Games

Personally for me :

Xbox: Hi-Fi Rush , I love rhythm games and hack and slashes and this was the perfect combo. A lot of heart was poured into this game with the devs and I wish it had a bit more recognition .

PS5: GoW Ragnarok, great follow up to my favorite game last generation with a very satisfying conclusion. Was a close one between this and Spiderman 2 where both games were more of a refinement of the original but this had way more content.

PC: Spec Ops: The Line - Great story, decent mechanics for a fairly old game and the performance was wonderful playing on max settings at 144 fps on my handheld.

Outer Wilds + DLC. Not just one of the best games I've played this year, but one of the best games I have ever played.

Honorable mentions:

• Cruelty Squad
• Life is Strange: True Colors (really wish it were longer)
• Budget Cuts 1 and 2 (VR only)

BG3 for me. It's been a while since a game has captured me so much.

Dishonored. I've had it for ages and only ever played the very escape mission. It actually got me to buy Dishonored 2 and start that.

Let's hope for BioShock in 2024.

Well the best overall for me has to be Disco Elysium. Game is just astounding. Tears at my heart. Pentiment is a close second. But my god was that one a bit more miserable. Recommend for anyone that enjoys a good story.

From purely a fun standpoint, Rollerdrome and Hi-Fi Rush were absolutely killer. Incredibly tight gameplay. Super satisfying to "get good" at. Rollerdrome was the first game I was motivated enough to 100%, it was that fun.

It's kind of crazy looking back at how many games I got through in a year. Could've sworn I had played these years ago. What is time, even? 🫠

RDR2. Yeah I'm late to the party. Still great IMHO.

Cyberpunk has gotten so good I can't put it down. This might be the only game I rarely even think about modding.

Tunic, such a great combination of classic Zelda with puzzles and mechanics that keep evolving in crazy ways, felt similar to FEZ by the end for the true ending. The manual mechanic is one of my favorite ones in a long time.

Finally decided to play Outer Wilds.

Wonderful game! Changed my view of the world and outlook on the purpose of life for the better

Star Wars: Racer

It was a return to nostalgia for me. My wife bought this for me for Christmas. I was worried that I would lug into a very dated game, however:

The gameplay is so exquisite and the track design so carefully thought out that it’s really an exhilarating game. The tracks never get boring because they sprinkle in just enough variation and style to keep them engaging. The tricks you can pull in a podracer do not break suspension of disbelief the way normal car games do when pulling amazing stunts. The flow is smooth and fluid even now.

Between the minimap, rearview, braking, air breaking to sustain airtime and cushion landings, self-determined boosting (rather than relying on external powerups or boost zones), and repair management you’re never not adjusting to something. The game keeps you busy while you’re flying along the track.

To boot, the obstacles and shortcuts are carefully distributed and used, playing into the themes of the tracks. Most are small influences, but useful or interesting. One track will force you to reconsider your playstyle for it, however. Despite that it’s not so jarring that you want to stop playing.

You also get a bevy of racers to choose from and the ability to buy and juggle upgrades and pit droids keeps your gameplay evolving. You can even be rewarded for being a skilled player by adjusting the finish placement payouts.

Unfortunately due to careful planning and purchasing, as well as a better sense of how to play as an adult, the game has some shortcomings. Instead of being neck and neck, I was regularly 7-12 seconds ahead of the second place racer, regularly unable to see them in my rearview. A complete lack of a story mode and a low difficulty bar meant I was done in three days even with limited play time and inconsistent access. While this could have been saved with an Online mode added, I still had fun completing Tournament mode and would gladly give this to anyone who wants high-velocity adrenaline with more complex mechanics than your average racing game.

Super Mario Wonder is the best 2D Mario since Super Mario World. There is so much attention to detail and the polish on every aspect from the gameplay to the way enemies act and react.

Super Mario RPG is the ultimate remake. It kept absolutely everything about the original while adding a few minor gameplay enhancements. Best of all, the graphics look like the original CG readers from the 90s but with perfect modern sharpness.

Deathbulge Battle of the Bands was an unexpected favourite. It's a light-hearted turned based RPG with Earthbound and Undertale vibes, an amazing soundtrack and interesting and humorous characters.

Tears of the Kingdom

It's not perfect, but still excellent

Inscryption!

Going to go with highly modded Fallout 4. I’ve got bunch of immersive mods like darker nights, better flashlights, and minimal HUD. Mods that make the game world scarier like radiative storms, working gasmasks, more ghouls, and more enemies in general. Rebalanced damage, added a lot of weapons, quests, and expanded existing locations. Settlements feel much more important as places of security, and are ringed in concrete walls and patrolled by uniformed Minutemen.

Going out into the world actually feels scary and harrowing. The settlements feel like actual breathers from a truly strange and dangerous world.

While I have a lot to say about the faults of Fallout 4, no other game provides such an amazing foundation for an open world experience, and the modding community is top notch.

Talos Principle 1 + Gehenna (Had it for years in my library collecting dust), finished it to 100% and am currently playing Talos Principle 2. These games are absolute gems and not even expensive for what you get, too. The people at Croteam are genuine masters of their craft.

Metro Exodus (PC Enhanced Edition).

I'm surprised I don't see Alan Wake 2 as its own entry in the list so far.

I don't like horror games, and I didn't care that much for the first game, or even necessarily Control, but Alan Wake 2 was really impressive. Showcased the power of the format of video games for cinematic narrative in a way that raised the bar even higher than it'd been before, similar to how BG3 and TotK raised the bar in player choice and open ended game design.

And just such a visually striking game too.

Final Fantasy XVI. I'm just happy that the quality was up to par after the train wreck of XV.

Dead space. The remake was just as good as the original but with updated graphics and mechanics.

Age of Empires IV. It's an RTS, so you need to multitask. I find it more difficult to play than souls-likes or other timing games, but I enjoy the struggle. I've only played 3 out of 16 factions available but I'm hyped that there's probably more content to come. Especially since their newly released expansion was said to be the bestselling expansion for all their AOE games.

Team Fortress 2. It's partially because of the amazing gameplay and partially because of the community.

My most played game this year is definitely my favorite, loved it from start to end.

Dyson Sphere Program Cities Skylines 2

Both because I like systems and I like to build.

How is noone screaming about Lethal Company? I have never had more fun that playing that game last few weeks. True its "short" even with mods but sooo worth it.

BG3 was for me (in 2023). I did 3 full runs. There's never been a game where I completed it and immediately started another campaign. There's been games I've considered it and pondered it but never did it.

Days Gone, since it just released on gog and I wanted to give a triple a title another shot. It turned out to be pretty good, fun driving and gameplay, and the hordes were terrifying.

Also I was amazed how well this game was running, 4k 144hz butter smooth on a 4070. Kudos to the developers!

Finally beat BOTW, so I'll say that

Final Fantasy 5 and 6 are fantastic 16 bit JRPGs.

FF6 (Final Fantasy 3 in the US) gets a ton of acclaim, but I highly recommend finding a translated ROM of FF5.

I usually get bored when RPGs require too much level grinding, but they are paced nicely.

Quake I, now remastered. I reinstall it frequently and it was one of the first games I tried on Linux, and it works flawlessly even though it came from a Microsoft-owned Bethesda-published Id. There's something hypnotyzing in how responsive it feels so I don't get bored nor with originar, nor with pretty new levels. Even boomer shooters don't scratch it just like this game does.

Sekiro. It ruined other souls like for me. Even DS. Combat felt like dancing, QoL are very good, even better than Lies of P that people kept praising about QoL.

Phoenix Wright.

I recently bought a ds lite in a second hand store and found that game to be one of the most fun ones. Scribblenauts is also quite fun.

Dwarf fortress with DFhack. Now with graphics!

Throughout the year I played:

-Secret of Mana (haven't played in 15 years or so. Game still holds up)

-Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (and the Torna DLC). The main story is fantastic. A bit quantity of quality with all the Blades.

-The Legend of Zelda: TOTK. This game is great. Ultra hand blows this game wide open

-Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Finish this one up now and about to start the DLC. Story IMO is the poorest of the 3 games. But they took the best of the first two game's battle mechanics and improved that system.

Probably XC2. It was a lot of fun.