Last Year's Games Ranked

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If this came out when I was 12 or 14, I would've been in disbelief at how much this game is like the Pikmin dream game I've always fantasized about. It goes back to a Pikmin 1 structure where progress is almost never gated through a linear sequence of events, (I'm pretty sure the only things outright required are the Dandori Vs. Battles against Oleafmar and Louie?) and instead you're free to engage with whatever you can reach in whatever order you reach it at not only makes for a more satisfying open-ended experience, but also just adds a ridiculous amount of variables when it comes to tying to casually speedrun this game.
It's also easily the hardest Pikmin game, especially with some of the optional challenges, and especially ESPECIALLY trying to platinum-rank them, but it gets to be this hard without resorting to Pikmin 2's "haha pranked bro!!!!" type level design.

And like, no, I mean it when I say this game is harder than Pikmin 2. "Oatchi" this and "Oatchi" that, all Pikmin 2 did was smack your ass as hard as possible and run like a coward to avoid the consequences. Pikmin 4 straps a bomb to your chest and the only way to diffuse it is to solve this rubik's cube in 5 minute, unlike a coward.

Like I genuinely don't know how a Pikmin game can top this. CAN a new Pikmin game ever top this???
A Mega Man-like that goes hard. Like, basically no major flaws to speak of. It's a rock-solid game for what it's going for and the ability to tailor and mix-and-match your moveset for whatever play experience you want is fantastic.
One of the Shmovement Games of all time. It is incredibly satisfying to get a good run going and for a while I was practicing the stages to get all S-ranks before I got busy in other places. It's also just, one of the most visually fun games I've ever seen, too.
Easily the best Poke-like I've played, and in a lot of ways surpasses Pokemon's recent output. Helped by the monster design actually being really fun and interesting too! All around a very good package.
Granted I'm far from a visual novel buff. But this feels like the best there is as far as I've played. Really thought-provoking as a plural system that struggles with realizing the weight of mortality sometimes. Yes that's a very specific set of circumstances but.
Now that it's had a chance to settle into my mind, I think Wonder is a fantastic game, and its a refreshing sight after the creative funk it's felt like Mario has been in since Galaxy 2. It's still very traditional 2D Mario, but I think that's fine. All I really ask out of a series is that each game stands on its own, and Wonder definitely feels like it stands up alongside Mario World, my previous favorite 2D Mario.
It's still just shy of 2D game perfection that stuff like Pizza Tower and Gravity Circuit reaches, especially since I feel a handful of the later levels are more frustrating than fun, but it's still a great package, overall.
[Not finished, this is just a current standing]
A short and neat little 3D collect-a-thon! Might pick it up again one day since there's apparently a boatload of secrets left in the game.
I might come around to this game better on a repeat playthrough where the rush to experience All The Content Before It Gets Spoiled On Twitter is off and I can just play it at whatever pace feels right for the time. But for now, as much as I love this game, it's also made me very tired because it just has an exhausting amount to do. Glad there's huge gaps between main-line Zeldas.
I would've preferred a full-blown remake to fix Prime's more glaring issues, but a prettied-up Metroid Prime is nothing to sneeze at either. Easily one of the Switch's best-looking games, now.
A fair and fun brawler where the only major flaw is perhaps the ability to select a spell mid-combat is a little clumsy. It's also just nice to see League of Legends dip into being other games so I don't have to play League of Legends anymore LOL.
A decent amount of DLC content, if for a steep asking price.
The best Sonic game in a while. The characters are decently well-written and it's fun to have a April Fools Visual Novel be good in its own right and not just be the predictable, quirky, and purposefully bad dating sim.
I still need to get around to finishing this. It's a nice hearty remake that adds a hefty fistful of new things, I just haven't played it enough to actually get to the meat of the new content.

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