Just beat Resident Evil Remake on Switch. I just started Okami but I don't think I'll be able to finish it by the end of the year so this is my list for the year:
1. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
7/10 - Did not love it as much as I thought I would. I did play the entire thing in 4 player co-op with my wife and kids and I think that impacted my enjoyment. I think the game is better appreciated as a single player experience.
2. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
10/10 - It's my favorite Zelda game ever. It instantly made Breath of the Wild irrelevant. I really did not think I would love it as much as I did. I put 100+ hours into it and felt like I barely scratched the surface. Wow, a Zelda game with a story I actually care about. The building was handled in a way that made it not annoying for people that aren't usually into things like that. My only complaint is that I think the control scheme could have been more streamlined.
3. RedFall (XSX)
9/10 - Huge disconnect here with my opinion and the crowd. I just really loved this game. The artstyle was beautiful and in my opinion underrated. It has that simple but detailed look that you find in many of Arkane's games. Don't forget to turn on the 60FPS performance mode. It's a shame that this wasn't there at launch. The world was so vibrant and detailed. I always say that I was open world games were smaller and more dense and this game committed to that philosophy. It feels like Bioshock/Dishonored density and detailed but in an open world. Finally, I am a huge Stephen King fan and this game has such Stephen King vibes. The worst thing about the game in my opinion is that the game has two big areas and once you leave the first one, you can't go back and there's no real good reason for this. If I was able to go back, I would've 100%'d this game. This is a great Halloween game.
4. Borderlands 3 (XSX)
8/10 - Played through it with my son and despite it's reputation as being worse than 2, it was on par for me. I liked the environments and many of the quality of life features. The heroes weren't as good as 2.
5. The Evil Within 2 (XSX)
8/10 - A good survival horror game that felt like a mix of Silent Hill and Resident Evil.
6. Metroid Dread (Switch)
9/10 - Beautiful graphics, precise gameplay. The EMMI encounters felt cheap. Thankfully, I played this after Rookie Mode was added because it was the perfect difficulty for me. Had I played it on a harder difficulty I don't think I would have liked it.
7. Minit (Switch)
6/10 - Interesting concept but just not my kind of game. I like good graphics and clear direction. I'm just not into obscure indie games.
8. Xenoblade Chronicles: DE (Switch)
8/10 - JRPG's were my favorite genre when I was a kid and I just stopped liking them like 20 years ago. This game came close to capturing the feelings and emotions that made me like the genre. The cast of characters, music and story were top notch. Side missions were garbage filler and some of the gameplay systems were confusing.
9. Immortals of Aveum (XSX)
6/10 - A "Fun, dumb game" that wasn't as fun as I hoped.. Graphics were impressive but the design was bad. They wen't overboard with the color and vibrancy to the point where nothing stands out. The variety in spells and attacks was appreciated but bordered on cumbersome a times.
10. Ape Out (Switch)
8/10 - This indie game was more of my thing (as opposed to Minit). Visuals and music were clean to look at it. The goal was straightforward and it's bite-sized nature made it a very easy to play game.
11. Doom 3 (Switch)
7/10 - A doom game that was more survival horror sounds like it would be right up my alley but I was somewhat disappointed. The levels were too linear and felt very repetitive. The visuals of the environment were impressive from a technical standpoint but the models were dated. The audio logs, emails and environmental storytelling was a strong point.
12. Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (XSX)
8/10 - If you’re not familiar, these games are cinematic branching horror games (i.e. like Until Dawn or the Tell Tales games). This game is the 3rd in a series that currently has 4 games. I love these types of games even with the understanding that they have their limitations. I love them because they have unique stories, good visuals and are short, not to mention that I love creepy stories. Think Tales of the Crypt or a Stephen King short story collection. That’s my jam.
13. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)
8.5/10 - I loved my time with this game. The visuals were so unique and fun to look at. Despite never playing the original, it gave me this warm nostalgia feeling. It just reminded me of how it felt to play games when I was young. Unfortunately the performance issues and the last bit of the game (I did not enjoy the final two dungeons) dropped it’s standing a bit.
14. Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023) (XSX)
9/10 - RE4 is one of my favorite games of all time but in my opinion this remake was a bit overrated. It is a very nice and well done upgrade but the GOTY nominations were unwarranted. RE2 and RE3 were more impressive remakes in my opinion due to the games feeling like new games while this one felt too familiar. Despite this negativity it is still an amazing game and if you never played the original, this is the best way to play it and I’ve playing it on GC, Wii and on the Quest 2 (VR version).
15. Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter (XSX)
6/10 - If playing solo, this game is a 5 out of a 10. It just hasn’t aged well. The levels have very little variety and there is no map, there is barely a story, you are fighting hordes of annoying enemies with bad AI. You are constantly dying but you get resurrected immediately so there is very little tension. The aiming feels just “ok”. With that said, the game has split screen co-op on the campaign which not many FPS’s have. This saved the game for me as I played it with my son and we were able to have “fun” and laughs and managed to beat it. If I was playing solo, there is no way I would’ve finished it.
16. Assassin’s Creed 3: Remastered (Switch)
9/10 - Screw the haters. I love this game. I spent so many hours in this game and I loved it. The cut scenes and production value are top notch. I did all of the side missions, dlc and most of the collectables. It was one of those games that you almost pinch yourself when you realize this big AAA game that at the time of the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U was a major big budget release is playable on the go.
17. Serious Sam 3: BEF (XSX)
6.5/10 - See my mini-review for Serious Sam HD. Same thing, environments are samey, the enemy AI is improved but not great and are actually more cheap and annoying. I gave it half a point more because the improved graphics and narrative did give it some much needed polish. Again, it’s not worth playing solo but as a Split Screen co-op experience it can be fun but don’t even touch this until you’ve already done the Halo MCC and the Gears games. Those are light years ahead of this as a split screen co op experience.
18. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered (Switch)
5/10 - I’m kind of cheating on this one because technically I didn’t complete every race in the game so I didn’t really beat it however I put in 10 hours or so and felt “done” with the game and also felt qualified to speak about. Overall, I must say that I do not recommend it. I saw some reports about possible issues unique to this port but the AI, Difficulty and Physics cause the game to feel unfair and too luck dependent. The “open world” is barren and closed off that it is pointless. The visuals are pretty. As a Forza Horizon fan, I felt a regret everytime I played this just thinking about how I would just rather spend those hours in a much more fun and superior game.
19. Hellblade 2: Senua’s Sacrifice (XSX)
8/10 - This was a difficult game to rate. The graphics, animations, cinematics, music and sound design was a 10/10. It is the best looking game I have ever played. The only problem is that there is so little game there. I feel like they went in the opposite direction of where I wanted them to go. It has even less gameplay than the first game. It has less gameplay than even a Quantic Dreams type game. It’s a great interactive experience but it’s not a great or even a good game. Plague tale is interesting comparison because it’s another story driven cinematic game with great visuals but they sacrifice a bit of that to give the gamer more control and interesting gameplay and I think it was definitely worth it. If you have Game Pass and a series X this is a must play imo because it’s short and it’s worth experiencing for the audio-visual spectacle that it is.
20. Nier Automata: End of Yorha Edition (Switch)
9.5/10 - A truly special and great GOTY caliber game. Amazing story and interesting characters, great music, well done art and graphics (especially by Switch standards), fun gameplay that was accessible but not mindless, the whole chips and memory system was actually enjoyable and I usually hate stuff like that. I never once felt bored or felt like it dragged in the over 30 hours it took me to really beat the game (you have to finish it several times from different perspectives to truly finish it). It does not get a 10 because it had several small annoyances that might or might not bother you. The map is confusing, many nooks and crannies in the open world have invisible walls, a few things were unclear which is something I find in most Japanese games not made by Nintendo. Nevertheless, I consider it a must play. It joins Tears of the Kingdom and Resident Evil 4 (if you've never played it in some form) as the only truly must play games that I’ve played this year.
21. Super Mario 3D World (Switch)
8.5/10 - A very good Mario Game. The level design is so clever! Great variety. A ton of content. The drop in co-op was so easy and I had a blast when my son sat down to play with me here and there. There are two issues I had with the game. The issue was that the level design at times requires the precision of a 2D mario game but because the game is 3D and the camera’s overhead perpective it made it difficult to tell where you were at times. This is never an issue in 2D mario games and are very rare in Galaxy and Odyssey. This is probably the reason I didn’t even want to try to 100% it. My other issue was the theming of the levels. They often times did not match the theme of the over world. I know it’s minor but I like going to the Ice World or Desert World and have the levels actually take place in those biomes.
22. Dead Space Remake (XSX)
8/10 - Similar to Resident Evil 4. Faithful update that takes a great older game and polishes it up to modern standards allowing a “classic” to play the way your nostalgia brain remembers it. I love the no hud interface as well as the combat particularly with the plasma cutter. The visuals are impressive from a technical level, especially the lighting. However the design is a mixed bag in that I think the environments in different parts of the ship look too similar. I appreciate that the story is to the point and doesn’t have overly long cut scenes though the characters lack personality and are not memorable.The atmosphere and lighting are great. The side missions are boring but can be skipped. It is very well made survival horror game and is a must play of any fan of the genre. I feel like I should give this a better score but I gave Evil Within 2 an 8 and I actually enjoyed that more though I know I am an outlier with that opinion. RE4 remake I gave a 9 and that is clearly a better game so I think 8 is what this deserves relative to the other games I’ve reviewed.
23. Bowser’s Fury (Switch)
8.5/10 - For some reason I didn’t have high expectations going into this, but I have to say I was Pleasantly Surprised. While not as well crafted and clever as 3D World, I have to admit that i enjoyed this more traditional type of 3D Mario design as opposed to the 3D World design where I had those moments of misplacing where I was in the 3D space. This game’s environments are designed more like Mario 64, Galaxy or Odyssey and I think this works better for a 3D Mario. I had a lot of fun exploring the world. Giant Bowser popping up was somewhat annoying. This game has me salivating for a true open world Mario Game. hopefully with less water and more continuously connected land segment. It would be so awesome to see that Ice Mountain in the distance (ala Skyrim or BOTW) and be able to trek all the way over there.
24. Cocoon (Switch)
7/10 - I can understand why people love this game but by the end this became “not my type of game.” I will say that 80% of the time this was a 9 out of 10 game for me but every now and then I hit a puzzle that was confusing and required too many steps for what I was willing to put into the game and it just killed my enthusiasm. It’s not that I didn’t feel like I could solve it, I just didn’t want to. It felt like a chore. Also, the story, lore and characters were too abstract for me. The visuals were excellent and I enjoyed the boss battles. I know this is from the Inside dev and I definitely enjoyed that more but even that game I didn’t love as much as everyone else did for similar reasons.
25. No More Heroes (Switch)
7.5/10 - Loveable and stylish but it’s janky and feels unfinished. The game just sceams unrealized potential, especially in the open world. The city of Santa Destroy could have been such a cool place to explore if it actually had places to visit, NPC’s that did something and actually vehicle physics. Doing missions in the open world are very cumbersome requiring you to go to another location first to take the mission rather than being able to stumble across activities organically. In many ways the open world design feels more dated than GTA 3 which is pretty crazy considering that GTA 3 is the first “modern” open world game. With that said, the characters are awesome, I love Travis Touchdown, all of the video game touches are very cool.
26. Skyward Sword HD (Switch)
9/10 - Loved it. My biggest surprise was how well it holds up after playing BOTW and TOTK. If anything it’s a great change of pace game after those big open world epics. It’s structure is the opposite of the two big open world Zelda’s. Skyward Sword is super dense. Big intricate temples and even the lands leading up to the temples are dense with puzzles. There are no big pointless fields in this game. Every single area has a purpose. The story and characters are among the best Zelda games. The art style is beautiful as it takes the more serious Ocarina/Twilight Princess design and gives it a dash of Wind Waker cell shading. Combat is fun. The mapping of the motion controls to the Analog stick works better than I could have expected. Retroactively it’s interesting to see all of the influences in the newer games that were inherited from Skyward Sword. The Sky Islands, The Stamina Gauge, The way you upgrade equipment. This all came fro Skyward Sword. The biggest negative about Skyward Sword is the clunky way you get around. None of the lands are interconnected and you’ll have to teleport to the sky just to drop down into the correct area. If the areas were just connected and you were allowed to fast travel between save points, the game would have earned another half point. Overall, a great game that is underrated by fans that were too harsh on the game upon release.
27. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Campaign (XSX)
8/10 - Campaigns in multiplayer focused shooters often times will feel like an afterthought. You do not get this vibe at all with BO6. It is good enough to stand on its own. The level diversity is probably it’s strongest feature. It has horror themed missions that feel like something out of F.E.A.R./Bioshock, it has casino royale ensamble style level that required the coordination of multiple experts, it has an espionage mission involving politicians at a gala, one mission takes place in an open world map with plenty of optional areas to discover and complete. Now wrap that all up with top tier visuals and great gunplay and it’s a very good package. What prevents it from being higher is that the combat scenarios are a bit too scripted versus dynamic battles like you’d find in something like Halo. Also, though the level diversity was great, it does fee like a bit superficial at times. Finally the story is fine but not amazing. Overall, if you’re in the mood for playing a gold old fashioned style shooter, this is a great choice.
28. Dark Picture Anthology: Devil in Me (XSX)
8/10 - I have now completed all 4 dark picture games and I think they are all roughly on the same level and I have had a good time with all of them.They’re somewhere between a 7 or 8 out of 10 depending on if this is your kinda jam. I like horror and Tales From Crypt style anthologies so this is right up my alley. It has just enough gameplay to feel like you’re playing a game. Visually, they’ve done about as good as you can do with with what I’m guessing is a lower budget than other high profile third party games. My only criticism is that I feel like some of the character’s deaths feel like they’re not my fault. There was no reasonable way to guess that things would turn out that way. I think you need to play this game with the expectation that not everyone is going to make it or you’ll get frustrated. I like them, I’ll definitely be checking out their future titles.
29. Metro Exodus (XSX)
8/10 - I could have seen this game being a 9 if I fully invested myself in it. Honestly, I had just wanted to get this game off my backlog so I played through it on casual and didn’t do as much exploration as I could have. With that said, I was still able to appreciate the immersive worlds and solid gun play that this series is known for. My biggest downsides is that the writing and dialogue is a little lifeless as times (which is typical of Eastern European games). The open world aspect was not as developed as I thought it would be but it was a welcome change from the claustrophobic tunnels that are typical of these games. My favorite structure was actually an area called Taiga that was a “wide linear” style in that there were multiple routes to take but there was still a general direction you were supposed to go. If you are a fan of post apocalyptic settings or like narrative-driven FPS’s then it’s definitely worth checking out.
30. Assassins Creed: Revelations (Switch)
9/10 - Another Assassins Creed and another amazing experience. These games are so underrated by enthusiasts gamers. A beautiful, bustling detailed city to explore. An epic story that spans centuries and multiple locations with great production values. A ton of optional content that spans multiple genres/game types (i.e. tower defense type game, simcity stuff, tomb raider esque tombs, futuristic portal-like levels). I could not put it down and after I beat it, It almost hurt to stop playing but my backlog is too large to try and 100% this. I love Assassin’s Creed, and hardcore gamers who dismiss it due to “Ubisoft hate” or because it is annualized are missing out. These are special games.
31. Resident Evil (Remake) (Switch)
7.5/10 - I’m a huge Resident Evil fan and have played all the original entries and remakes except for this one. The pre-rendered graphics and character models all hold up quite well. Combat is slow and can feel unfair at times with the camera angles and blind spots. The new settings were a welcome addition, I prefer the updated controls and widescreen mode which goes counter to most people in the enthusiast communities. The load times were a lot better than what people were saying it would be (perhaps it was improved in a patch. This is one of those weird games that anyone who has played the original and has some nostalgia for the series or is interested in gaming history should definitely play but if you are just a casual fan, I really think you’re better off playing any of the remakes or newer games. The backtracking, puzzles and combat would be annoying to me if I didn’t have the nostalgia to keep me motivated. I did like it better than Resident Evil 0.
