Your year 2023 in gaming - Highs, Averages and Lows

[JoeQ]

Guess it falls to me to make this thread this year

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GAME OF THE YEAR 2023!

-Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (PS4): It was a long debate between this and Return of Obra Dinn, but in the end AC6 was the one that gave me more enjoyment and stayed with me the longest. I have my minor niggles, but all in all it was an excellent return for FromSoft's venerated mecha series and I hope it's here to stay.

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HIGHS:

-Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below (PS4): A fusion of Dragon Quest, musou and tower defense elements. Very much a mindless button smasher, but I enjoyed it a lot. Nice game to zone out to.

-FTL: Advanced Edition: It has it's share of balance issues and the last boss is a dick, but damn if I wasn't completely obsessed with this roguelike for 260h it took beat it with all ship types. Too bad a sequel seems unlikely now.

-Garage: Bad Dream Adventure (PC): A legendary cult classic of weird Japanese art games. The new port/remake leaves some things to be desired and the gameplay is clunky as hell, but it was a completely unique experience.

-Jet Set Radio (X360): It took multiple playthroughs for JSR to really click with me, but in the end I loved it. Much more arcadey game than the more freeform sequel(s) and you need to approach it with a different mindset.

-Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection (PS4): An uneven but good collection of the arguably most underrated Mega Man series and I was happy to finally play Z3, Z4 and the ZX games. Really hated trying to complete the speedrunning Z Chaser mode though.

-The Ninja Warriors Once Again (PS4): Great remake with excellent sprite work and fun new characters. I just wish the last boss wasn't such a pain in the ass.

-Return of the Obra Dinn (PS4): An incredible work of rare genius and game design. The less you know going in the better.

-The Witness (PS4): Quite possibly the most pretentious game ever made, but also one of the best puzzle games ever made. I really liked the world design too and how everything fit together.

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MIDS:

-Void Stranger (PC): One of my most anticipated games of the year, a mystery filled Sokoban-style puzzle game from the creators of Zero Ranger! ...and it just completely failed to grab me. I got to around floor B200 before I dropped it. Will try to give it another try some day.

-Elite Beat Agents (DS): Another well regarded game that just failed to grab me and got dropped. Not liking any of the songs probably didn't help.

-Ghost Trick (DS): Ditto for this. It was just way too talky and hand holdy for it's own good.

-Umihara Kawase (SNES/PC): Starting to repeat myself here. I really disliked the enemy spawning in from thin air at the worst possible times.

-Carrion (PS4): Good premise and absolutely fantastic atmosphere and graphical style, but it's wasted on a mediocre metroidvania.

-D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die (PC): Great first act for a story that will sadly never be completed.

-Killer Is Dead (X360): Incredible visual style and flair, but the gameplay is a very simplistic hack n slash with some misplaced priorities while the story felt halfbaked. In many way half the game it should've been.

-NORCO (PS4): Enjoyed this when I played it, but in retrospect I have soured on it. Great art and atmosphere, but very simplistic gameplay and puzzles and an unsatisfying story.

-Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny (PS2): Feels much looser and less focused than the first game, and also had some really bad bosses. Partially because of the scenario and relationship meter system that are meant to entice you to play through the game multiple times.

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LOWS:

-Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds (Xbox): Replayed this after almost twenty years and it was worse than I remembered. A big step down from the excellent first Buffy game.

-Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (PS2/PS4): Everything wrong with JRPGs in a single game and my worst game of 2023. I hope Tri-Ace's offices burn down in a fire.

[ommadawnyawn2]

I was going to but I've been sick/busy with work! Thanks JoeQ

Highs:
Soul Blade (PS1, 1996) - 8.5 (edge master mode and arcade mode on Normal)
Jamestown (PC, 2011) - 8 (1p)(very hard/legendary - required to fully beat it)
Dungeon Keeper (PC, 1997)(KeeperFX ver.) - 8 (SP campaign, beat 3/5 secret levels)
Streets of Rage 4 (PC, 2020)(v1.08) - 7.5 1p/8 2p (normal & hard as axel, normal as blaze and adam)
Lionheart (AMI, 1992) - 7.5 (normal)
Ace Combat 2 (PS1, 1997) - 7.5 (normal difficulty (and normal/non-extra game), took the alpha operation path in the late game and got the good ending)
NAM 1975 (ARC, 1990) - 7.5 (on difficulty level 3; 6.5 on default/5, 1p)
Sin & Punishment (N64, 2000) - 7.5 (easy/default, 1p/1 controller, used about 4-5 credits)
Adventures of Lolo 2 (NES, 1990) - 7.5 (had to look a few things up)
Yoku's Island Express (PC, 2018) - 7.5 (normal mode w/ about 70% completion, tried randomized on normal for a bit)
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (GG, 1994) - 7.5 (normal, story mode)
Mega Man: The Sequel Wars (MD, 2023)(Homebrew) - Mega Man 4 - 7.5 (normal as MM)
Kyatto Ninden Teyandee/Samurai Pizza Cats (NES, 1991) - 7.5 (normal and hard)
1941: Counter Attack (SGX, 1991) - 7.5 (on difficulty level 2 and 4 starting HP, closer to 7 on default settings (level 3, 3 HP) but focusing on the side missiles weapon made more of a difference than lowering the difficulty one step, 1-player) - try 2-player
Dust: An Elysian Tail (PC, 2013) - 7.5 (normal and hard, 93% completion on normal)
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SNES, 1991)(w/ Super Arthur+Restoration hacks) - 7.5 (Beginner)
Dungeon Magic/Light Bringer (ARC, 1994) - 7.5 (normal, 1-player as Ash and Gren)
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii, 2010) - 7.5 (normal/non-mirror mode, didn't get the orbs; mostly 1-player since 2-player kinda sucks)
Edit: Sonic SMS Remake (PC, 2023)(Sonic the Hedgehog 1 SMS Remake) - 7.5 (didn't get all the emeralds)

Mids:
Blaster Master Zero (PC, 2019) - 7 (normal, got about 9/10 upgrades, tried destroyer/hard mode for a bit)
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC, 2007) - 7 (beat gdi and nod on normal)
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (PS2, 2005) - 7 (1p, normal)
Bone Appetit (PC, 2020) - 7 (normal and old school modes, got about 95% items but used a guide to find some false walls)
Esper Dream 2 (NES, 1992) - 7 (got all gear)
Earthbound (SNES, 1994) - 7 (Maternalbound Redux, finished around lvl 70)
Vib-Ribbon (PS1, 1999) - 7 (finished the hard/gold course, didn't try speed mode yet)
Pilotwings (SNES, 1990) - 7 (normal+a few levels into expert/hard)
Galactic Revenge (SMS, 2018)(Homebrew) - 7 (easy/default)
Dragon Spirit: The New Legend (NES, 1989) - 7 (normal/blue dragon)
Marvelous (SNES, 1996) - 7 ("sort of marvelous" rank=110+ rocks, 100% helped (don't think you can actually help less than 100% though), )
Double Dragon II (NES, 1989) - 6.5/7 JP ver. (in 1-player)(finished the western version on normal and hard)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2, 2003) - 7 (got all but one HP upgrade)
Star Tropics/StarTropics (NES, 1990) - 7
Civilization (PC, 1991) - 7 (very easy/default (chieftain), also tried easy/warlord first and made it about 70% through; science victory at 1939, domination victory around 1800-50 - never bothered with completely wiping the opponents out)
Run Saber (SNES, 1993) - 7 (1-player, normal)
MechWarrior 2 (PC, 1995) - 7 (beat the SP campaign as Jade on normal, beat one mission as Wolf)
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (MD, 1994) - 7 (no difficulty options)
Perfect Dark (N64, 2000) - 7 (default/easy/agent, two missions on normal/special agent)
Felix the Cat (NES, 1992) - 7
Airborne Ranger (C64, 1987) - 7 (1/4 (default) and 2/4 difficulty, practice mode which makes your avatar a bit faster)
Go! Go! Ackman (SNES, 1994) - 7 (normal)
High Seas Havoc (MD, 1993) - 7 (normal (easy is a training mode with only a few levels))
Asterix and the Great Rescue (SMS, 1994) - 7 (easy/default)
Star Wars (NES, 1991) - 6.5 (replay)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (NDS, 2005) - 6.5
EVO: Search for Eden (SNES, 1992) - 6.5
Adventure (A2600, 1980) - 6.5 (level 1/easy and level 2 beaten, tried level 3 briefly)
NewZealand Story (ARC, 1988)(New ver.) - 6.5 (normal, max lives per credit)
Ogre Battle (SNES, 1993) - 6.5 (good/high rep playthrough, found all sky islands and zodiac stones, "chaos frame 100 points", 119 days conquest)
Wrinkle River Story/Linkle Liver Story (SAT, 1996) - 6.5 (100%)

Lows:
Blast Corps (N64, 1997) - 6.5 (finished all the medium mode levels)
A.B. Cop (ARC, 1990) - 6.5 (default)
Ice Hockey (NES, 1988) - 6.5-ish (SP) - wanna try 2-player
Midnight Resistance (MD, 1991) - 6.5 (Easy)
Batman Returns (MCD, 1993) - 6.5 (normal, driving only)
Slap Fight MD (MD, 1993) - 6 (normal and special modes on Normal)
Super Mario World: Mario's Expedition (SNES, 2023)(Romhack, V1.3) - 6 (didn't find all code digits)
War of the Dead Part 2 (MSX, 1988) - 6 (if speeding it up in BlueMSX)
Tempo Jr. (GG, 1995) - 5.5
3D WorldRunner (NES, 1987) - 5.5


Gave up on: Thrust (C64, 1986), Gravitar (ARC, 1982), Cannon Fodder (AMI, 1993) - got a bit more than halfway through, Shadow of the Beast III (AMI, 1992) - last level, Paradroid 90 (AMI, 1990) - got to the second level/ship, Penguin Land (SMS), Blast Corps - the hard levels, Xybots (ARC, 1987) - no ending will try 2-player, Top Gear (SNES, 1992) - Germany try 2-player, Gangster Town (SMS, 1987) - will try 2-player or real HW

[personman]

And I was just thinking of making it myself when I got up lol.


Highs

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War- Still as good as I remember it. Besides AC7 the best in the franchise I say.

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Overrated but still a great time. Killer ending mission.

Blaster Master Zero 2- Improves on the previous in about everyway. Had next to nothing to gripe about.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow- Enjoyed revisiting this so much I played it on the Switch and went completionist with it on my 3DS. I think I like it better than Dawn of Sorrow now even if that game is a bit more refined.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia- Even better than I remembered. Best one next to Symphony.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood- Finally covered that blind spot. I may like Super a tiny bit more but objectively this is the best Classicvania.

Kirby: Planet Robobot- In the context of a 3DS game this thing is just plain perfect.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe- Doesn't have quite the punch of its younger brother but damn close. Both 3DS Kirby's were excellent.

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament- Had some rough spots but they did real good with this one. May be my favorite of the series but I'll need to check out the Switch ports before I decide on that.

Lunacid- Went in with little expectations and was blown away. May be my gateway drug to checking into King's Field proper.

Metal Gear Solid(GBC)- A real surprise, an excellent successor to the MSX titles and dare I say has the best written story in the series.

Metroid Dread- Not my favorite of the series but likely the best bosses and action the series has had.

Metroid Prime Remastered- IS my favorite of the series and while I wouldn't call it perfect like I did when it came out I still love it.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: Gold Edition- Smoothed out iteration of the first and a nicer, cozier ride.

Pizza Tower- Still one of the best indie games this year. Fantastic blend of Warioland and Sonic with a really memorable style and weird cool music.

Pseudoregalia- Surprisingly really nifty 3D platformer with a wonderful movement system. Rough around the edges but with a solid foundation. Too bad the main character is furry bait that may scare many away from a good little game lol.

Super Mario 3D Land- Kinda made me think of a mini Mario Galaxy. Really cool and I loved how it remixed the game and gave you an excuse to go through it again. Final stage can fuck off though.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder- See a lot of people down on this one lately. Don't know what they're seeing I thought the stage design was top shelf and its charming as hell. Just what the 'New' style of games needed.

Vagrant Story- Still love this game. Fantastically written story, wonderful atmosphere and once you get used to its systems its not hard to play.

Wallachia: Reign of Dracula- Has some rough edges but really nifty arcade run and gun with a cool real history novelty.

We ♥ Katamari + Royal Reverie- Many call this the best in the series and I see why. I like the first a tiny bit more though.


Mids

ActRaiser- Unique but that's the most it has going for it. Really nice soundtrack though that still impresses today.

Armored Core- Not a bad start. Is actually pretty easy to get into today. Definitely first game syndrome sort of deal though.

Armored Core: Master of Arena- Great blend of the Arena mode and missions. My fav of the PS1 trilogy but just knowing what cames later on PS2 limits it a lot.

Armored Core: Project Phantasm- Introduced the addictive arena mode but with poorly made samey opponents. MoA fixed this but is still fun if skippable.

Blaster Master Zero- A fine game, but room for improvement.

Blaster Master Zero 3- Still pretty good but muddied things up with half baked gimmicks. Great finale though.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon- I rated the game low but I had fun with it. Game has heart and tried its best.

Castlevania: Dracula X- Gets a bad rap which isn't warranted. It's a perfectly fine game with some rough edges.

Crazy Taxi 2- A step down from the original but I respect they tried to switch it up. This got me listening to old Offspring and Bad Religion albums for a while lol.

Infinos Gaiden- Pretty cool by the book late 80s hori shooter but nothing more.

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams- Solid for what it was. Laid the foundation for the next one.

Mega Man Battle Network- Still love this games battle system a bunch. It got much better with the sequels though.

Metal Gear- A true relic of its time which made it fascinating.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake- Good step up from the last and the cartoony goofiness was a treat. In many ways the series truly started here.

Metal: Hellsinger- Kinda flat as a shooter itself but its rhythm gimmick elevates it. Helps I like Metal music a bunch, still listening to its soundtrack.

New Super Mario Bros. - A really solid if kinda sterile game. Brought down a bunch by its demanding of rare powerups to get all the star coins.

Sophstar- Decent, the wide variety of ships with crazy functions is really cool but unfortunately the rest of the game is rather generic.

Super Mario Bros. 2- Really solid and I always have a soft spot for the odd ducks in a series.

Super Mario Bros. 3- I think this one is overrated, I prefer World but its still great.

Virtual Boy Wario Land- Real solid refined version of the first Gameboy game.


Lows

Beeny- Not that its really bad as it just no more than a little shot of nostalgia for 99cents. Is what it is.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance- Gave this an honest shot and wound up hating it even more than I did before. Worst of the Metroidvania series easily.

Ducktales- It's fine but I really don't get why people love this one so much.

Layer Section & Galactic Attack S-Stribute- A good game just really not to my tastes.

Macbat 64: Journey of a Nice Chap- Same as Beeny but I liked it a little better. None the less it was just a cute time waster I likely wont touch again.

Mega Man & Bass- Not bad but definitely one of the weaker Megas out there.

StarFox Command - Not horrible but just a relic of the touch control craze and becomes really tedious if you want to complete it.

Tunic- Its big claim to fame does nothing but get in the way and obfuscate stuff for no reason other than to do it. Even without that its just another Dark Souls wanna be that tried to trick you into thinking you were getting a Zelda like with a cute art style which further made me mad. Its not a bad game but it really, REALLY pissed me off.

ZeroRanger- I wanted to love this, in fact I did up till the end. The last boss is a complete joykill and then its gimmick to actually finish the game just comes out of nowhere and felt completely mean spirited and came off to me like it was trying to preach to me about self improvement and crap; you know like the crap Dark Souls skill fetishists vomit at people. Outside of the end the game is pretty good and has a wonderful soundtrack I'm still listening to but I can't forgive the just pure blatant spite the last stretch has.

[dsparil]

Skipping replays and short games for the most part.

Best

Susano Oh Legend — TotK just felt too obvious. Hudson’s PCE “sequel” to a manga that makes a huge pivot to post-apocalyptic sci-fi (after being about modern day ESP) and then just ends right there. It’s one of the absolute best RPGs no one talks about. It’s roughly a mid-period Ultima clone except with ESP and multi-targeting rocket launchers. There’s no fan translation, but it’s still worth futzing through. Don’t bother with the manga though. It’s not good and the most important bits are in the intro.

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High

8-bit Sonic (the good ones) — Triple Trouble is far and away the best of the platformers, but I have soft spot for Chaos as it was a game I played on a real Game Gear. Tails Adventure was a repeat for me, and it is a nice but sometimes overlooked metroidvania.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance, AD&D: Dragons of Flame — My “die on a hill” argument is that Heroes of the Lance on NES is a good game. I had stayed away for decades, and actually came away impressed. It’s objectively better than its slightly earlier and better regarded computer versions e.g. less clunky controls and rebalanced difficulty. Its problem is that it retains some unnecessary elements from those versions like starting you off with the original P&P module’s main character who is a cleric instead of starting you off with a fighter. The sequel fixes up those remaining issues although it is less one to one to the computer versions than the prequel.

Beyond Shadowgate — Slightly weird brawler/adventure from ICOM for the TurboDuo. It’s a real forgotten gem. I recently found out that you were actually supposed to attack with a sword, but technical difficulties necessitated a switch to punching.

Detective Pikachu Returns — Is it surprising that I liked this 🙃 It actually made me like the Detective Pikachu movie a little bit more. It’s not exactly like the movie smushed the two games together, but either the game took from the movie or the movie took from a draft of this game’s plot. It makes it seem like a less out there adaption when compared to the first game alone.

The Entropy Centre — A nice first person puzzle-platformer centered around an object rewind mechanic. There’s also a dry humor to it which I didn’t mention when I originally posted it. Main problem is that the Switch version has technical issues.

The Good Atari 50 games — Star Raiders is an absolute standout, and Dark Chambers along with the vector arcade games are good too.

.hack//GU Last Recode — The dungeons are awful and the combat gets worse from Vol. 2 onward, but the story and accoutrements are good enough to overcome that.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe - HAL needs to flesh out the Magolor epilogue into a full game!

The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails — A good level-based action-RPG from Falcom. It’s not as good as Ys, but it’s a good enough substitute until X is finally localized.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Better than BotW, but I’m still missing regular Zelda length dungeons.

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap — Technically a replay, but it’d been so long it might as well have been my first time through. Almost but not quite the best 2D Zelda! The short-ish length is the only thing holding it back.

Mashin Hero Wataru Gaiden — Westone and Hudson’s “proto-Tales” for FC. It’s gets a little boring towards the end, but it’s a pretty fun action-RPG that doesn’t take too much time.

Metroid Prime Remastered — It’s Metroid Prime with optional dual analog controls. I don’t think anyone would argue that it could have skipped the collect-a-thon at the end though.

Nu・Pa — Numeric Paint Puzzle — Jupiter’s non-Picross picross for PSX. Easily the best they did until DS, but it seems like the non-Nintendo public is generally less enthused about the puzzle format.

Retro Mystery Club Vol. 1: The Ise-Shima Case — Pretty good Portopia-style adventure game. It looks like some cheapie production but there’s a fair amount of history behind the game and it originates from a less junk filled period in the Switch’s life. It turned into a trilogy before the first ever got localized, and it seems like it took a while for someone to pick it up for US release despite the Japanese publisher operating in the US.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder — Very good, but I think that dwelling a little on some of the quirkier gameplay elements would have made it better. There’s some things in here that could (and have!) sustained entire games that are brushed off too quickly.

Treasure Conflix — Satellaview game from Square, but one that feels like it was intended to be a full game before Square refocused on the PSX. Treasure hunting with airships, what’s not to like?

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 — Future Redeemed — So much better than the base game but maybe a little too slimmed down since it’s still within typical RPG length at about 20 hours.

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Mid

AI: The Somnium Files — nirvanA Initiative — It’s a step down from the first game, but at least it isn’t as bad as going from all time classic Virtue’s Last Reward to the train wreck of Zero Time Dilemma. My totally baseless speculation is that this was intended to be an anime that got retrofit into being an AI sequel when those plans fell through.

Astronite — Fun “1-bit” metroidvania that’s worsened by mechanics poorly copied from Dark Souls.

Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition — Finally polished this off after a decade+. Peaks early and also feels overly padded. The timer is also very slightly busted on Switch, undercounted by 10% - 20%, which is very mysterious to me.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion — A very good remake of a game that wasn’t that great to begin with.

Dragon Prana — The third game in EXE-Create’s “Dragon” series. It’s better than the second, but still worse than the genuinely good first game, Dragon Sinker.

GRIS — I just want to note that the technical issues I was having with this (audio glitches, freezing) were because I was using wireless headphones while something was downloading in the background. I had only recently switched away from wired headphones when I played this. I’ve encountered other games that have similar problems, but it isn’t consistent. I still have other problems with the game, but taking out the technical problems bumps it up.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons — A waste of the linked concept since so little is changed. Gameplay is also a little shaky in general. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Oracle “series” development troubles sort of sunk the whole endeavor.

Metroid II: Return of Samus — Finally got around to playing the original version. I did come away a little disappointed, but for a reason I don’t remember anyone every mentioning. The metroid AI is very buggy.

Necromancer — The first PCE RPG and a near copy of DQ with minor Lovecraft elements. I sort of regret spending so much time on this since it ended up turning me off of finishing Far East of Eden and Benkai Gaiden.

Out Live — A rare RPG from Sunsoft and for the PCE to boot. There’s not a whole lot of mecha dungeon crawlers and this one has some interesting elements. It also feels like a pushed out the door beta.

Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo — The real mystery is how did this manage to stuff up the final quarter so badly. It was well on its way to being an all time great occult mystery only to fall apart so thoroughly I still think about it.

The Rest of Atari 50 — It’s an incomplete and misleading history, and the incarnation it covers never did anything of value in the console space after it split off from the rest of the company. The 7800 was designed by GCC, the Lynx by Epyx, the Jaguar by Flare. Most of their games aren’t great, and their real achievement, the Atari ST computer, gets a single picture and a couple lines of text. Games for that system were planned, but there was trouble getting an emulator working. It could have still used more than it got. Same goes for the Falcon computer which is super obscure. I’m being a little hard on the products because ultimately, a large chunk of their issues come from Jack Tramiel. He made so many enemies from the way he ran Commodore that few wanted to deal with his incarnation of Atari.

The Silver Case, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case — I had played TSC originally a few years ago, and it’s basically a known quantity at this point. I think it’s a bit of a mess, and the Switch port has serious technical issues. The sequel, originally episodic mobile phone games, is mostly better and significantly less buggy. It lacks the FMV charms of the original, but the adventure gameplay is improved. The only problem here is that none of the three stories actually got finished during their original run, and it isn’t clear if the new episodes that two of them got were what was originally intended. I’m leaning towards no.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R — Like Crisis Core, a stupendous remake of a game that’s middling to begin with. Thankfully the combat does not have the problems of First Departure R, but it’s still sub-Tales even Phantasia. The plot is mostly better than the first game, but it mostly fizzles by the end.

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Low

8-bit Sonic (the bad ones) — Most of the 8-bit Sonics are not good for various reasons. With the exception of Sonic 2 which was an SMS to GG conversion, nothing is an intrinsic platform issue.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim — I had been looking forward to this but ended up disappointed all around. For the adventure portions, there’s way too many characters for any to get good development, and being able to jump around with only some restrictions made the plot disjointed and inert. The RTS gameplay is also very dull minus the final mission which is actually exciting.

Diablo III: Eternal Collection — I remember liking this somewhat when it was first released, but it got reworked into a game using level scaling not that long afterward. Like too many games using that system, it just makes it constantly easy even if you consistently increase the difficulty.

Fire Emblem Engage — Just a disaster compared to Three Houses. I haven’t seen anything new about the rumor that it replaced a delayed or cancelled game, but I still don’t doubt it.

Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society — Mostly putting this Low because I spent so much time on it and came away disappointed. It does some thing better than Labyrinth of Refrain, but so much of the game is just bland dungeon crawling in randomly generated dungeon floors.

No Man’s Sky — Such an infamous game. You do have to hand it to Hello Games for not just giving up on it, but I’ve seen “a mile wide but an inch deep” to describe it and that fits perfectly. Switch version also has technical issues and a broken timer that undercounts. It might be fun as a base building game the same way that some people just play The Sims as a house designer.

Sonic Frontiers — Bloated and erratic in quality. There’s been more patches since I played it a year ago, but it was still rough then with only the most egregious bugs fixed.

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Worst

I generally stick to the games I actually finished for this thread, but the single worst game I played this year is the remake of Front Mission 2. There are so many problems on a technical level, but the worst is that it’s hopeless bugged for me even after multiple patches. I got too far in for restarting from scratch to seem appealing. I might give it a second shot some time, but I just dread having the exact same problem again. The game has a dual storyline structure, and for a part where you have to fight in the arena, the wrong team is shown blocking progress since a specific character needs to be used. I can’t even find any other mentions of this problem let alone a work around.

[Mr_Horizon]

Jan 3, 2024 6:17:14 GMT -5 dsparil said:

The Rest of Atari 50 — It’s an incomplete and misleading history, and the incarnation it covers never did anything of value in the console space after it split off from the rest of the company. The 7800 was designed by GCC, the Lynx by Epyx, the Jaguar by Flare. Most of their games aren’t great, and their real achievement, the Atari ST computer, gets a single picture and a couple lines of text. Games for that system were planned, but there was trouble getting an emulator working. It could have still used more than it got. Same goes for the Falcon computer which is super obscure. I’m being a little hard on the products because ultimately, a large chunk of their issues come from Jack Tramiel. He made so many enemies from the way he ran Commodore that few wanted to deal with his incarnation of Atari.

Thank you for this, that was interesting to read.

I had first bought the "Atari Flashback Classics" and was disappointed at the botched controls.

The Atari 50 compilation made me quite happy, but I wasn't aware of the inaccuracy and the planned Atari ST content. To be honest, I just wanted a faithful port of Lunar Lander.

[Mr_Horizon]

I didn't actually play that many games in 2023... but here goes:


HIGHS:

The Outer Wilds
In December the Switch port of Outer Wilds was released, and I have been a huge fan ever since. So much to explore, orbital dynamics in such a tiny solar system is cute, funny and fascinating all at the same time.
I feel a little bit dumb sometimes, but so far I have regretted each time I looked up a clue (or spoiler) of any kind - so I won't do that anymore and finish it the honest way, even if it takes some more poking around.

MIDS:

Super Mario Wonder
Playing it with a good friend of mine - fifteen years ago we finished New Super Mario Bros on the Wii in a single glorious night, but now he gets tired every time. :/ Wonder is a good Platformer with lots of mechanics, but the wonder flowers feel a bit gimmicky sometimes. And I miss the fact that you could not inhabit the same space in previous Mario Jump'n'Runs, so you'd push each other of platforms. Also picking up other players was fun and is not there anymore.

It takes two
I have been playing with a woman who was really bad at really not used to video games. Every instance of a "timed jump" lead to a dozen attempts and sweaty palms. It was cute for a while to see her stress out so much, but ultimately it made the game very slow. Also that "magic book" character is super annoying. Solid & diverse platformer otherwise!

Prodeus
A dark and visceral FPS, but you have unlimited lives which takes away the challenge. I played it for many hours though, until you get to the second map - the new level design there was so dark and I got lost several times. Then I stopped playing.

Spiritfarer
Lovely animation and relaxing music, but just a tad boring and grindy. I don't like the harvesting and refining mechanic, and I wish the boat was faster.
After delivering one spirit to the Everdoor I felt like I had enough and stopped playing.

LOWS:

Needy Girl Overdose
The Switch port of a Windows game, where you manage a wannabe streamer girl between performing, depression and medication. Looked interesting in a disturbed way, but the fact that it was designed with a mouse in mind (you control everything via a fake desktop) and that I'm getting too old for this "Senpai is looking for me, right? UwU" type of dialogue made it a disappointment. 
But hey - it was the asian version with the original name, in the west it got toned down to "needy streamer overload". I sold it to a friend for 40€.

House of the Dead remake
A pointless remake of house of the dead. Why did I buy this? Only played for one hour.

[JDarkside]

Actually hard for me to do a rating proper because my 2023 was eaten up by big games. It was the year I finally played the Judgment games, the first Ichiban Like A Dragon, and started playing Owlcat's Pathfinder games. As a result, I don't have the wide swatch of games I usually have. Still, here's what I got.

Highs:

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Genuinely one of the best games I've ever played. The depth of character building, the engrossing mythic paths, the surprisingly thoughtful narrative, it's just aces.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon - Ichiban was a brilliant choice as the new lead of the franchise, and the ending legitimately got me to cry. One of the best in the series by a huge margin.

Lost Judgment - A huge improvement over the original, with some of the best combat in RGG's history, the stellar school stories, and a core narrative that while still suffering from some of Furuta's quicks are blindspots (ie bad at writing women in most cases, the weird first chapter), did genuinely reach an extremely effective emotional climax for me.

No More Heroes 3 - Great deal of fun and a unique entry in SUDA 51's catalog for how simple but satisfying it was.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2023) - A really interesting cap to my exploration of Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games, especially considering they developed this while their country was being shelled. A great adventure game with some really interesting touches in how they adapted one of their older games, especially the focus on the partnership between a young Holmes and Watson.

Mids:

Warhammer 40000: Darktide - My first significant multiplayer game experience and a pretty fun one (though I need to find a way to keep voice chat off). A well balanced and exciting horde shooter with a fun selection of classes and options for leveling. Zealot is the best class, of course.

WORLD OF HORROR - Finally in 1.0! Extremely stylish and a tad addicting, all the time in the oven payed off with polish and tons of find.

HROT - slavquake

Demon Turf - A really fun 3D platformer done with 2D sprites in a 3D world, with really tight controls and a lot of personality. The first boss theme is a diss track done by your character sampling Three Little Pigs, if you need an idea what this game is like.

Strangeland - Impressive point and click from Wormwood Studios, and I definitely wasn't expecting a surreal story about depression and anxiety to be their project after Primoria. My favorite addition was that they hired Doctor Eggman to voice a giant clown head that makes bad jokes whenever you die.

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow - I wasn't expecting much at first, but I was surprised by how unique this game was in Wadjet Eye's published list of games. An old fashion cosmic horror story (like inspired by work before Lovecraft old) with the touches of modern horror cinema editing, an interesting mixture that's excellent at building dread through silence.

Lows:

Judgment - A good game while you play it, primarily for the Like A Dragon formula is follows, but it didn't take long after finishing for my frustrations with the story to build to the point I began to realize what a mess the story actually was. If I had played this alongside recent playthroughs of other Like A Dragon games, I doubt I would have been as positive, due to the wonky combat (crane style just feels wrong to use) and often lacking substories.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker - I want to be nicer to this game, but my god the use of invisible timers is just inexcusable for me. I pumped nearly 200 hours into this one just trying to make an efficiant run, only to find that the scheduling of quests is so poorly considered that it causes multiple urgent quests to pile on at set points. The poor implementation of the DLC characters and set points of the game designed (including one nonsensical moment) around your character being a melee fighter just kind of became the straws on the camel's back, among many other smaller frustrations.

[ommadawnyawn2]

excelsior
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YIJQ1jgEI

[excelsior]

Ohhh, here goes ommadawnyawn2, darling. Since you grant me the attention I relish so. I've gone upside-down just to be daring!


Worst
Save Me Mr Tako - I have an unpleasant childhood memory of another local kid who would chase people round the playfield with a stick covered in dog faeces. That faeces could well have been Save Me Mr. Tako. Should anybody chase you to play this game please do what I did: RUN AWAY!


Low
Picross X: Picbits vs Uzboross - Putrid attempted amalgamation of Picross and arcade. An admirable day dream of an idea, perhaps, but it doesn't work in practice.

WWE Day of Reckoning - Not the No Mercy successor some claim it to be. Worth a go on multiplayer, but the campaign is a big skip.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Annoying wannabe RPG puzzler where the former infringes upon any fun the latter may provide.

Doom II - Quite a step away from what I loved in the first game. Not my cuppa, dears.

Dragon Spirit (PCE) - So bad just the thought of it makes me want to throw something heavy at somebody I hate! And I'm spoiled for choice!

Fire Emblem Warriors - Only FE enthusiasts should apply.

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer - Smellda.

Ms Splosion Man - It's pretty sexist so I will refrain from giving any praise here.

X-Men 2: The Clone Wars - Why do people like this? Playground wars perhaps. Play Mutant Apocalypse instead!

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - I played this with a broken neck trying to side-eye the TV for a couple of dozen hours. By the end I didn't know what time it was, what day it was, nor where my feet were.

Bayonetta 3 - It would be fairer to call this a mid on the base of quality alone, but it disappoints compared to the earlier games and I felt it heavily. Needed to be much gayer!

Horace - I can praise this in it's ambition but it doesn't really come together as an actual video gamey product.

Sushi Striker - It's in the low because of its low, low price. I paid £6 for this!

Sol Cresta - A PlatinumGames game I forgot I played. Doesn't have quite the flair they are known for.

Yono and the Celestial Elephants - Sweet game but really too easy to recommend.

Tokyo Xanadu - Everything takes far too long. Better to not start it.

TMNT 2 Back from the Sewers - If this weren't part of a collection it would be revisiting the sewers.


Mid
Dragon Saber - A bit better that Spirit, but less Spirited than the other Spirit.

Splatterhouse American Grafitti - I like the Hollywood references. The game is so-so.

Ultimate Tiger - Nice enough shmup.

Parasol Stars - It's not Rainbow Islands and so suffers by comparison. Charming, all the same.

Pokemon Violet - Needs some more time in the oven. But not mine. It's full of my signature fairy cakes.

Soldier Blade - This gets a lot of praise, but I forgot it as soon as I turned it off.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - It's kitsch, so I like it, but not quite so kitsch as the show, so I don't love it.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Some stuff I love meets some stuff I hate in a game that's far too big for it's own good. A frustrating combination.

Metroid Prime Remastered - I prefer the Wii versions controls, so I'm going to harshly mark it down. How malicious of me.

Crypt of the Necrodancer - Actually a very good realisation of a nice concept that just isn't something I care to play.

Psycho Chaser - It's a top-down shmup where you play as a land-based character, and I really like those for some reason beyond my own understanding.

Live-A-Live (remake) - Impressive RPG made of a collection of disparately themed ones. It's concept inevitably means preferences will negatively impact many opinions, though.

Death's Door - A nice playthrough, but it doesn't excel in anything.

Mega Man X Command Mission - Wonderfully bad line readings make this a treat.

Dead Space 2 - Starts kind of bad but gets pretty good.

Go Go Ackman - Fine platformer, but unremarkable.

Splatoon 2 - Single player is nothing too exciting. Multiplayer is a treat, however.

TMNT THe Hyperstone Heist - FakeTurtlesinTimeROMHACKFAKEWANNABECHEAPIMITATIONOF AGOODGAME!

Skyblazer - It's Hook 2!

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Subtitle and the Lost Voice Director - I like card games, but this doesn't make much of being one. Quite a nice RPG though.

Salamander - Gradius, but unfortunately with vertical bits.

Sparkster (SNES) - I like the theme music. Duh duh-duh duhhhhhh....

Dragon Spirit: The New Legend - High mid to low high area for me. An actually good Spirit game.

Crash 3 Warped - I don't care what you say, I like the motorbike.

TMNT: Fall of the Footclan - Decent first GB entry.

TMNT: Radical Rescue - Good Metroidvania, but that boss rush can get in the bin.


High
Red Dead Redemption - The contrarian in me wanted to hate this, but I'm afraid it won me over. Except the middle bit. That bit sucked.

Elemental Master - It's shmupping lovely.

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer - Puts the Mystery Fungeon in Mystery Dungeon.

Gekisha Boy - I love photography themed games for some reason, even though I only played a few. This is one, so I love it.

Blaster Master 0 - Colossally dumb story, but what a fun time!

Jumping Flash - Only fulfills half the title. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but it's been a long time since I've been flashed. Quite a nice take on the platform genre, though.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - I just want to give this game a cuddle. Unfortunately it doesn't cuddle back, but it does tug at my heart.

Little Gator Game - Lovely! Lovely! Lovely!

New Super Mario Bros 2 - Putting it here for the haters! It's great. Collect coins for no reason. Do it!

Contra - It's Contra!

Super C - More Contra!

Operation C - And Contra again! Fabulous, Fabulous!

Infernax - Metroidvania with Simon's Questiness. Like it.

Final Fantasy VI - Yay! I finally played Final Fantasy VI. This is my longest backlog occupier.

Castlevania: Portrait of Something - I forgot the name, but it's quite nice Vaniaing.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Sleek and stylish. Love it! OK, the combat is drab, but please ignore that.

Return of the Obra Dinn - Remarkably clever puzzler.

Snake Pass - S-s-s-s-s-s-ooooo gooooodddd!

Gradius II - It's Gradius. Only twice!

Pikmin 4 - Finally a Pikmin game with enough of a Pikmin game in it to satisfy Pikmin game enthusiasts until the next Pikmin game.


Best
Slay the Spire - Delightfully clever, thoroughly addictive card game. Best thing about it, it's kept my partner quiet for many many hours. Ah, the peace.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Haha I knew you were sitting on one. Love the rapid fire takes!

Although HYPErstone Highst must've ended up in the wrong their, surely. Maybe the comment for another game got paired with it too. Yeah that's probably it.

[excelsior]

ommadawnyawn2 - no I was just being facetious, since Hyperstone Heist is another victim of playground wars. It's quite a nice game.

[alexmate]

I started a new job last year so have a lot less time these days.

Highs

Vectorman (Genesis) - an absolute blast. Depending on your opinion either great graphics or bad artstyle, but I think it's fun.

Sanitarium (PC via GoG) - Not as good as is made out, but still a really solid mature adventure game.

Alien 3 - I chose the quicker playing Genesis version. A fun game which is a credit to the license. Still a bit long and repetitive though.

Mids

The two Jurassic Park Genesis games. Technical marvels, but fairly good platformers. Nothing special, but nothing bad.

Winx Club (GBA) - A mediocre kid-friendly legend of Zelda style game.

Lows

Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure (PC via Steam) - while not bad as such. It seems a bit pointless.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Don't forget Lost World, the third JP game! Still that description works pretty well for it too besides it being mostly a free-roaming shooter. At least there's a 2-player mode.