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So, this year was a bit different for me in that this was the first year of Sony's new and improved PS Plus, with me deciding to upgrade to the Extra tier. As a PS4-only haver, this has vastly expanded my gaming by allowing to catch up on titles that I missed out on years ago, so this list is going to be a bit longer and more of a mish-mash of older and newer titles than what I've normally done in the past. Not everything I played is on here, but not everything I played is worth discussing. Games released this year will be bolded. (Also not every game on this list is on PS Plus Extra/Premium, but a good chunk are.) TOP TEN SPOILER LIST FOR RARITY 10. Slay the Spire 9. Multiversus 8. Genshin Impact 7. Yakuza 0 6. Gravity Rush 2 5. The Messenger 4. Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon 3. Stray 2. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut 1. Elden Ring HONORABLE MENTIONS -24. The Gardens Between (2018) - A short, sometimes sweet, other times somber game about two kids reminiscing about their friendship. It has a simple gameplay loop that I managed to complete in a couple of hours. -23. Assassin's Creed Chronicles (2016) - I'm cheating a little since the three games in this collection are listed separately on PS Plus, but tbh there's not all that much that's different between them. These are fun, if janky stealth 2D platformers that remind me a LOT of the salvaging sections of This War of Mine while requiring little investment in the rest of the AC series. If you had to press me, I'd rank the three games in the series as such: Russia, China, and India. -22. The Pedestrian (2021 PS port) - A fun platformer puzzle game. I really enjoyed linking together rooms in order to solve puzzles. Felt a little short, though. -21. Yugioh: Master Duel (2022) - YGO's answer to MTG Arena. I definitely appreciate the card game more now, but I think this would be better to play on a PC or mobile device. -20. The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories (2018) - A game I desperately wanted to rank in my top ten. A wonderfully trippy experience and fun puzzle game, I unfortunately had to knock it to the HM list if only because I've been spoiled for gaming this year. -19. El Hijo - A Wild West Tale (2020) - A game that I don't remember anyone talking about, I had a lot of fun with this one. The stealth gameplay isn't anything new, but it has a wonderful, Western-inspired fairy tale motif that made it a delight to play through. -18. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (2017 PS port) - The first of several Metroidvanias on my list, this was also my first experience with the Momodora series. Fun game with cute sprite work, but not one I've really thought of since completing it. -17. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017) - It's always nice to revisit the Uncharted series, and if I'm being honest, I find Chloe a more interesting character than Drake. It seems the series is still done, but I think you could easily make Chloe the new lead. -16. Marvel's Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps (2018) - I'm a lot more burned out on superheroes now than I was when Spider-Man originally dropped, but I was still glad to jump back into the world of Insomniac's Spider-Man, which is still my favorite version of the character. Definitely not a fan of the new model for Peter, but there are few things more delightful than web swinging through NYC. -15. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020) - Playing this right after the Spider-Man DLC made it a bit more of an adjustment than I expected, but still a great follow-up. It's a much shorter game than Spider-Man, but things feel different enough to justify it being a separate release. Just makes me more excited for Spider-Man 2. -14. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (2019) - You miss Marvel vs. Capcom? Play this game. -13. Code Vein (2019) - An anime Dark Souls. Level design is meh, but the combat is fun, and this has one of the better character creators in a Soulslike. -12. Blasphemous (2019) - Another game I wanted to put higher, this game unfortunately had too much competition and was forced down. A brutal Metroidvania with incredible art design, it is absolutely worth playing. -11. Dead Cells (2018) - Yet another game knocked out of my top 10, I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I do like rogue-likes and Metroidvanias, but for some reason I was never interested in playing DC. Glad I was able to change my mind. Whew! That sure was a lot of honorable mentions! Believe me, there's at least a few games I could have added to it that ended up on the cutting room floor, including a game that's been on a few people's top ten list! But that doesn't matter now! Time for the... TOP TEN GAMES OF THE YEAR (Gifs/images are not mine bc I'm not cool like a bunch of people here)  10. Slay the Spire (2019 PS release) - I agonized over this spot, as I pretty much had a good idea what the rest of my list was going to look like. But this spot... Blasphemous, Dead Cells, Power Rangers, and The Missing were all strong contenders for it, and if I were to write this list at another time, any of those games could get in over Slay the Spire. Slay the Spire won out over those games this time by hitting multiple things for me, but mostly with its deckbuilding. I haven't been in the mood for MTG in a minute, and while Master Duel tickled that deckbuilding itch for a second, Slay the Spire hit it full force by essentially letting you draft your cards as you go along. Trying to figure out what kind of build you want for your deck that go-round while navigating whatever the game threw at you felt immensely satisfying, and if you enjoyed games like Inscryption you'll probably enjoy this game.  9. Multiversus (2022) - If you were to just glance at Multiversus, the whole thing screams "cash grab." An assortment of characters from various WB IPs slapped into a Smash clone seemingly without rhyme or reason? There's no way it'll be good, right? ...right? A couple of minutes into the game, and it becomes clear that it's not just a mere cash grab. There's actual craft behind this work; characters are lovingly designed (Tom and Jerry might be one of the best designed fighting game characters ever made), the combat system is as innovative as a Smash clone can be (a focus on team battle, no blocks or normal throws allowing for greater mobility), and it has some of the best netcode for a fighter around. In a lot of ways, it's arguably the best platform fighter available, it's multiplatform with crossplay, and it's free. If you've been itching for some Smash but hate playing it online (or playing in bad online), give this game a shot.  8. Genshin Impact (2020) - I have bad news for you all: with the 3.0 update earlier this year, Genshin has entered the realm of being a good game, sometimes even great. This game has gone from being just something I play while I'm listening to podcasts to being a game I'm willing to recommend to people. The 3.0 update introduced a new region, Sumeru, to the game, and with it comes one of the most expansive and beautiful areas in the game. A combination of lush jungle, deep caves, vast desert, and desecrated ruins, there's much to explore and stumble up, including a side quest that's as long as many games' main storylines. Along with the new playable element, the game feels fresh in a way that it hasn't since launch. (Also, there's a new card game with the 3.3 update that's great, and with my possible hot take, is better than Triple Triad.) If you hate gacha, then yes, stay far away, because that aspect of it hasn't changed. But at its best, Genshin feels a lot like a single-player MMO married with Breath of the Wild; there's always something to do, somewhere to see, and all you have to do is maybe climb a mountain or two to find it.  7. Yakuza 0 (2017 English port) - My journey through the Yakuza series has been... inconsistent. Started with Kiwami 1, then jumped to Judgement, then to [#4 game on my list], then to this. This ranks pretty high on many people's lists, and I can see why. There are few, few game worlds that feel anything like Kamurocho, and every time I step into it feels both familiar and alien, in a good way. There's not much to say about the game that hasn't been said over the years, but of the Yakuza games I've played, this is my favorite leveling up system so far.  6. Gravity Rush 2 (2017) - Something I didn't think I'd play a lot of after [#1 game on my list] was open-world games, yet a good chunk of the games I played this year were exactly that. But Gravity Rush 2 stuck with me for a lot of reasons; its wonderful art direction, the unique world it created, and most importantly, zooming through the air at hundreds of miles per hour only to stop on a dime just so I can fly off in another direction. Getting used to controlling my own personal gravity took a minute, but once I got the hang of it, it stopped feeling like I was careening off haphazardly and more like I was flying through the air with the greatest of ease. This was my first foray into the series, so after finishing it, I was left wanting more. Maybe one day we'll get it.  5. The Messenger (2019 PS port) - Probably one of the best tributes to 8-/16-bit gaming that I've ever played. Tight gameplay, clever writing, and a fantastic Metroidvania; I knew that this game was gonna be good when I first saw it, but I didn't realize how good it was until I got my hands on it.  4. Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon (2020) - After I had played Judgement, I had decided that for the rest of the Yakuza games, I would go back and play them in order. I actually had purchased Yakuza 0 before 7, but unfortunately I just wasn't in the mood to play 0 at the time, and when I found 7 on sale... I couldn't resist. And I'm glad I didn't. I never felt like I was missing out on anything in the older games with the new cast of characters, and the gameplay being completely different from the others helped a lot with making me feel like it was a jumping-on point for people new to the series. Something that it's made me want to do is play more JRPGs again, something I haven't wanted to do in years. I probably would have put a lot more time into this than I did, but [#1 game] dropped and I never looked back.  3. Stray (2022) - This came out at a perfect time for me. After putting hundreds of hours into [#1 game], I was looking for a change of pace, and I got exactly that. There's been plenty already said about it, but this felt like delightful comfort food set in an interesting world that I wanted to see more of. The game and art direction were completely on point, and in any other year this would have been a strong contender for the #1 spot. Alas....  2. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut (2020) - Probably the best open-world game Sony's ever published (and that's saying a lot). Great combat, a fantastic recreation of 16th century Tsushima, and an excellent story about a man who is forced to re-examine everything he's ever known in order to defeat a great threat to his home. Jin Sakai might be one of my favorite game protagonists ever.  1. Elden Ring (2022) - To the shock of few, my GOTY is Elden Ring. But instead of telling you about what I have to say about the game (which has been said ad nauseum at this point), let me instead tell you a story. I'm about 40-50 hours into ER at this point, and I'm making my way up to Caria Manor. At this point, I feel like I've been doing a good job exploring everything thoroughly that I've encountered, so when I get to the Kingsrealm Ruins, I don't think much of it. I start fighting with the enemies in the area, and during a scruffle with one of them, I hit a wall and it disappears. Now, if you're a Souls vet, you're no stranger to illusory walls. I'm certainly not. But, I had somehow convinced myself that they didn't exist in ER (mostly because I couldn't find any early on), and so when that wall disappears, I freak out. "How much have I missed?!" I thought. "I was so thorough! How did I miss this before?! ...do I need to go back and re-explore EVERYTHING?" It sent me into a spiral, to the point where I had to get up and walk away to process that new information; I couldn't play for a while because the game had done literal psychic damage to me. Anyways that's my Elden Ring story, 11/10, one of the best games ever made
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Dec 31, 2022 10:30
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 14:56 |
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:edit; Oh, that was adorable 
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Dec 31, 2022 11:13
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:Number 1: Don't ask me for poo poo  I think I do agree that T7 may not be the best fighting game for beginners, but I think it's the absolute best game to introduce people to Tekken. There's a huge variety of characters that cater to all sorts of play styles (it can't be said enough just how big a deal having Akuma from Street Fighter on the base roster for the home launch was), the graphics still look great even now (seriously the game is almost eight years old), the gameplay is still incredibly tight... Tekken 7 is arguably one of the greatest fighting games ever made, and definitely one of the best made in recent memory. I know some long-term Tekken players hate projectile characters, but I hope Harada doubles down and makes Akuma and, I dunno, Sub-Zero launch characters for T8 
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Jan 1, 2023 00:01
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FlowerRhythmREMIX posted:That was overly rude, I apologize. I am currently playing through that right now and I have some thoughts about it
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Jan 2, 2023 01:01
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Rarity posted:Who knows how high the game could have ranked if it had come out at a different time? Looking forward to seeing the next Horizon game drop against Witcher 4
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Jan 7, 2023 23:17
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Stux posted:the most deserved goty ever
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Jan 8, 2023 00:08
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 14:56 |
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abelwingnut posted:good point. Everyone's hoping for DLC at some point, but there hasn't been any announcements yet. I don't think ER will stick around in the future like a lot of the other winners in years past, if only because no one was sleeping on it like they were games like Disco Elysium or Hades. Everyone knew ER was going to be good
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Jan 8, 2023 17:44
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