What games have you played so far this year and what would you rate them?

id give elden ring an 8.5.

i get loads of replay value out of from games. first play is just exploring and experimenting, second time i go in wiser, every time i got my wrist slapped for trying to do something too early cos i didnt have the right kit or stats, i know not to repeat those mistakes.

and it becomes almost like solving a grand puzzle. finding the most optimum build and route to get through the game with no wasted effort, no grinding, tackling it very strategically to unlock key items / areas / npcs / lore in a very particular order for the perfect run. and i can do that with games like bloodborne and demon's souls because theyre about 15-20 hours long, and i'm done within a week.

but elden ring took me 120 hours+ and six weeks maybe more on the first play, and so every time i go back to it i feel like i'm about to start climbing everest. its a huge investment of time and it's just a bit offputting. that's why ive scored it down slightly despite being so good, i can't play it the way i like to play from games because its just so big. starting to think wenzen was right with his one and done single mammoth playthrough approach

To many to count what with gamepass,but I'd say dying light 2 and halo infinite,followed by farcry 6

Dracula X - 7

Super Castlevania IV - 7

I haven't played a lot of games this year so far and I spent 120+ hours on one game in Horizon Forbidden West.

• 8.5 - Horizon Forbidden West - (platinum trophy) - Really great. Good improvements and additions from the first game - fighting against humans , melee combos , special abitities and skills , character models/animations , underwater , pullcaster , shieldwing , flying mount , etc.
• 7.0 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
• 6.0 - Alan Wake Remastered - (first time player)

Just started some of the later levels in Kirby. Seems like it might be getting better. Could bump it up to an 8/10!

I am on the Godskin duo. I rate this fight a 2/10🤡

@hardwenzen: that was a tough fight. Think it took me several tries.

On my first try, i got them to 20%, but got crushed by the fatty rolls. Tried 3 more time after that, and got clapped pretty fast. For the second time in the game, i actually have to try a few things to see what works best.

edit: meh killed them on 5th or 6th try. Had way more trouble with Mohg

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe [10]: It’s the original classic with some cool extras to make it feel like a neat update.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps [9.2]: An excellent Metroidvania in every way but also a superb platformer. Final boss is super annoying, though. Other boss battles were also tedious, repetitive, and overly long.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D [9.0]: The most cryptic game ever, but it maintains the solid combat system and sense of exploration that OOT introduced. Looks great on the 3DS.

Halo Infinite [8.8]: Mechanically excellent Halo that feels like a dream to play. The missions in the campaign could have been a little more varied, but overall, it was a fun time.

Ori and the Blind Forest [8.8]: An artful Metroidvania that would be vastly improved upon in the sequel, but this one still stands as one of the best games to grace Xbox/PC. Glad it made its way to the Switch, though I played it on my Series S. The only downside was the game had some game crashing bugs that forced me to utilize the backup save feature. Sheesh. That just took away from the otherwise excellent polish of the game in other areas.

Steamworld Dig 2 [8.7]: A monumental improvement over the first game. It’s a substantial enrichment in graphics, mechanics, and exploration. It’s one of the best Metroidvanias from the last generation.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land [8.7]: One of the best Kirby games but not the absolute best. Canvas Curse and Epic Yarn are still better. As the first fully 3D Kirby, it captures the feel of 2D Kirby and Super Mario 3D Land/World combined. The challenge stages are hit and Miss, though. I’d say those stages are good about 90% of the time but annoying 10% of the time.

Kirby Triple Deluxe [8.5]: Another fun Kirby platformer that uses the foreground and background of stages very cleverly.

The Medium [8.5]: A suspenseful ode to the fixed-camera Resident Evil games that relies minimally on combat but heavily on defenseless survival horror mechanics. The camera angles do falter in some key moments, unfortunately.

Klonoa Empire of Dreams [8.5]: A great puzzle-platformer that increases its difficulty in small increments with each level. It’s a smart little game with a lot of charm.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s about Time [7.9]: At times it feels like good, classic Crash with its solid platforming and innovative power ups. At other times it feels like an insurmountable mess that is not worth suffering through, particularly if you want to complete the game 100%. It was nice to have another high quality Crash game, but it was also something of a disappointment.

Super Puzzle Fighter Tournament [7.8]: Super fun Street Fighter puzzle tie-in. It’s a little bit of Puyo and a little bit of Tetris. What’s not to like? The game could have had some more substantial modes, though.

Steamworld Dig [7.5]: A nice Metroidvania that is fun to explore, but it doesn’t take advantage of its power ups. It ends too quickly and suddenly, making it feel like it wasted its potential.

Retro Bowl [7.5]: It’s a blast to play on offense. I believe that Madden is even going to use a variation of Retro Bowl’s passing mechanics this year. As fun as Retro Bowl is, it can start to feel repetitive with its lack of defensive play. However, the football management aspect of it is engaging.

19XX [7.4]: Not a bad warplane shooter. It’s just not as good as 1944, not by a long shot. The graphics look odd as well.