I'm blown away.
I wasn't expecting anything unique of Katana Zero, until I read and heard it's praise in this community. Before that I thought this is just another game with 80's noir aesthetics, just another game with an atmosphere I might like or just another game with cool fighting mechanics that would be fun for a couple of hours or maybe just another try at Hotline Miami. And Katana Zero sure excels in all of that, but ends up being so much more. I can't praise this game enough for the way it's built. The fighting feels absolutely amazing, every ability is fun and feels good. The sound design is impeccable. The music ranges from the expected cool adrenaline-pumping synthwave tracks, to the most beautiful atmospheric soundscapes I've heard in a while. And I've been praising video game soundtracks a lot lately, this is one of my favorites. Every moving part in here is stylishly crafted to a level of perfection I haven't seen in a very long time.
The way it's story is told is also mind blowing to me, because of the way they used narrative and audiovisual tricks to tell it in a non-linear fashion through unexpected twists and turns. I've never would have expected to find any of this in Katana Zero. And maybe that's why it ended up being so impactful for me, because I've never played a "2D fighting game" that had me at the edge of my seat for its entirety, because I wanted to know more about the story and the main character.
I urge you to play this game if any of the info you get on it speaks to you. Whether that may be the aesthetics or the fighting or you now knowing that It's story is great. You won't be disappointed, that's a promise.

Citizen Sleeper is my GOTY so far. I am extremely surprised by how this game has consumed me with it’s world, it’s characters and the overall atmosphere. I’ve not played ‘in other waters’, but I’m in love with it’s soundtrack. So it’s no surprise that Amos Roddy (yet again) delivers one of the best soundtracks to a game you will hear this year, giving off huge Nils Frahm vibes and perfectly underlining the melancholy of this space station. I didn’t even know about citizen sleeper until I saw it on the Xbox game pass, so I went in basically blind and got out a fan.

I’ve always said that I wanted more good sci-fi point and click games and this delivers on that front and on many more. It’s gameplay loop is rather unique, mixing big chunks of well written text, with table-top rpg like actions using dices and a round-based structure. It makes the station explorable in addictive ways, where dangers wait to be avoided, stories wait to be heard, where meaningful interactions happen and decisions matter.
Great little stories are told here and there, but the overarching goal I had set my eyes on, led me to a conclusion that literally left me in tears.

If you asked me until now, I’d have said Citizen Sleeper was my sleeper hit this year. But Signalis just blew my mind. One of the best times I had with a game this year, which is unbelievable, since it was one hell of a year for games yet again.
I need to think about this a lot more before I can put it in proper writing, but what those two devs managed to achieve in terms of atmosphere and style is stunning. And the fact that it’s clearly being an homage to games from a time, where I was too young to play the clear inspirations, makes this all the more rewarding to play through as an adult. It’s a love letter to clunky ps1 horror survival games, it even doesn’t spare you from the more tedious and unforgiving parts of the era. But it worked for me. The limitations worked wonders, because it asked me to be more resourceful than other games. It made me plan my trips from safe house to safe house, it made me micromanage my inventory to adapt to certain trips. All of it worked so well for me, I didn’t dislike a second I spent with the game. It’s more like I embraced its flaws. And did I already say the atmosphere knocks it out of the park? It really does.

I’m kinda speechless still, because it pushed all my buttons. Holy fuck.

When BOTW released and I got my switch for the release of that game, the hype was real. And I loved playing the game, even though I took breaks here and there and it took me a while to fully complete it. I loved playing the game a lot, but it didn't feel like the best game i've ever played. I saw all of it's strengths and it felt revolutionary in many ways, not because it invented many new things, but because it stripped the game of things that I expected in an open world game and it because it stitched aspects together so well, that made other similar games enjoyable.
The moment I started really diving into TOTK however, there was only one question popping up in my head over and over again: Is this the best game ever made?
After spending so many hours almost entirely completing all the game had to offer and almost the same amount of time spent in BOTW, I can say that I never felt as close to being sure I know the answer to that question.
I feel like i don't need to really say a lot more about the game. The Switch Zelda Games are a phenomenon talked about at length everywhere and unless you lived under a rock the last couple of years, you probably know all you need to know about the games. Instead, I rummaged through my notes and want to just leave a couple of bullet points here, that describe points in the game that pushed me more and more towards knowing the answer to the question, whether this is the best game ever made or not.

- That moment when you climb up to one of the highest points in the game and watch the sunset. The minimalist soundtrack and visuals are absolutely singular and the sense of freedom I felt right at that moment, is something i barely ever felt in a game.
- From a technical standpoint it's still unbelievable the game runs on the switch hardware. Somtetimes I wondered what the devs would be able to achieve with a much more capable machine, but I think the result would be something entirely different. I think the limitations actually led to the beauty of this game. it's timeless and unique and i'm sure it will feel the same way in 20 years.
- It's a game that makes you feel smart and gives you all the power you crave as a protagonist in an open world
- TOTK is testament to the devs understanding what the community loved about BOTW and why they kept on playing. The way they doubled down on the sandbox freedom and the glitch-culture by implementing that into the gameplay loop, is one of the best iterations on a videogame formula i've seen, period.

I've been waiting for a sequel to Ori and the Blind forest practically the moment I was looking at it's credits rolling. I knew a second part of this masterful game would double down on its strength and introduce us to another awe-inspiring world.
There is so much "good" in this game, it deserves the highest praise possible. But I want to focus on two things, that in my opinion make this game the best of its genre. The Art-Direction and the gameplay itself.

Anyone who remotely heard of the first part, probably knows what to expect. The level design is out of this world, literally. Every area or biome looks completely different, giving you the feeling you are exploring something new up until the very end. Every stage has so many very detailed layers, that reach far in the background to give it depth. Everything moves, breathes, reacts... just lives. The characters are often times cute and their stories heartfelt, sometimes sad and always a joy to follow, even though all you get is a few lines here and there. The sound design underlines everything perfectly and adds a beautiful soundtrack on top.

What makes this game the best of its kind though, is the way gameplay progression is paced and placed very carefully. What I mean by that, is, that from the beginning up until the very last moment of the game, you get new abilities and upgrades, that make you feel stronger. Every area introduces something new, just at the right moment, so that you had enough time to master all previous abilities. It's just perfectly timed. Nothing beats the moment though, were you start to combine these abilities, some complementing each other so well, that you start to breeze through the world like a ninja, making you feel like a pro. Traversal and fighting in this game is perfection and you won't get bored at any time, that's a promise.

I also feel the game arrives at a perfect time, as the villainy of the games antagonist roots in the fear and anger and discrimination we see ever so often in the real world. It is in contrast to the "good side" which thrives through collaboration and inclusiveness. There is a reason for the evil in the world and we can change that, one step at a time.

I can't remember a game (other than maybe the Mass Effect trilogy) that fed my inner space-nerd as masterfully, as Outer Wilds did. Whereas Mass Effect was a great story of humankind in the future, with familiar conflicts, characters and locations to explore, Outer Wilds throws all that away and gives you what space probably would feel like to us: hostile, unknown and incomprehensible. Who regularly reads recent developments in the understanding of our universe, will find many of that concepts in this game beautifully interwoven in a subtly communicated, but heavy weighing story of survival in a universe, that seemingly does not want you to survive. The game constantly wows you, with scenery and music coalescing into the best video game moments of at least the last decade.

I’ve seen the logo of PT on the playstation store one day, as I was checking daily for new games to try out. A little check on Google didn’t really tell me anything about this game, but it had been just released that day and I thought fuck it, let’s go for it.
What happened in the next 2-3 hours was the most terrifying video game experience I ever had. I went on to show this demo to everyone I know, without telling them anything beforehand, as I wanted them to have the raw and jaw-dropping experience I had. And I played it over and over again. It’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word and spawned a multitude of indie horror games afterwards, that tried to recreate the ingenuity of it, but it was never reached imho.
I was super sad to hear the game got cancelled in the end, but in retrospective I think that only added to the legacy of it.

Even playing this right after Elden Ring, the demons souls remake looks and plays absolutely beautiful, feels a lot more next-gen often times. I will keep it short here as well, as there is not much left to say about the from software games for me. It’s as fun and addicting as all of the other souls games I’ve played, it won’t be my favorite location-wise and the more puzzle-like boss fights were a bit underwhelming in difficulty (seriously, the game is harder between the boss fights. Not a single one did pose a real threat, but I have like almost 150hrs of back-to-back playtime now, so I might just be good by now). But it seems like no souls game will ever disappoint me. I’m just a fan.

It’s not like the ideas Anodyne 2 lives off are totally unique, but the way they are built so wholeheartedly, so creatively will make the entire time you play this game a pure joy. It doesn’t matter if it’s PS1 aesthetics open world or the 16 bit top-down snes era vibes, exploring the world is simple but addicting. It’s such a welcome change to play something so cozy and wholesome, listening to a wonderful soundtrack. I can’t recommend the game enough, If a weird little rather experimental indie sounds like it’s something for you.

God of War continues with the trend of big budget first party Sony titles playing it safe. Playing it safer than a German insurance consultant. It’s more of God of War. Exactly that, nothing more and nothing less. It’s basically as much a seamless continuation gameplay wise as it is story wise. And that’s not a bad thing. If you loved God of War the first time around, which I did, then you’ll be in for a treat. The devs managed to keep me invested and enjoying myself throughout platinum’ing both games. I don’t necessarily think I’d be stoked for a third time though. It’s very conservative in the way it doesn’t really try out new things and it’s one of the most video gamey video games. Nothing will surprise you from a gameplay perspective, but it’ll engulf you in an astonishingly well told story with insanely good voice actors and overall production values. It doesn’t set new standards visually, like Horizon did and it doesn’t elevate storytelling like TLOU did, but it’s through and through a spectacle as you would expect from Kratos and his shenanigans. With truly epic fight sequences and set pieces, I absolutely loved playing through this game, what a big bang to end the year with. I’m curious and excited where a full blown next gen title from Santa Monica studios will lead us next.

The game is rightly dubbed a spiritual successor to the Fallout series, but does so much of it better. At least when compared to recent Fallout games, that didn't reach the heights of New Vegas. It's a welcome change that a game of this type is rather short and with tightly contained areas which enabled the developers to put more effort into the details. Locations, their characters and their stories are all well written and worthwhile exploration. On the technical side the game sometimes feels rough around the edges, but more often than not I was really immersed in a wonderfully colorful sci-fi world.

What can I say about a game, that’s been dominating the conversation since it’s release and everything has been said already? Most of what you read is true: Elden Ring is a masterpiece, it might even be From Software’s best game yet and I truly wonder, how they want to follow this up. It’s been bigger and more beautiful than it’s predecessors. But at it’s core, it’s still exactly what you would expect, if you know the series. The core gameplay loop is as satisfying as ever and the sheer endless possibilities this sandbox offers to outwit the game with an insane build or a new strategy, makes it a pure joy from beginning to end. I did not want this game to end, and even after many many sights to behold (and I say this right after finishing HFW) and many many enemies and bosses beat, I still found new things after 100 hours.
I don’t think Elden Ring necessarily will convert from software skeptics into believers and I also don’t necessarily think it’s the best entry point into the series, but to me personally it’s been the pinnacle of from software design, most probably the best game of this year and one of my favorites of all time.