Argyle's GOTY 2023 Thread!

[argyle]

Since 2023 was such a banger year for games for me I decided to be a bit more thorough this year. I’ve ranked all of the games I either completed or played enough of to feel comfortable ranking them. But first, I want to go over the games I dropped for one reason or another. Some of these I’ll definitely go back to, some of these I might or might not go back to, and some of these I will definitely never touch again. These are in absolutely no order whatsoever, really just as they came to me:

Death Stranding
Death Stranding is nothing if not unique. It manages to tell an interesting (in a Hideo Kojima way) story, but the gameplay is definitely the star of the show and is absolutely of the “love it or hate it” variety. Traversing rough terrain while transporting items is 80% of what you’ll be doing, and there is very little in the way of combat to be found. You unlock more ways to handle your cargo, more forms of transportation, etc. as you play and I found it genuinely fun to try to figure out how to get from point A to point B with my cargo intact. However for me this gameplay could not sustain the length of the game, and I lost interest around I’d say the half-way point. A heavy reliance on backtracking doesn’t help matters. Worth a try.

A Hat In Time
Every once in a while a game is praised by most who have played it and from all appearances is exactly the type of game I like - but just falls flat with me. This was one of those times. I honestly do NOT get the praise for this game. Controls, especially for the camera, are finicky. Game design feels like a mash-up of other games in the genre with no cohesion holding it all together. Story is completely non-sensical, which isn’t NECESSARILY a deal breaker but in this case it just felt stupid. There was nothing I found appealing about this game in the slightest, and I have no problem saying I’ve given it a try but won’t be going back.

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
I typically don’t like Compile Heart games. They usually rely on fanservice to cover up cheap production values and generic gameplay. But Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force was one of the rare exceptions. I found the fan service to be tame, the characters genuinely interesting and the dialog funny, and the gameplay was fun and engaging. I consider it a hidden gem JRPG on the PS4. So when a sequel was announced, I was very excited. Unfortunately it had a couple of big flaws that kept me from digging into it deeper. First, there was no English dub. I can get around that, but I prefer English dialog (since y’know, that’s what I speak) and the first game had a great dub. Turns out this was the first Compile Heart US localization to skip the English dub. But that wasn’t what really killed it for me. The first game had explorable dungeons, as you would expect, but this game is completely menu driven. You never move your characters anywhere in the world - towns, dungeons, overworld, everything is just a menu selection. That really killed it for me. I might try this one again at some point if I get it cheap - then again, there are a ton of JRPGs I want to play and I suspect most of them are better than this one. Time being finite and all, the odds of me going back are low.

Shadow Warrior 3
There’s a new genre name that’s come up in gaming that I personally hate - “Boomer Shooter”. Mainly because all the kids throwing the term “Boomer” around these days apparently have no idea what that even means. At any rate, this would probably fall into that category. It doesn’t have a throwback art style - it’s actually a pretty flashy looking game - but gameplay-wise it adheres to the old-school FPS philosophy of “move fast and keep shooting - there’s no such thing as cover”. I had a lot of fun with this one, but I trailed off for whatever reason. I could definitely see myself going back to it if I get in the mood for this type of game again - I don’t recall anything about it I didn’t like. I was playing it on Gamepass, and one side effect of that is that I don’t always feel a real attachment to the games I’m playing. It’s easier for me to put them down & move to something else, because I didn’t pay for them anyway. That’s pretty much what happened here. That said, I wouldn’t mind owning this one at some point.

Immortals of Aveum
This game is stupid. I downloaded the trial and started playing it - I think because there were some reward points tied to playing it or something. So I grabbed it & fired it up, and after a little bit Tam comes through and I tell her “This game is so stupid.” She looks at it a few mins, then leaves the room. A little bit later she comes back - “...why are you still playing it? I thought you said it was stupid.” “It is.” *keeps playing*

In early December it went on sale on the Xbox digital store for literally $8. The deluxe edition. The game released on Aug 22 for $70 ($80 for the deluxe edition). Yes, I bought it.

It’s dumb, but it’s dumb fun. It has 3 types of magic, red/blue/green and a rock/paper/scissors type of system to some extent but still it looks like you’ll mainly be using one or two “go-to” spells (I definitely had favorites that I was sticking to during my short time with it). It looks good technically - art direction isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s serviceable. Controls well. I’ll fire it back up when I’m in the mood for something mindless.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
I have tried to get into this game twice now and bounced off of it both times - I’m not sure I have a third time in me. Nothing about this game really grabs me, and everything it tries to do I’ve seen done better elsewhere. I think I enjoyed the setup for VIII a lot more than IX as well - the building up your settlement on the deserted island angle, finding survivors and bringing them back, etc. combined with the flashback sequences that were really intriguing. By contrast the city in IX doesn’t do much for me, and neither do the characters I’ve been running into. With RPGs in particular, if they aren’t great then I feel like they aren’t worth my time because they are such a huge investment.

Final Fantasy XVI
This is a great linear action game with RPG elements, and a really crappy Final Fantasy game. I got probably a third of the way into it and something else pulled me away - I’ll get back to this one eventually, but I’m not in a huge rush to do so. I mean, it’s a lot of fun. The combat is very well done, and switching between magic types (summons/whatever) is easy and adds some neat twists to combat. The story is even pretty interesting, even if it is set in a very brown/grey world that’s feels more Game of Thrones than Final Fantasy. But that’s the rub, nothing about this game feels like a Final Fantasy. Every once in a while there’s something like, “hey, a Chocobo!”, but you can’t just toss in a few traditional elements and call it a day. Heck, I even read somewhere that they weren’t going to put Chocobos in originally but changed their minds. They should have called this something else and started a new franchise. And they NEED to go back to basics with Final Fantasy. Give me a colorful fantasy world, tech hybrid or FF9 style I don’t care, and bring back the ATB battle system.

Street Fighter VI
I really enjoyed what I played of this one. I made a custom character and was really digging the unique single-player story/adventure mode. I think it just fell victim to PS5 syndrome for me. Have I mentioned that I *hate* the PS5 controller? I do! It’s physically painful to use thanks to the sharp edges they replaced the previous curvy handles with. Why did they do that? I DON’T KNOW! I got SF5 on the PS5 because I think I had some psn store credit at the time, but I wish I had grabbed it for the Xbox instead. I also wish Sony would let me use PS4 controllers for PS5 games - turn off the haptic crap, I hate that too - and just let me use a comfortable controller! *sigh* Yeah, I’ll definitely be playing more of this at some point. I’m going to have to either come to grips - pun fully intended - with the Dual Sense controller, or find a good third party alternative that’s comfortable to me.


I'll start with the ranked games next.

[isthatallyougot]

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
But that wasn’t what really killed it for me. The first game had explorable dungeons, as you would expect, but this game is completely menu driven. You never move your characters anywhere in the world - towns, dungeons, overworld, everything is just a menu selection. That really killed it for me.

That sounds terribly unfun.

Shadow Warrior 3
I was playing it on Gamepass, and one side effect of that is that I don’t always feel a real attachment to the games I’m playing. It’s easier for me to put them down & move to something else, because I didn’t pay for them anyway. That’s pretty much what happened here. That said, I wouldn’t mind owning this one at some point.

Yeah, I feel the same way about game sub services. I let my PS+ sub expire years ago and never missed all the "free" games. (I mean I almost only play on PC now, but still.) And I only subbed to Gamepass one time on a 3 months for $1 deal. I got my money's worth then, playing 12 games, but I *much* prefer owning my games for one, and secondly, I cannot stand the idea of games being on a "timer" even if an invisible one. I like having my own library, and the ability to browse and play as I feel. And I just hate the idea of any sort of ongoing "sub" in general. In fact I am subbed to *zero* digital services at the moment. (other than my phone plan I guess, lol. Well that and Humble Bundle, but I can pause that every month, and often do.) The trend companies have of finding new ways to perpetually siphon money from your wallet just agitates me on a cellular level, and I don't participate in that sh*t!

Street Fighter VI
I really enjoyed what I played of this one. I made a custom character and was really digging the unique single-player story/adventure mode. I think it just fell victim to PS5 syndrome for me. Have I mentioned that I *hate* the PS5 controller? I do! It’s physically painful to use thanks to the sharp edges they replaced the previous curvy handles with. Why did they do that? I DON’T KNOW! I got SF5 on the PS5 because I think I had some psn store credit at the time, but I wish I had grabbed it for the Xbox instead. I also wish Sony would let me use PS4 controllers for PS5 games - turn off the haptic crap, I hate that too - and just let me use a comfortable controller! *sigh* Yeah, I’ll definitely be playing more of this at some point. I’m going to have to either come to grips - pun fully intended - with the Dual Sense controller, or find a good third party alternative that’s comfortable to me.

Every time anyone mentions *any* fighting game the only thing I can think is where is my next VF? It's by ****FAR**** my favorite fighting game franchise. For me, nothing comes close to the depth and finesse of that series. But SEGA seems to not care too much about it. So sad.

Having said that, I looked at the SF VI adventure mode, and that does look really appealing to me. But just bring me a new VF with an expanded and further enhanced kumite mode, and I'm all set.

I'll start with the ranked games next.
[/quote]

I've also got Death Stranding in my backlog and have been tempted numerous times, but haven't jumped in yet. I've still got to play MGS4 and 5, ha. Not that they're the same, but I'm still behind on Kojima.

Glad you're getting around to your rankings. Looking forward to it.

[argyle]

I think you will probably enjoy Death Stranding even more than I did, since you probably have the patience to see it through to the end. And I'm also behind on my Kojima games - I need to play MGS3 & 5. Here's hoping the remake of 3 holds up.


18. McPixel 3

The best way to describe the McPixel series if you’ve never played it is that it’s WarioWare, but dumber. If you’ve never played WarioWare? Hrm. Well, it’s a series of very short minigames that you are thrown into with very little context. In McPixel, there’s always a bomb to be dealt with, but the way in which you’re supposed to deal with it is the puzzle. It’s usually completely ridiculous, often nonsensical, and well…that’s the appeal really. It’s not a game you play for long sessions - it’s pretty much the definition of a “pick up and play” game. Something you kill a few minutes with. And it succeeds in that with flying colors. I have no issues with it, and I enjoyed the time I put into it - but it’s last on the list simply because it can’t really complete with the more fleshed out experiences I had last year. Still, it’s a solid recommend for a time killer if you’re not adverse to playing a silly game.

17. Fantavision 202X

Fantavision isn’t a game for me, it’s a tradition. It’s something I play once a year just because, and I have enjoyed it over the years for what it was. It’s a very unique puzzle game with extremely quirky and charming cutscenes in-between levels. I never in a hundred years expected a sequel to it but…here we are. And I’m pleased to announce that it is 100% Fantavision, right down to the cut scenes. Whoever was in charge of this loved Fantavision possibly more than I do, and I thought I was the only one alive who still played it. This will now be my new annual 4th of July game.

16. Ryse: Son of Rome

I didn’t *really* get into the XBox until this gen, so I missed out on some of the exclusives from the XBox One. Especially the early ones, and it doesn’t get earlier than this since Ryse was a launch title. You wouldn’t know it from looking at it, as it still looks fantastic. Gameplay-wise it’s a pretty standard but solid linear action/adventure game. It has a very solid story backing it up, much better than it needed to be honest. And while the gameplay doesn’t break any new ground, it doesn’t always have to - sometimes it just needs to be really good at what it is, and in that Ryse succeeds. Definitely glad I went back and gave this one a go, as I’d go as far as to say it’s a real hidden gem.

[isthatallyougot]

I didn't know Fantavision had a sequel. I've only played the original for a few minutes. Maybe I ought to rectify that.

I have Ryse in my backlog. I thought it always looked really good, but I know it's got kind of a mixed reception.

[canedaddy]

I just dropped $1.99 on McPixel 3. Gotta be worth that much.

[argyle]

15. Nuclear Blaze

What first put this game on my radar was that I heard it was developed by the same devs who made Dead Cells, which I loved. That’s partially true - it’s made by ONE OF the devs who worked on that game, not the entire team. Still, it ended up being a really fun sidescrolling linear action/adventure game.

The premise is unique - you’re a firefighter going into a mysterious underground facility to try to put out the fire. Along the way you’ll find upgrades, environmental puzzles, etc. The pixel art is top-notch, one of the ones that feels like an artistic choice rather than just a way to cut corners. There are no enemies in the game but still tons of action as the fires themselves often behave as enemies. My only real complaint is that it’s short, and I was enjoying it enough for it to have went on a little longer. Still, it has some interesting-sounding additions if you decide to replay it, which I most likely will at some point.

14. Starfield

Oh man…I have kinda dreaded talking about this one. Where to start? Starfield is…a Bethesda RPG. That tells you most of what you need to know. Talk to NPCs to gather a large list of quests, discover “faction” quests that are often better than the main story, pick up everything that isn’t nailed down, and sidestep the expected Bethesda jank. This is a good game, it really is, but it isn’t a GREAT game. I enjoyed my time with it - I didn’t finish the main storyline (I may go back to it at some point) but I did play through 2 or 3 of the long faction questlines along with quite a few other side quests. I put a lot of time in it. There are high points - the ship construction is neat, some of the storylines (especially the space pirate questline) are really good, and the gunplay is fun if not the best FPS ever.

But some of the core design aspects really bring the game down from what it COULD have been. You don’t freely control taking off & landing on planets like you do in something like No Man’s Sky, instead it’s menu driven. What they did borrow from NMS was the resource gathering, an aspect I didn’t care for in either game. The main issue is, well, space. In something like Fallout or Elder Scrolls, on your way to your current quest goal you’re likely to be sidetracked by a dozen different things, and at the end of the day those “distractions” are what make those games great. You feel like you’re just wandering the countryside & falling into adventures. But since everything is so spread out in Starfield, and traveling from planet to planet (or system to system) is all menu driven, there is very little of that spontaneous discovery.

At the end of the day the game is worth playing, but it also makes me want to play Fallout.

13. Two Point Campus

Back in the early 90s I was primarily a PC game. In those days, my absolute favorite developer was Bullfrog. In my eyes, they could do no wrong. I would go so far as to blind buy one of their games I had never heard of before (Remember pre-internet gaming? Back when you didn’t know months or years in advance that a new game was coming?) and still loved it. One of their last games before their unfortunate demise was Theme Hospital. It was a hospital simulator with a very healthy sense of humor and a very high level of polish. All of the controls, menus, systems, etc. just felt right and were very easy to understand while still having a ton of depth. It was one of those games that you could play for hours and not even realize it. And I assumed it died with them.

Then an indie dev by the name of Two Point Studios came along and made Two Point Hospital, and if you had told me it was Bullfrog that made it I would have believed you. It was the sequel to Theme Hospital we never got, and it was perfect. So how did they follow it up? By taking the same concepts and applying them to running a college - Two Point Campus. It takes everything great about TPH and improves on it while perfectly capturing the humor of college life. I lost hours to this one as well, and will most likely lose a lot more - it’s one of those games that’s evergreen, you can just keep coming back to it. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a good sim.

You are given goals to reach - tuition earned, number of students enrolled, etc. You have to balance everything from providing the classes requested and enough dorms to entertainment for the students and break areas (and time!) for the staff. But the way things are layered on, you never really feel overwhelmed. And when you start getting too comfortable with one campus, a new scenario is opened with a new theme and new challenges. Addictive doesn’t do it justice.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good sim.

[isthatallyougot]

It's hard from me to know what to think about Starfield, given the general reception. On the one hand, I generally love Bethesda's open-world rpgs. On the other, I can see the scope being a detriment rather than a positive, as you and many others have touched on. I'll pick it up one day cheap...someday.

I have Two Point Hospital in my backlog and always thought it looked really fun. I never played any of the old Bullfrog titles, but in concept, they're interesting to me.

I also have Nuclear Blaze on my wishlist, but I didn't realize it was very short. (It's pronounced Nucular. )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzfN6bI70fE

[argyle]

It's hard from me to know what to think about Starfield, given the general reception. On the one hand, I generally love Bethesda's open-world rpgs. On the other, I can see the scope being a detriment rather than a positive, as you and many others have touched on. I'll pick it up one day cheap...someday.

I have Two Point Hospital in my backlog and always thought it looked really fun. I never played any of the old Bullfrog titles, but in concept, they're interesting to me.

I also have Nuclear Blaze on my wishlist, but I didn't realize it was very short. (It's pronounced Nucular. )

I don't want to discourage anyone from playing Starfield because it IS a good game. But keeping expectations in check is key.

I think I blew through Nuclear Blaze in a couple of days over 2 or *maybe* 3 normal-length game sessions. That said, it's still well worth playing, just keep an eye out for a really cheap sale.

And your video reminded me of this classic:

[isthatallyougot]

I don't want to discourage anyone from playing Starfield because it IS a good game. But keeping expectations in check is key.

I think I blew through Nuclear Blaze in a couple of days over 2 or *maybe* 3 normal-length game sessions. That said, it's still well worth playing, just keep an eye out for a really cheap sale.

And your video reminded me of this classic:

Yeah, I didn't feel like you were "anti" Starfield. And, to be clear, I still expect I'll enjoy it. I've never cared too much about "consensus" when it comes to what I'm willing to play and, ultimately, enjoy.

And I'd never seen that vid, lol. One of those things that just somehow slipped through the cracks for me I guess.

Edit: It won't let me quote your full post because it says I can't use "media" board codes. Maybe something with the recent changes?

[argyle]

Let me take a mintue to discuss genres. Crim has touched on this before - I know he *hates* the term "Metroidvania". I don't like it either. I'm also not a fan of "souls-like" or "rouge-like/lite" - but that's a discussion for later. Not only do I not like the term Metroidvania, but I also don't like how some people misuse it. A 3D third person game where you happen to find items to unlock areas is NOT a "Metroidvania". Neither is a 2D game that has linear progression with minimal or no exploration. IMO, the 2 main things that make a "Metroidvania" are 1) It has to be a 2D sidescroller and 2) It has to be non-linear with a heavy focus on exploration. To that end, I propose a new term that I will try to remember to use going forward: Sidesplorer.


12. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

As much as I love the Castlevania franchise, the handheld entries went largely ignored by me when they released. The same goes for Zelda and Metroid, really any of my favorite series that had handheld entries. I’ve just never been much of a handheld guy. I did get into the DS retroactively a few years ago (before my close-up vision went to crap) and managed to play through most of those Castlevania entries, but I wasn’t able to give the GBA games a go. So thankfully Konami released a collection of the GBA games with a few bells & whistles for consoles.

I played Circle of the Moon in ‘22, and was underwhelmed. The map was confusing and the difficulty spiked pretty sharply at points. It didn’t “feel” like an “Iggavania” - and I later discovered that’s because it wasn’t. So Aria of Sorrow was a return to form. This one WAS directed by Igga, and it shows - the map flows in a way CotM’s couldn’t dream of and the difficulty was much smoother. I didn’t necessarily care for the card mechanic, since some of the drops were so rare - there was a LOT of grinding to get some of them, and I know that it wasn’t necessary but…I guess my completionist brain kicked it. I also seem to recall using some of the built-in cheats a couple of times to get past some of the bosses, just because I wanted to move along. So in the end it was a definite improvement over CotM but still not quite up to some of the better DS entries like Portrait of Ruin, and of course nowhere near Symphony - but then again, that’s one of my all-time favorite games so nothing will likely touch that one for me.

11. Souldiers

At one point while playing this game I would have told you that it was a lock for my top 10, probably even top 5. And I’m still very conflicted on it. But in the end, I couldn’t justify it. Let me start with the good - firstly, the game is absolutely gorgeous. It has some of the best pixel art I’ve seen, and I was constantly impressed. Absolutely loved the aesthetic. Gameplay is a mix of a sidesplorer and an action RPG. I know, I know - many sidesplorers have RPG elements, but they are VERY prominent in this one. For one, you actually choose a class between Scout, Archer, and Caster at the start and each one plays very differently. I went with the Archer and really enjoyed the ranged attacks and other abilities that class offered. I would say I’d love to replay to try out the other classes, but…well, I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s not only xp & leveling involved in the game, but also skill trees and equipment. So yes, very much an RPG. And all of that stuff is great - the abilities you gain, for the most part, are substantial and feel like you’ve earned something. The skill tree doesn’t fair quite as well - some of the unlocks on it I found to be great helps, while others weren’t even really noticeable.

The game is basically divided into “overworld” traversal and city exploration, where you mainly are either picking up quests, and dungeons. The dungeons are massive and are made up of mazes of rooms and puzzles. Some might say TOO big. Me. I’d say they’re too big. They’re impressive, but they tend to wear on you before you finish them. And often it’s very confusing to figure out where they want you to go next inside of them, let alone how to get there. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it feels like a good movie that could have been great with a little prudent editing.

The difficulty became too much for me around the middle of the second dungeon, but turning it down to “easy” alleviated that issue. Make no mistake, easy isn’t “easy”, I’d say it’s what the standard difficulty should have been and highly recommend that anyone who plays it should just go ahead & start at that setting. Some of the platforming late game gets pretty hard, and there’s no setting that will help that. One timed section in particular in the penultimate dungeon had me pulling my hair out. I actually put the game down at that point for a couple of months before coming back and finally pushing through. Doing so searching online for tips I quickly discovered that EVERYONE hates this section of the game and found it just as frustrating as I did, so I felt better knowing I wasn’t alone.

The game is very long overall - my save says 40 hours. This is one of the issues with wanting to replay it with the other classes, it’s just a very big ask for me.

None of these issues are why the game didn’t make my top 10.

This game was very poorly, sloppily ported and no effort was made after release to fix any of the issues. I first noticed very bad “stuttering” - pausing would be more accurate - when I was playing the Switch version. Just after the first dungeon it became unbearable. The game would freeze for a split second in the middle of the action or while I was trying to make a jump, and it was just enough to mess me up. So I figured, “OK, this is just a bad Switch port” - that happens, tho not usually with 2D games. I sold my Switch copy on eBay & grabbed a PS4 copy from there. And it was BETTER, but it still wasn’t good. The game would still freeze for a split second - not as often, but enough, and it only got worse the further in I played. Also, the game would hard crash WHILE I WAS SAVING. It did this probably 4-5 times throughout the game - hard crash to the dashboard, always while I was saving. The first time it happened, it corrupted the save. You know that little warning about not turning off your system while the game is saving? Yeah...someone should tell this game that. The only thing that saved me was I was able to very quickly download my last cloud save before the corrupted one was uploaded. I still lost a couple of hours of play, but that was better than the alternative (and honestly, I don’t know that I would have started the game over from the beginning for a third time).

I’ve talked a LOT about this game, and that’s because the highs of it are very, very high. I still recommend it if you have the patience for the minor design issues and more irritating technical issues - OR if you play it on PC, where I hear it runs fine. The design issues are blemishes on a fantastic game, annoying but able to be overlooked in light of everything the game does right. Probably the result of the game being mainly made by one guy. But the technical issues are unforgivable IMO, and those are what kept this out of my top 10.

10. Evil West

Speaking of flawed games…man, Evil West is a real throwback to the glory days of the PS2. Crazy linear action/adventure games that are short on story and big on over-the-top action? Yes, that’s all here in spades. You are basically a cowboy vampire hunter in a third person shooter with tons of blood & explosions. The game is a blast, and early on it felt perfect - it was challenging but felt like it was giving me the tools I needed to succeed while teaching me to play better. I felt like I was getting better at using the different moves & abilities to combo enemies and come out on top. I was probably 2-3 hours in or so when I hit my first wall: the first real boss.

See, I had fought what I had *thought* at the time was a boss earlier and managed to succeed, so I was unprepared when I came to the first screen-filling boss and got my rear end handed to me. Several times. Finally, I begrudgingly turned the difficulty down & made it through. Gone were my thoughts of the game being “tough but fair” - but I was still having a blast, so no big deal.

As the game went on, it started becoming more of a slog. The game delights in throwing wave after wave of enemies at you in a war of attrition. Not only that, but it combines enemies in groups that are downright evil - no pun intended - their abilities playing off one another to make your life very difficult, and increasingly un-fun. This went on until I believe the next-to-last level where I gave up, finally broken - even the “Story” difficulty setting I was playing on being beyond my meager skills.

There is still a lot of fun here, and I still recommend it in spite of itself to anyone craving that early ‘00s style of gameplay. But I feel like some more playtesting would have probably resulted in a more balanced - and fun - difficulty. One that would have allowed me to actually finish the game.