Hyena_socks

Looks a bit cheesy but outside of combat looks to have its own wuxia personality, I’ll keep an eye on this one. Certainly looks pretty.

As you rightly said @Oram77 Lost Odyssey had a similar atmosphere, and Legend of the Dragoon and the Shadow Hearts series (Covenant particularly) had timing based turn-based mechanics.

Clair Obscur brought a lot of sidelines mechanics together beautifully, and showed it’s still relevant and popular, but it wasn’t completely unique gameplay-wise.

I’m still playing through this but many hours in. It’s beautiful, fun and a wonderful world to lose yourself in.

I wish they’d been a bit bolder with the story though, I’d love it if the Yotei Six weren’t comic book villains, and the Vengence was closer to TLOU2’s savagery - instead of just killing obviously bad guys doing bad things

@MrStark including Forza 5 or Indiana Jones would be a little odd - they came out on PS5 this year, but they’re not new games, the latter’s technically 4 years old.

I think it’s an interesting top 10 so far, games I might have missed that would be good to check out.

I loved Dispatch myself - it’s a bit short, but the characters shine through with solid arcs, and a great fun sense of team camaraderie (despite minor questionable stammer representation).

@EfYI I forgot Bloom & Rage came out this year completely, good shout.

Unfortunately I got very near the end of the first half, then hit by the glitch that wiped your save and never went back. I will in the new year though, great story and, as you say, art direction

Monster Train 2 is mine - seems to have glided right under the radar somehow, but it’s every bit as good as the original while feeling fresh

@Svark that’s great to know, thanks! I’ll take the dive next year when my backlog is down a bit.

I always enjoy these top games of the year, I like the variety we often see in interests and passions. Speaks to a good set of staff at a news/review website.

I’m very much a solo gamer, but I have been tempted by Split Fiction - unfortunately my internet is scrappy, so may not be stable enough for it.

@Frmknst over half of them are at their lowest yet dude, not sure where you’re getting your information from.

But money off is money off, if you really want to play a game any sale is nice. And this sale gives you something for the near-eternal January and February drudge

@Jey887 I agree 100%, I’m very much opposed to AI in the creative sector, but also studios are going to explore it.

As long as they’re hiring artists and not cutting creative jobs (and they’ve said, they’re hiring more than ever), then they can dabble. I’d hate if they’re using it to come up with the ideas, but if it’s to flesh out human ideas then so be it.

The studio conditions is new to me though, that’s a surprise, I’ll have to look more into it

Blimey, a sale on a FromSoftware game! I’m still a bit scared to play Elder Ring, I’ve managed to game my whole life and remain terrible at games like that. One day though, when I’ve got the expendable money to risk it.

A lot of people leaping in to defend AI. AI IS replacing artists and creatives, it’s already greatly impacting very real people in very real ways (I personally know artists who have been affected).

Ultimately, the issue is regulation - there is none at the moment. And there won’t be, unless there is a pushback. If we all roll over and play with our yarn, we’re going to lose people behind the creativity, jobs will continue to be replaced, and the impact on the environment will further plummet.

That said, like anything, if used in moderation it’s not an issue. Larian are not a company to remove the soul of a thing, so it sounds like it’s just being used as a ‘soundboard’ for ideas and planning. There should be a lot of humans behind and in front of the creation.

Looks like a bloomin’ strong year, possibly one of the strongest years yet for PS5.

Shame it’s taking the survival route, and looks like you just slowly hack away at materials then bull deposit buildings. It would be cool if you slowly fed the workers to build up your town over time, protecting them as they worked.

But more cowboy games are more cowboy games, hopefully if it’s popular it’ll lead to a couple more that are more my type.

@IronCrow86 I’m playing it at the moment, same as BG3 you can move around normal but you can switch to point and click if you want.

I also thought I just missed there was a PS5 version, was grumbling to myself it didn’t automatically download when I downloaded it last week. More fools me, but good timing!

@SeaDaVie Sadly I’m not sure it’ll leave the gaming sphere, but at least overall this is a much nicer community. Things are slowly changing overall

@nomither6 that’s a rather miserable take. It’s just a game about disability and finding happiness as a kid, it’s something very rarely looked at in games and it’s a unique set up by a unique auteur.

It’s also a game I completely missed. I’ll have to check it out when money allows.

Seems I’m going against the grain, but this sounds a fantastic set up. Sounds like a Manhunt set up, intense horror followed by a frantic intense bloody action hit.

I’m awful at horror games, they scare me and I find them hard to play for long or complete, this set up would really help me play through it all.

Definitely been intrigued by this from the start, great to see some proper gameplay.

The voice acting of the lead sounds pretty grating though, but you can also punch a giant mechanised bear in its stupid face, so it should balance out.

Horrifying intro (I say as a pop punk fan), but the gameplay looks a lot of fun. I’ll grab it on the inevitable PS+ or on sale sometime.

Finally, some goddamn scalie-porn wicker man on my console. I knew Santa would deliver on my weirdly specific request.

Looking forward to seeing some gameplay though, be interesting if they go for a proper third person over the shoulder style or stick to BG3 quasi-isometric hybrid.

@Rich33 That might happen, but it would be costly to close down and move at scale. The sorts of companies that can do that, will often have physical capital in the host country.

Also, hot take to be taken with a pinch of salt, if a company runs away because of a Union, then they’re up to some heinous activity that people are safer away from.

Then again Amazon didn’t relocate, and they’re pretty awful to their employees who I think finally managed to unionise, so a union can also only do so much - but more than without one.

@Rich33 well that’s the case for joining a union, isn’t it?
The point of them is to give power to the workers, so when the Big Cheeses try and do something abhorrent, they’re held to task. If they’re summarily fired without grounds, they will be pressured into either not or giving fair payout.

Even if a company moves its workforce overseas and lets everyone go, they still have to give severance pay, and a union can help ensure and protect that (if not prevent it).

Can’t believe this clear Dog bias. Only ONE cat game and TWO Paw Patrol games?!

But generally a great month, will happily give all of these a go.

I bought it at launch, I’ve not played it for a couple years after all the updates, and it’s still one of my favourite games.

Sticks in the head, superbly fun to play, and some of the best side quests I’ve experienced. It had me at different points whooping, clinging to the edge of my seat, bawling my eyes out and having to step away for a couple days to let parts sink in.

Might just have to boot it back up and get around to the DLC finally.

It’s a bit of a shame it was revealed - it’s like someone loudly explaining magic tricks at the magic show, we might already know but we like to enjoy the wonder and excitement at the time.

Great set up so far - Mirage looked fun but too much of a retread to buy, and Wo Long I was scared to buy incase I was crap at it, but I’ll definitely give both a bash

@Jammer Star Wars has also been cheesy from the start. Can’t tell if you’re Dracula Flow or a Tyromancer at this point

@Jammer Depends, that includes the writers of Andor. Disney has managed to release some of the very best and the very worst star wars universe content over the years.

@JoeNobody I do agree as long as it’s upfront and a human hand is still heavily involved, it’s almost acceptable. But I disagree that no one cares, or people who do don’t game a lot.

I think anyone who’s really passionate about gaming doesn’t want to see creatives pushed out of the job, replaced by increasingly rehashed visual, artistic and gameplay elements.

AI, if left unchecked, will destroy all creative industries. I already have friends directly and significantly impacted by it. So it’s good to see this pushback. I hope it continues.

You can ride a horse on the moon as a samurai-cyborg, of course I’m down for it. That said, I can’t place my finger on it, but something seems quite AI about it all - maybe the look or ideas, something seems off.

That’s definitely a Suda51 game, may they never change! Mad narrative, fun and basic retro arcade action, bombastic visuals and kick-ass soundtrack. Always worth a sale purchase

@Pat_trick I’d argue otherwise, mostly as humans are creatures of routine so everything ends up cyclical.

I feel like they stole a lollipop from a baby, took them into a sweet shop, bought another lollipop, then ate that one in front of the baby too.

I had real hope after the remasters, the games have so much promise for a modern reboot. My final hope is Playstation Studios pick it up for a TV show, or a comic series, but I doubt that too.

Looks a lot of fun, even if they have directly copied every animation from Avatar for the element bending. Looks a good, fun pallet cleanser though - bit like the first Infamous game

I hope no one was looking forward to continuing their Liara/Steve/Sam/Kaidan & Shep romance in the new ME. I sure do love funding governments that have capital punishment or lashing and prison sentences for LGBT+ individuals.

@Romans12 Completely get you, but as Medic_Alert said, if you can stick with it it really pays off. It’s one of those games that gets better and better the more you level up and the more the world opens up.

Side missions become entwined with the main story, characters really grow and develop, the side quests that don’t tie in still end up becoming some of the most emotionally charged and/or dark twisty leviathans you’ll find in the medium. And you can set people on fire with your mind as you scoot around samurai-slicing goons to bits!

It really is worth holding fast

Very clearly referring to a Xenomorph.

@Cavefish all credit to @nessisonett, but with Tarantino it’s obligatory to hammer it home. He is also getting worse with it, so I’d put money down on Tarantino throwing his fetish in everyone’s face again

It’s a superb game. Memorable characters and a genuinely engaging story, even after all these years. The whole thing just has so much heart and warmth to it, this is tempting me back to a replay despite my backlog.

@nessisonett they will between 9AM ET on 27th November and 9AM ET on 1st December.

Get Ready, Feet are Coming.

He didn’t try very hard, and he got pretty far, but in the end it didn’t even matter.

Personally I’m excited to see which we get first, BG&E2, Elder Scrolls VI or the heat death of the universe. I’m excited for two of the three at least.

Those are two fantastic show runners, it’ll be interesting to see what they cook up together.

@Uromastryx it was only this year I spent more time in a single playthrough of a game than Witcher 3, I do have gaming OCD so know exactly what you mean haha

@Uromastryx I think they meant in regards to how responsive the world is to your actions.

Whatever else you might say about BG3, it is incredibly impressive the level of reaction. People are discovering new things after plowing hundreds of hours into the game.

Witcher 3 was amazing at that on a large scale, but I’d love to see smaller scale reactions in Witcher 4. Otherwise more of Witcher 3 with better combat would be sublime

It would be great if it was being used to expand borders and gameplay in the same way 3D was, but instead it’s being used to replace people and cut costs, all at the expense of human creativity.

It’s a shame, seemed like Ubisoft were starting to play with their formula a bit in the last couple releases after a few years of stagnation.

Looks intriguing! Also appreciate the other comments here - looks very stylish, and I actually love the FF cheese of it all.

But I hope we get a genuinely interesting take on Arthurian legend, and it’s not just going to reskin a generic action game with recognisable names and cosmetics. Albeit with corny dialogue and VA

I loved F.I.S.T’s atmosphere and setting, but I find it hard to connect with metroidvania’s - this looks fantastic fun though!

Cheesy lines and action, taking itself a touch too seriously, only adds to its charm - reminding me a bit of Darksiders.

@4fold my man, I’m sure Pornhub will sort you out.

The game has a great set of characters, crunchy, surprisingly violent action at times, and a really fun light-RPG set-up with the dispatch work itself.
There’s not much of an overall plot, but the team all coming together is really charming, and some choices feel important.

Definitely recommend it for a fun weekend’s entertainment