During our most recent episode of Tech Talk Thursdays, the question was posed about which games released this year were my favorites and while I am usually several years behind on most things with games, I have a list thanks to Kev and Major dragging me into the current era of games via Xbox Game Pass.
With that, let’s talk about the things I thought were cool this year from five to one.
If you start hearing violins, know I’m typing as fast as I can.
Terra Nil
If you’re a regular to the show or to my socials, you’ll know that I am all for worldbuilding games because I’m a whole tabletop gaming nerd.
So when I ran into a game about re-establishing the wilds, waters, and woods of the earth, I had to add this game to my collection right next to Dorfromantik.
For the King II
I have enough of a reputation for enjoying the first For the King that my friends tapped me on the shoulder the moment the second one came out. I still haven’t played this one yet, but that didn’t stop me from adding it to my steam library and will it not stop me from being annoying about it the moment I boot it up.
Exoprimal
I’m not one for FPS games as many will attest, but this game is a lot of fun with an undercurrent of horror that’s also very enjoyable. The pacing of the gameplay and lore drops was also well-done.
Being a flying support character with a magic wand was a delight and being a support in the game felt great. It was easy to pick up and run with, so a person who is really into the genre will have a wonderful time.
A good game with a few friends and also DINOSAURS!
Minecraft Dungeons
As a person who plays minecraft, having this version of a dungeon crawl was the closest I got to having a lego game.
I like lego games.
Being able to play minecraft as a proper dungeon crawl was a nice take on the game and the gameplay loop was a great deal of fun. I could easily see myself playing this solo at some point, but I enjoyed it with friends, too.
But let’s get to the one you were waiting for… my number one game. That goes to…
✨ Octopath Traveler II ✨
Art style. Storylines. Dialog. It was giving everything I loved about Final Fantasy Tactics and Project Triangle Strategy. I love turn-based games with little mechanical rewards and Octopath is always full of them. It took me a whole 10 minutes into the game before I went “Oh, this is going to be a problem for me…”
…then they introduced a time-based mechanic and an anti-capitalist message off the rip. 😍
If you like RPGs, you should have Octopath this in your library. Full stop.
Final Thoughts Before They Strike Up the Band
That’s about it, so I’ll wrap up here, but if any of these were on your list, leave a comment or hit me on the socials and let me know. If there’s something you think I missed, you’ll probably find it on Kev or Major’s post about this 😂.
