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I had a really solid year, all things considered:
- ⭐ Hi-Fi Rush -- Love it, hands down. This game's like if Jet Set Radio, Scott Pilgrim, and DMC got into a fist fight and then that fist fight had a baby with Jack Black
- ⭐ Pentiment -- I'm still playing through this one but I can already tell it's a new favorite. Major Return of the Obra Dinn vibes
- ⭕ Against the Storm -- This game innovates on the citybuilder genre so hard and I can't get enough of it. If you love a challenge and hate the late-game, this is THE ONE
- ⭕ Psychonauts 2 -- Fun and bursting with creativity... but I had to set it down after a certain point because I stopped enjoying the gameplay loop. Can't put my finger on why...
- ⭕ Peglin -- Yes, Peglin. The Peggle Roguelite. I like it and you would too if you gave it a chance. It's not a forever roguelite, but I guarantee you'll have a blast with it for 5-10 hours
- ❌ Deep Rock Galactic -- I bounced off of this one. The game has so much charm... but I just couldn't click with it. I think co-op games just may not be for me
Honorable Mention: TF2 -- Definitely not a "new" game to me, I own TF2, I bought it with money! Even so... this year marked my return after a looong hiatus. Coming back was a total revelation -- I thought I'd grown to hate FPS games -- as it turns out, what I'd actually grown to hate was the modern antisocial MMR grindset. Game developers: I beseech thee... abandon matchmaking and return to 2007. Return the slab or suffer my curse
Ayy someone else who's been enjoying Against the Storm.
I played over 140 hours now! I'm currently trying to climb the difficulty up to P20.
Goodness gracious you're far further along than me! I haven't touched it for a bit because I've been busy with other games, but I'll get back to it eventually because it's super fun. (Also GL on P20 I believe in you.)
It's nice to see people talking about it. I caught a streamer I follow playing it like a month ago and it looked like a lot of fun.
I don't have enough time to game to justify buying it at its most recent sale price, but I have my eye on it for the first time it gets a deeper discount or gets bundled.
I treat Deep Rock the same way I treat rogueli*es and arcade-style games -- I can just hop on when I'm in the "dwarf mood", play one or two missions and be done with it for the day. It's very good for short sessions like that. Also, you can play solo no problem -- you get a drone instead that can mine and shoot things.
Also, TF2 community servers FTW
When it comes to Deep Rock/co-op I think my issues are more associated with the underlying gameloop design. I find it hard to perform well when the "tension" ramps up and these games are kind of tailor-made to create high-tension situations. When a round ends I'm left feeling tired/deflated rather than joyful. I had the same issue with Left 4 Dead, but oddly not so for Payday 2.
In any case, I'm right there with you when it comes to TF2 community servers. I sorely wish that more games emphasized these sorts of digital "3rd places". I have TF2 servers where I can go anytime and just... belong for as long as I please. Games should have more permanent places like that, where play and community come before any imposed win/lose dichotomy. People would be happier.
A fellow Xbox gamepass User IT seems. Pentiment is one of my All Time favorites (probably top3 at least)
This was after my First playthrough. Now, with George putting out his video, im back in. My god, its marvellous.
Hifi Rush was great, but felt too formulaic for me, so i abandoned it after the first or second Boss. Too much running arpund, No real banger music between Bosses.
On a Side Note, its kinda similiar too with Lies of Pi. I can See the great soulslike It is (3/4 in) but my interest vanishes. Too many repetitive encounters. Too linear. I feel Like Elden Ring really innovated the genre through its semi Open world approach.
A fellow Xbox gamepass User IT seems.
Nope, I'm just someone who waits for sales and has a bit of an indie streak.
This was after my First playthrough. Now, with George putting out his video, im back in. My god, its marvellous.
I see we follow similar creators! I only just picked Pentiment up last week -- Jacob Geller's recent 2023 video is what originally put Pentiment on my radar and then George's video gave me that final push into playing it for myself. I'm extremely glad for having done so because Pentiment has quickly become quite special to me. I already look forward to making subsequent playthroughs despite still working on the first.
Hifi Rush was great, but felt too formulaic for me, so i abandoned it after the first or second Boss. Too much running arpund, No real banger music between Bosses.
I can see where you're coming from. From a macro perspective, the game's essentially just a series of battle arenas stitched together by corridors and platforming challenges... nothing incredible there. What makes Hi-Fi Rush special for me is the novel fusion of rythm mechanics and spectacle fighter mechanics -- they complement each other extremely well. (Forgive me for explaining at you like this. I just can't help myself when it comes to talking about this game)
Normally, I can't stand DMC-likes because of the requisite rote memorization. HFR flips this dynamic on its head by making the memorization incidental -- it happens naturally as you practice playing the combo on-rythm. Perhaps even more importantly; just as mastery of a combo string comes within reach, the underlying musical qualities all suddenly spring into focus and turn the sequence into a musical phrase. It clicks together in a very intrinsically satisfying way IMO. Naturally, this all compounds in on itself and gets double-fun once you start improvising your own "melodies" during real combat. You like Jazz? Because it's like Jazz if Jazz killed people.
Now, obviously this isn't going to hit the same way for everyone (nor should it!)... but if you've not yet buckled down in training mode and truly mastered a string or two for yourself, then I would very emphatically encourage you to give the game a second try. I actually had to do the exact same thing myself before I really "got" the game and my mindset shifted. Hi-Fi Rush truly is the Dark Souls of 3rd-Person Action videogames
I liked Deep Rock. I started playing it during the pandemic with some friends instead of doing in-person board games (and Jackbox and boardgame simulators got old). I definitely ended up playing more single player than multiplayer. Buuut I probably haven't played it in a year? It just got really samey after getting through a lot of leveling up and unlocks.
The deep rock board game is so fun. And I hate board games and inwardly groan when someone suggests a board game, lol.
Same for me, really enjoyable 150 hours, but now with the slow updates I just already seen everything.
I moved to Darktide, despite its flaw I'm still playing it after the same amount of hours since then.
I liked Peglin but after a while it feels like the game is really unbalanced with too few useful builds.
Yup, that about sums it up: fun, but shallow. Nevertheless I think it's worthy of a recommendation because it has a great honeymoon period before falling off.