this one has only grown on me with time if anything. wonderful game, just an utter distillation of what i like to see in this medium. if i have any issue with it it's that narratively/atmospherically speaking it was maybe lacking a certain je ne sais quoi of something like majoras mask. but hey, nobody's perfect.

surprising no one, this lived up to every expectation i had and then some. i have nothing new or interesting to say about it, though.

definitely the most underrated game i've played this year (and honestly, that's saying something!). obviously most people respect it as a foundational work for the medium, but only in a sort of patronizing way. this has a completely undeserved reputation for being unplayably rudimentary when that couldn't be farther from the truth. this thing has still fucking got it, 40 years later, with beautiful emergent, open-ended design. you can absolutely see a direct line from this to something like outer wilds, and in many ways it still hasn't been outdone.

i played the entire (main-line) devil may cry series this year. i gelled with this one the most, but tbc it's also representing its brothers dmc 1 and 3. this is just an incredibly consistent and satisfying action game - with combat mechanics polished to a mirror sheen, simple and focused level design, an array of fun and well-designed bosses, and a surprisingly heartfelt if insane narrative.

narrowly drifting into the top 5, just at the last second, it's outrun 2! (specifically, a mod of the 2006: coast to coast pc port called outrun 2 fxt: feel the road; i like to log the original versions of games). don't know what i can say about this one - it just feels like a dream to play. never gets tired, despite runs feeling pretty similar when you really break it down.

tetris is already a perfect game, but this elevates it to an entirely new level. the way the levels alternate between fast and slow creates an absolutely thrilling pace to the gameplay, but the real highlight is the soundtrack, which adapts to your play. the act of moving and dropping blocks becomes a backing instrument in the tracks here, it's fucking awesome. i wasn't entirely convinced by the "we're all connected brooo" presentation at first, seemed pretty corny - and it absolutely is, just to be clear - but it's not long until it wins you over. that's the power of banging tunes i guess. plus, tetris is so universal that it's not a bad choice for a theme like this

is this the only good 3D first person rpg? granted i haven't played morrowind yet. but yeah this is great. i have nothing original to say. strikes a great balance between open-endedness and tight design. a miracle of a game in the vein of majoras mask.

dont know how i hadn't played this till now. dont buy into this game's reputation for even a second, it fucking rules. suffers only marginally for being on the nes, and gets a ton of respect in my book for being so formative for the series. beautiful game.

haven't actually finished this! gotta get around to that some day. still feel comfortable putting it on here though. even as a complete shmup newbie (or maybe because i am?) this really spoke to me. the core gameplay feels airtight and satisfying but the real appeal of it is how excited and inventive it is and how much it delights in fucking with you.

almost certainly the best combat mechanics of any video game i've played. HOWEVER - the game they built around it kinda sucks. a plot so nonsensical it frankly just gets boring, way too many gimmicky sections and just general bullshit design here and there. the most fun i had with this game was honestly in the combat challenges where there was just an open room with tons of enemies to face and no frivolous distractions or opportunities for the game to annoy you. mechanical purists will hear that and say that they dont see the problem, but i (sadly) do.

there's just something about the original metroid trilogy, man. every single one felt like a big step forward for the medium. this is the black sheep of the series but it's just great. capitalizes so well on the limitations of the system it's built for. reaps the narrative possibilities that linear progression allows for without sacrificing open exploration for the individual areas, a much smarter (and simpler) way of going about it than the other linear titles in this series. also has one of the most stellar, knockout ending sequences of any game

i feel like the open world kind of detracts from as much as it adds to this formula of games. it's masterfully crafted in many ways, but disappointingly amateur in others. still, the highs are very high, and this is the first fromsoft game in a while to truly center itself around immersing you in its world, so it's still my GOTY (so far).

it's great, dont have a lot to say. some missteps here and there which i've gone over in my review but it's very well executed overall.

just lovely!

struggled between picking this or ecclesia, ended up going with this cause i'm a bit warmer on the gb games. this is also standing in for the adventure. solid stuff. i got all (or, well, most of) the 2d castlevanias i had left out of the way this year - for next year i have the 3d ones to check out.