Far be it from me to say there are too many lists of Games of the Year. While the video game industry has had abrutally bad year in terms of treating its staff like human beingsand/or allowing them to speak when they succeed, there have been a stunning number of incredible games and alsoStarfield. BetweenZeldaandBaldur’s Gate 3andAlan Wake 2, there are literally at least a dozen different releases that would’ve been Game of the Year in another time.
Which is absolutely great! But there are - and, I’m sorry, this isn’t a bit - a lot of amazing material that isn’t on the big lists. And, yeah, before I dig into this, I know that at least some of this stuff is going to have appeared on a listsomewhere.I have not reviewed all the gaming media lists. One day I might. My career oscillates between no time and all the time on Earth, so it’s not like that’s an impossibility.
Personally, I just want to see these games succeed. They’re not massive. They’re not going to blow your butt off and make you grow a new butt to blow off again. They’re simply great experiences that are worth checking out even if they didn’t walk home with the world’s ugliest awards show trophy. Or if they did and nobody seems to care anyway. You know what? Let’s just get to the list I have to think up now that I’m in too deep.
The Making of Karateka
I cannot emphasize how good this collection is. I’ve been a sad little pissboy sycophant for Digital Eclipse for years for good reason: My life is empty, so I have to fill it with things. But also, they’re one of the few companies that actually care about video game history in terms of education and preservation. I don’t mean “they care about re-releasing old shit for IP cash.” I mean they genuinely put historical context into their releases.
The Making of Karateka, similar to their Atari 50 collection, is essentially a digital video game museum dedicated to designer Jordan Mechner’s early years and specifically his creation of Karateka. There are video interviews, box art, ads, broken prototypes, original releases, ports, and even updated versions with more modern quality of life improvements. You see the game go from pitch to planning to designing to working. It’s beautiful.
And, listen, I didn’t give a crap about Karateka before this. I’d played it maybe once in my life on an old computer a friend had. It’s before my time. But not only do I love the game now, I appreciate its importance to the medium’s history. God, I hate being sincere.
Spirittea
Maybe it came out too late. Maybe there are already too many “calmly build up a place and meet interesting people” games out there.Stardew Valleyis still going strong. I get it. There’s a good chance you’ve already found your specific gardening simulator that makes you happy. Who knows! You don’t care; you’re already moving onto the next entry to see if you think I’m smart or the biggest idiot ever.
To steal literally everyone else’s description of the game, Spirittea is like Stardew Valley meets Spirited Away. And if that doesn’t sell you on it, I’m really not sure what will. You kind of have to help catch ghosts in a roundabout way, so you can get more customers for your ghost bathhouse. Everything is kind of sweet and relaxing and well written. I don’t have more to give you than that. It’s a nice game. It’s a good time. What’s wrong with you? Play Spirittea.
WarioWare: Move It!
90 percent of the biggest games this year take a hundred hours to finish. And good! Zelda and Baldur’s Gate 3 had so much love to give. Heck, even going back to games likeCyberpunk 2077meant putting in dozens of hours. Starfield was also a game that took time to see different identical planets. This is all great and good, but god there has to be more games that can be played in short bursts without having a notebook out to remember what happened last time.
WarioWare: Move It!is a Switch game that I’m relatively sure had one of the lowest-selling launches in the franchise’s history. Probably because it came out around the same time as Super Mario Wonder and Super Mario RPG. Or because WarioWare games are narrowly targeted at weirdos like me who love goofy stuff.
Here’s the rub: This game is fantastic! It’s the most fun I’ve had with motion controls in years. It understands the assignment. It’s a party game that works alone or with others. And I should know, because I party alone all the time. Almost always. There’s nothing for me. The light left this world a long time ago.
But if you’ve still got light in your eyes and want a fun game for the whole family, buy this. Otherwise, you just hate your family.
F-Zero 99
I really don’t care that this is just a small, free multiplayer spin-off of F-Zero on the SNES. It’s the closest we’re going to get to a new F-Zero, and it doesn’t cost anything. You literally don’t need to buy it if you’ve got Nintendo’s Online Switch service. It’s fun. I can’t give you much more than that. Zoom zoom!
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Good reason this ain’t on a lotta lists: It’s a remaster of a DS game from over ten years ago. But since it’s pretty much not eligible for most awardsandbecause it’s an extremely good game - hey, maybe go buy it? It’s a puzzle adventure game in which you’re a ghost who… god I’m bad at explaining games. I shouldn’t have even written this list.
Okay! You’re a ghost with amnesia who’s trying to both solve the mystery of what happened, but also trying to save other people’s lives. There’s possession. There’s jumping between dimensions. There’s time travel (four minutes into the past, but still). If you haven’t played this game yet, buy it. And then once you do, you’ll be able to explain it far, far better than I ever did.
Humanity
This has been on lists here or there, but it’s still not getting enough credit. It’s a puzzle game produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the same guy behind Rez and Tetris Effect. You basically play a dog trying to lead a stream of people towards a goal, while also picking up little bonuses along the way.
Because I’m dumb, and puzzle games are smart,I don’t really have a better description than that. It’s just a beautiful, calming game that works great on a regular screen and even better using PSVR2. And since there aren’t a ton of PSVR2 games knocking on our doors, it’s worth having the lovely experience. It’s kind of like Lemmings. Oh, you don’t remember Lemmings? God, we could use a new Lemmings game. Anyone working on more Lemmings? Anyway, until then: Humanity.
Final Fantasy 16
Look, folks, it wasn’tthatbad. The DLC makes it better! Cid is hot! I dunno.
