16BitHero

My favourite exclusive of the last gen. Stunningly beautiful art style, very accessible and just deep enough combat without the Souls like precision in every encounter. It has a good story and despite having a typical open world quest format, it does enough to differentiate itself and never becomes dull or boring. If you can read quickly, I recommend Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. The online stuff was pretty fun too. I'm glad PC players get to experience this magnificent game!

I'll give this a go because...I grew up with 16 bit American Football games but always liked Mutant League Football the best (being a White Dwarf/Warhammer kid). After moving to NYC I still couldn't really get into the NFL but then I had a stint in Tallahassee. Wow, college football is BIG. With multiple stadiums seating over 100,000 and entire towns' economies reliant on just 7 home games per season, the atmosphere is infectious. You could argue the games are more entertaining than pro football too as they take more risks and make more mistakes at college level. I'm glad the players will finally be compensated as they are risking a lot considering the billions TV networks make airing college sports.

Disrupting the established live service games takes some doing. In recent times only Helldivers 2 has managed to do that as far as I can tell. It's bringing something new to the table with third person co-op plus the devs made the most fun multiplayer game in a long long time in my opinion. To be fair I'm more of a single player gamer and fell off Fortnite after a week although I put several years into Warzone. The market is saturated at this point so introducing something new is very risky indeed.

I'm finally playing through Deliver Us Mars which I recommend for anyone who enjoyed Deliver Us The Moon. Baldurs Gate 3 will be continued when I'm ready for a longer play session as will Asgards Wrath 2. Happy weekend y'all!

@somnambulance Edit: I see someone else already made this point so feel free to disregard the following...GTA V is like a Disney film. There are always more young people and when 'coming of age', allowed by their parents to buy it. There ain't no GTA 6 yet and 5 is always on sale. That's my two pence anyway!

@Balosi I second this. I'd contribute to a Kickstarter.

The motor cycle worked well for Days Gone, if we get a modest sized map like that filled with temples, tombs and ruins then consider me interested.

It's the most fun multiplayer games of all time in my opinion (plus thirty five years of gaming experience).. Sure there are deeper multiplayer games and pvp can be particularly engrossing if done well but HD2 just ticks so many boxes and importantly, it's evolving.

I returned both PSVR 1+2 after a two week trial period. Decent hardware but lacking support overall. Quest 3 is an excellent bit of hardware, standalone or paired with a decent PC. Sales are impressive and the VR market is really picking up after serious stagnation during and after the pandemic. I was a VR sceptic but games like Half Life Alyx, Asgards Wrath 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator really show what it's capable of, not to mention all the fun/unique/quirky games which are priced accordingly. I wish Sony and Microsoft somehow allowed third party headsets to cater to a VR ecosystem on their consoles - maybe in a future gen. I'm not generally a fan of exclusives.

@djlard In a perfect world ID software would make that game!

@ROTTIEMAN16 Asgards Wrath 2 proves that scope shouldn't be an issue. I just hope the Quest 3, Steam VR and PSVR 2 have the best possible visuals based on their specs.

'By Aliens fans for Aliens fans' has me hopeful. Alien Isolation and Aliens Dark Descent were fantastic for this reason among others.

@UltimateOtaku91 Yup, legions of younger gamers coming of age dramatically affects this ranking. They're playing what their peers are playing and as soon as you're old enough for GTA V, well VI isn't here yet so... I think older generations are generally playing a wider variety of games and when you're as old as me, mostly solitary single player games (with the odd Helldivers 2 dance here and there).

There is so much potential for this game. There are plenty of folks who haven't even seen Starship Troopers and don't necessarily know HD 2's influences but it doesn't matter. The Dev's knew what would be fun and made in my opinion, the best live service game (of which I'm not generally a fan) to date. They introduced Mechs already, natural hazards and have plans for other enemy types going forward. The planetary liberation method is a fun reason to keep players engaged but at the end of the day it's just a well executed game that's immensely fun, spectacularly dramatic, hilarious and hugely satisfying, especially on higher difficulties with a full squad. Other developers should take notice of this exceptional and somewhat surprise success.

@Kiefer-Sutherland It's like Disney films before streaming, they sell consistently because they're are always more kids coming into the world. Every year more young people come of age and buy GTA. It's the only reason I can think of!

Not a great trailer and what a terrible song. Terminator Resistance and DLC was amazing for fans of the first two films in my opinion. This has an interesting idea but just looks poorly executed from the trailer. Early days so I'll keep an eye on the early access reviews on Steam.

Promising and capable tech but poorly supported and implemented for example the OLED lenses with their rather small sweet spot. I returned mine and now have the mighty Quest 3 which is just an outstanding piece of hardware for the price, very well supported and compatible with PCVR too.

An incredible game - my personal game of the decade. I didn't think it would be my thing and then it was which in turn
led me to buy Baldurs Gate 3 and Planetscape Torment as I searched for equally enthralling dialogue options and choice outcomes.

MSFS is still my game of the current generation. It's simply a staggering achievement. Not for everyone but anyone with an interest in geography, travel and/or aviation will find plenty to like. If the devs can optimize it for PlayStation like they have for the Series X then I think they should also look at utilizing PSVR as it's just wonderful on PCVR.

9... for the amount of times I got terminated by Automatons in a single deployment.

This game has been a revelation in what is quite the co op shooter drought. Halo, Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas, and many more proved to be a golden age in my opinion before PVP took over. Warzone with friends is the closest it's come for me in recent times. As a big fan of the source material, Alien Isolation, Aliens Dark Descent, Terminator Resistance w/dlc, Robocop Rogue City and now Helldivers 2 (if you love Starship Troopers, Aliens and Terminator) have made the last few years in gaming truly memorable. If you are still on the fence, jump down, squish some bugs and bring democracy to the galaxy!

Yikes, people really aren't keen on this potential move but while I can't say I've played MW3, I am hopeful this could work for several reasons. Warzone with three mates is still one of the best online experiences in my opinion - it got us through the pandemic lockdowns. If a whole campaign could utilize a large map without the Ubisoft filler then I'd be onboard. While COD campaigns always look nice, they're essentially quite basic interactive films not to mention the paltry 4-6 hour runtimes. I know most people get COD for multiplayer but I think an evolution of a military campaign in video games is long overdue and a well executed non linear experience could and should be something to look forward to. Do I have faith in these devs? Hmmm.

I've seen the films once, never read a book in the series but the game was one of my favourite gaming experiences of 2023. Simply great fun on a well realized world. I don't agree with the authors views but I want going to punish a development team but not buying this excellent game. How refreshing to not have a ten year old GTA or annual shooter generate the most sales for once.

@Robocod knowing Microsoft, we'll be lucky if we see two COD games per generation. Joking aside, I hope they reign in this crunch practice as promised.

I've developed more sympathy for the industry in recent times. As a European living in the rather backward US of A, I can understand how terrifying it must be to lose your job AND your health insurance which might also cover your partner and children. Sure there are some safety nets in those circumstances but they are very expensive, especially when you're out of work.

Ah jeez, DT might be president again by the time this releases but I guess we'll all need the escapism. One wacky reality to another. I'm just glad I don't live in that freak show of a state anymore.

'Four hours'. Warzone is free so it's basically $70 for multiplayer. I doubt enough people will vote with their wallet nonetheless.

@Mostik If you enjoyed the Portal games then the Talos Principle is a must! That and The Witness were top notch puzzle games last gen. Really looking forward to this sequel.

@RBRTMNZ fair comment and a highly likely scenario at a publisher like Activision.

For all the money this franchise makes, they still have the laziest (or just not so talented) developers. There is definitely a way to make these files sizes smaller and separate parts of the game install based on what people actually want to play considering available technology and their no doubt fat budget.

@a_brave_new_geek Among the best ever in video gaming and massively contributes to the overall experience.

Best Buy is on its last legs in my opinion. Unlike Target, Walmart, Costco etc, they only sell electronics. Their workforce has shrunk to the point where their customer service is frankly appalling in comparison to days gone by. There have been rumours of an Amazon takeover for several years but only for the benefit of having certain brick and mortar locations or perhaps the uniquely positioned Geek Squad home services. Either way I give Best Buy 5 maybe 10 years tops.

Looking forward to House of Ashes, I always wait for a sale or PS plus with that series but it's fun. Disco Elysium is one of the best games of the decade in my opinion. I didn't think it would be for me and then I was utterly enthralled. I hope more gamers give it a whirl. Finally, if anyone with a passing interest in survival horror or the Alien Saga somehow missed Alien Isolation then now is as good a time as any! Scariest game ever made for me.

At this point in time it's a really great game. Essential if you're interested in a fps action RPG with a very decent narrative. CDPR finally got there.

@HotGoomba It's the buildings new owners who are being greedy. Silly nonsense that a building requires copyright agreement in any case. Yay American capitalism.

@Max_the_German Agreed. It's outrageous that you need copyright agreements over a building in a city. The Chrysler buildings new owners should be ashamed of their greed.

@AhmadSumadi Xfinity dropped Peacock now I think but like you said, it's cheap anyway.

@PegasusActual93 Cue dreadful Marvel esque CGI

@Jayslow As a UK transplant, I use Peacock to watch Premier League football and professional Rugby games (including the World Cup starting this September). It's also got Law and Order!

@somnambulance Succession is in my opinion one of the best TV dramas since The Wire and The Sopranos. I think it'll offer pretty stiff competition.

@ear_wig Yeah it's the only 'realistic' Alien(s) game along with Isolation in that respect. I'm a wimp/I don't have as many gaming hours in my middle age though so I'm employing custom difficulty settings to make certain aspects less brutal. It's still challenging regardless.

@frankmcma Thanks for info, it's going straight on the wishlist!

@ear_wig My advice is to consider custom difficulty options. The game even warns you it's going to be tough. When you've lost all your Marines that's it, 'game over man game over!' You can extract from missions at any point (if you can get back to the vehicle safely) and come back better prepared but each time you do this you skip a day and each day the hive gets more aggressive and the game ultimately tougher. You can't change difficulty during the game and restarting means running through the tutorial prologue again (I loved it though). Things to consider.

@frankmcma Hey! Is Disney Dreamlight something an Animal Crossing fan would enjoy?

@Alexface I was in the same position but ended up absolutely loving that game. Yeah it's weird and has plenty of what people would consider Kojima quirks but it really sucked me in, I did skip most side quests but since completing it last year I now enjoying coming back to do some here and there. It's a Marmite game and I was pleasantly surprised by what side I landed on

@BusyOlf I'm not a big strategy player, I really wanted to get into XCOM but likewise I couldn't. Aliens Dark Descent can be hard but there are custom difficulty options and a story mode if you mostly want to enjoy the atmosphere (you can't change difficulty during the game FYI). It's not crazy deep in terms of it's systems and I'm finding it quite accessible for an RTS rookie. If you're still unsure then certainly wait for that price drop but I think it's worth a look as a fan of the film.

Being a huge Aliens fan I just went for it and it's right up there with Isolation for me albeit a different type of game. It's incredibly faithful to all things Aliens, the score, the aesthetic, the level design etc. It really is quite terrifying considering the isometric RTS aspect. What this dev has achieved is testament to how passionate they are about the Aliens universe. There is another big console patch due any day now, they are listening to feedback through a Discord group. For $40 this game is a must if you have any interest whatsoever and a rare gem for the Aliens fans out there!

I'll never understand why anyone on Push Square or Pure Xbox defend these companies. I own all three consoles but I'm not blind to the consistently cynical and anti competitive practices both MS and Sony employ. That's just business but as gamers, if either company were to have their way we'd all be far worse off.

Maybe it's because I grew up in the UK but despite living in the US, these Cricket games keep me engaged longer than MLB the Show. Sure they lack the presentation and overall polish but the sport itself is so much more variable and action orientated (the latter being the short forms at least!).

@ShogunRok Fabulous, in that case I will definitely play it - thanks again for the info!