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15.) Alan Wake 2 I loved every second of this game. I came to Remedy's games pretty late since Max Payne wasn't something that stood out to me, and I always thought Alan Wake was a regular survival horror type game so never paid it much mind either. Quantum Break interested me when it came out, but the Xbox/Microsoft Store only shit had me avoid it. It wasn't until to Control that I finally got one of their games and played through it and it probably stands as one of my favorite games of all time still. With all the references in it to Alan Wake, I finally went back and played that and the little mini-sequel "American Nightmare" and ended up really enjoying them as well, so when this got announced I was pretty excited since it's a story I never thought they'd be able to finish, and having the FBC from Control factor into it as well helped despite it being more of a horror game than the first was. Gameplay is pretty much the same as what the first game had. Use a flashlight and a gun and shoot the bad things. The storytelling is on a whole other level though and is really what their games excel at, alongside really fun gameplay segments tied to music (which this game also has, though I still think the one in Control is the best one they've done). Ending was a little more open ended than I care for, but they just released a free New Game+ patch that has a new ending to it, so I'm going to play through again and see if that covers things a little better. Really close to the Platinum as well, so probably going to hit that during the 2nd time through. Definitely looking forward to whatever they do next already.

14.) (PSVR2) Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice This was pretty fun. Not the most polished VR game I've played, but was made by a relatively small studio. Very stealth heavy game that made me think of Dishonored a bit, just in VR. There are some fun upgrades throughout the game and it was fun looking for some of the collectibles. Had some really neat puzzle elements as well for a few of the levels. As a VtM fan, I found the story engaging and though it was a little simplistic, it still had some interesting twists to it. Game is still a bit buggy, but manageable with audio issues being the most prevalent for me, which was pretty annoying for a stealth game. Might go through again to do the optional challenges some stages have for not taking damage or not killing anyone, etc. and to find the rest of the collectibles and maybe go for the Platinum. The dev for this game has done another VR World of Darkness game (Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife), and though I couldn't play that one for long because of the shitty control setup on the old PSVR, it was still an interesting game that felt like they put a lot of thought into the world and this one definitely has that same care taken with it despite some of its shortcomings. It's not the best VR game I've played by any means, but I enjoyed myself the whole way through.

Yeah, the combat gameplay is the biggest thing holding it back by far. It wouldn't even be BAD with a few adjustments, but still feels very anti-Final Fantasy in its execution. There were two better ways to do it, and FFXVI and VII Remake are excellent examples of them both that they could have looked at as you noted. You'd think the guy that is known for saving FFXIV would have had the wherewithal to keep party management, of all things, in mind. XD

13.) Final Fantasy XVI FINALLY got through this. Had abandoned it for a while due to Baldur's Gate 3 (which I'm still working on), but with Spider-man 2 and Alan Wake 2 imminent I decided to focus on it and get through. Overall I really enjoyed the game, there's a lot to love about it, but also a fair bit of stuff I found annoying. I know a lot of people liked the first half of the story, but I found it the least enjoyable part (though I didn't hate it). Just didn't have much of an FF feel a lot of the time. Felt more like Game of Thrones or Dragon Age narratively, which is fine I guess. Just wasn't expecting it. The last half really starts to take off and get into that weird Final Fantasy magic bullshit that I wanted to see. This game is a spectacle visually, and I loved every second of it. My main gripes come from a couple places. I hate a lot about the combat honestly. I don't mind an action RPG, but the fights (especially a lot of the mini-bosses and bosses) felt very rote. You just cycle through your abilities that are off cooldown and chip away at their HP and it was kind of boring until late in the game when the time spent in each fight was a lot more manageable with upgrades. Not being able to pick party members was all a huge drawback. Recruiting party members and choosing who to take with you is a big part of what makes RPGs fun and everything was preset in this when you were actually allowed to have anyone in the first place other than the dog. Even XV being a set party the whole game felt better than this because they were always there and it felt like they were actually part of the fight. The other characters in this game felt less necessary than Donald and Goofy in a Kingdom Hearts game. >_> My other main gripe was the accessories. Aside from the fact that their major accessibility "options" were tied to accessories, the other accessories available in the game were downright boring. Nearly everything was for one specific ability and just reduced the CD or increased the damage of that specific ability by x amount. At that point, it was more interesting to use the accessibility stuff because they actually felt like they meant something. The only other ones that felt worth using until end game were the ones that gave you more XP, Gil or ability points each fight. The main story was fun, batshit crazy FF shit, and the side quests had some really solid story to them even when they mostly amounted to fetch quests. They were interesting and well written and often gave you a lot of insight into the side characters. The combat had its moments despite its flaws, and the crazy Eikon fights, even though they were mostly QTEs, were a hell of a roller coaster. Voice acting was really solid most of the time too. However, there was a line near the end of the game while fighting the final boss, that I just don't think I can forgive. I had to pause and just let it sink in that they actually did this.

It's not a super long game, so if you have the money I'd say go for it. I got through it in about 8.5hr. but I play stuff super slow and idle a lot, so I'd say an average playthrough is probably around 6 hours. Unless you got a lot you're playing right now, you get definitely get through it at least once before Starfield drops. I'm much more worried about getting through Baldur's Gate before Starfield shows up. I'm at least 25 hours in and still not even as far as I was in the Early Access. Speaking of Starfield though, it looks like the preload is up (at least on the XBox app).

12.) Stray Gods What a fantastic game. It's a narrative RPG (leaning Telltale style game but more of an animatic/animated style), that is also a full on musical. Really interesting concept overall. Great voice acting, solid songs, though the audio mixing is a bit all over the place. Story was pretty fun to. Basically it works off the premise that gods (primarily of the Greek variety in this case) are real and have been living among us for thousands of years, though some of the "big" ones (Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon for example) are dead and gone, and the others are fading. The main character is a normal human who ends up with one of the muses dying in her arms and her power is passed to her and she gets dragged into their world and has to find out what happened to the former muse or she'll be executed for her murder. The choices seem pretty varied and many even occur mid-song and change what is being sung. Based on the achievements in the game, there are even whole songs you don't see depending on the choices you make. I'm curious to see how much the story could change as it seems to be better off than these sorts of games usually are. It was written by David Gaider who was lead writer on things like Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and all the Dragon Age games, so I'm expecting to see some interesting differences with some of the choices available.

9.) (PSVR2) Beat Saber I had only messed with VR stuff a little via a friend letting me borrow the original PSVR for a month or two and playing Beat Saber on that was really fun (helped that it was just about the ONLY thing the shitty Move controllers lent themselves well to). Decided to splurge for my birthday and get the PSVR2 and when they finally released the upgrade to PSVR2 for it, I was super excited. Have been playing it quite a bit and actually managed to beat the campaign, something I didn't think I'd ever pull off when I first started playing it. Don't think I'll ever quite muster the skill to get the Platinum for it, but I'm honestly surprised at how much better I've got with it over time. Only downside is the music selection is pretty limited on the console side, but there's enough good stuff that I'm enjoying myself. Have actually managed to start playing consistently on Expert mode. It's a hell of a workout too. XD 10.) (PSVR2) Horizon: Call of the Mountain Got the version of the PSVR2 that came with this. It's the first "real" VR game I've managed to play all the way through. Not because it wasn't fun, but because I have limited time to play on it, and it took me a little while before I could play for more than 30 min. or so at a time. I've finally started acclimating to the VR stuff and have even been able to reduce the vignette settings when moving. Game was pretty interesting overall. The majority of it is basically climbing puzzles, but they were really fun honestly. There's set points where you fight machines and I thought those parts would end up being awful purely because I was expecting the shooting controls to be extra janky (insert flashbacks to Wii FPS games here), but it was actually set up pretty well. You have a quick dodge to avoid attacks, and the system has a pretty solid eye movement tracker that ties into the aim assist settings, so you generally hit what you are looking at which made it kind of fun to do. The graphical detail in the game was really great too. Made it a pretty solid experience compared to other VR stuff I've tried. 11.) Oxenfree 2 I have been waiting for this game for quite a while. Absolutely loved the first one and was excited to finally play this. I worried it would feel really samey, and wouldn't be as interesting since the "mystery" that made the first game so great is kind of already apparent, but they managed to do something unique with it still that kept it interesting despite having an idea of what was up. The way it tied to the first game was really cool too. It feels a bit more "shallow" than the original at the moment, but I've only played through it once and if it's anything like the first in that regard, it will take more than one play through to fully grasp the depth of the story and the effect your choices have. I'm looking forward to seeing if it holds up in that regard.

Yeah, after FFVII Remake, and even FFXV (thought I wasn't fond of the magic system in that one) it felt a bit meh. I do like the switching between elemental powered ability things, that feels nice but everything feels so spongey. Probably one of the pitfalls of it being made by people who are used to working on an MMO. There are definitely a lot of MMO vibes to it in places that aren't necessarily always a detriment, but don't often seem to do it any particular favors other.

I assure you I am actively playing it at the moment. Not sure how far am I in at this point but probably not terribly far. Having 4 kids means I have limited time to use my TV/Playstation. X_x Even got the fancy collectors edition for this one. XD It's been pretty fun so far. Story is interesting if very Game of Thrones feeling. Not sure I'm a huge fan of the combat at the moment, but the Eikon battles are a hell of a spectacle at least.

8.) Bramble: The Mountain King Nice little atmospheric horror game based on Nordic folklore and fairy tales. Gets pretty gruesome at times, and has this nice unsettling vibe through most of the game. Story was interesting enough. Had a lot of fun with it. Wasn't terribly long, maybe 5-6 hours, but I like games like that when I don't have a lot of time, or as a palate cleanser between all these stupidly long games. XD

7.) Ori and the Blind Forest Fun platformer game. Or would be if the controls on the Xbox app version weren't completely fucked. Had to play it in windowed mode in order for the cursor to appear to direct one of the attacks that it makes you use constantly during the game for the super intense platforming sections, and there was no option to keep the mouse pointer from leaving the game window, so I was constantly veering off and clicking outside of the game which messed me up a lot. The game just flat out wouldn't recognize a controller for some reason either. Other than the frustrations, it was a pretty fun game. Some challenging parts that took some repetition to get used to. Definitely not interested in trying to 100% it, but was fun enough I'll play the 2nd one at some point.

6.) The Last Case of Benedict Fox Was a fun little Metroidvania style game. A little lighter on combat and heavier on puzzles than your typical faire here, but that suits me fine. Story was interesting enough, and had a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe to it. Puzzles were pretty solid and decently challenging and worked well with the Metroidvania back-and-forthing through the maps. Decent game length and progressing felt pretty smooth. Some of the platforming was a bit spotty, but nothing so frustrating that it became a burden. Made for a nice distraction.

5.) Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened I've always enjoyed these Frogware Sherlock Holmes games off and on over the years. They're always slightly janky but never prohibitively so, and they're a fun relaxing play. This is one I actually backed this one on Kickstarter since a Sherlock meets Lovecraftian horror type story seemed interesting. Actually had no idea it was a remake of an older game. This one carries off of their "reboot" series though that started with Sherlock: Year One (which I haven't played yet). Based on things I've read, this one is a bit of a let down compared to the original, but as I have no played it, I rather enjoyed it. Some interesting puzzles, and story even if some of it felt rushed and a little disjointed. I enjoyed myself. May have to grab the original at some point to see how if the claims hold true.

4.) Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line Man, this was fun as hell. I love me a good rhythm game to begin with, and being Final Fantasy themed was just a huge bonus. I have the original 2 games on my 3DS and always enjoyed them, so it was nice to see one finally get released on console, and they did not skimp on it. I think there was well over 300 songs, and my only complaint with how it was set up is that some of the songs I really wanted were only part of the "Deluxe" version, which was a little annoying. At least they had an upgrade for it. This thing seriously covered pretty much every FF game out there too, including newer stuff like Stranger in Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins. The DLC they're putting out branches into some of Square's other games too like the Saga series, Nier, and The World Ends with You which is pretty cool, though I would have preferred they do some of the really good alternate arrangement stuff they have for other FF music, like the piano pieces or more Black Mages stuff (they had 1 or 2 of theirs in the deluxe version at least). Overall, I really enjoyed myself with this. Was a hell of a nostalgia trip too. After playing it, it was really difficult not to commit to playing through at least every main line FF game again. XD

3.) High on Life This game started out pretty fun, but it wore out it's welcome pretty damn quick. The jokes got to be a bit too much after not long, or in a lot of cases felt like they were trying to hard. It had it's moments, but overall it was just fine. I have to say the fact that they paid for the rights to put 3 full length campy, B-list horror movies into the game was pretty damn funny though. I actually stood there watching them for more time than I care to admit.

2.) Forspoken This one was kind of rough around the edges. I didn't hate it, and the traversal was super fun, but the story was kind of simplistic, cliché and not very subtle. The main character was only likely through the lens of her companion somehow being even less likable, and the map was about double the size it should have been and strewn about with so much random busy work that it probably made Ubisoft jealous. The story had potential, but the dialogue and a lot of the core story writing was just plain not great. I really solid writer probably could have done something far more interesting with it even hitting the same story beats. The world building was pretty decent though overall. Felt like the world had a pretty rich history that was fun to read about. I don't regret buying it, and I did have fun with it, but I honestly wish it was shorter overall. I ended up only doing enough to get the Platinum, and thank god that didn't require 100% completion because I was more than ready to be done by that point.

Yeah, it didn't stand out in Remake because you didn't hear him alot, but I just couldn't with a whole game of him. The old VA was so much better. Maybe some stuff later in the game wasn't as bad, but I wasn't willing to take the chance since the Japanese VAs have always been decent. As for Dirge of Cerberus, I wouldn't mind playing it again. I remember enjoying the story (as weird and sometimes contrived as it was), I just remember the gameplay being a bit of a chore to put up with. I'd definitely give it another go now though without a doubt.

23 games total for me last year. Same as the year before, so I'm staying consistent I guess. XD 1.) Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - Reunion This was a fantastic remaster. The work they did on the character models was really well done, and it was still a really enjoyable story to play through. You can really tell this game was meant for a handheld system with the way the extra missions in the game worked though. Felt like a bit too much busy work for a console title, but could have been worse. The pre-rendered cutscenes could have looked better. The upscaling or whatever they did to them left them looking a bit low quality compared to the rest of the game, but it was a minor thing overall. Probably the only real fault the game had was the fact that they redid the voice acting for some reason and changed VAs. The new VA for Zack was really grating and I switched it over to the Japanese audio about 5 minutes into the game. X_x Overall this game was really well put together when it originally came out and hits some really hard nostalgia buttons for FFVII, but has enough going for it to easily stand on its own. This version let me revisit that 100% so it definitely did it's job. I wonder if they'll end up doing one of these for Dirge of Cerberus now. That wasn't nearly as good of a game, but I honestly want to play it again anyway after how much I enjoyed playing this one again.