It’s finally time for a one-pager(-ish) game-of-the-year list. As usual, this simple annual critical writing exercise has ballooned into a whole operation that sucks up half my holiday break. As taxing as it’s been, it feels good to make it to the end. I’m fairly happy with the breadth of games I played this year;…

Lies of P is a soulslike action game from Korean developer Round8, a subsidiary of Neowiz. It’s a blatantly ridiculous Pinocchio retelling in the moody, gothic style of Bloodborne. Drawing heavily from the entire breadth of From Software’s “Souls” lineage, it unites a variety of ideas while carving out its own iterations and building a…

Hi-Fi Rush is a new IP from Tango Gameworks, the Bethesda subsidiary behind Ghostwire: Tokyo and the Evil Within series. It’s a surprising departure in style for the studio, and it arrived fully formed with no prior promotion whatsoever. Thanks to its launch on Xbox Game Pass — a service that has somehow not yet…

Chants of Sennaar is a language-deciphering puzzle game from French indie studio Rundisc. It takes place on the many levels of an enormous tower, where the silent protagonist must meet different cultures, work out their languages, and solve puzzles using that understanding. Its concept is inspired by the Tower of Babel story, in which the…

Infinite Guitars is a rhythm action RPG set in a world of floating sky islands and guitar-wielding scavengers who eke out their existence in the aftermath of a desperate rebellion. Its hero, J.J., is a disaffected kid traveling with their grandfather. When rogue elements of the old empire confront them, J.J. is separated from their…

Metroid Prime tells the story of bounty hunter Samus Aran when she discovers a derelict pirate frigate full of dead and dying pirates. After encountering an old enemy, she pursues him beyond the frigate to Tallon IV, the planet that it was orbiting. Tallon IV is rapidly deteriorating, a once-lush planet decimated by an apocalyptic…

The Talos Principle 2 is a game about solving puzzles within enormous abandoned structures on a mysterious chain of islands. It is told through they eyes and interface of 1k, the thousandth new person created to join a civilization of androids in the wake of humankind’s demise. It follows after 2014’s The Talos Principle, which…

COCOON is the debut title from Geometric Interactive, a studio founded by Playdead’s (LIMBO, INSIDE) former lead gameplay designer Jeppe Carlsen and audio designer Jakob Schmid. It’s a vibrant and eerie puzzle game delivered in what could be considered Carlsen’s preferred style: a wordless adventure driven by a minimalist “one-button” set of actions and heavy…

The year is wrapping up, so it’s time to uphold my annual tradition of only blogging at the very end of it. I got a late start, so that means that my #1 post will not be till the 2nd of January. 2023 has been a busy year for me personally, but a complicated one…

We’ve made it to 2023! As usual, looking back through the year during the past couple weeks has been more work than I really intended it to be… but also a valuable and rewarding exercise. I’ve written over 10,000 words about my favorite games this year, even more if you include the kickoff post, and…