What are ya playin' in 2025?

[Yakoob]

@Thirith - I'm surprised how much I enjoyed Far Cry 4. I actually beat it all to completion. The combination of checking off towers/settlements, the quirky villain, and beautiful vistas really sucked me in.



Meantime, continuing my unintended shortform walking sim spree, I just completed What Remains of Edith Finch, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was suprised with all the gameplay diversity in the segments, particularly the kite thing and the day-dreaming-fish-cannery worked extremely well (and kind of highlights what makes games unique from other art forms). And found the ending a lot more touching than I expected with the final twist.

The only weird thing was the animal flying/swimming sections which broke. my. brain. For some bizarre reason, my mind thought "we are piloting a vehicle so the Y axis is inverted" and I could just not snap out of it. Like swimming as a shark, I would keep pressing up to go down, and struggle real hard. Just couldn't snap out of it. utterly bizarre lol

Thinking of picking up Wanderstop next. It just released and it's a cozy game with-probably-a-big-twist from the creators of Stanley Parable

[Jason Moyer]

I tried to play Legend Of Grimrock II. And I found it boring for some reason. It seems like it's really well-designed, and I thought the first game was amazing, but I'm not sure I really needed a bigger version of the first one.

In the meantime I finally managed to finish the TurboGrafx port of Gradius using one save state at the start of each level, so now I'm working on 1CC'ing it and then the NES and arcade versions. It's one of my favorite games of all time and I decided I was sick of being really bad at it. Beating it level by level felt good, tbh, it's a damn hard game. Konami's shmups are my favorite and I really wish they'd have M2 or Hamster port and bundle all of them for modern consoles/Switch/PC.

On PC after shelving LOG2 I'm trying the Dark Forces remaster. It looks and plays great, but I'm not sure how much patience I have for the Hexen-y level design. People say the sewer level (which I finished last night) is the worst thing in the game so I'll push on more, but having to do that entire thing without a guide or being able to save and take a break was annoying as hell. Shooting imperial bastards is super fun, I just wish it was in a better game (like Jedi Outcast).

[Thirith]

One thing that I definitely mind about Far Cry 4, but that's pretty much the usual Ubisoft thing, is its phony ambiguity. It's probably meant to be nuanced, with no single position being entirely right or wrong, but really it's facile bothsides-ism: sure, he eats babies for breakfast, but she slaughters grannies for dinner! It never feels anything else but constructed, and the result is the laziest of centrism, combined with a forced "Ah, but you have to take sides!"

[nicked]

That was something which Far Cry 2, whether intentionally or not, managed to subvert - in that both factions you could choose to side with were essentially interchangeable. It really got across that the whole conflict was pointless and added nuance to the morality of the Jackal's actions. Now it might have been that they ran out of time and money to distinguish the factions further so they just copy-pasted, but whatever the reason, it totally worked in the narrative's favour.

[Tomi]

Meantime, continuing my unintended shortform walking sim spree, I just completed What Remains of Edith Finch, and enjoyed it quite a bit.

What Remains of Edith Finch is one of those annoying games that I always mix up with some other title... in this case, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. I've played the latter and it's pretty good and short, and from what I've read the two games are quite similar, so you may want to check it out. And I should probably check out WRoEF...

I tried to play Legend Of Grimrock II. And I found it boring for some reason. It seems like it's really well-designed, and I thought the first game was amazing, but I'm not sure I really needed a bigger version of the first one.

That sums up my thoughts about Grimrock II quite perfectly. I really wanted to like it, but it just felt somehow dull compared to Grimrock 1 and I don't even know why that is. The sequel got such great reviews that I've often thought about giving it another chance, but that day hasn't come yet.

[Starker]

I had the opposite reaction to Grimrock 2. I basically felt 1 was a bit too simple and basic and that 2 was more like what 1 should have been. I think I especially appreciated the maps being more sprawling and the puzzles being a bit more complex and varied.

[Malf]

I wanted to like both Grimrock games, but they were both pale imitations of Dungeon Master for me.
Apart from graphics and save system, DM did everything else better.
But that's true of any game treading the same path; unfortunately for them, DM is one of my favourite games of all time, and still plays incredibly well today thanks to the free versions hosted over on http://dmweb.free.fr/

[Pyrian]

Legend of Grimrock II is easily my favorite of the form. Great game, IMO.

[henke]

Star Wars Bounty Hunter - it's a good looking remaster but the gameplay is lacklustre. Exploring the levels via jetpack is kinda fun, but the shooting and bounty hunting is boring. Never played the original, but I think the remaster might've modernized the controls a bit. They could've taken the modernizing further imo. One annoying bit of clunkiness is constantly switching between items using the D-pad. Ya gotta switch to the visor to identify bounties, then to the cord to capture then, then to blasters when a shootout happens. This would've played much better if enabling the visor was a dedicated button. Clicking in the left thumbstick, for instance. Anyway, played 2.1 hours of it, so too late to refund, but I dunno if I wanna keep playing it either. Does it pick up later on?

Exo Cross - racing game by iRacing devs. Lots of negative Steam reviews due to little content and lag issues on certain systems. It's on a steep sale so little content doesn't bother me, but this thing sure does lag like hell on my computer. Tried turning down all the graphics settings and resolution but that made it lag even more! It ran fine on the office Steam Deck tho, so I'll play it on that. It's ok.

Corpus Edax - yeah this indie immsim sure is janky! Stealth barely works. Looks like an uglier version of Invisible War. Amateurish storytelling and writing. Hand to hand combat is kinda fun tho. I'm 2.8 hours in, and think I'll keep going. Despite EVERYTHING it's kinda fun.

[Tomi]

Balatro was added to Game Pass so I wanted to see what the fuss is all about.

Well, I can certainly see why some people seem to love it so much. There's a lot of depth in it and you keep discovering new things all the time as you play. But, it's still just a card game, so I find it hard to get really excited about it. I can imagine myself playing one session of this every now and then, but I think I'll much rather play Slay the Spire or something when the deckbuilder mood hits me.

[Thirith]

After getting to the third act of Far Cry 4 a couple of days ago, I pretty much ran through the rest of the game, mainly because it seemed to me that the developers didn't really add anything interesting in the second part of the map - and I was right: northern Kyrat is very much like southern Kyrat, and the only thing that the new enemies have over their southern brethren is more hit points, which is one of the things I've come to hate about Ubisoft game design in the last ten years or so. The game gives you weapons to counter the hardier enemies, but there's nothing interesting in design where the only thing that changes is your enemies get more health and you get weapons that do more damage. The story also pretty much did what I expected it to do, so yeah, I'm okay with leaving it at that as far as Far Cry is concerned, unless they find more interesting things to do with the template. I can imagine that the game is much more fun in coop, but other than that I'd say I'm all Far Cried out for now.

Anyway, I just got started on Sifu, but I already suspect that this won't be the game for me. My head's already aching at the sheer range of button presses and combos. I liked what I heard and read about the game, but I suck at what the game expects me to do, and I should've known this. I'll stick with it for now, but there's a good chance I'll move on to something that's more in my wheelhouse.

[Renault]

I started out the year playing the entire recent Hitman Trilogy back to back to back on PC. Pretty much consider these games a classic now - the levels are just so big and open and there's so much to do and so many possibilities. I had played some of the levels on PS4 in strange/random order previously, but it was fun to play it all straight thru and treat it as one complete game. I guess that's the way they want it, after branding it the "World of Assassination."

I moved on to Gloomwood, which is (still) looking really good. They added a section called The Hive which is a scary and confusing sewer area. There's already so much content, this game is going to be huge (in size) when released years from now. In short, there's 5 "things" to collect during the length of the game, and they're only up to 2. It'll probably take you 15-20 hours just to get that far.

That led me to a game called Butcher's Creek, by David Szymanski, (the Dusk guy and one of the Gloomwood guys), which is a short Condemned inspired thing. Being a big Condemned fan, I jumped on it. It's OK. I feel like there could have been a lot more done with it though. I went back afterward and played through the original Condemned, and it's still great and has incredible atmosphere, and Butcher's Creek truthfully just pales huge by comparison. I then went back and hooked up my PS3 and fired up Condemned 2, which I think I haven't played since release. It's not the same game either, but has some interesting features, so I'll probably go back and finish it at some point.

Picked up a copy of Cyberpunk 2077, and put some time in. I kind of see it as a thing I go to here and there, completing a few missions at a time, but overall it didn't really sink it's hooks into me. The open world they created though is amazing, and it's a joy to explore and navigate. But I don't feel that huge draw to get back to it every night.

Then came Death Stranding. I had started this game 2 other times on PS4, but didn't get far. Now playing on PC (and the "Director's Cut"), I'm completely engrossed and can't put it down. The tough part is, there's so many aspects to the game that I dislike - all the stats screens, the constant cutscenes, the likes, the meaningless backtracking, the constant dialogue, etc. But the good parts of the game are great and kind of overpower everything else. Traversing terrain, discovering new places in a giant (and gorgeous) wasteland, maneuvering vehicles, stealing from bandits, avoiding BTs, all great stuff. I'm tempted to turn off all the online connection nonsense, but every once in a while, there will be a really convenient bridge placed by someone else in their game but showing up in mine. Hard to knock that. I can really see how divisive this game could be to most people, but I don't see putting it down anytime soon.

[Jason Moyer]

I gave the remaster of Dark Forces a go. Made it through almost all of the imperial prison level, and couldn't get further without a walkthrough. If I need a walkthrough to beat a game, I'm done playing it. I will say it looks good and plays well and it's always fun to run around shooting stormtroopers. While I'm in the mood it's probably time for a replay of Jedi Outcast since it's been awhile.

[Neb]

I played Dark Forces 2 for the first time last year, and it was a good time. Hopefully we get a remake of that too.

I have amazing memories of Jedi Outcast though. I spent an entire 3 days doing nothing but playing it when it first came out.

[Starker]

A short and sweet game about stabbing Nazis (just walk into or jump into enemies once you get a weapon):
https://adamatomic.itch.io/prince

In the end I missed one of the bastids somewhere, but I reckon 60 ain't none too bad.

[Thirith]

I have very fond memories of Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, playing the Nar Shaddaa demo for hours and hours. Somehow I must have been all Jedi Knighted out by the time Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy were released; I played them and enjoyed them well enough, but I don't have the kind of memories of those two games that I have of Jedi Knight.

I was going to get started on Sifu, but I'm too exhausted from work these days, so I didn't want to play a fighting game, as it's a genre I'm not very good at... so instead I got started on the mellow, relaxing Aliens: Dark Descent. The first hour or so was a bit frustrating, but I'm now 3/4 into the Dark Hills mission and no longer quite as stressed by everything going on. Already the realisation that I could lure xenomorphs to the ARC helped a lot.

I'm okay with the restricted saving, because I have a tendency to save scum, though I wish there was a strictly enforced law that games must let you save when you exit. It's silly to take a detour to the nearest elevator and go up and down a level just because there's no other way to do a controlled save.

[Aja]

I’m on a shooter kick. I’ve got one more episode to go in the original Quake in remastered form, never having played it originally. It’s good! Different vibe and gameplay to Doom, but it’s mostly well-balanced and gives you reason to use all the weapon types (except the hatchet). I’ve been trying to play without quicksaving although there have been a few troll bits that, while admittedly funny (giant monster pops out and forces you back into the projectile spike room), were unfair, and of course they always come at the end of a long level. Trent Reznor’s soundtrack is far more ominous than the rest of the game’s aesthetic, but it’s quaint in a spooky way.

A different type of shooter is Enter the Gungeon. I hoped it would scratch an itch for something easy to pick up and play a few satisfying rounds, but after five hours or so I’m thinking about calling it. For one, it’s too hard. Difficulty in and of itself isn’t such a deterrent to me, but part of the difficulty is the controls. It’s hard to get that catharsis when you’re physically uncomfortable from having to keep pressure on both joysticks at all times. And there’s no way to make it easier apart from getting good, which I know is the true Rogue experience, but I think I prefer roguelikes with a bit more of an upgrade path.

Finally, I’m back into Selaco, and I’m not sure if it’s because of updates or that later level designs have improved or that I’ve just gotten accustomed to it, but this is seriously good now. Combat feels great. It’s tense and unpredictable, with enemies flanking and pushing and retreating, and the nonlinear levels allow you approach each encounter in multiple ways, and those encounters play out differently depending on how you react. Though it’s based on GZDoom, it does not play like Doom at all; you have to be careful and thoughtful with every engagement.

And the level of interactivity, which initially felt like just a winking nod to games like Duke 3D, lends a sense of richness to the environment and also has gameplay implications in that you can’t see the enemy if there’s paper and smoke and gore and watermelon bits flying everywhere. The sound design is incredible. It’s crunchy and impactful and detailed. And while the levels can be sprawling and confusing, I think they’ve gotten a lot better at signposting (also you have to remember to use your map).

Normally I avoid early access, but if early access is what it takes to get this level of care and attention to seemingly (but not actually) inconsequential details, then I’m all for it. Plus I’ve been playing for 20 hours and still haven’t finished the first campaign, so it’s not like you’ll be starved for content.

Anyway, last year I put it on my didn’t-quite-make-it list of best games, but at this point it’s gonna be a strong contender in 2025.