Top 50 Favorites: #9
Base game:
The first big-budgeted PS4-era open world adventure game I really got swept up in, one which I'm also terrified to replay due to this genre veering more and more towards empty, boring, overbloated filler passed off as content as time goes on - I fear that what registered for me all those years ago as new and revitalizing will instead ring as tedious and generic these days. Still, at the time anyway this really felt like a breath of fresh air: vibrant colors (the lighting!!), an interesting story (even the collectible-based narratives I found to be intricate and emotional), breathtaking animations, Lance Fucking Reddick, etc. The thing really felt like games had finally hit the point they'd been aiming for since the inception of the medium. Its melee combat isn't the best but the rest of the fighting here felt unique, engaging, and responsive too. I love it immensely, a beautiful gaming experience - cannot in good conscience agree with this coming back into the discourse of why its genre's luster is waning, especially when the much duller and more overstuffed Fallout 4 had already come out and dominated years before this.
The Frozen Wilds:
Just as lush, expansive, and easy to fall in love with as the base game - honestly one of the best expansions ever made. You just can't reckon with five bucks (often less during frequent sales) for all this beautiful content. Still has some current-day AAA sensibilities that I'm not too big on (the piss-easy 'platforming' for one) but all my gripes get swallowed right away when I just take one fucking LOOK at this thing. Snow levels in video games are often some of my favorites, and this is one for the books. Breathtaking, unforgettable environments abound that compliment this game's bracing lighting system perfectly. Not to mention the very respectable uptick in difficulty that makes this feel like its own original experience in addition to flowing into the base pretty naturally. Amazing.
Base game:
The first big-budgeted PS4-era open world adventure game I really got swept up in, one which I'm also terrified to replay due to this genre veering more and more towards empty, boring, overbloated filler passed off as content as time goes on - I fear that what registered for me all those years ago as new and revitalizing will instead ring as tedious and generic these days. Still, at the time anyway this really felt like a breath of fresh air: vibrant colors (the lighting!!), an interesting story (even the collectible-based narratives I found to be intricate and emotional), breathtaking animations, Lance Fucking Reddick, etc. The thing really felt like games had finally hit the point they'd been aiming for since the inception of the medium. Its melee combat isn't the best but the rest of the fighting here felt unique, engaging, and responsive too. I love it immensely, a beautiful gaming experience - cannot in good conscience agree with this coming back into the discourse of why its genre's luster is waning, especially when the much duller and more overstuffed Fallout 4 had already come out and dominated years before this.
The Frozen Wilds:
Just as lush, expansive, and easy to fall in love with as the base game - honestly one of the best expansions ever made. You just can't reckon with five bucks (often less during frequent sales) for all this beautiful content. Still has some current-day AAA sensibilities that I'm not too big on (the piss-easy 'platforming' for one) but all my gripes get swallowed right away when I just take one fucking LOOK at this thing. Snow levels in video games are often some of my favorites, and this is one for the books. Breathtaking, unforgettable environments abound that compliment this game's bracing lighting system perfectly. Not to mention the very respectable uptick in difficulty that makes this feel like its own original experience in addition to flowing into the base pretty naturally. Amazing.