My white whale. It has become my obsession (ongoing) more than anything else this year.

It denies me answers and closure at every turn but I will not be deterred until I find some. An utterly enthralling, boring piece of shit I've played through 5 times now. If that seems contradictory to you maybe you haven't played enough games

I think I understand fanboys more now, as when you invest so much energy and time into something it feels like you were almost part of its creation.

So wonderful I found this short undertale esque timeloop game that I wrote the only walkthrough for it that currently exists. And of course I shill for it at every opportunity. PLAY IT!

I have played all of the souls games this year for the first time. And whilst DS1 is still my overall favourite, this game was what started it all for me so it has a fond place in my heart

Any game which brings me to tears ought to be included in a list of games which were significant to me. Its not perfect but I loved it.

I didn't actually finish Inside, so perhaps that should disqualify it from being here I think it warrants a placement.

This list definitely leans positive, as most games I dislike I simply drop fairly early on and forget about. And whilst I only got halfway through I still find it memorable even in the ways I hated this game.

Perhaps cause I actually found promise in this game for a while, the atmosphere, aesthetics and storytelling were brilliant. It was all the more painful how much I utterly despised most of the rest of the experience, Ie puzzles, platforming etc. I wish I could enjoy this game.

I played through this entire trilogy in an afternoon and what a lovely, charming little snack platter of a franchise it was. Brightened my day significantly with its silly humour and low stakes fetch quests

An interesting discovery of mine I havent seen talked about much (though not exactly super obscure) Consortium is an exercise in density over length executed beautifully. The combat is somewhat token but its star trek-esque drama aboard a not-spaceship is so compelling that I didnt mind.

And to make it all the more poignant, the sequel has been in early access and hasnt been updated for years, presumably abandoned

Not really a VN player, but the amateurish artsyle and mostly positive rating on steam gave me enough curiosity to check it out. Its pretty compelling with its occult/conspiracy tone and interesting characters

Pokemon Violet is a buggy piece of shit that needed at least 6 months of dev time added to it honestly. It is however the most fun Ive had with pokemon since I was a kid so it gets a place. Sometimes going openworld actually solves problems rather than adding them (or at the very least has removed more than it has added)

I dislike 3D platformers and sonic generally, so you know this sonic inspired 3d platformer is doing something good (or bad I guess, as ive seen many a backloggd user declare that games that appeal to those who traditionally dont enjoy those genres must be bad apparently)

4 Times, 4 Times I tried to get into this buggy, clunky piece of shit game since I was like 14 and FINALLY this year I got into it and I love it. What a masterclass in RPG design. That being said, fuck the tutorial, genuinely the worst tutorial Ive ever played and part of what kept me away for a long time

Made me laugh (intentionally) the most out of all the games I played this year. Knows how to not outstay its welcome. Its an conversational adventuregame/vn/whateveryouwannaocallit where your only choice is to say no (or say nothing at all) if that doesnt pique your interest I dont know what will

I am still amazed they (mostly) pulled this off. Its like VLR if it actually concluded satisfactorily. The mech combat isnt super great but I found it alright, and a nice break from all the other adventure game stuff

This is the first RE game Ive played. And let me say, as a zoomer and official King of "ooh the clunkiness" and dropping PS1/2 games 15 minutes in, this game absolutely holds up and needs no remake. It kicks ass.
I did have some complaints, namely a lot of the "nonstandard" bits like the dellago bossfight and minecart section I found pretty annoying and the last island doesnt feel as good as the other 3/4ths of the game, like we suddenly switched to a different game but its still amazing nonetheless

High Octane, High Speed parkour and shooting action straight into your veins. If it didnt have that house level with the flamethrower dudes itd be perfect

Lovely Hiking simulator (if you turn off the map marker which is bafflingly turned on by default) and radio drama. Veers slighlty into being kinda whedonish in its dialogue but I found enough charm around it to enjoy. And I can see the conclusion being a dealbreak to some

Lovely minimalistic city builder. No progression, no ending, no achievements, just build dioramas

This is here mostly for Zenkichi and the soundtrack, the lack of a calendar system creates some weird design choices ( we regenerate mana by leaving and reentering the level from a checkpoint but there is no cost to this so why not just regenerate it at checkpoints?) and throwing like 8 entire characters and movesets at once from word go is kinda dauntinga at first but the overall experience is pretty solid

No year is complete without and uchikoshi game, although he was "only" scenario writer for this and didnt direct it. I still dont know if I liked it all that much but it certainly was interesting at least.

Gosh, a second diorama-like game? Maybe I need to get into model building but harmony's odyssey is a short, relaxing little thing with the vibe of those comics/childrens books with detailed illustrations full of stuff to spot.

For personal reasons, I found this particularly touching. I look forward to more from this dev

Gotta big up the local talent, and also experiencing creations that speak to life experiences you are unfamiliar with is nourishing to the soul

Alright this is technically a souls game but I feel like its Open World Structure and being the only one actually released this year warrants its special mention. Despite being honestly more frustrating to play for me than the older, slower souls games due to every enemy having godlike tracking and speed Ive put more hours into this game than any other this year

Banger soundtrack, top notch aesthetic, larger than life characters and all weaved through a free roam detective story about a crime in a gorgeous tropical island, and how with each stone you turn you start to wonder which one of those two is the most sinister

This surreal musical pizza making simulator turned me on to Cosmo D, whos games I have enjoyed going through. Check em out