Kraven

I’ve never played a Tales game other than Arise, but from what I understand, Berseria is one of the better titles in the franchise. I think I’ll pick this up and see what it’s all about.

@Friendly NG4 did get nominated for action.

What a surprise shadow drop—totally unexpected. I’ll be picking this up on my Switch 2 for sure.

Thank god this game turned out well. I’ll be buying it ASAP tomorrow and can’t wait to play.

@Friendly Interesting take. What game(s) would you add to the list that aren’t on there, on any category. For GoTY, there are several games that are on multiple platforms, and Hades 2 and Donkey Kong are only on Switch (unless you want to count PC).

I think Clair Obscur Expedition 33 should and will win, but I won’t be mad if any of the games on that list win. Silksong and Hades 2 are masterclasses in their respective genre.

I’ll for sure be picking this up once the Switch 2 upgrade comes out. I’m fine with it not having an open ended nature — I enjoy a good linear tailored experience, even in Hitman.

This weekend my time is spent obsessing on Hades 2. I played this quite a bit when it released on the Switch, but I got burned out during the 20-hour mark and took a lengthy break. I’m now 50+ hours deep and won’t be pausing any time soon.

It may sound embarrassing, but I have yet to complete a single run, but I’m okay with that due to its rich story strong narrative and characters. It’s truly astonishing that this game can have so much content. I’ve yet to encounter a single repeated line of dialogue between character interactions, and each person is fully developed, with excellent voice acting to provide an extra layer of immersion.

To simply put, Hades 2 is easily going into my pantheon of exceptional games, possibly in the top five. I’m not sure how Supergiant exceeded expectations, but they are a master of their craft. Every game they make is top tier, and better than the last. I can’t wait to see their next project. Until then, welcome to the GoTY discussion my indie darling.

And I’m now patiently waiting for one of my most anticipated games in years: Demonschool. Only a few more days to go.

@GravyThief If one single instance is going to ruin your entire experience then I think about expectations need to change, but to each their own.

@GravyThief That’s fair, but you are making the assumption that a presumably 20 hour long game is going to have non-stop talking NPCs throughout its entire length. Granted, that may be the case, but from the gameplay trailers there seems to be the same feeling of isolation.

So, basically, people are letting NPCs ruin what is ostensibly a classic Metroid Prime experience. I’m not saying the NPC chatter won’t be annoying, but it won’t detract from what I believe the core experience will be.

These comments remind me why I should avoid social sites sometimes. It is beyond rare to find a community that is happy or positive about anything. Any kind of inconvenience gets blown out of proportion, and a game is the worst thing to ever be made until the next big game releases and doesn’t meet unreal expectations created by ourselves and/or wishful thinking. All you read on Twitter is how Ghost of Yōtei is a massive failure because it’s only sold 3.3 million copies so far, despite that actually being a successful number and a high review score across the board. But gamers will have you believe otherwise because that is what people do nowadays, and I guess always have, but it’s been amplified over the last couple of years. Honestly, the gaming community can be exhausting—and yes, I understand the irony of my comment.

I think this trailer was perfect, and gives players the most in-depth analysis on what we can expect. I, for one, am beyond hyped. I’m looking forward to having classic Metroid along with some additions that might expand to future titles. I don’t expect it to be all bells and whistles—there will most definitely be sections that aren’t as great as others, but I appreciate the risk. I have no doubt this will be great.

Absolum, Hades 2, Ball x Pit, Pipistrello, Clair Obscur, and Silksong are all top tier games for me. I won’t be mad at whatever game wins. It’s a good reminder that this year has been stacked with brilliant games.

My goodness, this is a nice Christmas present! Hopefully we will get a RDR2 port at some point.

I picked up the Yakuza bundle today. For $50.00, I think it’s a good deal—they are excellent games. I am also going to buy Demonschool. It has been one of my most anticipated games for years.

@Thorgaer I am in the exact same boat that you are. I’ve been swapping between Absolum and Hades 2, and I can’t stop playing either title. I also have MP4 preordered and ready to go.

Good! The human element is the most important aspect in media. Also, I cannot wait for this game. I’ve been waiting for a few years for it, so rest assured it’ll be a day one purchase.

This game rules. It’ll be a perfect addition for the Switch 2. I’ll be all over this once it releases.

Glad to see it turned out well. Yakuza 0 is one of my favorite games of all time, and 1&2 (Kiwami) are excellent games as well. I’ve yet to play 3-6, but I can’t wait to finally dive into those games at some point soon.

I’m glad there is a demo for this; I’ll be checking it out for sure. I don’t know why, but I’m not really that interested in this game despite Octopath Traveler 2 being one of my favorite RPGs in recent memory.

I’m always welcome for new updates! Thanks for the heads up, and bullet points.

I haven’t played much, but what I have has been surprising. For a Musuo game it is quite impressive. I’m looking forward to playing more. As of right now I’d rate it an 8/10.

Yes, the game is difficult, but it’s manageable. There doesn’t need to be options. This is the game they wanted to make.

I really enjoyed this game back in the day despite its flaws. In fact, I remember reading about it because it was the cover story for GameInformer magazine.

Last week I talked about totaling my car. Since then I hadn’t missed a day of work despite being in pain. I finally went to the doctor yesterday because of the persistent headaches and back issues. It turns out that I have two compression fractures on my vertebrae, so that’s why my mobility has been difficult. Now onto the games!

I beat Dragon Quest 1 from the remake double package. It was excellent, albeit too long. That may sound peculiar considering the game can be beaten in approximately ten to twelve hours, but it drags on extensively near the end.

As of right now I’m starting to prefer games that don’t require a lot of brainpower. To be specific, rouge-likes such as Ball x Pitt, Absolum, and Hades 2. I don’t have the mental fortitude to play The Outer Worlds 2, Metal Gear Solid Delta, Silent Hill F, and more in my ever growing backlog.

Along with my mindless rogue-likes, I earnestly started Shinobi: Art of Vengeance on my Switch 2. Holy moly; this is everything I’ve wanted in my 2D action platformers. Here I thought Ninja Gaiden Ragebound — a game I got the platinum for — was top tier, and whilst it is great, Joe Musashi blows it out of the water.

For starters, it’s arguably the most gorgeous 2D side scroller I’ve ever played. The artwork is stunning in every facet with no weak detail at all, whether that’s the backdrops, character animations, cutscene transitions with dialogue boxes, and enemy designs. It all blends together to create an aesthetically pleasing experience.

Furthermore, it is a contained package that has all the goods: secret areas, combat challenges, collectibles, upgrades, and replayability. What impresses me the most is that it’s not a mere left-to-right platformer. There are several nonlinear locations littered throughout each map and you can choose which stages to tackle first. In addition, the levels themselves aren’t short. There is a Metroidvania element as you obtain new abilities that allow you to replay maps with different routes.

The game really shines in its action. There are many ways to approach combat, with a wide arsenal of abilities to expand how you tackle enemies. Combat has a real weight to it as well—you can feel every hit on the baddies. But the game isn’t easy and can pose a real challenge if you aren’t careful as you’ll face numerous enemies at once with their own unique move-sets.

When you get into a rhythm, however, it feels like you’re dancing in a ballet. Mix that in with tight platforming, fun levels with various means of traversal, a bolstering soundtrack that keeps you engaged from the start, and you have a recipe of pure adrenaline fueled bliss. Shinobi is back, and better than ever.

Absolum is such an incredible game. Somehow, the beat-em-up genre is perfect for rougelike. Oh, and I started playing Hades 2 again this morning, and sucked back in to its addicting gameplay loop and story.

Man, if only FFXVI sold more than a disappointingly 3 million copies in one week this catastrophe would’ve been avoided …

I really like Double Dragon, but they’ve had more misses than combo hit. Just give this series to Dotemu/Lizardcube, or let it die already.

@Bolt_Strike Okay, fair enough - I can’t guarantee with 100% certainty. With that said, we have seen several gameplay sections (bike not included) that looks like classic Metroid, especially with its environments, scanning enemies, and gunplay. I would be shocked if this new Metroid would take a drastic departure to what made this franchise so seminal. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. I guess we can only wait and see.

@Rees Exactly this. I understand the trepidation behind the motorcycle and the possible open world, but I can guarantee that MP4 is going to be more of the same as always — a good thing, mind you — and have a lot of secrets up its sleeve. I think this is why we aren’t seeing a ton of footage; to maximize discovery. Now, will it live up to the hype? I don’t know. People have incredibly high expectations. For me, I can’t wait to play.

This looks sick! I really hope this game delivers.

I was waiting for reviews before purchasing. From what I’ve read, it sounds like a must buy for Musou fans, and I’ll be checking it out for sure. Thanks for the review!

I’ll be shocked if any game other than Clair Obscur wins GOTY. It will probably — and should — win best OST, too. Regardless of what game wins, it’s a nice reminder that there are a lot of great games released this year.

It’s an easy 9/10 for me. The QoL improvements alone make this package special, but it’s bolstered by two classic games to begin with. I also like the additional story content.

This is great news, and well deserved. It is such an incredible franchise, one that has truly been genre defining. I can’t wait to see what Dragon Quest XII simply is.

How could you go wrong with any of those top 3 games? They are so good.

This weekend I will not be attending a wedding—thankfully, I might add. However, I had an unfortunate accident two nights ago. I totaled my car by hitting a deer on my way home from work, so that is coming with its own set of stressors and awful back pain. With that said, this thread is about games that are being played, and thus I shall begin;

First and foremost, I’m playing Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake (say that five times fast). Prior to its release I was thinking to myself, ”this HD-2D aesthetic is beginning to lose its charm”, and then lo and behold, this game releases and it’s visually breathtaking. It’s also been a huge pleasure to be in this world once again.

Dragon Quest has always been the ultimate comfort JRPG. Each time I defeat an enemy, or level up, and even save my progress, the jingle that plays always gives me a burst of dopamine. I’m not being factious - it warms my heart in an unexplainable way. And considering my circumstances, it’s needed.

In addition to DQ, no, not Dairy Queen, although that sounds delightful, I’m playing Absolum. Wow; what an incredible surprise. I typically enjoy rougelike(s), but they only hold my attention for few hours until I find a more structured narrative experience.

As much as I thoroughly enjoy my time with the likes of Hades 1 & 2, my issue stems with how the story is presented. The writing and characters are unbelievably well realized and developed, but the story unfolds by dying. While that may be the core essence of the genre, it becomes repetitive despite how good the gameplay is. Once the feeling of excitement for how new things seem, you eventually reach a point where you understand what you’ll stumble upon in the next room. Simply put, it loses its magic, at least for me.

With Absolum, while it features your common attributes in every rougelike, it plays more to its desired roots — a proper beat-‘em-up — but with a side scrolling adventure that feels like a condensed open world. There are secret paths to uncover, hidden chests, varying routes that can lead to intriguing side quests, and several characters to unlock. Dying may be part of its design, but runs last longer, giving me the sense of real progression.

All of this should be no surprise considering the studio that developed this game also made Streets of Rage 4, but this feels like a culmination of everything that Guard Crush Games is masterful at and dialed up to a 1000+ combo hit. What a year for the French; baiser du chef!.

The only game this week is Dragon Quest 1 & 2. I’ve been playing for the last three hours and it’s absolutely sublime. This will be my new addiction for the foreseeable future.

How is this game? Does it feel cheap, or even mobile phone-ish, or does to feel like a proper video game/dungeon crawling RPG with mechanics that help you learn Japanese organically? I am intrigued by it, so I’d love to hear opinions!

I have it downloaded and ready to go for tomorrow morning! I usually take my Switch on my morning walk and it’ll be perfect tomorrow!

I’m definitely picking this up—DQ is one of my all time favorite franchises. I’m glad to see this Remake do well, and feature a seemingly robust amount of QoL improvements. This will be the perfect RPG to play during the holidays.

I’ll happily be purchasing this digitally on my Switch 2. I’ve left the physical copies behind years ago and it has been such a freeing experience, especially when physical hardly ever includes any accoutrements.

I might get it. I have to be in a certain mood to play these types of games. I did like the last one, but I didn’t finish it because I lost interest after a while. If this one can tell a good story despite its inherent gameplay oriented nature I will probably get it.

This weekend I’ll be attending a wedding several hours away from where I live. I won’t be gaming much. However, an update from last week: I finally wrapped up the platinum trophy for Ghost of Yotei. It was an excellent experience. With the little sliver of time I do have, Ball x Pitt will be taking up my time. It’s the perfect travel companion, and I was not expecting it to be as addicting as it is.

@w1p3out To be fair, I think the FFVII remake has the perfect blend of real time combat and turn based mechanics. Don’t get me wrong, I love turn based RPGs dearly, but let’s not act like the combat is anything but superb in the recent FF games.

In Nightdive I trust.

Awesome news! Despite its flaws, Fallout 4 was fantastic to me. I got the platinum trophy for it too. I’ll happily double dip!

I’ll definitely pick this up day one if it’s a solid port, but MP4 will be my primary game for the month of December.

This is good news, in my opinion. Take as much time as you need—we have a plethora of games as it is. I’m hoping this time will help make the handheld experience as good as it possibly can.