Been pretty quiet around here but I feel it's an important tradition.
Everyone knows how it works- allocate points for up to 10 titles that were released last year. For example:
10) Elden Ring
9) Elden Ring
8) Elden Ring
7) Elden Ring
6) Elden Ring
5) Elden Ring
4) Elden Ring
3) Elden Ring
2) Elden Ring
1) Elden Ring
Feel free to discuss and leave comments, as frankly I didn't really play much other than Elden Ring and always appreciate the recommendations. Started this a bit late this time so let's say cut-off is Sunday 5th of February and see how we go.
Lol definitely no 1 for me will be Elden Ring. Took me 7 full days of playing time to complete and even then I was only just strong enough to get through. I'm sure there was probably some stuff I hadn't found at that stage but for my own sanity I had to stop.
10). Elden Ring
9) Grounded - now this is a surprisingly good game, huge as well and deep and a really good multiplayer experience. Can lag a bit but the updates since launch have been great. Still trying to finish. F1 2022 - I was really enjoying this year's but then I busted my knee and haven't been able to sit on my racing wheel for months so I get sad everyone I see it in my list.
7) Beyond a steel sky - A great sequel, 20 or so years later. Really enjoyed it and has my hopes up we will see a Broken Sword 6 announcement soon as I loved 5 and that is now 6 or so years past.
6) sniper elite 5 - b grade fun with mates.
5) return to Monkey Island - Much like beyond a steel sky also a great return here. Not as difficult as the originals but a fun ride with all the humour there, really had to go deep into my brain to recall some references though. The art style is hit or miss for people I've found.
4) can I put the megadrive mini 2 here?
I think that's it for 2022 games I've played that I would rate. I feel like I'm forgetting one but maybe it will come to me with someone else's list, then I'll update.
2022 was so fucking full-on, I can't remember what was released!
10 points: TMNT: Shredder's Revenge. It's exactly as good as we remember the arcade game being
9 points: Tunic. Is it a cutesy Zelda clone, or is it a Souls game? Who knows? Maybe it's both
8 points: Powerslave Exhumed. It's Exhumed. But redone for modern systems!
...and that's all I've played that was released last year, I think!
Honourable mentions go to retro gaming handhelds, which seem to have just exploded onto the landscape over the past 18 months or so. If you'd told me five years ago that I would be playing Dreamcast games at full speed on a dedicated handheld device, I'd have tried to have you committed. The fact that Gamecube and PS2 are playable on some of these things is nuts, and that's not even counting what the Steamdeck is capable of!
The sky calls to us; if we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars
Struggling to find names here, was a terrible year for xbox fans, they released nothing all year. Then out of nowhere they drop HiFi Rush which could be one of the most enjoyable and fun games I've played in a long while.
It's getting harder to list 10 games now, so little is released that's actually decent.
For me the problem is always time. I always end up playing a lot of stuff that didn't release in the current year, which really makes it hard to hit up 10 current games. I've still got leftovers from 2019-21. Anyway, this is what I've got:
10) Elden Ring
Absolutely love this, and I say "love" and not "loved" because I'm still playing the damn thing. I generally don't like massive sprawling open-world games, and I have very little patience for crafting systems and that sort of thing, but exploring the world and the horseback combat really clicked, along with the best aspects of Demon's/Dark Souls still being there in the form of legacy dungeons. I even loved the areas that I see a lot of people bitching about, like the Lake of Rot, Shaded Castle, Consecrated Snowfields, and the Haligtree. As with the previous Souls games I avoided invasion mechanics at all costs but played online to make use of player messages, and I don't really know how to explain it but I love the sort of "asynchronous co-op" experience this leads to. Haven't played since the Colosseum update, but I'm keen to jump back in when I find time, and I'm sure multiple characters are on the cards in future.
09) Destiny 2: Witch Queen
There was a lot of hype leading up to this one, and it delivered. While there were some teething problems with some of the new systems that were introduced for ongoing players (weapon shaping was pretty rough compared to how it is today), I think the main campaign holds up very well as a stand-alone experience. You certainly got more out of it story-wise if you've played everything prior, as the titular Witch Queen has been skulking about in the background for years, and I can only imagine the scene with [redacted] would amount to little more than a jump scare to anyone that skipped Last Wish... but playing through the campaign solo on Legendary was easily the best content drop this game has had. Felt like the good old days of Halo on Heroic (it wasn't quite as full-on as I remember Legendary being!). Hive Lightbearers are both a great narrative beat and cool gameplay addition. The subsequent seasons had their ups and downs (how on Earth did they make a pirate-themed season so horrible?), but I'm looking forward to seeing if Lightfall can match or best this, and the synthwave aesthetic is certainly a great start.
08) Axiom Verge 2
Sneaking this in on a technicality as it was released on PS5 in 2022. I loved Axiom Verge 1- if you like Metroid or just enjoy being wowed by how sickeningly talented a dev team of one man can be, absolutely check it out. The sequel didn't grab me immediately as the visuals didn't have the same appeal, and I'd read that every boss in the game is optional, which didn't sit right with me. Finally got around to it, and to be honest while I still consider the first to be a better overall game, there's a lot to enjoy about the sequel. You can literally walk straight past any of the bosses and just carry on to the next area, but I knocked them all over anyway. There's definitely a focus on exploration over combat this time around, and I enjoyed picking away at the map. This is one of the only metroidvanias I've played that doesn't have a double-jump... and doesn't suffer for it at all. Ended up getting 98% map completion and 89% items, I doubt I'll bother scouring the map for the last couple of energy tanks but it was a fun world to poke around in. Ties in really well with the first game story-wise, while still being entirely playable on its own. Still free on PS+ at the moment!
Pretty sure that's going to be it for me, but I'll update the post if I think of any others. Sounds like I should have played Tunic.
Apart from TMNT Shredders Revenge and Midnight Fight Express I don't think I've played anything released in 2022. My most played games are on mobile (Godzilla Battle Lines and Vampire Survivor) and on console are all older releases, such has Halo Infinite and It Takes Two (which is fantastic). Lestats right, Xbox has been right shite this last year.
10 Midnight Fight Express
9 TMMT
selfish wrote:Being a massive fanboy and trying to hide it is Lestat's worst bottleneck.
10. Rollerdrome - sleeper hit of the year. tony hawk with guns and style. so fucken sick.
9. Shotgun King - chess with guns and style. addictive.
8. TMNT shredders revenge. - turtles without guns and style. mash mash mash
Thats all i played from the year.
I want to get to neon white, ive heard its excellent.
Gamma wrote: ↑31 Jan 2023 02:09 pm
For me the problem is always time. I always end up playing a lot of stuff that didn't release in the current year, which really makes it hard to hit up 10 current games. I've still got leftovers from 2019-21. Anyway, this is what I've got:
at the moment!
Same. Maybe we should do a secondary GOTY for "games you enjoyed most last year that aren't World of Warcraft"
Sounds like I should have played Tunic.
Get onto it!
The sky calls to us; if we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars
Go figure. I'm genuinely surprised anyone else here even played Tunic. It was on my wishlist for several years before it came out, just on the strength of the promo video. I wasn't expecting much, so it overdelivered in spades.
I really should get around to finishing it
The sky calls to us; if we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars
Elden would've won had I voted in time. I'll finish it one day. It's perfect in nearly every way bar the one characteristic that had me looking elsewhere and taking what's now a very extended break from the game - I found it frustrating that the limited upgrade materials prevented you from trying out the other weapons you fought tooth and nail to reach. To clarify, you could try them out but they were hugely less effective than your already upgraded weapons. It just wasn't worth equipping anything other than your tried and tested. Maybe that changed in the very late game but that lack of flexibility was the reason I went looking for a game that allowed for builds to be switched and tinkered with whenever.
F1 2022 - I was really enjoying this year's but then I busted my knee and haven't been able to sit on my racing wheel for months so I get sad everyone I see it in my list.
