Another year, another “me wanting to list of my fav games I played for the first time this year” thing. Unlike the last two years though I actually want to go into a bit of detail as to why I picked the games I did for my fav’s I’ve played this year because I do have my own reasons for each though they aren’t really anything that deep. And that’s it! Yeah short intro, I know. I started writing this last night and finished it this morning because I wanted to get this done before the new year.
10: Wii Party
This is one of the only games I played for the "first" time this year where I actually did have some experience with it prior though it was pretty brief. Originally, I first played this at a friends house in 2011 but only for one match of Board Game Island that we never even finished. The only other games I “first” played this year I did have some small experience with before being Ultimate Spider-Man where I also played once in 2011 and just fucked around and the original God of War in 2005 where all I had was a demo disk that had it on it. The only reason I really sought out Wii Party was because it was one of the only two games I needed for my “Wii Series” collection and also watching Professure’s Let Play’s on it. And I honestly ended up enjoying it way more than I remembered. All the game modes are fun and the mini games are enjoyable. And when your on Board Game Island and your at the top with multiple players and you have to roll a six to win it’s quite intense. Also, I will admit, maybe it’s mostly because I do have a decent bit of nostalgia built up towards the Wii Series. Not so much nostalgia that I’d want to go online and rant and rave about how “Nintendo Switch Sprots is the worst game ever made and Nintnedo are clearly trying to kill of Mii’s” or whatever other hyperbolic bullshit people are spreading but more because there’s just something about the personality of these games I can’t help but enjoy and keep coming back to and getting Wii Party and Wii Play Motion I feel complete.
9: Pilot Wings Resort
I know this games a part of a long running series that started in the 90’s on the SNES but considering it’s set on Wuhu Island, it has a free fly mode no different to Wii Sports Resort’s Island Flyover mode even giving you a similar reward if you find all 80 I points and it’s largely cantered around Mii’s it’s hard for me not to play this game and think it was an expanded version of the Air Sports modes in Wii Sports Resort. And it’s a fun expansion of that mode two! Planes, hang-gliders, jetpacks, all of them being fun to fly around in, a lot of levels and missions and the aforementioned Island Flyover mode. It does bother me somewhat that the timer in the free fly mode is now only 3 minutes rather than the five it was in Wii Sports Resort though. I really don’t get why they did that. But hey, at least you get a fancy castle if you find all the I points in this mode you get your own castle! No really, you go from being rewarded a cottage in Wii Sports Resort to being awarded a fully blown castle! What kind of reward system do they have on this island!? Screw it though, I’ll take it!
8: River City Girls 2
The original River City Girls in 2019 was already one of my favourite games from Wayfoward that WASN’T Shantae so when I saw that it was getting a sequel, I was excited. And I’d say that excitement paid off. Online co-op with four players with Kunio and Riki being unlocked from the start to accommodate this along with the new playable characters and other small improvements I never knew I wanted such as being able to swap out recruits at Kyoko’s home even being able to bring two with you this time. Also, Kyoko’s house has Kyoko’s mother. And Kyoko’s mother is best mom.
Mikaela: Wait, don’t you say the same thing about Toriel? And Melony? And Throani? And really just any MILF you like in general?
……. Also this game has a cameo from Patrica Wagon from Mighty Switch Force which is another game from Wayfoward I love which god yes! Now granted, this is the one game on this list I haven’t spent a whole lotta time with. It only just came out midway though this very month and I’ve been busy with a lot of other games but honestly, what I have played was enough for me to say “okay yeah, this is going on the list!”
7: Splatoon 3
Multiplayer is not the reason it’s one of my fav’s I played this year as it still has many of the things that have stopped me from fully enjoying Splatoon’s multiplayer since day one. Though at least Salmon Run is open 24/7 this time unlike Splatoon 2. This is purely because of the single player! This is genuinely my favourite single player mode in the series! It’s pretty much Octo Expansion but not a DLC, all of the levels being unique, I loved the new weapons and specials especially the one that basically turns you into Spider-Man, the gameplay itself still being as good as it has been in the last two games and the story itself was good and DIDN’T get so overly dark towards the end like Octo Expansions did! Seriously, if I never have to go through watching my character almost get killed in a giant blender again it will be two soon. Who was the target audience for this franchise again? Also, I’m just going to come out and say this, I love the idol group for this game Deep Cut! Like I’m not even kidding, Shiver, Frye and Big Man are my fav group of idols and I love how all three of them are influenced by different cultures. If these three ever get Amiibos I’m NOT waiting five years just to get them this time!
6: Pokemon Legends Arceus
When I saw this game announced for the first time, I was immediately excited for it purely because of the setting. And then the game came out and it may honestly be one of my new favourite Pokemon games overall. Not my favourite of the main series as that honour is still held by Sun and Moon, yes you heard me “Gen 5 was the last good Pokemon game” crowd, but in terms of games that walk the line between spin of and main series which this game walks it’s quite high up! It feels like the Wild Area from Sword and Shield but made into a whole game… sorta. It’s more like five wild areas. Ones where you don’t even have to engage in battle just to catch the Pokemon! No really, you can sneak up on unaware Pokemon, throw a Poke ball at them and catch them. Then there’s the change to the battle system where every move has a Strong Style where you sacrifice two turns for more power and Agile Style which is the same but reverse adding an extra layer of strategy to fights. Then there’s how the wild Pokemon in the world actually pose a threat to you the player, can hurt you and battle won’t start until you throw out a Pokemon of your own. THEN there’s all of the new Hisui forms for older Pokemon nearly all of which I love, especially Hisui Typhlosion and Hisui Sneasle and its accompanying evolution. I’m not even kidding when I say that I kind of want more Pokemon Legends games like this. Imagen one for Unova set in the old west or Kalso or Galra with Knights and Kings and Queens. Just as long as it doesn’t have Volvo because, and the games been out for long enough I feel I can finally vent about this, I fucking hate the secret boss fight agents Volvo so fucking much! Having to fight his team of six over powered Pokemon vs your team of should be over powered six Pokemon THEN having to fight Giratina right afterwards THEN having Giratina transform into his Origin forma and get back all his health AND THEN if you lose at this point you have to do the ENITER FUCKING FIGHT WITH VOLVO AGAIN this shitty little prick can fuck right off! I almost rage quite the game entirely because of this!!!
Mikaela: Umm… Do you need my Miltoic or the Naga Version of myself to calm you down again?
No, I’m fine thanks.
5: Xmen Origins Wolverine
I picked this game up at Oz Comic Con this year and you know how people say this is one of the best games based of a bad movie? Yeah, they ain’t kidding! It actually amazes me just how much better in quality this game is compared to the movie it’s based on. It probably helps that originally the X-men Origins Wolverine game was planned to be it’s own game before Sony approached the devs to turn it into a movie tie in game. And my god is this game fun! Not only is the combat fun but it’s brutal as all hell with blood and dismemberment which makes it even more surprising this is one of the few games that DIDN’T get censored in my country before the R18+ rating was introduced in 2013. If you showed me this game out of context I’d believe you if you told me it wasn’t a movie game because a lot of the areas in this game are exclusive to the game likely as a result of it starting out as it’s own original thing at one point. And then you would play the final level and I’d remember “… Oh god, I’m going to have to see that terrible looking version of Deadpool aren’t I?” Yeah I may be a pretty easy guy but even I hate that version of Deadpool! Until Insomniacs Wolverine game comes out if you ever wanted to really feel like Wolverine this is the game!
4: Bayonetta 3
Okay, putting all the drama that Helena Taylor caused by basically lying and brewing up controversy just for attention aside this is one of the other games from this year I was highly anticipating, and that anticipation paid off. One of the new things they added that I enjoy was the new Demon Slave mechanic. Finally, we actually get to control the demons in gameplay instead of just in a QTE at the end of a boss fight. Yeah, some of them can be pretty over powered, hello Umbren Clock Tower and Ball Zeeb, but hey you don’t have to play with them in combat if you don’t want to. Especially since all the new weapons are also just as fun to play with and while not being able to mix and match hand and feet weapons anymore does suck, I honestly don’t mind seeing as how each weapon has a Demon Slave tied to it so it feels like a substitute. Yes, EVERY weapon (excluding Scarborough fair and Love it Blue as those are bonus items for just having Bayonetta 1 and 2 save date!) Including Rodin! You can get both his weapon from the super difficult secret boss agents him AND the guy himself as a Demon Slave. I’d make a fetish joke out of this but then I remembered what franchise this is! And finally, FINALLY we get a new playable who ACTUALLY has her own unique move set with Viola! Seriously, that whole nonsense of the playable Jeanne, Zero and Rosa in previous games just being Bayonetta but with altered stats and the only real unique playable characters being locked behind a multiplayer mode was always the one thing I was never really a big fan of. Also probably hot take but Viola’s theme Gh()st > Bayonetta’s theme AI Fine. And yeah, the story isn’t that great sure, but Bayonetta is a franchise where the story usually takes a back seat. Although I will say this, and spoiler warning, if your upset at this games ending because it didn’t make all your Bayonetta X Jeanne fanfictions come true just remember that this game is about the multiverse and they are lovers in at least one universe!
3: God of War Ragnarock
There is only one real reason as to why this game isn’t higher for me personally. The blindness status effect that limits your vision and disables lock on. Other than that really petty nitpick (and I guess maybe me preferring the gameplay of the classic series because well, I played the original PS2 God of War this year as well and let’s just say growing up on the original Devil May Cry does affect you opinion on a games combat a little) the game itself is still really dam good. The new enemy types and better bosses would have been enough since those were two of the biggest complaints with the 2018 game but then they went and added a brand new weapon with the Draupnir spear, more realms from Norse Mythology to explore, sections where you get to play as Atreus and he’s just as fun to play as his farther AND having what is probably one of my favourite stories from any of the games I’ve played this year this could of easily made it to my favourite game I played this year. And seeing as how this game is meant to be the last of the Norse saga, here’s hoping we get that Egyptian setting for the next couple of games like the originally planned 2018 to be before settling on Norse.
2: Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions
This is the one Spider-Man I have wanted for close to a decade now even before I started properly collecting them in 2020 because the idea behind the game had always appealed to me. It was pretty much Into the Spider-Verse before Into the Spider-Verse. And I got extremely lucky with getting this game two! I got it from a Cash Converters for only $35 dollars and I’m so glad it actually worked two and was better than I imagined it. Not only does it have four different Spider-Men each with there own unique playstyle, but the levels all have their own visual styles to match the Spider-Man your playing witch is such a cool detail but they are all equally fun to play as! Oh, and despite what some people might tell, no. The Noir stealth levels DO NOT rip of Batman Arkham Asylum! This game was in development before Arkham Asylum was released. Knowing me though and what one particular Spider-Man in this game has you can probably guess which of these four is my favourite to play. The only thing I can really say I’m disappointed in is that up until the final level the Spider-Men don’t interact with each other. It honestly would have been really cool to see how Noir Spider-Man’s more serious personality conflicts with the others more joking sides or Amazing being somewhat worried to work with Ultimate because of his own experience with the Venom Symbiote. To be fair, we did get Edge of Time after this and even though that’s only Amazing and 2099 they do actually interact with each other. And also Into The Spider-Verse in 2018.
1: LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga
Yep, out of every game I’ve talked about so far a LEGO game is not only my favourite from this year but also my most anticipated game of this year! Aside from being a really good retelling of all nine main movies the open world half of this game is actually what I have been wanting in a Star Wars game for years now! Being able to explore the galaxy and all the planets in it, fly around in space, do quests for people and to top it all off a massive selection of characters to play as especially if you include the DLC that add’s in characters from different Star Wars media like The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch. Then there’s the actual combat and I’m just going to come out and say this, this is the best combat in a LEGO game! It actually requires a lot more from the players other than just spamming square or jump slamming since enemies will start blocking your melee attacks if you use the same one over and over again but still being simple enough for the games target audience. This is how I want the combat in all the LEGO games going forward to be like. Imagen if we got a new LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean game with this combat or a new LEGO DC or Marvel game. Sure, there’s no Character Creator this time which does suck especially after just how good it was in LEGO DC Super Villains and they even said it was going to be added in at one point but who cares when the rest of the game itself is that enjoyable? There’s a reason it was one of the few games I went out of my way to get the Platinum Trophy on.