy as Saints Row The Third and IV’s openings but fails miserably due to giving you way too many enemies to deal with and way too few options to deal with them. Thankfully it’s over pretty quick, you are introduced to pretty much every relevant character over the next handful of missions, and…turns out the Saints don’t actually exist until like a third (street) of the main story has been told. Truth be told, I put the game down for about a week at this point. I wasn’t having a bad time, but I didn’t feel engaged yet, and I wasn’t really sure why the game was taking so long to get to the point: being the Boss of the Saints (plus Genshin Impact had a big update so I had to get through that). After that small hiatus was over, suddenly Saints Row clicked, and I had a hard time putting it down. Santo Ileso is better than Steelport, no doubt, but I still struggle to decide if it's better than SR1 Stilwater. SR2 Stilwater is still king, but Santo Ileso is such a cool setting with distinct districts, varied and interesting architecture and infrastructure, and the Hidden Histories discoveries add lore in a natural way. I do wish the citizens felt more alive and filled up the sidewalks a bit more, but it's so refreshing to finally play a Saints Row game with a good city after nearly 15 years. The various Criminal Ventures are a good start to an idea I hope is expanded upon in a sequel. Building your own empire is so much better than just buying existing properties like in SR2 through SRIV, but I wish the Ventures became flashier and adorned the skyline as they progressed, like how the HQs did in SRTT when upgraded. I want to see a giant purple cactus in the night sky. The changes to gameplay are all solid. Skills and Perks are neat, but half the Skills are either not really useful at all or worse versions or later, better Skills I wish I had more Perk slots, mostly because only like two or three are must haves and the rest of nice QoL changes, but not good enough to take up such limited space. Takedowns are cool, but I wish there were maybe like four or five more animations. I do like how much more violent Boss gets with them as the story progresses, but I still saw the same handful of animations for 60+ hours. The wingsuit is fine, but feels like more something one person really pushed to add in cause they thought it would be cool rather than something the entire dev team wanted to add. Car combat is fun but underutilized, especially riding on the roof. Sideswiping feels good to use but doesn’t register that often, and enemy vehicles don’t get close enough to use that often either. Absolutely bizarre you can’t tow a vehicle/object and shoot a gun at the same time though. I do have to mention that I am SO glad character customization can be done on the fly whenever you want, but I do wish it extended to vehicles and weapons. At least give us a contact we can call who shows up in a van so we can swap weapons a la Mafia III. Plus, being able to make a quick call to start a gang fight with whatever faction you want is a loving godsend, and something I’ve wanted since Saints Row 1. The various weapon and vehicle challenges are cool, as the weapon challenges encourage going to bat with a specific gang, and mostly quick and easy to get, but the vehicle challenges are either insanely easy to get, like Near Misses and Nitrous Burns, or very hard to get organically, like backflips or barrel rolls. Vehicle and weapon customization is the best it has ever been. Vehicle customization is back to SR2 levels, and surprasses it in some cases, and weapon customization only existed in concept in SRTT and IV, so truly being able to make a weapon your own is a welcome change. Character/clothing customization is a little too limited, like it’s almost fantastic, but still a bit behind SR2, especially in the clothing department. Planet Saints has some really cool designs but it's one of the last Ventures you can build so you won’t be able to truly appreciate the clothes on offer. HQ customization is also cool, decorating the place with various collectables, but again, I wish the HQ changed a lot sooner in the story, or even better, there were upgrades you could purchase like in SR2 and SRTT. It sucks to spend 90% of the game in a decrepit building that’s half rubble despite bringing in a million dollars every half hour. The game is really pretty. There is a really nice balance of retaining the art style of the original release of SRTT and SRIV, and becoming more grounded. SRTT Remastered has the superior character models, but Saints Row 2022 has some fantastic vistas. Dawn and dusk in the desert is gorgeous. Originally I had a page long write up here critiquing the story and characters, but my thoughts can be summarized with "nobody here is fleshed out enough to be an actual character, and the narrative is mediocre." So overall - the game looks and plays extremely well (when it’s functioning properly) and is mostly brought down by a weak story, bland characters, and design decisions that have either been in previous entries and simply never addressed properly, or randomly changed for the worse in 2022. I wanted to play Saints Row 2022, and I went in expecting a Saints Row game. Did I get exactly that? Not 100%, but I got a new entry in one of my favorite game series ever, and I very much enjoyed 95% of my time with it. I do believe this game should not have been released for at least another 6 months to fix the technical issues. but there isn't anything here I can point at specifically and say Saints Row does worse than any other game. It really is just the technical mess the game released as exacerbated any issues people had with the game itself - if they actually played it, that is. And my Game of the Year for 2022 is: 1. Marvel's Midnight Suns Midnight Suns shocked me. I wrote the game off when it was revealed to be a deckbuilder - one of my least favorite genres of games. I just wanted a new, AAA superhero game. Give me Ultimate Alliance 4 but with a budget this time, or a Marvel (maybe vs. DC) fighting game. A superhero deckbuilder was a monkey’s paw for me, and I paid zero attention to Midnight Suns until November 2022. Some previews for the game started coming out, and I decided to watch some gameplay to see how it came along, and I could not believe how much pure fun the card-based combat looked like. It looked so smooth, fine-tuned, and crafted with care. I went from subzero interest to preordering the Ultimate Edition within like, 72 hours. This game hooked me from the jump. The heroes here are effectively amalgamations of their most popular or common renditions, and outside of combat, you can straight up hangout with anyone at the home base, the Abbey, giving Firaxis the ability to explore the people behind the superhero persona, instead of rehashing origin stories or going through unnecessary arcs. For example, Peter Parker doesn’t struggle with ‘with great powers comes great responsibility’, he’s struggling to fit in with a big group of superheroes when he’s spent years by himself, and you not only can choose to help him through that, but also help him decide if being a Midnight Sun is more than just a temporary label, or the more contemporary Avengers would benefit him and the people he loves more. In terms of writing, every single character - not just playable heroes, but also the villains, are, at worst, perfectly serviceable, and at best, absolutely fantastic. I truly think the weakest characters here are probably Crossbones, Ghost Rider, and, depending on how much you like lore dumps and old women, Agatha and Caretaker. Nico, Blade, Magik, Iron Man, are top tier here, and hell, even Yuri Lowenthal doing a worse, but still nicely written incarnation of Spider-Man still does a great job. Speaking of, it’s so cool to see legacy actors return here, like Steve Blum as Wolverine and Michael Jai White as Blade. It's wild to look at the voice cast and realize the vast majority of them have voiced their respective character at some point in the past, whether that be in an animation or video game. I’ll say it a million times but it’s true every time: it really brings home that feeling that the developers genuinely cared about what they were doing here. The combat is as fun as it looks, probably even more so. Each hero has a different combat role and therefore deck to build from, and while admittedly some heroes are worse than others (Ghost Rider doesn’t become worthwhile until late game, and Captain Marvel is really good early game but falls off massively and is effectively replaced by Captain America by mid/late game) each hero feels completely unique and pretty well designed. Even the player character, The Hunter, has a wide range of cards that allow the player to hyperfocus on a specific build or be a generalist, and truthfully The Hunter never feels weak at any point in the game, and arguably might be the straight up best hero in the game due to this flexibility. I said this game shocked me, and I also meant that in a different way. I am surprised that, when taking the individual aspects of this game, and combining it, it actually makes a coherent product, let alone my favorite game of the year. How can a turn-based strategy deckbuilder, with models and animations that look straight out of a late 7th gen game, with a major focus on social bonding and 18th century fantasy magic, centered around a cast of some of the most popular superheroes ever created being led by a resurrected zombie who was raised by a lesbian witch couple, be greenlit by one of the biggest video game publishers in the world? I dunno, but I’m happy as gently caress it did. Everything here in Midnight Suns just works so well. It’s fun, addictive, engaging, well written, well realized, and I desperately hope this game gets more post-launch content than what is announced, if not an outright sequel, because I need it. Very rarely do I ever buy a game, hell, pre-order a game, and it not only exceed my expectations, but make me excited for its future. The Quick List: 5. AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative 4. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands 3. Needy Streamer Overload 2. Saints Row (2022) 1. Marvel's Midnight Suns - My 2022 GOTY
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Dec 31, 2022 13:26
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Cruiserweight posted:1. Marvel's Midnight Suns So glad to see this game getting so much love. It's currently glitchy as gently caress (as heavily mentioned the game's thread) but it really is something special. I really hope it's successful enough to get a sequel.
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Dec 31, 2022 13:58
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I bought quite a few games full price this year that I prolly could've waited on but the thread has taught me that I should've listened to my instincts and gotten Stranger of Paradise on day 1.
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Dec 31, 2022 14:03
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Seeing it show up so high on so many lists convinced me to reinstall Elden Ring. I played a ton of it earlier this year, and ultimately decided it wasn't very good, but goddamn it. I like all of the soulsborne games and even love some of them, and I really want to like Elden Ring. Maybe this time, I'll see what everyone else sees. I really hope so.  Shinji2015 posted:
Hell yeah, Gravity Rush is such a cool series, I'm glad to see you played and liked it.
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Dec 31, 2022 14:04
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Rarity posted:gently caress YEAH MIRROR'S EDGE Mirror's Edge Gang!  Probably the best game I've never re-finished since the original release. I always have such a good time replaying the earlier levels. And those time trials were real fun.
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Dec 31, 2022 14:15
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Well I'm in a bit of a rush so I won't say too much about anything - but here's my list: I've tried to go through every game I've played this year so I'll start with some dis/honourable mentions before I get to the Top 10. I am sort of astonished at exactly how many hours I've poured into gaming but....it rules The games I didn't really get on with: Guardians of the Galaxy — Really not particularly enjoyable. The combat became stale after an hour or so, and the dialogue grating. There's a lot of jank I was happy to look past, excited to see where the story went. Unfortunately that was nowhere in particular. Prey — Heard so many good things about this, but very quickly the Bioshock DNA became apparent and I was intrinsically repulsed. FFVII remake— I tried it. I gave it a solid go. I played for three hours. It just confirmed all the unutterable prejudices I have against this entire series. Why do I hate Final Fantasy? I can't really say. But you can't accuse me of not trying! Dead by Daylight — How does anyone like this game? It is SO DULL Stellaris — The lack of a proper story or post-win condition epilogue couldn't get me through an entire game of this. To me this is too much micro-management for no reward. Walking Dead season 3 — I would like to play as Clem, not some rent-a-bloke with his even worse brother. Devil May Cry 5 — Devil May Cry 4 was one of my favourite games ever. I don't know why this is so different, but the level design doesn't help. V is also abjectly awful to play as, and the series is suffering from tremendous combat bloat. Man of Medan — Just really nothing to say about this. A poor setting and plot, with no decent acting (apart from the guy who played Iceman, who I got immediately killed when the cat knocked the controller out of my hand). Little Horrors — similar to the above, but with an even worse, almost offensive plot. Persona 5 — I think the combat is fine, but I simply do not have the patience to sit through so much dialogue and slice-of-life mundanity. THPS 1+2 — Shiny new graphics can't really hide how outdated the movement is. I sunk so many hours into these as a kid but couldn’t get back into it. The dishonourable mentions: The Forgotten City — I know this is a Goon favourite, but honestly the ridiculous ending soured the entire game for me. It was also far more compact - and not the better for it - than I had expected. Ghost Runner — I played it for a grand total of 15 minutes. I couldn't get over how terrible and floaty the controls were. Jedi Fallen Order — I didn't play it this year, sorry; but it deserves at least another 5 years in the shame box. A game that stole everything good about Dark Souls, Metroidvania, Sekiro and Zelda, and expertly ruined each aspect. Dreadful thrashing noodle animations - zero heft to the combat. I understand lightsabers are made of light, but I do not want each combat encounter to feel as if I'm a spider having a nightmare on a piece of paper. Poor characters and puzzles bereft of imagination, fun or necessity. T-posing enemies rollerskating out of the same cave and falling straight off a cliff. Not even the pain of paying £60 could force me to finish it 13 Sentiles: Aegis Rim — I bought this on the recommendation of Goons, and quickly realised I would be embarrassed to play this in front of anybody. The gameplay itself, either the Milf School mode or mech mode, just had no enjoyable aspects. Games I haven’t finished but liked: Chorvs — Very decent shooting action, but got very samey before I unlocked some of the Signalis — I very much want to get back to this, but Ragnarok got in the way. Huge fan of the Lovecraftian, German, psychic communist horror vibes. Heavenly bodies — Well it's more like a party co-op game so I can't ever imagine finishing this, but the time I've had has been hilarious. Tunic — I don't seem to love this as much as others on this forum do, but it is enjoyable and there is a definite pleasure in discovery. However, it's really, undeservedly hard and gently caress everytime they hide the critical path behind scenery when you can't change the camera angle. It Takes Two — Due to timing and laziness it's taken us well over a year to even get near the end. This game is far longer than I ever expected but holy moly is it imaginative. A real achievement. It's difficult to imagine this came from the same people as murder-thon "A Way Out", which is also an extremely good couch co-op buy. Deliver us the Moon — A nice and pleasant (well, apart from the fascism) walking sim. Again, more exciting games distracted me. Soma — Was loving this: not exactly scary like I thought it would be, but the story and mystery had its hooks in and the voice acting was fantastic. I only stopped because it dropped from the Extra game catalogue lol Observer System Redux — Similar to Soma in a lot of ways. A gorgeous, filthy game with an incredible atmosphere. The first mindhack section however was so stressful I decided to put it away until I was in a more receptive mood. Walking Dead Series 4 — played the whole series with my partner this year as it's not too different from watching TV. I wouldn't say any of them are outstanding but they're solid dialogue roulette games. Celeste — hardcore, delightful, brutal gaming but probably a bit too platformy for me, and I think I've grown out of the genre. I think it's a must play for floating platform enjoyers. Outer Wilds — A real achievement. But I never finished it because I got stuck on some puzzle and Veeg had just got to the same point so I watched him play it instead - while he was in floods of tears of course. I don't think I really missed anything by watching it, but that's not to denigrate the game. Dishonoured 2 — Solid action shooting...whatever. Didn't care about the plot at all but enjoyed the freedom and self-imposed challenge of no killing. I did stop when I accidentally killed some major NPC and couldn't get a recent save before it. Return of the Obra Dinn — I absolutely smashed through most of this game in a single day, completely enthralled. Life and work got in the way, and when I booted it up two weeks later I had forgotten literally everything. Will probably do a fresh playthrough over christmas. Vampire Hunters — Played this for six hours and have vowed never to touch it again for my own mental health. Absolutely dangerous to have installed. Do not buy, do not play - not even once. Games I finished and liked - The Honourable Mentions: I'll add more text to these later. The Quarry Telling Lies Rollerdrome The Walking Dead Series 1/2 The Devil in me Donut County Blasphemous House of Ashes RESI 8 Hitman 3 Cyberpunk 2077 The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow The Last of us: Factions: It doesn't really feel fair putting this in the top ten again given that I've played consistently since last year, but it's still fantastic. It's weighty and grim, but playing without a group can be hit or miss as this ancient game is still rife with people who'll abuse glitches, lag-switches, or modded controllers; or are just generally incredibly rude try-hards. But it really rewards both careful thought and strategy, and running around like you're in a COD lobby. It is one of the more difficult multiplayer games to pick up, but getting to that point where you're able to get more than two eliminations in a game gives an almost unrivalled sense of achievement. It can also be very funny. 2023 GOTY contenders: Cult of the Lamb-- Very much enjoying this, nice and cute but I would really like some more depth to either side of the game Return to Monkey Island -- Honestly was a little disappointed with this at first - it’s been way too easy so far, however I’ve just got to a bit where the game opens up a lot more and it’s much more promising. I’m hoping for something like (but not as bad) as the rubber chicken bully puzzle Binding of Isaac -- Barely played it so far, but I have several years worth of content to go through apparently. Pentement-- I’m only forty minutes in! The Top Ten 10: Tetris Effect A stunningly beautiful game. I don't know how I can splurge about this game without repeating every other review. Hallucinogenic flow-like zen states, the feeling of letting go and allowing your instincts to do all the work, the mesmerising music. I had never thought Tetris could be anything more than a way to pass time waiting at the doctor but this was like stepping into the swirling void of pure cause and effect. I love it - but it's also incredibly hard. That said, when you find yourself making plays before you literally even thought of them you realise the pleasure in pure kinesthetic process. There are a few additions to this - notably 'The Zone' that put some strategy and thought back into Tetris, and the co-op boss battles are a really stressful but rewarding touch. Please play it! 9: Returnal The only reason I am putting this so high up the list is because it was already my number 2 last year and I want other games to have a fair shot. Phenomenal. Masterclass of combat. Wonderful disturbing story. I kept playing the Tower of Sisyphus after I was done just so I could beat Veeg's score, and then I kept playing. You are quite literally required to play this if you have a PS5. 8: OlliOlli World Again, another game of pure clicky clacky physical satisfaction. They sounds and stickyness of the board connecting to a grind rail - the gigantic jumps, the ability to switch between five tricks in a single second. Just pure flow. Initially I thought either this game was a lot easier than I had heard, or I just had the right kind of gaming experience that I clicked with it instantly. I was hitting the special objectives and three tiers of high scores for each level on my first or second go. And then I got to the fourth biome. Game just lifted me up and air choke-slammed me onto a grind-able alien carcass. It did, in fact, break me. This is one game where I really want the platinum but I genuinely don't think I can do it. But in a dark souls-esque way, finally figuring out and then executing the perfect (and I mean, literally perfect) line to get past the high score for the later levels is off the charts catharsis. Some levels left my mouth dry from effort and concentration, panting like a dog trying to figure out the exact number and timing of tricks to maximise my multiplier, while keeping just enough speed to launch at the exact right time to clear an enormous jump. There's also a nice array of customisables, a multiplayer score attack and some (kind of pointless) randomly generated track options. I really love this game, it just feels so good when you're nailing it. 7: Ace Combat 7 Stupid and ridiculous and unyielding in how loving cool it is. The controls (only pick expert controls - you literally can't finish the final mission with easy controls!) are great, the stunts you can pull off - which would turn any real pilot into sludge, are thrilling, and it's also tough as nails. Once it clicks, you can do things you didn't think were remotely possible. Each mission is more of a puzzle box than a pure combat arena and it's the imagination in mission design that really makes this game stand out. The story is...well silly, but just serious enough to bring one of the most dramatic levels in a game home. Anyone who has played this game knows exactly what this is. Most of all this game is pure fun. 6: Sifu A lot of people had high hopes for this and honestly I think it met them on nearly every count. Perhaps it could have more levels, and it could have had made more of an effort in building you up to the technical skills for the final boss. But nevertheless it is one of the cleanest, most responsive controls schemes I've seen in any game. A lot of triple A games would kill to have a combat system as varied and tehcnically polished as this. Another game that I was happy to go for the platinum in. 5: Overwatch 2 Honestly I am compelled to apologise for putting this in here. Because of Blizzard of course. But I cannot ignore how well designed this game is. If you haven't played it and read online about it, it's nothing but gushes of vile effluvium - everybody who has 6000 hours in this loathes this game more than their own lives. But they still play it. When it goes well, it's unbeatable as any multiplayer game. How they've managed to create a game with 20+ completely (in most cases) distinct characters that isn't a total broken steaming mess from the get go is a real achievement in all video games. It's fast, responsive, tight, rewards good gameplay and also rewards those without great FPS skills with support characters. Yes, some of the balance for support went out the window with 2, but I'm sure they'll get there again...I hope. The change to 5v5 was a gigantic QOL increase, which while so simple, almost makes it an entirely new game. I love this mess and I wish some other nice company just bought it off blizzard. 4: Inscryption Let me say, and some will argue - the first act is much stronger than the other two. I would've preferred it the entire game was within the confines of the cabin, but it is so strong it deserves a spot on the top ten for that alone. 3: Slay the Spire Another Card game! I played a little bit of Marvel Snap a few days ago and that made me realise I do not like card games. I like *intrigued voice* asymmetric deckbuilding games. On both PS5 and iOS I think I've got almost as much time in this as my No.1. It can be so so difficult and frustrating, but I have managed to beat ascension 0 with each character. It's horribly addictive, as fast paced as you want it to be, and can be played for a quick ten minutes or a life ruining 8 hours at a time. While it looks on the first go a little too basic, it soon balloons into an incalculable number of variables, such that you almost always have a of winning, if you can just use your imagination. Because of that I fail a lot, but I love it when a winning deck just jumps out at me. 2: God of War: Ragnarok I found it difficult finding a place on this list for this game. But I had to consider how much I wanted to keep playing it and the fact that it got better as it went on. This is quadruple A gaming, with a mostly fantastic score and ludicrously opulent production values that do some heavy lifting - but the core combat and story are the heart of the game and they still work. I don’t think this game had the same impact as GoW 18 but it was more, and it was mostly better. It’s also clear this is two sequels stuffed into one, which I think was a better choice despite the shortcomings that go with it. I would’ve been irritated to play a mid-way, low stakes sequel, just to wait for a third that would inevitably be shorter and most probably warn out of it’s welcome. It’s fun, it’s got heart, it has less fetch quest rubbish than the first and a genuinely good story and ending. Made me shed a tear, and made me risk going away on MS teams just to keep playing. This is why, far from the best game I’ve ever played, it still gets such a high spot on this list. And finally....  1: Elden Ring I have, as should be no surprise, placed Elden Ring in the No.1 Spot. I have strapped this vote with two ruptured tears. As soon as I hit post and it comes into proximity with Veeg’s No.1 vote for Final Fantasy X, it will explode, annihilating both votes. I feel this is entirely fair and nobody could argue with it. There is no game that has met the hype I, against my better judgement, built up in my mind, ever. Not even Majora's Mask or Half-life 2 met it. I regret playing the network test, because I wish I could've gone in totally blind. I wish I could spotless mind my memory and play it all from the very beginning. Big Dark Souls. Dark souls 2 II. FromSoft did it again. Made possibly the best game of all time, again. This game is so good that every complaint I have is tinged with the sort of love you'd have for a naughty dog. This game obliterated February, and then again in March when I immediately created a new game after finishing it the first time. I don't think there's anything in the past ten years that's of this level of craftmanship. I love not having a clue what's going on in the story and being given months of enjoyment piecing it together. This game delivered and then some. A true greatest of all time contender.
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Dec 31, 2022 14:47
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:I bought quite a few games full price this year that I prolly could've waited on but the thread has taught me that I should've listened to my instincts and gotten Stranger of Paradise on day 1. I would like to apologise to Jack for not buying his game at launch because I started it a couple days ago and it would definitely make my list but I won't complete it until 2023 https://i.imgur.com/50mO9WS.mp4
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Dec 31, 2022 14:47
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Alright, might as well post my list as well! 8. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: While not as good as the first one, I loved playing this, the game is incredibly anime and still good enough to play. The gacha system though could use some tweaking, because I had issues sometimes due to not having the right skills. 7. Pokemon Violet: It's Pokemon, I love Pokemon. Not only was this game incredibly fun to play, the bugs didn't bother me much, barring some hilarious graphical glitches, and one or two crashes. The story was amazing for Pokemon, and I wish I could play it again blind. 6. Tokyo Mirage Session #FEEncore: I love any persona like game. This game is unabashedly anime, the characters were great, and it's a shame that people dismiss it out of hand. The combat is fun, the characters are fun, and the music is fittingly great for a game based around idols! I regret not having a WiiU to play this game earlier, but all the costumes added to the Switch version made it amazing, and the extra content helped a lot to increase the playtime for me to enjoy the combat even more. I don't know if I'd like it as much if it had turned out as people had originally hoped, with it being more on the SMT side than Persona, because I feel it would have lacked the charm it currently does. 5. SMTV: No, I didn't put this at 5 on purpose, just worked out that way. This was my first foray into the SMT side of Atlus, I had always played Persona before now. I love this game, the demons are charming, the combat is fluid, and the mythology references make my inner nerd scream with joy. There's so many different ways to play this game, that I'll probably do a new game+ at some point, just to switch up how I played, the sheer variety of Demons in the game makes team building a joy. 4. Pokemon Legends: Arceus: I never thought I'd enjoy a Pokemon game where battling WASN'T the main focus, but here we are. Being able to sneak up on Pokemon, catch them, and then having a story on top of that that was actually good by Pokemon standards? I haven't finished the postgame yet, but I'm slowly working my way through it. I'm hoping that going forward, Arceus is used as the baseline for any future Pokemon game, because the mechanics of this game are great, and I want more. 3. Persona 5 Royal: As I had played the original on the PS3, I thought I knew what I was getting into with this, as I thought I knew the story. I didn't. The game weaved in the new characters seamlessly, and I felt that the story was different enough that this game could be on it's own instead of constantly compared to the original. The gameplay was great, the style was always there, but it's pushed up to 11 with the new mechanics. The new story was great, and as much as I want to NG+ it, a 120+ hour game is a daunting prospect to NG+, but I'll do it eventually! 2. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak: The expansion to a game I loved. The new monsters were a blast to fight, I got to fight some old favorites, and I love the way combat flows so easily, and the momentum a lot of the new Wirebug skills give the weapons. I've probably put over 200 hours into this game alone, and will most likely put more in as time goes by. 1. Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition: This game. Oh drat this game. On a friend's behest, I finally picked up this game after faffing around in the beginning of the game for a year, even after playing the 3DS version that's now collecting dust because this version blows it out of the water. The characters are great, the sidequests are great, but holy poo poo. Why did I wait so long to play this game?! I knew it had a huge backing to translate it here over in the West, but I didn't realize I'd enjoy this game as much as I did, to the point of buying, and beating the second one just over a month after the first one was done. I'm now currently playing XBC3 and loving it even more. I'll be sad to leave this game world behind, because it's probably one of the best games I've played to date. The story of XBC1 is great, it's aged pretty well, the combat flows well, and even Future Connected feels like a good extension of the story. I'm still waiting to see how Future Connected ties into XBC3, but I can wait. I'll enjoy every minute I have with the Xenoblade games until I am finished.
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Dec 31, 2022 14:49
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Cant wait for Rarity to play more ffxiv 
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Dec 31, 2022 14:52
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:I bought quite a few games full price this year that I prolly could've waited on but the thread has taught me that I should've listened to my instincts and gotten Stranger of Paradise on day 1. I really wanted to like Stranger of Paradise but it seems I still suffer allergic reactions to Team Ninja games 
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Dec 31, 2022 14:55
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Cruiserweight posted:5. AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative My dude, you have GOT to employ some spoiler bars for those 3rd and 4th paragraphs. There's some pretty big plot stuff in there.
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Dec 31, 2022 15:33
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 10. Return to Monkey Island This felt like it was never going to happen. An honest to god sequel to Monkey Island 2 by Ron Gilbert? Truly a gift that needs to be appreciated because we don’t get many of these. Will make you remember how much fun an adventure game can and is supposed to be.  9. Marvel SNAP This game took over my life for a few months. How is Ben Brodie and his team this good at designing card games?? The “just one more match” feeling but multiplied by 100 since the matches are so short and it’s plain old addictive. A deck building game for people who frankly hate deck building. It is so simple and precise at what it does and the snap mechanic really gets you into it. Some real stakes in this game when you bet it all on your play. No better feeling than snapping on your opponents snap OR the fear when the opponent snaps on you. Pure kino  8. Dwarf Fortress A true triumph of gaming. Unbelievable how this finally released so normal dumb people like myself can finally take a crack at it. This year I’ve spent mostly watching tutorials and let’s plays just to learn how to play the drat thing. I’m excited to keep playing this for years to come. Best feel good moment of the year when the devs finally got their rightly deserved pay day. Legends  7. Gran Turismo 7 I wanted to get into cars this year and this game helped me accomplish that. A very chill and almost zen experience. There is a true joy from the developers in here that’s embedded everywhere. From the amazing feel of each car, to the gorgeous presentation and just the loving attention to detail. Sure it has its faults but goddamn if I didn’t love playing this game.  6. Destiny 2: The Witch Queen Destiny just keeps getting better. It’s been a wild ride with this game but Bungie finally cracked the code on how to make a killer expansion with the previous release Beyond Light and this just takes that to the next level. Finally there is fun and engaging storytelling (week to week no less!). But the best thing they did this year outside of the killer raids was the addition of the Legendary difficulty mode from Halo for the campaign of Witch Queen. FINALLY a loving challenge!!! This is what destiny heads have been wanting since 2014. It was so exciting and fun to do and I can’t wait for next year’s expansion.  5. Sonic Frontiers I am in awe with this game. Sure the story basically amounts to a whole lot of nothing but this was some of the most fun I have had all year. There is a joy to just loving running around and grinding through the entire map. Then you get the more “traditional” 3D Sonic Boost stages and those were a blast to S-rank all the way through. Could it have been more difficult? Sure, I played on hard mode. There are some baffling decisions here where they try to bite off more than they can chew (bullet hell shmup sections that recall Nier automata and ikaruga) but otherwise this was just awesome. If they can tighten up the controls a bit give you a bit more direct control like in sonic adventure 1 or 2 then this would be a masterpiece I think. I haven’t been a fan of a sonic game since the dreamcast and I never really vibed with the boost games until now. I’m excited for the next sonic game as this was an excellent foundation to build on.  4. Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII: Reunion I loving hated the original PSP game back in the day. The gameplay was just not really there as this was just basically diet Kingdom Hearts and even then not really. The slot system loving sucked (rage quitting after not being able to level up for hours) and yeah the moment to moment gameplay just was not engaging. Come FF7 Remake and how they finally solved the action combat system for a FF. While this game isn’t like that, they take a Nier Replicant-esque approach and actually make the combat a lot of fun! That and they painstakingly recreated the visuals of this PSP game to look loving amazing. Square Enix is loving back baby I don’t even give a gently caress anymore, give me a Dirge of Cerberus remake. This is redeeming the original FF7 compilation in ways I couldn’t even imagine.  3. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 This was the year that you could feel the switch seams coming apart. This game pushes the switch to the absolute limit with it’s gorgeous open world. Monolith finally delivers an excellent and easy to follow combat system. Gone are the days of hitting up YouTube just to learn how to play these games, they finally provide a great tutorial and in game help system. Xenoblade is just a whole rear end vibe. The party of characters are more relatable and just more fun this time around and it gives you opportunity to gently caress around with different classes and builds. Just a lot of fun. I just wish I could play this on modern hardware.  2. Vampire Survivors I almost wrote this game off when my discord was talking about it fervently. I couldn’t believe they were talking about this really cheap looking (and just in general cheap in price too) game! Boy was I wrong. This is loving awesome. First you just play to survive. Then you not only survive but look for new builds to gently caress these demons and monsters up. The simple gameplay, the pixel art and the music all come together for the complete package here. There is hidden depth to this game and suddenly you’re 30 minutes in and it’s over. Wow loving amazing. A great example of doing more with less.  GAME OF THE YEAR - 1. ELDEN RING Let’s loving go baby it’s Elden Ring. You already know what it is. From software’s magnum opus. I mean what else is there to be said. This game took over my loving life. Exploration hasn’t been this fun since Breath of the Wild. The world was alive and there was so much to do. The dungeon design was neat and insane. Basically a full rear end Dark Souls level or area was a dungeon. The smaller dungeons were also great too. This was just it man. Haters everywhere had to finally accept that this was the game this year. No one else had the ambition that these guys had. They’re at the top of the loving mountain, and we are so lucky to experience something like this. Games like elden ring come once a generation, if at all. Just pure loving joy the entire time playing this. Beating bosses like Malenia or the final Boss gives you satisfaction like no other. I rolled credits on this game and then couldn’t even touch another video game for a while. It was like post elden ring depression. Nothing was hitting as hard as this and nothing probably ever will. Quick list form: 10. Return to Monkey Island 9. Marvel SNAP 8. Dwarf fortress 7. Gran turismo 7 6. Destiny 2: The witch queen 5. Sonic frontiers 4. Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 reunion 3. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 2. Vampire survivors 1. Elden Ring The REAL Goobusters fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 15:50
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Hell yeah first time writing on list and had to do it on mobile app since I’m still visiting my parents. This thread rules and I’m already picking up Tactics Ogre, Signalis and Norco based off some of these lists. Also need to get off my rear end and beat the AI nirvana already. Thanks for everyone writing their lists I love reading them
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Dec 31, 2022 16:07
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RIP 2022, we hardly knew ye. 10. Inscryption Finally got around to playing Inscryption this year and I'm really glad I managed to go in blind. The game's storytelling has some clever tricks up its sleeve and I really liked the narrative structure, which I did not think was something I was going to care about for my roguelike deckbuilder. I'd heard the later parts of the game were a bit weaker, but I enjoyed that the game shook things up and let me explore some other mechanics in a bit more depth. I hadn't really hard much about Daniel Mullins, but this got me to play Pony Island as well and I'll definitely be looking out for more of his games. 9. Nobody Saves the World This was a really stellar 2D action game that seemed to come out to relatively little fanfare. The game has an extremely rewarding gameplay loop centered around transforming into a range of different creatures and then leveling up them up to unlock new abilities. Rather than just killing things, you level up forms by completing little objectives centered around teaching you interesting ways to mix and match the abilities of your various forms. It makes it really compelling to keep trying out new builds and playing with all the different tools the game has to offer, rather than just sit on a couple of really strong builds. The story itself I would say was just okay and it's really just about the cool feeling of turning into a horse who can bite enemies to turn them into zombies. 8. System Shock 2 I had been waiting for the System Shock remake to finally try out the System Shock series, but finally decided to give it a whirl after some of my other planned Halloween games fell through. One of the well-known greats, it was really cool to finally play this and see how well it holds up. More than anything else, the atmosphere of the game is outstanding and really makes it clear how much this game influenced so much that followed. The tight corridors, misshapen enemies and creepy noises coming from everywhere on the ship felt more tense and exciting than many other horror games I've played. Speaking of horror games... 7. Silent Hill 2 With the announcement of Bloober team's imminent 6. Kirby and the Forgotten Land I was extremely excited when this game got announced and was even happier that it lived up to the hype. Loved this game top to bottom and I really enjoyed the tweaks to the formula with form evolutions and the mouthful mode abilities. I legit shouted "gently caress yeah" during the climax of the game. Easily my favorite Kirby game since Robobot and probably top 5 overall. So proud that Kirby finally got his driver's license at 30. 5. Pokemon Legends: Arceus This game is probably the first real innovation on the Pokemon formula in well over a decade and it finally delivers on some of the promise that Pokemon has always had. The snappier battle system, the open world environments with pokemon wandering around, and the fact that it actually makes catching a lot of pokemon worthwhile with lots of little challenges all make this game a massive step forward for the series as a whole. I didn't get around to Scarlet/Violet this year, but I've heard they managed to retain a lot of these improvements so I'm excited to give them a whirl next year. 4. Desperados 3 A stealth/tactics game is the perfect combination of two genres I always want to enjoy more than I ultimtaely do so it was a huge shock how much I ended up loving this game. The simultaneous action system combined with the ability to quickly reset made it extremely satisfying to pull off complicated plans that take out 5+ enemies at once. Luring people into a bear trap never got old. This game easliy earned its spot and has invigorated my interest in other tactics games. 3. Monster Sanctuary Monster Sanctuary is one of those beautiful experiences of "game I never knew I wanted". The basic premise is pokemon meets a very light Metroidvania. You use a team of 3 monsters to battle with, developing strategies using a combination of buffs, damage types and status effects to win. Outside of combat, the various monsters have their own traversal and exploration related abilities that you use to navigate a range of different environments. The thing that surprised me most is that this game is hard. When you start out, the game is pretty lenient as you learn about the different battle tools you have available, but around 10 hours it in expects you to start having coherent strategies using those. What makes this work really well instead of being frustrating is that the game readily makes respec items available, as well as items to help you level up monsters that are below your party's max level, so it's easy to experiment with new builds and strategies. The general artwork is cute, there's a ton of different monsters to play with, and the story's even pretty enjoyable! This game devoured hours and hours of my time without me realizing it and I kind of want to go back and play it again now to use some of the other monsters I never got around to. Just a phenomenal experience top to bottom. 2. Disco Elysium A little niche indie title that barely anyone has heard of, probably hardly worth mentioning. This game absolutely smashes any other narrative-focused game I've ever played and I'm glad I finally got around to playing it. I was extremely proud of my tower of Communism, but the absolute highlight was painting "gently caress THE POLICE" on a wall and Kim's perfectly delivered "But...we ARE the police". Any other year, this would have been top of my list. 1. Elden Ring Much like Disco Elysium was for narrative games, this game is a bar that every other open world game from now on is going to be measured against. One of the most impressive and amazing games I have ever played. As a Kirkhammer fan from Bloodborne, my favorite moment in the game was discovering the Even Bigger Rock Hammer so I could dual-wield giant stone hammers for the final few bosses.
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Dec 31, 2022 16:22
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I was hoping to Game Pass my way through a few 2022 releases this month + write up a proper list with photos and stuff, but time flies, and now the deadline's closing in! Honorable mentions: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky The Third (Steam) (fun and neat, but feels more like a non-canon bonus episode than a continuation/ending to the Sky series) and King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match (Steam) (I wish I weren't so bad at 2D fighters because man this looks and sounds and feels insanely cool), and Vampire Survivor (Steam) (dangerously addictive, but I'm not sure I actually enjoyed it, somehow...). 10. Pro Wrestling Sim (Steam) - Not quite the TEW killer that some of the reviews call it, but a super promising Early Access fancy-spreadsheet-sim that already has a bunch of in-depth real-life mods. It can't surpass the TEW series as the 'best' wrasslin' management simulator for me unless it fundamentally changes the statistics it plays around with (for characters, it only has one blanket "wrestling ability" stat, compared to TEW's absurdly granular approach that breaks "wrestling ability" into things like brawling, submissions, acrobatics, stiffness, 'selling', etc.), but it's a slightly slicker and more plug-n-play version of the concept that I've enjoyed playing around with. 9. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (Steam) - Ever since seeing a glowing review of the original Fallout on Danish TV and reading along with a Baldur's Gate campaign in a video game magazine back in the '90s, I've dreamt about exploring systems-heavy isometric RPGs. I didn't get a computer good enough to play games until a few Christmasses ago, and by then, the QoL I'd grown accustomed to made jumping back into those kinds of games extremely challenging. When I also bounced off console versions of things like Pillars of Eternity and Divinity, I figured I'd simply missed the boat on getting into the genre. And then a kind goon gifted me Disco Elysium for last year's Christmas gift train. And that one -didn't- repel me. And then I saw someone mention Wrath of the Righteous in the same breath as Suikoden, and figured it couldn't help to wishlist it on Steam just to keep an eye on it... And then a kind goon gave it to me when riding the Steam gift train earlier in the year! And whadddaya know? Isometric systems-heavy RPGs are 2 for 2 for me in 2022! (Or, 2 for 3, I suppose, if you count the hour or so I gave poor Planescape Torment. Knowing how revered it is, I'll for sure try it again in 2023; maybe Pathfinder's taught me some lessons). It's still relatively early days for me--at 24 hours, I'm only one click away from getting to the part where the game apparently really opens up--and I can only play it in relatively short bursts, but yeah, lots to love here. The huge defend-the-base skirmish might've been the most in-character and in-game taxing battle I've had in a turn-based RPG since the big one in Suikoden 2. Being able to switch turn-based stuff on and off in general is super helpful, and although I don't quite speak the language of this type of game in terms of its mechanics, learning it along the way has been fun. Wouldn't be surprised to have this one even higher on my list next year. 8. Yakuza 3 (PC Game Pass) - It's my understanding that this is the least-loved of the Yakuzas. I get it. For me, it easily has the worst combat in the series. Kiwami 1 was irritating on this front because of the frequency and unpredictability of encounters, but I remember the fights at least being tolerable. I don't know if I did something wrong in Y3--maybe I missed out on some game-changing Revelations or upgrades?--but hoo boy. So many punch-spongey enemies who loved blocking and evading and generally wasting my time. Also testing my patience were a couple of mandatory "where's Waldo?" quests that seemed to require you just walking down every nook and cranny of a map in order to solve it. ... Yet, despite all that, the overall vibe of it really hooked me. Yeah, it has a certain direct-to-video/filler-episode quality to it, but the setting just works. I was very fond of Shenmueing in Okinawa, and would have liked to have been able to do a lot more of it. Yakuza 3 is basically like playing a (much jollier) Sonatine, and that's good enough for me. 7. Nier Automata (PS4) - Reaching the credits for the first time was a massive "that's it?" moment for me, as I thought things had only just started to get going before the route to Ending B got underway. Reading and hearing more astute players pointing out its philosophical brilliance has been good fun in hindsight, but while the game world fascinated me, I just never quite warmed up to most of the main cast that I was spending most of my time in the game with. By the time I was fully done with Automata, I'd had a good and occasionally teary-eyed time, but ultimately found that it didn't pack quite the emotional punch I'd spent the entire time bracing for (at least as far as the main cast was concerned). 6. Yakuza 4 (PC Game Pass)  - Although I’ve really enjoyed all the Yakuzas I’ve played thus far, Yakuza 0—probably maybe my #1 game of the 2010s—set the bar impossibly high. One of the things I really enjoyed in 0 was the shifting of perspective between certain chapters, a concept that 4 apparently introduced to the series and took even further. Having spent several hundred hours in Kamurocho over the past several years, I really could do without any additional sightseeing there. But 4, through new playable perspectives and new areas inside (and underneath, and above) Kamurocho, managed to make it all seem relatively fresh. Every style of combat is a lot better than what 3 had to offer, too. Not sure whether I'll go through 5-7 next year or if I need a bit of a Yakuza break, but I'm so happy this series exists. 5. Pentiment (PC Game Pass)  - I'd hoped to start and finish this in mid-December, but alas, this has turned out to be analysis paralysis: the game. Such a treat for the eyes (and the reading glasses!). Such a unique project. I'm terrified of just about every choice I make in it, but I respect its moxie, and have enjoyed every short session I've had with it so far. 4. Shadow Fate (Steam)  - Full disclosure: I regularly caught the developer's streams during the last year or so of the game's development, and would say we're on friendly terms (despite having massively different media/game design sensibilities). Shadow Fate's battle system is ridiculously ambitious for a one-man-dev'd JRPG. Every party member comes with bespoke sets of skílls that increase as they grow in level, and can also gain more unique abilities and universal magic spells via a Final Fantasy 9-style learn-from-equipment-over-time system. Most interestingly, the creator's snuck his love of fighting games into the combat mechanics, chiefly by way of an EX meter which has character-specific conditions for being charged up, and which can be used piece by piece to enhance most skills in dozens if not a hundred different ways, or saved up and fully spent as a limit break. The cool combat stuff is built into a fundamentally solid JRPG adventure with plenty of heart (including some real adorable and cleverly designed enemy skill animations and I think the first gay romance I've seen in a Final Fantasy-like), and all in all it turned out even better than my already fairly high expectations. 3. Immortality (PC Game Pass)  - I barely remember Her Story, other than thinking it was a cool one-two session game. I think I'll remember bits and pieces from all films and many in-between bits of Immortality. I don't do clickers or idle games, but Immortality, at times, brought me to what I imagine is a similar state of zen that partakers of those genres find themselves in. Closest thing anyone can get to being able to step inside and magically ping-pong themselves through various corners of a David Lynch work. 2. Disco Elysium (Steam)  - As someone contemplating pressing "publish" on the Steam page of a rinky-dink disco-themed (but completely Disco Elysium-unaffiliated or -inspired) JRPG-style game, Disco Elysium existing is kind of a nightmare. I went into it knowing its reputation and still came away completely gobsmacked by its quality. The game is worth a playthrough purely on the strength of its prose and its systems, but the depth of its worldbuilding, its generous approach to failure, and the audacity of its politics all just blew me away. You'd have to be an idiot to release any non-rhythm game in the discosphere now. 1. Nier (PS3) - Nier had been collecting dust on my shelf for nearly a decade when, after being amazed by Disco Elysium's writing, I suddenly remembered the few but fervent voices talking it up as containing one of the best stories in gaming. A few weeks later, I was very much on board with that. Nier certainly lives up to its reputation as being repetitive, clunky, janky, 'last-gen', all of that jazz. But going in blind--having purposely avoided every kind of spoiler talk relating to Nier, Drakengard, or even Yoko Taro (yes, even the mask, so imagine my surprise and horror at THAT scene)--every character subverted my expectations, every major plot beat hit like a ton of bricks, every beautifully-scored fetch-questy trip to the grocer or rage-inducing hunt for the correct fishing spot was boosted by the pervasively suspenseful mystery that remained potent throughout each one of my playthroughs. Because I was so engrossed in the universe and so fond of the main cast, I was happy to redo mundane tasks if it meant hanging out with my buddies in this bizarre and undefinable universe a while longer. Also, I think I just have weird 'wrong' game-feel sensibilities (heck, I played through Bullet Witch several times because it was a rare instance of an action game feeling good and fun to play). The heavy, clunky weapon-swingin' in Nier felt totally alright to me rather quickly, and when I played Automata immediately afterwards, I found its faster and more sophisticated combat system to be a downgrade (in terms of my own personal fun factor; I totally understand why Automata is considered the better-playing game of the two). While Disco Elysium was a very personal experience, it's also going straight into my unreserved "[gamer person], you've gotta check this game out" pile. I can't say the same for Nier. And I think that I'll be able to revisit DE and be similarly amazed in the future, whereas Nier's blowing my socks off was very much a time and a place thing. But that time and place was so powerful for me that even if my general impression of Nier is destined to fall below Disco Elysium as time passes by, it wouldn't feel right to not have Nier at my number one slot for 2022, as it unquestionably gave me the most magical gaming experience of the year. Skjorte fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 16:27
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Content warning: discussion of depression, anxiety, and physical ill-health Honorary mentions Return to Monkey Island: A wonderful addition to the world of one of my all-time favourite series which hasn’t made my top list only because I still somehow haven’t finished it yet. Disco Elysium: I’ve put a few hours into this, and I loved it, but it made me anxious. I must finish it next year. Civilisation VI: Good old Civ VI. Had a bad day at work? Boot up a custom game, set map size to ‘enormous’, resources to ‘abundant’, and nuke the Romans. Final Fantasy XIV: Like many others, I played a fair chunk of FFXIV early in the year when I was so disappointed with Activision Blizzard that I quit Warcraft and migrated over for a little while. Ultimately, though, the combat is just too sluggish and unresponsive for me, and having to watch ninety minute cutscenes as a ‘reward’ for spending twenty seconds killing three ladybirds does not give me the dopamine hits that I require to function in day to day life. 5: Stardew Valley (Switch) A game in which, by pressing a series of buttons in a certain order, the player incrementally increases values of arbitrary numbers, triggers narrative events, and unlocks assorted pixellated art assets. The button-pressing mechanism is variable, according to taste and desired degree of efficiency, within a predetermined and pleasingly limited set of parameters. In the dopamine-deprived brain, the gameplay loop which Stardew Valley exemplifies – to the extent that it has quickly become a Platonic shorthand for the genre – is transformed into a soothing, meditative process whereby the arbitrary numbers, events and art assets become a charming and immersive exercise in Making Things Better. It’s precisely for this reason that it has garnered something of a reputation as a ‘depression and anxiety game’. I intend that as a compliment. Stardew Valley is an experience which exemplifies the best and worst of the medium in substituting digital activities for real-world goals and achievements. On those days when the meat-mecha we are compelled to pilot is so plagued by physical and mental ill health that we cannot even get out of bed, it is good, actually, to plant some little pretend parsnips, get to just one more level in the mines, and present a terrifyingly large pizza to the sad and bewildered man who only wants to look after some chickens. This game got me through most of March, April and May of this year, when I was undergoing incredibly stressful treatment for an exhausting medical issue. I am sure that, in future times of stress and anxiety, I will once again take solemn ownership of my Grandfather’s farm, and plant my demanding vegetables in its rich and fertile soil. Here’s to pixelated parsnips. 4: World of Warcraft: Dragonflight (PC) Yes, I know it’s Activision Blizzard, who are quite possibly, ahead even of Ubisoft, one of the worst companies on the planet. Yes, they do still have a long way to go. Yes, it is a company that is full of awful people. Yes, WoW does attract the worst of the toxic and most entitled gamers, those who poopsock new content and then complain that they don’t have anything left to do. Yes, it’s full of contradictory nonsense and bloated lore that doesn’t make any sense. Ultimately, however, this expansion has pretty dragons, better representation, less grimdark, lots of nice things to see and do, and a sense of achievement. I am an incredibly casual player, although I don’t intend this statement to be taken for any kind of value judgement on those who aren’t. The game isn’t really designed for players like me, but that doesn’t really matter. It took weeks to hit the level cap rather than days. I was happily getting distracted by fishing and staring at sunsets and enjoying some nicely-written stories and, the perennial classic, annoying other players until I got bored. I only raid because the kind goons on the EU server let me tag along for ‘poo poo players’ night. I’m fine with that. WoW is a great game if you fancy some company but are in too much pain or too exhausted to leave the house. I’ll miss it when it’s gone. 3: Elden Ring (PS5) Look, I know you all love Elden Ring, and that’s great and all, but I simply cannot play these games. God knows I’ve tried. I managed to get relatively far in to the PS5 Demons Souls remake through a combination of sheer bloody-mindedness and an absolutely bullshit wizard build that melted things from a distance so long as I hid behind pillars and didn’t panic. (Reader, I panicked). The essential gameplay mechanics of banging my head repeatedly against the same challenge over and over are anathema to me. I find it actively boring. That is ok. It doesn’t detract in any way from the experience and enjoyment that other people get from these games. Why, then, is this game in my GOTY list? Well, for several reasons. I watched my husband play it, drowsing on the sofa in a pleasant post-operative opiate haze, and enjoyed the scenery. He loves FromSoft games with a deep and abiding passion that verges, as he will happily admit, into special interest territory. Even watching someone else play the game, I appreciated the skill, care and thought which had clearly gone into building an open world experience on the principles of a genre founded on the apparently immutable constraints of a closed map, predetermined shortcuts, tight and finely-tuned combat, and significant challenge. I liked the strange and uncanny enemies, and the sense of discovery and flashes of world-building that these games do so well. Mostly, however, I enjoyed rolling a warrior with bright green skin, naming them ‘Shrek42069’, and leaving messages around the starting area warning people to be 'wary of bog’ and noting that the donkey next to the merchant was a ‘friend ahead’. I decided to ignore all plot or game directions and instead fully immerse myself in this disrespectful roleplay, finding skulls scattered on the ground and providing football commentary as I kicked them between trees for goalposts. This was a fine and pleasing decision, as the fundamental unseriousness of this approach, contrasting so beautifully with the self-importance of the game’s premise and delivery, infuriated my long-suffering husband to the point of apoplexy, and made me laugh so much, in turn, that I nearly ruptured a stitch. Thanks, then, to FromSoft, but probably not for the reasons they intended. 2: Horizon: Forbidden West (PS5) God, Aloy’s great. She’s justifiably grumpy, and absolutely sick of this poo poo, and doing her best in difficult circumstances. She’s a fine warrior. No-one climbs like she does. Anyone who questions her physical skill and prowess is soon disabused of their nonsense. She isn’t presented exclusively through the lens of the male gaze. She has flaws. She is reliable, but takes on too much at once, for too many people. She’s rude, and impatient with folks who deserve better, and sometimes self-righteous, and she oscillates wildly between tender compassion and heartless pragmatism, precisely in the way that someone who really does know what’s behind the curtain in the Emerald City probably would. In short, she’s one of the few female characters in games that I’ve felt have been complex and interesting enough to warrant the tentative label of ‘well-written’. She’s simultaneously a power fantasy for women and femme-presenting people, while also being a challenging character who fully inhabits the world she was created for (in every sense of the word). It’s refreshing to experience that in a medium which has traditionally been a desert for thoughtful portrayal of feminine representation. To be honest, the characterisation was wonderful across the board. The story, I will concede, was a little lacking in places. I hope that’s part of a grand set up for a third act finale, but that kind of structural narrative weakness shouldn’t really be excused any more now that games are maturing as an art form and ought to know better. On the PS5, the facial animation was absolutely astounding. There was no difference between cutscenes and regular game play, which I’d never experienced before to that extent. It really showcased what the latest generation of games is capable of, and gives me high hopes for future creative works in the medium moving into the kind of territory that has to date been dominated by film and television – evocation of subtle facial expressions which allow for finer gradations of emotional impact. On the mechanical side, I enjoyed the combat. I enjoyed the crafting system. I even enjoyed having lots of little icons on the map, because I could – as a busy, casual gamer – readily pick up where I left off, pootle about, do a few little side quests, and still feel like I had experienced a fulfilling and immersive hour or so of relaxing entertainment and escapism, without having my time wasted. Anyway, my husband bought me a Lego Tallneck kit, complete with a tiny Watcher, a minifig Aloy with a little spear, and some tall grass for her to hide in. When I was recovering from an operation in June, I’d sit at the desk in our bedroom for twenty minutes at a time and build my Lego model, slowly and carefully, and think about Aloy on her lonely journey. Pain can be very lonely. It’s nice when games give us ways to work through what that means to us. 1: Half Life (PC) Bear with me on this. Coming in at number one on my game of the year list – a scant twenty-five or so years after it was released – is Valve’s seminal PC FPS, Half Life. Honest to God, I had never played Half Life until this year. I was – and still am, as I haven’t quite finished it – somehow completely unspoiled on the whole game. Of course, I knew of it, and we even had a copy in the house when I was growing up. It came out when I was 14, and just starting my GCSEs. We were a household of Circumstances, and although we had the internet, it would take at least another couple of years before we had a computer capable of playing the game on its lowest settings. By that point, I was well into my A-Levels, and didn’t have time for gaming any more, despite the fact that my younger brother somehow managed to harass our parents into buying a copy on the cheap. Anyway, this year, I decided I was finally going to get round to playing Half Life, after listening to a podcast review of Half Life: Alyx (‘Watch Out for Fireballs’! They’re goons! They’re good!), and having no idea what was going on. I am a wet hen at the best of times, and I decided that the only way I was going to get through it was if I decided to stream it, no frills, so that people were relying on me keeping going when it got creepy, and I had an audience to complain to. This was a good idea. First off, it took a little while to get back into using a keyboard and mouse for an FPS, but the early ‘90s muscle memory returned relatively easily. Do I really even need to comment on graphics in a twenty-five-year-old game? They’re good, actually. I’m of the generation, as so many of us are, for whom ‘a computer which plays Half Life well’ is still somehow a benchmark of high performance, so I wasn’t thrown or distracted by them in any way. They're rather charming. The aliens look like aliens. The scientists all look like a guy named ‘Alan’ who spends his leisure time arguing about model trains on Usenet boards. The turkeys, which I am assured are in fact known as ‘head crabs’, waggle their little legs at me in an adorably grumpy fashion, and chase me down corridors. They’re so mad. Why are they so mad? The sense of moving through space, and the micro and macro level design, is borderline perfect. It's a masterpiece in spare and concise creation, maintenance and dispersal of player tension. The only way forward is frequently the direction in which I absolutely do not want to go. All of this will come as no surprise to ninety-per-cent of people reading this post, but in the context of today's 'bigger is bigger' releases, it has been refreshing to be reminded of just how effective it can be when designers use a limited set of tools to create a thoughtful and careful piece of work. I’ve found the experience of playing the game reminiscent of watching an early Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd movie. Some moments can feel cliched or verging on hackneyed, but that’s because, really, it was one of the first instances in gaming where whatever thing was being done had, well, been done. I’m sure that countless reams of thoughtful critique have been written about its place in the pantheon, so I won’t bang on too much. But I’ve had so many delightful moments of surprise, horror, fear, entertainment, and amusement from this game that I had to put at number one, nearly a quarter of a century behind everyone else. Better late than never, I suppose. Edit: Sorry, I forgot to mention that the protagonist is called Gary Halflife, and this is what he must now be referred to as. I don't make the rules. CuriousSymptoms fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 17:03
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These lists are great, and a great way to find new games or recontextualize ones I didn't give enough of a chance to. One day I'll get to Elden Ring, but that day won't be in 2022. Looks like it's doing okay without me. Here are mine. 10 - Teardown The Steam year end summary said “Destruction” was one of my top categories for games this year. I think that’s what it was saying. Well that’s good because it reminded me to put Teardown on here. Really fun sandbox with some great community mods. Walk through an Ikea as it is struck by meteors. Didn’t make it too far in the story because the time limit thing stressed me out. But that was in the Spring and looks like it has had some updates since then. I’ll check it out again. What I played was the kind of thing that a 12 year old Henry would have killed for. Destruction! 9 - NORCO A sad, rundown near future populated by sad, rundown people. At the same time, a very funny game about what believably happens when poorly planned things evolve and are taken too far (religion, cults, capitalism, artificial intelligence). I played it right when it came out, and I fear that may be why it’s lower on the list. 8 - AI: The Somnium Files Seems like I should pick up the sequel based on several of the other lists. This was my first Uchikoshi game and I basically couldn’t put it down until I saw the final ending. Jokes were a little much sometimes but for the most part the story was compelling and the characters likeable. I’ve since played 9,9,9 and then took a detour into Danganronpa, which I suppose get honorable mentions. 2022 was a good year for me and Game Pass. 7 - Case of the Golden Idol If I had submitted a list last year, Obra Dinn would have been #1. This is the closest thing I’ve played to it since, and though it was a little too short and the end felt a little too abrupt, while it lasted it was a great example of story puzzle solving. This is the type of game that I sincerely hope we see more of in the future. 6 - Immortality Hey, here's another Game Pass entry. I didn’t care for Her Story that much, but scrubbing through the videos rather than watching them from the beginning, and having much clearer distinctions between time periods did wonders. There’s also the spoilery thing (the game is pretty spooky). Also having some scenes be part of the movie, some caught in between shooting, and some press junket/interview/afterparty stuff gave a much more fleshed out sense of a world for me that really clicked. 5 - Death Stranding (Director’s Cut) I tried to start the original PC release of Death Stranding twice, never making it past the first “zone”. And I can’t say the Director’s Cut changed much about what I enjoyed from the game. But the third try is where it stuck and I pressed past that point into where the game starts to get really good. I haven’t even finished it yet, but the deadline is today and as it stands, it gets number 7. Probably would’ve inched higher if I had more time. Well, unless the end part of the game really falls flat. Nobody tell me. Others have talked about the senses of loneliness and connection I'm sure but this game makes me feel like I'm traveling through a world that has been truly lost and I"m trying to pick up the pieces and auto-sort them onto my back for optimum balance. 4 - Vampire Survivors Played it off and on all year. The game where your goal might be to select the combination of things that makes you least need to play the game. Distilled Diablo. A slot machine. Very fun, very affordable, too addictive. In real time, the goal is to play a 30 minute session. But one session is rarely enough. Time disappears. Now, on to the DLC. 3 - Cyberpunk 2077 While the story here isn’t anywhere near as good as at least three of the games lower on this list, I had a blast playing Cyberpunk in its present form. It looks fantastic, I only had a handful of quests totally disappear without warning. I think? Look, the game’s not great about telling you what to do and the menu system isn’t great about logging what you have already done. But becoming a cybernetically enhanced death machine and running around a shockingly good looking city kept me busy and entertained for dozens of hours. Doesn’t sound like a top 5 game but that’s where it was on this document and I did keep coming back to it at the end of the summer until I’d finished it. 2 - Pentiment Unique setting, style, effective storytelling. Really made me care about the people in this town. A satisfying mystery with impossible choices. I’ve heard complaints about being forced to miss certain things and I suppose I’d normally agree with that but this is clearly a game all about incomplete information and hearsay, so I think it works beautifully. Seems like the kind of game I would want to take a different path in again at some point, but for now I’m enjoying the experience of a game forcing me to live with my choices. 1 - Neon White Steam says that 98% of my playtime of Neon White was during July this year. I guess I believe that but it must have been the ONLY thing I played that month. Even more than Cyberpunk, which I think came right after Neon White in my playthroughs this year, I could not put this thing down. Best movement in a game I can remember. Biggest itch to play a level again to get a better time. Brilliant levels with multiple alternate paths (there’s the “secret” path that you can search out the indicator for, but there’s usually an even more secret path with no indication - there’s an entire world with exploits that knock tens of seconds off your score). When you beat a level faster than the devs, you get a special badge. Typing this has made me want to go play it again right now. I might. Still need to finish the all-level runs. There are achievements for breaking the boss fights. The way this game makes you feel like a speedrunning maniac is the most fun I’ve had playing anything this year. By the way, I don't think the story is the worst thing in the world. It’s not great, there are some bad jokes, but other people have mentioned that they are skippable I guess. I didn’t mind it. Game of the year. Also played and enjoyed: Psychonauts 2, Strange Horticulture, Wingspan European Expansion, Marvel Snap, Dorfromantik, Mini Motorways, Crusader Kings 3, Life is Strange: True Colors, 999, Danganronpa, Spider Man: Miles Morales, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, Firewatch, Tinykin, Save Room, Unavowed Edit: Forgot about Unavowed! It's pretty neat too. Not top 10 I guess but a good adventure game. Edit2: Much-delayed summary list, in case it's helpful Summary 10 - Teardown 9 - NORCO 8 - AI Somnium Files 7 - Case of the Golden Idol 6 - Immortality 5 - Death Stranding DC 4 - Vampire Survivors 3 - Cyberpunk 2077 2 - Pentiment 1 - Neon White Henry Crustwheel fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Jan 1, 2023 |
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Dec 31, 2022 17:13
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Skjorte posted:Honorable mentions: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky The Third (Steam) (fun and neat, but feels more like a non-canon bonus episode than a continuation/ending to the Sky series) Great list, but I have to comment on this specifically. It's definitely canon, and very important, as it sets up future arcs, and more importantly, the Renne arc that takes place during Crossbell could not happen without Trails in the Sky Third.
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Dec 31, 2022 17:16
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 10. Pathfinder: Kingmaker Enough character development options to sate most grognards. Turn-based / real-time toggle is cool.  9. Into the Breach Free "Advanced Edition" additions mean even more interesting ways to attempt to contain an outbreak of evil bugs.  8. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Refer to my popular "Here's everything wrong with FFXIV" posts in the summer chat threads for more. Heavensward had my favourite main plot of the expacs I played (ARR to mid-Shadowbringer).  7. Pokémon Sword Specifically due to my Nuzlocke-lite self-imposed restrictions, I got a lot of joy out of exploring the Wild Zone and taking care of my limited arsenal of 'Mons.  6. Ghost Trick Great animations, fun characters, okay puzzles, it's a tight little bundle of good.  5. Fire Emblem: Three Houses The Maddening difficulty mode usually brings the correct amount of challenge for me, and planning out my squad to meet that challenge was fun. Shame about the protagonist's silent nature, lots of plot elements are left dangling because Byleth cannot assert any agency.  4. XCOM 2: War of the Chosen One of the few cases where more is more. There's so much to keep track of now, so much to juggle, it's exhilarating but exhausting. One day I will complete a campaign.  3. Rimworld: Biotech You can do some wild, wild stuff now. My Chewbacca is in love with an enslaved space vampire.  2. Europa Universalis 4: Anbennar A total conversion mod that uses the base game's systems to tell many, many compelling stories.  1. Elden Ring The devs who made some of the best games of the past two decades just released one of their best games ever. I could point to a hundred different moments when the game had me hooting/hollering, giddier than a VideoGames. Jay Rust fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 17:31
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I didn't have a chance to write before losing access to my desktop so quick and dirty last minute phone list this year. 10. Vampire Survivors It almost pains me to put this game in the top ten because of how mind numbing the gameplay can be. Yet I can't help but become endeared to it, from the amateurish graphics to the creative ways they keep the carrot on the stick. Is pure videogame Good Feels enough to be one of the best of the year? Yeah lol, lmao. 9. Norco Great year for adventure games and Norco was certainly one of the most unique. I loved the world building and the surreal conversations, all brought together with some truly evocative pixel art. I was let down a bit by the ending, but not nearly enough to sour the experience. 8. Prodeus Prodeus isn't my favorite if the new wave of retro inspired shooters, but it manages to make a name for itself with pure fundamentals. The play is tight, the music is sick, the visuals are solid and it's all wrapped in a package that feels slick and easy to use. The emphasis on user created content is especially welcome as some of the best levels I played were made by fans. I imagine I'll keep coming back to this one for awhile. 7. The Case of the Golden Idol One of the big surprises of the year for me. This game wasn't on my radar at all, but from the first minute I was completely enthralled. A perfect marriage of puzzle and mystery, I was compelled by both the gameplay and the story equally. If you liked Obra Din you must play this. 6. Neon White Some of the most addicting gameplay I've tried this year. It has that "one more turn" feel except the "turn" is a seven second segment that you're trying to shave .8 seconds off of. I actually really appreciated the difficulty balance here, where just completing a course is pretty easy and you only have to care about time if you're going for medals. Makes it go down a bit easier if you're trying to keep pace with the story, which is uh not that bad? Cringey sure but it felt completely consistent with the world of the game. Banger soundtrack too, and really the presentation overall is top tier. 5. Return to Monkey Island This one reminds me of last year's Psychonauts 2 in that every minute I was playing it there was a smile on face. A real feel good game, nothing fancy just fun characters, goofy art style and some satisfying puzzles. The way they do the hintbook should become an adventure game standard imo. 4. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak While MHR was already a great game is hard to argue that the Sunbreak expansion doesn't improve it in almost every way. From better balance to greater monster variety to having a real endgame, pretty much every major criticism of the base game has been addressed. MonHun is videogame comfort food and I was at the trough a lot this year. 3. Pentiment Another big surprise this year for me as I really questioned my ability to connect with the story pre-release. All fears were gone once I started though since the game does a fantastic job of acclimating you to the setting and getting you on the right wave length for the story it's about to tell. Fascinating story too, without a lot of bombast but with a ton humanity and a bit of mystery. I really loved the structure of the game as well, constantly funneling you into conversations with different type of people in different contexts. And what else can be said about the visuals except that they're just absolutely perfect? I'm not even a big history guy but the attention to detail and care that went into every aspect of the presentation is plain for all to see. 2. Hitman 3 While Hitman 3 specifically is great and deserving of this spot, it's really the nuHitman complete collection that has me so enamored. The World of Assassination Trilogy is just the most beautiful, massive, feature rich, and overall compelling stealth game ever made. It's not only everything I ever wanted from a dynamic, open-ended stealth adventure but also a bunch of stuff I didn't even know I wanted. Hell the story is even good, it's got it all. While I certainly do not love the online progression requirements, I will admit that the frequent updates have kept me coming back and I look forward to the roguelike mode in 2023. 1. Elden Ring Huehuehehehahahahaha (not enough of this tbh but still a pretty good game)
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Dec 31, 2022 17:52
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Always love this thread. Helps me find hidden gems of game I wouldn't have found otherwise and just inspires me to jump into the wonderful world of gaming. Thanks everyone for showing their passion for gaming through your amazing lists and descriptions. Below is my go at it. Didn't play too much this year due to a heavier workload, but as that is balancing out I'm excited to jump into 2023. 10. Tales of Arise Tried this game out around the middle of the year. It was good, but didn't quite keep my interest after the first 2 lands. I might jump back into it again at a later date, I know the Tales series is pretty recommended. 9. Guardians of the Galaxy Didn't finish this one either, but did enjoy the time I played. The gameplay was alright but what really dug into me was the story and Square Enix's take on the GOTG universe. Really compelling, unique, and with fun characters. Definitely suggest this game. 8.Horizon Zero Dawn Played this in preparation for HFW. Played it once before but did everything before the last boss (I notice that's a theme of mine.). But this time I really dug in and completed all missions, side quests, and even the DLC. Didn't platinum because of the hunting grounds and dummies, but overall what a great experience. The world building is second to none and listening to the audio logs while discovering what happened to this world through the story is an unforgettable experience. All while killing robo-dinos! 7. Ghostwire Tokyo Loved the aesthetics and visuals in this game and walking around this eerie Tokyo. Definitely choose the Japanese voice acting. Gameplay was serviceable, I am a big side-quest lover which probably didn't serve me well for this game as the repetitive gameplay shows a bit if you try to 100% everything. Completed most of the story. The stories and lore provided in the game were also a big plus. 6. Zelda BOTW Started the game before but stopped halfway through. Really dug in this time. There's a reason this game is so highly applauded. Open World done right. Walking around and discovering anything from shrines to unique areas to dragons is so fun and thrilling. Getting and upgrading the outfits was fun for my lizard brain. So I did a lot (Even all the photos) before Ganon and ready to fight him now. 5. God of War (2018) Played this on a whim at the end of the year since I was getting into all the Ragnarok discussions. Played before and dropped it (what a surprise) before even getting to Mimir. So glad I played through it and got to see this amazing tale told. Being a huge mama's boy who misses his Mom, I appreciated the main story being about spreading her ashes. Interesting characters and EXTREMELY satisfying gameplay. Even beat the Valkyrie Queen, one of my proudest gaming accomplishments this year. Began Ragnarok recently but so early on I won't count it for this year. 4. Pokémon Violet/Scarlet I'm a huge Pokémon fanboy admittedly, and while there definitely are flaws in the game, the fun designs and amazing characters really shone through. I feel this is the best character writing in a main Pokémon series to date. Nemona's Goku-like thirst for battle, Clavell's silly antics, Penny's mysterious past, an going from initially hating to loving Arven as his story unfolded. The only thing I think they dropped the ball on was sharing more about the mysterious character Clive who kept showing up in Arven's story line but nowhere else, but I digress. Running around the world with my Pokepals was such a fu experience, fighting against really well designed gym leaders, and getting to know the teachers was a blast. 3. Splatoon 3 Didn't plan on playing this game and never played it before, but bought it on launch and it was all I did for 2 months. Those 3 minute games are addicting and perfect for quick breaks. Fun designs, cool fashion, and many different ways to play kept me coming back. Need to get back in to finish the current catalog. Can see myself playing this casually for many years to come. 2. Animal Crossing A bit of a seep over from last year, but I got into Animal Crossing so hard as the DLC was coming out. Played from September-February almost every day. The cute characters, the thousands of furniture options, town customization options, friendly goons, and those darn flowers!  Nintendo really has something here, if only they kept the support going. 1. Horizon Forbidden West A game I platinumed and kept going with. I was surprised how engulfed I got in it having just finished Zero Dawn, but it had its grips in me. I remember opening up the game at midnight on release day and playing that first section, so fun. The story leapt to new bounds and kept me interested, despite having the initial mystery of the first game resolved already. The gameplay was amazing, killing robotic mammoths, Plesiosaurs, and Jet-bats will never not be fun or cool. A big part I appreciate was the acting in this game, especially by Ashley Burch. Definitely think it would have gotten more recognition if this came out in not such a jam packed year of good games. TLDR List: 10. Tales of Arise 9. Guardians of the Galaxy 8.Horizon Zero Dawn 7. Ghostwire Tokyo 6. Zelda BOTW 5. God of War (2018) 4. Pokémon Violet/Scarlet 3. Splatoon 3 2. Animal Crossing 1. Horizon Forbidden West
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Dec 31, 2022 17:55
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Games I didn't play for various reasons, but I need to play next year. Yakuza 0 Persona 5 Royal Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteousness iRacing My top 10. 10. Darktide. - Boltgun is fun to shoot! Looks pretty. BUT then again FATSHARK. Still waiting for dedicated servers and versus mode for Vermintide 2 9. Tabletop Simulator. - I don't know if you would call this even a game. But since its on steam under games category I'll count it. Perfect and only solution I found that allows us play tabletop games and obscure MTG Commander decks online with friends. 8. The Hunt Showdown - Still my most played game of this year. It's still great. If they only put as much as effort to quality control as they put on releasing new DLC skins. 7. MSFS 2020 - I found out that I love flying. In this VR it's pretty scary how immersive this gets if you have HOTAS setup and some sorta pedals. But if only for the technical achievements what they did with this is drat impressive. 6. Vampire Survivors - Best 3 euros you can spend on a drugs. 5. Citizen Sleeper - Started playing based on reading this thread, and I was quite surprised how good the writing was and how involved I got with the other people living on the Eye. It was perfect escape while trying to recover from this bad case of influenza I somehow managed to get. 4. Slay the Spire - I played this first when it was released, but put it down after "beating" it with ironclad. After watching a Baalorlord stream I really got invested and started pushing for A20 It's my go to card game currently. 3. Assetto Corsa - After trying to find a racing game to satisfy my need for speed on the open roads in VR and not just circuits or dirt roads. I found something called Shutoko Revival Project. Pretty soon I was driving with few of my friends on Tokyo expressway between traffic over 300km/h. I didn't need to care about breaking points, or lap times or safety ratings or points or anything like that, just highway chase with cars that are way too expensive doing something that's way too unsafe and illegal but still enough to be realistic that that you sorta feel you are in there. 2. Il-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles - There is just something special about flying at 30000 feet in a P-38 Lighting with 4000lbs of bombs listening to podcast while trying navigate to the target at the frozen wastes of east, trying to scan and avoid Axis fighters. Or the adrenaline you get flying a Spitfire and chasing enemy less than 200 feet from the ground, and trying not to blackout from g-forces, between mountains on the coast of Kuban. 1. Elden Ring - Well, it's Elden Ring, but there was a week last spring that I totally forgot about basic things, food or sleep or showering just to get all achievement on it. After that the stupid but still awesome builds, helping friends with invaders and bosses, and the drat scale of all of it.
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Dec 31, 2022 18:02
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Would be GOTY if it was a Video Game: Frosthaven Oh jeez i love playing this game. Not only does it expand on every idea that was introduced in Gloomhaven, but they iterate on them in fun an unique ways to actually balance the game while keeping the gameplay engaging in unique. Character classes all have pretty fun playstyles and puzzles that you need to solve and adapt to each situation. My wife and I have unlocked nearly every playable character in the game and they all have a very different-yet-satisfying gameplay loop that has different challenges to overcome- and yet they all mostly feel balanced. I.E. you have the Blinkblade whose primary mechanic is declaring if they're going at supersonic speeds or if they're out of juice and letting their batteries charge. Or Fist where you consistently recover cards from your discard pile at the cost of your own health, meaning you're an indefinite fightining machine so long as you have your health management down or Coral where you're actually playing an engine building game to create the strongest character possible until you rest, when all of your buffs go away and you get to start the machine all over again or Astral where You create a chain reaction of destruction every time you play one of your infusion cards, or go in the opposite direction and never attack at all and let your animated sword do all the work Exception being Comet because lmao spamming hazardous terrain that you and your allies are immune to is ridiculous. Which is impressive because there's still a pervasive thought that "balanced = everything plays the same" when this is clearly an example of that not being the case. Outpost building is nice and satisfying when enemies try to break themselves against your defenses. Scenario design becomes more than just "kill everything" and gets to be nice in fun and exciting ways. Obviously it's not a video game so I can't nominate it, but if it was it would be at my #1 spot. Coral is the best class. GOTY that I have never (and hopefully will never) play:  Juggernaut (PS1) This game is loving wild. Your girlfriend is like, possessed by satan or something, so you enlist the aid of a pastor to go into her mind and try to de-possess her. So the gameplay itself is kind of MYST-like where you're given this big open world with several puzzles that you need to solve, but lmao guess what there's pretty much a short story collection/anthology within where you play as several different characters dealing with different iterations of Satan. In one story you play as an insurance agent investigating N. Atas and their company that seem to be killing people in hospitals to harvest their organs. In another story you play as a graduate from Mars University traversing the internet trying to solve who killed your father, delving into the idea that "anybody on the internet could be anything" when the story kind of rugpulls you and tells you YUP, you were actually an antivirus program the whole time. There's another prison infiltration/spy story where the main character learned all of their moves from a karate correspondence course. The gameplay itself is plodding and boring and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but man oh man is it worth watching a let's play of. The Actual GOTY list  10. Tunic I never thought that a game developer would try to recreate the experience of downloading a ROM of a game in a language you don't understand and incorporate trying to piece together what everything means into the gameplay. Tunic does a pretty great job of recreating that experience. There's a lot more to it, but I went into it expecting a pretty simple zelda-like and came away having played one of my favorite action/adventure/puzzle games of the year. I think the only thing I didn't particularly enjoy was some of the combat sections- it felt like the controls were too unresponsive to do some of the moves expected of me at certain points. Apart from that, it's a very enjoyable experience and I highly recommend it.  9. Risk of Rain 2 This game was responsible for a lot of really fun late-night co-op sessions this year. Being an Adult with a Real Job I normally don't stay up that late, but the first time my gaming group played it together we ended up staying up until four in the morning just trying out different characters and doing different runs. After that, we tried to keep our gaming hours in check but it's just really hard to with this game. There's just so much to do and it's so much fun to play. I think I played this game in Early Access and wrote in my feedback form "I hope the Acrid makes a return" and i'm glad it did! The soundtrack is fantastic as well.  8. Gnosia Honestly, I think this game is on this list because we played it at the right time in our lives. The actual game itself is a pretty simple single-player werewolf/mafia simulator where you sometimes play as the imposter and sometimes play as the crew (or sometimes play as something in-between). But it manages to maintain a storyline that keeps itself engaging the whole way through. Somehow, it also managed to help us through the grieving process of the death of two very close loved ones as well. Overall, a very good game and I'm glad I played it at the recommendation of last year's GOTY thread.  7. Trombone Champ It's a meme game where you make funny doots and that gives you toots. But it's also really fun to play! I think the best part of the whole experience has been the fan community that repeatedly produce video after video after video. Trombone Champ is the game that keeps of giving and I don't want it to stop.  6. Tactics Ogre: Reborn I've played the original Tactics Ogre I think three times now, and this game I have to say is the best iteration of it. The voice acting is good enough that it doesn't take you out of the experience and the changes they've made to the combat have made it pretty fun and engaging like it never has been before. The only reason it isn't higher (or at my #1) is because I've already played this game so many times. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in playing SRPGs. It also does a branching path thing, with the moral compass of the game determining if you value law/loyalty over compassion, or if you're a filthy loving centrist and deserve the worst fate and characters.  5. Kirby and the Forgotten Land It's a pretty great 3d Kirby game. My wife had a great time playing Bandana Waddle Dee and I had a great time playing Kirby. Going through every level to try to ace every challenge was a ton of fun and the extra content/boss fights were swell as well. We ended up getting 100% on this game we played it so much.  4. AI: Nirvana Initiative Uchikoshi is at it again, and he made a sequel to what is probably my favorite one of his works. Do I think this sequel is good? Yeah, I do. Do I think he's up to his usual bullshit again? Yeah. It seems like every time he gets involved with a project he keeps wanting to go back to ever17 for his writing. Which is still kind of his thing, I get it, there's gonna be a blick winkel reference in just about everything. NirvanA Initiative has more of that stuff, to the point where a lot of the game doesn't make sense unless you consider that aspect of his writing. But in this case I kind of like it because ultimately Your curiosity and your desire for characters in the story to have a happy ending causes you, the player, to lose. I think he's probably done the same thing that he did in VLR where he wrote himself into a corner that he can't get out of, so if there's a third AI game you can probably expect some really stupid plot twists in that. But this one's good at least!  3. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Wrath of the Righteous is a game I would recommend to everyone but also a game I would recommend to no one. It's overly ambitious to a fault, which means that you end up with a game that gives you six early game paths (and 10 late-game paths) all with the same objective of "hey let's kill these demons that are invading our world" but with different means. You can be an angel and use your divine light to drive the forces of the abyss back, or a twee little azata that only cares about doing good and freedom and anyone who dares malign others will face dire consequences or you can even be a trickster and tell your companions "lmao this is a videogame let's speedrun this poo poo." Which means that a lot of player's experiences going through this game are going to be different with only a few similar touchstone markers to compare to. What that also means is that this game is a buggy mess. It's been what, a year since it left early access? And this game still crashes and chugs and has all sorts of issues. Abilities and features don't work as advertised, quests sometimes just end or fail to continue onwards, and good lord act 4 can have some serious issues but also I love this game and hope to see it evolve more as time progresses and want to play through it three more times.  2. Live a Live Remake This game is SO GOOD. I think if someone picks this game up expecting a regular ol' JRPG they might be a little disappointed because the mechanics get sort of flipped around for each chapter. There are some chapters that are what you would expect from an SNES game, and some chapters that go in a much different direction. I don't really have much else to say about it other than the fact that distant future & wild west are my favorite chapters. Near Future dragged on for too long IMO but even then I still had a great time with it.  1. Triangle Strategy I'm kind of surprised that this game is where it's at on my list. When I was playing it earlier this year I kind of felt a little... underwhelmed? So much of the dialogue is so plodding and it didn't seem as compelling as a game like Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics (literally it's all about a war for salt and/or iron.) But honestly, I kind of love it. Every character has their own special uses (while some characters are a LOT more useful than others). But also the branching paths do a good job of putting you as a player in a moral predicament. In my first route I went full Morality and decided "gently caress this land let's free the slaves" and in my second route I went full utility and said gently caress Hyzante let's align with the empire and wreck 'em. I still have yet to do the actual golden route to the game, but jeez give me a break i've played through it twice already. So, why is this at my GOTY spot? Simple -It's a new title/new IP -It has actual branching paths in the story -New Game+ keeps the experience interesting and entertaining Concise list for Rarity's Sanity 10. Tunic 9. Risk of Rain 2 8. Gnosia 7. Trombone Champ 6. Tactics Ogre: Reborn 5. Kirby and the Forgotten Land 4. AI: NirvanA Initiative 3. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous 2. Live a Live (Remake) 1. Triangle Strategy Arrrthritis fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 31, 2022 18:11
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The rules 1. I must have played the game for the first time in 2022. 2. No Ocarina of Time aka remasters of games that I have played before don't count unless there is a significant difference between the versions. 3. Games from outside 2022 are allowed if they fall under #1. The Year 2022 2022 has been a very weird year for me in gaming. The early parts of the year are characterised entirely around Elden Ring. As someone who had never played a From game before and was not going to, owing to LP commitments dictating that my first From game be Bloodborne, I wasn't going to buy ER and so instead, sat through a complete drought. There was a period from around mid March to the beginning of June where not a single game I was interested in released. Which is just a very strange experience for me, there's always *something* that I'm looking forward to playing each month. Honourable Mention #1 - Ace Combat 7 - came to the rescue here. I went back and S ranked every mission on Ace after getting inspired by NineGearCrow's incredible LP. It was incredibly satisfying to figure out how to deal with Extra mission 2 through my own surprisingly good understanding of the game. It doesn't make the list because it's banned under Rule 1. It was helped by Honourable Mention #2 - Mario Kart 8 - Where the new DLC courses that were introduced across the year have been magnificent. I don't really count these as new games, so MK8 falls under Rule 1 and out of the list. And then Bloodborne happened. I have never really found myself not wanting to play videogames in my life. They are just a fundamental part of who I am. I can't really describe the depression I felt as I went through Bloodborne. The worst part was that I couldn't put it down since I had committed to LPing it from start to finish. So I was put in a catch-22 of my own making where my options were to give up, which is unacceptable to me, or to continue to torture myself playing a game I hated. From around July to September I couldn't make myself pick up videogames. RPGs like Xenoblade 3 that I'd looked forward to for years just fell by the wayside because I simply couldn't muster any enthusiasm for a hobby that I love. Honourable Mention #3 - League of Legends - was all I managed. It was the only game I could make myself play. Essentially turning off my brain and walking into match after match and just doing my thing was all I could fathom doing. I improved over time, finally reaching a plateau and letting go of the game as I found myself in a better place. It doesn't make the list because I'm not really convinced it's actually a good game, or that spending all that time playing was particularly good for me. Eventually a certain game at #1 on my list restored my gaming mojo (YOU, IF YOU ARE SKIMMING THIS, PLAY THE GAME AT #1) and I got back into catching up on everything I missed. Honourable Mention #4 - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic made this catchup job far harder than it needed to be, by essentially deleting a month of my life as I got back into the best single expansion that WoW ever produced, except this time, I'm actually decent at the game. Wrath has been a staple on my schedule since its release and I'm looking forward to exploring Ulduar in the coming year. It doesn't make the list because I think that despite it technically being different to the original, it probably still falls under the No Ocarina of Time rule. And so we came to the end of the year and huge rush to catch up on the pile of games that had stacked up while I was being depressed and slam picking Kayle every game in League. It was definitely a fun rush. A lot of games from October through December made their way into the top 10 and I came out the end of the year with a smile on my face. I'd describe 2022 as either one of the strongest years in gaming, if you care about Elden Ring, or one of the weakest, if you don't. What I can say is that I'm glad to see 2023 rolling in because I'm getting the incredible double hit of a new Fire Emblem and a new Octopath traveller within a month of each other to start. In any case, with all that preamble. Because I am a huge diva I did a video list again:  Click, enjoy and have a wonderful new year SA! List for Rarity's sanity: 10. Pokemon Scarlet 9. Pokemon Legends: Arceus 8. Crisis Core -Final Fanatasy VII- Reunion 7. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 6. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak 5. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 4. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes 3. Bayonetta 3 2. Triangle Strategy 1. Mega Man Rock n Roll - DOWNLOAD HERE https://dennisengelhard.com/rock-n-roll/
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Dec 31, 2022 18:12
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