Hi. I'm Excalibur. I played A LOT of EA FC 24 this year. More than I should have. I didn't play Alan Wake II or Street Fighter VI this year. That's on me, I'm sorry.
Circling back, I'm Excalibur. I am a play-by-play commentator for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), appearing weekly on our DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE professional wrestling broadcasts that air on various networks and streaming services around the world. I also just started Against the Storm, which seems really cool, and, in full transparency, worked on AEW: Fight Forever, the first-ever video game launched by All Elite Wrestling, which at the end of the day (or year) is a really cool thing to be able to say.
That said, I was given ample notice on compiling my Game of The Year list... and here I am writing it up at 11:25PM on the night it is due (DON'T SAY "END OF DAY SUNDAY" IF YOU DON'T REALLY MEAN IT). Anyway, here we go, in alphabetical order:
Baldur's Gate 3
For those that haven't played the first two Divinity: Original Sin games (or Divinity or Dragon Commander), I can see why this was such a surprise. The fleshed out characters and lived-in world, the perfect marriage of a tabletop RPG and CRPG, the tremendously witty and yet anxiety-inducing writing; where did all of this come from?! Larian Studios have been sharpening their tone and perfecting their systems for years, and it all comes to fruition in this absolute gem of a game. I rarely revisit story-driven games, usually feeling I've seen it all, or nearly enough on my first play through. Baldur's Gate 3 is a game I will undoubtedly revisit year after year not to see how it all ends, but to reunite with my friends Karlach and [REDACTED] and experience a different perspective on this deep world. To pull seventeen barrels out of my backpack and place them under my feet and to toss a lightning bolt onto a soaked battlefield. To play with Scratch, the bestest boy. What a game.
The Case of the Golden Idol
The Spider of Lanka & The Lemurian Vampire - In compiling my Game of The Year list I realized that a lot of it was going to be "More of the Same. But that's good!" and this game is exactly that. My elevator pitch about The Case of the Golden Idol and its wonderfully challenging DLC is that each time I solved a puzzle, I wanted to stand up and shout to the rest of the plane, "YOU SEE THAT?! HOW SMART AM I?! I DID IT! I CRACKED THE CASE! NONE OF YOU DID IT! I DID IT!" The detective aspects of the game, and even the art style to a degree, feel very Return of Obra Dinn, but quickly you will find that the narrative takes hold and the two DLC packs flesh out and already intriguing world. What's next, Color Gray?
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Despite buying it on day one, I waited until the 1.5 patch to play Cyberpunk 2077, and restarting the game (female Streetkid V is canon, sorry Corpos) was one of my great gaming pleasures of the year. Not only did I get to revisit the early moments of the game, I was able to experience the tweaks and refinements CD Projekt Red made to the game and its systems from the version I initially played, which was already tweaked and refined! And that's even before I get to a wonderfully crafted tale of espionage and betrayal with some of the most spectacular setpieces of any game in recent memory. William Gibson is one of my favorite authors, and the Cyberpunk world that Mike Pondsmith (et al.) created is so rich and rife for exploration, so I was really rooting for this game to be a success. While initially disappointed at launch, the redemption arc of Cyberpunk 2077 is not only personally satisfying because, A, it's a cool world, and B, because we got a great game out of it, but it's also a testament to the dedication of the CDPR team, really one of gaming's feel good stories.
Dave the Diver
It's a diving/exploration game combined with a Tapper-inspired sushi shop management sim. It's two great tastes that taste great together. And it's well written, the hooks keep you going because you're interested in the world, not just in finishing the game, the twists are unexpected and entertaining, and for some reason the underwater pixelated art just sings on the OLED Steam Deck. If only there were a thematically similar, alphabetically subsequent, yet completely different counterpart...
Dredge
Most of my "PC" gaming takes place on a plane via Steam Deck, so I am at the mercy of cabin lighting, other passengers, etc., but no matter what external environmental factors there may have been, I was filled with a palpable sense of dread every time the sun went down in Dredge. When the game begins, you are a fisherman, but as it progresses you become so much more, a detective, an engineer, and even an expert in inventory management akin to an experienced A Feast for Odin player. Dredge borrows many elements from other games, but the way they conform to each other and the overall atmosphere make for one of the most memorable gaming experiences of the year.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
I mentioned earlier that I felt a sense of "More of the Same. But that's good!" when compiling this list, and that is perfectly encapsulated by the next four entries. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom took most of what was great about one of the best games of all time, discarded a hefty chunk of it, added a building system (and completely new underground and aerial worlds to explore), and crafted what feels like a completely distinct game from its predecessor (maybe not so much from the narrative perspective, but the rest of the game is so good that can slide). The crazy thing is that what may have been considered "cruft" in Breath of the Wild was actually retained, and is now seen as part of the charm of this generation of Zelda games.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
The former Yakuza series has a soft spot in my heart, but while I bounced hard off of Like a Dragon: Ishin!, I loved the streamlined brevity of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. The combat is consistently fast and fluid (though I sorely missed Yagami's skateboard from Lost Judgment), the story was as zany and inscrutable as ever, and (if you wanted it) there are likely hundreds of hours available to you via mini-games and side stories. Or if you have to finish a GOTY list for Giant Bomb, maybe you're happy that you can bop around Sotenbori for 15-ish hours, unravel a sinister plot that is related to the next turn-based RPG in the Like a Dragon series, and get on to the next game!
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
The New York that Insomniac crafted in the original Marvel's Spider-Man felt a generation beyond the hardware it was released on, and Spider-Man 2 continues that trend. The game looks so pretty while moving at a breakneck pace, and that's even before you jump into combat. You feel simultaneously powerful and like an underdog, the deck is stacked against you but if you play your cards just right you can eke out a win, just like Spider-Man would. The setpiece battles come more often than Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, but are no less memorable, but the feeling of being a very much put upon Peter Parker or Miles Morales and just narrowly coming out on top while dealing with everyday responsibilities felt like a wonderful ludonarrative balance.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
As a 40-something-year-old, Super Mario Bros. Wonder was one of the most talked about games of the year in my non-gaming industry friend group before it came out. "I heard it's side scrolling, but with some 3D elements?" "Is it like Super Mario Maker 2 or is it something else?" "Do you think my son will like it, or will it be too hard?" In the days after Wonder came out, our text chain was filled with superlatives. It was a game fathers could play couch co-op with their 6-year-old-sons, it was a game that felt imbued with the spirit and, dare I say, wonder, of the Mario series, and it was a game that an Excalibur could dive into on a plane for hours only to find out it was already time for the final approach into whatever city, which is fine, but there are more Wonder Seeds to be found so if you could just hang on for a little bit longer...
Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West
Beginning with Risk Legacy more than a decade ago (or perhaps even earlier), board games sought to find a way to become more like their video game counterparts, to be fluid, to be a world that changes game after game, different experience on each playthrough that required players to learn new systems and employ new strategies, all in pursuit of a narrative conclusion, a novel concept for board games. And boy, did that lead to a lot of bloat. Some of these games were "legacy" just for the sake of being "legacy," others had a story to tell, and while not completely successful, ended up being rewarding multi-session (and multi-multi-hour) experiences. And then you have Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West. Taking an already familiar base game (an even bigger challenge than with Pandemic Legacy: Season 1) and converting it into a Legacy game is no easy feat, but it succeeds. And it succeeds splendidly. The base mechanics of Ticket to Ride are there, and the new systems are layered on in a way that is not confusing or overwhelming to even the most novice of board gamers. I have gaming groups that are super casual and others that are cutthroat and min-max'y, and Legends of the West is a game I would be happy to bring to the table with any of them.
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