How will Balder'a Gate 3 be handled? Came out on PS5/PC before 10/30 or whatever the cutoff is. Will obviously come out on Xbox after. I hope to play it this year before the year is up, but when I do ifnit cracks my top 50 can I add that one or not?

Sorry if this had already been asked.

Well, you're allowed to make changes to your list up until the end of the year, so you could always add it in, but I'm not sure about allowing Xbox to be listed as its platform. Not gonna lie I genuinely don't remember what I've done in this kind of situation in recent years, or even if there was a situation like this, it's pretty unique.

To be honest I've been meaning to play Baldur's Gate 3 too and was wondering if I should hold back on my list for it, but I'll probably just leave it for next year.

Don't worry about it, you can totally play it and add it when you want to. If you're playing it on Xbox... eh, sure, it counts.

Here's my "didn't quite make it" list. Everything not separately mentioned are PC versions.

51. Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3 (Arcade)
52. Fatal Racing
53. XIII
54. Outlaws
55. Beyond Good & Evil
56. Final Fantasy V (SNES)
57. Battlefield 1942
58. Star Wars: Battlefront (2004)
59. Robot Warlords (PS2)
60. Final Fantasy IV (SNES)
61. Kingmaker
62. Space Quest IV
63. The Incredible Machine
64. One Must Fall 2097
65. LEGO: Batman (DS)
66. Beneath a Steel Sky
67. Red Baron
68. Sid Meier's Pirates!
69. Criminal Girls (PSP)
70. Sam & Max Hit the Road
71. Dragon Crystal (SMS)
72. The Colonel's Bequest
73. Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
74. 3 in Three (Mac)
75. Bahamut Lagoon (SNES)

Thank you 

Okay, got my list set.
Question: Can we write small blurbs in the list on why we chose each game or should that be relegated to this discussion thread?

Anything you wanna write about the games goes here in the discussion thread, you can link to it in your list though

I guess I could quickly go over the games that fell off my list this year. There are four new games on it this year, so the following games unfortunately fell out as a result:

• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (PS3) My Rating: 8.9/10
  
  • I debated for a long time whether the last game I dropped was this, or the one that ended up at #50, but ultimately I decided to finally leave Enslaved off the list. It's been there for a very long time, and the thing that finally decided it in favour of the other game is the fact that Odyssey to the West ends in an unresolved cliffhanger. Otherwise I still love the game, but sadly we're never going to see this story finished.
• Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2) My Rating: 8.9/10
  • Another game that's been in my top 50 since I first played it nearly 20 years ago now, and just a simple fact of other, better games coming along over time. I still think it's great, but there are just 50 better games that I couldn't leave out.
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3) My Rating: 8.8/10
  
  • It's possible that it's just been far too long since I last played Ni No Kuni and time has simply eroded some of my memories of it so games that are fresher in my mind have overtaken it, but as it stands, it doesn't quite warrant a position on the list anymore. Still a wonderful beautiful and unique game.
• Grandia II (PC) My Rating: 8.8/10
  • A great RPG with one of the best turn-based battle systems ever. The story and characters are very good, and the music is excellent too. Again, there are just too many better games for me to include it in my top 50 anymore.

With that done, I'll get started with the clues for my list soon-ish.

Independent of if it already released or not, I usually leave out games I haven't played yet, even if I start in November/December, there is always next year for the list. But besides that: do you really think you can beat a meaty game like BG3 once it comes out on Xbox this year?

Ah, the Journey to the West game. The one I always recognize the parts from the novel in, but never have played the game. Actually, now that I have for the first time an Xbox, I saw it in the store on X360 compatibility and wishlisted it, as I remembered from previous guesses from you.

Well, let's start off with the first round of hints:

#50: 6 Degrees of Freedom.

#49: Not a port, but actually it's own title. (not Smash Ultimate)

#48: Slice with your sharp dice the enemies.

#47: You could describe the game as monarchy simulator.

#46: Other guests at Spiffo's restaurant may actually crave *you* more than a burger.

#45: Fill your improvised settlement with other survivors of the shipwreck.