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Jibo
May 22, 2007

Bear Witness
College Slice
5. Void Bastards


A "retro" FPS that doesn't actually look like an old video game. It's a rogue-like-like where you need to explore a nebula in your ship to find parts to fix your big ship which you get by boarding derelict ships filled with mutated passengers and crew. It's got some survival horror elements such as constantly needing to scrounge food, ammo, and fuel. I love the tiny details in this game and the gameplay itself is drat good. It makes good use of surround sound which is generally a must for me. When it released the game felt like it lacked any replayability but they've since added challenge runs in a free update which gives you a reason to keep doing new runs.

4. Outer Wilds


What else can be said about this game? It's charming as hell and has a great story. The game is stupidly immersive thanks in part to some exceptional sound design. Each time I would accidentally blast into the sun or crash my ship it would make me clench my teeth and sweat a little.

3. Bloodstained: RotN


I've never really been into Castlevania games but this really knocked it out of the park for me. There's just so much to explore, craft, and loot packed into this game. I never knew how much I wanted a modern SotN with a fresh story. Bonus points for Samurai Solid Snake.

2. My Time at Portia


Holy crap did this game come out of nowhere and blow me away. Think Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley only you run a workshop rather than a farm so you spend your time crafting rather than watering crops. This is exactly the kind of game where you will keep telling yourself "just one more day" and then staying up way too drat late playing it. The story is real weird (always a plus for me) and the characters are all pretty memorable. There's just a ton of content all around in this game and it oozes charm. Unfortunately the game doesn't appear to be made particularly well with infrequent crashes and a lot of weird edge case bugs that will probably come up a few times in a playthrough. Also I heard that the PC version has some terrible voice acting but I played on console and didn't have to hear it.

1. Slay the Spire


It's a card game and a rogue-like-like so I'm predisposed to love this game and yet it surpassed my expectations in every way. No other game has come close to this as my GotY. What really hooked me is the Ascension levels which gradually takes the game from a relative breeze to complete up to the kind of game where you have to plan every single action you take. I love that there is so much strategy that goes into things outside of the card game itself. I love how there is so much variety in cards, maps, items, and enemies that every game feels unique. I feel like this is easily the best designed digital card game I've played by a country mile.


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Yakuza 0

I was late to the party on the Yakuza games but I finally checked out Yakuza 0 earlier this year and it found its way into my list of all time favorite video games. The story and characters are great, the beat-em-up gameplay is probably the best I've ever seen in a 3D game, and oh god the side activities, there's just no end to them. I feel like I've been left out of an incredible video game experience with the series and I can't wait to get a PS4 so I can continue it from Kiwami 2.

Risk of Rain 2

The game is good but still feels a little lacking in terms of content to me. The way they've taken a 2D game and so faithfully built a 3D game based on it is astounding.

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