Games. Video Games.

I didn’t play a lot of “new” games this year so most games on this list are games that are “new to me.”

Returnal

While playing this game I am simultaneously loving and hating every moment. A super-state of emotions that very few games ever illicit from me.

The gameplay is so good, the movement so precise that every death is most certainly a result of my own actions. Which is exactly what causes this game to infuriate me.

The game also has a very cool and emotionally effective sci-fi story with one of the best endings I have experienced in any medium.

BF6

If you have been reading any of my posts this year you were probably expecting this one.

It’s good! I’m not crazy about about a lot of the extras that are being thrown into the game; battle passes, weekly and daily challenges, weapons and class abilities being locked behind challenges, way too many game modes diluting the player pool, how XP is treated in portal …etc. However, the central gameplay of conquest (my favorite mode) is perfect. That’s all I need it to be. I will be playing this game for a long time.

Kingdom Come Deliverance

Before I played this game I would not have thought it would be anywhere near my favorites of this year. But with Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 coming out this year the original was on sale for $3. So I had to give it a try.

It is jank-tastic but it is a game fully committed to giving the player freedom. The story may be set in stone but the mechanics of the game allow the player to create their own Henry. It made the act of roleplaying the Henry I wanted to play, very enjoyable.

Every element in this game is designed. Nothing is an afterthought. Meticulous. I can’t recommend a game more.

Sniper Elite 5

I had so much fun meticulously scouring and stealth clearing every level going after a platinum trophy. Not only is the stealth combat loop great, you also get to shoot Nazis in the face…or balls.

Splinter Cell Blacklist

If there is any video game series that deserves a reboot it’s Splinter Cell Blacklist. 

When this came out in 2013 I remember it being lambasted for moving even further away from what the original Splinter Cell games were than Conviction had in 2010. It was worth it. In some ways, this game does “action stealth” better than (dare I say) MGSV.

The story is Tom Clancy Pax Americana hegemony consent manufacturing brain-rot…but also over-the-top fun. Sam Fisher is so cool he’s lame and he’s so lame that he’s actually funny. I love it.

REBOOT THIS!

Honorable Mention:

Cyberknight Flashpoint

This game has so much potential. Like if XCOM added hacking and stealth mechanics, throw in a bit of Cyberpunk, a bit of The Matrix and just about everything my Millennial brain could want is in here.

Yeah it released this year but there’s a reason it’s only an honorable mention: The development is too good. Since its release in June it has had 57(!) updates. These are not chintzy little texture pack updates either, they are often huge, expanding gameplay options and core loop mechanics. I just can’t bring myself to put more time into the game until they’re done updating. Because the game I played in June is not the same game today.

Other Notables:

** A simple injection can temporary remove craving for alcohol that horrifically reminds me that we are just bags of meat and any imbalance of fluids could potentially change your entire personality.

** “Her movie resembles the greatness of those classics no more than a haircut resembles a decapitation.”

** Having not seen the first Wicked, I love experiencing For Good via ripped clips, comic sans captions and garbled dialog to avoid copyright flagging. This is cinema.