Outer Wilds + DLC. Not just one of the best games I’ve played this year, but one of the best games I have ever played.
Honorable mentions:
- Cruelty Squad
- Life is Strange: True Colors (really wish it were longer)
- Budget Cuts 1 and 2 (VR only)
Outer Wilds and its DLC is my absolute favorite game of all time and the best I might have ever played. Full stop. There is just so much to it that one doesn’t expect from the surface. It was an experience I still think back to every now and then.
Currently playing Cruelty Squad and enjoying it quite, too.
Outer wilds is definitely one of my favorites too. I went in blind which was awesome. Completely caught me off guard right after the tutorial. I didn’t expect such intricate mechanics
LOVED Cruelty Squad
Hate LiS Colours—loved the first game.
Need to try budget cuts.
Out of curiosity, why did you dislike True Colors? I really loved 1/BtS, but really disliked 2. True Colors felt like a proper spiritual successor to 1
It was soooooooooooo cheesy. So much more than the first. The second was terrible, definitely worse than True Colors. But True Colors was just cheese after cheese.
Based Cruelty Squad Enjoyer.
BG3 for me. It’s been a while since a game has captured me so much.
Yeah I need to start this at some point, have only been hearing good things. I’m just not a huge fan of turn based but this might switch my mind.
I’m just not a huge fan of turn based
Me neither but honestly it fits really well into the game and it’s really enjoyable. The story, characters and gameplay really shine in this game.
Found out my cousin bought it and we both game share our Xbox’s so looks like I have no excuse now!
I did not enjoy the combat in the D:OS Larian games because I was so used to real-time with pause combat from the old Infinity Engine games. Will grab BG3 when it goes on sale in a year or so.
Well the best overall for me has to be Disco Elysium. Game is just astounding. Tears at my heart. Pentiment is a close second. But my god was that one a bit more miserable. Recommend for anyone that enjoys a good story.
From purely a fun standpoint, Rollerdrome and Hi-Fi Rush were absolutely killer. Incredibly tight gameplay. Super satisfying to “get good” at. Rollerdrome was the first game I was motivated enough to 100%, it was that fun.
It’s kind of crazy looking back at how many games I got through in a year. Could’ve sworn I had played these years ago. What is time, even? 🫠
I also played disco elysium for the first time this year, and it would be my answer too.
mr evrart helped me find my gun
RDR2. Yeah I’m late to the party. Still great IMHO.
Yeah I started it a while back and just returned to it. The tutorial levels are such a slog it’s hard to keep my attention.
Just wait to be free to go roaming around alone, this is where the game shines. Totallly worthy.
Same. I played the fuck out of RDR2 this year. I’m, like…actuall replaying it again. Best campaign ever.
same for me started it three days ago, it’s good so far
Finally decided to play Outer Wilds.
Wonderful game! Changed my view of the world and outlook on the purpose of life for the better
Fantastic game. So we’ll written, designed, and artistically styled. I was blown away.
It really does have the strength to do that to so many people that play it. It’s stuck with me for years and not a week goes by that I don’t think about it.
Cyberpunk has gotten so good I can’t put it down. This might be the only game I rarely even think about modding.
I think next year I’ll finally get to this. Was hearing so much about the issues I decided to be in the wait and see until people started really recommending it.
Star Wars: Racer
It was a return to nostalgia for me. My wife bought this for me for Christmas. I was worried that I would lug into a very dated game, however:
The gameplay is so exquisite and the track design so carefully thought out that it’s really an exhilarating game. The tracks never get boring because they sprinkle in just enough variation and style to keep them engaging. The tricks you can pull in a podracer do not break suspension of disbelief the way normal car games do when pulling amazing stunts. The flow is smooth and fluid even now.
Between the minimap, rearview, braking, air breaking to sustain airtime and cushion landings, self-determined boosting (rather than relying on external powerups or boost zones), and repair management you’re never not adjusting to something. The game keeps you busy while you’re flying along the track.
To boot, the obstacles and shortcuts are carefully distributed and used, playing into the themes of the tracks. Most are small influences, but useful or interesting. One track will force you to reconsider your playstyle for it, however. Despite that it’s not so jarring that you want to stop playing.
You also get a bevy of racers to choose from and the ability to buy and juggle upgrades and pit droids keeps your gameplay evolving. You can even be rewarded for being a skilled player by adjusting the finish placement payouts.
Unfortunately due to careful planning and purchasing, as well as a better sense of how to play as an adult, the game has some shortcomings. Instead of being neck and neck, I was regularly 7-12 seconds ahead of the second place racer, regularly unable to see them in my rearview. A complete lack of a story mode and a low difficulty bar meant I was done in three days even with limited play time and inconsistent access. While this could have been saved with an Online mode added, I still had fun completing Tournament mode and would gladly give this to anyone who wants high-velocity adrenaline with more complex mechanics than your average racing game.
Tunic, such a great combination of classic Zelda with puzzles and mechanics that keep evolving in crazy ways, felt similar to FEZ by the end for the true ending. The manual mechanic is one of my favorite ones in a long time.
Super Mario Wonder is the best 2D Mario since Super Mario World. There is so much attention to detail and the polish on every aspect from the gameplay to the way enemies act and react.
Super Mario RPG is the ultimate remake. It kept absolutely everything about the original while adding a few minor gameplay enhancements. Best of all, the graphics look like the original CG readers from the 90s but with perfect modern sharpness.
Deathbulge Battle of the Bands was an unexpected favourite. It’s a light-hearted turned based RPG with Earthbound and Undertale vibes, an amazing soundtrack and interesting and humorous characters.
Deathbulge Battle of the Bands
Ah, I see you’re a person of culture as well
Tears of the Kingdom
It’s not perfect, but still excellent
I enjoyed the hell out of it but quit playing at the final boss fight. I fucking hate that corrupted Lionel that’s in the way of the last boss and I can’t get around it without getting murdered. I know I just need to go darn a bazillion sunflowers for the anti gloom potions but I can’t be bothered
If you got stuck on a lynel on the way to the final boss, that tells me you were going for the final boss too early. Did you 100% the side quests? Upgrade your armor a bunch?
There’s a colosseum in the depths full of lynels; that was harder for me.
You could always place a warp point as far as you can get into the final boss area, so you don’t have to go through it all again.
I actually just beat the waves and waves of silver lynels so I’m low on everything. You’re right though I just need to restock
Inscryption!
PLEASE play Pony Island and then The Hex. I didn’t think I’d like a Mullins game more than Inscryption but I rate The Hex a point higher. Don’t look into anything and don’t let the graphics fool you. It makes sense an hour or less in.
Talos Principle 1 + Gehenna (Had it for years in my library collecting dust), finished it to 100% and am currently playing Talos Principle 2. These games are absolute gems and not even expensive for what you get, too. The people at Croteam are genuine masters of their craft.
Final Fantasy XVI. I’m just happy that the quality was up to par after the train wreck of XV.
I really enjoyed XVI. It is not without its problems but overall is a good addition to the series IMHO. I replayed XV as well after not caring for it on my first playthrough. I ended up really liking it the second time around. The story isn’t the best but the game shines in the personal interactions between the characters while you are wandering around and stuff. A lot of the story is really told indirectly through that and I came to appreciate it. Just my thoughts.
I have a real fondness for XV despite everything (maybe I just love the fishing minigame), but man does the game have flaws.
Not only are there pacing issues in the story, but a huge problem was trying to go too big and spreading the story too thin, which really diminishes the strength of XV itself as a standalone product. The story really needs all the supplementary products (some of which never got made, like the Lunafreya DLC), and even then the official DLCs aren’t even seamlessly integrated into the base game! You have to take breaks from the main story to play the DLCs at the appropriate time, and that’s not even getting into the tie-in movie and graphic novel and I forget what else. It’s a bit of a mess.
Still, I agree with you, there are some lovely personal interactions between the gang, and I did end up really just enjoying travelling around with them (even despite the open world quests themselves being mostly dull as dirt).
XV on its own isn’t even my least favorite from the series. The game is a lot of fun. It just has so much lost potential. If they could have fixed the pacing, given actual time with Lunafreya, given some setup or fallout for Prompto, etc the game could have been amazing. So much of the plot beats are great on paper and the game just kinda skims past most of it.
Man, when FFXVI is good it’s so damn good, it’s just a shame the side content felt so low budget in comparison. Really enjoyed my time regardless and curious how it shapes up once the major DLC expansion releases.
I liked a lot of the storylines that came from the side content. The fetch quests never seemed too bad because ultimately it’s another excuse to kill more enemies.
Dead space. The remake was just as good as the original but with updated graphics and mechanics.
I’m surprised I don’t see Alan Wake 2 as its own entry in the list so far.
I don’t like horror games, and I didn’t care that much for the first game, or even necessarily Control, but Alan Wake 2 was really impressive. Showcased the power of the format of video games for cinematic narrative in a way that raised the bar even higher than it’d been before, similar to how BG3 and TotK raised the bar in player choice and open ended game design.
And just such a visually striking game too.
I’m honestly just waiting for it to go on sale (<$25 cause I’m stingy and my backlog is huuuge) for Xbox. Looking at sales numbers it’ll probably be soon Z
I’m waiting for it to be on steam.
