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Hmm, the Mass Effect Legendary Edition counting as three separate games instead of one complicates things a bit for me. To my mind they should count as one, since it's not like you can purchase the individual games remastered, and they share a launch screen.
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Dec 13, 2021 16:25
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 21:52 |
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I'd never heard of this, but I decided to put my list of 10 into it for fun, and it turned out in the exact order I had them tentatively placed. I'm taking this as confirmation that my list is correct.
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Dec 15, 2021 01:52
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Based on my list it seems my theme for the year was "broadening my gaming horizons" 10. Far Cry 5 – Despite my longstanding love of the Assassins Creed series, and in particular the more recent open-world installments, I had never played a Far Cry game prior to this one. I had heard mostly negative things about the game honestly, especially focused on the story and the atypically-silent protagonist. But the gameplay itself was roundly praised, so I figured I'd take advantage of a good sale price to see how the Far Cry formula suited me. The answer: I really enjoyed playing this game, flaws and all. The music in particular has stuck with me, and despite the very real problems with the story I enthusiastically picked up 3, 4, New Dawn, and 6 in short order. 9. A Plague Tale: Innocence – This was a pleasant surprise as one of the free PS+ games this year. Impressive graphics, well-executed stealth gameplay, and an engaging (if a bit short) storyline all made me glad to have taken a chance on the game, and have me excited for the sequel next year. 8. Far Cry 6 - Pretty much everything I liked about Far Cry 5, I liked more in 6 (with the possible exception of the music). Just a big fun open world experience, and having the protagonist be an actual character that speaks and reacts to things made a huge difference. 7. Yakuza Like a Dragon – I've become a huge fan of the Yakuza games since returning to the Playstation fold a few years ago, and this game delivered on so many of the things I've grown to love about the series. That being said, I was initially resistant to playing the game at all when I learned of the switch to turn-based combat. That particular combat style has legitimately ruined games for me, so I had pretty much written LAD off as a skippable entry in the franchise. Last year's GOTY thread, however, had a few posts talking the game up and showing what made it great, and I was sufficiently intrigued. I still hated the combat system from start to finish, but the game did at least make a convincing case for why that particular system was necessary, and managed to make it one of the more enjoyable examples that I've encountered. And everything else was top-tier Yakuza goodness, possibly even my favorite entry in the series. 6. Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition – In truth this is kind of a stand-in for the entire Legendary Edition trilogy, but I did choose Mass Effect 3 for a specific reason. The Mass Effect series has been one of my favorite gaming franchises since I first played the original game. Even when people raged about the ending, I still held a mostly positive view of it. Even when Andromeda became a laughingstock, I genuinely enjoyed my time with it (I even completed a third playthrough this year, and it almost made my list!). However, I hadn't actually played the original trilogy at all since Mass Effect 3 was originally released, so I was very excited at the prospect of the remastered collection. In my memory the quality ranking went the same as most people: 2, 1, 3, with the only possible debate being the first two positions. This time around though, I found the first game to be much thinner than I remembered, 2 held up just fine, but 3 was so much more fun and interesting than in my memory. I can honestly say now that 3 is my favorite game of the trilogy. Yes, even the parts with Kai Leng. 5. Lost Judgment – The original Judgment was, at the time I played it, a strong contender for my favorite game in the Yakuza universe. This year's sequel had everything I loved from the first game (an overly-complex legal plot, the usual side story silliness, and a satisfying payoff to being a completionist), plus high school drama! The school stories did give the game more of a sense of bloat than the original had, but bonus points for the developers solving the problem of “how do we avoid our protagonist beating the poo poo out of teenagers for half the game” by creating a new fighting style where he just clowns on them instead. 4. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy – This game had all the makings of absolute garbage. It came seemingly out of nowhere, a licensed Marvel property that had already been adapted into two well-received movies, and the initial footage was less than inspiring. I had zero hype for this one right up until its release, when all of a sudden there was a growing buzz that the game was actually good. I decided to see for myself and found the story was engaging, the performances were effective both comedically and dramatically, and the gameplay was fun as hell. Definitely one of my biggest surprises of the year. 3. Hades – I spent most of last year's thread wondering just how good this Hades game everyone is talking about could really be. Well, with its release on Playsation this year I was finally able to get an answer, and that answer was “Extremely.” I'd never played a roguelike at all before Hades, and the basic elements of the genre seemed at odds with my usual gaming preferences. And indeed, after the first few hours I was ready to drop it and chalk it up to a failed experiment. But I pressed on, and somewhere along the way something clicked. By the time the credits rolled (not the true ending, I know) I knew it would place prominently on my list. It might have even placed higher, but I am a completionist and Hades has a prohibitively unreliable process for advancing the side content. Still, I'm very glad I took a chance on a game outside my comfort zone. 2. Deathloop – I don't think I was the only one who got a little sick of hearing about Deathloop at every Sony presentation for the year or so leading up to its release. I had played Dishonored years ago but aside from that had no particular affection for Arkane's work, and it really felt like they were pushing this mediocre-looking game way too hard. But again, once it was released I started hearing some really positive buzz about it, and I decided to rent it and give it a shot. Turns out the buzz was right, the game was a whole lot of fun. I loved the time loop structure and the way they used it, and the whole retro-futuristic aesthetic was great. Another game that I'm glad I took a shot on. 1. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut – Like Hades, Disco Elysium was a game that I was already tired of hearing about long before I ever had the opportunity to play it. And, also like Hades, when it was finally released for console I decided to roll the dice (no pun intended) and see what all the fuss was about. What I found was perhaps one of my favorite games of all time. It's a strange one for sure, and structurally unlike just about anything I'd ever played. But through all the strangeness and esoteric philosophical musings there is something deeply beautiful about Disco Elysium, and I found myself drawn to it more and more. I burned through my initial playthrough over a long weekend, and once I was done I didn't hesitate to start my second. Just an incredible piece of art that I plan to revisit again and again. ShakeZula fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Dec 28, 2021 |
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Dec 23, 2021 07:23
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Just a heads-up, I edited my list. Didn't think I'd finish Far Cry 6 in time, but I did and it was very good. I also picked up the FFVII Remake Intermission thing in the holiday sale, so we'll see if I knock it out quick enough and have to edit my list again lol
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Dec 28, 2021 03:20
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Man, I guess I really am going to have to pick up The Forgotten City, huh?
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Dec 29, 2021 03:19
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 21:52 |
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Barudak posted:Game Pass giveth Alas, I am a Playstation-only gamer and thus cannot avail myself of Game Pass Game's on sale for $20 on PSN right now though, and that seems reasonable given how much praise it's gotten around here
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Dec 29, 2021 07:00
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