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I'm about halfway through my writeups so far, expect list tomorrow.
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Dec 13, 2021 01:08
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 19:29 |
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  10. The Good Life (directed by SWERY, developed by White Owls, Inc.) The Good Life is a game that I felt conflicted about the entire way through. SWERY's latest release, funded through Kickstarter, feels like a tangled mess of concepts that seem to compete both against each other and against the overall feeling of a typically compromised Kickstarter product. Having to puzzle your way through a murder mystery in a small England village brimming with secrets is complicated by multiple survival systems that add little but frustration, the plot forking off into three seemingly completely unrelated tangents, a photography system that seems like it was supposed to be more important than it was, and an ending that while seeming to go for some kind of thematic relevance, just feels unsatisfying and slightly insulting. And yet, I did not completely hate my time with it. Along the way, I could feel the glimmer of what this game wanted to be, buried under the jank and bloat. It reminded me a lot of SWERY's original idea for what Deadly Premonition would be without the combat, just solving a mystery in a weird town. But The Good Life doesn't really have as much of the charm that DP did, and it just leaves a competent game that could be so much more.   9. Sam & Max Save the World (directed by Brendan Q. Ferguson & Dave Grossman et al, developed by Telltale Games, remastered by Skunkape Games) Telltale's first big point and click hit was rescued from the ashes of the company by a team of former developers and updated for modern systems last year, and hey, adventure games are still pretty fun. I haven't played one of Telltale's original adventure games in quite a while, and I've never played a Sam & Max game, and Save the World was a pleasant, if slightly dated, ride the whole way through. One thing I forgot about the episodic Telltale point and clicks is that outside of Strong Bad, each episode has like three areas, which makes sense for the release model, but can make the individual episodes feel a bit narrow, but that's a minor thing. The sense of humor felt like it would have hit for me more if I was 15 in the 2000s, but there were yucks and chuckles to be had. I'm definitely looking forward to the planned remasters of the next Sam & Max seasons and I hope Skunkape gets a shot at some of the other Telltale classics (Strong Bad please)   8. Return of the Obra Dinn (directed and developed by Lucas Pope) I've always loved logic puzzles, and when I realized Return of the Obra Dinn was one big process of elimination puzzle, I was tickled pink. Obra Dinn requires a sense of observation so thorough, I was making notes on paper, a thing I haven't done for a video game in a long long time. Really not a whole lot to say about it, other than it was a pleasant weekend puzzle with appealing visual presentation and an intriguing story under the mystery.   7. Okami HD (directed by Hideki Kamiya, developed by Clover Studio, remastered by Buzz Co., Ltd. & Vingt et un Systems Corporation) For years, I had considered Okami to be my favorite game of all time. However, until this year, I had probably not played it in at least a decade, despite having picked up the remaster when it hit modern systems. I sometimes make it a point to explicitly revisit media I consider my favorite, to see if it holds up, maybe if something's come along since that I like more, avoiding that mental entropy. Good news, Okami is in fact still a wonderful game, and while it is a bit long in tooth, I feel like people overstate how big it is if you're just doing a basic runthrough. Having not played this game for so long, a lot of my playthrough was defogging old memories. Do I consider Okami my favorite game anymore? Nah, I wouldn't say so, but it's up there.   6. Star Wars - Jedi: Fallen Order (directed by Stig Asmussen, developed by Respawn Entertainment) EA finally made a good Star War! Hey, they made a good Star War! Jedi: Fallen Order is a pretty drat good SekirolikeMetroidvaniaSoulsish kinda game, and my first major interaction with that open adventure kind of gameplay. It's a Big Cinematic AAA Game and sometimes you just need that kinda popcorn game. Lightsaber combat has never felt more satisfying, the worlds on offer are varied and fun to explore, and I even found myself listening to the music on its own at times. I only played it a few months ago, and I've been getting the urge to replay it at times already, which usually never happens this fast. Hoping hard for FO2.   5. Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (directed by Atsushi Shiozawa & Hiroyuki Ichiyanagi, developed by Project ACES) Sometimes you just gotta try a series you've never really thought about before because it has kickass music. Yeah, I picked up Ace Combat 04 on a complete lark, and though I've played some of not only 04, but 5, Zero, and 7 this year, 04 is the only one I finished within the year and it's the one that made me fall in love with this series. I never thought I could wind up enjoying something like a dogfighting arcade flyer, I had always just assumed my brain would just not comprehend, but man...feels good. And as if that's not enough, the previously mentioned badass music and the in-depth lore of Strangereal just sweeten the pot of Metal Gear With Planes.   4. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (directed by Robert Kurvitz, developed by ZA/UM) Disco Elysium has been on Something Awful's Game of the Year rankings for two years in a row, and received a large update in 2021 including additional content and full voice acting. Doesn't it only make sense to try out such a critically acclaimed game in its definitive form? I found myself with an experience like few others I've had. I spent the first day much like the good detective, fumbling about in a haze as I tried to figure out where I was and what I was doing. As the pieces came together, the process became smoother, and things fell into place. After a certain point, I was hooked until the end. Disco Elysium is a game with a lot to say, and boy howdy is it going to say it to you. My playthrough barely scratched the surface of the game, and I'm already eager to jump back into Revachol. I love Kim Kitsuragi.   3. AI: The Somnium Files (directed by Kotaro Uchikoshi, developed by Spike Chunsoft) The top three games are all games that essentially dominated my every waking moment when I was playing them. Just absolutely hooked in deep. I adore the Zero Escape series, so this year, I finally did the needful and checked out Uchikoshi's big post-ZE project, just in time for the sequel to be announced. Uchikoshi is probably one of the best mystery writers in games today, using the visual novel format to its fullest to create tightly woven stories with endearing characters to boot. AI takes what seems like a simple murder investigation and frays it out into conspiracies, corporate intrigue, political machinations, and Minecraft. The game sometimes relies a little too much on cringeworthy sex jokes, but it's not enough to ruin the best cyberpunk game of 2021 of 2019.   2. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (directed by Shu Takumi, developed by Capcom) Finally! Finally we got a new Ace Attorney game in English! And finally, it's a localization of the two Great Ace Attorney games, thought to be lost causes due to rights issues. These games, series creator Shu Takumi's return to the series after Ghost Trick and the Professor Layton crossover, have been hailed as the best in the series, and boy I'm right there with it. The 19th century setting not only brings a fresh look and feel to the world, but helps to bring the proceedings back down to a more relatively grounded level compared to the mainline game that were releasing alongside which were escalating with new gimmicks and higher stakes. Being released as a collection means that the two games can be enjoyed as a single story as they were intended, even if the way the original games were released leads to the beginning of the second game dragging a bit when played all at once. The story is gripping, bigger than any other Ace Attorney game, and only makes me want Takumi to return to the main series with the in development 7th game. Now if you could only announce that one officially, please.   Game of the Year: Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker (directed by Naoki Yoshida, developed by Square Enix Creative Business Unit III) Final Fantasy XIV is my favorite game of all time. Endwalker serves as not only the latest expansion, but as the culmination of nearly a decade's worth of story, a feat on a scale not seen too often in the gaming space. And while the expansion as a singular product certainly isn't perfect, as an ending, it more than wraps it all up in a satisfying way. I laughed, I cried, and I flipped the hell out. Final Fantasy XIV is a game that means a lot to me. Though I had been playing it intermittently since 2017, it was after I lost my first full-time job late in the next year that I found myself with an abundance of free time and got deep into the game, helping me get through countless days of job applications, and catching up just as I had found new permanent employment. The game has one of the most welcoming communities of any game out there, and it makes the game feel like a second home. I adore this game and I don't think much else will top it in my life because it means so much more to me than the game itself.
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Dec 13, 2021 06:21
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Rarity posted:Point of Clarification: What about Great Ace Attorney, since the collection is their first western release?
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Dec 13, 2021 14:13
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DMCrimson posted:1. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 4.5  It begins....the runback!
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Dec 13, 2021 18:32
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VideoGames posted:More like Metroid Dreading the reveal of where it is on the SA GOTY list with no one voting for it and Nintendo choosing to end the series for another decade.  Looks like you're part of the problem, Veeg.
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Dec 15, 2021 14:26
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Jay Rust posted:If you start now and make it your full-time job, you can finish all of the expansions in like, not even two months! You literally cannot start now, though. Eorzea's full.
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Dec 18, 2021 23:11
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Feeling very Sickos seeing Endwalker on so many lists
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Dec 19, 2021 22:42
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I can't believe Disco Elysium is gonna be in the running for a third year in a row
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Dec 20, 2021 20:40
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2021 is when all the media that was being made in 2020 that got derailed due to the pandemic is coming out or was supposed to come out, so yeah.
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Dec 21, 2021 03:53
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I don't think anyone else has a PS2 plane game on their list
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Dec 28, 2021 23:18
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wuggles posted:Anyway, AI: The Somnium Files is a game about artificial intelligence (AI), eyes, “I” (the self), and “ai” (the Japanese word for love). Yes, it is extremely far up its own rear end, in the best possible way. You forget that Aiba, Date's AI eyeball, is his aibou (partner)
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Dec 30, 2021 02:49
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That's that Uchikoshi poo poo.
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Dec 30, 2021 03:52
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Also, Disco Elysium did come out with a large content update this year.
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Dec 31, 2021 16:50
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Hirsute posted:8. 428: Shibuya Scramble Kochi Nakamura was just a producer on both 428 and the Zero Escape series, he wasn't really "the guy who made them"
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Dec 31, 2021 20:57
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Yeah, 428 is still an extremely good VN, but I didn't want people to get the wrong idea about it by thinking it's an Uchikoshi joint.
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Dec 31, 2021 21:38
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Herlock Sholmes is the Sherlock Holmes of the year
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Jan 1, 2022 19:08
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Songs of the year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G1ob5jnuSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UsZM2k9_dQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uLxzHOje5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApQJl8tmmLc
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Jan 1, 2022 22:04
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So far I'm at three of my list in outside the countdown and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who voted for two of them. E: Wait, four.
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Jan 8, 2022 18:23
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10 - The Good Life (Outside countdown) 9 - Sam & Max (Outside countdown) 8 - Obra Dinn 7 - Okami HD (Outside countdown) 6 - Fallen Order 5 - Ace Combat 04 (Outside countdown) 4 - Disco Elysium 3 - AI Somnium 2 - Great Ace Attorney 1 - Endwalker
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Jan 8, 2022 18:44
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Rarity posted:Obra Dinn and Fallen Order also failed to rank Aw dip, that'll show me for glazing over the failed to ranks So it's literally just my top 4 somewhere in the top 50.
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Jan 8, 2022 18:50
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DalaranJ posted:I think The Good Life was number 10 on a bunch of lists. Yeah, and as a result it didn't make the top 75.
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Jan 8, 2022 19:11
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DalaranJ posted:I think The Good Life is the most "This belongs at #10" game I've ever played. An extremely "Well, I did back this, I might as well play it" game
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Jan 8, 2022 19:26
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https://twitter.com/devtesla/status/1412929379139739660?s=20
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Jan 8, 2022 20:45
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I've been having a lot of fun with Cyberpunk but I also only paid 5 bucks for it so that might help.
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Jan 8, 2022 21:02
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Yeah there's DLC being worked on, but they've been prioritizing polishing the main game and getting the next-gen ports in, I think.
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Jan 8, 2022 21:06
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Rarity posted:I must have pasted it into the wrong page of my document I can't believe we got GOTY leaks here
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Jan 8, 2022 21:26
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I need to finally finish Kiwami and maybe replay Zero and then do the rest of 'ems
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Jan 8, 2022 22:29
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Arist posted:Wow, five of my picks still haven't come up. I haven't had a pick come up since AI. I've got three left.
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Jan 8, 2022 22:38
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PS5 has One Game
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Jan 8, 2022 23:07
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTu-PIL9_vs
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Jan 8, 2022 23:10
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I officially have three games in the top 10, boys.
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Jan 8, 2022 23:16
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YEAH BOY WHOOO SWITCH PORT'S COMIN' FOR 2022, BROTHERS
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Jan 8, 2022 23:27
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CharlieFoxtrot posted:13 sentinels is mostr definitely a timeloop game thoug!!!!! It's not, it's a time travel game.
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Jan 8, 2022 23:30
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uLxzHOje5o My first list hit since 43!
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Jan 8, 2022 23:37
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10 - The Good Life - DNR 9 - Sam & Max - DNR 8 - Obra Dinn - DNR 7 - Okami HD - DNR 6 - Fallen Order - DNR 5 - Ace Combat 04 - DNR 4 - Disco Elysium - 3 3 - AI Somnium - 43 2 - Great Ace Attorney - 7 1 - Endwalker - 1
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Jan 9, 2022 00:41
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 19:29 |
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Pop me with that probe, I'm working overnight tonight anyway. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jan 9, 2022 00:52
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