|
I’ve been umm-ing and ahh-in over whether or not to join in - there are so many well thought out and well considered posts that I’m anxious to drop My Toilet Opinions - but it’s been a while since I’ve really got my thoughts on paper, and I'm trying to Just Post without agnoising over everything and driving myself insane with editing, so here is my stream of consciousness: I’ll start with a couple of honourable mentions. I didn’t play it this year (or at least not enough to feel justified including it in my top ten), but watching VG play Shovel Knight on his streams reminded me how absolutely stunning those games are. The gameplay, graphics, sound, level design, presentation and humour are all flawless. Just dripping with charm, and Yacht Club Games absolutely have me in their pocket for whatever they produce next. Shovel Knight Dig was lovely, and the Pocket Dungeon was a charming little puzzler. Just superb. Another honorable mention is Portal and Portal 2. Again, I didn’t play them, but I installed a friend in my house, handed her a controller, and said “Here. Press these buttons until your life is changed.” With how  the internet got with the cake being a lie, it’s easy to forget how drat good those games were. Watching them being played by someone for the first time was wonderful and nerve-racking. What if they weren’t as good as I remembered? What if it’s aged badly?! Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. The writing is incredible, the puzzles wonderful, and the air of sinister menace finds the perfect balance of humour and genuinely chilling. I’m so excited to play Portal 2 co-op for the first time in the new year.Final honourable mention is the Steam Deck. Not a game, obviously, but oh boy what a piece of kit. An emulation powerhouse and a Fallout New Vegas In Bed machine. Just remember not to obliterate the back of yours with a heat gun when you’re trying to fix a sticky button. On to the list! 10 - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope The original game had no god drat right being as good as it was. No right at all. “Mario has a gun and also the minions are here” is a hard sell for anyone, but somehow the end result was a thing of beauty. Watching the thread go from “lol this is going to suck” to “this game is incredible, feed me more humble pie” was a treat. So. Lots of pressure for the sequel. I don’t think it’s got quite the same charm, but it plays beautifully, looks wonderful, and - god help me - the Rabbids are funny. They point at bottoms and there are giant toilets. Am I supposed to not react to that? For god’s sake I’m only human. I’m not a deeply tactical man, but the level of planning was about in my wheelhouse, and being able to swap out Sparks to change your build gives it a nice bit of chewiness. Did you know that in France the Rabbids are called “Les Lapins crétins”? That’s hosed up, France. 9 - Monster Train Oh god. My free time. Please. Please leave me alone. I’ve got things to do. I’ve- fine. Fine. I’ll do one more round. One more round then I’ll- hey, is that a new relic? Okay we’ll see what the next round is like. Just the next one though. Then I hav- WAIT HANG ON LOOK I CAN GET THAT GUY TO BUFF THAT GUY AN- and so on. This is the first time a deckbuilder really clicked for me, and HOO MOMMA did it ever click. Obviously I then had to get Slay the Spire. And Steamworld Quest. And so on and so forth. When I was a teen I bought Metal Gear Acid 1&2 and just didn’t get on with them. Now my brain is thoroughly loving poisoned, I am really looking forward to giving them a proper go. 8 - Dark Souls 3 Hello. It’s me. The autistic husband from the post 11 posts above. Do you like Dark Souls? I like Dark Souls. Let’s talk about Dark Souls. Hey. Where are you going? What do you mean “This isn’t really appropriate talk for an orgy”? Come back! So yeah. Bit keen. In advance of the release of Elden Ring I decided to finish Dark Souls 2 and 3, as I’d never actually got round to doing that before. I’d previously put a few hours in both but, as with Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, and Bloodborne before them, it seemed like a few false starts were needed before I could properly get on with finishing it (he says, having imported Demon’s Souls for the PS3 (thanks to the thread here) before it was released in Europe, and finishing it for the first time THIRTEEN YEARS LATER via the PS5 remake. Good grief). Dark Souls 3 definitely plays better than 1 or 2, and I appreciate what it’s trying to go for, but it’s not quite got that magic. While I generally thought the “hey look, it’s that guy from the other games!” was laid on a bit thick, seeing Patches again genuinely thrilled me. I do wonder if the backlash against DS2 hadn’t been so much, whether we might have seen a different final product. Something a bit riskier, and less “okay fine here is a little bow on it all, are you happy now?” Still, it’s more Dark Souls. Obviously it’s great. Don’t be silly. 7 - Where The Water Tastes Like Wine You know what’s not Dark Souls? Hobo stuff. All bindles and secret signs and campfire stories told to each other while trying to avoid going blind from drinking prohibition whiskey. Actually now I think about it that does sound kinda Dark Souls. Well. This game is slow, contemplative, and quite unlike anything else I’ve played this year. You play as a hobo in Depression-era America, travelling the country swapping stories, and watching those stories grow and change as they spread. The music is beautiful, the presentation unique, and the game ties together two of my interests: Hobo Stuff, and aching melancholy. If you want a game you can immerse yourself in undiluted atmosphere for a while, I highly recommend it. 6 - It Takes Two Oh my god people. Get a divorce. Sometimes a relationship ends and that is sad, but it can be for the best. It’s not necessarily better to stay together, even if a slightly perverted book encourages you to do so. That aside, It Takes Two is an absolute triumph. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game where the gameplay is so consistently refreshed as you proceed. Playing as a husband and wife who, through various magical contrivances, have become tiny models of themselves, you and a partner have to Honey I Shrunk The Kids your way through their house and gardens in order to mend your relationship and regain your human meat. This generally takes the form of the characters having complementary powers, and having to work together to solve puzzles and progress through each level. It really does take two! Who’da thunkit?! Each level puts a unique twist on this core conceit, and it’s remarkable that at no point do things feel stale or boring. It’s genuinely incredible how imaginative this game is. Also, it’s loving haunting. At one point you have to dismember a toy elephant as it begs for its life. My god. I did not expect that. You are bad people, Cody and May. You need a divorce. 5 - Hades In which a chaos bisexual with daddy issues murders his way through hell, goes on the shagabout a bit, and pets a third of his dog. To my eyes, Supergiant can do no wrong. Bastion was great, Transistor was a joy, and Hades is just sublime. Beautiful cartoon world, really lovely synergies to explore, and gameplay loop that rewards each run with more story, even if that is just having a quick chat with your dad’s subordinates. Then, once you’ve had that chat, you may as well see what weapon is recommended. Then may as well give it a go. Then may as well WHOOPS it’s 3am. Might buy it again for the Steam Deck… 4 - Hollow Knight I’ve already beat Hollow Knight on the Switch. I didn’t do all the DLC, but I did beat the White Palace, and that was nails. Pun intended. I didn’t really feel the need to pick it up again. That was enough. Then a friend was playing it for the first time for her stream. I popped round one day, and asked how she was getting on with it. Whether she had mastered the downward slash yet. That kinda stuff. At one point I fired it up, showed her the downward slash, and ruined the next two weeks of my life. Just playing it for 3 minutes was enough to grab me right back in. It feels so drat good in the hands. Just exquisite. The world is beautiful, Zote is hilarious, and everything fits together to make one of the most satisfying games I’ve ever played. Absolute god-tier Metroidvaniaing. I can’t think of many games that could pull me back in so hard in so little time. Now I have to do the White Palace again. poo poo. 3 - Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin Oh boy it’s a good ‘un. I was put off playing it for ages thanks to the fan backlash, and being told that it was safe to skip and go straight to DS3, but that’s toilet advice for yokels. Dark Souls 2 is weird, man. Real weird. Haunting and dreamlike and fragmented and weird. It wasn’t a straight copy of Dark Souls, and nor should it have been. It did its own thing in its own way, and quite explicitly tells you that Dark Souls, and what you did there, doesn’t matter. That is bold. That is god drat bold. It obviously didn’t do everything right - the AGL level tax is a terrible decision in every conceivable way - but it did something different and interesting and weird, while also playing just beautifully (agility fuckery notwithstanding). If you’re a Dark Souls-liker like me, and also have been put off giving it a go, I can’t recommend it enough. Weird, man. 2 - Resident Evil 7: VR I played this game on stream throughout the year. Me in my headset playing the game, and my friend on another camera monitoring the chat. I’d set it up so the chat could throw pennies at me to secretly tell her to blow in my ear/poke me in the side/generally make me jump out of my skin even more than I already was. It was awful. Horrible time. Terrifying. Good telly, but loving horrid. Resident Evil 7 absolutely whips rear end. I first thought it wasn’t going to be much to write home about - “Capcom saw PT and wanted a bite” - but then I got into the house proper and holy poo poo this is a Resident Evil game. There’s convoluted locking mechanisms and herbs to fanny about with and OH DEAR GOD WHAT WAS THAT. Playing in VR was mindblowing. If I hadn’t been streaming it - and therefore distracting myself by keeping a running monologue of what I was doing and how I was feeling - I honestly don’t think I could have got past the first five minutes, let alone finished it. It is so immersive. So horrible. My little brother played it in VR on his own and screamed so much the neighbours came round to make sure he was okay. Resi 8, which I am yet to play, is getting a VR patch for the PSVR2. I’ll be there day one, live on Twitch and making GBS threads myself dry. 1 - Elden Ring Of course it is. Of COURSE it is. I checked the Playstation “year in review” thing and Elden Ring made a full 50% of my playtime this year. 50%! Half the time I was using my Playstation I was playing Elden Ring. Hundreds and hundreds of hours. I could have learned a trade. Didn’t though. Went biffing instead. What a game. What a generous game. Magic and intrigue and potential around every goddamn corner. I don’t think I’ve played anything so full of mystery. Anything that’s made me think “what next?” so consistently. This is the first From game I’ve played without knowing anything (beyond the first trailer) in advance: I did my level best to make the most of that, and play through as much as I could without looking at a wiki. Just me, my notebook, and endless fascination. I wasn’t disappointed. There’s so much. Oh god there’s so much. I’m not sure how it will hold up against a fresh playthrough (though I’ve done my NG+ run and that was a hoot) given how much of the magic was in the discovery of the new and the delight of what was round the next corner. Dark Souls is a game where I can start a new playthrough without any friction. Just revelling in being in that world and slowly bending it to my will. I’m really anxious that things will be different here. The revelation and discovery was such a big part of my first playthough of Elden Ring that I worry it may feel stale on further attempts. Each area I reach disappointing me slightly by reminding me how good it was the first time (gently caress YOU, Terminator Genesys). Even if that were the case (which I really hope it won’t be) my year with Elden Ring unquestionably puts it in the top spot. “What if Dark Souls 2 was big and loads?” loving of course I’d like that. Bring it here and leave the bottle. Rarity cheatsheet 10 - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope 9 - Monster Train 8 - Dark Souls 3 7 - Where The Water Tastes Like Wine 6 - It Takes Two 5 - Hades 4 - Hollow Knight 3 - Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin 2 - Resident Evil 7: VR 1 - Elden Ring Thanks for the Effort Posts, pals, and huge thanks to Rarity for putting herself through such a colossal undertaking <3 Flint_Paper fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Dec 31, 2022 |
#
¿
Dec 31, 2022 18:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Jun 3, 2024 16:31 |
|
|
Here it comes. Mario x Rabbids, baybeeeeee
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2023 23:58
|
|