Time to start this, don't want to play too much catch up this year.
#50 - Panel de Pon - Super Nintendo
Best puzzle game? Best puzzle game. I always come back to this, is pretty engaging to always be competing against something in its story mode, part of the reason why I also love Tetris 99, and I love the constant play of strategy between cleaning up combos as fast as possible, deciding to take some time to set them up, or making split second improvised combos to keep the damage going to the other player/CPU, is such a beautiful, tight, fast paced puzzle game that I'll never get tired of, in any of its versions.
#49 - Pokemon Sword - Switch
I should put Black and White here next year, I love that game as much, or Super Mystery Dungeon. I wrote a decently lengthy post last time about why I like this game, so I'll make it a sort of bullet point this time.
Best new Pokedex, legit like every single new design, and there are some cool type match ups and alternate forms here, the group of legendary Pokemon is honestly awesome and gave me one of the best set pieces in the series.
Also love the cast, characters like Hop and Leon is something that at first glance would be something I'll be meh on, but they won my heart really well, the other rivals, the gym leaders, Sonia, etc. are also great.
Music score is pretty much at its peak, taking elements like the gym leader battle of B/W changing for the last fight and making that concept a lot more dynamic and incorporating the setting in the track, much like how it does with the final battles of the rivals. Slumbering Weald pretty much opens the game and is one of the most hauntingly beautiful, catchiest, and incredibly atmospheric pieces of music in the franchise.
On a thematic level, the idea of succession and the future is among the things this franchise has executed the best, how Sonia becomes the Pokemon professor, Marnie and Bede becoming new gym leaders in their different ways, Hop finding his own future, and Leon himself, doing his job as a champion and protecting people during Dynamax outbreaks, and then you become champion and the post game is doing what he used to, some story elements in this game might be rushed and others underdeveloped, but that core theme was done excellently. Also the championship itself is great, making the gym battles feel like an actual event, people following your journey, it nails the idea of a "League" in the Pokemon League. And ending it all on a fantastic re interpretation of the Hall of Fame tune as the champion battle theme is the best closer they could have given me, it helps that Leon is a legit good Champion team wise as well.
DLC is great too, would have liked Arceus to just expand on the design set by the Isle of Armor, hopefully S/V goes for that.
