Well then, with my first 5 games guessed I'm gonna start posting write-ups once again. Writing new ones for all 50 games would be a bit too time-consuming for me this year, but rather than writing for a few titles here and there I've decided to reuse a lot of the returning ones, maybe with some minor changes (good thing I wrote them up in a word document). I will still write a new one if my opinion has changed notable or of course for the new faces on the list.
Placement/ Last Year | Write-up | (Box) Art |
#50 #40 | Super Smash Bros. Melee So yeah, Super Smash Bros. Melee was among the biggest drops on my list this year, like it was the year before (and the one before that). Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing title and purely from a gameplay perspective it’s probably more fun than 2/3 of my list (granted that also includes some games with very little actual gameplay), but with Smash Bros. being as iterative as it is, it takes a bit more than that great core gameplay for me to consider one of them among my favorites. But unlike Smash 4 which got the axe last year, Melee is still here because it has enough uniqueness, with its own aesthetic, its somewhat faster pacing and of course the adventure mode, to feel like a distinct entry worth revisiting. |  |
#49 #50 | The Beginner’s Guide Despite a general downward movement of returning titles this year, The Beginner's Guide has managed to stick around here at the start of the list. I think I expected something very different going into this game years ago, but what I got what a very unique and very compelling narrative that’s probably still among my favorite stories in games. There is still a little pinch of the humor we know and love from the Stanley Parable, but it mainly has a more serious tone with a story that catches you off guard, though it also manages to surprise and intrigue in the weirdness of the many smaller games it is comprised of throughout. |  |
#48 #45 | Metroid Dread Though it has never made it too high on here Dread holds on to my list for the third year in a row. To me, while Dread is not perfect, it definitely takes the crown for the best 2D Metroid and one of the best metroidvanias in general. It has everything that made the older titles great coupled with smoother movement and gameplay, amazing bosses and lovely over the top cutscenes. My few complaints are that the counter mechanic is a bit overused and that the ending was a bit nonsensical, but the game was still a joy to play overall. |  |
#47 NEW | DOOM Eternal Replacing DOOM (2016) which debuted on nearly the same spot on my list last year we have DOOM Eternal and what a game. I think it’s one of the most viscerally satisfying games that I’ve ever played combining the excellent high pulse shooting gameplay of the first with surprisingly fun platforming. I do think the game falls short in some areas though, I read most of the codex entries in the first but in this one they just felt drab and while I’m more about the single-player the multiplayer in this seems needlessly complicating compared to 2016. But when it comes to pure gameplay very few games have this beat so it was still one of my best game experiences this last year. |  |
#46 #37 | Resident Evil 2 Remake A game I really need to REplay and I probably will before I finally get around to 4 Remake, but for now it fell a number of spots, though I still remember it as really good. I think what I really like about the gameplay of this and REmake (not on my list but consider this an honorable mention) is that mix of survival horror and puzzle solving, where they actually manage to excel in both rather than the puzzles just feeling tacked on. As a horror game, while it’s far from the scariest one out there, it certainly has some moments that get your pulse going and also has just the right kind of creepy atmosphere throughout. |  |
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