I could whip together a TL;DR off all the reasons why I think Mass Effect: Andromeda was a perfectly fine game in spite of itself, but I already blogged about that earlier this year. Suffice it to say, tempered expectations, Bioware ironing out a lot of the worst technical flaws and being one of the people who was already let down by Mass Effect 3's kitchen sink storytelling helped me mostly enjoy that game for what it was.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is honestly a strong contender. I waited until the run-up to New Colossus to give it a go, and found a game with a decent if shambling story tacked onto a stealth shooter with terrible stealth mechanics and level designs that left the player in a state of constant confusion about where to go next. Almost every scenario was bold or unique in some fashion, but this game just couldn't stop getting in its own way. And the final boss is possibly the worst designed boss in a big budget, AAA, story-driven game since, I don't know, Uncharted 2's General Who-Gives-a-Shit?
I thought Firewatch was going to be the jam, even though I hadn't really played most walking sim titles to that point, but even my non-gaming girlfriend at the time said halfway through that she'd rather watch me read potion recipes in The Witcher. I suppose I can't say I expected the game to be great, but boy did I not get what I thought I would out of this one.
My last pair of honorable mentions are a pair of games that are listed among the very greatest games of all time by those who were lucky enough to click with them. The Witness is a lovely idea and a haunting world, but me and the puzzle-loving, non-gaming then-girlfriend gave this one a real honest shot and just fucking withered from it in short order. If we played this game for even 5 hours total I'd be surprised.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, meanwhile, presented me with six hours of a game that was shaping up to be perhaps my favorite game of the generation. The generic enemy combat was super fun on its own, the traversal felt great, and the bosses while a different kind of challenge gave me the same exhilaration I'd gotten from Bloodborne once I finally clicked with that game and obsessed over it for a full summer. Then came, as I've said probably thirty times in different capacities, the circle of death known as Lady Butterfly, Genichiro, Seven Spears, Snake Eyes, The Lone Shadow Longswordsman (who, I confess, I did eventually beat one of the three times I reinstalled that game desperate to get good after watching a stream) and Ashina Elite. I have spent between three and ten hours with each of these bosses. I know all their tells, I know what makes them angry, happy, sad, horny, excitable, depressed. And they all know how to kill me before I can kill them. Each of them scored a special place in my heart, and if I never see them again I'll be the happiest boy on the planet.
I liked the early game enough that I've still placed Sekiro 9th on my Game of the Year ballot, but never have I cooled on a game so thoroughly as I did that one.
Anyway, my actual most disappointing is the NBA 2K series. My favorite sport, my favorite casual conversation piece, and something I logged countless hours in franchise and online gameplay year after year since Two Thousand and Four. And that's the problem. Basketball has changed so much in the past five years, but 2K still plays like its Dreamcast/PS2 origins, so it no longer fully resembles real basketball. All the series' resources have gone to MyPlayer, a mode I've never cared for, and MyTeam, a mode that should be my very favorite thing in all of video games but instead plays like the most predatory carnival barker sideshow experience you can find without leaving your home. The release date of NBA 2K used to be akin to a holiday for me, but I didn't buy NBA 2K19 until they suckered me with a $2.99 price point on PSN after the Finals; even at $3, I barely got through a handful of games before uninstalling it. NBA 2K20 is the first installment I straight up haven't bought since the earliest days of the franchise, and I see no reason why 2K21 will change my mind as there's simply no way it'll be able to provide the graphical "wow" factor the upgrade from 2K13 on PS3 to 2K14 on PS4 did.
Mass Effect: Andromeda may be the most famous example of a franchise killing release in this generation for most, but the stretch of NBA 2K17/18/19 for me was like witnessing the killing of a sacred animal while tied to a chair.
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