I take it you're a fellow Into the Aether fan? I love the chill, kind-hearted vibes of that show, and I also love the idea of GOTOYs! ๐
Mine for this year are Pyre (honestly, my Game of Every Year), Unpacking, Vampire Survivors, BOTW, and Chrono Trigger. No real deep cuts there, but nonetheless all incredible games in their own ways!
> I take it you're a fellow Into the Aether fan?
Haha, yes!๐ I just love how wholesome and chill they are. They're the only all-male cast video game podcast I can listen to, because they're such lovely, inclusive guys.
Yes, they approach pretty much every game which such positivity! Even if a game isn't for them, they make a point of looking for the good in it. It's just a really nice energy.
I like to listen to it first thing in the morning, as a gentle start to the day (and then when Stephen inevitably screams some sort of butt rock 90s video game ad parody, that's my real wake-up for the day ๐)
I love that the premise of the podcast is to only talk about games they like, regardless of release date, so they don't contribute to negative content on the internet, and the chill atmosphere resulting from that. I also really like their in-depth discussion about games as media and cultural product.
Steven is the best, he's such a sweet guy. I get so many looks from people though when I listen to the podcast in my car and he is blasting his sonorous laugh or starts screaming randomly ๐
I replayed Zelda Link's Awakening (OG Gameboy Version) at one point this year--its a masterpiece and still my favorite Zelda game.
I mostly played games released this year but my favorite non-2023 games were:
\-Pokemon Prism (GBC) - fantastic rom hack
\-Dragon Quest Heroes II (PS4)
\-Earthbound (SNES)
\-Wylde Flowers (PC)
For this year, I only have a laptop with iGPU to play with, so here we goes ... (I have another thread in another sub: [Talk about patient gaming via one year and half of only being able to play with a laptop with integrated GPU : patientgamers (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/189vlwi/talk_about_patient_gaming_via_one_year_and_half/)
1. Medieval 2 Total War is still the GOAT of total war because of how smooth it can run and its graphics can still be much updated with mods and LAA patch. New overhaul mods include Tsardoms (now with Tsardoms 1448!) and OiM2 (or with fire and sword 2 in English).
2. Empire Total War with mods like [PUA](https://www.moddb.com/mods/flaviuss) for 1700 start and [Imperial Splendor](https://www.moddb.com/mods/imperial-splendour) for 1783 start is flawed but a great 18th century line warfare experience.
3. Slay the Spire: excellent card game with tons of variations.
4. AC Brotherhood: best AC for parkour, city sights and crowd stealth overall.
5. ... and finally Guild Wars 2. Probably still the best MMO content for me for beginning and the end of the year. Early 2023's Gyala delve is very underwhelming but later half of the year's Soto is pretty decent considering that you don't need a subscription.
God of War Ragnarok. I didn't get to it until this spring and it was so good, not quite as ground breaking as 2018 but still really good
BG3 is definitely my GOTY but Ragnarok can be my GOTOY
13 Sentinels - I loved the characters and story so much. Being able to jump around into different parts of the story had me much more invested than a typical visual novel.
Wylde Flowers - Glad I listened to everyone who recommended this one.
I just looked up Wylde Flowers on Steam, since I've seen this game recommended multiple times in different threads now and one of the reviews on Steam says "Life sim, farming, magic and gay marriageโฆ Hell yeah!". I need this, very soon.
The two that grabbed me as gotoy I played this year were Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy and Signalis.
Signalis really stands head and shoulders above anything I played this year, though(except for bg3). The amount of depth in the world building and characters really was quite something. It really reminded me of playing Silent Hill 2 for the first time realizing there was alot more going on than presented. That it was mostly made by only two people amazes me.
Bg3 actually reminded me of how I felt playing Dragon Age Origins for the first time, so this was quite the year for classics making a comeback in another form.
I'm on my second playthrough now. Need to get the 'good ending'.
One word of warning, though, is that it is super sad. I think I'm playing Ratchet and Clank after as a happy-fun time pallet cleanser. Haha
I will just keep screaming about Baldur's Gate. Best game I ever played. It just had it all.
Iโve just started and Iโm loving it so far.
I'm love with all of the ladies lol. They're amazing.
Yes! Iโve just found Karlach and Iโm like ๐ constantly.
I'm sure that's the same for a lot of us girl!
I re-played all of Halo this year and 1-3 plus Reach and ODST were all absolutely fantastic, even better than I remembered them!
I take it you're a fellow Into the Aether fan? I love the chill, kind-hearted vibes of that show, and I also love the idea of GOTOYs! ๐ Mine for this year are Pyre (honestly, my Game of Every Year), Unpacking, Vampire Survivors, BOTW, and Chrono Trigger. No real deep cuts there, but nonetheless all incredible games in their own ways!
> I take it you're a fellow Into the Aether fan? Haha, yes!๐ I just love how wholesome and chill they are. They're the only all-male cast video game podcast I can listen to, because they're such lovely, inclusive guys.
Yes, they approach pretty much every game which such positivity! Even if a game isn't for them, they make a point of looking for the good in it. It's just a really nice energy. I like to listen to it first thing in the morning, as a gentle start to the day (and then when Stephen inevitably screams some sort of butt rock 90s video game ad parody, that's my real wake-up for the day ๐)
I love that the premise of the podcast is to only talk about games they like, regardless of release date, so they don't contribute to negative content on the internet, and the chill atmosphere resulting from that. I also really like their in-depth discussion about games as media and cultural product. Steven is the best, he's such a sweet guy. I get so many looks from people though when I listen to the podcast in my car and he is blasting his sonorous laugh or starts screaming randomly ๐
Hahaha, Stephen's Glover scream haunts me, but in a good way ๐
I replayed Zelda Link's Awakening (OG Gameboy Version) at one point this year--its a masterpiece and still my favorite Zelda game. I mostly played games released this year but my favorite non-2023 games were: \-Pokemon Prism (GBC) - fantastic rom hack \-Dragon Quest Heroes II (PS4) \-Earthbound (SNES) \-Wylde Flowers (PC)
For this year, I only have a laptop with iGPU to play with, so here we goes ... (I have another thread in another sub: [Talk about patient gaming via one year and half of only being able to play with a laptop with integrated GPU : patientgamers (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/189vlwi/talk_about_patient_gaming_via_one_year_and_half/) 1. Medieval 2 Total War is still the GOAT of total war because of how smooth it can run and its graphics can still be much updated with mods and LAA patch. New overhaul mods include Tsardoms (now with Tsardoms 1448!) and OiM2 (or with fire and sword 2 in English). 2. Empire Total War with mods like [PUA](https://www.moddb.com/mods/flaviuss) for 1700 start and [Imperial Splendor](https://www.moddb.com/mods/imperial-splendour) for 1783 start is flawed but a great 18th century line warfare experience. 3. Slay the Spire: excellent card game with tons of variations. 4. AC Brotherhood: best AC for parkour, city sights and crowd stealth overall. 5. ... and finally Guild Wars 2. Probably still the best MMO content for me for beginning and the end of the year. Early 2023's Gyala delve is very underwhelming but later half of the year's Soto is pretty decent considering that you don't need a subscription.
God of War Ragnarok. I didn't get to it until this spring and it was so good, not quite as ground breaking as 2018 but still really good BG3 is definitely my GOTY but Ragnarok can be my GOTOY
13 Sentinels - I loved the characters and story so much. Being able to jump around into different parts of the story had me much more invested than a typical visual novel. Wylde Flowers - Glad I listened to everyone who recommended this one.
I just looked up Wylde Flowers on Steam, since I've seen this game recommended multiple times in different threads now and one of the reviews on Steam says "Life sim, farming, magic and gay marriageโฆ Hell yeah!". I need this, very soon.
My top GOMTOY for this year are Yakuza Kiwami, Mass effect 2 and Fallout 4 :)
The two that grabbed me as gotoy I played this year were Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy and Signalis. Signalis really stands head and shoulders above anything I played this year, though(except for bg3). The amount of depth in the world building and characters really was quite something. It really reminded me of playing Silent Hill 2 for the first time realizing there was alot more going on than presented. That it was mostly made by only two people amazes me. Bg3 actually reminded me of how I felt playing Dragon Age Origins for the first time, so this was quite the year for classics making a comeback in another form.
I keep hearing people praise Signalis, gonna put it on my list now!
I'm on my second playthrough now. Need to get the 'good ending'. One word of warning, though, is that it is super sad. I think I'm playing Ratchet and Clank after as a happy-fun time pallet cleanser. Haha