A few things to know about this list are that I was very demotivated to play much single player games this year, especially in the back half. The chief victim of this being Horizon forbidden west, and a lot of interesting story based indie games that I otherwise might enjoy a lot.

10. Overwatch 2

This game barely qualifies and only because I needed 10 games to fulfill my own sickness and make the list proper.

That being said, I do think the gameplay changes have made the game as fun as it was when it first launched, the business model and other such things aside.

9. Compound VR

Every now and then I'll find some little VR game that just clicks and I end up playing it for hours on end. This year it was this fun boomer-shooter/rogue-like thing. It's such a blast and it's just pure fun “video game ass video game” time with creative weapons and great modifiers to keep it fresh.

8. Valorant

At some point i just decided i wanted to play a competitive shooter and my love of obscenely over detailed first person animations drew me in, the fun unique characters and abilities kept me playing for a long time. I wasted a lot of money on skins in my short time playing this game but I'll probably be back when they release a cool new character or something.

7. Rumbleverse

Playing Rumbleverse was so wild, it felt really crazy to play such a unique BR after all this time the genre is everywhere but they managed to make something so unique and well built. I sort of fell off quite quickly when the launch had so many problems but my time with it is still really memorable and I look forward to seeing how it grows.

6. Sifu

Still one of the most visually unique and tightest controlling games I've ever played. I think this game is one of the most underrated of the year. It's really special and has some insane depth to its combat system. I cant wait to see what sloclap does next.

5. Hardspace Shipbreaker

The chill vibes and slow methodical deconstruction of a spaceship were among the most satisfying gameplay experiences....ever? It's hard to express in words the experience of perfectly cutting pieces of the ship off and placing them right where they belong and how it just feels-right. The all too relatable story of being a corporate tool and having to deal with inept leadership who doesn't understand anything about the job is quite powerful as well.

4. Vampire Survivors

It seems like every year there is some tiny indie game that just smashes everyone's expectations and stands out in people's minds as THE success of the year and this time it was a little more special because it was EXTRA tiny. This $3-$5 video game is one of the most satisfying and fun experiences of the year. The saga of checking every weekend to see what new and wild secrets have been added was something very special.

3. Lost Ark

In my tradition I should mention I find this game to be deeply compromised by its business model and hesitate to recommend it to anyone with trouble managing their spending. THAT BEING SAID, this is the best MMO i have ever played. Its story is nothing compared to the saga of the star in Final Fantasy XIV, its combat is not quite as satisfying or deep as Black Desert Online, but the combination of the rock solid, super satisfying combat and incredible breadth of content rivaled only by MMOS with many more years of content development can rival make it something extremely rare. A real actual MMO with good combat and good content, deep mechanically challenging raids as the foundation to keep players invested and rich (if compromised) character and account progression to help you feel like you have actually moved forward. The game does have its problems but I'm more than willing to overlook them for the things it does that no MMO has managed to do before.

2. God of War Ragnarok

I loved the experience of playing this game, its beautiful world, its impressive visuals, the melancholy story of inevitability and hope in the face of hopelessness all speak directly to me on such a fundamental level. The combat that makes you feel like you are in control of any of the best choreographed cutscenes in any other action game is something I've come to sort of feel bored of because the depth that is there is a bit irrelevant, but I think that's mostly because they wanted you to be able to execute pretty much anything you could think of, and the amount of unique combat mechanics and interactions they created is staggering. This game is all about the performances and the story though and in that regard its second to none this year.

1. -Elden Ring

Something I mentioned about a lot of the games before this one is how they are “unique” or special. It's been a year of that, a lot of the great games did something very unique. Like vampire survivors is essentially an entirely new genre. This game is here not because it did something incredibly unique, Elden Ring didn't create a new genre but it did DEFINE one in a new light. Elden Ring is the culmination of everything FromSoftware has been making for the last 12 years, more if you include the kingsfield games which do have some lineage with demons souls. Arguably one of the most special game experiences I've ever had is how absolutely immersed I was with this world while playing it. It's a game that has invaded my every thought for months. I thought about where I would go next and what tasks I would do. I set goals for myself within the world because the game did very little of that for you. I decided what my character would use out of the immense arsenal of tools at my disposal.

THAT is what the souls genre is about, YOU deciding what YOU will do. The trick here is that the arsenal really truly is immense, and so is the world. Every step I took I was so sure I knew how much of the world there was left to explore and I was wrong until the very end of the game. When I was sure that I had scoured every inch of some underground area I had found, I would spy an area from a new vantage with some fresh hell for my character to experience or some beautiful new vista that was clearly meant to entice me into further exploration. When I say that it defined a genre it's easy to think I mean the souls-like genre which is true, but it's more than that-it is the definitive open world game to me, and that's why it's my number one game this year.

Caveats and stuff

Endwalker-I mostly couldn’t play this game when it came out due to queue times and errors kicking me out of line. Once I finally got in I was greeted by a very typical mmo expansion starting quests i.e boring tedious discussions and errands that have little to nothing to do with the story I care about. However! As always they are beginning to pay it off here at about the 40% mark which is exciting but I haven’t played enough to judge and won’t until well into the year I think.

The other ff game integrade- I honestly think I bought this and just didn’t play it because it’s on my console and I forgot about it. I fully intend to play it though it looks fun.

The rift breaker, forgotten city, and solar ash are also games I'm really interested in but either didn’t get to or played just a bit of and don’t have any opinion on but wanna play or play more.

10. Hunt Showdown- A late addition that Knocked knock out city off the list, as fun as that was I always liked playing Hunt but the improvements they made have caused me to LOVE playing Hunt now, the additional progression benefits as well as loadouts and more weaponry options spread through the ranks a bit better *chefs kiss* The superb second to none sound design has only improved as time has gone on and overall it just provides a truly unique multiplayer experience. Seriously how many youtubers have to tell you this game is great before it gets popular?!

9. Valheim- This thing hit at just the right time for it to explode and sort of take over all my free time for a weirdly long time considering it was an early access release with plans to add a lot of stuff onto what I think is already a really green, might even say blue foundation (this is joke that you will only get if you played valheim!). As with a lot of these things playing with friends made the experience transcend good and veer into highlight of the year territory with some of the moments made while playing. Thank you for being such a great hijinks factory, see you again soon.

The reveal trailer is very good if you haven't seen it, highly recommend.

8. Back 4 blood- The left 4 dead devs come back and bring the variety of experience up a bit and some fun set pieces. As with most of these games they are at their best when they are a hijinks factory for you and your friends and that’s why the games here because playing it with the lads was a fun time but I mostly dislike the card system because it’s largely irrelevant and the difficulty curve is more like a cliff. The versus mode is a neat idea but it’s not ultimately as good as the campaign versus. But sometimes you just have to freak out as you get vored with the boys.

7. Genshin Impact (Inazuma Update)- Ugh this game is so difficult to discuss. Problematic fave should make a return for this one. This is a game that I really really enjoy for a lot of different reasons at different times. I might be enjoying the actually pretty good story that’s better written (mostly) than it has any right to be. I might be enjoying the shockingly deep combat that has some of the most flashy best feeling moves in any arpg. I might be enjoying buildcrafting with the gear I have at my disposal or making a fun new team. I might be enjoying the stellar exploration and scenery of the game, just getting distracted by some barely glimpsed treasure chest or appealing view. I will tell you what I won’t be enjoying however….and that’s the resin system which gates my access to gear I want, which on its own isn't that bad but the gear is mired in 4 layers of RNG to be what I actually want it to be. I won’t be enjoying pulling for a character and getting something I didn’t want or need, getting a blue weapon which has essentially no value at all to my account. This game is finely tuned and crafted to extract money from you and honestly the hardest part of Genshin is trying to tell if you are getting one over on the game with some of it or if the games playing you. Buyer beware.

6. Returnal- I’ve always been a bit of a mark for house marque or a house marque mark? Anyway I’ve really liked all their games with the retro sensibilities combined with a cutting edge coat of paint. All had a really fun gameplay loop and obviously killer looks so I wasn’t surprised when the game they announced was stunning to look at for their PS5 debut. What I was surprised by was how well their formula translated to a 3d environment, a true 3d environment with verticality being a huge factor. It was a blast to dash around in my Astro suit! More shocking was the compelling and trippy narrative they drip out even if the ending was a bit predictable…or was it?! (It was)

5. Guilty Gear Strive- I hadn’t played guilty gear since I rented it from blockbuster, to give you a timeframe on that, and even still when I did play it I just wanted to make ino do the win pose where she ripped her shirt off.

I was too young and too stupid to fully appreciate what I was seeing other than it was metal and cool as hell. So obviously when they showed the new guilty gear and not only was it still pretty metal and cool but it also was one of the most visually appealing games I’d ever seen I was stunned, I also just happened to be getting back into fighting games with some friends here and there so it was sort of a perfect storm for strive.

4. Deathloop- I was scared deathloop would suck because the parts where you have to engage in all out combat are usually a little lackluster for Arkane games in my experience. The tweaks they made to the combat were enough to kick those fears off a steep cliff. I love this games personality more than any other Arkane game, the text in the world and the radio chatter genuinely made me laugh aloud many times, the writing and performances of the main characters were both incredible and interesting throughout the story. Arkane also somehow managed to sidestep one of immersive sims biggest issues with save scumming by making the entire game one big save scum and removing all consequences, the tighter focus and smaller levels also help this but that also sort of brings us to the games biggest fault in my eyes and it’s the lack of a real “sim” part of the game, it’s immersive enough but outside of a very few moments it never much feels like this clockwork world is connected to anything not within eyeline. The ending of the story also felt quite abrupt and a little bit of a letdown. Honing my skills through repeated runs through the levels and testing my various equipment and abilities out was so enjoyable as were the main cast I did not mind. Not sure why this has multiplayer either.

3. Inscryption- the tone and atmosphere of the first act were so surprising and effective, then slowly you realize this seemingly simple game has some layers which are really interesting and open for creative breaking. It lends itself to those “check out THIS” moments with people and that was great. I wish I liked the second act as much as some others but i honestly found it off putting and was glad to move into the third which I found obviously not as wonderful as act 1 but still enjoyable. I agree with many the overall narrative was a let down but I am here for that first act shock and awe. The pain is temporary

2. Halo- Specifically I’m awarding the multiplayer and the campaign gameplay here and NOT the story. The multiplayer getting a massive boost from coming out in a surprise early release and being free was huge for it and playing it with fully 14-18 people at a time was for sure a highlight of my year (not in high competition but still) the campaign is extremely “Ubisoft” which might sound like a diss but it is not for me, I’ve played countless hours of assassins creed and far cry and this sandbox was honestly just as enjoyable if not more so. The busted ass backwards progression and extremely limited modes may have turned me off playing the multiplayer on a regular basis but this thing seems to have legs, I doubt I've thrown my last batch of grenades.

1. Resident Evil 8- They sold this game as a sort of horror version of an anime thumbnail, the nerdy and inept Ethan Winters surrounded by 3 hot vampire girls and all of them being towered over by the humongous lady D who we all know. We all know ok? This nightmare harem was maybe the highlight of the game but not by any great margin, I genuinely was thrilled and chilled by pretty much every one of the games bespoke almost demons souls areas. Each area was not only distinct in its exploration and scenery but also had a dramatically different gameplay feel, from an upgraded RE7 feel, to silent hill, to dare I say RE4 with bombastic action? I found RE7 to be just good not great so I was not expecting to come away with re 8 being one of my favorite games of the year, but cut my hand off and call me Ethan if it isn’t!

I also just personally love when franchises go out of their way to retroactively explain some of their incredibly DUMB stuff, *looking at you Metal Gear Solid 5*, and this game does that in a fantastic way that I simply did not see coming. So from the jump this game surprised me on every front and I loved it and devoured it.

Honorable mentions

Fuser-This thing might be a bad "game" the story and campaign ranges from uninteresting to actively bad, but these tools are truly amazing and are worth experiencing and playing with.

Mortal shell-Just a good souls-like with some great ideas and execution.

Bleeding Edge-I remain sad that Microsoft and ninja theory sent this out to die.

Deep rock Galactic,Legends of Runeterra-Fun games in their own right but didnt make the cut for various reasons.

Godfall of the year- Godfall

Look....ok I was wrong about this game it sucks shit. I still stand by my statement that they said all the right stuff to get me into this thing and there is *some* potential here...anyway let me tell you about outriders, imagine the division-...

But more sci-fi fantasy like Destiny, see the sci-fi fantasy setting is really the best option for games like this because it gives you the best variety and allows you to have tanky enemies and cool abilities along with some cool guns and-----

The list proper starts here

10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

A truly sweet game, just brimming with good vibes and positivity at a time when I feel like we all needed that. I'm not sure this would have made my list without that because for every improvement they made there seemed to be a very Nintendo-like issue to accompany it.

9. Genshin Impact

A deeply compromised experience is the best summation of Genshin I can think of. Every positive thing I have to say about the game can be countered and cut down by the extremely predatory and troubling nature of a gacha game. Even though I know for a fact you can play and enjoy all the things I like about the game without spending money, the vibrant world, the fun and fast paced combat, the variety of characters abilities and builds around those...it's all compromised because the game is tuned to extract money from you forever, so I understand that not everyone can enjoy it on the same level as me.

8. The Last of Us 2

As tiring as the conversation around some of these AAA "games are art dammit!" titles can be I think it's unfair to lay that hate at this games feet. That's not to say there is no criticism to be had here it's far from a perfect game, the level design can be downright boring and absurdly convenient to the plot, and I think it overstays it's welcome by a decent amount.

The things I like about the game are hard to talk about as well because they fall into two categories, plot spoilers and things that are the direct result of well known long term developer crunch. So I'll just say that the world here is rich and and dense in detail that obviously results from insane overwork. I care about the story here, and I understand why people don't like it and perhaps my reading of the message of trauma and forgiveness is too generous but I don't think so.

7. Call of Duty: Warzone

Warzone is just fun. Blasting enemies with friends in a casual squad is just very satisfying, it may never give me that heart in mouth adrenaline pumping high that other BR games reach but I don't think every game needs that.

6. Half-Life Alyx

Hey guys...they made a new half life game...and it's pretty damn great. It sucks that it was designed entirely around and for VR....no actually that's what's great about it. The thing that sucks is that VR is so difficult to use/obtain/set up. Alyx is kind of weird for me because its really just a more polished version of the 20 other VR shooters I've played already. Here's the thing though, VR shooters fucking rule.

5. Destiny 2: Beyond Light

The Darkness is here. It's not what we thought, all my theories are proven wrong. It does not destroy us, it does not threaten. It gives us a gift instead, it gives us the ability to channel power through a new lens. I think a new perspective is important for more than just adding a cool new set of abilities in the game. Destiny for a long time was *the* game I played and other things were done in downtime. I have changed the way I look at the game, and now it's just one of the many "living" games I play equally. It's let me step back and see that for all it's faults and issues, I genuinely believe it's doing this better than any other. Reddit Status: calamitous

4. Risk of rain 2

Rogulikes are pretty well made for me, I love bottled, accelerated progression in games and this one goes absolutely bonkers with it. They give you a bunch of interesting items at a very fast pace, the builds you can end up with make the already fun base heroes feel incredibly powerful and goofy. The legacy of doing odd out of the way challenges and secrets is still there and breaks up the normal gameplay well. The final boss being unlike anything else in the game was also such a great surprise.

3. Ghost of Tsushima

I really wouldn't have predicted this game would end up so high on my list but honestly over time I just liked the game more and more as I played it less and less like a generic open world checklist machine, instead I played it slowly and casually explored areas as naturally as I could. I wish they had done more with the story, as well done as it is, it feels so by the numbers. That never impacted my enjoyment of the gameplay however, I really appreciated the smooth combat that gave ample opportunity to be a badass samurai or a deadly ninja. The legends update added what is essentially another games worth of content for free with the multiplayer mode, the small amount I played of that left me wanting more.

2. Final Fantasy VII: Remake

Here's something I never thought I would say - I disagree with the popular theory of the nature of this games story. It's not that I never thought I would disagree with people it's more that I never thought I would care, or that the story would be something worth theorizing over. I have a complicated relationship with the final fantasy series in general, as a child of the 90s it was inescapable in games but I have always hated JRPG gameplay so I never really finished any of these on my own. Basically every game that would come out I would try and give up because I love big crazy anime stories, but I can't deal with tedious boring menu driven combat. 15 was the last one, or so I told myself, they will never get me again with flashy visuals and the promise of a more active combat system.

I'm really, really glad I'm so weak willed because I kinda loved everything about 7R. The combat was FINALLY good enough to keep me engaged for the duration (even if just barely) and of course it had all the other trappings of a FF game that I already knew I would enjoy, but it was a bit more than that. This game does two things in it's plot that I think are super important to why it's so good, one is a bit of a spoiler so all I'll say is that it's sort of commenting on itself. The other is that basically every aspect of the game was fleshed out and made modern and better, characters and relationships that were little more than an impression in the first game are some of the most meaningful and important in the game. Jesse is the best example of this for me, a character that I had literally forgotten existed in the first game is genuinely one of the highlights of the game. She's this flirty character who gets to constantly toy with cloud and call him out on being such a weirdo and brooding, if this was truly a dating game she would be the bad ending (which is probably why I like her so much) but over time you learn more about her life and motivation.

There's just so much detail in this game as well, I unlocked a record for this small child and they started dancing and it was such a cute moment I stopped my party to capture a clip of it, and after a few moments Tifa started bopping a little, then Barret, and eventually even cloud was at least tapping his foot to the beat. Moments like that are what separate good and great to me.

1. Hades

Hades is kind of the total package for me, excellent combat, progression, writing, voice work, music, visuals, world building, characterization. I find it difficult to point to anything I don't like generally about the game. So I won't! Instead I'll just keep gushing about how much I love the characters in this game, how well brought to life they are by the voice cast, and how impressive it is the game has so much unique and interesting dialogue.

I'm a supergiant superfan and have been since Bastion. Transistor and Pyre while both incredible in their own ways never really felt as special as bastion to me, Hades is that new bar. It's so easy to just pop in and do one run as well I will probably keep playing it off and on until the inevitable Thanatos expansion (he said praying to the gods). I can't say enough about how good these characters are, there is a reason half the internet is thirsting after the cast, they are so well designed and feel like real people, and hey, what better compliment can you give than your heart ❤️.

What a weird ass year for games, it included a couple of my favorite releases that i think stand the test of time, right alongside some of my most disappointing experiences in gaming ever.

Honorable mentions-They are billions, Mordhau, Slay the spire-These games made an impact and saved me from putting more time than i should into the two disappointing loot games that wont be mentioned here.

List of Shame-Outer WILDS: a game that might be one of those situations where i can overlook some gameplay issues for the fantastic world and story content.

Death stranding(?): This damn game, i still am not sure if this is a thing ill care about in any meaningful way. I've only played about two hours and so far my entire experience is kojima wielding metaphor like a jackhammer.

10. Destiny 2 Shadowkeep

Im not sure this deserves a spot over something like slay the spire....but i love this series. Even when it does things im not super psyched about, i still find time to get the things important to me done. The story and lore implications in this expansion alone, and how they represent a new era for this series, to me, warrant attention and recognition still.

9. Apex Legends

Like PUBG this game took over my free-time completely for a while. Like PUBG, once i was over it, i was all the way over it and havent played much since then. Like PUBG i will probably go through multiple cycles just like this.

8. Mortal Kombat 11

I am not a good fighting game player, but i still enjoy a well krafted fighter, and this is among the best i have ever played. Between the presentation and the story mode, every aspect was very well polished....except the krypt i guess. Like Apex this is largely earning its placing based on the intention to return to it as new DLC stacks up

7. Devil May Cry 5

This is the second best game featuring Dante and Vergil ever, and while its no DmC, its still got more style and character than the previous Capcom entries have ever been able to muster. Its super flashy and fun, even if a lot of the dialogue doesnt quite land and Nero has just...become Dante in most ways it was SSstill a blast to play. SADISTIC

6. Remnant: From the ashes

This is the most shocking game on my list, a game i just happen to catch a Destiny streamer playing because we were between patches....and its this arcane chimera of a lot of my favorite genres-RPG-Shooter-loot game. It just works, it feels good and has a lot of that dark souls DNA that keeps me going.

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Not a lot to say, they did a good one this time.

4. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A smaller scale story told in the Star Wars universe is not all that new anymore, but one told this well still deserves a lot of attention. It also pulls off the metroidvania formula in a really nice way, the stakes for exploring are super low which could easily be considered a negative but i quite enjoyed hunting the coolest poncho, but equally enjoyed just ignoring those areas when i didn't feel like it anymore.

3. Resident Evil 2 REmake

When i was but a foolish 10 year old i rented RE2, and absolutely HATED it. Not until RE4 did they make a game that controlled well enough for me to tolerate it, so obviously a game that controls better and looks better and sounds better along with a better story is an obvious win. This game was just so fun, the map is incredible, the faces look great, almost as good as the hamburgers.

2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

For most of the year I did not think anything would be able to top Sekiro, its the natural evolution of one of my favorite series ever, taken in the direction i could only have dreamed of back when i was fumbling through demon souls not quite understanding what i was doing. Literally the only better theme they could have chosen for me personally is mechs, which, they might still do some day. ARMORED SOULS exists. I believe. This game is heavily inspired by Tenchu, a series that despite its questionable quality i enjoyed a great deal. Ninja tools and mobility are the name of the game and i couldn't be happier wielding them. There are only two things that hold this back from my top slot in the end and its the lack of loot/customization, and the simple raw difficulty. This game is so punishing, and the final boss requires you to be on point through more, for a longer time period than any other encounter they have made.

1. Control

Its rare that i find a game like this, because i struggle with titles that lack significant quality in gameplay i sometimes miss out on games with stories that i would otherwise enjoy.

Control easily dashes out the way of this problem by creating one of the most satisfying games about what is basically a superhero ever made. Jesse strikes just the right balance between feeling like a psychic god and getting overwhelmed by enemy forces. I cannot stress enough how unlikely it is that this game feels good, the more ability and freedom you give a character in my experience the less likely the game works. Not only does it work well here but its also just part of the character, Jesse is the opposite of so many protagonists these days, where they are apathetic she is enthusiastic, where they are reluctant she is ambitious.

It makes perfect sense within her character that she would embrace these abilities and become the best < Director/Protagonist > she can be. In addition to that the supporting characters around her and the world itself are full of personality and some of the best writing ive seen in a game since...well since deus ex was good. Just in case none of that was enough it also has loot and costumes.

This year felt insane both in terms of bullshit happening to me and the rest of the world, it also seems like it was the longest year of my life. I was shocked to find out that not only monster Hunter world but also Dragonball fighterz and far cry 5 all came out early this year which feels like a lifetime ago.

Before getting into my list I have to say my dishonorable mentions is nearly as long as my list itself but specifically battletech and soulcalibur 6 are top of my pile of shame, these games are deeply my shit and I should have played them.

10. Into the breach and hitman 2

You may begin to notice with this entry that I am an unapologetic cheater when it comes to making lists. These are two games I've spent a combined three hours playing, but I already know enough to say they are going to be things I come back to over time.

9. Artifact

Oh boy, this thing has been through some turmoil recently. It's not something I play every day, but sometimes I want to play a card game and this will be the one from now on. The correct amount of depth and rng, systems that remove some of the things that annoy me in other card games.

8. Escape from tarkov

An early access game! Blasphemy? Don't care. This game is incredible, of all the early access games I've played I have seen the most progress here. The risk/reward gameplay still causes my heart to go into arrhythmia even after all these hours. No other game quite captures that feeling of being so deadly, yet so vulnerable.

The games also graphically phenomenal

7. Dragonball fighterz

I'm a casual fighting game player at best, dbfz makes it fun not only to do your basic dragon rush spam but also to learn some of the deeper mechanics with the perfect level of fan service.

6. Marvel's Spider-Man

I love Spider-Man, I love what insomniac is doing with the characters here, the gameplay is a blast. I hope they find a way to keep me more engaged through the middle section of the game next time though.

5. Red dead redemption 2

There were times when I thought I hated this damn game. The more you try and play this game like a game the more it pushes you away. This is an experience, this is a sim, but most importantly it's a story. Trying to run through and check every challenge and mission off as efficient as possible is going to result in tedium and frustration, but if you soak it in, if you take the time to do what you think Arthur would do it will reward you in the end.

I lucked into my Arthur's redemption tale making sense, I decided early on that Arthur had very few limits when it meant providing for his family. That meant he was nearly as bad as he always said he was in the early game. It frames the late game side quests in exactly the way they must be for this story to have it's maximum impact. I also used my horse, Ice through basically my entire game so that special thanks really hurt.

4. Monster Hunter world

My name is Brandon, and I am an addict. I am addicted to loot. MHW came out at a time when my previous loot provider ran out of supply, it was serendipity that it was also fun, had a decent amount of depth, and a lot of cool people I like were playing it. That depth is kind of fake however, and the repetitive nature of the movesets for each weapon drove me back to my old faithful eventually.

3. Dead cells

I think personally the best way to represent speed in a video game is afterimages. The devs of dead cells agree. They are also damn good at making an action game that feels essentially perfect to play. It has some of the most interesting loot of any game on my list, they are able to make some things incredible powerful since they do end up taking it from you if you die.

2. Destiny 2 forsaken

I have so much to say about forsaken, about how it saved my favorite franchise from becoming just another shooter, about how they brought story elements I personally loved and never thought I'd see in the game and put them front and center. It also doubled down on the deep lore, made it even crazier, it's given me and many others reasons to theorize and talk about what's coming and it's wonderful.

At the end of the day though, it's about the loot, of course, and forsaken delivered. Random rolls make every drop at least potentially interesting. It's not a perfect system but it gets better week by week. They continue to deliver raids that are unlike anything else in the shooter space, I love figuring out their crazy puzzles. won't you join me o’ reader mine?

1. God of war

To be honest my top three are interchangeable based on the day. I keep coming back to dad of war, as my top game though. In case it isn't clear I am not super into single player story based experiences. If they are good I'll check them out but I likely won't finish, or even if I do it'll take me weeks. That was not the case with God of war, it wasn't one specific thing, I liked the story it was engaging throughout, yes boy getting uppity was annoying but that was intentional. The gameplay was surprisingly deep and satisfying, moment of the year is recalling the Leviathan axe don't @ me. Punching draugr into dust is quite fun

It's also just the novelty of caring about the story in a god of war game, kratos has never been much of a character so much as an anger and revenge factory. They make that part of his character in this game, they address how bad he used to be, and take steps to redeem him. The loot pretty good as well.

With the Release of the Oculus Rift, most of us are getting our first glimpse at what these headsets are capable of, after hearing how incredible it looks and how amazing it is to occupy these spaces i think we were all excited to see how it actually worked once you got it out of the box. I think for some of us that excitement led to a bit of forgetfulness about how new this technology is, and what kind of experiences should be expected.

I think a lot of us were disappointed when we tuned in, or the few who actually got kits, plugged in and saw what was on offer. Shallow experiences that don't have lasting appeal, simple games that don't explore what this headset is capable of, or ports that simply replace the cursor with head tracking. This gamut i understand and want everyone to understand, is not meant to be watched, these are meant to be seen in the headset and i think thats important, but something Sony gets, that i hope Oculus and the Vive get, is that you have to be able to see something of these games before dropping the money they are asking. In any case, by all accounts there are very few experiences that are even good in the Rift, and none that anyone is willing to say clinches the purchase for them.

Having said that, i think they know. Oculus knows that this is the first step in a long and difficult road. I think you need only to look at the fact that a small developer has 2 fairly full size games games for the Rift, the iteration on VR development is rapid, as new things tend to be.

“We’re on the first step of what should be a long journey of exploration for the industry,” says Price. “Most of us who have been developing in VR right now, have been developing in VR for a very short time, and the rate of discovery that’s occurring right now is pretty incredible, as we figure out some solutions to problems that, in some cases, we didn’t even know existed.”-Ted Price,Pres of Insomniac games in an interview with IGN.

So yes, the Rift store is filled with a bunch of slightly overpriced tech demos right now, and its not looking that much better for the Vive, or even PSVR, but im not making a decision on the tech as a whole based on that, and i don't think you should either. I know, if your like me you felt like obligated in some way to buy in, that if you want this to be a thing, you should vote with your wallet, but i don't think we need to this time...at least not yet. Oculus is taking orders, but even if you order right now you wont get your kit for a full 4 months. They clearly sold every unit they made. I don't think Oculus or Valve, or HTC is thinking this first wave will make them a profit. Maybe they are hoping the games will sell enough to make them a bit while they work on the next (hopefully cheaper) version of these headsets.

Sony, who is making a profit on each headset is a different matter. A week ago i thought i would grab a PSVR at some point this holiday, but after seeing how EVE Valkyrie runs on a PC with a GTX 970, a GPU that is considerably more powerful than the one in the current PS4, i am much less secure in that thought. I now believe that any VR game that is a port will be severely hampered on the PS4, and that is one of the main motivators behind this PS4K/PS4.5 move.

The point is, wait and see, on all this stuff, and i see a lot of people making decisions on the future of VR based on the tiny amount we have seen so far. We have a long way to go before we even see the games that could make this thing big, and even longer to see how small games could be in this things future.

Its odd when a writer you like passes away, as Ryan has, i haven’t been a member of Giant Bomb very long, but i have been digging the site for a while, and have made up time by watching old TNT, and other live shows.

That fact that i am so profoundly upset, yet haven’t met him or even known of him very long is at odds with the void that i know he has left. I suppose it ultimately comes down to this- Ryan, along with the rest of the staff has been with me for at least 3 hours a week for the past 3 years. It really sad to think that a part of the team i loved is gone, that the dynamic has permanently changed, and how terrible it must feel to be in the office without him, because, every video i watched, every I love Mondays, every mailbag, it was clear how happy Ryan was, just to be there with his friends, doing what he loved.

So for as much as it sucks for us, i am so, so sorry for the gents in the office, i cannot imagine.

Hey everybody…its Tuesday.

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