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milesluna · 6 months ago

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2024 GOTY Write Up

In 2024 I got a full time job for the first time in four years, and you know what? It turns out you don't get to play as many video games when that happens.

And yet, I persisted. I think there was a common theme among my favorite games this year, and it's that I had to meet many of them on their terms. Yes, some whisked me away from the moment I hit start, but overwhelmingly I found myself really clicking with these titles when I paused, reconsidered how I felt the game wanted me to play, and adjusted my pace to meet their intentions.

This year's write up is a bit rushed, but I got it in just before the buzzer! I hope you'll enjoy. If any of you ever want to talk about these games, you know where to find me.

Before we get started, here are my Honorable Mentions:

Crow Country - If a survivor horror game was also a cozy game that ALSO made you laugh.

Batman: Arkham Origins - A gritty origin story where Batman has an ARC?! And he’s kind of a DICK?! Let’s GOOOO!!!

Sonic x Shadow Generations - It's the best Sonic game ever made. Full stop.

Shenmue - A time capsule of a game with disastrous ambition. Both ahead of its time and utterly wrong in what it assumes everyone wants from an open world experience. I love it. Sea of Theives - The perfect game to enjoy with your morning coffee or evening edible. Relaxing if you want it to be, harrowing if you want it to be.

Now…

My Top 5 Games from 2024

#5 - Astro Bot

The best Nintendo game of the year was made by Team Asobi for the PlayStation 5, and baby it’s Astro Bot. There is delightful imagination and a surprising level of polish covering every pixel of this adventure. In fact, I think it’s surprise that winds up being Astro Bot’s greatest strength. Each main stage introduces a novel mechanic that must be mastered, boss fights feature multiple phases that often turn the literal world on its head, and secret challenge stages leave players with nothing more than their basic move set while demanding a level of mechanical precision that would make Super Meat Boy blush. There is no filler in Astro Bot, only a tangible love for the art, science, history, and joy of video games.

#4 - Dragon's Dogma 2

Like Death Stranding, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game that thrives on friction. Traversing the world is genuinely treacherous and requires careful planning before leaving the (relative) safety of a city or village. Maybe you think you can save some time and resources by spending money on a fast-travel wagon, only for said wagon to be attacked by a gang of goblins… and for that fight with goblins to be interrupted by giant griffin that will pick you up and carry you across the kingdom before you’re able to wrestle out of its talons. When things go wrong on your adventure, and they WILL go wrong, the systems and possibilities spring to life. If you pay attention to your surroundings, though, and listen closely to the many hints the game drops for you, you’ll survive… if only just barely.

#3 - Balatro

I think Balatro is going to be my exercise bike companion for quite some time. This silly game of poker hands and multipliers makes time melt away, almost alarmingly so. I’m actually hesitant to call the game “fun”. “Hypnotic” feels more appropriate. The looping, otherworldly soundtrack, spiraling background, and floating UI elements all seem tailor-made to pull players into a dreamlike trance, and boy oh boy do they succeed.

#2 - UFO 50

Goddamn, what a triumph. UFO 50 contains 50 full-length games that would’ve shared shelves with Super Mario Bros or Dragon Warrior back in the 80s. Just about every prominent genre of that era is represented in this collection, from Shmups to JRPGs. I think my favorite aspect of this game is how it makes you more aware of your own gaming proclivities. Everyone I know who plays this game has a different list of favorites; a different game that “made everything click”. For me, that game was Bushido Ball - a surprisingly complex title where samurai play soccer. Every title only requires the use of 2 buttons, every title has its own “historical lore”, and every title - no matter how obtuse or challenging it seems - is excited for you to uncover its secrets and achieve victory.

#1 - Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 had a well-deserved moment in the spotlight when it first launched. It was a perfect storm of fun that managed to convince players to fully buy into the world of the game and had them gleefully shouting “FOR DEMOCRACY” over and over again. That is an impressive thing to do. I’ll never forget the days when TikTok was filled with “wartime footage” backed by Creedence Clearwater Revival while players urged one another to “join the fight” as if freedom actually depended on it. Then that honeymoon phase passed. But you know what? Helldivers 2 is still my go-to game when I’m looking to have fun with friends within a matter of minutes after sending out the call on discord. The game manages to feed your explosion-fueled power fantasy and SECONDS LATER humiliate you by flinging your worthless corpse halfway across the planet. When I win in Helldivers, it often feels like I barely managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. When I lose in Helldivers, I laugh. Every time.

And now…

My Top 5 Games NOT from 2024

#5 - Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition S

I fear JRPGs. I know myself well enough to be wary of most games that consider 10 hours of playtime an introduction. However, I’m currently experiencing a very unique moment in my life wherein I’m leaving my beloved home and venturing out into the larger world for an adventure. Perhaps that’s why the Dragon Quest XI demo called to me in a way it never had before. I’ve enjoyed spending about an hour with it before bed every night, chipping away at it slowly and letting it charm me with its characters and story. Earlier this year I would read chapters of the Dragon Ball manga before bed, now I feel like I’m finally experiencing life inside of one of Akira Toriyama’s worlds. Since I started playing a few weeks ago I’ve put about 13 hours into Dragon Quest and have only just had the full world map revealed to me. Rather than feeling my usual level of intimidation and disinterest, I find myself excited to see where this adventure will take me next.

#4 - Resident Evil 2 (1998)

A few years ago I finally realized that Resident Evil is my favorite long-running video game series, with the RE2 Remake firmly positioned as one of my favorite games of all time. Replaying the original RE2 over a long weekend was a blast of an experience I won’t soon forget. This campy, pixelated puzzle box of a game managed to get a few genuine jump scares out of me and plenty more smiles. The famous ink ribbon save system was so effective at repeatedly forcing me to ask myself “Can I check just one more room? IS the risk worth the reward?!” As I slowly peeled away the mysteries of Raccoon City, I realized the game I held in my hands was a perfectly tuned, mechanical mouse trap (copyright Umbrella Corp).

#3 - Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy

Outside of AC2, I never quite jived with this franchise, but this year I went through my typical phase of simply wanting to exist in a video game world… and Italy called to me. What happened next, I never could have expected. I devoured the Ezio Trilogy. I had forgotten about the days when “open world games” were significantly smaller and simpler, and by god did it make me realize how much I miss those days. Despite presenting a story with more than a few grating characters and a plot that loses the… plot, these three games made me fall in love with Ezio. It isn’t often you get to spend time with a character from the moment they are born to the moment they die. Ezio’s death and his reflections on his legacy brought actual tears to my eyes. The most interesting legacy of all, though, was the one being forged by Ubisoft at the time these titles were originally released. Seeing video game sensibilities evolve over the course of these three games, for better and for worse, was a fascinating experience.

#2 - Red Dead Redemption 2

You know how I said I like existing in video game worlds? This game world is the best. RDR2 was my hunting and fishing simulator for a few weeks, and then I figured I might as well finally try to finish it. I used to hate how slow this game felt, and then I realized the game was begging me, PLEADING me to slow down. Arthur Morgan and his friends are all running out of time, and there is a wonderful moment when the player and Arthur both realize that the time they have left is more valuable than anything else they have ever chased after in the shrinking West. There’s not much else I can think to say about RDR2 other than that it lived up to the hype. I look forward to returning to it as John Marston from time to time for years to come.

#1 - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Remake

I started the year rekindling my love for the WiiU. It’s one of my favorite consoles and there was no better game to bring me back to it than the Twilight Princess HD Remake. I feel like these days there are four types of Zelda games. There are the DS-style games (that nobody likes). There are 2D Zelda games, my favorite of which is Link Between Worlds. There are the two Immersive Sim Zelda games, Breath of the Wild being my favorite of the two. And finally, there are the Puzzle Box 3D Zelda games… and this year Twilight Princess officially dethroned Ocarina of Time as my favorite. Again, this is a game I enjoy simply existing in. It is bursting at the seams with interesting characters, both big and small. I adore the art style and music. I adore the melancholy tone. And (coldest take in the universe) Midna is THE best Zelda companion to ever grace us with her presence. According to my save data, I’d tried Twilight Princess twice in the past and both times I made it to the Water Temple and bailed. Back then, the game just felt like it was trying to be Ocarina. Little did I know that as soon as you emerge victorious from Lake Hylia, the game takes on an entire new personality of its own. And I fucking love it.

#goty 2024 #video games #gaming

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milesluna · 1 year ago

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My Favorite Games of 2023.

Hi. Hello. Thanks ever so much for clicking on this page. Happy to have you.

First thing's first: I'm a little freak when it comes to video games. I don't feel the need to beat most games I play. From Software is one of my favorite studios in the industry and I've never finished a single one of their games. This means, fortunately, that I get to play a LOT more games than the average bear.

I've written up some blurbs about my top ten favorite games from 2023, but before that here's the list of every game I remember playing this year that left any sort of lasting impact on me (in no particular order):

Dead Space Remake Resident Evil 4 Remake F-Zero 99 Humanity Dredge Metroid Prime Remastered Anemoiaplois Alan Wake 2 Baldur’s Gate 3 LoZ Tears of the Kingdom Counter Strike 2 Hunt Showdown El Paso Elsewhere Jusant Slay the Princess| Remnant II The Finals Street FIghter 6 Lethal Company BattleBit Remastered Don’t Scream Homebody The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Pizza Tower World of Horror Super Mario Wonder Mr. Sun’s Hatbox Fifa 23 Sea of Stars (Demo) Half-Life (25th Anniversary Update)

And the games I played that were NOT released in 2023:

Unpacking Persona 4 Golden Picross 7 The Order 1886 Shovel Knight Dig Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Spider-Man: Miles Morales Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Project Zomboid Quake LoZ The Minish Cap Drill Dozer Wario Land 4 Pokemon Pinball Resident Evil Revelations Summer of ‘58 Trackmania TwinCop We Were Here Visage Cursed Halo CE Half-Life 2 (I probably play this once per year) Witch Hunt Red Dead Redemption 2 Cyberpunk 2077 Borderlands 3 Brutal Legend Cultic Slay the Spire PUBG Rez Infinite Batman Arkham City Alan Wake Alan Wake: American Nightmare Max Payne LoZ: Majora’s Mask 3DS Metroid Prime Metroid Prime 2 Tunic Everhood Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VII Remake GOODBYE WORLD Yakuza: Like a Dragon Critters for Sale Dome Keeper Phasmophobia Hades Nintendo Switch Sports

Now that you understand the kind of freak you're dealing with…

Let's dive into my top ten favorite games from this objectively fucked up year.

10. El Paso Elsewhere Developed by Texas indie studio Strange Scaffold, El Paso Elsewhere is a Max Payne-clone with vampires, an opinionated narrator, and lots and lots of bullet time. As a small studio punching well above their weight class, Strange Scaffold leans into abstract, PlayStation 1 minimalism when it comes to visuals and pairs them with a soundtrack that will make your hands sweat. The vibes are here and they're ready for the end of the world. I'm personally also a big fan of everything this studio stands for.

9. Mr. Sun's Hatbox I want you to imagine Metal Gear Solid V. Now I want you to imagine that game as a 2D, level-based, slapstick platformer you can play with up to three friends. If you think that sounds stupid, you'd be right. And it's beautiful. As you build up a secret army of soldiers with various skills (and disorders), you'll start to develop *favorites*. This game constantly asks if you're willing to send those favorites on a harrowing mission and risk losing them forever… or if you'd rather send an idiot you recently captured who blinks constantly and can't kill anyone without fainting.

8. Dredge Every year I feel like I find one game that falls into the “just one more round” category, and baby… Dredge was it for 2023. As a weary fisherman in strange waters, you'll make the most out of your 12 measly hours of sunlight only for your daily voyages to inevitably pull you into the darkness of night, and night is when things get weird. Rocks emerge from the fog that you swear weren't there before, your equipment malfunctions, and you're pretty sure you just saw something in the water… something big. Despite only containing a small collection of islands, the world of Dredge manages to feel vast - perhaps vast enough to swallow you whole.

7. Resident Evil 4 Remake I was curious to see what sort of changes would be made to the timeless classic and father of modern 3rd person shooters, Resident Evil 4. I wasn't let down. RE4 Remake takes all the things that didn't age well about the original, tossed them out, and replaced them with only good things. And MORE things! It's campy, fun, and better than a game of bingo.

6. Jusant I really feel like this one didn't get the recognition it deserves. Jusant is a rock climbing game that combines the quiet contemplation of Journey with the mechanical specificity of Death Stranding. Unlike Death Standing, though, there is very little story to interrupt your flow. There are plenty of collectible bits to find for those curious to learn more about what happened before the events of the game, but the environmental storytelling does most of the heavy lifting. For me, the joy of the game comes from how it feels. Right trigger controls your right hand grip, and left trigger controls left hand grip. Plan your route, manage your stamina, and climb high above the clouds in search of answers.

5. F-Zero 99 This. Shit. Slaps. I've never been a big F-Zero guy, but this MADE me one. The “battle royale”, 99 player format is the perfect fit for the ruthless, high octane world of the game. Races last about three minutes, and friend, they are the most intense, white-knuckled three minutes of your life. The decision to make your boost meter the same as your health meter started in F-Zero 64 (I believe), and it is so much more HARROWING in this game when another player could side-swipe you mere meters from the finish line and blow you to bits. Sadly it's only playable via Switch Online, but it made me cheer, laugh, and scream enough this year to earn a spot in my top 5.

4. Alan Wake 2 Remedy makes weird games that also manage to exist in the AAA space and for that I will forever love them. Although Alan Wake 2 resembles a 3rd person shooter survival horror, I'd honestly say it's more of a narrative game than anything else. There's sidequests, there's puzzles, there's upgradeable skills, but at the end of the day the characters, world, and story are what kept me playing. If you haven't checked them out recently, you should definitely watch a story recap of the original games before diving into this sequel, but the wild swings for the fences this game takes are well worth that small price of admission. There's a god damn musical number, for Christ's sake.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom I've really got nothing to say about this game that most people don't already know. It's incredible. The fact that Nintendo made a game that redefined an entire genre and then made a SEQUEL to it that ups the ante is remarkable. To be honest, I've only cleared the Rito, Zora, and Goron cities. I got a bit tired of exploring the depths and guiding Koroks to their friends, but I can't deny the sheer level of complexity and polish on display here. I saw someone on TikTok build a functioning Mecha Godzilla in this game. Good God. I've heard that the ending of this game is one of the best in the franchise, and if I'd seen it this year then it may have wound up higher on my list, but for the time being I'll continue picking up this masterpiece from time to time, chipping away at it until the day comes that I can finally smack the tits off thicc Ganondorf.

2. Half-Life (25th Anniversary Update) I know I'm gonna get shit for this, but I don't care. This year was the 25th anniversary of Half-Life and Valve released an update that made playing it (and it's online Death Match) much more accessible. I threw it on my Steam Deck out of curiosity, expecting to play for 20 minutes. I could not put it down. It is unbelievable how modern this game still feels. I simply had so much fun sprinting through the corridors of Black Mesa with a dozen weapons strapped to my back, blasting aliens and military Spec-Op chumps as a 24(?!) year old theoretical physicist.

1. Baldur's Gate III This game is fucked up, man. The sheer amount of writing in this game scares me. We can all talk about how BIG this game is, it deserves it, but the thing BG3 does better than any other role playing game I have ever experienced is actually encourage roleplaying. I've played through Act I four times now, with four different groups of friends, and it has felt fresh every time. I have seen the same events play out in so many different ways that it boggles the mind, but in every one of those play sessions I see players asking themselves “What would my lil guy do here?” rather than "what is the best thing to do here?" The game rewards players constantly for just trying shit and the D&D 5e rule set means playing like the character you said you were from the start leads to frequent Points of Inspiration. Maybe one day I'll see the end of this story (probably not), but I don't have to in order to feel a connection with BG3's world, characters, and most impressively, the characters I made myself.