JDINCINERATOR

Congratulations to these former Ubisoft employees, they managed to get away with Clair Obscur being labelled an indie game.

I think DS2 just like the original caters to pretty much everything modern gamers and our culture seems to want. Great graphics, relatable/pretentious storytelling, set in America somewhere because that's real original, and of course it has to be huge too.

I do believe DS2 deserves its praise, but only because it coheres with the culture we're in. However, I think Kojima could do something far more audacious and enjoyable.

@MrPeanutbutterz It's not a motif that permeates the game.

Unbound's art style looks like a teenager who threw up their art project.

@get2sammyb You don't need anyone's permission to share this list as you're the editor, but kudos for the kind acknowledgment.

A nice wealth of Japanese influence in this list.

@Nicekix Clair Obscur and its combat system and its French elegance. What I really meant regarding Yotei is that it does what many sequels do-refine and improve what came before. We fell in love with Ghost of Tsushima 5 years ago for its artful visuals and satisfying combat-but what does Yotei do to add beyond that really? It's the same issue with Horizon: Forbidden West, it's just an improvement rather than a game-changer. But then again, it makes me wonder why Silksong doesn't fall into this camp for many. My guess is the hype surrounding it was lived up to and that is why many would consider it the GOTY.

I know it's not easy nor is it necessary to completely "change the game" with a sequel, yet if you don't do something huge and unexpected then it'll likely be destined to fall into second place or below.

@Rich33 They gave Lost Soul Aside a 6/10 so wouldn't make this list.

@BintendoMan That depends on the extensiveness of your backlog.

The PS5 deserves a long life cycle, but then again if the PS6 brings newness to PlayStation that would be for the best. PS5 has mainly lived in the shadow of the PS4 due to all those pretentious emotional storytelling games that try so hard to be like The Last of Us.

A game that shows beauty is skin-deep. Sure, the combat is as lavish as ever too, but I struggle to harmonize with a lot of these triple A games SONY do their best to make us emotionally care about. I know there was a ton of inspiration and effort infused into the development of Ghost of Yotei just like with Ghost of Tsushima, yet it's not doing a lot we haven't seen before.

@SeaDaVie Silksong was hyped up for years and met expectations, this is why it's not quite as lauded as Clair Obscur, which came out of nowhere and everybody loved it so much that they couldn't stop talking about it. Lesson is it's best to bring out games we don't expect to be much, but surprise in new and unique ways.

I do think the personalities and the humour is brilliant in Dispatch, but the Dispatch gameplay while definitely coherent, is a hectic rush that (in my mind) undermines a lot of the brilliance elsewhere. I don't think sending superheroes out on missions you don't see the progress of is immersive, and all those charts and the minigames don't help. Of course I'm in the minority because everyone seems to love it.

I wonder if Skate Story is going to be in this list somewhere because that's one game which makes me almost as conflicted as Dispatch does. Skate Story has a good look and is quirky, but gee the writing is overly flowery. Just because Skate Story is spews descriptiveness everywhere, that doesn't mean it has any substance.

@MrPeanutbutterz Fair enough, though I still reckon that the Elden Ring name and reputation is the reason some will still consider Nightreign to be one of the best of this year. As for Far Cry: Primal, at least Primal was very different in terms of setting, time period and so on, and I don't think it leans as heavily on the FC name as Nightreign leans on the Elden Ring name.

This list is quite arguable. Nightreign isn't on many people's GOTY lists and it is ultimately more Elden Ring, begging the question of whether expansions should be up for any GOTY contention. It is a personal list I understand, but c'mon-if you have to put an expansion of a game that came out a few years ago over the many other great games that came out this year, it kind of makes this year appear weaker. It is a bit smug to say the list is very hard to argue with because someone like me is going to find something to argue with.

Nevertheless, it is reasonable to put a list together of games that the industry has celebrated time and time again. Personally I do tend to deviate from standard mainstream praise because I can't help but find many games cloying rather than emotionally engaging. Death Stranding has always come across to me as a franchise that has an elegant setting and a pleasant soundtrack, but also has goofy product placement and appearances by famous personalities. It's a Kojima product and I appreciate his whimsy, but to me MGS2 is the zenith of his creativity.

Congratulations to all the games on this list. Sure, they may not ever reach the story excellence of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, but they sure put in a valiant effort.

@GeeEssEff Awesome stuff. When it comes to Electronic Symphony, check out Gouryella-that's the best club tune I've ever heard anywhere.

A brilliant rhythm action game, though the soundtrack is weak compared to Electronic Symphony on Vita.

The only issue with Split-Fiction is its writing, otherwise it's splendid. Lumines Arise is sensational, though personally I don't think the playlist is as scintillating as Electronic Symphony's soundtrack on the Vita.

Skate Story is a bit overrated tbh. Yeah it's cool and has some imagination, but the overly descriptive dialogue tries to mask a lack of substance, and the controls are iffy.

Push Square do come up with some terrible puns.

How many times has Snake Eater come out since 2005? We've had the PS3 HD remaster, the 3DS version, the Vita version and now Delta Snake Eater. We get it's a classic, but the industry seems to love beating us over the head with them sometimes.

CrossWorlds beats the breaks off Mario Kart World, even if it's not quite as good as All-Stars Racing: Transformed.

It's a case of style over substance really. The flowery dialogue hides the lack of substance, and there's no moves list.

Characters are usually quite shallow in Octopath Traveller games despite all the characters you can play as.

Rennsport is just too tame to enjoy when there are so many superior alternatives.

I didn't like the camera in this game. Might've been a personal problem, but it seemed erratic. Also, I don't feel as though Titans of the Tide takes risks and plays things way too safely. I want to see SpongeBob evolve meaningfully instead of merely expanding on what Battle For Bikini Bottom-Rehydrated did in 2020.

Cosmic Invasion plays well, but it's lacking something extra. It's basically Marvel's take on Street of Rage as far as I can tell.

Nice to know that Lara has finally cleaned herself up and has returned to her old better self. Didn't think the Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 3 Remake look ever suited her.

I would vote for Skate Story and Old School Rally but they're not in the list.

If you guys love Terminator 2D: No Fate, go and play Huntdown from 2020. Huntdown didn't receive much critical attention, but is a brilliant cyberpunk retro blaster that'll certainly satiate and give you more of what 2D No Fate gives you, but with some added Duke Nukem-like flare.

The new adventures of Adam Jensen have been put on hold.

It's a bit artsy fartsy with its detailed descriptions, but it is certainly a pleasant and worthwhile skateboarding experience.

@Balaam_ It is fantastic and it's really lovely to see a proper PS1-inspired rally game.

Reviewed this for PSU and I really enjoyed it. I didn't think the default handling was that bad because with some cars I could glide through corners with grace. I did run into some freezes that were troublesome, particularly when trying to start a Head-To-Head, but really Old School Rally is an exemplary example of a proper PS1 style rally game on PS5.

A fair list, though to be honest Ragnarok is quite over-inflated with acclaim. Ragnarok becomes relentless with combat encounters so gratuitously the pacing takes a hit, and also Atreus expresses his boredom and fighting draugr over and over and over again. Yes it's an epic adventure in SONY's ostentatious fashion, but its shine is too excessive. Same with Alan Wake 2 because Saga Anderson is bleh personality wise-she aint no viking lol. If Saga's a viking then Alan Wake is a space cadet.

Dispatch is a cool and slick superhero adventure and the banter between the superheroes is entertaining, but I don't find the dispatch gameplay to be very enjoyable at all. It's too statistic heavy and can be quite messy if you just send any superhero out to respond to any call.

I'd give it a 7.5/10 as I did for my review on PSU.

I can tell that Ubisoft have made Beyond Good And Evil much more ostentatious than the 2003 original, and Ubi loves making things much bigger whilst forgetting to put substance into their games these days.

Unbound is way too high. The artstyle in Unbound looks like a teenager vomited their art project all over the screen.

@nomither6 Yeah it was, however SONY has moved away from the seventh gen franchises now. I wonder if some of them were planned for the PS3 initially but became PS4 exclusives.

PS5 has been good and it's an impressive technical achievement, but really it's continuing the trends the PS5 laid down, and is generally more of a follower than a new console. PS5 games are still carrying the emotional storytelling throne The Last of Us jubilantly sits on, and I think the big hitters are pretentious despite having some deep moments. Astro Bot is the best game on PS5 in my mind because it actually dares to be fun and colourful. Yeah gamers might scoff at it and say it's too much like a Super Mario game, but considering that it's more joyful than the other big SIE games in the past two-decades, it certainly stands out. It doesn't get a 94 on Metacritic for no reason.

Definitely, they've been following the emotional template of The Last of Us far too much. I also think many of them are pretentious when it comes to getting us to care about them. It's not that these games don't have their moments or brilliance, it's just they feel like they're following an overarching theme that's defining this generation in a po-faced like manner. This is why I think Astro Bot is the best PS game of this generation because it's actually a fun videogame with colour and character-the stuff that's been sorely lacking since the seventh gen.

@Smackosynthesis Can't you at least try any of them out?

You guys gotta give Neon White a go. One of the most underrated games on PS5 I think.

I think PS5 has been nice, and Astro Bot is probably my favourite game in a long time-but the sappy narratives are getting too pretentious and indicative of The Last of Us. I know our culture influences how games are now, but SONY ought to take some creative risks-though I don't mean like Concord.

My review is on the PSU website and on Metacritic. I thought it was an enjoyable super/antihero adventure game, but the dispatch gameplay was underwhelming and included too many stats. The data puzzles were cool if reminiscent of Deus Ex.

Lacks tension? There are missions where you have to dodge bolders and keep your deliveries from being destroyed or pooped on by birds.

@get2sammyb Yeah I agree it is an easy reference point, especially considering Push Square is a Playstation website, so good point.

I think it downplays The Old Country when you mention Uncharted next to it. Sure, if it's like Uncharted that'd be exciting, but give Mafia its own shine.

Gears of War was celebrated with a remaster 10 years ago, and now it's being revised and again and now is becoming playable on PS5. We don't need to keep being reminded about the original Gears of War. It was great when it came out in 2006, but it's not on the level of Gears of War 2, and I think we all agree with this.