#but it's still goty in my heart

[reliquiaen]

plague tale requiem nominated for game of the year!! woo! stiff competition but i’m still so thrilled for them! five nominations!! go team!

and scorn is in there too for art direction. i’m so pleased c’:

[tomaturtles]

I've beaten Frontiers twice and it's still not enough

[morkiemcfly]

So how are you feeling about the whole totk situation now?

Oh boy. Buckle up. So yeah, there was some crap going on regarding TOTK. It seems like after release,alot of people were saying that it wasn’t all that good, it sucks,etc. and that went on for months. I’ll be honest, at first it REALLY upset me because I hate to see anything less than positive about the things I love (that’s ASD for you). But as time went on, I realized that I’ve seen this all before. I’ve been in MANY different online fandoms and this cycle is pretty common internet discourse. There’s always going to be a loud vocal minority online that doesn’t like the popular thing. Zelda games in particular tend to get a lot of heat both on/off the internet, someone once told me that WW/TP had a similar situation going on so it’s not the first time. So now I just don’t pay it any mind tbh.

Now I do want to make it clear that there IS a difference between valid, healthy criticism and straight up hate. The game DOES have things to criticize and I acknowledge that. Just like every other video game in existence. It’s valid if you don’t like or were disappointed in Tears of the Kingdom. That’s your opinion and I respect it and I ask that you respect mine as well. All that being said, I have started seeing a lot more positivity now. TOTK was 1,000% my personal GOTY for 2023 and one of the best games I’ve ever played. I still love it with all my heart and nothing will ever change that.

TLDR: The internet is not reflective of real life.

[goldenteaset]

What in Hell is Bad? (Belated) First Impressions

...AKA "This Hole Was Made For Me (But Oh God There Are Worms In Places)" XD;

Before I get into this, let me preface by saying I love otome games and have never played a Tower Defense game before. That is to say, I'm intrigued by the gameplay but am still in the "learning curve". With that settled, some bullet point'd impressions!

I've only able to actually play properly since yesterday, when all the crashes were finally fixed. (I do hope they fix the shop for the people who want to pay, though)

The quiz at the start immediately got me hyped! I knew I'd be having fun when I got to the "You've been trapped in an Angst Novel as a side character" question and one of the answers was "Create a 21+ romance out of it that's lewder than the original". My language, WHB (mostly) speaks it! XD

Actual R18 harem romance in an mobile otome game that isn't the Ikemen series('s non-canon events), truly incredible

STORY IMPRESSIONS

It's funny, I'm aware that the translation is very literal in places and does need to be fixed, but there are also lines I genuinely adore and hope stick around. (Gabriel's introduction, for example. Gorgeous, ethereal language that perfectly fits an angel.)

On that note, I'm an absolute sucker for stories that deal directly with (Fallen) Angels, Devils, and what love and free will means for them. The plot so far is such catnip for me it's not funny

I also have a fascination with fetishes and what they could add to characters, and most of these I've only ever seen in research papers. Having them be this integral is like a dream...

...I'll cry in frustration if there's another hand fetishist who chops off people's hands again though. JUST BUY A MANNEQUIN'S

Minheok is way more interesting than I thought he'd be. Hearing him speak Korean compared to everyone else's Japanese (or "Celestial/Devilish" if you will) is really fun. :D

I'm loving the MC, even as I'm also adjusting her (in my case) for "OC with some self-insert" purposes. Love that she's so horny, love that she has a wide-range of tastes as a cute nod to the "MC gets along with everyone" trope, and love that she wants to make Gabriel cry!!

After Beelzebub (quiz starter) and Sitri, the third Devil to have my heart was Valefor. He's my MC's big teddy bear who protects everyone ;v;

GAMEPLAY

The Secret Shop truly is secret, I haven't seen it yet

I'm loving being able to buy gacha currency with in-game money (pancakes) to better hoard. Please keep this, devs!

The level up etc. items keep making me hungry, it's genuinely great

I'm less keen on how hard it is to grind for certain items, but if I soldiered through FGO for five years I can survive this (I think)

That said, I don't think characters level up when you fight. That is ridiculous and would stop me from playing if the leveling costs became too high

Please let us play with the S- and A-Class Devils in Secret Club? :(

The chats are fun and cute, but I wish we had more...

Justice for Valefor let me put him in Secret Club he's been working so hard

Why don't the A-Class Devils have the boards like the L- and S-Classes? I want to learn about everyone!

The music is kind-of quiet? But I like what I can hear

I like the Day and Night-cycle on the home screen, very cute

Being able to have one of the Demon King's "assets" take up the whole home screen is both sexy and hilarious XD

The most YMMV opinion of them all: I wish the story segments were longer and that there was a way to do a kind of "Last time, in Chapter 1-(X)" to keep story info from being lost in the stream of battles

But in the interest of keeping things optimistic around here, I have one more impression to make:

GABRIEL

Instantly makes this GOTY for me and I wish I was kidding

One look and I fell in love. And then I saw his potential L card/scene in the final trailer and fell even harder!!

I would feel dislike toward him re: Minheok and the Devils, but as far as he's concerned the sandwich that he rang up (MC) keeps yelling at him. I'm satisfied

My excitement at his L card reached such insane heights I started writing something starring him. That is a sign if nothing else!

...So yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic and will hopefully have even more to say soon. :D

[alphajasperdimitri]

Hello greetings guys! And a happy new year! my name is alphadimitriflair, and Im new here at tumblr I would like to share my first post also btw im from instagram: alpha_jasperflair

I never really played the God of war game series but I watched it being played by one of my friends, I was so deeply inspired by the art, the story, the narrative, the music, everything, so I decided to make a fanart of it with all my heart, the greek saga not only made me inspired but deeply inspired by the #norse saga, the story deeply resembles my relationship with my father, it made our hearts warm.

Also pls forgive me if my time-lapse vid looks kinda blurry as I said to the video I double checked it before, but there was a time where my Ipad shut down because of low battery and I went back to procreate, the time-lapse broke im so sorry, but I never lost hope to still post it lmao.

⏰ TIME: Took me almost 2 months, I started doing this during school days, it was a bad idea I was either pressuring myself studying and drawing at the same time lol, so I continued it during christmas vacation and at the end of new years eve.

✂️EDIT: Using Imovie on apple ios, bruh this took me almost forever I thought I was gonna die out of exhaustion.

ALSO HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE OR RAGNARÖK!

🔺BACKGROUND MUSIC CREDITS TO:

@bearmccreary

1. Jotunheim https://youtu.be/G0RnRnGwacU

2. A son’s path https://youtu.be/bWMpjQCpcpg

3. Raebs lament https://youtu.be/7-qUJ0uEAeQ

AJ Dela Torre

🔹 Follow me on socials🔹

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TECH: iPad (7th generation) - Technical Specifications

🔶HASHTAGS🔶

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[luxrayz64]

list of gripes i have with tears of the kingdom and reasons why I think it's not goty material

has no respect for my time. great fairies and hestu are the most blatant example of what I mean. if sonic frontiers could patch out this exact issue (adding an upgrade all at once button) there's no reason why a whole 5 years and a sequel later I still have to watch hestu shake his ass at me 7 times in a row instead of just handing him every korok seed at once. yes there's a skip button. no that's not good enough

filler content. awesome big map you've got there. and it's all just copy pasted shrines and koroks? wow this seems like a good use of my time (<- lie)

racism. I don't have the energy to elaborate im just bitching but like (waves at ganondorf)

imperialism. rauru is a coloniser and I hate that the story expects you to align yourself with him and I hate that none of the other leaders/sages are on the same level as himband I hate that he made ganondorf bow to him too.

misogyny. they damselled zelda again. complete lack of care for her character. she doesn't even get to be interesting in this one because the memories are too focused on (poorly) establishing the ancient conflict and rauru.

lack of consequences. link gets his normal arm back even though we were told at the beginning it was unsalvagable. zelda gets turned human and suffers no loss of memories or self she's just fine. why couldn't we do this earlier if all we needed was for mr and mrs imperialism ghosts to show up.

lack of any linearity. don't raise your eyebrows at me, I found the spirit temple way too early because it wasn't gated off and when I could finally do the kakariko quest that is supposed to lead to it I got pissed the fuck off because I'd already completed the quest and it was useless to me. why is it possible for me to reach that quests conclusion without the start? it's like hanging a fruit over my head and when I finally get to eat it it's just foam. gating off parts of your game until requirements are met isn't the fucking devil, it's basic game design.

storytelling in general. the lack of an active plot makes the story feel lacklustre. this game is better at it than botw was at least but the fact that we get to see so little of the main antagonist (because the past conflict, our main source of information/characterisation is seen through zeldas extremely limited pov) sucks. I like it when ganondorf gets to be a person actually. also watching the same cutscenes at the end of every fucking dungeon come on

dungeon design. we were promised a return to proper dungeons and we got Not That. better than the divine beasts for sure, but still ass. short, easy to navigate/cheat in, and unfulfilling. the thunder temple felt the most like a real dungeon, and it ended way too soon. shrines also suck btw

shrines also suck btw. I hate having these singular puzzles that I have to complete in order to get hearts. they break up the flow of gameplay and feel like a chore. id much rather just find fucking pieces of heart/stamina things. I'd rather just have real dungeons instead of breaking them up like this. why are there MORE than there were in botw

the way the gerudo treat you. misogyny AND racism. it feels uncomfortable the way you're treated by them, even though everyone here knows you're their saviour. gender essentialism is a fucking nightmare and I like to not have to deal with it in my games, thanks.

the game doesn't know what genre it is. it wants to be an open world/sandbox with the emphasis on ultrahand and building contraptions. it also wants to be an adventure rpg with puzzle solving and strong story focus. personally im not a fan of sandboxes - ultrahand did absolutely nothing for me when I wasn't being forced to use it. you can't have your cake and eat it too - the physics engine at play here is jaw dropping, don't get me wrong, but I bought zelda, not fucking gmod

it's too big. there's nothing in it. everything is copy pasted. it was fun to explore the first time around, but now I've seen everything I have no reason to visit it again. the depths and sky islands promised more, but end up just being more of the same.

sages being mapped to A and also forcing you to run up to npcs to use them. don't do that. why did you do that? why did you think this was appropriate. this complete mishandling of the sage abilities pisses me off the more I think about it. it shouldn't have gotten past testing. it's frustrating and I expect better fucking controller management from nintendo. jesus christ. you had 5 years and that was what you came up with?

5 years down the line, they did not fix any of the problems botw had. some things were handled a little better, some things were handled worse. nothing was fixed. if the next game is in the same map again, I'm skipping it I don't fucking care. if it's not, they'd better lose the fat - I don't want to have to wait 7 years for every game.

i can and happily will elaborate more on any of these points. story especially, all my gripes with the story and its presentation can't be boiled down to dot points. im tired and feel like bitching about how much this game frustrated me so it's dot points. I probably forgot something or another that pisses me off about it. I am probably biased, and I am definitely bitter. this game was disappointing, and the disappointment makes me frustrated with it. pikmin 4 sweep

[solacedaydream]

WHY

I've been hyperfocused on BG3 to an unhealthy degree since around the start of the month and I just found out about a certain something happening and I've fallen into something of a depression. Have to be incredibly vague about it of course. I have a current rough idea of my path for it when the time comes but it still is just fucking awful and my heart hurts. I haven't enjoyed a game this much and been SO hooked in a long, long time, though. GOTY in my eyes, hands down, despite its faults (granted, I'm not done with the game, but there's no doubt in my mind).

[cy-cyborg]

You like space and Bethesda games right? Do you enjoy Starfield? I honestly think it's like the best Bethesda game ever and I don't get the hate behind it? GotY!

Eh, I'd say I'm less of a Bethesda fan and more of an Elder Scrolls fan, especially with how the company has been behaving in the last few years (fallout never really appealed to me either, not for any particular reason, it's just not my thing).

As for starfield, if you enjoy it, that's all that matters! I'm still playing skyrim 10+ years later despite the jank so I'm in no place to judge lmao. Don't let other's opinions spoil something that brings you joy.

Personally, I don't want to say much while the game is still in early access, but if you want my 2c anyway, to me, Starfield feels like Bethesda is just a bit too... comfortable, for lack of a better word. I honestly would have walked away from Skyrim years ago if it wasn't for the fact ES has decades worth of deep lore I find fascinating (if a little in need of a sensitive reader or two lol) and because of the modding community, and I feel like Bethesda is expecting the same level of interest for a game with neither of those things (because it's brand new), just because they're bethesda. For me, Starfield feels like it has a lot of potential, it can be great, but they can't approach it the same way they would a fallout or ES game, which seems to be what they're doing. It makes sense that they would, it's their first entirely new property in over 20 years, but the fact it's new means you have to adjust and so far they don't seem to be willing to do that.

Most of my other gripes with the game are things that can be easily fixed or are just down to personal preference and have nothing to do with the content/quality of the game itself. Like I said though, if you enjoy the game, and you're having fun with it, great! My opinion and the opinions of other's don't really matter.

I will say though, watching the transphobes have a temper tantrum over being able to choose pronouns "breaking their immersion" is hilarious and is bringing my little trans heart a lot of joy lol.

[wintersongstress]

Rdr2 is truly the best game ever made. In a way it quite literally ruined gaming for me because now i just know i’ll never find a game as good as this was. But it’s amazing how Rdr2 just has it all.. the action, the drama, the beautiful scenery and landscape, a very interactive open world, a great character as protagonist, the awesome songs (that’s the way it is and see the fire in your eyes are my all time favourite but there are also some amazing soundtracks, i really like the “dark” soundtrack that plays when you ride back to your camp after beating Thomas Downes. Also the trumpet one where Arthur saves captain Monroe) the most beautiful story of redemption. It’s just perfect in every way. There is absolutely no issues that i have with this game. I will forever be bitter over the fact that it didn’t win 2018 GOTY.

-🐴

It is an unmatched masterpiece. Open world games like that tend to take over my life and this one has had a grip on me for almost 4 years. I love the dynamic weather, the sunsets, the rainbows, the waterfalls, random events, the side character missions, the night skies, the flowers, the birds flying around, hearing the strange call of an elk, riding a horse through a foggy aspen forest before the sun comes up, drinking coffee in my little camp on a mountainside, browsing general stores, the endless little details, the different ecosystems of snowy mountains, meadows, swamps, and forests, the list goes on. But my love rests deepest with Arthur. Roger’s acting was amazing at portraying a man who followed the wrong star for too long. The tragedy of it all—seeing a character realize it’s not too late to do the right thing even though it’s too late to save himself—still breaks my heart to this day. The story does a great job of showing how greed corrupts men and what America used to be and how it changed. I could honestly talk about this game for weeks on end lol. And the soundtrack!!!! Pure genius. I especially loved the track when the Pinkertons show up outside Lakay—the soundtrack is rife with tension and adrenaline and suspense and oooooomph that saxophone in the back. The music tells a story too in evoking the emotion in the story beat’s tone, like in the Unshaken track. Also just the roaming around, exploration tracks have a place in my heart that feels like home.

It IS a beautiful story of redemption. A very bittersweet one too. The game changed my life tbh. Nothing can replace it. 2018 was a great year for gaming and it had a lot of competition. God of War WAS really good and I can see why it won, but it definitely wasn’t an easy choice. I’m so glad Roger got the recognition he deserved for his incredibly talented work though. With masterful writing, music, and visuals, a lot of very talented people worked very hard on this game and it shows. I am so grateful for the friends I've met because of it, the inspiration it gave me towards writing (I love westerns now and want to write one), and just the experience in total. I could gush about it forever and I love talking about it, so thank you for sending me a message! I'm right there with you 💌

[asha-mage]

My Top Ten Lists, and GOTY awards for 2022!

As typical I paid no attention to release date or year, only using the condition of 'did I finish this game this year', and judgeing games both as best I could both on how much I liked them, and how successful they where at being the game they where trying to be. I also didn't count any of my 'forever games' i.e games that I play more or less regularly year-to-year, such as FFXIV, and the Sims.

Also, blanket spoiler warning. (I don't get to deep into anything, but their are some references that might spoiler elements of some the plot heavier games).

10) Monster Prom

I played fewer games on average this year then I did in years past (only 12), which maybe explains the place of Monster Prom in the tenth spot. Not that it's a bad game: it's incredibly fun, queer, and wild ride, with a surprising amount to say about growing up, and that time in your life when your wild and unafraid and free.

That said though, it is a multiplayer game that I only ever played in single player, and it only hooked me long enough to get the Oz/Damon ending before I put it down and left it down for the remainder of the year. If I had managed to get one more in under the wire, before year's end, it would probably would have gone in this spot (unless said hyopthethical game was a real stinker, but I very rarely finish real stinkers).

9) Crusader Kings 3: Royal Court/Fate of Iberia

Man does this expansion rule. Crusader Kings in general still rules, and I've played a truly sickening amount CK3 just in general. Normally I would count CK3 as one of my 'forever' games, that I play non stop, but I actually have found myself playing CK3 in fits and starts recently: huge bursts when new DLC drops, and when I get a history hankering, but otherwise not very often.

That said the time I do spend with it rocks. I have made so many attempts at unifying the Iberian Peninsula at this point, some successful, some far less so. And I love seeing my monarch in his court, projecting power and presiding over the realm. Both Royal Court and Fate of Iberia fit perfectly into my gameplay, and their exact kinda of DLC I love from Paradox: the kinda that once experienced I can't imagine the game without.

I also really want to give a huge shout out for the amount of customization regarding gender, sexuality, and historical accuracy the game added this year. It's a small thing, but it made my brain so incredibly happy to see my character with his husband seated beside him, together presiding over the realm. (Until said husband unexpectedly inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine and had to tragically leave my court, causing my king to succumb to whore mongering and lechery to soothe his broken heart, which was Very Sad and also exactly the kind of shit I live for in this game).

8) Marvel Snap (Best Multiplayer)

This one was a real surprise. I don't play card games, I don't play mobile card games, and I've been fairly sour on Marvel for a while now.

And yet.

Man is Marvel Snap good. Addiction good. Possibly going to be a forever game next year good. Barely spend money on it and yet still enjoy it a mind numbing amount good. Time will tell on this one, but given the sheer number of hours I've put into it, the sheer joy I get from it despite normally hating games like this and how excellently designed it is, it's very much earned this spot.

7) Cult of the Lamb

This one was also a surprise for me, but less so in that it was out of genre, and more that I didn't know this game existed until after it had dropped and everyone on various podcasts I follow was listening to it. Their is something so delightful about both it's creepy cute aesthetic, and it's game play which is a mix of rouge like action and Animal Crossing villager management which makes it unique, memorable, and fun.

My biggest problem is really the combat. The lack of ability to pick weapons ahead of crusades, the way action can get very finicky and jumpy even in boss fights attacks hitting that shouldn't, and not hitting that should, is what kept this from beating out Elden Ring. On the Cult management side, while I really enjoyed all the effort and thought put into what it would take to actually run and keep a cult following, and the way you could pick doctrines of faith....I ultimately don't know that their was enough 'flavor' to make each cult feel really unique and customizable, and that held it back, if only a little. I'll probably dip back in to the update next year, when I have more time.

6) Elden Ring

Put down those pitchforks this instant.

Look. I really liked Elden Ring. It's a great game! Well constructed from start to finish, with a killer aesthetic, and a story that's even for Fromsoftwear, marginally understandable. It's open world is good enough that I, who generally hate open world games, can appreciate both it's beauty, and it's scope. It's also one of the few games that really, truly made me feel like I was an adventuring mage, wandering about in search of ancient secrets of magic.

But.

It's still not a very good Soulslike. It's combat is arbitrary and unfair in a way Demon's Souls and Bloodborne's where not (hell that Fallen Order and SoP's where not!), only the legacy dungeons really have the murderous puzzle box feel, and many of the bosses break the mold of Souls bosses up to this point, and not in a good way.

Their is a version of this game on another timeline that is NOT an Open World and so is much higher on this list. But alas, we live in the Open World Timeline, where giant empty games lacking in structure and narrative are the dominant force in games, and where good games will be diminished by having open world forced into them when they don't need it. So in the back half of my list, Elden Ring will remain.

5) Potion Permit

Oh MAN was this game good.

Every loving detail in this game was delightful: from the way the entire town starts out hating your guts, to the actual effort that goes into collecting ingredients and mixing potions, to the way you slowly build up trust and affection not just by handing out gifts, but by showing you can do your job in all it's aspects: making your patients feel heard, their care feel personal, and the actual healing timely.

Also the carpenter man was cute, and dating him was amazing.

I hope this trend of Stardew Valley like games that explore non-farming elements continues. And I hope it is full of many kissable men.

4) Omori (Best Art Direction)

Omori is a game I've been meaning to play for basically forever, but that I kept waiting for the Switch version to enjoy. And I am very happy with that choice.

This game is SO incredibly good. The sad narrative of a boy who flees into a dreamworld called Headspace in order to escape his loneliness and trauma, it's full of poignant messages about repression, self hatred, isolation, and ultimately forgiveness.

The truly crazy part is that their are two games here. The wacky charming Headspace adventurers which have all the classic trappings of JRPG: leveling up, turn based combat, exploration around madcap world full of bizarre colorful characters and off beat humor. And then you have the softer more realistic adventure game, drenched in Americana, from the same-y suburbs to the quirky pizza place, to the sprawling mega mart, where most of your time is spent not fighting but solving puzzles, and talking to characters to learn their weird stuff.

And when the two intersect, real world crashing into fantasy? That's where you get the game's tripy, mind fuck psychological horror. Omori shines brightest in Dark Space, when it delves into the twisted flip side of escapism, and digs under the skin of it's protagonist to show off his messy fears and his hidden darkness.

This game hit home, and it hit home hard.

3) Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Best Soundtrack)

As we get into my top three, we are entering the set of games that came out this year that seemed made for Me Specifically.

Of those Three Hopes was the biggest surprise. I never really imagine a....well whatever Three Hopes is to Three Houses (sequel? alternate universe story? retelling? spinoff? let's go with spinoff). Especially not a Musou style army shredder. And yet now I can't imagine playing either the fandom or the story itself without the added layer of context and story provided by Three Hopes.

Three Hopes adds so much content is the thing, you can actually feel the cuts from Three Houses that where re-worked here (Ferdinand and Ashe's extra scenes and supports in particular), and it adds so much depth too, to Byleth, to the world, to the dynamics between characters and factions. Their is an element of shinny wish fulfillment to it, and yet I can't fault the game for that. Afterall, they paid their dues to tragedy, and the costs and downsides of war in the first game. Here, things work out, and the headsman is escaped. The Lord of your choosing reshapes the world to their ideal, and everything works out, and the writing is so good that I don't really mind.

Also the OST slaps SO FUCKING HARD. They could have just repackaged the 3 Houses ost and I am SO GLAD that they did not. Still humming songs from this even months later.

2) Stranger of Paradise (Best Gameplay)

Stranger of Paradise was announced to loud mockery by basically everyone, and intense anticipation by me. I stood by the game's potential then, and I stand by it now.

This is such a smart game, and also such an earnest one. It knows exactly what it is and refuses to be ashamed of that. Instead it leans full body into it's buck wild story, it's over the top combat, and it's dark aesthetic. And the result is a weird alchemy that is incredibly fun to play, moment to moment.

If, like me, you have what amounts to a Master's Degree in obscure Final Fantasy lore, you will be delighted by both the subtle references peppered throughout the levels, and the deeper story, about the clash between the Lufenian's, god-like beings of near total power that they are, and the Strangers, defectors who have learned to love and see value in the world they where sent to control.

If you don't....then I recommend just sitting back and enjoying watching the monsters explode into bloody crystal. You will still have a rocking good time. Unless you think cringe in a real thing, then you might have less of a fun time.

1) Triangle Strategy (GOTY/Best Narrative)

Back near the beginning of the year, when I got Triangle Strategy's Golden Ending, after getting the other three, and clocking in more then a hundred and thirty hours in the game, I cried. The game's ending felt pitch perfect, the smooth flawless landing after seamless ride. I came out of the experience with a clear front runner for my personal GOTY, something that held up for most of the year even I played other really good games.

But as we closed on the tale end of the year I started to doubt my own impression, wondering if Triangle Strategy really had left that large of a mark on me, or if I had just been caught up in the hype cycle and recency bias.

And the trailer for the steam version came out and I started crying just from that so no. Not recency bias or hype.

Triangle Strategy is so incredibly good. Everything it attempts it scores a perfect ten on: it's characters are engaging and fun while still having depth and nuance, complexity and foibles. It's visual design is stunning and eye catching. It's combat and tatical elements are challenging puzzles, requiring careful planning and mastery of the game's systems.

But most of all it's story is flawless.

This game has so much to say about how our beliefs define us, and shape our world views. About the struggle for a future, and the difference been compromise and concession. About oppression, and faith, justice and law, the burden of leadership, and the power of conviction. It's exactly the story of high fantasy I love: mixing politics and magic, war and mythology, but keeping itself always centered on the human element of it's characters and their stories.

It is very, very close to a perfect game, and it makes me incredibly excited to see Octopath Traveler 2 next year.

[zmeu-ra]

Organizing my thoughts on Sonic Frontiers:

Sonic Frontiers is my favorite Sonic game in a decade (Generations was the last one I wholeheartedly enjoyed). But it’s far from GOTY material.

The story takes itself seriously! Hallelujah! So refreshing. I haven't decided if the plot is that great yet, but it's definitely more competent than what we've had lately. There are both genuinely touching and funny moments.

Sonic feels good to control in the islands. I appreciate the option to tune his handling. Once you find what works for you, getting around is a lot of fun.

The island layouts are messy. They’re giant playgrounds with routes and challenges to explore ("open zone"). This is a cool idea in theory, but messy in practice. I hated the random boost pads and springs that pull you into challenges if you accidentally touch them while running somewhere. It’s like Sonic has ADHD and is constantly shifting between different hyperfocuses. I’ll admit it was fun at first; zooming across the island, getting pulled into exciting new challenges, but once you’ve completed them, they become useless obstacles. If they could somehow give me a reason to go through these routes again, they would be less annoying.

One of my main issues with the "open zone" layout is that it disconnects Sonic from the game space. Most things you interact with - platforms, springs - aren't part of the world, they're just laid on top. It would've been nice to interact with the world itself, characterizing the Starfall Islands a little more, but I also see how difficult of an undertaking that would be to design and program.

Cyberspace is a cool concept with hit-or-miss execution. The 3D parts are nice, the 2D parts are not. In 2D, Sonic's physics skew just enough to be sluggish and annoying. I do appreciate the level designs inspired by past games, it shows how well layouts like Metal Harbor hold up. It should have all been 3D, but that’s pretty demanding so I get why they didn’t commit. And of course, all the stages have total banger tracks.

The combat is a little bit... meh. It's fun and flashy, but doesn't have much depth (this is coming from a DMC fan, so take it with a grain of salt). Also I played on Hard Mode, in which I died a lot but was still never very mentally stimulated, so I wonder how brainless combat is on the lower difficulties.

That pinball machine was torture.

The Titan battles were the stars of the show. I was jumping out of my seat fighting Giganto, and my heart was racing for Knight, but Wyvern truly sent chills down my spine! Just wow. The music, Super Sonic in the moonlight, those combat setpieces... the Titan battles are just *chef's kiss*

Except for Supreme. What a letdown! Did they run out of time working on him? He’s just a spicy Giganto! Why is the apex of the Titans, corrupted by an eldritch force from space, so boring??? And I totally burned through his health without even thinking about it. “I’m Here” barely hit at all.

And that final boss? Ikaruga? I’m down for sudden genre shifts, but shouldn’t the game’s grand finale be a climax of all the mechanics the player has learned up to that point? You go from Metal Gear Rising-esque adrenaline rushes against creatively-designed Titans, to shooting a monologuing rock for 2 minutes. Was there a planned phase two that was more like a Titan? Idk, it wasn’t badly made or anything, but it felt like a weird decision.

Finally, I'm curious how much the plot will change the status quo. It sounds like Amy wants to go "spread love" whatever that entails, Knuckles is considering leaving the Master Emerald more often, and Tails wants to adventure solo to prove his heroism to himself. Does that leave Sonic alone in the next game? Is he open to hang with different crowds, like Team Dark or Silver/Blaze? If so, bravo for creating an opportunity to work with other characters, Mr. Flynn.

All in all, good game. Room for improvement, but still the best we’ve seen from Sonic in a long time. Not bad for a team of 60~ devs. I'm hopeful for the future! 2022 is the year of Sonic!

[arachnovolt]

From the Cohost Archive: ArachnoVolt's 2022 Game of the Year List

I've always wanted to try my hand at doing long form writing stuff so I might as well start the new year off by giving more detail for my annual GOTY list. Before we get into it proper, I wanna take a quick interlude for two mini segments. My honorable mention and my biggest letdown. So for the honorable mention we have...

Honorable Mention: Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

I know the base game didn't release in 2022 but the DLC did and it kicks ass. Rise is the first MH game I clicked with and Sunbreak deserves a mention for keeping the party going.

And for the disappointing one...

Biggest Disappointment: Souldiers

Now I love a good metroidvania. Especially from the indie scene. I was immediately interested in this game when I first saw it. The sprite work looked incredible, the music sounded phenomenal, and the gameplay looked great. But when I finally got to play it, my heart sank. I wanna stop and say that when it's playing nice, it's a helluva good time. This would have been on here proper if circumstances were different. But with performance issues, vicious combat balancing, noticable input lag, and incredibly sparse checkpointing, this game was a miserable experience at launch. While some of these issues have been addressed, with a consistent save crash that still persists in one late game area across all platforms that still hasn't been fixed, it's with a heavy heart that I put this game here.

Now, with the preamble out of the way... LET'S BEGIN!

10: Poinpy

Poinpy is a game that probably flew under a lot of people's radar this year. Getting a surprise launch during Summer Games Fest, Poinpy is interesting in two regards.

1: It's the most recent game from Ojiro Fumoto, creator of the hit arcade game Downwell

2: It's a Netflix exclusive

Yeah. Netflix getting an interesting exclusive game wasn't on my 2022 bingo card but here we are. Sporting an aesthetic that's the complete opposite of Downwell, Poinpy sees you bouncing and jumping up a scrolling cavern, gathering fruit to feed a cute but ravenous cat monster thing and building up high combos as you string together the fruit you collect. If you enjoyed Downwell and want something in that vein, Poinpy won't disappoint.

Moving on to our next entry, we have...

9: Islets

If you know me, you knew I'd have at least one metroidvania up in here. Developed by a team of two brothers and published by Armor Games Studios, Islets is an incredibly charming metroidvania from start to finish. The story has a very nice storybook feel to it. In the world of Islets, there's a bunch of floating islands that used to be one large connected landmass. You're one of many adventurers who's trying to put the island back together. Along your journey, you'll meet a colorful cast of characters as you traverse the world, upgrading yourself and your handy skyship along the way. I 100'd this game in 11 hours but I say that as a positive because Islets is a great game that doesn't overstay its welcome and I love that in a game.

Onto the next entry...

8: Cult of the Lamb

Ah yes . Cute and cuddly aesthetics mixed with the macabre and creepy. A surprisingly great combo. Cult of the Lamb doesn't need the kind of explanation that the last two got because everyone's either seen or played this game. Combining fast paced roguelike dungeon crawling with Animal Crossing style base management, CotL hit a very satisfying gameplay loop very quickly that snagged it spots on many peoples GOTY lists and I'm no different. And with post launch content coming next year, I'm deeply excited to get back to my Cult of the Volt.

Next on the list, we have...

7: Pokémon Scarlet/Violet

Okay. Let's get this out the way. Yes. The game's are buggy or whatever. But for me personally, if the core gameplay is fun enough and the bugs aren't that intrusive, I don't mind.

We'll just call that foreshadowing for later

In terms of Pokémon, it's been a hot minute since I've enjoyed a Pokémon game this much. Paldea is such a vast and vibrant region to explore and the new additions to the Gen 9 Pokédex are great. I mean, look at this lil guy!

But the thing that really landed Scarlet and Violet on this list is the story and its final act. I know people who have genuinely cried over the final act of this game. It's completely unexpected with how hard this story goes. And the final act has some of the most impressive music and level design I've ever seen in a Pokémon game. Absolutely stunning.

Moving on to the next one, we have...

6: Vampire Survivors

It's Vampire Survivors. What do want me to say? We knew it was going on here somewhere. It's dope as hell and free on mobile. Nuff said.

Halfway down the list, we've got...

5: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Now, I didn't grow up with TMNT like a lot of other people. My first major exposure was the 2012 CG animated series on Nickelodeon. But I will say this. Shredder's Revenge can make a Turtles fan out of anyone. It's one of the most satisfying beat em up games I've played in a long time. Boasting a roster of 7 playable characters with completely unique movesets and stats, classic characters from the original series, and probably one of the best OSTs of the year by Tee Lopes featuring Jonny Atma, Mega Ran, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, and Mike Patton covering the OG theme, this game is a phenomenal love letter to the old school Turtles beat em ups and to the TMNT franchise itself.

And for number four, we have...

4: Sonic Frontiers

So about that previously mentioned foreshadowing...

I've been a Sonic fan for as long as I can remember. From the early DS days of the Rush series to the very rocky Sonic 06', I've always been a fan of the Blue Blur. So when Sega announced that the big new open world Sonic game was coming to Switch day and date with the PC and other consoles, I was cautiously interested. I was expecting a decent, if janky, Sonic experience. What I got was a janky but incredibly promising look into the future of the Sonic series. The last time I felt that rush of speed that Frontiers offers was Sonic Generations. From the linear Cyber Space stages harkening back to the traditional levels and the open world letting you cut loose to run fast and beat some ass, Sonic Frontiers is the most exhilarating game in the series so far. This game also boasts an OST that deserves far more credit because it goes HARD. And Ian Flynn brings a surprisingly interesting tone shift to the narrative that felt serious without going overboard into Shadow the Hedgehog levels of angst. While there's definitely a few hiccups here and there, it's a very enjoyable experience that I still pick up every now and again to race across the Starfall Islands.

Moving into the top three, we have...

3: Soundfall

Okay. So as Cult of the Lamb showed, I really like top down hack and slash games. Now I discovered this game over a year ago while it was still in development because the premise was so unbelievably intriguing. A top down hack and slash looter game... where you hack, slash, dash, and bash to the beat of the music. On paper, that sounds like one of those things that's awesome in theory but kind of a mess in practice. Soundfall completely shattered my expectations and became one of my favorite hack and slash action games of the past few years. The story follows a barista named Melody who's pulled from Earth into the world of Symphonia, the source of all music. It's up to her and her allies to take up their roles as the Guardians of Harmony and save Symphonia.

What makes Soundfall such an interesting game is it's gameplay structure. Instead of something like Diablo that takes an open world approach or something like Hades that has you going room to room, Soundfall is broken up into multiple worlds with multiple levels in each one. Each level is built around a single song with each world being themed around different genres of music. The starting world has a very upbeat pop vibe while my most recently completed world was all about those techno beats. While all the player characters can use most of the same gear, each of them have a unique primary attack and super themed around their personality to give them something to make them feel distinct. And with the PC version having the ability to add your own music into the game to play to, I can imagine myself spending quite a bit of time kicking it in Symphonia.

And now for the penultimate entry...

2: Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Oh my sweet pink child. I've always loved Kirby. Ever since the DS remake of Super Star Ultra, I've been a fan of Kirby so when this was announced, I was beyond ready. When it launched, I fell in love immediately. The music was breathtaking, the visuals stunning, and the gameplay was just as fun in 3D as it was in 2D. With a hefty post game and loads of adorable in game figures to collect, I had a blast playing through the Forgotten Land and getting that 100% completion.

And finally. My favorite game of 2022 is...

# 1: Pokémon Legends: Arceus

You know how earlier I said it's been a hot minute since I've enjoyed Pokémon as much as Scarlet and Violet? Yeah. Well, when I played Legends Arceus, I hadn't enjoyed a Pokémon game like that since I was a kid. Everything about Legends Arceus was refreshing coming from the perspective of someone who had only started playing Pokémon again with the Switch games. The Agile/Strong style and the hordes made battles feel brand new in a way that didn't just feel like a new gimmick. You could just use trade items on trade evolution Pokémon and they'd just evolve. Being able to just throw Poké Balls at wild Pokémon without having to initiate a battle made catching new Pokémon so much quicker. The ability to change your Pokémon's moves at any time was thankfully a feature that got carried into Gen 9. And the biggest praise I will sing for Legends Arceus...

Filling out the Pokédex was fun. In every Pokémon game I've ever played, including Scarlet and Violet, filling out the Pokédex always felt like boring busy work. Sure, it's something you needed to do for the shiny charm in later generations but until that, all you got was "a sense of pride and accomplishment". In Legends Arceus, the Pokédex was the plot. Your main objective was filling that out but it was so much fun, I actually felt motivated to get Research Level 10 on every Pokémon. I hope the future games try to make filling out the Pokédex as fun as it was in Legends Arceus. While I do enjoy and still play Violet, I deeply hope that Legends Arceus is the framework that Game Freak looks at as they take the Pokémon series into the future.

And that's all for my GOTY list! If you stuck through a my rambling, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed reading that. Hopefully, I'll have more stuff to write about in the future.

[morkiemcfly]

Ok well, TOTK lost GOTY.

However it DID win Best Action/Adventure which it deserved as much.

It was always MY GOTY and I still love it with all my heart and that’s all that matters.

Congratulations to Baldur’s Gate 3

[colinlegameboy]

Yammering About Star Wars: Dark Forces Fanmade Levels

It's only been 4, nearly 5 months into the year, but I already know that Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered is my GOTY. I don't care that it's just the same game with a couple tweaks. I have been madly in love with this game since childhood, and the ability to play it in a way I can stomach (controller support) has only made me love it more.

However... There's only so many levels in this game. And the replay value barely exists.

Very few games make me yearn for their gameplay. In fact, I can only count two- The Kingdom Hearts series, and Dark Forces. Thing is, KH still technically has a couple games I've never beaten (the DS ones). Dark Forces... It's one game, with a set amount of levels.

That is, a set amount of levels made by the devs.

For you see, when I was a child and obsessed with the game, I discovered the magical land of fanmade levels. I would ask my dad to download them for me all the time, although because I was babby I just used cheats and barely beat any of them. But just playing the game was enough for me.

Now, since I'm an adult and can do what I want, I can just go download aaaaaall the levels. But... There's a slight caveat. None of them work with the Remastered version by Nightdive.

Turns out they don't have to.

Completely separate from Nightdive's remaster, it turns out that a couple years ago, a fanmade remaster engine entered 1.0. This was The Force Engine, made by a lot of the same people who ran the website I got levels off of as a kid, DF-21. And it has controller support. And quicksaves, which the remaster doesn't have. Honestly the only thing the remaster has over Force Engine is the weapon wheel- They didn't seem to be able to properly translate the original's camera movement to the right stick, whereas Force Engine feels a lot more modern. Of course, since the game was made in a specific way, it does mean that you can pan the camera a bit too much, leading to flying enemies like Probe Droids turning into thin cardboard cutouts if they're directly above you. If anything that probably is why Nightdive didn't let you have full camera control- Official releases can't allow that sort of thing, I get it.

Anyway, another perk that the Force Engine has over the Nightdive remaster is the ability to use and play mods. There's a set of levels on DF-21 that specifically were tested in Force Engine, namely a bunch of iconic ones from way back then. Every level that had a consistent rating of 4-5 stars is tested and approved.

Now, I want to stress that I don't regret spending money on Nightdive's remaster. If that turns into a success, the chance is very high that Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and its expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith will also get a remaster. And that game does not have an equivalent to Force Engine, unfortunately. I'm really hoping Nightdive is allowed to tackle those games. Hell, with how archaic they are, it might turn into a full on remake.

Either way, I am extremely happy that I now have more Dark Forces to play. Unfortunately I am nearing the end of the available levels. I kinda hope that either the modding scene ramps up again, or someone is just straight up able to start modding for the remaster. We'll just have to see.

[dumbfinntales]

The year is finally coming to an end. How fast it went by, especially with school the months just passed by. But starting next year we'll really get into the meat of things and start learning different kinds of programming. Should be interesting! Also per my yearly tradition I'll also look back at some games I've played and choose my personal GOTY. So more below.

At that start of this year I played through Beyond Good and Evil which was a fun game with some annoying stealth sections. It really reminded me of PS2 era games and it was fun. I also bought a game called Darkwood when I was drunk and still haven't played it. I really don't like having a "backlog" of games, but now they're building up. Maybe I'll start 2024 with Darkwood?

Early this year a game that absolutely blew me away was released. Pizza Tower. There's nothing I don't love about this game. The characters, art style, humor, the vibes, gameplay, music etc... Everything beyond immaculate. And the game reached quite the popularity, didn't it? Never expected Pizza Tower of all things to get a fandom like Undertale. Pizza Tower is in fact so ridiculously popular and connected with annoying little kids that I almost feel guilty enjoying it as much as I do. But, I'll stay true to myself. I loved the game when I played it and I won't let little kids ruin it for me.

A new Zelda game was also released this year, but quite frankly it failed to impress me like Breath of the Wild did. Mainly because everything that Tears of the Kingdom did was already done by BotW, and the few unique things ToftK did have weren't really my thing. I'm kinda craving for a more traditional 3D Zelda.

Racing towards the end of the year I played a ton of good and fun games back to back. Just to name some: My Friendly Neighborhood, Blasphemous 2, Remnant 2, Lies of P, The Last Faith, Lords of the fallen (2023). The new LoftF is an extremely flawed game that I can't call "good" with good conscience, but I can't deny that I still enjoyed it in a weird guilty pleasure type of way. It is the only game in existence that I hated upon beating it, but still went back to make another character.

And of course as it seems like a yearly tradition now, in December I fell back into a Path of Exile addiction. I've been playing it for a couple weeks now and made a splitting steel build. I wanted something "melee", but melee builds in this game are scuffed so I compromised. Splitting steel is a hybrid melee and ranged skill that shoots metal shards that split. It's pretty fun, and dopamine for days! Seriously PoE is a dangerous game with just how good it feels to play.

Now it is high time for me to choose my GOTY. Is it Pizza Tower that I oh so much praised earlier on? I thought about this a lot. And honestly? My personal GOTY goes to Lies of P, a game I only briefly mentioned. It is the closest that any game ever has gotten to that sweet Fromsoftware game quality. In fact I'd go as far as to say that it did reach that quality, with flying colors. I can't believe that a game loosely based on the story of Pinocchio would be this good. The characters, story, level design, atmosphere, bosses, combat, EVERYTHING is so good. You can check my review on the game for extended thoughts, but Lies of P is an absolute gem of a game. Of course I had to give my GOTY to a game in a genre I love above all else. Pizza Tower is still amazing, but action RPG's will always have my heart. Lies of P was also one of the most challenging games I've ever beat, can't wait to see what they'll cook up with the DLC!

Happy new year to anyone reading! Have a good 2024.

[taoofshigeru]

Games I Played in 2022

Since video games were a lot of what I did this year, a quick share.

I played Triangle Strategy, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and FEW3H over 100 hours each, and I enjoyed each game quite a bit! But they all had things that stuck with me the wrong way a little bit so I wasn't sure I wanted them as GOTY.

Positive Takeaways: Triangle Strategy: For You, My Heart and all of the Cordelia/Avlora everything. Also Chapter 18 on the golden route forcing the player out of their comfort zone and demanding creativity. Xenoblade Chronicles 3: It's just The Matrix (1999). Also Juniper. FEW3H: The Schemes Must Go On!

Why isn't it GOTY: Triangle Strategy: That one route where you commit genocide against an ethnic minority. Xenoblade Chronicles 3: N being Anakin Skywalker from another Episode 3. Z as a villain has a thematic point, but it's delivered in a garbled way. FEW3H: Ending every route with a "the war continues" scroll.

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The other games I put 30+ hours into:

Eastward: Very fun story, incredible first half but really kind of stalls out once the plot leaves New Dam City and goes to the monkey Hollywood arc. The moment when they turned the big fan on for the first time gave me chills and was probably one of my favorite individual game moments of the year. A+ main theme.

Isabel and Alva were amazing characters. In a little bit of role play, I got their favorite drinks (Sex on the Beach, Strawberry Milk) from the New Dam City bar and carried them with me to the end of the game. Unfortunately I never did get a chance to share with either of them. ;_;

Sonic Frontiers: Great action, great exploration, a cool story that kept itself tight. Pressing down on the joystick to light speed dash still feels weird to me. Sage is a fun new addition to the franchise. I'm very much looking forward to that slew of free updates.

And...

Tunic legitimately wowed me. While it also had some frustrating components, the innovation/surprise factor, extremely fun use of manuals and paper notebooks, and excellent OST was big enough that it felt like the best and most memorable pick.

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