Games
- Played - 50
- Finished - 24
- Physical - 2
- Audio - 6
- Shows - 3
- Movies - 10
10. COCOON Just the right amount of puzzle. COCOON is a highly condensed puzzle experience that kept me on my toes, never bored, and only a little frustrated. The world manipulation tools are the colored orbs and the orbs are the worlds with the puzzles themselves. The puzzles and mechanics are mostly straightforward and only getting a touch too complex and/or tedious when timing comes into play. COCOON pumps the complexity brakes just at the right moment as the orbs can be left in each other layering their mechanical function and allowing for movement between the orbs. Its intense. But the right amount of intense. |
9. Season: A Letter to the Future Video games are overburdened with open world games and I am tired from it. Season: A Letter to the Future fakes open world by presenting one and then splitting it into segments making the exploration more purposeful and manageable. When the journey is the game it makes the exploration enjoyable instead of a tedious roadblock. An odd little narrative journey |
3a. Honkai: Star Rail Another fine product from Hoyoverse, makers of Genshin Impact. HSR has had plenty of time to cook during beta and has had plenty of opportunity to learn from the other Hoyo products. Unlike Genshin, HSR excels on a mobile device due to the simpler interactions. No open world traversal allows for the touch screen controls to be just fine. The combat can be mostly hands off as the mode is classic party line versus party line and turn based. And on top of that the game offers a very serviceable auto battle. It might be sounding like the best part of the game is how you don't have to play it and to some extent that's correct. It offs all the Hoyo staples, entrancing characters, a compelling story, regularly deployed side quests changing up the game play, and at the core a very, very good battle system. The sinister gotcha machine is present but generous for better or worse. Like Genshin what I enjoy most about the game is the team building which also factors into the hands off aspects, ya'know, the better the team the less I have to monitor it. |
2. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon In years previous, I’ve been most impacted and impressed by games that allow me to understand, appreciate, and fall in love with a genre. Armored Core 6 brought that energy. If that was the case, then why not number one on my list? Well, it was really fucking hard. |
I needed to look back at my previous year end write ups to make sure I didn’t put Street Fighter V on it and say “Street Fighter is back!” I didn’t.
Street Fighter is back, baby! SF6 returns bringing its signature larger than life art style, approachable yet nuanced systems, and a much needed shot in the arm to the fighting game scene.
That being said, the single player, Yakuza/Like a Dragon inspired RPG brawler is silly at best. I put in an hour or two and that was enough.