Lurker > andylt

HaRRicH posted...

I just made a fourpack-topic and paired BG3 and ER against each other -- didn't mean to hijack your question there, sorry, wasn't on purpose.

Lol not at all, I was curious and now there's gonna be discussion about it!

FFDragon posted...

I've lived long enough to see the LAW be struck down convincingly.

Today is a good day.

This is nothing! https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/4594-best-of-2011-game-of-the-year

I wonder, would Skyrim/Witcher get weaker due to the failings of the company successor, or would they get stronger being held up as the golden child in the fans' eyes? Are there examples of similar things happening in the past?

Also this may have been discussed already, but where do people stand on Elden v BG3?

Hooray for Harvest! And I really liked the medley and almost voted for it >_> TY again for running this, as always the best part of these contests is discovering cool new tracks and there were plenty here.

Seconding Soma, I didn't know that was an indie but it's got some great writing. And Cave Story, a classic!

Johnbobb posted...

Wandersong - There's a guy on YouTube I like a lot called Snoman Gaming who talks a lot about indie games (particularly platformers) and is a big fan of this one; that's really the only reason I've heard of it

Wandersong is made by the guy who went on to make Chicory. It's much less... gamey, but well written and a worthwhile experience.

The Messenger - I've heard this is one of the go-to indie Metroidvanias, a friend of mine has recommended it a lot

Others have anti-rec'd this but I really liked it. Depends what you think of the genre though, it's better to think of it as a Ninja Gaiden-like rather than a Metroidvania. Also a game that is best to go into knowing little about it imo.

The Talos Principle - I've heard of this talked about a lot and still feel like I know nothing about it

It's a laser puzzle game with a heavy philosophical bent to the writing and world.

Yoku's Island Express - I've heard of this loosely and 100% assumed it was a Yoshi's Island spiritual successor

Yoku is a cutesy pinball-based Metroidvania

Shovel Knight - Shovel Knight is a weird one because it's obviously one of the biggest indie games, but is such a big deal that I think that's made it hard to get into at this point

It's easy to get into and really good value for money, there's four main campaigns that each play differently and none of them are super long. I wouldn't go in expecting a transcendental experience, but if you are at all interested in modernised old school platformers then I can pretty much guarantee you'll have fun.

Wow that's an off-the-wall #1! I assumed Octodad was merely a meme game like Goat Sim, and I didn't even know there were multiple entries. Interesting.

Games I think you would like:
Tunic
The Forgotten City
A Short Hike
Cocoon
Wandersong
Gorogoa
The Messenger
The Talos Principle
Yoku's Island Express

Games IDK if you'd like but are great:
Katana Zero
Shovel Knight
Stardew Valley
Dead Cells
Into the Breach
Crosscode
Steamworld Heist

Oh I didn't even consider Stardew! I still feel pretty confident in my Edith Finch pick, but not the others.

Not everything can be on perma-sale like Factorio

I'm disappointed that I missed out on Journey, I wonder what it would be like these days.

The other two are great games indeed. Did you play Outer Wilds' DLC? Although I haven't forgiven Obra Dinn for the four Chinese topmen.

That Hollow Knight Smash art looks awesome! And this topic reminded me that Hat in Time is on sale atm, I said I'd get it when it was next on sale after the board recommended it.

As for what else is coming, well Outer Wilds seems a given, so I'll guess Shovel Knight (just because I assume you will have played it, and it hasn't shown up yet), Disco Elysium, Edith Finch, Obra Dinn, and... The Messenger make up the rest of the list.

WazzupGenius00 posted...

My one criticism of Celeste is the strawberry that requires you to know about a secret in Super Mario Bros. 3 to unlock. Nothing else in the game suggests how to do it. Obviously I knew it, but that felt like it was not in the spirit of everything else in the game.

Agreed! I had to look that one up. Great game though.

Omori is great too, haven't played the others listed on this page. I didn't hear many people talk about Blasphemous until 2 came out, but your description makes it seem interesting.

8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise
Pokemon Trading Card Game

37. Beat a game you'd dropped or had a long hold on
Mario's Super Picross

42. Beat another user's favorite game
Wario Land 3

6. Beat a game in a completely new series
Chained Echoes

50. Beat three games in a series
The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County
>_>

20. Beat an action game
Disc Room

Woo I've played (and enjoyed) all 3 of these! I was blindsided and so very disappointed seeing Sports Story's reception (I think 'unimpressive' is putting it mildly!), have no interest in touching it now. Haven't played Ox2 either, Afterparty soured me on that team somewhat, but I will get there. And people seem to be pretty down on Firewatch these days, or at least how it ends, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it!

I generally like going into games knowing very little about them. All I knew about Outer Wilds going in was that it reviewed well, so it was pretty awesome discovering what it was. But of course I understand people wanting to know the basic premise before playing, it helped that I got the game for free.

Ethan Carter being this high is a surprise, I've not heard anyone talk about it. Perhaps I should give that one a go!

Lots of cool-looking games here I was unaware of! Don't know how I missed Chants of Sennaar but I'm glad it's on my radar now.

Ifrit posted...

Ardyn is the third highest FFXV character. Not a surprise.

I'm surprised he's not highest!

I vote A, I think it best fits the spirit of a Kill My.

pjbasis posted...

Does anyone hate Sabin

Inviso does, sadly. But then vis might be too busy annihilating the X cast to get around to him...

I think one single round is best, with only one kill necessary all the way through. Once every 24 hours is an interesting idea too, people will inevitably hold off near the end so they can snipe out someone they dislike.

I predict the winner will be... Sazh

At least the original game and Alan Wake's American Nightmare are on sale!

VOTES
Those Who Continue to Resist Destiny
Higan Canyon
HARVESTELLA Main Theme

paperwarior posted...

I suppose Souls players have grown to distrust patches

lol

I notice you trimmed the bit where it says the review is in Spanish >_>

MacArrowny posted...

Why not just read the reviews from critics who haven't played it?

All the synopses SHINE posted seem to be from people who have already played the original!

VOTES
Brilliant Wings
Winding Through Avidya
No Turning Back

I much prefer this XC3 set to R1's, but the competition is tough!

The worst mandatory Baba is You level is Crushers, I gave up and cheated for the first time on that one. It sucks because you can usually avoid a level here and there if it's causing you trouble but you need to beat that one to progress.

Great game tho.

I'm curious to read reviews from those who don't have nostalgia attached to this. 50 is a lot for a 1996 game they could've just thrown on the online backcatalog!

I haven't played any of these yet D:

Snake

KamikazePotato posted...

https://gonintendo.com/contents/13262-ex-nintendo-staffers-describe-the-mass-panic-when-nintendo-thought-zelda-breath-of

Koizumi is a producer for the Switch, so he counted BOTWs win as a win of his own

I can't believe he'd try to steal the Wii U's limelight like this

I split puzzle games into 'games that make me feel smart' and 'games that make me feel stupid'. There's a place for both! Though I prefer when games keep their super difficult puzzles optional (Baba, Witness, Fez) rather than mandatory (La Mulana)

I'll keep an eye on the new inkle game. And Gecko Gods, of course.

2019 was such an underrated year for games

MacArrowny posted...

https://eftm.com/2021/12/eftm-best-game-far-cry-6-219798

lmao this is brilliant

I noticed recently that Far Cry 6 had a Game of the Year Edition, that made me pause a little. I wonder what obscure site it picked that up from!

Garland (IX) - 8
Galenth - 3

IX Garland is my fav antagonist in that game!

The masked dude was great, I'm perfectly fine with him and the true kings being left as unexplained interesting lore bits. It just annoyed me with Gwayn and June because they were such an active presence in this game's plot. Especially Gwayn.

There's also some characters that disappear entirely, like Lady Bran or the guy who betrays Amalia to Frederik. And I thought Markas would figure somewhat into the endgame plot but I guess he simply dips out after the pope dies.

Oh dear. Don't know how that Nexon stuff slipped past the nominating committees, that seems pretty clear cut.

Oh right, Chained Echoes is tech a snub too as it came out too late for last year's noms.

And I see people saying Dave the Diver shouldn't be eligible for indie? I know the definition of indie is muddled anyway but does anyone know more about this?

I will be amazed if TLOU doesn't win adaptation.

Here's all the 2023 games rated 'mighty' on Opencritic (>=84) that received zero noms. Some are expected with being ports/remasters etc.

Metroid Prime Remastered
Videoverse
Tents and Trees
8-Bit Adventures 2
Turbo Overkill
Slay the Princess
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
Jack Jeanne
Let's! Revolution!
Path of the Midnight Sun
Quake II
I Expect You to Die 3: Cog in the Machine
The Talos Principle 2
Warstride Challenges
Vernal Edge
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania
Risk of Rain Returns
Gravity Circuit
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
Radiant Tale
Bang-on Balls: Chronicles
Ghost Trick
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line
Cassette Beasts
30XX
Octopath Traveler II
Star Ocean: The Second Story R
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Saltsea Chronicles
Ys X: Nordics
Blasphemous 2
The Making of Karateka
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2
Disgaea 7
Football Manager 24
Hogwarts Legacy
Wargroove 2

MacArrowny posted...

Hades II getting in over GTA6, nice.

I think GTA6 was ineligible?

Highest rated game on opencritic to receive no noms: Videoverse (92)

Also worth noting Hogwarts got nothing.

Game of the Year
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldurs Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvels Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldurs Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvels Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Adaptation
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

Best Narrative
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldurs Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvels Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Art Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Score and Music
Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldurs Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Audio Design
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvels Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Neil Newbon, Baldurs Gate 3
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvels Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvels Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing Game
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support
Baldurs Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
No Mans Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)

Best VR/AR Game
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvels Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG
Baldurs Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family Game
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy Game
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord
Baldurs Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year
IronMouse
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete
Lee Faker Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut (CS:GO)
Max Demon1 Mazanov (Valorant)
Paco HyDra Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
Park Ruler Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
Phillip ImperialHal Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
JD Gaming (League of Legends)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach
Christine potter Chi (Evil Geniuses Valorant)
Danny zonic Sorensen (Team Falcons Counter-Strike)
Jordan Gunba Graham (Florida Mayhem Overwatch)
Remy XTQZZZ Quoniam (Team Vitality Counter-Strike)
Yoon Homme Sung-young (JD Gaming League of Legends)

Best Esports Event
2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
Valorant Champions 2023

Baldur's Gate 3 - 96
Tears of the Kingdom - 96
Resident Evil 4 - 92
Mario Wonder - 91
Spider-Man 2 - 91
Alan Wake II - 89

Maybe the highest reviewed set of 6 we've had? I'd have to check. Though I think RE4 is in 6th with being the only one not also nom'd in direction.

Ah so they did let Starfield go out, I didn't think they'd snub out MS but cool.

A Yuna run sounds good, count me in! ...In spirit, at least

Snake

We climb Raminas Tower, and Frederik reveals his plan to unite Valandis against a common enemy- him. I've no idea why he didn't tell his fellow officers when they started to question him, it's a pretty absurd plan to keep to yourself, but a cool development. Then the Vaen send a big monster after us, and all our earlier concerns about nukes disappear out the window as we blow it up and seemingly do no damage to anything else around. Well, ok!

The Vaen then say there's things we've misunderstood and I ready myself for another late twist to turn us against Gwayn, which... doesn't come >_> We head down to Nhysa, a fitting final dungeon, and learn some more about its history through its ghosts, who act like everything is normal. Neat vibes down here, I particularly like the section where we create a boss through the memories of the ghosts. We pass Asnadiel who I bookmark for a surefire superboss fight postgame (again, nope!), and eventually wind up at the door to the Vaen.

Our penultimate boss is against Whyatt, who I have to give props to. Dude goes up solo against 4 sky armors and only loses when he's backstabbed by his comrade. We pass June, Gwayn reveals that he's been passing his power to Glenn, Kylian kills him, and we fight Kylian, and then the Vaen. The fights are fine, if a bit basic. Kylian dies saving us, Glenn inherits Gwayn's power, and Valandis is saved. The ending is a mixed bag of stuff you'd expect (Good Queen Lenne zzz but Robb+Egyl yay), until we get a massive rug pull revealing Glenn died and Kylian took his place. What?!

I don't really buy Glenn as being this ancient being ready for death, he found out about it like two days ago and has barely changed since then but now acts like he's sick of having lived all these centuries. I haven't loved the execution of the reincarnation stuff, honestly. But hey he's a bird now. Kylian though, I didn't see this coming for him at all! Don't get me wrong, I like this twist. He's a compelling enough character and it's a far more interesting ending than him sacrificing himself to kill the Vaen, I just didn't think there was the slightest chance the game would let him live after the way it had been treating other misguided characters. So yeah, I'm disappointed about Glenn and don't buy that he'd want to just die like that, but interested in what Kylian does next.

There's some stuff I'm still confused about. We detonated the Grimoire again and it didn't seem to do anything, for all the buildup of the moral quandary of using this thing it's weird that we use it twice at the end and nothing bad comes from it. I suppose Glenn just loves detonating these magic nukes, and killed himself when he realised he'd never be able to use it again. More seriously, I'm surprised there was no new layer added to Gwayn at the end. The Vaen were hyping something up, and sure they have reason to lie, but Gwayn gets exactly what he wants and all his manipulations bear fruit, sure he dies like two minutes earlier than he expected but he doesn't face any other consequences. And then there's June, who appears as a small child to befriend Kylian in the ending. Oh, what the hell! She's been around the whole game and not only do we get no explanation on her and Gwayn, but they throw a curveball like that in at the last minute. Maybe there's some explanation hidden away, or maybe it's just a sequel tease, but I'm a bit disappointed at these open threads with very major characters.

I've cleaned up most of the postgame stuff now, filled the rewards board and gotten all the ultimate weapons. I beat the superboss God King, who poses less of a threat than a timed fight against an assassin girl in Perpetua. The only achievement I have left is to buy all the deals, and I'm not sure I can be bothered to grind the monsters necessary for that. Either way, that's about it! I know I was more negative on the last act or so, but I still really enjoyed myself playing this game.

Less than 24 hours until the noms! I wonder if TGAs will have a "no political statements" rule like the Joysticks did (I didn't watch last year, were Ukraine statements allowed then?).

My final GOTY predix:
Baldur's Gate 3
Tears of the Kingdom
Spider-Man 2
Alan Wake II
Resident Evil 4
Starfield

VOTES
Radiant Golden Thunder
Life in the Base -morning-
Feline Fracas

close third match!

I will never understand the Kefka love. Fun contest, though! Anyone got any x-stats??

Samus

maybe this time she can win