La5t Game You Fini5hed And Your Thought5

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Really rough opening to this which resulted in me nearly quitting a few hours in, but sticking with it paid off with a JRPG adventure that topped its predecessor in some ways. 8/10

Steamworld Dig: Again, really rough start to this - constant backtracking and no real charm to exploring. Unlocking new items eased the backtracking issue, but I was never really blown away by the level or world design, nor did I have a great time exploring, sadly. 5.5/10

Beat Cop: It's a bit like Papers Please with its whole idea of not following procedure to tackle different plotlines. It definitely overstayed its welcome towards the end and constantly writing tickets for cars grew dull fast as there's not enough variety in the different actions you carry out. 6/10

OMORI: A well-written indie RPG in the vein of Earthbound with good music? You know I'm going to love it. And I did. The combat is just fine, but I loved this game for the story it told and the characters. One of my favourite games I've played this year. 9.5/10

No More Heroes: Loved the vibes and the tone of the game and I enjoyed the boss battles - didn't really dig everything else around it. The side missions ranged from passable to infuriating, I hated driving that dumb bike and there was general sense of the game not aging well. Still, you can't deny the charm and style that the game has. 6.5/10

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe: I played the original back in 2012, but it's been long enough that the jokes in the old stuff still landed with me and the new stuff was a great treat too. I wouldn't say that it's riotously funny or anything, but it's clearly well written and the Narrator does a great job of keeping you engaged with his voice acting throughout. 8/10

Picross S: I bought this on a whim as I was jonesing for some Picross and a chorus of disappointment came up from you lot. I didn't understand why at first, but having sunk a big chunk of time into it now, I get it. There's no charm here like there is in the like of Mario Picross or what have you. It's a perfectly serviceable Picross game, but there's better options out there. 6/10

Donut County: A fun diversion for a couple of hours. It was obviously going for that Katamari vibe, but I don't think it had the same charm as those games. Inoffensive fun, but nothing I'll remember in the long run. 7/10

It Takes Two: Yeah, really good this. It has that marriage between gameplay and storytelling that you've come to expect from Josef Fares, but unlike his previous two games, this is just a great game to play even ignoring the storytelling part. It's a really snappy, fun platformer and definitely one to check out. That book will haunt my nightmares forever though. 9/10

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: Good, but didn't quite capture that same special quality from the likes of Symphony of the Night or Portrait of Ruin. There was just something a bit off visually and with the combat too. Still, an easy recommendation if you like any of the Metroidvania style Castlevania games. 8/10

Disco Elysium: Easily one of the most interesting games I've ever played. I've been meaning to go back to this at some point and to try and play it with a different character style because I know I'll have a totally different experience - such is the quality of this game's writing. If I was to throw any criticism its way, I will say it can get a bit too rambly and wordy at points and that can grow tiresome towards the end of the game, but there's no denying that this is a special game. 9/10

Cat Quest: Cute and charming little action RPG, but definitely outstays its welcome. The quirky dialogue and overall vibe did grow old pretty quickly and the combat absolutely does not stand up for a long RPG. It's fine, but I'd recommend only playing the main story and avoiding going for the platinum trophy. 6/10

The Outer Worlds: I was constantly comparing this to Fallout New Vegas as I was playing this. It doesn't hold a candle to that game as I found the way the factions interacted in FO:NV to be so compelling, but this is still good in its own right. The characters are fun to hang out with, I enjoyed the main quest and liked it enough to get the platinum. The DLC was also very good too, actually. The combat was serviceable if nothing amazing. Recommended. 8/10

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War: I really enjoyed this. I know it got a lot of flak back at release for really trying to drive home microtransactions, but they've stripped that out and the end result is a great LOTR game. The story would likely have Tolkien spinning in his grave at points, but the gameplay loop of recruiting orcs, forming bonds and rivalries with them and having them rise up through the ranks is really enjoyable. The endgame loop of defending and invading fortresses is not as enjoyable, but luckily that's been shortened dramatically with patches. 8.5/10

TOEM: This was a cute and fun time. It was a very cosy game and one I appreciated greatly as I was playing it alongside the decidedly not cosy Overwatch 2. Some of the areas were a bit of a pain to navigate - looking at you, mountain area with your painfully slow climbing bits - but the charm never wore off and I enjoyed this quite a lot. 8/10

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series: This doesn't reach the heady heights of the likes of The Walking Dead Season One, the Batman games or The Wolf Among Us, but this was a solid adaptation and representation of the Guardians that stood on its merits. It definitely leaned more towards the style of Telltale games where your actions don't have a huge amount of consequence, but I liked this well enough. 7.5/10

Grand Theft Auto V: Heard of this hot new game? This was actually my first time every playing through the story to completion. I do think Rockstar's mission formula really shows its age nowadays, but when this is firing on all cylinders it is absolutely phenomenal. The missions with all three characters were all standout moments, each feeling like action movies in their own rights. Rockstar clearly know how to make a compelling open world too. The PS5 improvements were nice little touches too - things like a car actually feeling harder to steer as it gets damaged through things like the adaptive triggers and enhanced rumble. 9.5/10

Cat Quest II: My criticisms of the first one still stand and as this is a longer game the negatives stand out even more to be honest. I'd imagine this would shine in co-op, but as I played this solo, I didn't have the enjoyment of playing this alongside somebody to hide the negatives. 6/10

God of War Ragnarok: I adored the 2018 God of War, so I had high hopes for this. It met them. The story was absolutely terrific - it maybe didn't hit the emotional heights of its predecessor, but I still loved it. The music, the characters, the twists and turns... it made for a wonderful journey. The side content is even better than the 2018 game in my opinion - there was one side area where the area changed dramatically as you did different quests and this opened up new areas to explore and it made the side questing feel consequential. The combat was terrific - it still retained that weightiness and held up throughout the whole journey. Bloody brilliant. 10/10

Bastion: Don't know what drove me to replay this, but it was fun revisting Supergiant's first game. It definitely shows its age and I think it's quite fiddly to play on consoles compared to with a mouse and keyboard, but the writing and overall tone that Supergiant excels at is still there. 7.5/10

Transistor: I went on a mini Supergiant kick here and moved onto their next game. I love this game - I think the combat is so clever and really encourages experimenting with different builds and playstyles in a way that I didn't get from Bastion. I love the futuristic aesthetic. The audio - both music and voice acting - is still a standout as it is in every Supergiant game. Easy recommendation. 9.5/10

What Remains of Edith Finch: Whilst there was certainly more going on in this from a gameplay and writing perspective than there was in Dear Esther, I couldn't help but be reminded of that game as I slowly trudged around this house, exploring the tragic lives of the Finch family. It's fine, and I know other folks on the forum would get more out of this than I did, but it wasn't for me. 6.5/10

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: Another Guardians game, but this time it's Square Enix's effort from last year. I really enjoyed the writing in this - the dialogue between the Guardians and the portrayal of said Guardians really shone throughout this. I can't say I was as enthused with the combat - playing only as Star-Lord meant the enemies felt like bullet sponges half the time and there wasn't a lot of variety in what you can do as him. I definitely found myself just spamming everybody's abilities in the closing chapters and rushing through each combat encounter, which isn't a great sign. 7.5/10

Telling Lies: Really dug this. Obviously, a game like this lives or dies on the acting and writing, but it stuck the landing. I really enjoyed piecing together what was actually going on and the lead actor - he played Shaw's boyfriend in Prometheus - did an incredible job of playing an emotionally abusive liar. Really strong performance from him - the rest of the cast did well too. The only down side is that navigating the menus and finding each video file definitely wasn't as intuitive as I'd liked, but I still enjoyed this a lot. 8.5/10