I have enjoyed putting together our What We’re Playing series this year. The year is finally wrapping up and it has been a solid one not just for handhelds, but for games as well. I compiled a list of some of us at RH’s favorite games we played this year. Some had a favorite retro game, some had a favorite modern, and some even had both! Let’s see what made our final list.
Jalanimal: Metaphor: ReFantazio
Best Modern Game: Metaphor: ReFantazio
I don’t have a retro game I enjoyed too much this year, but Metaphor: ReFantazio takes the cake for my favorite game of the year. The game takes what makes the Shin Megami and Persona games fun, and perfects it. The game takes place in a fantasy world where humans are the evil/dreadful foe.
The game lived in my head for 2-3 months. I was thinking of archetype and combat combinations during the day. It is just such a great game that any JRPG fan needs to check out! It is the first game in a while that I have plugged 70+ hours into. It ran great on my Steam Deck as well!
Dan W: Koudelka and Fear the Spotlight
Best Retro Game: Koudelka (PS1)
While the combat system is unnecessarily time-consuming, every other aspect of Koudelka was a joy, with the story, music, character work, and especially the voice acting, well ahead of 99% of gaming from the same era. Koudelka’s gameplay gripped me and made me power through it at a much faster speed than I usually complete games, such as the obsession it generated.
Best Modern Game: Fear The Spotlight (Switch)
While this is far from a perfect game, in a world where everything has been done before, this game reminded me that console gaming can still be original. It’s easy, and it’s designed for younger players than I, but the lack of clear explanations alongside the intense creepiness allows the player to make their own backstory, and that, alongside the clear love put into the game by the developers, makes it my GOTY.
Joe: Ori and the Blind Forest and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Best Modern Game: Ori and the Blind Forest
My modern game has to be Ori And the Blind Forest. While not at all a “New” game, this year has been a never-ending barrage of life events and pure unhinged chaos that left me with only 1 game I actually completed. Ori for me is a special title that I played exclusively while contact napping my baby boy. Given the circumstances…Yeah, the game and ending hit just a little harder this time around.
Best Retro Game: Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door
For my retro title, I’ll give that to Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door (played on the Switch but it still counts). The game from a story and mechanics perspective has aged like fine cheese (stronger and more potent with time) whereas the characters aged like wine. This glorious piece of software also contains the top 5 hottest Mario characters; Goombella, Koopy Koo, Vivian, Luigi, and the Shadow Queen (in that order from 5th to 1st).
Zu: Ghost Trick
Best Retro Game: Ghost Trick for GotM
The story was great, the game was fun, and it had a sweet as f*** dog!
Nick: Balatro
Best Modern Game: BalatroÂ
In a year stacked with great releases, I found myself constantly coming back to this one. Balatro masters the concept of being easy enough for anyone to pick up, but deep enough to offer near-limitless challenges. An innovative take on a classic card game, its addictive gameplay loop shows that budget and marketing power isn’t everything. The fact that Balatro could be easily ported to just about every device in the RH hobby didn’t hurt things either. Big screen or small, this ode to Joker poker has become one of my favorite go-to games.
Stubbs: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest and Astro Bot
Best Retro Game: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
For retro game, DKC2 has been a lot of fun! Recency vote bias? Maybe, but I love the mechanics and it’s a nice evolution from Donkey Kong Country.
Best Modern Game: Astro Bot
For modern, Astro Bot fills me with joy every time I play it. The whole family enjoys it too! It is rare to find a game that can entertain the whole family, as Astro Bot can. It plays (streams) great on the PS Portal too!
Andrew: Balatro
Modern Game of the Year: Balatro
Okay, so Nick stole my thunder here, and I was trying to think of another game to pick, but there’s only one answer. I’ve sunk so many hours into Balatro that you’d think I have a problem. Maybe I do, but even still, this is the game that I’ve kept coming back to, despite not actually being able to get anywhere close to beating it.
What were your favorite games of the year? Let us know down in the comments!
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