The Discussion Thread - The 14th Annual Greatest Games Event

[UnderwaterFunktown]

Hope you all had a good new year. Like last year I have one last batch of write-ups in me as I recount some of the highlight of my gaming year that didn't make the list. Since quite a few of the great games I played in the last year ended up making the list I only have 4 other highlights to mention, but they're really great ones though, so that probably makes up for it.

Playtime	Write-up	(Box) Art
26 hours	Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy I’ll admit the high praise of a certain racoon is a large part of what got me interested in this game (though I’m also a big fan of the first film which I consider the best in the MCU) and I’m very glad it did. Though it took a minute to adapt to the game’s variant of this qunitet, I pretty much ended up liking them as much here as on the big screen give or take. The writing, particularly the interactions and bickering between our lovable team of misfits, is really great, both funny and at other times hard-hitting. Eidos Montreal did not hold back as we really get to see them spilling their hearts over the course of this relatively short game. Then here’s the gameplay which is… surprisingly good? It has some issues like lacking enemy variety and overly spammable “guardian powers” but I still think there’s something inherently fun in being able to shooting enemies in constant motion, powersliding around like a rockstar and stringing said guardian powers together for combos. Besides; any game that lets you mow down enemies to “Never Gonna Give You Up” is a-okay in my book. In the end the game couldn’t quite make my list of favorites this year, but it was up for consideration so it has certainly left an impact on me and I would definitely like to replay it someday, which is something I hadn’t expected going in.
67 hours	Disco Elysium: The Final Cut Despite being a very different genre Disco Elysium surprisingly has a few things in common with Guardians of the Galaxy. Here too we have another game were the writing shines the brightest and ranges from hilarious to emotional. Disco Elysium is a massive game in terms of content, if you’re anything like me don’t get fooled by the Howlongtobeat page, I used 50 % longer than an alleged completionist run and even I didn’t do quite everything, and that overflowing amount of content is both a strength and a weakness, because while I wouldn’t say the writing ever got weak as such, with the sheer amount of world-building and little side-conversations and the variety of wild directions the game takes, it can’t all be equally compelling. But on the other hand, part of me did want to put Disco Elysium a spot on my list because of how utterly legendary some of the moments along the way were, not many games that let a deadbeat cop become the god of dance. Either way Disco Elysium is an amazing game and perhaps the most ambitious one I’ve played all year.
35 hours	The Talos Principle II As much as I enjoyed The Talos Principle the first time I played it, I only think I really came to appreciate just how special it was with time. Just in time for the sequel that is. Puzzle games that are both challenging, engrossing and tell good stories are very rare, but 9 years after the original Croteam managed to deliver another one with smoother gameplay thanks to an important QoL change and a plethora of super creative new mechanics. Its story is also more ambitious bringing it a cast of characters with opposing ideologies and making you choose sides. But with that being said I perhaps surprisingly still prefer the original by just little bit due to its more mysterious tone and focused narrative. Still one of the year’s best games though and I’m crossing my fingers for a DLC with a new story and harder puzzles like the first one got because while there were a few head-scratchers in here, I could go for a few more.
25 hours (in progress)	Hogwarts Legacy My playthrough of Hogwarts Legacy is a work in progress so obviously I can’t give my final verdict on it yet, but what I can say is that I didn’t realize how much I wanted this game till I sat down and actually played it. I’m fairly into fantasy books and while Harry Potter isn’t my absolute favorite series it’s pretty high up there and, as I see now, an amazing universe to set a game in. And there is legitimate love for the IP on show here with tons of little references (like an Aracnophobia Mode referencing Ron’s Riddikulus) and many details from the books that even the film adaptations left out. The game does have some issues and a few questionable decisions on display, but none of them have bothered me too much because the feel of the game and getting to explore and attend Hogwarts is quite simply, well, magical.