Another year, another billion games released into the ether. Most of my game time was spent on my usual staples of Final Fantasy XIV, Warframe, and Arknights, and revisiting old favorites like Elden Ring and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. As for games released last year, three stood out enough for me to try them, and I could easily recommend giving all of them a shot.
Honorable Mentions
Monaco 2
While I played a fair amount of this one, and I’m a huge fan of the original game, I played Monaco 2 in an evil way where a good chunk of the game mechanics don’t get a chance to shine (that is, I played a multiplayer game by myself). I enjoyed my time with it, but it’s really the sort of game you want to play with others. Keep it in mind if you’re fiending for more co-op games. I will say I think Pocketwatch Games did a great job translating the blocky art style of the original into 3D.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
I’m likely going to enjoy this one enough to put it on this list retroactively, but I’m waiting for the PC release to really sink my teeth into it. We’ll say Death Stranding 2 is my secret Game of the Year for the time being, and move on.
The Real Picks
Dispatch
Playable television show Dispatch impressed with high-quality animation, sublime voice acting, and a witty, charming script. While its gameplay is just north of serviceable, that works to its credit as it walks the line between being slowed down by complex management systems without forgoing the crucial aspect of its core conceit. You want to be a good dispatcher, as that ties in directly with the script and story the game wants to tell, but the skill floor is very low so you aren’t heavily punished for a few bad rolls. It doesn’t take more than a few runs to figure out the systems on offer, and while they are simplistic, there is a natural progression as you go through each chapter.
As for the story itself, it works really well in an episodic style, but there’s clear room for improvement. I believe Dispatch splits the difference between wanting to be an office romance drama and an office sitcom drama. The romance scenes are front and center in nearly every chapter, yet there are only two potential partners in a game with enough material for at least three or four more. At the same time, the romance is so front-and-center that trying to play the game while avoiding it or denying it feels like you’re half-fighting the game beat-by-beat, and while you can get a no-romance ending, it is not satisfying getting there.
If there’s to be a season 2 of this show, it can’t be more of the same. What’s here is good, but it could be so much better. The story’s focused scope precludes drastically divergent paths through the narrative, and I think that’s a smart decision, but there could be perspective shifts to other characters that would underline the impact of the player’s dialogue choices. The dispatching gameplay is satisfying, and the curveballs it throws in the final sequence tease a whole slew of potential avenues AdHoc Studio could take with expanding its systems. I liked Dispatch enough to want a sequel for it, and I only hope they can build on the solid foundation it provides.
Blue Prince
As I have not completed Blue Prince (regardless of how you define that), there is little I can say on it. I have played enough to know that it’s incredible, to the point that I’ve put off playing more of it. You only get one first playthrough of a game, and even with my measly five and a half hours of playtime, I know there’s an ocean of depth to be found in this one. This would probably be my top pick of the year if not for the fact that I have hardly played much of it.
But gods, the atmosphere is phenomenal. Sitting here writing these scant few sentences and thinking about how much I have left to uncover in Blue Prince is making me antsy to dive back in. I still never made it to that final room. I do wonder what’s in there from time to time. Maybe I’ll boot it up tonight and find out. If there’s a skeleton in this game somewhere, I’m gonna flip. I hope there is. I hope a skeleton comes running down the corridors of my labyrinthine abode and pelts me with a janitor’s ring full of keys. I hope I find a mirror room and see that the skeleton is me.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
On the one hand, I think every game should be made in the same fashion as Silksong; built up over the course of several years with a crew free to hone it to a razorsharp point. On the other hand, I feel like one of few people who can weather such long periods of radio silence, with no Silksong news or announcements. I was never a huge Hollow Knight guy; it’s a game I like, love even, and replaying it recently in preparation for Silksong, I still think it’s a highly polished, exceptional game with very few flaws. But I’ve been content with that game, and never lamented the absence of Silksong’s release year after year. Not so for many people, unfortunately.
Thus, the question surrounding Silksong is, “Was it worth the wait?”
The answer: “There is no question.”
Silksong is undeniable in its execution. It builds on the foundation of Hollow Knight, and comes with so many refinements and additions to its predecessor that it boggles the mind. There was never a single moment in my time with Silksong where I thought “they had how many years and this is it?” It was always “holy shit, there’s more?” The crest system is a marked improvement from the charm system, offering more robust combat and navigation options. The tools acting as Castlevania style subweapons makes them fit in perfectly with Hornet’s character and game. Even Pharloom itself feels more alive and lived-in than Hallownest, and while that haunted ghost-city vibe of the first game still finds its way in Silksong, there’s a tangible difference in the presentation. It’s way more Catholic this time around, is what I’m saying.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is like Hollow Knight +1, except that every additional year Team Cherry spent making it, it got another +1. Fantastic game.
