- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Midnight Protocol
- Old World
- Gloomhaven
- Trials of Fire
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
I’m a sucker for games with a likeable cast of characters, entertaining banter, exposing their insecurities. There were so many funny moments, some touching moments, and a good ‘we gotta save the universe vibe’ that it was joyous to play through the entire game. The biggest weakness was the too frequent, too lengthy combat. The combat itself was good, just too much of it.
Midnight Protocol
So glad Tom brought this one to light. He can obviously express what is so good about the game better than me. The missions are thematic and bite sized, so it’s easy to play as many or few as I wish - or play one, get up for 5 minutes, play another.
Old World
4Xs used to be my favorite genre, but have gotten kind of stale for me after the 1000s of hours I put into Civ IV. Sure I’ll still play some of them, but they usually let me down. Old World manages to introduce enough changes to make it feel fresh again. The orders system and the economic changes are the big ones for me. I feel the character based game play has grabbed too much of the attention - both discussion outside the game and the attention it demands within the game. I think the other systems are the stars - but I’m in the minority and that’s OK because it is still a great game. I really hope that Soren tackles an epic, history spanning 4X because I love that grand scope and I have a feeling he can being many of these ideas to a larger game and introduce more innovations.
Gloomhaven
The PC implementation is really good. This is probably more of an emotional vote since I didn’t play a ton of the PC version, but I loved the board game so much. I love how the game plays and the different classes. There is a lot of tension each turn, trying to make the best use of my cards and items. But, this is also a bit of a drawback - it can be a little fatiguing to play a mission, so I need to be very much in the mood. Otherwise it feels like stress.
Trials of Fire
The implementation of the tactical battles is just so good, the enemies varied and the environments good looking. I played this a ton a while ago and is a game I mean to go back to. The overland map aspect of the game isn’t up to par with the battles, but it is good enough to hang the battles on.
I feel like this year had a lot of very good games, but only a couple of great games. Here are some honorable mentions that I enjoyed a lot. In order from best to worst…
Tainted Grail: Conquest
Hitman 3
Forza Horizon 5
Solasta: Crown of the Magister
Death’s Door
Inscryption
I Expect You To Die 2
It Takes Two
Roguebook
Wildermyth
Mini Motorways
Urtuk: The Desolation
Imagine Earth
Psychonauts 2