No idea how I discovered Timesplitters 2, but I think it was pretty current, never felt a need to play any of the others lol as even fairly recently I still play it. I loved every part of it, insanely creative blends of puzzle objectives and dynamic level designs, the wild spread of characters and weapons, soundtrack, and particularly the arcade-like aspects that are completely missing from modern FPSs (apart from crappy battle pass systems).
I missed out on Goldeneye in its prime, and after years of hearing about how great it was, I only found out a few years ago that Timesplitters 2 was made by the same team and is essentially a spiritual successor, which instantly made it make a lot of sense. I have tried Goldeneye since it came to Nintendo Switch Online, and I can feel the hype. But yes, the archaic controls certainly hold both games back.
Yeah, for both Ratchet/Jak I played the first three mainline games to an obsessive completionist level. I certainly remember playing Sly, but it hasn’t stuck with me anywhere near as much.
UT was my first FPS/arena shooter, oddly enough I was playing it as a very young chlid when it was current but never really stuck with that genre of hardcore strategy/technique shooters though. I started getting back into it while the new open crowd sourced UT was being made, but of course the world was more ready for Fortnite instead… There’s still nothing quite like UT99, and I just don’t understand where the market for that kind of thing vanished to, I guess it somehow split into Doom and Counter Strike?
My lockdown game was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which didn’t really stick with me beyond that necessity, and I have enjoyed Stardew much more before and since. Especially with the sensical and just really good multiplayer system. When that launched my partner and I were more than happy to go through it all again together.
This list of games isn’t in order and will probably change within an hour or so. Just kind of put things on there as I thought about it. I had Wind Waker on there as well (clearly I am a Zelda fan) but had to take off some Zelda to fit on other games. Also wish I had some room on there for Metroid and some more indie games.
lmao OSRS has a stake on filling my whole chart by itself too. Over the years I have sporadically fired it up to see if the spark is still there, and unless you’re playing multiple hours per day its just not.
BOTW was my first Zelda game and I went fully deep on it (TOTK is really the only thing I have been playing since it came out, but not that much). I’ve dabbled in some of the others with NSO, and OOT definitely surprised me, but I didnt finish it (or any other old ones). The idea of Wind Waker interests me, but not enough to seek out emulating it or anything. I really liked the Link’s Awakening remake, but I actually got stuck in the last dungeon and have found it impossible to want to pick it back up as I can’t remember how it worked/don’t want to start the whole game again, I know what the ending is so it feels a bit pointless to just use a guide to get there too.
The only time I fully committed to Pokemon was gen 2, so I feel you there.
Heh, I remember playing things like UT, Quake, etc in high school Computer Science class. Fun times. As far as 007 goes, I agree that Goldeneye doesn’t exactly hold up, but I suspect a later game like Nightfire (while obviously old) might work better since it has more modern controls.
Stardew > ACNH for me as well, but the original Animal Crossing was something special. The town just felt more alive but in NH after you play long enough it kinda just feels empty for some reason. Maybe it was because I played it while I was younger and didn’t have real responsibility yet. I actually got Pikmin and the first Animal Crossing on the same day so it’s kinda cool both made my list.
I think it felt empty because as soon as everything settles (everyone getting a house, full island access etc.), the villagers just stop reacting to anything in a meaningful way and you’re just grinding for customisation/museum completion. I know they’ve added some content, but I haven’t been bothered to check what it is in a couple of years. Just one of those situations where all the things they did a really great job of are overshadowed by the nagging feelings of what could have easily been done a lot better.
Stardew in theory sounds a lot more boring as its the same people, relationships, and reactions every time, but they are just so exquisitely put together and its basically impossible to fit everything into one playthrough anyway. The AC villager archetypes just turned out so hollow and meaningless.
I can’t really say how much Tribes I played, but I loved that game and was addicted for months. I’ve got some great memories of it.
Intergalactic Fishing is the game I’ve played most on Steam. It’s one of my very favorite games ever. During the pandemic, this fun, little community formed around it, and I made some great friends. The game itself has an incredible depth for how it looks, and people are still searching the galaxy for the elusive 30 pounder.
Amazing deal alert: get over 250 indie games for only $10 - all of the proceeds go to the Medical Aid For Palestinians charity. They’ve raised over $250k as of writing.
wasn’t sure where exactly to put this, but either way, i’m weirdly hype for this, it looks super fun and cozy. there’s such a lack of good stop motion stuff anymore, and this looks like something I would’ve watched when I was younger, back when I actually played Pokémon.
also, kudos on them getting the woman who sang Plastic Love for the theme song
favorite album: a 90-minute album by a goregrind band called mutilated cock
favorite song: kero kero bonito covering the pokémon theme
favorite movie: adam curtis documentary about the cambodian genocide
favorite tv show: a danish claymation show about a duck who loves knitting
I still haven’t gotten around to BG3, which could very well end up clinching it in retrospect, but as of writing, my favorite game of the year is:
My House
How to even describe this thing. It’s not even technically a game, it’s a custom map for Doom II that turns from a simple recreation of a childhood home into a genuinely masterful bit of psychological horror that gets under my skin the way few games have ever managed. It reminds me a lot of the excellent Petscop series/ARG, and also clearly takes a lot of obvious influence from other media like House of Leaves and internet phenomena like liminal spaces, but it channels them into something very special. There’s a lot of great videos going on it (namely this one) but I’d recommend going into this totally blind.
