Back on the other website, there used to be a sub called r/12in12 where people would try to beat 12, 24, 36+ games per year. I never really set myself any specific target like that, but the end of year reviews were always fun to read/write. Considering that I don’t think a single game I beat came out this year, I think this is the right community to ask this.
What games did you beat this year? What did you think of them?
For me:
January:
Nothing!
February:
Spider-Man: Miles Morales 7/10
When I first played Spider-Man on a PS4, I didn’t like it. The 30fps cap made the swinging feel clunky and nothing about the rest of the game made up for it. The PC release finally comes around and at last I get the hype, the web swinging is so good. The combat is very Arkham and it’s fine, the story is fine, but the web swinging is just so good. Spider-Man Miles Morales is just more of that.
The Zachtronics Solitaire Collection ?/10
This game is responsible for Steam thinking that Solitaire is one of my favorite genres of games. There are multiple versions of the game here, most of them are fine but Fortune’s Foundation is probably my new favorite version of Solitaire. I don’t know what I’d rate this out of 10, but I got 90 hours of entertainment for my $10.
March:
Split / Second 8/10
The PC port sucks, you have to use a fan patch to remove the 30fps cap, the controller support is terrible, but there’s nothing else like it. It’s a fantastic arcade racer with a super unique premise. The rest of the industry seeing this and Blur bombing financially is probably why racing games are so goddamn anemic now which is such a shame.
April:
Rakuen 7/10
I’ve never really gotten into any RPG Maker games like this, but it had great reviews and I needed something battery-friendly to play on my Steam Deck. Rakuen was pretty darn good, the characters are well written and the environments outside of the hospital are pretty. The story is a little predictable, but I think that’s fine what it wanted to tell.
May:
Hotshot Racing 6/10
What’s here is fun, but there’s almost nothing here. I beat the entire campaign in about an hour. The AI rubber-banding was a bit annoying at times. Also re-reading the Steam page, apparently it has always-online DRM? The fuck?
June:
Universal Paperclips ?/10
I was in the mood for a clicker game. I tried Cookie Clicker first but the pacing is just so slow. Universal Paperclips is a clicker game that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, and it scratched the itch I was looking for.
July:
Wilmot’s Warehouse 8/10
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ai4NZnjOdUE/maxresdefault.jpg
Super Meat Boy 5/10
I’ve forced myself to start this game so many times over the years, I finally completed it and I just don’t like it. Way too janky/buggy for a simple 2D platformer. I beat the final level 3 times and couldn’t figure out what to do at the end, only for it to turn out that the final cutscene wasn’t activating because my frame rate was too high. Ugh. It just made me want to play N++ again.
Ape Out 9/10
Ahhh it’s so good. The soundtrack and sound effects and visuals, it’s just perfect. A little on the short side (only took 1:40 to beat), but it’s pretty replayable.
Neodash 7/10
It’s basically Distance but worse. Distance is one of my favorite games of all time and is firmly a 10/10, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Any levels that rely on the mid-air controls bring down the experience a bit, but luckily there aren’t a ton of those.
August:
CrossCode 10/10
A top-down RPG with a ~50-hour story? I should hate this, but everything clicked into just the right place. The puzzles are fun (maybe a little too long), the combat is great, the characters are great, the story is great, I did not expect to love this game as much as I did.
Sayonara Wild Hearts 6/10
It’s basically a 1-hour music video. It’s very pretty and the songs are good, but the gameplay just kind of… exists.
Mad Max 6/10
It’s a beautiful looking game and the vehicle combat is fun, but everything else is pure mid-2010s generic open world game, complete with Arkham combat.
Riptide GP2 6/10
It’s fine, but there’s absolutely no reason to play this over Riptide GP Renegade unless you’re really board and looking for a grindy podcast game like I was. Renegade is just this but better in every way. It is a bummer that there are so few boat (or boat-adjacent) racing games coming out these days.
WRC Powerslide 4/10
It’s insanely repetitive and the driving physics are really floaty. The power-ups are awful but luckily they can be turned off in settings. The damage model is actually really good though, which is bizarre for a top-down racer. This got delisted from Steam years ago, if I didn’t already own it, I would not go out of my way to play it.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter 7/10
It’s a fun little walking simulator mystery game, I don’t remember much of the actual story right now lol. I played the remastered version which was very pretty though.
Quantum Conundrum 7/10
It’s a 6/10 puzzle game brought up by a full point because of John de Lancie’s character.
September:
Hotline Miami 8/10
I know it’s technically kind of a mess, but like everyone else I really loved it anyway. The soundtrack is excellent and clearing rooms is super satisfying. Raycevick’s video really makes me want to play OXTO next.
PowerWash Simulator 8/10
The perfect podcast game.
October:
Cassette Beasts 8/10
The Pokemon games have always sounded interesting to me, but I’ve just never been able to get into any of them as an adult. Cassette Beasts finally scratched that itch for me, and this works way better as a concept than the Pokemon games do for me. As a bonus, the story is surprisingly good as well. Also it’s made in Godot!
Sonic Generations 5/10
I don’t like the Sonic games, but I’ve always heard this is one of the good ones so I decided to play it. A couple of the levels were fun, but most were just frustrating and/or buggy. For a character who’s entire thing is going fast, the levels sure like constantly slowing you down with obstacles that cannot be seen coming.
The Witness 6/10
90% of the levels in this game are good and clever, where finding the solution is fun and satisfying. The remaining 10% includes puzzles where the entire screen is flashing to make it hard to look at, puzzles where the answer still makes no sense even after googling it, and puzzles that cannot be solved unless you solve a different puzzle first with no indication of where that’s the case. The story is also nonsense but luckily it’s easily ignored. This video was so cathartic after finishing the game.
Doom Eternal (& The Ancient Gods) 8/10
November:
Superliminal 8/10
My primary complaint is that it isn’t longer. It took a little over an hour and a half to reach the end, but what’s here is fantastic.
December:
Nothing again, lol
July
Say No! More - A game about boundaries that is extremely silly. Able to entertain for a few hours despite having as minimal gameplay as you can get
A
Later Alligator - I had been introduced to the animator’s Youtube channel the year before and so bumped this up my backlog. A very charming mini game collection that plays hard into the creator’s strengths. It requires a few playthroughs to see everything, though it’s not that long of a game so this is not an issue. The only hang up there are a few parts that drag a bit. Would easily recommend this to anyone I thought would gel well with the humor.
A
August
Remnant: From the Ashes - This game was good enough to break me out of a Deep Rock Galactic hole that I had fallen down through the summer. A rather unique take on the looter shooter genre that was rather refreshing compared to things like Destiny or Borderlands. This was aided by a fantasy setting that didn’t borrow too heavily from Tolkein either. While there was room to improve in most areas, I enjoyed myself enough that I kept playing levels after the campaign concluded. This is even when the final boss was a bit of a let down to the rest of the game. Look forward to eventually making my way to the second!
A
NieR Replicant - The opening of the game was slow enough to get me to fall off for a while when I originally played. I loved Automata, though, and so was determined to get back into this one. Glad I did as well! While I don’t think that it is as strong as Automata, it still pulls its weight. It was very fun seeing all of the seeds that references in Automata grew from. I’ll avoid doing too much comparison with its predecessor and say that this is a solid story held up by competent combat and an interesting world. While appreciate the art direction it takes, it was very nice to move onto something with more color.
A
September
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse - I have only experienced Risky’s Revenge and a tiny bit of 1/2 Genie Hero before this, so my experience with Shantae is limited. I… don’t want to say that her fanbase is inflated by character design but I’m sure it doesn’t help. This game is a fairly standard 2D platformer with the typical WayForward cheesecake. It never got so out of hand to detract, so I won’t knock any points off. Sometimes all you need is a comfortably competent game, and I think Shantae is a good fit for that.
B
October
Dusk - In October I make it a point to focus on horror games. I find that limitations can help me pick out more obscure games in my library to try and leads to some unique experiences. At the very least, it got me to take a break from Dota 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3. Dusk is a classic style shooter and one that I associate with the resurgence of the genre. It is a very solid game that perhaps stays a bit too close to its roots at times. That said, the shooting is solid, the maps were fun even if they bleed together in my memory, and it was just the right length to satisfy without overstaying its welcome.
A
Buddy Simulator 1984 - Every once in a while a game while come out that will have something about its general atmosphere that I feel like it is something special. Unfortunately, I mistaken in thinking this game was one of those. It is by no means a bad game, a cute meta narrative that takes place in your computer that’s all the rage these days. However the game doesn’t do enough with the concept for it to get much beyond set dressing. Charming writing keeps the game going, but the segments that comprise it are too short to be wholly satisfying on their own and two long to be completely forgiven for their blandness.
C
Pumpkin Jack - I love a good 3D platformer, and this one was okay. The game falls more in the Crash Bandicoot camp of a long corridor level than the Mario/Banjo camp of wide open space. It drenches itself in spooky, exaggerated imagery to help distract from overall mediocre gameplay. I’m not sure if it’s intended, but I played with RTX which lead to an aggressive amount of bloom. I kept it on despite not being perhaps the best look due to it standing out and enjoying the idea of how raytracing can be used to enhance darkness rather than light.
C
Left 4 Dead 2 - I know that this is a bit late for how big of a game this was, but I have some difficulty with multiplayer only games. As I don’t have friends that play similar games as me, I rely on whatever solo-queue a game has to offer which can make them hit or miss. This game I think is one that requires more coordination/banter with friends to be fully enjoyable because I found the experience a bit bland. There is also possibility that some of this is just “Seinfeld isn’t funny” syndrome due to it being (the sequel to) the progenitor of the co-op shooter. Not bad by any means, but can’t personally see why people can spend dozens to hundreds of hours in this.
B
Forgive Me Father - Another classic shooter, this one going more Lovecraft than biblical hell. The comic book style, upgrade system, and abilities help it stand out in an increasingly crowded genre. The voice actor for the female lead was… I think what it was on purpose? She would not have stood out in a Neil Breen film, so I enjoyed myself with the performance either way.
A
Dread X Collection 2 - Really like… 9ish games, but putting them as a collection feels more fair than each individually. I technically beat all but one, but the one was difficult to the point of being obtuse. A nice gamejam style group of bite sized experiences if you want some variety when getting your spooky on. I chose 2 because of the audacity of the name “Squirrel Stapler.” I will likely do at least one more of these next year!
Varied
Resident Evil 5 - I know going in that this was a part of Capcom’s stink period. It now in the past, I can see both why it wasn’t received the best and why the feeling has lightened over time. If games were bananas, RE5 would be one that had blackened enough that you have to have a small debate with yourself before unpeeling it. Perhaps it would be better to leave and save for bread, but I’m hungry for potassium now! It has fully leaned into action game at this point but still has enough jank in the controls to not be a satisfying one. The forced co-op was an idea, I suppose, but as someone who is always solo I hated having to deal with the aughties AI. Ashley at least never had to fight over a catwalk by herself. Bosses also took way too much ammo. Like, walking in fully loaded wouldn’t guarantee that you’d be able to kill the boss before running completely out. That said, I hope that Capcom continues their remakes with this one, because I do think you could make a great game out of it with a number of tweaks.
C
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - I have very fond memories of playing Dawn of Sorrows on the DS back when that came out, so had been excited to try this for a while. While I had hoped to like it more than I ultimately did, the game was still a solid metroidvania and good time. The castle could have used a touch more variation, the areas could have been a smidge tighter in their design, and the combat a hair smoother, but the game comes together into an enjoyable package. I feel like the team could really shine in a sequel.
B
November
Blood Code - In the same way that I like to focus on horror games in October, I like to play Visual Novels in November. It’s Visual November! Get it?.. it’s… Blood Code was a bad game to start the month on, not necessarily because it’s not a good representation of visual novels, it’s just not good. I could rant on this for a while but ultimately: bad translation, poor design regarding rewards for using your time, unclear paths to routes, and laughably bad pacing at the beginning. Arts okay, though.
D
Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk… - Much higher production value than the first and it shows. Comes together much better too, so that the chaotic and disjointed nature can be appreciated as part of the picture rather than just as a janky narrative.
B
Just Deserts - One of the most vanilla time-management dating sims I’ve played. The writing ended up being more respectful of the cast than I was expecting, but they attempted to put a turn based battle system into a visual novel engine and oof.
C
World End Economica episode 1 - Very much a part one of a large story rather than its own contained story, which is perhaps the part of it that I liked the least. The focus on day trading was too specific for me to really care about as well. Turns out that I couldn’t get fully invest… interested in that kind of narrative. In the end I felt more compelled to look up the other chapters’ endings online rather than actually play through the games to get there, which is a pretty big sin when it comes to narrative driven entertainment
C
Coffee Talk - I find that simply comparing one game to another (or worse, a mixture of games) is lazy, reductive, and ultimately unfair when critiquing games. That said, it would be very difficult to talk about my experience here without referencing VA11 Hall-A. I played the latter last year and loved it. Easy S. This game is similar to the point where it’s hard not to think about VA11 Hall-A when playing as another drink-master-talking-to-customers 'em up. This made an interesting use of its world and had a fun, if a touch underutilized, cast. The Indonesian flair added a nice flavor to the game as well. Interested in picking up the next one.
B
Hustle Cat - I like this one for how much it is itself. A very casual game that isn’t a masterpiece but isn’t trying to be. Short story with romantic branches of working in a cursed cat cafe. The kind of moderate comfort of a TV movie on a sunday afternoon.
B
Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen - A series that I had thought would be far hornier than it ended up being going in due to my wife’s very vague knowledge of the series. The game is a very competently written story in a feudal Japanese fantasy world, something I wish showed up more in Japanese games. Its fatal flaw is the inclusion of tactical battles which the team very clearly did not fully grasp the design of. They aren’t terrible, a balance toward the player making them more tedious than anything else. However, I enjoyed the story to the point that they didn’t bother me. I cannot fully ignore them when trying to grade the game, though.
B, would have easily been A without the tactics battles
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Tatarigoroshi - I went from being a fan of the series through the original anime to loving it through the games. Who would have guessed the “book” would be better than the “movie”, eh? Even as what I had thought was one of the weaker points of the overall story and already knowing its conclusion, I was fully invested in visiting it again. These games have a very different feeling of tragedy to them when you know the answers to the mysteries presented and why certain things are happening. As with the others in the series, one will need a healthy resistance to anime foibles to be able to appreciate this fully.
A
Elisa the Innkeeper - I am trying to limit this list to games that I have finished, but this is a rare one that I know for certain that I will not finish. I applaud anyone for being able to fully create a game, but that is where my praise will end here. Not offensive in its existence, but nothing of quality.
F
December
Unpacking - Freedom from gimmicks! For the most part. December can be my clean up month, so what better way to start than an organizing game! I love how the devs were able to convey character and narrative with so little when it comes game mechanics. Short and sweet.
A
Nightmare Reaper - Turns out that I rather like Doom-like shooters. Now it seems like the cool kids are calling them movement shooters rather than boomer shooters, but who knows if that one will stick. Nightmare Reaper is a rogue-lite affair with a high number of rather short levels and looter-shooter elements. These both work very well in the system and lead to a very addictive game. It also has a rather unique upgrade system where each upgrade is earned by completing a simple retro minigame that take the place of skill trees. The game runs a touch long, considering it expects the player to loop through a la Diablo, but not so much that I grew tired of it.
A
Psychonauts 2 - I had watched this game nervously the entire time it was in development. I had loved Psychonauts, but it is so easy for a narrative driven experience to fall short in its sequel. I couldn’t be happier to be wrong here. I could go on and on about all the things that make Psychonauts 2 great. I will instead just say that, in an industry that has become obsessed with outside validation, where devs spend hours and hours replicating the limitations of the real world through face scanning celebrities and making digital film grains, Psychonauts 2 shows just how spectacular of an experience you can make when you throw off the shackles of what’s real and embrace everything that video games could be.
S