Michael

I enjoyed Demon's Souls, but honestly that was just a warm up to git me gud again since I haven't gone hard into a souls like since Dark Souls 2. The real deal is going to be my next undertaking: Elden Ring.

BadSeed "woke" negatively speaking means putting a hyper liberal agenda before quality or accuracy of content. I haven't played Ghost of Yotei so I don't know if that is a valid critique of the game. I'm fine with playing female characters. Samus has been around since '85. But, when a plot is reduced to drivel or mechanics are janky because the message took the driver's seat then that car is destined to crash out of the race. Judging by reviews that doesn't apply to the title in question. So, to sum up haters just gotta hate.

Subnautica introduced me to wonder after wonder. Just when I thought I knew it all I'd uncover a new piece of lore that would illuminate a previously hidden detail enriching the experience further. The game has layers within layers. After several playthroughs I realized that the entire map and many characters from the game are based upon Greek Mythology. Truly, it is an epic gaming masterpiece imho.

I love the concept of Geno, but tbh he's one of the weakest characters. Peach is really good in the game and an almost necessary spot filler in the party because of her healing skills.

It's not really an RPG, but the "world" is completely open in the NES masterpiece Solstice. You get dropped in the starting room and wander around trying to figure out how to collect six staff pieces. There's no set path (although there is an optimal one) and no hand holding. You just had to experiment until you died and then apply your new knowledge to the next attempt. If you didn't have the instruction manual you didn't even know what your potions did. You had to use trial and error. It took me months of playing daily to work it out and conquer the game. It wasn't easy.

It's very very very clear that the show is over. Ambiguity over Eleven's fate does not mean anything other than they wanted people to decide for themselves how it went down. For me the fact that they showed a short bit of El actually standing nearby a small village near waterfalls means that she really did live on. Otherwise there's no need to have it there. Mike's theory showed obvious clips of the rest of their futures so to have the one with El be a fake out ruins the continuity of the scene and the Duffers are not hacks that would screw that up in my opinion. Hence El lives. It was a great show, but now it's over. Move on people.

Octopath Traveler deserves a shout out. Beautiful graphics combined with a surprisingly deep story make it a wonderful experience. I don't think I've ever played another RPG with the same battle mechanics either. It's inspiring the release of games like the Dragon Quest HD2D remakes which I also can't get enough of.

Seriously? I know that Hollow Knight is great, but it didn't define the genre it inhabits. It's called Metroidvania for a reason. Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night are the blueprints there. Also, Hollow Knight clearly takes a page out of the soulslike book with its tough boss fights. It's cool, but it really just refined ideas from other games; it doesn't redefine the genre itself. Poor take in an otherwise solid article. Also not mentioning that Elden Ring redefined the soulslike genre is a sin.

Just like any award given out GOTY is merely a popularity contest. Playing through a game is a subjective experience, yet people try to objectively validate that experience as superior to another via shared opinions. While majorities can agree on said superiority there will always be exceptions. Who's to say their opinions aren't just as valid? I'd like to see people be more comfortable with making up their own minds as to what is the best for them as opposed to relying on official input.

Core Keeper seems like it might be cool. EA still hasn't made a better version of NFS than the one that came out on 3DO about 30 years ago so I'm going to avoid that one. And any Disney game other than Duck Tales is pretty much a cash grab imo. So, yeah, not very stoked over here, but still they are technically free. I guess at least I'm not getting ripped off. I pay to play online with friends not for free stuff.

Astarion is my personal favorite although Lae'zel is a close second. Both are absolutely bonkers in combat if you build them right. They both have times where they are humorous and dramatic. In the end Astarion wins for me because he's got flair. And a terrific smile...

I know there is the radio game mechanic in Subnautica that provides you with impetus to explore certain areas and one actual timed event when you meet the Sunbeam, but for the most part you can just ignore the messages and do your own thing at your own pace. Despite the dangers of your aquatic prison world there is something very relaxing about exploring it. Between scanning all the life forms and scouring the seabed for minerals I can spend hours grinding through the game and never get bored. It's got to be my favorite game of all time.

I got to be honest, not much is on my radar. It's not that quality games aren't being released; it's that you can rarely trust a game will be good until it's released and reviewed. Sometimes you have to wait months or years for the developers to fix their game before it's ready (looking at you Cyberpunk 2077). That's also assuming corporate interests don't mess everything up (looking at you probably ruining Subnautica 2, Krafton). So, now I rarely get excited for upcoming games.

Subnautica isn't just my favorite survival game; it's my favorite game period. There's just nothing quite like it. I'm so bummed that Krafton is mishandling the epic franchise that Unknown Worlds created. Subnautica 2 is the game I dread being released the most right now. I'm just convinced that it will be the usual monetized crap that Krafton shells out. What a shame that the UW devs actually believed that they would be treated properly by them. It was quite naive in my opinion.

Dragon Quest 1 is quite short. I can beat the NES version (Dragon Warrior) in about 6 - 8 hours. Even the HD2D remake only takes a couple of days if you really grind it out. I feel like the Octopath Traveler games deserve to be on this list. It's safe to say they are influencing Square Enix's current MO greatly as the HD2D graphics are being applied to titles old and new.