|
Since there are already plenty of votes for Baldur's Gate and such, I'm going to be a bastard and go instead for my top 10 games of the year NOT already on all the lists. (May still be on some lists.) 1. In Stars and Time Probably my overlooked game of the year. The premise is simple: You join an end-game RPG party as they prepare to fight up to the final boss. However their rogue is killed by a trap moments after entering. They are revived at the start of the day and quickly realize that they are looping back to the start every time they die. Now they have to find a way to the top and to defeat the evil boss! It's a cute premise but what really sets the game apart is how well it leans into the concept of being trapped in a time loop, the amount of reactivity and flexibility it has, and the gradual way it follows the protagonist as they become increasingly dull and numb to the otherwise charming and delightful world. It's a genuinely excellent and incredibly well crafted game and is probably my non-BG3 game of the year by far. 2 Cassette Beasts One part Pokemon, one part Shin Megami Tensei, this incredibly charming indie monster trainer/collector game is probably among the best I've ever played. You wake up on a mysterious island where the floatsam of time and space all collects itself and where the people can use cassette tapes to transform into cute marketable monsters. Your goal is to find a way home by gradually finding and defeating mysterious Archangels while turning into adorable things like "A candy monster" or "A sheep demon." It sounds simple but it's incredible well executed and manages to capture the fun and excitement of Pokemon while being far more tightly designed, with absolutely phenomenal music and just a ton of charm. 3 Backpack Hero This has been in early access for ages so it's not necessarily new but it finally hit its full release, complete with Story Mode, and so I'm counting it. The basic concept is simple: It's a roguelike built around Resident Evil 4 style inventory tetris. You find and collect items and have to position them for optimal effect in your increasingly busy backpack. Nice and to the point. What makes it shine is how deeply varied it is. Some items only work when next to other items, some require you to keep them distant, some items move and in moving trigger other items, some items transform, some have strange shapes, and more. There are multiple playable characters, each with their own gimmicks. One for example can create separate 'pockets' instead on one big backpack, one uses temporary magical artifacts instead of permanent items, one is a robot who automatically follows a set path of actions, and more. It's cute, charming and absurdly addictive. 4 Small Saga The polar opposite of Backpack hero, Small Saga is a very simple and by the basics RPG that shines in presentation. You take control of a small mouse whose brother was killed my the mysterious "Yellow God." Armed with a weapon of the gods (A switchblade), he sets out on a mission of vengeance to do the impossible and slay a diety. It's a simple RPG with no random encounters, but it makes up for its simplicity with absolutely phenominal artwork, tone, and probably the best soundtrack of the year. 5 Octopath Travellers 2 This is one I expect to see on some lists but it is niche enough that I'm willing to put it on mine. The sequel to Square-Enix's oddly name 8-protagonist RPG, Octopath 2 is a rare game that is a straight improvement over the original in every way. More engaging stories, more enjoyable combat, an absolutely fantastic soundtrack, it all embodies exactly what a good RPG should be. I won't say too much about this because I'm sure it is on other lists, but I wanted it to get a mention. 6 Meg's Monster Similar to Small Saga, Meg's Monster is a simple RPG, arguably more of a visual novel with RPG trappings than a true RPG. Players take control of the titular Monster. A young girl named Meg has fallen into a monster-filled underground, seemingly abandoned by her own people. The reason why becomes clear: If Meg cries too much, the world ends. The monster on the other hand is absurdly powerful and can easily defeat any foe. So combat (and the plot) revolves around figuring out how to overcome challenges without upsetting Meg. It's far more of a story than anything else but it's incredibly charming, with beautiful sprite work and a lovely overall tone. 7 Paranormasite: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo The odd name doesn't do this particular game favors, but it's a pretty effective horror/mystery title. It follows the events of a mysterious ritual that takes place in the Tokyo. Seven curses, each based on a mysterious urban legend, have manifested and found hosts. These hosts are destined to find and kill one another, with the winner being able to gain the right to resurrect one dead person. Each curse however has a special activation condition that must be met, turning encounters between the cursed into tense meetings where both attempt to maneuver the other into triggering the curse. The player actually doesn't control any of the characters directly but instead is an odd spirit, capable of not only flitting between and influencing the curse-wielders, but also moving back and forward in time to change the fate of characters. It's a really compelling and interesting horror title that suffers a bit for letting the curses not take the front and center as much as it should, but it still was one of the best experiences of the year, 8 Bayonetta Origins:Cereza and the Lost Demon This game was doomed from the start. A weird poorly marketing spinoff of a notoriously raunchy and violent action game series which reframes the story as following a child version of Bayonetta through a magical fairytale forest? The game sold about 5 copies and I'm not surprised. However it's also one of the absolutely most enjoyable and creative games of the year, mixing Bayonetta and Zelda into a remarkably atmospheric, creative and intensely cool puzzle/dungeon game where players have to control both the young Cereza and her big brutish ally Cheshire the demon. It's a much better game than I would have guessed and honestly I prefer it to Bayonetta 3, but it's also stand alone enough to work well. 9 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog wait don't go I swear!! It's a goofy little visual novel released for April Fool's Day that follows the Sonic cast as they attempt to solve THE MURDER OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. (Not for real, of course.) It's simple, fun and does a great job of making Sonic' increasingly busy friend circle fun and likable characters, and it was released at the discounted price of frigging free. 10 Dave the Diver This little indie ti... oh, wait, I'm being formed it isn't an indie title? Loudly and repeatedly? Well, Indie or not, Dave the Diver is one of the most charming and enjoyable games of the year. You play as the titular Dave, a rotund and pleasant diver, who is tasked with singlehandedly keeping a sushi restaurant in fish by diving into the mysterious Blue Hole. It's a simple game that combines semi-roguelike diving for fish with a lovely little upgrade loop and some of the best sprite work in the business. It was one of my favorite games this year and the only reason I don't rate it higher is that I expect to see it on plenty of lists.
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 18:50
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 13, 2024 21:00 |
|
|
Lester posted:2022 was a weak year. I doubt the second-worst Souls game would crack many people's top 5 even if it came out three weeks ago But what would Dark Souls 2 be doing on a list in 2023?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2023 19:29
|
|
|
Tosk posted:It's interesting to see BG3 show up pretty consistently but lower than might be expected. It's only been a few people's #1 GOTY so far I think I won't speak for others but I didn't put it on my list because I assumed so many other people would be. Could be the same situation here.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2023 23:58
|
|
|
Yeah, I would say BG3 and TotK stood out to me above all other games this year because they are the rare game that gives you tools, tells you to use them, and then those tools generally work how you expect in most situations even if you're thinking outside of the box. If I saw a problem in BG3 then I could look at my spells, items and abilities and usually find something where I can go "that makes sense" and the game recognizes it. Same with TotK where it just gives you a sandbox of tools and goes "Figure it out" and even if what you figure out is a rag on a stick it feels cool because your rag on a stick works the way you would expect.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 8, 2023 22:55
|
|
|
YoshiOfYellow posted:I always admire Minecraft from afar but I always just kinda flail around in these sorts of games. I don't have much of a creative brain so I can never make much that looks good and then I just don't tend to vibe with heavy crafting/survival game styles. It might sound odd but give Dragon Quest Builders 2 a shot if you feel that way. It's a Minecraft style game with pretty firm goals set down for you which helps drive you towards building something rather than just being freeform.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 10, 2023 05:30
|
|
|
Every time I play VP I am so sad that Maddie Blaustein died well before her time. Liam O'Brian is a great Lezard but Maddie Blaustein was so drat good.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2023 20:44
|
|
|
Hyper Inferno posted:Valkyrie Profile 2 is one of my favorite games of all time but it's definitely a completely different vibe than VP1. It's so much more mechanically focused on its systems which makes the combat really robust but it's nothing like the atmosphere of the first game despite the fact that it's both a sequel and a prequel at the same time. I like VP more than VP2 but I still like VP2 a whole lot. The absolutely batshit loving insane twist the story takes in the second half is worth the trouble and it just has a lot of great things. I also like Covenant of the Plume which is loving fantastic as a SRPG. Never been a bad Valkyrie Profile game. Valkyrie Elysium? Don't see Profile in there.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2023 16:40
|
|
|
You dig giant robots! I dig giant robots! We dig giant robots!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2023 21:43
|
|
|
Mordiceius posted:This is going to be me next year when I visit Japan as a Yakuza/LAD fan. "Look! That's where the women dressed in skimpy outfits battle for money! And that's where the secret underground fight arena is located! No, no, the other one!"
|
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2023 20:37
|
|
|
Jay Rust posted:Huh there are still some FE characters that aren't in smash yet? Quite a few. Smash has only been adding the protagonists of the most recent games at the time it is coming out + Marth. (Except for returning ones who came back due to fan demand.)
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2023 23:17
|
|
|
Kerrzhe posted:Armored Core is made by Fromsoft but it is in fact not a souls series A) Has Patches B) Has the Moonlight Sword C) You'll Die A Lot D) Depressing worldsetting where humanity is on its last legs. Obviously it is a Souls game. No, I don't care that Armored Core predated Souls. It is all Souls. Ninja Blade is Souls. Metal Wolf Chaos is Souls. Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village? You better believe that's a Souls.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2023 22:43
|
|
|
VideoGames posted:01. My king of "Why is this song in a Mario Bros game and why is it going so insanely hard" is In The Final from Bowser's Inside Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faA3IMDbb5I Though in terms of amazing songs I want to recommend like half the playlist from Small Saga, one of my nominees for the year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp4GnFE4GUc Though if I had to pick the song that most stood out to me it would be The Anthropocene, which goes wayyyyyyy too hard for a game about rodents fighting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25YGb1JX9bQ
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 21:40
|
|
|
Captain Invictus posted:I was! gently caress that guy! he tried to break the fundamental rules of the universe! gently caress'im!!!!! He is voiced by Jonathan Sims who voiced the protagonist of the Magnus Archives who is the biggest fuckup to ever exist so I may have been biased in that direction.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2024 19:08
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 13, 2024 21:00 |
|
|
Gollum wasn't even the worst game of 2023.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2024 20:22
|
|