Llamageddon

The 3 games I've had the most fun this year (not necessarily the best) are:
Astrobot
Black myth wukong
POP the lost crown

Well done to all the devs involved in the games nominated!

Never doubted Nomada, GRIS was excellent. Looking forward to picking this up!

@themightyant I felt the same way with this being high up my steam wishlist. This review is the lowest score with sixth axis giving it a glowing 9/10. Thinking this might be a sale game rather than must buy ATM though.

Half way through chapter 4 now and the wife and I have been really enjoying it. Bravo to the Devs for their hard work paying off.
I look forward to the expansion!

Also Neva coming out October 15th. Astrobot, space marine 2 and wild ***** also on the wishlist

@Bentleyma The devs have been pushing back against the soulslike label and consider the game more of an action adventure. The combat is quicker and dodging takes prescience over parrying.
Though maybe waiting for reviews to drop is still the safest option regardless.

@RagnarLothbrok I agree which is why I stated that concord will more than likely be a flop. More looking at the wider gaas experiment where they only need a couple of projects to succeed to make it worthwhile.
Personally I've no interest in gaas, mmo or multiplayer in general but I am aware that the community on pushsquare is not representative of the larger gaming community (in particular casuals who prefer to spend all their time with a handful of games)

@Old-Red To be fair there was a lot of doom and gloom surrounding Helldivers 2 before release. People saying we don't want these kind of games, it was going to bomb etc...
Turns out most of the customer base don't visit/comment on sites such as these.
Helldivers is a success, foamstars a flop, concord looking like another flop. But if marathon or fairgames also finds success then playstation will probably consider this gaas experiment a success.

My favourite demo of recent memory was Stick it to the stickman. It was so fun and addicting, can't recommend enough.
Pretty certain the demo is still available too.

Tried the demo on steam and had high hopes because I loved the cartoon network aesthetic. Personally found most of the mechanics a bit clunky and was left a bit disappointed. Tails of Iron 2, Bo: Path of teal lotus and Wild Bast*rds demos were all fantastic though.
Love a next fest for informing my future purchases!

I chose Astro Bot, AC Shadows, Black Myth, Flintlock and Plucky Squire from the list.
Hopefully might see Neva, Windblown, Phantom Blade Zero and SCHiM out this year.
Another great year for gaming despite some early doom mongering from some parts of the gaming community

@Rob_230 I believe the phantom blade zero Devs have distanced themselves from the souls like tag as they believe it doesn't apply to their game.
I think I remember reading somewhere that Black myth wukong will have difficulty options.
Hopefully that can assuage some of your concerns on those titles.

Went for the time option. Way too much on the 'to play list' to spend an inordinate about of time grinding one game.

Also so many talk about the rush after finally overcoming a hard boss but for me it's relief immediately followed by dread that I'm about to go through that stress all over again on the next boss.

To each their own though.

@Airsqueeble Difference being, if you added a hard mode to easy games nobody would complain.

Been looking forward to this and glad to hear it's a solid game. All the cons will hopefully be patched out, so definitely a purchase in a month or two!

@JeongersGaming Given the sh*tshow that is the internet, your comment seemed like standard fare tbh. Don't get me wrong I'm glad that it was intended as satire.
Loved the lost crown and got high hopes for this iteration of the prince. I agree with you that it's in good hands.

@JeongersGaming which race is purple in your view? Seems to just be an artistic choice to me, but sure make it about 'woke' culture 🙄

@GamingFan4Lyf There seems to be group of people who believe that by buying Xbox games, it will result in more ports, disenfranchising existing Xbox gamers and ultimately killing the rival console.
Seems a bit silly as competition is healthy for an industry but at the end of the day if that's what benefits the shareholders then most then that's what will happen sadly.

@Gediminas I actually agree with those predictions, I thought you were suggesting push were gonna give RotR a really high score. I must've got the wrong end of the stick, my apologies. DD2 certainly looks the better game overall

@Gediminas The article states famitsu's rating is sky high, if you read the whole article you would see that in push squares initial preview they had been enjoying it but had reservations.

@GeeEssEff I get it, I've got No Rest For The Wicked on the brain too. Possibly my most anticipated game this year.

@ErrantRob You might be confusing this with the game 'Repo Man' which is similar but with more of a future art nouveau aesthetic.

I was interested but as a highly stylised hack and slash/RPG. Just not into the tactics side to this game which is a shame. Hopefully it still produces the goods for those still looking forward to this though.

@zhoont I think 'Exiledge' was another game in the china hero project. Most haven't released yet but they all have trailers you can check out on YouTube.
Forged In Shadow Torch is a metroidvania that was part of the project and was well recieved

@tabris95 At least that's a different style of game. Enotria: the last song (a souls like) releases that day too, I feel for those Devs!

Looking forward to this since playing the demo on steam but damn is the protagonists voice grating

Really good state of play. That death stranding 'trailer' was just complete and utter kojima, genuinely thought it was about to end like 5 times. Things looking up for 2024

Been playing the lost crown, really enjoying it so far. The controls are buttery smooth even if the story is a bit meh. Beyond that I've been going through all my steam demos I downloaded to clear space for the next batch coming in Feb next Fest. Highlight was definitely stick it to the stickman - addictive chaotic fun!

@Grimwood I agree Ori is great but why limit yourself to one metroidvania! Do you do that with other genres? If you're not feeling the lost crown that's obviously fine, just seems like a weird comment

Having played the demo on steam I'd say the score is fair tbh, took it off my wishlist. Stick it to the stickman demo (on steam again) on the other hand was so addictive and fun.

Got the demo on download, can't wait to jump in. Will have to be truly outstanding for me to loosen the purse strings at the moment though

I really like the look of this especially if they do the morality system well. Not being a big JRPG fan, Feb isn't as stacked for me personally. Looking to pick up this, ultros and possibly the inquisitor for Feb.

@CharlieChooChoo I can't stand twitter either but that did make for an interesting read, thanks for that.
Had no idea the China hero project was so expansive and interested in hearing more about the India hero project

@zekepliskin Thanks for the advice, will have to look into deals in the UK market as I can always pick it up next time I visit family.
Perhaps I might have to convince my other half of how good the deal is especially as she is the bread winner ATM 😃

@zekepliskin ''🤯 Often means I end up kicking someone in the head on my horse, rather than getting off the horse, and then sheriffs come 🔫🤠'' - that did make me chuckle and sounds like an absolute nightmare!

''The Steam Deck is great but like the Switch it owes it's existence to, it's already starting to struggle with graphically innovative games, sadly'' - totally agree which is why I use it almost exclusively for Indies or Xboxs future AA offerings like towerborne, dungeons of hinterberg, south of midnight.
Will possibly pick up a series console at the end of the gen if they have some AAA's I really want to play (hasn't happened yet). I'm thinking fable, clockwork revolution, everwild, blade all have real potential.
Having recently moved to Malta and living in a reasonably small flat I think my other half would kill me if I bought another console now though!

@Fiendish-Beaver why does everyone forget dungeons of hinterberg, I think it looks like a great slice of AA fun

@Titntin Thank you for such a reasonable and balanced comment in a sea of entitled nonsense. I agree that an exclusive is an exclusive regardless of 1st/3rd and quality is all that matters. Q1 looks great and I'm sure if nothing else 3rd party will make this another great year for gamers everywhere.
I currently have more Xbox games on my wishlist (towerborne, south of midnight, dungeons of hinterberg) but that's mostly because they've announce more games.
Nice to see a positive perspective and I wish you happy gaming for 2024

@get2sammyb I can absolutely appreciate that. I think I enjoyed it so much that I immediately got greedy for more 😁. Anyway hats off for a fantastic article that I found truly engaging. Happy gaming for 2024

@MrMagic I see passionate people on every gaming website comment section I visit tbh. For me life is too short to be mudslinging on behalf of mega corporations so I largely don't engage but am always interested in different people's perspectives. Let's be honest there's nobody on push/pure even half as toxic as a number of trolls on ign! Happy gaming for 2024, Q1 looks pretty stacked already.

@OldGamer999 For me it's the opposite, I've always preferred symmetrical thumbsticks and have become a creature of habit since the PS3/360 days. I always get confused on my steam deck whenever a game has an Xbox controller layout, X isn't where it should be for me!
I mainly asked as my 3rd party machine would always be my main console, can't remember the last year that a 3rd party game wasn't either my favourite or the one I spent the most time playing (maybe ghost of Tsushima)
Anyway here's hoping all the consoles have a great 2024 and long live a competitive market!

@zekepliskin Appreciate the detailed response and that all seems reasonable enough. For me the constant switching back and forth to different controller layouts would drive me crazy, maybe I'm just a bit simple though😃. Personally I have a PS5/steam deck setup so I have a portable option and don't miss out on pc/Xbox only. Happy gaming for 2024

@OldGamer999 Out of interest you say the series x is your 3rd party machine, was that also the case in the preceding years when you spent more time with the PS5. If so that's mighty impressive the playstation was used more despite not using it for 3rd party. Also (again out of interest) why do you choose the series X over PS5 for 3rd party?

Would love to see more articles like this, huge indie game fan and find their games always have a lot of layers and heart to them.

@Olmaz I absolutely concur that it'll be a lose lose situation no matter how rockstar handle Lucia due to the sorry state of affairs that is social media discourse. I have faith it'll be a banger and I'm more than happy to ignore the noise.
Genuinely appreciate your reply that expands on your conclusions, happy gaming for 2024

Some great picks there, I went for plucky squire, Neva and hauntii. Also really looking to early access Hades 2 and windblown for my steam deck. Gonna be another great year for Indies!

@Olmaz I think if the humour/satire has been watered down it won't have anything to do with the game having a female Latina MC, it would have just been the direction rockstar has chosen to go in. I find it hard to believe they would do it specifically because of a choice of a lead MC.
I personally just see this game as rockstars take on a bonnie and Clyde/true romance, simple as that.

Seen my error, should have read the article more thoroughly. My bad

The article seems to state that hogwarts legacy got more votes than Alan wake 2, I assume that's a typo

Love the look of this game but it's biggest issue is that it releases same day as dragons dogma 2! Definitely gonna be a case of reviews to inform which I get first

@TheEnygma Love the shout-out for Hades 2, definitely my most anticipated game bar none!