- Yakuza: Like a Dragon - I love love love LOVE this game. I’m only about 20 hours in (meaning, the tutorials are starting to ease up) but I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, and I’ve used a giant electric massager to bludgeon men drenched in personal lubricant. It’s hilarious, heartwarming, and endlessly compelling.
- The Last of Us Part II - It’s really a coinflip between this and Hades, but I’ll give TLoU2 the edge for taking place in Seattle. The first game ended on such an absolutely, pitch-perfect note that I was pretty hesitant to return to that world, but they more than justified themselves here. Such an incredible emotional rollercoaster, and genuinely haunting.
- Hades - I tend to bounce of roguelikes (or roguelites, or run-based games, or whatever you want to call them) because they trigger a sense of guilt in me for having spent a chunk of my limited gaming time without making “progress”. They make me feel lazy, almost. I consider Hades an achievement because it never once set that off. I could have happily continued sinking hour after hour into it, but had to eventually snap the line and put it down because I had other games to play.
- Cyberpunk 2077 - Even though I feel I lucked out in terms of performance and meaningful bugs, I can’t deny that this game is, if not broken, profoundly dented, dinged, and wounded. But oh man did I have a lot of fun with this game. It sucked me in hard, and I sunk almost 50 hours in and hit the level cap before even really starting down the road with the main quest.
- Flight Simulator 2020 - I don’t feel like I have much to add about this that hasn’t already been said. I’m a sucker for virtual tourism in games, and this is worth it just for the gorgeous scenery.
EDIT: Sorry, Desperados III. I hope to get more time with you soon, but after diving into Like a Dragon this week, I cannot in good conscience not give that my top spot.