ScalenePowers

I think the censorship complaint has only gained steam because the roots of the idea of censorship come from powerful actors forcing it upon people with radical ideas (something that is broadly bad, see 1984)

But the word “censorship” necessitates the use of power to enact a controlled and palatable narrative. Someone - even a corporation - changing the way they talk voluntarily is demonstrably not censorship and throwing that word around is a co-optation of a real issue to talk about something that really isn’t one

Also this is a video game about prisons and afterlife and all sorts of nonsense.

I know that the timeline isn’t important, but just reading the first line of this review broke my entire brain.

• this is a remake of Ys 3, which takes place after 4 (also famously remade as memories of Celceta) The new game Ys X is set between 2 and the journey to Celceta so I assumed it was Ys 3. What a terrible timeline lmao!

It’s not important, but it got me all riled up!

I’m excited for this one. I ordered the special edition and everything

Support for modders is an issue I’ve never engaged with. Idk it’s just hard to care when there is also gestures to the world

But this is the avenue I always hoped they would pivot to. Clearly they have great talents and are capable of creating amazing games, why limit yourself to using Nintendo assets? I’ll be looking out for this one!

@Axecon or a Metroid text based adventure game!!!

@GrailUK I’m not a joycon expert, but I am a joy on expert expert and you do seem like one

I’m all about Darksiders 2 again this weekend!!! If I do finish it (unlikely, I just finished the arena) I’m moving on to Arkham Asylum. I’m diving head first in to some sick PS3 games and I’m loving it

Still the closest thing to a Twilight Princess sequel we’ve ever gotten :,)

F zero is coming!! But before a new Mariokart to give it maximum exposure

I’d adore a release of the first game on Switch (2?) in some capacity. Loved Automata and want more!

I beat Ys: X Nordics this week - what a wild ride!! - but not only did I beat it, but I 100%’d it. That is something that I never do.

Now I don’t know what to play. I tried Thank Goodness You’re Here Eternights and Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes

But for various reasons none of them clicked with me! So I’m just going to read a book I guess, see ya around

I hope everyone asking for 17 to return to its roots picked up Fantasian: Neo Dimension 😅

That’s a great year! It reminds me of 2019, where there is nothing HUGE to overshadow all of the other titles. Unicorn Overlord would never win over a new 3D Mario, but pshh who needed it this year! We got Bakeru!!

I loved Emio, Another Code, Princess Peach, Ys X, Beyond Good And Evil, and Prince of Persia.

I’m also very much looking forward to Fantasian, Eiyuden Chronicles, and Thank Goodness You’re here!

Really amazing stuff all around!

Surprised to see no one with Smiling Man on this list! It was the clear winner for me, though it’s a testament to the strong year!

I did pick up Thank Goodness You’re Gear after watching Alex’s top 5 video! I appreciate y’all for spotlighting that sort of thing!

I’d like to spend a good deal of time with Ys X. I keep saying “this is the week that things finally slow down” and then inevitably they do not do that! But this might finally be the one.

If I finish it or if I do not, I’d like to make space to try Animal Well.

I don’t know how to feel. My heart is racing as if I was seeing a brand new Mario game. Galaxy is my favorite and this is just enough of a twist to make it feel special.

That’s the last thing that I expected today! But I approve! I played it on PC maybe 5 years ago, but got stuck. I don’t enjoy playing games on the pc whenever I can help it so maybe I’ll be among the ones who grab it!

@Serpenterror I think that the game has a localization! So did Oath in Felghana but I think it was held up by issues with between companies (XSeed is kinda scummy it seems?)

I think with the arrival of OiF we may expect a quicker turnaround on Celceta.

Or I’m coping

@xenobladexfan OH MY GOODNESS.

I know this isn’t an official western announcement, but I do feel that it starts a ticking clock towards one.
That’s so good o could cry

@EarthboundBenjy I liked Nayuta, but I agree that it wasn’t any sort of masterpiece. It’s exactly the kind of digestible video gaming that I crave!

It also (hopefully) portends more Falcom PSP ports!! Getting Ys 6, and 7 would be incredible

I don’t really like that N64 app can count as a game (I bet that people who use their switch for streaming have it even worse)

But if I take that off my top three are
1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
2. Persona 5: Royal
3. Persona 4: Golden

So I really just was a type of person this year smh.

@Arcane-Fer I think that these types of bad games don’t often get low meta critic scores because they are competent. Not good. But they do technically run, despite being derivative, uninspiring and boring. So we as a community think about them as failures because they are relative to the resources put into them.

As opposed to That Looney Tunes sports game, that was just busted and ugly.

This game looks quite lovely, but the Sekiero comparisons do frighten me off a bit.

Blasphemous was compared up and down to Dark Souls, and while I certainly enjoyed elements of that game I was unable to progress past a certain point and ultimately gave up.

Can people comment on its difficulty relative to these aforementioned games?

I really do not enjoy Okami. I know it’s pretty, but it’s too talky with characters I actively dislike. The combat is bland, and obtrusive, and the celestial brush is more often a headache than a seamless experience

And also… a sequel could fix all of that. Genuinely there is a winning formula here, they just need to make it better

I’ve been needing this article. The return of Live A Live did a great deal for me, but I see the HD-2D style as a massively overhyped flop.

Even if flop probably cannot justifiably be used in this context, both original series in the style (Octopath and Triangle Strategy) are below average in their respective genres (I hear a lot of praise for Octopath 2, admittedly I skipped it after having been burned twice) and the idea of remaking beloved classics like Chrono Trigger frustrate me.

I think this article points out that Star Ocean looks amazing for having taken a different style and I concur! It’s a beautiful game!

I think Sea of Stars looks better than any HD 2D game!

When we talk about remaking Final Fantasy 6 in this style i feel like that is my nightmare scenario for opportunity cost. On this website we recently talked about that idea in an article maybe a month ago, and I was proud to not have been the only one to suggest a remake in the vein of the DS 3&4 four remakes!

Im the biggest hater of this style, and im proud lmao. Thanks for the platform to do my thing!!!

Este fin de semana voy a jugar Ys X
It’s really good so far, I just splurged a little and have decision paralysis, so I will start this game and then get distracted by Epic Mickey or Metal Gear Solid

The latter of which I played a lot in high school but am having a rough time returning to… I like to think that I am a more patient game player in my thirties… nope!! I have only gotten worse at stealth!

I think this was the coolest thing at the show.
I think also that bomberman act zero could have been good if the game wasn’t trash. The redesign was edgy and weird, but it could have worked!

When Oceanhorn 2 got a physical release, there was also a skew that had a bundle with a physical copy of the first as well.

I’d really appreciate them doing that again with this game and other delayed sequels

Heart Machine built a beautiful hand crafted experience 10 years ago with the original Hyper Light Drifter. Why is the sequel a co-op roguelike? Is this just games now?

Despelote is a magical slop of all of the things I like, and is one to get the day it comes out (ie im not even waiting for a physical babyyyyy!!)

@larryisaman that would be a beautiful thing.
I think it’s imaginary, but it’s good to imagine a better world!
I think our medium came too late to the party and only gets an awards show if they can make infinity dollars off of it

In Kealey’s defense - the rushing people off stage last year was very much a reaction to 2022 where a few speeches when upwards of 5 minutes, and there was also that incident with the bad actor at the end.

I think 2024 deserves to be an opportunity to fix this over correction.

Also I may have reverse psychology-d myself into expecting switch two news. Like a dope

Thanks for compiling this list! Every year GOTY is difficult - not because there aren’t standout games that I’ve played, but because I can never remember what games I played the year that they came out!

So game of the year… probably Persona 4: Golden. Or maybe Wargroove 2? Oh shoot no I think it’s actually Emio: The Smiling Man! I got one played timely for once!!

It’s also exciting to see a year where I don’t know what would win?? I mean it’s probably Echoes of Wisdom, but I really don’t think it deserves it

I had my last final yesterday, so in theory I should be able to finally relax and play video games… in theory!

In practice I keep picking up Ys X: Nordics playing for 30 minutes and putting it down. I have loved this series since I tried 8 (admittedly that’s only 3 other titles) but I anticipated an obsession on my part and it’s just not there! Hopefully I just need the right circumstances to dive back in.

Would b interested in. However, I’ve only bought one Kirby game ever new (though I did get robobot/triple deluxe on switch) was Forgotten land…. So would I buy this? Ehhhhhh

Maybe we will see something at the game awards?

This game rips. I think I like it more than the original!

I thought True Colors was excellent! It also suffered on switch though.

It was my first Life is Strange, and maybe it’s one of those “the first one you play is always your favorite” type series?

I did the thing also where I bought it like a week after launch, but it is already 35$ for Black Friday.
I knew better, I was warned… but it’s hard to turn off the “I gotta have it” switch in my brain

I’m all about those Legacy of Kain remasters - even if I won’t get to them until June supposing LRG is in charge of the phizzy

But Neo Fantasian looks better and better. I’ve missed every other effort from Mistwalker and kick myself for it often. I’ll
Have to jump on it this time!

It is a disservice to mention this meme without also mentioning it’s origin. The source is not just IGN it is author Kallie Plaggie who knows and adored Pokémon laying out a legitimate criticism of a video
Game.
Editors reduced that complaint in the TL:DR of the bottom of the review to “Too much Water” which is objectively funny. However the complaint was legitimately a criticism of design and not a throwaway surface observation that is implied.

People lost their minds over this thing, and the reviewer increasingly felt unsafe and unsupported by management at IGN. This is gamergate era internet and a woman writing a review that was mildly yet substantively critical of a prominent game series was not just a meme - it was hate campaign for many.

I remember thinking Vectorman was basically the coolest game ever made when it came out, and it’s sequel was one of the last Genesis games made (within reason I should say - pretty sure they still make’em lol)

But something about Toe Jam & Earl really sums up why Sega did so well exactly that one time. I think those games appealed to youth culture of the time specifically in a way few titles did, and really only have regularly begun to do in video games of the last 10 years. It’s so modern (of course now it isn’t) and like the Teen Movie of video games

It’s the end of the semester and I’m tempering my game playing. But when I have a free second and can play games I’m slowly running through Darksiders 2. This is my 4th time through, and I still find it as delightful as I remember. Certainly a top 5 of all time, potentially top 3??

Contact
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Monster Tale
Cooking Mama
Star Fox Command!

@Grumblevolcano I hope they temper that approach. Maybe give it a year of dual releases but you gotta cut that out earlier than PS5

@batmanbud2 MP3 is the best of the Trilogy. I’d love to see 4 at least incorporate some of its idiosyncrasies into the 1/2 formula

I thought that Animal Well was a lock for a GOTY nomination! That’s my only surprise here

@EarthboundBenjy I think I like the idea of 17 returning to a more traditional style (like final fantasy 9!) but I think it tanks if they go HD-2D

Do it in the style of Final Fantasy 3/4 on the DS!! I’d get that one for sure

Edit:
@anti-matter GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE

I have been watching their releases of Underhero. That game looks sick as heck, but something about that website seems fishy.

I’m sad to hear this release got caught in the middle

I genuinely do not understand the appeal of the HD 2D style. It’s a lot of effort for a remake that I’d rather see put into a totally different art style? It’s like the goofy halfway between the FF pixel remaster, and Trials In the Sky First/Trials of Mana style.

Either version of these classics would have been preferable