Howdy partners!
Since the year is closing out and this is still (ostensibly) a gaming board I thought it might be kind of fun to talk about what we played this year, what our GOTY was, the biggest disappointments, etc.
I didn’t really purchase many new AAA titles this year, I think Elden Ring and The Callisto Protocol were it. Of the two Elden Ring met my expectations and was excellent, and TCP was monumentally disappointing.
I spent most of my gaming budget on indie titles this year, and while I loved Elden Ring it was narrowly edged out by Infernax as my Game of the Year. Infernax was a huge surprise for me, I don’t usually expect much from the indie-retro-nostalgia bait but it blew me away. A love letter to classic NES titles like Castlevania 2, Link’s Adventure, and Faxanadu, it combines gorgeous pixel art with a banger of a soundtrack and a fun story with multiple endings and unlockable characters and I can’t recommend it enough.
A close second would be Cultic; some people have complained that Boomer Shooters are reaching over saturation by now but I play the shit out of every one and I think Cultic is the best of the lot. The shortest way to describe it would be Blood crossed with Resident Evil 4; you’re a cop fighting a crazed cult and demonic monsters in the seventies, there’s a fun arsenal of upgradable weapons, cool levels to explore, and a shitload of monsters to kill, everything a fps ahould have in other words, go nuts.
As far as what I thought sucked ass The Callisto Protocol is the only big letdown I can think of, and I’ve bitched about it enough so now I want to hear what you guys have been playing, what surprised you, disappointed you, and what you recommend.
Cheers all, and have a Happy New Year!
I've been enjoying well made cute games like Pokemon Snap and Kirby. I got a switch this year and have a large back catalog from sales and pawn shops. Kirby is the game I play with my wife and we have enjoyed it.
The Castlevania collections and Cuphead have been played when I feel like a challenge. I'm collecting souls in the first GBA Metroidvania.
Harvestella is a lot more than it seems, though I kind of hate the art design for it.
Kirby epic yarn is so sweet it's nauseating. It's like watching a kitten cuddling with a puppy and a duckling and falling asleep.
Kirby has that power.
I don't get it. I remember Kirby games being awesome platformers with interesting combat mechanics as a kid. I tried one a year ago and felt like someone beat me in the head with a hammer and left me in a day care with barney on TV. Wtf happened?
I guess they specialized it away from their other platformers, like Mario. Odyssey is very much like a classic Kirby game with its borrowing of creature powers.
Aria of Sorrow was the third and final GBA Metroidvania as far as I'm aware, preceded by Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance.
I want the DS games to release eventually as well.
On other platforms? That would certainly be something, but the dual-touch-screen mechanics kinda make that weird for porting. Definitely not against it though.
They work pretty well on emulators, you can either use your mouse or get a mod that removes the touchscreen bullshit completely.
The Switch has touch controls
They got the ZX games to port, so it's not impossible.
I’ve been on a Castlevania kick myself recently, trying out some romhacks for all the IGAvanias. The new Kirby was awesome, I was surprised how well a 3D Kirby game could work.
It tells a compelling story using level design and fun.
I love the twist on the post apocalyptic nature of everything. Not to get into spoilers, but it was surprisingly optimistic for an end-of-the world scenario.
might try iron snout. it's this one-handed free-for-all where you play a pig fighting for his life against waves of wolves.
The art style heartens back to classic flash games, but it's pretty solid.
If you're into Pokemon, have you looked at Pokemon Legends: Arceus? It was recommended to me by someone here, and it's honestly not bad. It does a lot of things right, that I felt made modern Pokemon games too childish for me to care about at my age.
It's on my list, but I haven't gotten it yet.