Fabulously Olivier Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 (edited) What do you think of the games you played this year? Here's mine, and I'll only be talking about games I've completed. Fire Emblem Spoiler Fire Emblem Three Houses (Blue Lions) (8/10) Pros: One of the best and most fleshed-out Fire Emblem casts. Great OST. Improves upon mechanics from Shadows of Valentia. One of the better Fire Emblem stories, though not without qualifications. Theoretically high replay value through customization. Cons: Much like a Cold Steel game, the Calendar system ruins pacing. Map design is questionable. Not Gaiden/SoV bad, but bad. Replay value handicapped by White Clouds and the slow pace of the game. Plot holes and underdeveloped villains. My opinion of the game actually went down by 1 point per playthrough. Fire Emblem Warriors (9/10) Pros: Best tactical map design of any Warriors game. Best postgame of any Warriors game. Highly polished movesets. One of the few games with good mounted combat. Tons of content. Roughly 300 hours. Cons: Inexcusable roster. Poor main story, to put it lightly. Annoying, noisy menus Lacking OST. No canon FE locations. Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes (9/10) Pros: Best story of any Warriors game, other than maybe Persona 5 Strikers. Best RPG mechanics of any Warriors game. Amazing roster, far beyond what anyone could have reasonably expected. Highly polished movesets.... mostly. Mounted combat is as stellar as its predecessor, if not moreso. High replay value. Not something I could ever say of any other Warriors game outside of All Stars and Empires. Amazing OST. Main story maps are very good. Perfects the overworld structure seen in Age of Calamity and All Stars. Depending on playstyle, at least 90 hours of content. I'm at over twice that. Cons: No post game content. Would be an easy 10/10 if this was remedied. Enemy AI is too passive, especially in side missions. Quality of side missions is mixed. Worst weapon/gear system of any modern Warriors game. Tome movesets are viable, but not particularly fun. Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE (6/10) Pros: There is no such thing as a bad Atlus combat system, and this one stands out as sufficiently differerent among its peers. Progression feels good. Interesting dungeons, if less so than other Atlus rpgs. Cons: The idol culture influence Weak story Cringe factory Fire Emblem aspects are insulting window-dressing at best. Warriors Spoiler One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 (7/10) Pros: Some of the best combat of any Warriors game. Best aerial combat of any Warriors game. Great roster, albeit missing some from Pirate Warriors 3. Roughly 70 hours of content. Unique level-less progression system. Cons: Post-game mode is alright, but disappointingly inferior to the magnificent PW3 postgame. Less tactical map design than PW3. Laughably bad character balance. A few characters are IMO straight up unviable, while others are intentional god mode. Enemies can and will juggle the Hell out of you, while powering through your attacks. Persona 5 Strikers (8/10) Pros: One of, if not the, best stories of any Warriors game. Gameplay mechanics highly reminiscent of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Well designed, intricate movesets far beyond normal musou standards. Excellent dungeon design for dungeons 1-3 & 6 Amazing OST. Lovable characters. The Phantom Thieves are as endearing as ever, and new member Wolf is my favorite of the lot. Excellent RPG mechanics. Solid, streamlined integration of Persona's stealth and social sim mechanics. Cons: Anyone hoping for a traditional Warriors game will be disappointed. (But anyone fearing one will be pleased). Combat basically just boils down to spamming super effective elemental spells. Like, imagine if FF7 Remake had no cooldowns. Economy is broken. Healing items are basically infinite. And the game KNOWS it. It relies on stupidly durable, highly damaging bosses balanced around using as many of your items as possible. Aforementioned issue compounded by the high variety of healing items making for a bloated inventory menu. Dungeons 4-5 and the finale are just okay. Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (3/10) Pros: Combat is as visceral, heavy, and brutal as one would expect for a Berserk game, and brings some unique mechanics. Moveset quality is pretty good. Strong quality of story content, directly following several arcs of the manga. Cons: Small roster. Limited content. The curse of all Berserk adaptations is that they will never finish the story. Soundtrack physically hurt me. Not an exaggeration. It has sharp tonnitis sounds and it repeats them often in battle prep menus. You are forced to solely play as Guts for 90% of the story. This is the fault of the IP, not the game, but that also means that the IP is inherently unsuitable for a Warriors game. Warriors games thrive on character variety, and they are just mindnumbing without it. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (7/10) Pros: Great combat. The good movesets are really good Game is as beautiful as one would expect of a BotW Cons: Poor performance Weapon upgrade mechanics are shallow. The bad movesets are very bad, in true Hyrule Warriors fashion The overworld UI is an overwhelming mess of objectives Resource gathering isn't fun Hidden collectibles don't work with musou games. The genre is all about time pressure. Speaking of which, there's little time or objective pressure. The Legend of Heroes Spoiler The Legend of Heroes is a series of highs and lows. It is at once an epic, unbelievably expansive world crafted by the best writers in the industry... and also an endlessly meandering time sink full of poor pacing, and super cringe fanservice. And Trails of Cold Steel brings out the best and the worst of the series. Trails of Cold Steel 3 (7/10) Pros: The finale of this game is the greatest of any Cold Steel game. Both of the final dungeons are awesome. Trails' usual top quality story and world-building are on full display. Cold Steel 3 and 4 have the best orbment system thus far. Amazing OST (Briefly) playable Olivert. Cons The first half of the game is insufferably slow. It's like Cold Steel 1's structure on tranquilizers. The fanservice of the franchise reaches creepy new lows, courtesy of Shirley. Did we really need an even worse Veronica? Trails of Cold Steel 4 (8/10) Pros Trails' writing remains strong, though Cold Steel is definitely stretching thin by this point. Amazing OST. Generally faster-paced and more exciting than 3, but in my opinion less so than 2. A generally good evolution of Cold Steel 2 (still my favorite Trails game). The worst-case conflict it sets up is truly epic. I want a Warriors game of that. Playable Liberl and Crosbell characters were truly appreciated. Genuinely managed to get some tears out of me, which the franchise hasn't managed since Sky 3. A certain goofball definitively establishes himself as the greatest character in gaming. Cons: Doesn't reach the greatest highs of 3, or even 2, IMO. No playable Olivert. Xenoblade Spoiler Xenoblade Chronicles DE (8/10) Pros: Great story Generally likeable cast, though Dunban's the only standout. Wildly ambitious for its time, and even holds up as pretty deep now. Great OST. Deep progression system. Cons: Punishes exploration MMO style quest design contributes to a bloated game. Having a common enemy type immune to normal damage is not great design. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (6/10) Pros: Exploration is compelling. Combat is much improved from its predecessor, though it takes a long time to shine. Progression systems are insanely deep. OST is great. Cons: Rex Uneven writing. Takes 20 hours to get good, and those first 20 hours are so bad I quit 3 times MMO style quest design contributes to a bloated game. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna the Golden Country (8/10) Pros: Significantly improves upon the combat of 2 with playable blades, swap skills, and backline skills. Playable blades. Laura is a far more endearing protagonist than Rex. Playable blades Everyone is great really Playable blades The shorter, leaner runtime makes for a better-paced experience. Playable blades Exploration is compelling Playable blades Awesome OST Did I mention I can play mah boi, Aegaeon? Cons: Still suffers from Xenoblade questing. The community level gates towards the end of the game were insulting padding, even if I was doing the quests anyway. Triangle Strategy Spoiler 8/10 Pros: Stellar writing. Basically low fantasy Tellius. Well designed, distinct units Awesome character portraits. I wish that artist would do FE. Basically a lower fantasy Shining Force, and I loved Shining Force. Great soundtrack 4 distinct playthroughs Good range of difficulties Pulling off impressive strats and getting lots of Kudos feels amazing Cons: Glacial pacing Rough resource economy Roland sucks. Stray Spoiler Cat Simulator 2: Electric Booga-mew 7/10, but I'm glad I played for free. Marvel's Avengers Spoiler 4/10 I am deeply ashamed that this is my most played Playstation game of the year. Pros: Story campaigns are actually quite fun. Good combat mechanics Heroes feel good to play. Cons: Lack of content Lack of content variety Gross lack of enemy variety All of the bugs of a Bethesda game at 5% of the scope Nexomon Spoiler An enjoyable 6/10. Pros: Great mon designs Fun and simple story, far outclassing anything Pokemon ever did. Feels like a nostalgic Pokemon game in all the right ways. Speedy leveling feels good. No EVs, IVs, or natures. Cons: Only two types of Nexotraps mean that catching Nexomon feels pretty uninteresting. Nexomon are intentionally unbalanced based on rarities due to the game's mobile roots. Enemies getting a free shot on you when enemy trainers switch Nexomon is hella dumb. Tales of Arise Spoiler 8/10 Pros: This game is GORGEOUS. Incredibly well paced. I was hooked from start to finish. The most consistent Tales cast. I liked all the playables. Albeit none are going down as favorites. Best gameplay of any Tales. Stellar soundtrack. Cons: Rock bottom writing quality Shallow villains Baffling last minute infodump. They clearly ran out of time or money. Shin Megami Tensei V Spoiler 7/10 Pros: Stellar Atlus gameplay Great OST Exploration felt really compelling. Makes my atheist nipples aggressively hard. Cons: Late game writing is poor. Game quality falls off a cliff hard at endgame. Scarlet Nexus Spoiler A very enjoyable 6/10. Pros: Amazing gameplay Unique soundtrack. Makes a great first impression with strong early missions. Likeable characters. Cons: Suffers from the Fire Emblem support conversation clusters problem on steroids. KILLS pacing. Similar last minute sci fi bullshit infodump to Tales of Arise. Difficulty spikes like Hell Brutal economy. Grind, grind, grind. Guardians of the Galaxy Spoiler 8/10 Pros: Great story. Characters I love. Great soundtrack. Gorgeous environments. The perfect length to tell its story and not wear out its welcome. Cons: Controls and combat are a bit clunky. Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons (and GW2 as a whole) Spoiler 8/10 for expansion, 10/10 for game Pros: Beautiful art style Amazing soundtrack Tons of content Dynamic events High content variety High enemy variety Engaging story Endearing characters Unique take on traditional fantasy classes Flexible build system, albeit nowhere near as much as in GW1. Good combat. One of the most explorable games I've ever played. Cons: Performance issues Shows its age. The game is a decade old. This was clearly a less ambitious expansion than those prior. Dragon Quest 11S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition Spoiler 8/10 Pros: * Compelling to explore. * Crafting is its own fun minigame. I usually hate crafting. * Content dense. * Few to no missable items of any significance (looking at you Trails!) * Combat has is both approachable and deep. * Has a pretty endearing sense of humor. Cons: * Weak story. * Corny soundtrack, lacking in variety. * Grindy, and not in an intuitive way. Edited December 20, 2022 by Fabulously Olivier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etrurian emperor Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Just doing a top five here. Triangle Stragegy The game of the year for me. I think its a very charming ''new'' spin for your typical Fire Emblem player that feels alike just enough to remind you of Fire Emblem, while also differentiating itself from it, and occasionally even surpassing the Fire Emblem experience. Like Octopath Traver I'm a big fan of the more understated nature of the story. No ancient demons or godlike dragons, no evil cults or whatnot but just a story about kingdoms and salt. Its refreshing and the mundane concept of resource management makes for good political drama. The three nations fighting over salt are all interesting and differentiate themselves from each other aptly. I have a particular soft spot for Hyzante. Its refreshing to have a theocracy that's more mercantile than dogmatic, and the Arabian nights theming works great for them. The graphics look almost perfect of course. Its a refinement of what worked so well for Octopath traveler. How it handles its playable cast can be a bit problematic. I don't like how anyone out of the inner circle is basically a non entity, and can only support with the inner circle, but at least they're all a likable bunch. And the more prominent members of the inner circle are mostly all great. Frederica is a nice depiction of a rose learning to grow some thorns, Erador is the most adorable guy around, and Benedict is a rare depiction of the ''frightfully ruthless genius'' that actually lives up to the hype. Roland is of course awful but in a way that's very interesting. The villains are also a very well developed rogue gallery with visionaries who's skills just don't keep up with his ambition, the Hyzante saints and their internal bickering, and even a lighter take on your typical JRPG bandits. Some side villains occasionally get too much like Hans and Iago though. Gameplay wise Triangle Strategy easily matches Fire Emblem. One of the more noteworthy aspect is that every character is unique with a role that(for the most part) only they can fulfill. You only get one ''general'' for the most part, and unlike FE he's not the weak link in your army but a fundamental part of making your strategies work. The lack of permadeath is a surprisingly fun aspect since it means maps can build themselves around your team more. The mission variety itself is a bit lacking but the maps are mostly very good and memorable. Playing around with elemental combo is hardly the most exited system out there but its consistently fun and rewarding to put enemy in water puddles and paralyzing them for a few turns. I think the much touted democracy system is mostly just window dressing. The system is rigged so you're almost never in danger of your team overruling your wishes thanks to Anna always being undecided. But the consequences of your choices are always interesting, and the story cutscenes change dramatically as a result. They could have made your choices an illusion but here it mostly isn't. Its just a shame that after a route split of two chapters the story always loops back on its singular track which I found particularly vexing in the slavery issue. Xenoblade 3: A very good Xenoblade experience and a nice tonal correction after the kinda overly anime Xenoblade 2. I thought controlling a party of six would be chaotic but it works quite well. Being able to switch characters is a godsend the previous two games can learn from. Gameplay wise its a very nice loop of exploring, quests, story and boss battles. Especially so once you get a ship and the huge island chain opens up with tons of sidequests. Chain attacks are a bit long and kinda broken though. The main cast is great with only one weak link in the main party. Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion and Lanz are all great, and they all mesh very well with their respective partners. Noah and Mio are cute together and can lead to some tragic scenes at times, Taion and Eunie's bickering is always fun and they actually have more romantic chemistry than the main duo, and Lanz and Sena have a great big bro/little sister relationship. Its just a shame the plot often forgets Sena's even there. The villains are a mixed bag. I like the concept of ''the endless now'' that represents the villains, and I think their hedonistic desires are a great theme to have in a villain group. Its just that they can be a bit...boring. Very few Mobius members are well rounded characters and their hedonism sadly doesn't always go further than just being really evil. The games ''villain of the week'' approach and habbit of making Mobius members the bosses of side quest also makes the villains seem kinda weak compared to Metalface, Jin, Egil or Malos who have a history of completely thrashing the main party multiple times. The gimmick of having extreme monstrous forms have very human mannerism and body movement was a fantastic choice that I'm sad to see they dropped pretty early on. A highlight of the villains is ''N'' who I was fully prepared to consider a bad character only for him to win me over with a great characterization and some of the best voice acting in the series. The world of Xenoblade 3 is thematically fitting but also kinda boring. I get its a world in stasis trapped in an endless war but there being no towns but only copy pasted camps is kinda dull. Aionios being dead also limits the type of hedonism Mobius can get up to. I'd have loved to see a consul reign over a casino town, or kidnap people and force them into a battle ring for his personal amusement. Fire Emblem Three Hopes Its a Warriors game so that limits how exiting the game can be, but I honestly think its one of the better crossovers Koei has done. Three Hopes also filled in some holes that Three Houses never did and fixed some mistakes that needed fixing. Its also just nice to have more Fodlan to play around with. Shez and Arval are a great main duo who addressed almost every reason Byleth didn't work. Since Shez is not a mute, they and the bratty ghost in their head have an amusing and lovable back and forth that Byleth never had with Sothis. Retroactively the game also made Byleth better due to no longer making them a mute. Their subdued emotions gives them a doll like quality that's actually kinda cute. The big winner of Three Hopes is the Golden Deer. Where Verdant Wind was the red haired stepchild of the routes that mattered here they got the best glow up. Its a story about the Alliance, Almyra and Claude's ambitions. Internal Alliance politics can be depicted for real rather than just happen off screen through characters that never show up. And Claude actually schemes this time around rather than just being a goody two shoes who talk about schemes he'd like to do rather than do them. Not all stories are winners though. Blue Lions replacing the capable and charismatic antagonist with a bunch of joke villains is a decision I'll never understand or respect. The very point about them was that they're essentially joke villains with nukes, not people who could actually take down the real antagonist. In terms of gameplay its....a Warriors game with all that it entails. Not exiting but consistently fun. The main maps are often pretty well designed, and being able to control four characters at once makes the giant cast very easy to manage. The minor stages and its war map mode eventually overstays its welcome but I think its an immersive mechanic that I had fun with initially, and its a great tool to learn more of Fodlan's lore. God of War Ragnarok: Its great but its also...really similar to the first one. Especially at the beginning. But I don't really think its a bad thing. The original game was great so more of it isn't exactly unwelcome. Especially if it comes with fixes like giving us some boss variety. The combat is actually quite fun. The Axe, and the swords all feel very distinct from each other, and each have a lot of weight when beating enemies to death with it. Like Xenoblade before I think it has a nice loop of exploration, sidequest, story and bosses. I seem to be in the minority but I prefer the story over the original. The stakes are higher and the story suffers less from ''roadblock syndrome''. This time you don't go to realms simply to fix a roadblock, but because you actually have business there. Atreus is older and now more his own character rather than a plot mechanic to just contrast with, and help develop Kratos. The take on the Norse God is quite interesting with Odin being more akin to Disney's Hades being quite interesting. While playing I was surprised how....likable Kratos was. He's still a grump but consistently benevolent which is.....really strange, but it made for a likable main character to follow. I think the main drawback is that the game is limited by being a Tripple A game in the modern gaming arena. Bosses, even bosses with critical plot importance often feel a wee bit too easy, and my companions offering me solutions to puzzles the moment I step into a room is just insulting. At times I suspect the game is restraining itself in an ill guided attempt to ensure no player ever really struggles. And I get that, I wasn't looking for a Soulsborne experience but...c'mon Ragnarok, I'm a big boy, and most of your players will be too. Bayonetta Ultimately I think Bayonetta 3 was somewhat of a disappointment. With Bayonetta 2 I thought such a great Bayonetta perhaps needed a better combat system because Umbran Climax broke the game and made torture attack worthless. With Bayonetta 3 I think the combat system needed a better Bayonetta. It gets a spot in the top five due to the base combat but the more I think on the game the more critical I get. And I wasn't exactly smitten with what I saw to begin with. The combat gameplay is actually quite fantastic. The new weapons are great. The demon slave mechanic is way more fun that it has any right to be and the new traversal options make getting around very fun. The combat is great. Its everything else that's lacking. The story for instance is really bad. I think it misses the point in key aspects. -The story is often boring and formulaic while Bayonetta should be bombastic. Each multiverse has pretty much the exact same story and events happening. -The new villain faction is a gigantic step back compared to angels and demons, which makes their depiction as Bayonetta's greatest threat feel unearned. -Bayonetta herself feels like a very reactive character instead of a proactive one despite Bayonetta being supposed to completely own the situation with style and grace. -Many ideas are undercooked. One important character for instance is randomly a werewolf which is exactly the sort of stupid I love about Bayonetta, because of how its handled it just falls flat. -I think a certain part about the ending takes a big poop on Bayonetta 2 and the bond she had with her sidekick Loki. -Viola is great though! A perfect foil for Bayonetta and Cheshire is adorable. I just think they needed a better story. And as great as the day to day combat is the game insist on shoving all sort of side minigame and traversal sections in your way that take away from the fighting, and typically control too differently. And the atmosphere just isn't what it used to be. The Mediterranean cities of Vigrid and Noatun, as well as the occasional trip to heaven and hell were great settings, but here the settings are just modern Tokyo, just modern Paris, just the most stereotypical ancient Egypt setting and a weird steampunk China which looks kinda ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Branniglenn Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 (edited) I could post the GOTY list that's been ruminating in my mind. I've done my writeups for these in the usual thread - Callisto Protocol, Darktide, and Pokemon Scarlet are still being written at the moment Kirby and the For[GOTY] Land Elden Ring Freedom Planet 2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit Edition Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils Bayonetta 3 Return to Monkey Island The Callisto Protocol Warhammer 40K: Darktide Forgive Me Father Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Pokemon Legends: Arceus Dying Light 2 Frogun Kirby's Dream Buffet River City Girls Zero Pokemon Scarlet Mother 3: Opposing Force Games that came out that I still very much would like to play include God of War Ragnarok, Rogue Legacy 2, and Ghostwire Tokyo. I'm also waiting to meet up with a friend to play River City Girls 2, and Star Fox Ex - probably not happening until January. I also want to give honorable mention to TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection and Capcom Fighting Collection. It's rare for a compilation to be of such incredibly high quality and respect for the games' history. Not unsurprising from Digital Eclipse, Capcom, and Konami but still warrants mention while we're still getting so many failed attempts at these retro collections (looking at you, Sonic, Kingdom Hearts). I gotta say, 2022 has been loaded with some real disappointments. Some a bit more overblown than others, but I feel like the Pandemic's effects on the industry were felt much heavier this year than the previous two years back when everything was just quietly getting delayed. A lot of Big Franchises dragged through the mud. Games we expected to get delayed to 2023 were not, and they released exactly in the state we worried they would. I stepped out of the way of many of the big bombs (and for the record, I purchased the new Pokemon as a favor to a friend), but I still felt inundated by bugs and performance issues just the same. I'm grateful that I got to experience so many interesting titles, but none of the greatest games were surprising in their greatness. If you asked me to predict my GOTY list a year ago, it'd probably come out very close to this. Just missing entries for games that weren't announced, I wouldn't have thought were slated for 2022, or I just I hadn't heard of at the time. Last year I named 2021's theme as "Games that had no business existing, let alone being this good". So 2022's theme is "Games that needed more time in the oven" Edited December 18, 2022 by Zapp Branniglenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vexal Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 (edited) I'm basing this list based of games I played for the first time this year, though will be counting any games that I got by September of 2021, as all of those games I don't grab until Christmas and tend to not get around to playing until the start of this year to begin with. Also I don't believe in using numbers for rating a game so I'll be using descriptors instead.Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - Very disappointed Spoiler Pros A really good story Expanding the cast was handled well Nice map design and objectives S ranking maps isn't tedious Cons Damage calculation suffers the exact opposite problem of the first FEW, where damage is too focused on a characters individual stats, so when you enter NG+ or reset a characters level to try for better growths and use your weapon that has a damage stat of 200~400-ish, you're doing pitiful damage even against level 1 enemies Combat Arts/Spells are too strong while combos are too weak Most of the classes suffer from terribly clunky and often slow combo chains. the Mage and Priest lines have some of the worst combo chains in any Warriors title outright mastering the final tier of classes is genuinely tedious Recruiting <Redacted> to be able to experience the rest of the game is needlessly complicated The unique skills for each character is horrendously imbalanced, favoring around 3 to 4 characters that leave the rest in the dust Kirby and the Forgotten Land - It's okay, but has plenty of missed opportunities. Spoiler Pros Levels having varied objectives keeps levels fresh Cafe subgame is by far the best subgame a Kirby game has had since Amazing Mirror Movement's very fluid for Kirby's first foray into 3D Mouthful mode is for the most part, well thought out Really good boss design Cons Abilities were overly simplified due to Hal wanting to stick to one button, with the only notable exceptions being slide attacks The copy ability variants were not well thought out in the slightest Some levels could get too big Level objectives, especially for the bosses, should have been visible to the player from the start, or at the very least show every objective after the first clear. Despite having abilities be simpler, they didn't bring back some already rather simple abilities such as Doctor, which is rather disappointing. God of War (2018) - Wait? People actually liked this? This is one of the few games I had to outright quit. Spoiler Pros Voice acting's top notch Story was great from what I did experience Cons Dear god the combat....Why is everyone saying its good? Constantly attacked from offscreen and enemies can feel like they take too long to kill. Also feels like a lot of your core options aren't available at the start. I much preferred the original games, even if they were just discount DMC Shoehorned in RPG elements that just don't mix Messing up on a puzzle or going too far away from it (unknowingly at that, as the game is very bad about giving you an idea of an area's boundaries) can permanently block you off from the reward with zero retries. Excuse me!? A lot of fights feel like endurance gauntlets Lost Judgement - Arguably RGG's best game since Yakuza 0, and definitely the best game I've played all year Spoiler Pros As usual with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the story is really well written Not only the best combat for the games that use the Dragon Engine as they finally ironed out all the kinks, but they removed all the bullshit that plagued certain parts of the Yakuza games, making me prefer it over Y0's. Healthy mix of serious and comedic substories While I wouldn't say it's soundtrack is soundtrack-of-the-year, it has some really standout tracks. I won't list them by name for spoiler reasons since the PC port is still new, but the themes for the two main antagonists are major standouts as some of my favorite battle themes in gaming as a whole. Cons Finding new substories was a step back from Yakuza Kiwami 2 Bluntly spoils a major plot point of Yakuza: Like A Dragon, despite otherwise being self contained. Weirdly keeps the original Judgement's plot somewhat ambiguous The new counter based fighting style, Snake, feels very pointless. It's unique counter is also harder to time than the other two stance's unique counters. Oops Mario Party Superstars - An amazing foundation that's completely ruined by its board selection and lack of updates Spoiler Pros Arguably the best set of minigames of any Mario Party, even though it has the advantage of using exclusively pre-existing minigames We can finally play Mario Party as it was meant to be played online Boards were revamped to keep things a little fresh Cons Lucky Space is way too strong for how common it is The shops and items are unfortunately based off Super Mario Party The board choice is a disaster. Peach's Birthday Cake is too linear, while Yoshi's Tropical Island and Woody Woods are rather divisive, with the latter hinging way too much on its gimmick. This leaves Space Land and Horror Land which....get old fast. The online is for the most part terrible and on average is the worst experience you can have on the Switch....What doesn't help matters is that you can't tell whose connection is the cause unless you try every permutation within the group to see whose connection is the one contributing to most of the lag, as unlike Smash Bros the host's connection does not have an impact on the amount of lag the game will have. Edited December 18, 2022 by Vexal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenticular Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 For me, this year's game of the year is pretty clearly and obviously Wordle. (Yeah, it technically came out at the tail end of last year, but it only took off this year, so I'm counting it.) Wordle was by far and away the most popular game of 2022, and reached a level of cultural phenomenon that is matched by very few other video games ever. When was the last time that a game was the most googled term of the year? Has it ever happened before? It was also the best value game of the year, coming in at the bargain price of completely free. In terms of dollars per hour ratio, nothing beats it. The gameplay itself is fun and catchy, and while the graphics are simple, they are the perfect choice for the game. But like many other great games before it, it really shines on its social aspects. It's just that much better when played with friends and family. For me, the absolute highlight was being able to talk about it with my septugenarian mum, who otherwise doesn't play games. Having it as a way to better connect with her far outweighs anything that any other game has done for me this year, making it an easy game of the year. (Vampire Survivors and Victoria 3 were both pretty fun too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabulously Olivier Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 Just finished Dragon Quest 11 and I'm adding it to the OP. It will probably be my last completion of the year. 23 games is pretty damn good for me, and I intend to keep that going into next year. I have quite the backlog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkilator Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 The only new game I played this year was Kirby & The Forgotten Land. My only gripe is that you can’t choose to play as Bandana Waddle Dee without needing two players, even after you beat the game. Other than that, it’s one of my favorite games ever! Also, side note: I didn’t play Sonic Frontiers, but I’m glad it’s been positively received and able to sell as well as at did (2.5 million copies within its first month, to be exact). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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