I made a promise to myself at the start of the year that I'd at least attempt to write down my thoughts on games I played throughout 2022 so I could post a list here. I ended up being a lot more negative than I had hoped, but maybe that reflects my current feelings on... Everything this year. Either way, here are some games I played, in no particular order.
Games from previous years that I still played a lot of
Persona 5 Royal
With the announcement of P5R coming to PC, and a steep discount on PSN, this was the year I finally decided to make good on finishing this game. I had previously made it about halfway through the original release before giving up on it in favor of eventually playing the "complete" version, and I'm kind of glad I did. Royal adds some interesting stuff, though the idea of being able to miss out on most of it is kind of audacious and the stuff that you can't opt out of seems to break the game. It didn't take me long to realize I was steamrolling through encounters, but considering this game is roughly 800 hours long I wasn't about to complain. I could nitpick and bemoan certain aspects, but I do think it all comes together beautifully. It obviously really resonates with people, considering how many times they've re-released this thing. I even tried to roll right into Strikers, but I think I'm all Phantom Thieves'd out for a while.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
After trying and failing to get into Xenoblade Chronicles 3, I got it in my head that what I really needed to do was go back and finally finish XBC2. It was another JRPG I had put time into before dropping, so I figured 2022 could be the year I clean some of that backlog up. I had forgotten how cartoonish 2 is, especially compared to the early hours of 3. It's not just the mustache-twirling villains, there's literally slapstick gags and anime sweat drops in some scenes. I hadn't forgotten how horny it is, though. XBC2 feels like a shounen anime in all the best and worst ways. I really don't like anything about Pyra, but at the same time her inclusion here may have funded the entire development of XBC3, so I get it. In fact, the more I played 2 the more I came to dislike it. I hate the gacha mechanics, I hate the field skill stuff, and I really came to dislike the encounter design. Every other fight either turned into a slog due to an enemy calling in reinforcements or simply breaking away from combat in order to run into another group of enemies, or the encounter broke completely because the enemy I engaged decided to jump off an edge. I eventually turned off enemy aggro and did everything in my power to mainline the story, and I came away feeling that that option was included because someone on the design team realized they messed up. My frustration got the better of me, and I gave up once again. Maybe some day I'll actually finish this out, but I'm beginning to think these games just aren't for me.
Games from this year I just didn't play enough of
Horizon: Forbidden West
I feel especially bad about this one because I had asked for it for my birthday and ended up getting the big Collector's Edition with that mecha mammoth thing. I had only really had it on my list for lack of better ideas, but I felt obligated to play it. I put about a dozen hours into it before saying out loud "I don't want to do this anymore" and shelving it. I hope to come back to it at some point, but... I guess the one thought I had coming out of those dozen hours is that Forbidden West feels more like a technical showcase than an enjoyable video game.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
As mentioned earlier, I had bought into the hype and made an effort to get into this. I ultimately failed and went back to it's predecessor in an attempt to "unlock" the means to enjoy it but I may have only done more damage. If you've ever had the desire to play as an MMO raid group, then I think this game is for you. I don't think that's me, but I just don't enjoy MMOs in general. I also feel like this is a game trying to do too much at once. Systems upon systems. Menus within menus. XBC3 feels like the JRPG people who don't like JRPGs are talking about. I know people really seem to love these characters, but after playing a bunch of 2 I have to wonder how much of that love comes from the fact that they aren't those characters.
Neon White
I'll give it this: I don't care about speedrunning, but Neon White still managed to hold my interest for a decent amount of time. I do truly appreciate how it handles that aspect of it, and that it does everything in it's power to guide you to embrace at least some amount of speedrun tech without making you feel like too much of an idiot. It's satisfying, smart, and stylish, I'm just ultimately not super interested in that sort of challenge.
The Actual Games of This Year
Rune Factory 5
I've been a fan of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons/Rune Factory games for a while, so I was going to grab this regardless. I did eventually "beat" it, but I mostly feel like RF5 was a disappointment. You can really feel the struggle with making this game an 'open world', especially on the Switch where performance is a major issue. The PC version does fix some of that, but it doesn't fix all the problems with pacing and emptiness. The days are too long, the world isn't particularly interesting but it doesn't matter since you just end up fast-travelling everywhere anyway, and the story pacing is both too fast and too demanding. There is so much locked behind progressing through the plot that you're likely to rush through what little story there is, only to look back and realize you exhausted everything interesting in the first 3 in-game months. If there ever is a Rune Factory 5 Special, my hope is that they tweak day length and add the ability to decorate the world. I don't think that would fix the game, but I do think it would help mask the issues it has.
Ai: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative
This is hard to talk about without risking spoilers, so I'll keep it brief. If you liked the first game, you'll like this one. I think it's a better game, but a weaker story overall. The twists are fun, but the ending lacks the weight that the first game had. Still smart, still funny, but lacks a bit of that 'horror' element from the first Ai.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is the second Dark Souls in all but name. The way it's talked about, and the impact it's had on gaming conversations is only comparable to that first Souls game. It's a full on event, and one that managed to completely take over online discourse before breaking through and escaping into our fleshy reality. There was no escaping it. There is no escaping it. Elden Ring has always been this year's GOTY. And I hate it. Rather, it's less that I hate Elden Ring-it's pretty good-but I fully admit Elden Ring has turned me into A Hater. I don't share the religious zeal, or the amazement, or obsession. I can faintly see where that comes from, but I'm unable to fully make the connection. I feel like I've done something wrong in thinking it's only okay. I didn't find any of the bosses fun. The long attack strings felt like a waste of time, and the hit boxes made it feel like I was constantly brushing up against invisible walls. The open world never really resonated with me that way it seems to for everyone else. I still beat it, but mostly so I could try to understand it. I failed. In what might be the most Souls move they could pull, Elden Ring has introduced a level of misery into my life that wasn't there before. 10/10. Game of the Year.
Harvestella
Harvestella deserved better than it got. It's a Square Enix game, promoted by Nintendo, sold for full price, and put in direct competition with games like Rune Factory 5 and Stardew Valley. I won't say it doesn't earn that comparison, that very much feels like what the marketing was going for, but I do think it does a disservice to what Harvestella actually is. It's a JRPG with farming mechanics. Not a farm life sim with combat. An actual JRPG with farming as a means to gather resources. There is a fine, but distinct line there. Expecting a game to be like Rune Factory or Stardew brings with it certain expectations. Harvestella doesn't really adhere to those same traditions, because it isn't really one of those games. There is farming, and it's fine. There's relationship stuff, but it's not really the same thing as those other games. It is a solid sci-fi adventure with a party of misfits and outcasts who get wrapped up in something larger than life. If nothing else, Harvestella is a branch off the Rune Factory tree that shows what that style of game could be capable of if it didn't follow series tradition so strictly. I would definitely recommend it next time you get a JRPG craving.
It's time to review the hot latest entry in a long running franchise that introduces open world elements, explorable dungeons, and your new witchy waifu. That's right, it's Rune Factory 5 for the Nintendo Switch.
Rune Factory is a sort of off-shoot of the Harvest Moon series, where you spend your days chilling on a nice bit of farmland chatting up the locals and possibly finding love and starting a new family. In this series you also battle various monsters, confront mustache twirling villains who wield godlike powers, and tame dragons so you can ride around on them like horses. It's got all the cozy slice of life goodness you'd want from a Harvest Moon-like (Natsume-like? Farm life game? Do we have a term for this?), plus the insane otherworldly endgame content you might find in your average Kirby adventure.
The thing about these games is that they're pretty standardized by this point. The way you plant crops and what that even looks like, your interactions and relationships to your fellow villagers... There is some individuality to be had here, but if you've played something like Story of Seasons or Stardew Valley you're going to notice a lot of similarities. That might even be part of the charm, to be honest. I only really say that because Rune Factory 5 doesn't really add much to this formula. There are some quality of life additions here that are very welcome, but nothing really shakes things up in a substantial way so I'm not really going to spend a whole lot of time on that aspect of it. If you've played a Story of Seasons or Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, you have a pretty good idea of what you're in for here. It has a lot of the same ups and downs of previous Rune Factory games especially, including weird pacing and events that 'steal' days from you. This time, you can freely romance whoever you want as whatever gender you want. There is romantic tension coming at you from all sides and it's delicious.
Unfortunately, even if I believe RF5 could stand side by side with any other game in the series, it's got one major issue: It runs like garbage. It's not unplayable by any stretch, but it's definitely noticeable. This is one of those situations where you can grit your teeth and deal with the slow down and animation jank if you're determined to enjoy this game, but those issues will never not make themselves known to you. The worst part is that it apparently ran even worse when it released in Japan originally, and we got the patched version that still runs poorly. There is very little hope that any of this will get fixed in the future, which is a real shame since these tech issues will undoubtedly overshadow RF5's legacy. I have to imagine that these problems stem from the 'open world' design they went for here. Instead of sectioning areas off with loading screens or scene transitions, you've got your town hub surrounded by three areas that you can freely run between and have items and enemies load in as you approach them. While it is nice to be able to roam about like this, I'm not sure the performance cost was really worth it.
But really, what you're coming to this game for is the vibes. Rune Factory 5 is set in the small town of Rigbarth, an incredibly out of the way little place surrounded by woods, snowlands, and a volcano. RF5 takes place after the events of 4 where-spoilers for RF4 I guess-the Sechs Empire has fallen and in an attempt to fill the power vacuum a town watch sort of organization known as SEED has risen to restore peace and order. You play another amnesiac who ends up falling in with the SEED branch in Rigbarth while taking ownership of the local farmland. The main storyline is pretty barebones in all honesty, and will likely run itself out before you even finish your first year in Rigbarth. There is one sort of interesting theme of dubious corporations and how they handle data collected from unwitting civilians, but it's very thin. You're mainly going to be here for the people of Rigbarth itself.
So with that said, I want to give my own Quick Look of each resident of Rigbarth. These characters are, after all, going to be the main draw and what will likely keep you playing beyond the paper-thin story itself. Also, I just feel like doing it.
The Bachelors
Reinhard- A literal knight in shining armor. Aside from being a bit of a klutz, he's a devoted house husband royal guard for Beatrice who integrates himself into the town nicely. He's the type to stick to a support role and tries not to stand out too much, so I kind of forget he's there sometimes. He can get intense when it comes to food waste and sword training, though. The only thing that really stands out about him for me is that you can give him Failed Dishes to increase his affection.
Murakumo- The resident Himbo. Dude just loves being a bro, and running the local hot spring inn lets him bro out 24/7. He's so kind that he needs people like his sister Misasagi to keep him from going broke due to falling for simple scams, giving out freebies, or just destroying his own place with his unmitigated hype. He's voiced by the same guy that did the English dub for Ichiban Kasuga from Yakuza: Like a Dragon and they have a similar sort of energy. I like to imagine there's an outtake recording of Kaiji Tang going full Frat Bro on some of Kumo's lines.
Ryker- Palmo's art and carpentry apprentice. He's chuunibyou as fuck. The kind of guy that will unironically say stuff like "the moon's light gives me strength" or w/e while posing like a JoJo villain. I like to imagine that his VAs are also doing the poses while reading his lines. He's kind of a lazy asshole most of the time but he does care a lot about Palmo and his work. It just gets buried under his desire to laze about and skulk in the shadows most of the time. If anime existed in this world you know Ryker would never shut up about it. There are hints that there's actually something darker under the surface, but it seems like you don't really get much of it unless you go way down his romance route.
Martin- The blacksmith's apprentice. Entirely focused on his work. The kind of guy that will go 48 hours without food or sleep and has to be reminded he needs those things before he dies. You do eventually get to see a cuter side to him. You catch him naming his tools at one point, and he eventually opens up to you and clearly wants to share his passion with someone who seems like could keep up with him. Also has a bit of a friendly rivalry with Ryker that could be prime shipping fuel.
Cecil- Self-proclaimed apprentice detective. He's a child in a young adult's body and it can get kind of weird. Obsessed with mysteries, but is pretty bad at them. Short attention span, good with kids, and more likely to spend his day gossiping amongst Rigbarth's rumor mill than doing anything seriously. Loves his brother Martin, who is his only family left. Looks up to Terry as an inspiration, and something of an adopted father. There are hints that something traumatic happened to his parents, but they don't really delve into it too much.
Lucas- Hard to talk about him without diving deep into what little spoilers this game's story has. He shows up late to the party, claims to have amnesia, and spends a lot of his time performing magic tricks for the kids. A weirdo, but kind of a hot weirdo? He ends up working with Heinz at the crystal shop and they fit together surprisingly well. Even as he regains his memory, he still seems to struggle to grasp basic human concepts. Might be one of the most plot important characters other than yourself, and it's kind of wild he's an eligible bachelor.
The Bachelorettes
Lucy- The mayor's daughter, and Julian's big sister. She really leans into the 'big sis' type, but there's an even bigger character trait that essentially overshadows everything else about her. You see, Lucy LOVES competition. She loves it so much that it's pretty much all she ever talks about. It's so persistent and pervasive in her dialogue that she ends up feeling flatter than she really should. The only real standout moment she had was early on she lays the groundwork for her relationship with Priscilla and comes across as intensely defensive of her, going so far as to call Priscilla a princess and demanding the player treat her accordingly. I came away wishing I could play matchmaker and set up romanceable NPCs with each other.
Priscilla- The hopeless romantic. She can come across as what I'd call a "default" romantic option. A character that is clearly into the player from very early on, shy and demure, and almost overly domestic. There is a bit more to uncover about her as you grow closer, but she never really goes beyond being the 'safe' choice in my opinion. The writing will almost make you feel bad for not choosing her, as they write out pretty clearly that she has romantic delusions of the player riding into town and sweeping her off her feet like in her story books. The thing that really stood out about her was that when she was first introduced, a weird glitch caused her head to move like a Silent Hill marionette as she spoke to two different characters and it maybe colored my perception of her for the entire rest of the game.
Scarlett- Your Cop GF. She's the Student Council President type taken out of the school setting and presented as your SEED senpai. An incredible stickler for rules and regulations, extremely focused on finishing things that are unfinished, and a somewhat unhealthy admiration for her father and his life philosophy. She gets a scene where she has to swear off certain puzzles because her OCD has caused her to neglect sleep until she finishes them. Aside from being a marriage candidate, she's mainly here to flesh out SEED and it's activities in Rigbarth. She'll accompany you in various battles (in cutscenes at least) and offer you SEED related tasks on occasion. She's the only half-elf in town but it never seems to be an issue, or even addressed unless you have Margaret visit and even then it's just to remark on how Scarlett is a half-elf.
Beatrice- A member of the royal family laying low in Rigbarth. It's clear early on that she's not used to being away from her palatial prison and revels in being among the common folk. I think her design is cute. The mix of blue, black, white and gold is elegant. The fur around her neck really pops in her character portrait. Her tiara resembles dragon horns, which considering dragons are a big part of this world I can definitely see a royal family incorporating draconic motifs into their ceremonial garb. I'm kind of over the whole "runaway princess" thing, but she plays the part well enough and still manages to be a charming goofball despite it. There is an interesting turn if you decide to pursue her romantically where the game forces you to commit several times while Beatrice explains that at some point she will have to return to her castle and she won't be able to take you with. This could be incredible if they follow through with it, but considering romantic rivals apparently had to be removed from the franchise because of players getting butthurt over losing their waifus, I don't really expect them to stick the landing.
Ludmila- A succubus that feeds on pure emotion and runs the local flower shop. The emotions she needs to feed on range from the feeling of getting hit in the head by a rock, to flirting with the other characters around her, or simply seeing people smile after receiving a free flower. One of her favorite gifts is a rainbow trout with extra poison. They ride the line between making her seem lewd and wholesome very well while establishing her as something that doesn't abide by typical human common sense. Ludmila brings a very welcome dynamic to the village and can bounce off the other bachelorettes nicely. It's just that, in my opinion, her character works better if she isn't your actual partner. Also, girl is BIG AS HELL, easily taller than the other bachelorettes and a good head taller than even the player.
Fuuka- Fuuka is a hard one to deal with. She's a were-animal like Misasagi and Murakumo, but with a twist. She doesn't speak your language. When initially introduced, the idea of someone dealing with a language barrier was incredibly interesting to me. I spent my teenage years around a lot of Spanish speakers in South Florida, and even dated someone whose family mainly spoke a different language, so the idea of having a character here who tackled that sort of dynamic attracted me to Fuuka immediately. The problem is that she's presented as little more than an unusually intelligent dog. Her language is vocalized as cutesy growls and barks, and is described as being "more of a visual language" despite the text giving her what appears to be a consistent vocabulary. She's treated akin to a communal pet, and her presentation doesn't do much to go against that. Her primary interests are shiny things and food, and the only emotions she really understands are fear and safety. There is a backstory there of Fuuka being a world traveler that is interesting, but it comes with the implication that her homeland is 'primitive', which doubly comes across poorly when you consider Fuuka is one of the only characters in this world with a darker skin tone. They could have maybe made it work by incorporating the other were-animals into her situation better or letting the player attempt to learn her actual language, but ultimately I feel like Fuuka is a character with some Problems.
Everyone Else
Gallery
Doug and Margaret- These two get lumped together since they're basically bonus content for having Rune Factory 4 save data on your system. While it's nice to see them all growed up and on their own now, they're more or less walking Easter Eggs and I usually end up ignoring them in favor of the new characters.
Gallery
Yuki and Randolph- These two get paired together since they are defined so much by their relationship. Yuki and Randolph are the local old couple who run the bakery and act as everyone's surrogate grandparents. They're adorable together and very clearly love each other to a tooth aching degree even after all their years together. Randolph has the added depth of being a retired adventurer, while Yuki is the lifelong resident who acts as the heart and soul of Rigbarth as a town. Randolph gets a scene with some of the other Manly Men of Rigbarth where it's made clear that he still has plenty of gas in the tank, but promised his beloved to leave that life behind and meant it. Yuki gets a scene with Simone where she gets to nag her about the mayor's poor health and messed up love life.
Simone- The resident Houshou Marine cosplayer. I mean, she's the resident mad scientist. No, that's not right either. She's the town doctor who also pulls double duty as the mayor. She enjoys a bit of questionable experimentation and makes one too many jokes about whether she needs consent or not, but beyond that she's a pretty competent woman. I mean, she's raising two kids while also acting as the one doctor in a rapidly growing town that she also governs. I dunno, I gotta respect that. Her husband is constantly away on some adventure and while promising to come back to see her, but it seems like that's been the story for a long time now.
Palmo- Palmo Creacie de Sainte-Coquille. The Sainte-Coquille family are wacky characters that constantly appear in the Rune Factory games and they all kind of look and act the same. This one is the resident eccentric carpenter and artist. He's cool I guess, but like I said once you've seen one Sainte-Coquille you've more or less seen them all.
Darroch- He runs the smithy, and looks after Martin and Cecil. He can come off as aloof and intimidating, but once you get to know him better you realize he's a big ol' teddy bear. Kind of has the same problem as Martin where he focuses a bit too much on his work, but years of experience have taught him how to balance his life better. The gag tied to his character is that prolonged exposure to the sounds of working the forge has damaged his hearing to a degree that he constantly mishears people in comedic ways. He also gets a cute scene with a few of the other Rigbarth lifers start going on about his childhood escapades while poor Darroch is left blushing and mumbling about how he should really get back to work soon.
Heinz- The local comedian. Really, he runs the crystal shop, but his entire character revolves around telling bad jokes. I really want to know how well his dialogue translated to English, since he speaks almost entirely in puns and dad jokes. He could be an annoying character to be around, but Heinz manages to pull it off somehow. The greatest joke he ever tells is the one where he speaks seriously and admonishes you for not seeing him as a complete, complex human being.
Julian- The resident kid. He's Simone's son and Lucy's little bro. He seems to develop a rivalry with the player immediately, but is also kind of a wimp. He inherits his sister's love of competition to a degree, but he's pretty bad at winning the challenges he throws at Hina. Speaking of, Julian is defined by his relationship to Hina quite a bit. It makes sense considering they're the only two children in town, but it's also pretty clear that Julian has a massive crush on the new girl. More on that in a bit.
Elsje- She runs the local restaurant and is known to be a pretty amazing cook... If she can bother to actually do anything. Despite her business doing pretty well for itself, she's constantly dragging her feet and having to be forced into doing anything other than sleep. In fact, the whole gag behind her character is that she somehow runs a restaurant while sleeping 25 hours a day. Aside from that, she's Priscilla's older sister and essentially adopted Fuuka into the family after giving her a job. Oh, also she's the most apparent victim of the discrepancy between the 3D models and the 2D art. Her 2D portrait looks like a pretty lady with a bird-like maid motif. Her 3D model looks like a pretty bird maid lady with two smaller bird maids stuffed in her bra. There's also something weird going on with her bangs that makes her face look a lot slimmer than it does in her portrait.
Terry- Terry somehow makes a living as a detective, and has established a local agency where he works parallel to SEED. He's got a bit of mystery to him, and seems to know more about things than he ever lets on. Always cool and collected, ever patient and understanding, he might be the male character I could see people wishing was romanceable. He takes Cecil on as an apprentice, but there are hints that he does it partly out of guilt for what happened to Cecil's parents. They don't really go into detail, but even that plays into his overall mystique.
Misasagi-The resident 'Hot Single Mom In Your Area' who runs the Item shop. She probably has the most outright sexualized design of all the residents of Rigbarth, and regardless of anything else going on with her character, that's just something that going to be staring you in the face the entire time. Aside from that, she's a woman who grew up in Rigbarth but left some time ago with her husband only for her return to coincide with the player's arrival in the village. She has to be rescued in a similar way as her daughter, which leads Misasagi to essentially pledge a life debt to the player. You learn pretty quickly that Misa is intensely protective of her daughter and it's hinted that this likely stems from a tragic loss of her husband some time ago. Other characters go out of their way to mention how scary Misasagi can be when she's angry, and you catch a glimpse of it when she mistakes you for her brother at one point. Misa also straight up offers to murder anyone who threatens you. No joke.
Hina- Hina is the first villager your encounter, saving her from monsters in the forest. She ends up becoming incredibly attached to the player afterwards and is something like a mascot or surrogate daughter character. She's cute for sure, but they can't help but place her in a sexualized context. Firstly, she becomes fast friends with the other child in Rigbarth which very quickly gets framed as Julian having a crush on her and all the adults coyly anticipating them getting serious about it once they're older. Secondly, Hina is Misasagi's daughter. By that I mean, Misa is inherently a pretty sexualized character, and there is a latent expectation that Hina may one day grow to to look similarly to her mother that comes up in text enough to establish itself as a thought the writers want you to hold on to. Lastly, Hina's were-animal 'quirk' is that she is uncomfortably blunt with her words and doesn't really respect personal space or boundaries. This leads to situations were she initiates various forms of skinship, and generally hints at having a childhood crush on the player. Now, trying to look at this as optimistically as possible, there is maybe a way to do this where it's made clear that Hina is confronted with a situation where she has this non-family member who has gone above and beyond to protect her who she then has to work through the appropriate feelings and boundaries with. It may still be uncomfortable and awkward but there's a way to present it as understandable. Instead, they lean into it a bit too much for my liking. There was one memorable dialogue choice with Hina where she mentions how she wants to be like her mother when she grows up. There's nothing wrong with that at first blush, Misasagi is confident, beautiful, and has showered Hina with love her entire life. However, one response leads to Hina replying that she hopes to be able to make boys blush the same way her Mom does, and the other leads to her commenting on how she can't wait to learn how babies are made. They aren't even trying to hide it, and I have very little tolerance for this sort of lolicon bait.
There are a few other characters present, but they're so tied to story spoilers that I'm leaving them off. As I said at the top, there's not much story here to begin with, so I don't want to spoil what few surprises they have.
Overall, Rune Factory 5 is the epitome of a 7/10 game. Or rather, it's the kind of game where the review includes the "fans of the series will likely love it" line. The technical issues can't really be ignored, but there is a solid Rune Factory game underneath the muck if you're willing to find it.
It's kind of cheating, since this is a remaster of a 2020 game, but I was lucky enough to get a PS5 this year and one of the first games I played on it was Nioh 2 Remastered. It might be the only game on this list I'm still actively playing, and possibly one of my top 5 favorite games of all time, so... Yeah, it's my #1 for 2021. It has it's quirks for sure, but if you want to experience a soulslike action game with a ridiculous amount of customization and a dash of Japanese history, or just need something to tide you over until Eldin Ring, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven't already.
2. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
I remember trying to play the first game on 3DS, but the muddy graphics and agonizing control scheme made it exceedingly difficult to put significant time into. I tried playing the mobile version at some point, and while I think that's a superior version, I still couldn't give it it's due. Stories 2 managed to remedy most of, if not all, of those problems. The Switch version maybe has it's issues, but I personally didn't have a problem with it. The characters and monsters are all cute and charming, and the battle system is the perfect blend of simple and just tactical enough to be engaging. I think the premise is really fun, and would love to see more done with the MH:Stories franchise.
3. Monster Hunter Rise
Not really sure what to say beyond it's Monster Hunter. I'm one of the (probably many) people who got on board the Monster Hunter train with World, so I can't really speak on how it compares to previous entries. I can say that the addition of stuff like the wirebug and palamute were really fun and introduced a new dimension to the maps and fights that feels like a significant evolution of the gameplay. The base defense mode was pretty bad, though. I played through to "the end" and just kind of fell off. I'm hoping that the PC release will get me back in, and maybe open up the opportunity to play with people I know.
4. The Forgotten City
In a year dominated by Loop Games, The Forgotten City was probably my favorite. Unravelling the mystery was genuinely compelling, and the ways the game helps you along were really interesting and made the repeating nature of the loop less of a chore. The final boss encounter had me sweating and laughing in equal measure, it's definitely something you have to see to believe. It's not a long game, I think I finished it in two sittings, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in a short mystery story to work through.
5. Deathloop
When this first came out, the more I played it the more I fell in love. The Dishonored games are some of my favorites ever, and the ways Deathloop approaches and addresses the ways those games did things was intensely interesting to me at the time. However, now that I've finished, it feels like the more time I spend away from it the less I like it. With Dishonored, the first thing I did after completing it was start up a new game. With Deathloop, I don't know if I'll ever go back. It's kind of painful to think about, because I can totally see what they were going for here, but I think that ultimately this is a game that manages to be less than the sum of it's parts.
6. Inscryption
I know this game kind of took the games coverage world by storm, with a lot of people singing it's praises and begging the rest of us to play it. I'll admit, that's the only reason I bothered picking this up. I can see why this is so highly regarded, but at the end of the day it's still too much of a card game for me to fully get into it. Even the "surprises" or whatever you want to call them didn't really do much for me. Maybe I've played too many games that pull similar stunts. I want to try to put more time into it at some point, but it became too much of a slog for me personally.
7. Tales of Arise
This was the game I had the highest hopes for this year. It released around my birthday, so I had it pre-ordered and even set aside some of my time off to really sit down and enjoy it. After spending a couple hours with it, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. I wasn't liking it. I put more time into it, I saw how well it was doing critically and in sales, and I told myself I just needed to give it more time. Every hour just pushed me further and further away. My feelings towards it got so bad that I actually started wondering if the Tales franchise has been terrible this whole time and I've just been in denial. I went back and played a couple other Tales games, including digging out my PS3 and putting a dozen or so hours in Xillia. I still like most of those games! I just don't like Arise. I'm glad it did well, and I hope whatever comes next takes what worked here and improves on it, but Tales of Arise is easily my Most Disappointing game of 2021.
I originally played the NieR demo when it first came out, and I... Didn't like it. I WAS going to get Mass Effect: Andromeda, but seeing everything about it once embargoes lifted dissuaded me. I never played the original NieR (I did read a pretty in-depth Let's Play some time ago, if that counts), but the seemingly overwhelming praise for Automata convinced me to put my Mass Effect money on giving NieR a second chance. Now, I'm writing this after having completed all of the main endings.
Going forward, there is something to keep in mind: I love third person action games. I LOATHE bullet hell shooters. Obviously, my personal taste is going to maybe skew my perception of the game as a whole, so if that bothers you feel free to disregard everything I write about it. It's worth noting, however, that I wouldn't have completed the game if I didn't enjoy my time with it.
As far as action games go, while I wouldn't say I'm amazing at them, I've enjoyed Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Platinum games dating back to the Viewtiful Joe days. It took me a while to get into Dark Souls, but I have played them all and I did eventually finish one once 3 came around. On the other hand, my favorite games last year were Stardew Valley and Va-11 Hall-a: Cyberpunk Bartender Action.
I only mention any of that in order to provide some kind of understanding for when I say this:
I kind of hate the gameplay in NieR: Automata.
=The difference between Difficult and Challenging=
When I originally played the demo I wrote that I disliked the camera angles, the bullet hell aspects, and the combat. Having finished the main story threads of the game, I can say I still feel that way about it.
The way the camera is used in general is kind of infuriating. Rather than existing at a fixed point on the player character, the camera exists as a separate character that revolves around the player character. It also doubles as your ranged weapon, making aiming without lock-on a massive pain when you also need to be able to look around you (not to mention how uncomfortable it is to aim at any enemy while also trying to hit one close range).
The color palette and the way the camera pulls out led to more than a few times where I legitimately couldn't tell what was going on, where I was, or who I was controlling.
The bullet hell/hacking segments are either embarrassingly trivial or just kind of annoying.
The game itself is a combination of bullet hell shooter and bullet hell melee, but the melee part lacks the precision of the bullet hell genre.
Terrain/geometry constantly trips you up and gets in the way. Invisible barriers during certain fights aren't a straight up "wall", and can lead to you getting stuck inside them.
-Normal is too easy, Hard is too hard
Normal eventually becomes something of a Musou game. Attacks that would be basically one hit KOs on Hard only chip off a bit of health, and you're seemingly only ever in danger if willingly walk into it.
Hard hit difficult. Not challenging, but just difficult to deal with. Enemies become much stronger, they take more hits, and have more abilities at their disposal. This wouldn't be such a problem if the way you engage them and the world you engage them in were polished enough to make it fair. In Dark Souls when you die you usually have a good idea why and how. It's usually your fault and you can tell why. Maybe you ran into a room without checking for an ambushed, maybe you went for that extra attack when you should have dodged, that sort of thing. Here, playing on hard, I was fighting the game rather than challenging myself. I got caught on terrain. I had control taken from me by story elements. I had enemies get a "free attack" when exiting dialogue or cutscenes. I was unable to target enemies for completely unknown and arbitrary reasons despite being near and looking right at them.
You not only have to deal with a dozen actual enemies, but also the dozens of bullets each of them spew out from dozens of directions. The camera does not make this enjoyable.
2016 has been a YEAR, huh? There were a lot of really good games, and a lot of them came out around the same time. It's made it kind of hard to do a list like this since so much has come out over the last two months that I'm still playing a lot of stuff that may have otherwise left a much bigger impression, but I feel pretty confident in what I'd pick as my favorite games from over the last year.
There's really never been a better time to be playing video games. With that out of the way, here's the good stuff:
As much as I loved the first game, I couldn't help but come away from Cold Steel 2 feeling a little disappointed. While it's predecessor was deliberate and slowly paced, I enjoyed the 90+ hours I put into it 100%. Cold Steel 2 drags in such a way that it shines a spotlight on how well Cold Steel 1 nailed the 'slow but enjoyable' pacing that made me fall in love with it. I never really felt like Cold Steel 2 lived up to it's own potential, and a lot of what it had set itself up to do fell completely flat for me. I still enjoyed the characters and the world well enough, but as soon as I hit the point where it was clear the game was ending my overwhelming feeling was "that was it?"
The Neptunia series has been my 'guilty pleasure' since the Re:Birth remakes. It fills the same kind of spot as Dynasty Warriors in that it's not a great game by any measure, but it's the kind of dumb fun I need sometimes. Neptunia VII does tweak, improve, and streamline enough of it's mechanics that it feels like a welcome addition, but it's still "another one of those games". It came out earlier in the year and I've put a pretty decent amount of time into it compared to a lot of the more recent games, but I don't regret any of it.
Let It Die kind of came out of nowhere. I knew Suda51 was working on something, but I don't think anyone knew it was going to come out like this. Let It Die is a clunky, tedious, and sometimes unfair mess and I love it. This is one of those games that really lives or dies on it's style, and Suda made sure to pour enough of that in here to cover up some of the less desirable elements. The characters and humor are great, despite often falling to the background. The combat-while unrefined-offers a lot of room for experimentation and choice. The online element is ever-present but more often than not provides greater reward than what it takes away. Even the freemium aspect of it is handled well and even finds a way to fit into the oddball humor of the game itself. There will probably come a point where things break bad, but for now I'm really digging it.
DOOM is maybe one of the most perfectly crafted FPS campaigns in years. At least, a near-perfect modern take on the FPS games of yesteryear. It's fast, fun, and frantic. It offers incentives to explore. The music is badass and never fails to get me pumped up to go fight some demons. The only problem is, I've never really been a huge fan of FPS games in general. Knowing that, I initially had rented DOOM from Redbox just to see what the hype was about. I ended up not only beating it, but I went and bought the game afterwards and started over on a higher difficulty. It's really good.
I could never get into Dark Souls. I didn't get the appeal, and the fanbase put me off. I've always been curious though, and I'll usually pick up the latest titles to see if maybe this time will be when I finally "get it". Dark Souls III is that game. I'm not even really sure what it is exactly about it that makes it stand out more than the previous 2 games for me, but whatever it is it had me hooked. I was looking up tips, reading up on lore, participating in the multiplayer stuff, and obsessing over boss fights. It all clicked for me in Dark Souls III, and I finally FINALLY found myself enjoying a Souls game.
I'm not a big "esports" type of guy. Competitive games usually hold little interest for me, honestly. I do play them, but most of the time it would be as a way to spend time with my brother. Overwatch is that, and much more. It's managed to craft endearing, likable characters that also feel varied and interesting during gameplay. It gives someone like me, who is pretty bad at the actual shooty bits of these games, ways to contribute that feel meaningful and worthwhile. It has a sweet lootbox opening animation. It has Mei. While I haven't spent the countless hours on it that some have already, it's kept me coming back for more and I don't see that ending any time soon.
Dishonored is one of my favorite games ever. It's stealth mechanics mixed with weird occult magicks and a grim pseudo-steampunk world really hit me in a meaningful way. Dishonored 2 provides more of that, but where I felt Mankind Divided fumbled Dishonored 2 shines. It's added powers and mechanics all feel interesting and integrate seamlessly into that old Dishonored formula, and the style remains intact in all it's ugly glory. I'll admit I got a bit attached to protecting Emily in the first game, so seeing her all grown up and kicking ass now brings a happy little tear to my eye.
This is kind of a weird one. In simple terms, it's a visual novel with a bartending gimmick mixed in. You talk to and get to know people that come through, and every now and then are prompted to mix up a drink for them. It's not really possible to fail outright. People will take whatever you give em, for better or worse, and you'll sometimes get different dialogue branches depending on what they get. It's not really about that. It's about learning more about these people as you form deeper bonds with them, and watching events in the world go by as you serve drinks in a run down little hole in the wall. It's a real comfy game about love, loss, artificial intelligence, dogs, wrestling, and a very human look at inhuman sex work. It's characters really shine through, and Dorothy and Dana are some of my favorite game characters this year.
Harvest Moon 64 was the first game I ever bought with my own money as a child. I saved up my allowance, and shoved a wad of bills at the cashier at Toys R Us when I finally could afford it. I can't say how many times I played through that game, but I will say it was ENOUGH. Ever since then, I've been obsessed with the series. I played a bunch of Mineral Town and even Wonderful Life. Couldn't get enough of it. Unfortunately, over the years the series has kind of lost it's luster for me. I started falling off after the Gamecube entries, and everything after that has never really hit that same mark from the series' glory days. Even Story of Seasons-which was released by the original creator of Harvest Moon-did nothing for me. Then Stardew Valley showed up. Not only was it entirely created by one dude, but it managed to out-Harvest Moon Harvest Moon. I've lost hours to this game, and even now I have to stop myself from loading up Steam and losing another 48 hours or so.
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