List items
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Okay okay okay okay, if you were to add yet another circle to the Venn diagram, this one might be specific to just me (which makes it extra special): competitive games with meaningful patch notes. Like Dota 2, my last competitive obsession before this, patch note release day was a legitimately exciting reason to geek out over a word document. Balking at weapon balance changes and character tweaks is my brain's shorthand for telling me that this game matters a LOT to me.
There is a great mix between the fast paced gameplay of a call of duty and the slow crawl of PUBG that lets Apex excel at generating stories. When you can get a good story out of every big fight, winning an entire round just becomes a cherry on top.
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If we were to theoretically add a fourth circle to the Venn diagram, survival horror absolutely deserves a large circle, I have a huge affinity for the older take control resident evil games. Remaking one of the best games in the series with a fresh coat of paint is one of the safest bets you can make to capture my interest. The overhauled visuals combined with a lot of smart quality of life changes elevates this from a nostalgic throwback to a fantastic stand-alone entry to the series.
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If a demanding coop and deck building rogue-likes are my Venn diagram of interests, the third bigger circle is definitely management sims. Oxygen not included broken down to its most basic elements forces you to build a perfectly balanced ecosystem... with plumbing. This game is a masterclass of problems and solutions cascading seamlessly together to create an amazing efficiency machine.
One of the most challenging loops in the game early on involves water: your colony needs water, when they use the water it creates polluted water, which is filtered into clean water, the water needs to be heated to kill germs that grew in the water which in turn also needs to be cooled down to be used again. There are resource loops like this one all over the game, and they are a delight to figure out and master. Getting a good grasp on the mechanisms turns this into one of the most satisfying "lean back and look upon your creation" type games.
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As a lapsed FromSoft fan, Sekiro was a breath of fresh air. I've seen some people lamenting the loss of stat distribution and distinct builds but I think that was the exact change I needed to push through this game. Getting stuck on a boss here didn't mean I invested my points poorly or that I had to change my playstyle for a fight. There was something comforting and reassuring about knowing that everyone fighting a boss had the same toolset that I had, I just had to grit my teeth and learn the damn fight.
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Deck building rogue-like, four words strung together that immediately demand my attention. It feels like deck building rogue likes are a dime a dozen recently, so it takes a special one to rise to the top. Slay the spire succeeds in the sheer volume of content it has to offer, no one person has the same session of play. Ask anyone for a favorite relic, card, even character and everyone has a different answer. Even knowing what deck you want to build at the start is no guarantee what deck you actually end up with by the end, and the experimentation and improvisation is half the fun!
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I just started this game a few days ago and am absolutely in love with it. The world of Control drips with atmosphere between the sharp writing, stunning visuals, and exceptional audio design. At some point playing the game I was actually mad that the game was constantly delivering stunning environments for me to explore because I didn't know where to stop and take a break. Of all the games I've experienced this year this is one to play to soak up the atmosphere, stunning brutalist architecture and cosmic horror blend into one of the most unique and well realized settings I've ever seen for a game, let alone this year.
I have a feeling that by the time I end up finishing Control, I will regret not placing it higher up the list this year.
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A lot of the discussion around this game when it was released described it as a souls game with guns. This isn't an inaccurate take on the game but the real draw for me came from the procedurally generated campaigns. Playing alongside a friend revealed just how different our games were, weapons that I swore up and down were the best didn't show up in their game, armor that they got in theirs never appeared in mine, even bosses would change between our campaigns. Throw that randomness on top of a cooperative "dark souls with guns" and you get an exceptional experience.
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I only just played this days before writing this list so maybe there is some recency bias. It's rare that a game I finish seems to get better the further away I get from finishing it. Talking through some of the themes and listening to the album puts my mind in a place where I just want to experience it fresh all over again, even if I didn't have the best time actually playing it. The ending of this delivers a beautiful touching message that will probably stay with me for a bit.
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A lot of people would put destiny high in their list of live service loot games, but the division has always occupied that spot for me. This series has always seemed to lean harder into character builds and a more demanding cooperative experience for me, which is exactly what I want.
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This would probably be higher on my list if I had more time to play it. The bits that I have played however build on an already strong foundation of the previous total war games with the addition of a strong diplomacy system that feels like you are actually bargaining with someone who is already planning to stab you in the back. The romance of the three kingdoms story and aesthetic is also beautifully crafted and implemented with a Chinese ink painting motif.
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