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 made a similar attempt to get through the Rance games maybe last year or so and enjoyed the Rance 1 remake, but I stalled hard on Rance 2. Obviously the original is a very old game (again I was playing the remake) so it might be a bit harsh to say so, but even compared to the first game it seemed to be dogshit. Was I too harsh and should I revisit, or do you reckon 3 is a good point to hop ahead to and play from?
If you're looking for more good Japanese practice, I strongly recommend Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa. I don't think the JAST USA version released last year is dual language so you'll have to buy japanese or sail for it.
Also to get the most out of Sekiro, it's best to learn how aggressive the game wants you to be. That alone will coach you out of the dodging dependency that plagues a lot of players coming to it from Dark Souls.
Rance 02 is more of a remaster than a remake, meaning that the puzzles and the gameplay are quite dated. There’s no new content other than the BGM. Don’t skip it, because a ton of recurring characters get introduced in it. If you get stuck, look at a walkthrough, the game isn’t long at all when compared to the third one.
I’ll look into Full Metal Daemon. I prefer actual games over VNs, but if the story is good I’ll buy it (after trying it out, of course 🏴☠️🏴☠️).
As for Sekiro, thanks for the tip. I noticed that relying on one thing like blocking or dodging would get me nowhere, but I hadn’t seen the perks of being so aggressive.