by undeadpool
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
Hades was my Lockdown/pandemic game. I know everyone was playing Animal Crossing, my partner was playing Animal Crossing, but there was just something so incredibly therapeutic about the loop of trying to escape from a basically nice living arrangement because there's something being kept from you out there. I'm sure there's not a metaphor anywhere in there. Hades II takes the bold step of being a proper sequel to Hades: they take the setting, upend it (you're going further down into Tartarus instead of escaping to the surface), but then throws you an entirely new set of 4 locations, and oh yeah: it cranks the difficulty WAY up on it, even by default. They doubled perfection, and I don't know what more I could ask for from a sequel.
It really feels like we're getting the games that were conceived during the Pandemic, during Lockdown, during that strange 2 years where the world experienced the same thing in different countries. It's the closest we'll probably ever get to "seeing the world as it truly is from space" and this game seems to take that tack and run with it. Claustrophobic, maddening, brutally difficult, dangerous and thrilling, and ultimately: about getting to know your neighbors better. For better and worse. "Look Outside" feels like the kind of game people will be bringing up in 5-10 years to talk about how it was underappreciated in its time, even though it got a lot of love when it first came out. It feels ambitious like "Earthbound" and "Undertale" did before it: presenting as almost childishly simple before revealing a deep well of cosmic horror and player choice.
France's attempt at a cultural victory really exploded out of the gate, huh? I feel like there's not much more to say about this game apart from: it's exactly as deep as you want it to be narratively, and the gameplay feels familiar and also somehow incredibly fresh. Also treat yourself: play it with the original French audio. Nothing against any other language's voice acting, but there's something really cool about being able to focus on the writing over the performances.
Talking of a deep well of horror: Silent Hill f might be one of the boldest entries in the series, coming out in the wake of the universally beloved "Silent Hill 2" remake and declaring: but what if we had TWO great Silent Hill experiences in a row? And what if they were fundamentally different? "Misunderstood masterpiece" gets thrown around a lot, but with people trying to cram this into a Soulsborne-shaped hole just because of a few surface-level similarities feels almost like they've played into the trap of the game's narrative: trying to force someone to conform to societal standards when they simply do not want to. Requiring multiple playthroughs to get the full story, while leaving each ending to be satisfying in its own way, is an equally bold step that I hope more games, especially horror games, take to heart.
It happens every list: now for something completely different! I love comics. I love superhero media. I love it when it's cool, I love it when it's goofy, I love it when it takes itself seriously ENOUGH. Marvel's Cosmic Invasion is multiplayer, co-op perfection distilled into a package that also offers a ton of unlockable content, that's frankly best gotten in solo-play because some of those challenges are just too stupid to expect everyone on-mic to adhere to. So when it's multiplayer, it's a wild, wacky good time that you could also hold a conversation over. When it's solo play, it's a surprisingly deep beat 'em up with a Marvel VS Capcom-level combo/juggle system that I swear is a perfect introduction to "tag fighters"
Speaking of unfathomable bleakness and "probably conceived in lockdown," a game that perfectly encapsulates what it's like to have social anxiety and yet understand that human beings need contact and companionship to survive and thrive. The character designs mean no one looks "appealing" and everyone looks like they've got something to hide, especially from you, and ESPECIALLY while they're staying in your home. A Russian game that lets you know: anxiety and paranoia know no national borders.
Hey, remember how I mentioned loving superhero media? It's a tough needle to thread, making a world that doesn't just feel like a rehash of Marvel or DC, but Dispatch manages to feel like it was inspired by an indie comic that we never got. Adult but not grimdark, mature but not gritty, funny but not shallow, the game does an amazing job led by one of the best voice casts I've ever heard that didn't even include he heavy-hitters of the voice acting world, and once again redefining what an "interactive movie" could actually be.
Forget Lockdown, I think we're also seeing how "Streets of Rage 4" shifted the way people think about beat 'em ups. Difficult, sometimes impenetrable, and just begging to be exploited and broken, Absolum is a game that sometimes relies a little too much on getting "perfect drops" to make a run viable, but even when you don't, your skills should be enough to at least get you that little step further. And playing with friends quite literally never gets old.
From "friend of the site" to "legitimate development powerhouse" (at least in the genre of plate-spinning restaurant games), I have loved the "Cook, Serve" series since its inception, and Cook, Serve, FOREVER! changes the gameplay enough to feel really fresh, while focusing more on the characters and narrative in a way that feels incredibly satisfying, and even a little heart-wrenching at times. But at its core: it's about making delicious food look beautiful, and entering a flow state where you only see the buttons and the food.
Look at me in my eyes when I say this: I haven't finished this game, but I know it's great. The first game was great, it was perfect, it typified a "cozy mystery game that takes itself seriously" flawlessly, and the sequel has been no different so far. So it goes on the list, and nobody says shit, ok?
