by durandir
My GotY for this year is 5 games that I have a pretty firm order on (1-5), 5 games that is basically unordered (6-10) and a bunch of honorable or not so honorable mentions. It was a good year where I actually played a lot of new things together with all the old things I played, helped with finally getting Xbox GamePass on PC. I did get a Xbox Series S with my significant other, but I have barely used it. I think I am mostly done with console gaming. Anyway, the list!
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I am a huge fan of Psychonauts, so having the sequel come out was both exhilarating and scary. Was certain it would not live up to the first one, but boy did it surpass it in almost every way! Double Fine still got it, baby! The way they weave between humor and serious tackling mental illness is deft as always. The story is heartfelt and funny, but with an emphasis on heartfelt. I think the melancholy that was hidden more deeply in the first game flows more like a consistent undercurrent in this, and I love it all the more. My only complaint is that I want more. I have 100% your game, I want more!
What can I say about Inscryption? Play it. Just. Play. It. It made me, someone who don't like deck-builders because I think building decks is hard, want to play more deck-builders. The entire game (yes, even after Act 1) is so damn good!
Biggest surprise. I had no expectations, was not going to buy it and thought it would come and go quickly like the Avengers game. Was surprised with all the praise it got and thought "flark it, I'll just try it". I am so glad I did. The gameplay is fine, but clearly the weakest point of the game. But that is also the only thing I can fault it for. The visuals is stunning. So many good locales, and the character work is very good. Some of the best faces I have seen to date. The characters themselves are great. Really good performance from every actor, and they really sell the story. Which is also very good. Who would have thought I would get teary-eyed from a Guardians game? Well, I tear up easily, but still! If you like a good, heartfelt story with some decent action in between you owe it to yourself to play this.
Late entry. I don't have a webcam, but bought the game when I found out I could hook up my cellphone as a webcam. Finally got around doing it 29.12. So just made it this year! And boy, I am glad I did. I had a few hiccups with the tech (my monitor reflected in my glasses, so I had to take them off, still got some blinks when not and vice versa) but the experience and the story more than made up for it. In short it was bittersweet and beautiful. I straight up cried. Which often mean the game is one of those that will stick with me for years.
I am one of those musically inclined people who can't for the life of me learn to play anything. Which made this all the more fun, as I could feel like the guitar virtuoso I wish I could be. Really good music, fun story and visuals. The gameplay is very simplistic, but that is OK. I am here for the vibes and the spectacle. And it rocked.
Hitman 3 actually came out this year. And boy, did it! A perfect end to the trilogy, with some of the best maps to date. It also gave a good conclusion to the story I think. Having all of the maps and everything from all three games is kind of overwhelming in the best possible way. I even liked the Deadly Sins DLC, some of which changes the game quite dramatically. Wrath for instance almost turns it into a Home Alone situation at the Dartmoor Mansion. Looking forward to what they are doing this year.
Early Access still, but the amount of time my brothers and me spent on this gives it a spot on the list. Such a good game! I am looking forward to what they will add, and am trying my best to not play it more until 1.0 comes out.
Ugly and beautiful, janky and precise. True art for sure. Buy it. Consume it. You'll laugh and you'll get irrationally angry. Grossest soundtrack. It rules.
I loved the first one, and this improved on so much. A few things was different in a worse way I think, but I also think they have been patching it a lot after I stopped playing that might have done something about that. Specifically how traps worked, where I couldn't rely on them stopping Agents as they did in the first game. I actually never beat the first game, so it fits that I have yet to beat a campaign in the new one. But I will go back one day and become a true Evil Genius!
This is one of those games you don't want to spoil for anyone. Time loop, ancient Rome, with a good and insane story. Has some very neat systems to help with the inherent monotony that can set in when doing time loops.
