Disco Elysium for sure. The story enraptured me and the characters had so much depth
Yeah, enjoyed quite a few games this year, but nothing got into my head quite like DE. I hope so bad that we could expect some kind of follow-up to that masterpiece.
I was surprised how much I loved Hogwarts Legacy. I am not a big Potter fan, but this game really nailed that Universe. Even just wandering around aimlessly was journey of whimsical discovery. I have ToTK, BG3 and Cyberpunk 2077 all on the menu this year, but Hogwarts got the majority of time played by a long shot.
Songs of Conquest. A HoMM3-inspired turn-based strategy game, still in beta.
Definitely Jusant. It was just such a perfect game for me when I played it, chill but engaging in exactly the way I needed it, and something about the story just went straight into my heart unlike any other!
I’ve only got a little bit into the game so far and man everything about the game just hits home. If it were just a bit bigger or more freeform it might have been my favorite. I love the weird but recognizable world! Reading letters that sound like they could be straight out of our future hit really well.
Unfortunately it trails a bit behind Seasons A Letter To The Future for me though because it’s less open.
Cyberpunk 2077. Was sad when it ended will need to grab PL as by accounts it’s even better.
Got PL for my birthday this year and I’ll list it for this post.
It’s a toss-up between Dave The Diver, BG3, and Cassette Beasts
Diddy Kong Racing.
Nice. I started Ratchet & Clank on PCSX2 yesterday. Holy hell is that Emulator a work of art. The graphical options for the emu make that PS2 game still shine and the gameplay is lotsa fun. Sadly the libretro core for Retroarch/Emulationstation bugged out for me and was slow compared to standalone PCSX2.
Also I’m still puzzled how it’s possible there are so many retro-achievements for so many games. I looked up how to implement them and it’s really complicated. I totally underestimated how big the retro games scene still is. I really want to get into the netplay thing.
Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead - Sky Islands Mod: By far and away the most interesting survival singleplayer game I have ever played. Complex? Yeah there is a lot of stuff but don’t let anyone convince you CDDA has an obtuse UI, it has easy to remember keybindings and the interface is easy to navigate. Can’t remember the key to do something? Hit “?” and type the name of the action and boom there it is.
Sky Islands turns CDDA into a run based game (sort of like tarkov I guess? idk) and it is just what CDDA always needed for me. Instead of being free to roam the procedurally generated landscape of CDDA going wherever you want, each time you venture out from your island in Sky Islands you spawn in a random place and must make it to a portal home within a couple of hours or you die. There could be any number of obstacles in your way between you and the portal including zombie infested cities, swamps, craters, mass graves, massive fungal towers with deadly spores or shudders worst of all RIVERS… (No joke, surprise rivers you get stuck on the other side of will more thoroughly doom you than anything else).
If you reach the portal home you can only take back through the portal what you can hold in your hands and on your back. Stay as long as you want on your sky island before returning for another run but don’t exhaust your critical supplies and remember that with every day that passes in CDDA the monsters grow more horrific…
Okay, but I’ve just created a functional train in the normal game, so that’s one thing sky Islands don’t have
Rogue Trader. It’s a cozy traditional cRPG out to its fingertips. Walls of texts, static perspective and all those traditional goodies. Combat is engaging, the word ridiculous to absurdity and the characters almost over the top. As WH40K should be.
Baldurs Gate 3, hands down. I played High on Life this year too. Great game, but I haven’t played anything but BG3 since I bought it.
Maybe Fallout 3?
Lingo. It tickles my brain in wonderful ways. I’m currently working through the custom level Liduongo, sequel to an earlier map named Duolingo, and I continue to be surprised, delighted, and utterly perplexed.
It’s a rules-based puzzler that doesn’t tell you the rules buried in a confusing labyrinth. The only downside is that it requires a strong grasp of English, limiting its audience.
The Talos Principle 2. It’s a game about communism. Play it.
I also really enjoyed Blasphemous 2. Great metroidvania with some gnarly Spanish Catholic art.
Prodeus, Chained Echoes, and Triangle Strategy were the big gems for me this year.
I was certainly behind the curve here, but Horizon Zero Dawn! I was expecting some vagely Zelda like adventure RPG (and it was), but the story was so much more compelling than I expected. What a memorable game! I even got a second hand PS4 to play the sequel on… which I haven’t for like 6 months now. >_< (Too many other things to do!)
I played it thrice on PS4. Got the free DLC and played the DLC twice. It’s such a powerful idea to have simple attack/dodge scheme and fight all kinds of machines even on Ultra Hard mode. The story is just OK, predictable.
The sequel, hmm, can’t say it’s even mediocre.
‘I lost my old equipments in the bag.’
Grow up, writers. We’re not five.
They added more moves in combat but I don’t like it.
The world is big and boring. I feel like to explore it before the main plot even begins but only for old time’s sake.
Oh, and don’t have too high expectation on playing it with good performance on PS4.
