I would guess it's Another Code then? A Journey Into Lost Memories is the one not released in the US by the looks of it.

Well done on all three!

Exactly: Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories. Then earlier this year the Ashley Mizuki Robbins (the main character in this game and the previous) turned up, I was so happy. And not only is the first game remade, this one is as well and both get released in a collection: Another Code Recollection, to stick with the memory theme. It will be released in January, and this time also in the US, so happy days. I will get it as well, obviously.

Two down, three to go.

#15: (not Necesse)
Let's rise your settlement, before it falls again to Ruins.
Build your city and defend against the hordes of the corruption attacking at night.
Even if your colony is overrun by corruption, you gain abilities to do better next time.
This obscure indie game by a single developer receives constant updates since it's release in 2019.
It's an interesting combination of city builder with god simulator and tower defense.

#14: Demon's Souls as guessed by UnderwaterFunktown.

#13: Star Wars: Dark Forces as guessed by Machina.
At the time the game had a discussion surrounding it, as in difference to other games in the genre at the time it had lifes.
That was unusual for shooters in the 90s.
The plot is about the rebels uncovering a secret weapons project lead by an imperial general, after the rebels had destroyed another big space ship based weapon system.

#12:
The kingdom of Duhan was struck by the Flash.
You are tasked with exploring the Labyrinth of Duhan.

#11: Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories as guessed by drbunnig.

13 - Star Wars: Dark Forces? I remember playing the demo over and over as a kid.

15 - They Are Billions?

Ah... I'm thinking that might be Dark Forces?

EDIT - BAH, just beaten to the punch again

17
- Blue is out, yellow is in, green and red remain.
- Green, red and blue are the available colours of a certain treasure in the game (ordered in value, from low to high), which you’ll mainly find by defeating insect-like enemies.

16 (incorrect guesses - Sonic the Hedgehog)
- When our hero starts running at full speed, his legs turn to wheels
- This game was ported from a home console to a handheld system, with the title of the port adding the name of another character in the game.

15
- The colour of a character that joins your party is determined by how much time elapses between two in-game events.

Current list - https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/247804/the-official-thread-the-14th-annual-greatest-games-event-post-only-once/4/#3

13 is correct. Another game that will get the remaster treatment by Nightdive, it is due to release in February. Looking at the reveal trailer it looks *exactly* like it did 30 years ago, just in higher resolution.

15 is incorrect, i haven't played They Are Billions yet.

You both posted so close to each other, I think I give you half a point, as you also got the correct solution, just a few seconds later.

#48

No Man's Sky.

8.6/10

Years ago there would be no chance this game ended up on my list. But here we are in 2023 after numerous updates No Man's Sky has become a favorite. I feel part of the reason is because I've always had a fascination with space since I was a kid. I've always had thoughts about potential life outside earth and the way the universe works so No Man's Sky kind of fills that curiosity i have. Also the updates to this game have made it the true space exploration game it was meant to be.

The ability to just hop in your ship and just blast off into space with seamless Transitions from ground to space is one of the things that makes this game great for me. I can't think of many games that attempt that and do it well. 

And while the game has plenty of dull moments where it feels like you're just gathering resources just so you can continue with your objective(it is possible to disable some or all the survival elements if you just want to explore btw). The moments when you find something that feels unique make up for some of the repetitive sections. For example I found a blackhole that when I flew into landed me into a battle with space pirates who were attacking a space frigate. As a reward for helping defeat the pirates I became captain of the frigate and obtained the crew that came with it and that was just one of the coolest moments in a game ever. 

Other cool discoveries I found was a purple low gravity planet that I could use my jetpack to zoom around in. A planet with giant space worms, a planet with creatures that took the form of glowing orbs. 

Cool moments like this make No Man's Sky well worth playing imo, And I have only played through the Main Quest thus far. And haven't even started on the expansions yet.

#18

Change YoY: -2    My Rating: 9.4 / 10

For quite a few years after its release, Horizon Zero Dawn was my favourite open world game ever by quite a significant distance. From the moment I first played it, I absolutely loved just about everything it had to offer. The world was intriguing and beautiful, constantly pushing me to find the next secret or new location beyond the map's edge, the characters, Aloy especially, quickly hooked mewith their stories, and the audiovisual side was absolutely fantastic. The score by Joris de Man, The Flight, and a few others is exceptional, and visually the game remains one of the most beautiful open world titles I've ever played thanks to its brilliant art direction. More than a few times I found myself simply stopping to admire the game's gorgeous locations and just taking everything in. I must also commend the voice acting, especially by Ashly Burch as Aloy, though the rest of the cast is great as well.

I also found the gameplay a lot of fun, as the game made me feel like I was constantly improving alongside Aloy, and over time toppling more and more dangerous robots. Each encounter with a new enemy felt dangerous and tense, but as I learned more about the various robots fighting them became almost second nature as their attacks and various tells became almost second nature, just like what Aloy goes through in the story. The expansion to the main game, The Frozen Wilds, is also one of the best DLC releases ever in my opinion, as it expands the world, the story, and the gameplay of the base game without ever feeling tacked on. In general, I loved discovering more about this world that Guerrilla Games created here.

There are, naturally, some issues with the game as well. In the main game, the conversation animation never quite works right, the characters' mouth movements very often feeling unnatural and stilted. Fortunately, they improved the system a lot in the DLC. I also often found myself running out of inventory space, even with full upgrades, leading to quite a lot of annoying fiddling throughout the game. All of that is ultimately insignificant, though. The story, setting, the mystery surrounding the past, the characters, music, visuals, and gameplay are all wonderful, and though it's no longer my favourite open world game thanks to a pair of titles that were released in 2022, it remains not only the best game of its release year, but one of the best games of its entire generation.