Post by Nester the Lark on Dec 31, 2023 10:30:21 GMT -5
As has been usual for me in recent years, I haven’t played a lot of new games. Instead, I prefer to play fewer games, but spend more time with them. Of those games, however, there have been some interesting surprises.
This won’t be a ranked countdown list. I will pick a personal favorite game of the year, and then go over everything else in alphabetical order. I also won't include random stuff I played on NSO.
My Game of the Year:
Fire Emblem Engage
This game was a surprise in how much my attitude changed about it from its original leak to finally finishing it. While a game obviously shouldn’t be judged based on early leaked screenshots, I was still convinced they were fake. When the official reveal confirmed the game was real, I wasn’t sure what to think. But as I saw more of it, I quickly warmed up to it. Even Alear’s design, which took me the longest to come around to, I now genuinely love and appreciate.
The actual game is almost everything I needed it to be: addictive strategy, satisfying combat animations, tons of customization options, a lovable cast of goofy characters. The story is often the most criticized aspect, but despite being fairly straightforward and lighthearted (or maybe even because of those things), it clicked with me.
Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is that a Fire Emblem game, a series that I often find to be a bit stressful to play, ended up being my comfort food game of the year, and the one I kept coming back to most.
Everything else (alphabetical order):
Clockwork Aquario
I finally picked up this game when it was on sale for about US$3. It’s mainly a historical curiosity, being an ambitious restoration of an abandoned arcade game from the early ‘90s. The game, itself, is quite simple and easy (even on the hardest difficulty), and doesn’t have much depth, but the graphics and music are superb. Worth checking out for a Wonder Boy fan like myself. I feel like I easily got my money’s worth.
F-Zero 99
When it was revealed, I was one of the few who were excited to see F-Zero return as a 99 battle royale game, but even cynical fans quickly realized how well the series works in this format. I was concerned about long-term support considering Nintendo already announced there wouldn’t be any new tracks added, but the addition of the Classic Race, as well as the current “Frozen Knight League” event show that it can still be updated from time to time.
In any event, the game is a nice reminder of how great this series is.
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails
Despite its namesake, this game has little to do with the main Trails series. Likewise, even though it’s an action-RPG, it’s not just an Ys clone. Nayuta is unique enough to stand on its own as a superb dungeon crawler that’s also a reminder of why Falcom is a master of its craft. It’s a shame that it’s largely flown under everyone’s radars.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
I often find myself wanting to say more negative things about this game than positive, but that’s not really fair. It’s only major fault is that it feels a bit too similar to Breath of the Wild, and a lot of the additions come across to me as superfluous. However, it’s still built on a solid foundation with a number of improvements. Dungeons are much closer to what I wanted from this style of Zelda game, I enjoyed building up a party of helpers, and it was fun to see how the world changed over the years.
Oh, and Tulin. I love Tulin.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
When the year started, was I expecting a new 2D Mario game that would end up ranking among my personal top 3 favorite 2D Mario games of all time? No, I can definitely say I was not, but here we are. Finally, a 2D Mario game that made me feel the same way I did when playing the original NES and SNES games back in the day. I honestly didn’t think it was possible.
Looking forward to the unannounced DLC.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
As a finale to the Klaus story arc, Future Redeemed is a fantastic love letter to the Xenoblade trilogy, as well as the larger “Xeno” series. Without going into spoilers, if this game is truly meant to hint at the future of Xenoblade as Tetsuya Takahashi said, then it’s quite an intriguing future, indeed.
This won’t be a ranked countdown list. I will pick a personal favorite game of the year, and then go over everything else in alphabetical order. I also won't include random stuff I played on NSO.
My Game of the Year:
Fire Emblem Engage
This game was a surprise in how much my attitude changed about it from its original leak to finally finishing it. While a game obviously shouldn’t be judged based on early leaked screenshots, I was still convinced they were fake. When the official reveal confirmed the game was real, I wasn’t sure what to think. But as I saw more of it, I quickly warmed up to it. Even Alear’s design, which took me the longest to come around to, I now genuinely love and appreciate.
The actual game is almost everything I needed it to be: addictive strategy, satisfying combat animations, tons of customization options, a lovable cast of goofy characters. The story is often the most criticized aspect, but despite being fairly straightforward and lighthearted (or maybe even because of those things), it clicked with me.
Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is that a Fire Emblem game, a series that I often find to be a bit stressful to play, ended up being my comfort food game of the year, and the one I kept coming back to most.
Everything else (alphabetical order):
Clockwork Aquario
I finally picked up this game when it was on sale for about US$3. It’s mainly a historical curiosity, being an ambitious restoration of an abandoned arcade game from the early ‘90s. The game, itself, is quite simple and easy (even on the hardest difficulty), and doesn’t have much depth, but the graphics and music are superb. Worth checking out for a Wonder Boy fan like myself. I feel like I easily got my money’s worth.
F-Zero 99
When it was revealed, I was one of the few who were excited to see F-Zero return as a 99 battle royale game, but even cynical fans quickly realized how well the series works in this format. I was concerned about long-term support considering Nintendo already announced there wouldn’t be any new tracks added, but the addition of the Classic Race, as well as the current “Frozen Knight League” event show that it can still be updated from time to time.
In any event, the game is a nice reminder of how great this series is.
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails
Despite its namesake, this game has little to do with the main Trails series. Likewise, even though it’s an action-RPG, it’s not just an Ys clone. Nayuta is unique enough to stand on its own as a superb dungeon crawler that’s also a reminder of why Falcom is a master of its craft. It’s a shame that it’s largely flown under everyone’s radars.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
I often find myself wanting to say more negative things about this game than positive, but that’s not really fair. It’s only major fault is that it feels a bit too similar to Breath of the Wild, and a lot of the additions come across to me as superfluous. However, it’s still built on a solid foundation with a number of improvements. Dungeons are much closer to what I wanted from this style of Zelda game, I enjoyed building up a party of helpers, and it was fun to see how the world changed over the years.
Oh, and Tulin. I love Tulin.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
When the year started, was I expecting a new 2D Mario game that would end up ranking among my personal top 3 favorite 2D Mario games of all time? No, I can definitely say I was not, but here we are. Finally, a 2D Mario game that made me feel the same way I did when playing the original NES and SNES games back in the day. I honestly didn’t think it was possible.
Looking forward to the unannounced DLC.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
As a finale to the Klaus story arc, Future Redeemed is a fantastic love letter to the Xenoblade trilogy, as well as the larger “Xeno” series. Without going into spoilers, if this game is truly meant to hint at the future of Xenoblade as Tetsuya Takahashi said, then it’s quite an intriguing future, indeed.