This might've been my best year in gaming since i started playing games. I finally found a way to actually start playing the games i was looking at for years, some for decade or more. Some were great, some were duds. I'm ure we all had games we finally played and realized "wait, i don't even like this". There were dozens of other games but i already wrote way too much

This is why i decided to include another factor in my not-really-reviews of these games besides just quality/enjoyment. What i expected and what i got. During all these years i built an "image" for these games in my head, either from info i read/watched myself or things i heard from other gamers. Often i had strong opinions about these games even before playing them and i had some great surprises in both directions

Greedfall 9/10

I was interested in this one since release but most user reviews usually classified this game as MEH. Contrary to my low expectations this one delivered everything i wanted from the Dragon Age franchise. I thought it would be a generic story where colonials are purely bad and the natives are innocent victims. It turned out to be a lot more nuanced and deep and i kept falling for my own misconceptions/biases. I judged characters and factions before hearing them out. I can't say a lot without ruining these things but if you ever play it remember: don't fall for first impressions

I also enjoyed the overall game design. Side quests were interesting and always tied into the main story on some level, the choices i made during side content often made a difference. Faction reputation was simple but it was adequate. The player character is a diplomat and you are actually allowed to solve problems with speech. Sometimes the solution is extremely violence. Companion system as simple but good, i cared about these folks (some of them) and they were actually useful in combat, no babysitting needed

Yakuza 0 7/10

This franchise was lurking around me for years now, i never really understood the appeal. Never had consoles so i only heard about them when they got more maintream on PC. I didn't really think anything about the game but it was really bugging me so i felt it deserved a try. I got mostly what i expected, the fandom was pretty accurate when talking about the game.

The story was interesting with two main characters who never actually meet but connected through the plot. It's a prequel so it probably hit harder for players who had previous experiences with the franchise. I cared about a handful of characters. My biggest dislike was the combat. Not just the actual gameplay but the frequency of fights. It felt like the game was actively trying to spoil my fun and stop me from enjoying the game. Quantity over quality problem, if the game only had half the combat encounters i would've enjoyed it a lot more

Disco Elysium 10.5/10

Not much to say about this one you haven't heard already, it's the darling of the sub that shows up every week. I was really hyped about this one, all these years since release i didn't heard a single negative thing. Expectations were extremely high and guess what, the game passed it with flying colors. It was actually even better than i hoped. I was borderline terrified i wouldn't like it because some of the titles later on were kinda shocking disappointments. You know it already, beautiful game, great dialogues and writing, etc. BUT voice acting kinda carried this game for me. I don't think i could've read through all that myself and the delivery by the great VAs really amplified the already nice package

Not for Broadcast (base game) 10/10

From this list i can confidently say this game was my GOTY. Absolutely blew my mind. I started up the game with an open mind but i didn't even understand what kind of game it was so i wasn't really hyped. WOW. Easily one of my all time favourites, i didn't even know there were games like this, never saw anything similar. It's a one of kind experience and i think everyone should experience it

The gameplay itself is pretty simple, you are the editor for a news broadcast. Your most common tasks are censoring unwanted content, switching cameras, timing ads. The story starts with the victory announcement of a progressive political party and you are experiencing the events through news segments, interviews, celebrity guests, etc. As the plot progresses you get more ability to decide what gets broadcasted, you can choose headlines and indluence the viewers in different ways. Propaganda time if you want to.

The overall quality was probably the most shocking, both writing and acting were top-tier, the main cast was really talented. The concept felt unique as well, listening to studio gossip while broadcasting some ads was really fun. I only played a single playthrough but there are 14 endings based on your actions/choices. I think the main story was also really interesting. It almost felt like watching an interactive tv-show.

Cloudpunk 9.5/10

Just a cool little indie game. Impressive world, the game actually felt cyberpunk inside-out, not just going for the aesthetics. The game has a lot of stuff happening but it's just your first night on the job as delivery driver, working for a semi-illegal company. You are given jobs through a handler, you meet some interesting characters through your deliveries and learn their stories, some funny, some bittersweet, some horrors beyond my comprehension. Pretty sure one of my deliveries was used in a terrorist attack, maybe this profession is heavily regulated for a reason?

Gameplay is fairly simple, you are delivering things in a flying car. Sometimes you take a detour to get some fuel and repair your Hova (flying car) since it's really easy to crash into everything. Navigating on foot can be har sometimes but first person helps a lot. There are maybe 2 slightly difficult missions and some timed deliveries but nothing actual difficulty. Overall it's a chill game with some pretty heavy story. I think it really nails that gritty cyberpunk energy CP 2077 failed to manifest for me

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood 8/10

Originally i didn't really care about this one, i don't even remember what convinced me to try it. It's from 2023 so it barely fits the criteria. Can't say much without heavy spoilers. Yet again your decisions matter! I just had no idea so it made me panic a lot about the random choices i made before the big revelation. You are not predicting the future with your tarot, you are rewriting reality. I didn't predict my sister dying to cancer, i literally gave it to her. Oops.

The premise was interesting: you are a witch, banished and isolated on a cozy space rock for a 1000 years. 200 years in the loneliness is so unbearable you summon a forbidden cosmic entity. Then you are unlocking your new powers through a tutorial, some choices to make, learn to remake your tarot deck that was confiscated. The custom card creator was really fun even tho i have zero artistic skills and didn't really understood how the cards actually work. Using them to tell fortunes was also fun until spoiler.

I almost dropped this one early, it started pretty slow and i wasn't really impressed. I also comletely misjudged the writing, it wasn't some cutesy visual novel. After the tutorial i was allowed to have some visitors so i decided i would meet a few characters before leaving. Then i meet one of my best friends and had some pretty raw emotional things to say i didn't expect at all but that was all i needed to continue

Dying Light 4/10

This is the point where my disappointments started. I didn't have much hype for most games listed before so their enjoyment were a pleasant surprise with no risks. But this one kinda hurt. I heard so much about the game, everyone praising the combat, the parkour, overall gameplay

I already felt something was off when i started. Went through tutorial and early missions and i didn't enjoy a minute of it. But kept playing, maybe i'm missing something. Better weapon and more skills will surely make a difference? Sadly no. I had a hard time accepting i just don't enjoy this game. Missions are the worst kind of fetch quests, melee combat just feels off, you also have the stamina of a 80 year old grandpa with asthma. The game also keeps adding special zombies which is my most hated trope in the genre. It stops being a zombie game when you start adding generic enemy types from other genres

Parkour was also a disappointment. It was cool at the start, being in first person helped. Then you notice how empty and flat the city is, after a few hours the entire place just looks the same. It gets tedious after you have to go through from one end to the other for 15th time for some trivial fetch quests. It's clear the developers thought it was the highlight of the game so there is no fast travel, you just have to run through the roofs back and forth. It was so painfully boring and uninteresting i finally gave up

Dragon Age: Origins ?/10

Another one that breaks my heart. I blame myself with this, it might be a heresy on this sub but i waited too long. Graphics wise it's good enough, no problem there. Writing and dialogue quality was also overhyped. Well, i'm sure 13 old me would've been impressed but if you read a single fiction book in your life it will be quite underwhelming.

It was the combat for me with other outdated gameplay elements and the UI piling on it that sailed it's fate. After decades of QoL improvements in the industry this one felt borderline unplayable. Probably the worst combat i ever experienced, hated every second of it. If it had either turn based or proper action combat i probably could've powered through but not with this weird hybrid that can't do either. I don't even know what to say, i still don't understand what they wanted to achieve.

I tried DA Inquisition few years ago and didn't enjoy it either so maybe i'm just incompatible with these games. But with this i officially gave up on the franchise, which actually felt really good. Like i resolved a 15 years old mystery

Assassin's Creed Origins ?/10

How do you make ancient Egypt boring? I have no idea but these folks did it. The setting is beautiful, visually it's one of the most impressive games. Alexandria is mindblowing, bustling with citizens. I spent a long time just checking out the architecture and looking around the place. And yet such an amazing world is wasted on the developers, they forgot to put a game inside. This was the third time i gave this game a chance i just can't eem to enjoy a dingle minute of it

The game doesn't really tries to hide the Witcher 3 influence, that was the main appeal for me, that's not me throwing shades. But sadly it feels like they never understood what they were supposed to copy. The entire game just feels too sterile and artificial. Like it was made by people who never actually played any games. It has everything it's supposed to have and it was clearly received pretty well. In theory i should've loved it but in practice i bounced off in maybe 10 hours? I just felt empty playing it, i don't know why this one felt so off. With this i finally gave up on Odyssey and Valhalla, it only took me ~7 years to accept that the new "rpg" formula just doesn't work for me