Here we are, at the end of what will go down as the indisputable *BEST* year of all time (B-Bad, E-EW, S-Shit, T-Turd). That being said...there were some good games. I would say not a ton of absolute bangers, but I enjoyed my time with many and look forward to playing some in the future. Notable missing games for me for next year are Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077 (once it is playable), and TLOU part 2 (I did watch all of the cutscenes and thought the story was excellent, but just have not dug into playing it). Also honorable mentions to Super Mario 3D All Stars, got all of the stars in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy and loved it, but felt like a best of collection doesn't sit right on the GOTY list, and second mention to Doom Eternal which I enjoyed more than Doom 2016 (and probably more than most people), it's just that this list is 10 games and not 11, so that is number 11 in my heart.
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Dark Souls 1 is my favorite game of all time. It came at a perfect time in my gaming life where a lot of the most popular games were too hand holdy and did not have enough depth (Skyrim, COD, etc). Demon's Souls 2009 I played after the following summer and loved it too. Years later, the 2020 Bluepoint remake is everything I want in a remastering of a game. It is one of the most beautiful games to look at, fantastic soundtrack, and stuck to the choices From made 11 years ago that made the Souls games stand out. It is especially interesting to see how the Souls games have evolved from Demon's and what worked and what didn't. It makes the jump to Dark Souls even more impressive to see that they decided to change to an open world versus Demon's Souls level based design. The differing ways to play just make it that much more rewarding to learn different weapons, magics, armors, etc. It is a formula that is becoming timeless and one that I do not grow tired of.
The Yakuza series has been becoming one of my favorite franchises in gaming. The duality of absurd sitcom substories to the deadly serious drama main story carries these games to stand above the rest. The combat of the past games left something to be desired for me, not being a big beat 'em up fan. The addition of it being more of a JRPG is a welcome change, bringing some freshness to the formula. The new protagonists and characters are also incredibly strong, not leaving me feeling like I missed the previous games protagonists. This is a wonderful place to start if you are new to the series, and series diehards like myself will love it too.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is one of the most ambitious stories. It is able to tell a segmented, multi character story and keep it interesting the whole way through. Each chapter carries such strong meaning to the story, that you are being left with these huge bombshells and are able to start putting the pieces of the story together like a puzzle. Try to go into this game knowing as little as possible, and you will come away with a thought provoking, fantastic narrative!
Nioh 1 was a bit of a disappointment to me. It had many problems that could have been fixed to make it a great game. Nioh 2 fixes those problems and make a fantastic Souls style loot game. The levels feel much better to play and the enemies don't feel like sponges and have much more variety. If you bounced off the first one, definitely give Nioh 2 a shot.
Fall Guys is pure fun. The Mario Party style Battle Royale was enough of a fresh take to make me love this game. Great fun to play with friends. (Also let me take this opportunity to brag about my 50 wins in season 1, but also that I won 4 in a row then in the fifth game choked in Hex-a-gone and jumped off the edge, ruining the Platinum for me).
Astro's Playroom is a weird intersection of a demo and a full game. I wish there was more to it, but everything that was there is perfect. The controls and level design are top tier. The music is fun. It is a perfect showcase of the Dualsense controller. And it is a great gallery of Playstation's past, bringing back a lot of strong nostalgia especially for the weird Sony period of the late PS2/PSP/PS3 era 15 years ago.
I played Persona 5 back in 2017. I wish I played Persona 5 Royal back then. I did enjoy my P5 experience, but P5R is so much better and has a much fuller experience. The final chapter is the must fulfilling in a story and gameplay sense, and brings such a better close to the 120 hour journey. It is hard to recommend if you already played P5, but check out the final chapter and absolutely listen to the new music, they are bangers.
Hades took the spot this year of my mindless roguelike game to unwind with after bigger games. The combat is very satisfying and the weapon and boon combinations provide a lot of great variability. I did not enjoy the story telling as much as other people did, it is a lot of characters just telling you and not really a lot of showing people, but as a podcast game I loved Hades.
They finally made Assassin's Creed with Samurais, and it is great! Ghost of Tsushima provides that fun open world checklist game with an improved combat system of AC, and a fleshed out narrative.
If we are talking best endings of the year and best music FF7R takes the cake on both of them by a landslide. I love the changes they have made, making for much more interesting speculation. It is great to see a beloved classic modernized, even if it does feel bloated in spots and if the combat left a little bit more to be desired. Can't wait for Part 2!