Nf157

It was a really good year (even if I failed to get to most of the games 😅)
With that being said I wouldn't call it my personal favourite year for gaming.
2010 and 2017 are my favourites, and 2019, 2007 and 2011 was pretty damn good as well.

@TrannosaurusBex doubtful I'll get time today but if I do I'm going Xenoblade 3! Enjoy your killzone/doki doki

It looks really cool, though I haven't actually played any of their games so I shall wait on the reviews.
It's also the same day as Dragons Dogma, another one that I haven't played but that I think looks great.
May the better game win I guess 😎

I may have been a bit luke warm on Ragnarok as a whole, but Kratos himself was legendary. I've always viewed the character as one of the great gaming protagonists (yes, that includes back in the Greek days) and the recent games have only added to that arguement. I loved the greek trajedy arc and found Kratos fitted the roll perfectly, and I'd argue he was not as one note as many people believed.
But the growth in the norse arc was needed, he had been on a revenge quest for too long.

PS5 and PS4 Goty - Persona 5 Tactica
Most Anticipated PlayStation Game of 2024 and Beyond - Metaphor
Studio of the Year - Larian
Best New Character - Toshiro - Persona 5 Tactica
Best Story - Persona 5 Tactica
Best Audio Design - Armoured Core VI
Soundtrack of the Year - Persona 5 Tactica
Best Multiplayer Experience - Street Fighter VI
Best Independent Game of the Year - Humanity
That's mine anyways

I'm not a huge rogue like fan however I am a massive Kratos fan. Also can't complain with free dlc of this calibur, especially nowadays.
I'll be giving it a go for the story once I've finished up what I'm playing at the moment 👍

Metaphor is no.1 for me by a long shot. It would take something very exciting to take my attention away from that.
FF VII Rebirth is no.2 followed by Tekken 8.
Outside of those there's not much I'd considered must play. Dragons Dogma 2, Black Myth, The Plucky Squire, Rise of the Ronin and Little Nightmares 3 all have interest from me but we'll see.
Persona 3 looks like a good remake minus the removed content. I probably won't get it and wait for the inevitable complete condition, that or Persona 6.

Metaphor is my no.1 without a doubt. Really dug that trailer.
The final fantasy vii stuff was cool, Black Myth looks like a good time, and even though I've never played Guilty Gear I've always enjoyed their reveal trailers. Just something about them that's entertaining!

I was hoping for Baldurs gate 3, but then again I probably wouldn't have gotten around to actually playing it until well into next year, I imagine I could get it cheaper then.

My personal goty is persona 5 tactica, I know its not the best made game or anything but I just felt I had the most fun playing it this year.
My second best game is TOTK and third is Fire Emblem engage but obviously those aren't on PlayStation.
This does put me in a awkward spot though, the games I really cared about this year aren't valid and I don't really wanna give my top spot to games that I just found alright, as much as I liked Humanity it doesn't feel right giving it my goty.
Completely understand why there's a cap but I'm not sure if I'll be voting this year.

Personally loved the game. Might even be my Goty 😮

Tekken 8 and Final fantasy rebirth for me. Persona 3 looks like a good remake (minus the missing content) but I kinda done with replaying remakes of old games I've already played the hell out off.
I'll just wait for Metaphor and Persona 6 instead.

Baldurs Gate 3 is my prediction to win even though I haven't played it, I think it would be really cool to see a genre that is usually ignored win it, Original Sin 2 didn't even get nominated despite all that game apparently accomplished.
Zelda is obviously the other big Contendor, it's definitely down to those two.
I've played TOTK (admittedly at a snails pace, yet to see the credits) but I think it's a game worthy of goty. Love the three layer set up to it's open World (the Sky, Land and underground)

Just starting playing it. I'm digging it so far even though the first two hours have been a bit tutorial heavy (as is usually the case with persona/strategy games).
I haven't really felt the Phantom Theives burnout and I think that's because I haven't really played any of the spin offs. I didn't play royal, and I only played about five hours of strikers which I unfortunately couldn't get into, so they're hardly over exposed for me.

It was a good console, not my favourite but it's up there, maybe third behind the switch and ps3, possibly tied with the gamecube?
As for the game that defined it... I think (and I'm sure this choice will change depending on what day you ask me) is Nier Automata, a game I initially bounced off before going back to it about a year later. Got the true ending and wow, what a game 👏
Other picks for me include The Last Gaurdian (criminally underlooked), Bloodborne/Sekiro, Hollow Knight, Tales from the borderlands, Red Dead 2, Black Flag, GOW 2018 and Uncharted 4.

I'm feeling luke warm about it personally. The device itself is cool but the library hasn't really been to my tastes thus far.
Elden Ring is the only game I think I'll remember fondly for years, and that was a cross gen game I could have played on a ps4.

It had its moments but I gotta say overall I am disappointed.
The two biggest gripes I have with it are Atrues and the fact that most of the mysteries set up in 2018 had really bad payoffs in this game.
I didn't even like Odin and Thor, couldn't take them seriously when those Norse Gods came out sounding super American, I mean it was kinda funny but it took out all the seriousness the game was going for.
Kratos, Broc and Sindre where the MVP's, and Mimir as always was a funny guy, his quest was a bit lame though.

I have failed to keep up with most games this year- A mixture of games being much, much bigger and spending the first few months of the year finishing games from last year like Xenoblade 3 has hindered me.
My Goty is TOTK (a game I've put about 90 hours into and still haven't finished, says it all really 😅) though my favourite game this year has been splatoon 3, but that launched last year so it doesn't count.
Resi 4 was great but it was a remake.
I just started Fire Emblem Engage, it's cool and enjoyable but hardly the best the series has to offer.
StarField, Armoured Core, SFVI and Sea of Stars I felt dissapointed me.
Still got to play BG3, Spiderman 2, FFXVI, Caccoon, Pikmin 4, Xeno DLC and Mario Wonder to play so I'm hoping for a quote year next year!

Remedy games always look awesome but when I play them they just don't click with me. I've tried three of them altogether and I'm probably yet to reach the mid way point in any of them so I guess I'll be giving this one a pass too, as cool as it looks.

Been playing and watching a bunch of stuff the last two days as I've hurt my back and couldn't go to work.
Tears of the Kingdom and Splatoon 3 have been my go to's but I'm considering picking up both RE4 Seperate ways and Caccoon. Both look very cool.

The whole A.I. thing sucks but it's also inevitable. Can't stop progress unfortunately.

Not a huge amount for me personally but that's okay, my backlog has blown up once again....
What I am excited for- Tekken 8, Elden Ring expansion, FF7-2. I don't know if I'll get any of these day one but we'll see.

Personally if it's Atrues based it'll be a very hard sell for me. But I'd still give it a chance to prove itself.

@all3forever I was so excited for Stellar Blade but I forgot it existed until I saw your comment. I'd love to see that with a release date 👍

My most anticipated game at the moment is Silksong, but I don't really want that releasing any time soon. There's already far too many games right now and I'd rather keep that for a less busy time.
Instead I'd rather see Tekken 8 (Loving those character reveal trailers), Persona 3 reload/5 Tactics (I'd especially like what content is available in 3 to be cleared up) and Phantom Liberty to see if CD Project Red can finally convince me to buy the game.

Rssident Evil 4 remake and Street Fighter VI are the only ps5 games I've played this year so far. Both have been excellent, especially as I hadn't played resi 4 before and I hadn't played a 2D fighter in 4ish years.
I've been meaning to play Humanity, the demo of which I liked but I just haven't played. FFXVI's demo was also great but I'm all tied up with Zelda to jump in.
Looking forward to Armoured Core and Shadow of the Erd Tree though. And FF7 part two if its this year (probably not which is fine by me)

If it wasn't for Metaphor this game would have stolen the show for me.
I actually didn't get Pikmin vibes from it until now for some reason but I can see it. Awesome.

I wasn't feeling the game too much pre demo but after trying it I'm all in! The only reason I may not pick it up at launch is Zelda, which I'm only 20 hours into so far.

Prediction
Every time words or phrases like ‘remake’, ‘remaster’, or ‘relive the classic’ are ushered I will wanna switch the damn livestream off!
The whole nostalgia thing has run dry for me, even for games I’d love like Metal Gear.
Actual predictions:
-I know that ‘leaker’ who is very inconsistent with his leaks said Ghost of Tsushima 2 won’t be shown, but I predict it will with a very small teaser. It will simple set it up as the big game for fall 2024 and that’s all it’ll need to do for now.
-Factions is shown but not nearly enough for us to get a good grip on how the whole thing will work. They will however announce a dedicated event later in the year, possible the Last of us day
(‘infected day’ or something it’s called)
-Spider-Man and Wolverine will show, though the latter will be more of a reminder than an actual reveal.
-Horizons Monster Hunter style multiplayer game shall get a trailer! Still a while out but it’s ready to be shown. So shall it’s mobile game be shown and a reminder that a Netflix show is on the way. Forbidden West PC port also shown, as well as its VR game.
-God of War Atreus game in the vein of Miles Morales. Very brief trailer, I think there will be a lot of trailers like this simple because of the rarity of these events.
-And final one, Final Fantasy 7 part two will get a trailer. I know it won’t make sense with 16 around the corner but when does Square Enix make sense?

I'm not sure if it's just PlayStation games or not so if it is just PS then my top 6 would be (with only two games per consoles as it stated)
Mass Effect 2,
Fallout New Vegas,
Shadow of the Colossus,
Metal gear Solid 3: Snake Eater,
Persona 4 Golden,
Gravity Rush.

The ps5’s game library is nowhere near my favourite so far but it has some gems.
My favourites I’ve played on it are Elden Ring, Little Nightmares 2, Resi 8/4 and Astro Bot.
Ragnorok was good but I don’t I loved it. It would probably be the next game on my list though. Can’t wait for stuff like Armoured Core and Tekken to launch to bulk out my collection a bit.

Played this last year. It's gets frustrating at parts (middle) but I think that was kind of the point.
It's a really good and memorable game thanks to its story that I'm glad I pushed through.

My favourite console with only the Nintendo Switch in the runs to beat it.
So many 10/10's in my eyes 😁
My absolute top games (which is hard enough) would be Fallout NV/3, Skyrim, Demons/Dark Souls, Red Read, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect Trilogy, COD4, Bad Company 2, Journey, Both Batman's, GOW3, MGS4, Dead Space 1/2, The Ezio Trilogy and Bioshock Trilogy

@spakai a 2 remake would be awesome! Finger crossed!

Ye that sounds right. I remember the built up to god of war 2018 Cory Barlog stated that Santa Monica simple couldn’t make open world games like red dead or assassins creed and that it would take thousands of people to do one of that quality.
Personally I like both linear games like Dead Space or Metal Gear and Open Worlds like Elden Ring or BOTW.
What I hate is when linear games go out of their way to offer ‘open areas’ not because that’s what that game needs but because they’re afraid of not taking advantage of a market trend with exploration. Vice versa is also true- when a game is open world for the sake of it when it perhaps could have been much better as a linear title.
I also miss AAA Mission based games, one of the reasons I’m looking forward to Armoured Core.

Resident Evil 4 - as most people who voted also felt it seems 👍

What I've seen looks good but maybe not must buy. I have zero problem with them going full on action provided they commit to that idea unlike something that goes half way like the dragon age sequels. However what I've seen about the combat only looks average so far. Can't say I wanna jump right in and play quite yet but that could play once I actually get my hand on it.
I like the more medieval setting and the more mature tone which complements it.
Much like going action focused I have no problem with the lack of open world and limited exploration. I love exploring games but not every game needs it as a focus.
I guess story could make or break this for me. I like that it spans decades but I can't say I'm attached to anything they've shown so far yet.
Wair for reviews I think- at the very least I'll probably wait until post Zelda if I go for it.

Like most people a Dead Space 2 remake I could get behind but a Dead Space 3 remake I just wouldn't care about.
I also wouldn't mind them just straight up going in a new direction after the firsts remake. Re-imagine the saga completely.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika exactly my thoughts. Fingers crossed 🤞

When I was around 17 these two games where my favourites, right after my Fallout, Skyrim, World at War and Bad Company 2 faze..Really fell into them (yes that was a persona 4 reference).
I have no idea if I played them for the first time today if I’d like them as much as my tastes have changed and I’m older but I imagine I’ll still enjoy replaying then thanks to nostalgia supplementing that feeling!

Not as much as I thought for me on the playstation side of things.
Armoured Core VI is the big one. Haven't played any of the previous ones but From Software haven't missed since I discovered than back with Demons Souls and the vibe the trailer gave was chilling!
Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 are defos. Tekken 8 especially. Been itching for a pure fighting game that wasn't Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Soul Calibur 6 was my last one I think.
Stellar Blade looks very cool and I'm rooting for Suicide Squad dispute being incredibly burned out in the whole super hero thing.
There's Judas but I'm doubtful that's anytime soon.
The two final fantasy games are undecided for me at the moment. I guess I'll wait for reviews.
Pretty much all the indies I'll pick up on Switch.

My predictions
-I too believe the VR2 will struggle a lot commercially. BUT! Half Life Alyx will launch late 2023 for it.
-Spider Man 2 will get delayed to early 2024, will introduce 2 player co-op but not split screen. Will be set in the same city which will lead to mixed reactions but overall people will be happy with what they see.
-Ghost of Tsushima 2 will get a teaser trailer with a vague 2024 reveal that it will miss.
-Last Of Us Factions full release will miss this year but will have a big open beta similar to what Bungie did with both Destiny releases. Speaking of which they will lean into Bungie a lot during the marketing, stating they helped out a lot.
-Factions will be a mission based multiplayer game with cut scenes. They will attempt to make their characters as fleshed out as their traditional SP games but miss the mark just a little. They'll make up for it by its gameplay where the clickers especially will finally get their time to shine. It will be a loot based game and this will be one of the weaker elements of the game.
-Horizon Zero Dawn Ps5 version is real. It won't be free but will have an upgrade path. It will be a decent update but not vital at all.
-Stellar Blade will be great but not sell as much as it should.
-Final Fantasy XVI doesn't satisfy fans as much as we think it will (just a gut feeling, hope I'm wrong)
-Suicide Squad over delivers! Finally a bit of positivity from me! Again just a gut feeling.
-And finally due to the weaker first party line up, Sony will currate a lot of very good indies, most will be secretly timed exclusives as they usually are.

Silksong is no.1 for me (even if I'll probably end up playing it on switch).
Armoured Core VI, Resi 4, SF6 and Sea of Stars fill out the rest of my top 5 picks.
If Judas releases this year (highly unlikely I know) then that would take sea of Stars spot and Tekken 8 could take Resi 4's and I'd fit Stellar Blade in somewhere!
Outside of the realm of playstation Tears of the Kingdom would of course take a spot and IF Avowed launched (like Judas, highly unlikely) then that too would take a spot.

Haven't had much time to play games over Xmas (in a good way). Someone gifted me Devil May Cry 5 for Ps5 which was nice, I played the game ages ago so it'll be nice returning to it when I get the chance.
I should probably get back to Ringfit Adventure too cos Xmas ..... Or at least go for some very long walks 😅

Ico, Sotc and the Last Guardian are all so very high on my all time favourites list. I don’t even mind the extremely long waits between games, makes them feel more special and eventful.
With that being said I cannot wait to see this one.

Ghostwire Tokyo always looked cool to me but the bad reaction to it threw me off buying it. Maybe people are coming around to it now? Hopefully as it looks unique.

@JamieO Ye the six player co op in turtles was brilliant. Loved the over powered feeling of it! It felt like we where bullying the footclan! Probably the most fun I've had with multiplayer this year

I had the same experience with Elden ring! Didn't fight the "proper" first boss until something like 40 hours in 😅
Sonic seems to be getting so much praise. I wrote it off completely but it appears I might have to give this one a go at some point!
Six player Shredders Revenge is indeed... Radical Dude!

Neon White is indeed awesome! I feel like not enough people talk about it.

Didn't play too many games on ps5 this year. So I guess my top 5 will be across all consoles.
(Honourable mentions: Nobody Saves the World, Citizen Sleeper, Shredders Revenge)
5. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Eunie!
4. Pokémon Legends Arceus
One of the best campaign games I've played in the series. And I've played them all! There are some things I disliked but overall what an exciting game that was for me! I will definitely return to it!
3. Neon White
Most overlooked game of the year. Platinumed every run and got every gift and beat every side mission.
2. God of War Ragnarok
Gow is a classic series. One of my all time favourites and Ragnarok, despite a few complaints I have and some boring parts, is a excellent game worthy of the name.
1. Elden Ring
I don't know how from software keep outdoing themselves!

Some here have posted their most anticipated too so:
5.Stellar Blade
4. Tekken 8
3. Armoured Core 6
2. Silksong
1. Tears of the Kingdom