Ninja Gaiden Black 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baldur's Gate 3
Shadow Hearts
Atelier Sophie: the Alchemist of the Mysterious Book
Gunstar Heroes
Koudelka
The Punisher
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Doom: The Dark Ages
Shadow Hearts 2
Xenoblade X
Goldeneye
Death Stranding 2
Resident Evil 2
Donkey Kong Bananza
Shadow Hearts: From the New World
Metal Gear Solid Delta
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS)
Hollow Knight
Trails 1st
Resident Evil 2 (PS1)
Resident Evil 3 (PS1)
Silent Hill f
Ninja Gaiden 4
Resident Evil 4 (Remake)
Shinobi (PS2)
I think this is a pretty much perfect game for what it, what was once a modern reimagining of an old classic series and successful in that and being a really fun game, if not frustrating at times. The visuals of the scarf as you ninja dash everywhere are iconic to this day and tate chains are one of the most fun mechanics in an action game imo. A perfect example of 'less is more'.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Alliance
Almost the definitive version of one of the Top 3 Final Fantasy games in the entire series, the voice acting isn't as evenly at the same high standard (But it is nice to FFXVI's Clive here, one of the better roles) that FFXII's was, overall I really think it really elevates the story or at least lets you buy into the whole 'This is in the same universe as FFXII' thing. The QOL is really good and will hopefully help a lot more people get into the game, not only is there an easier difficulty there's more on screen information for you to make informed decisions and there's basically no way to soft lock yourself now.
My issues are more that I wish I could play in Enhanced mode with Classic graphics and also still think the 'Classic' mode not actually having the PS1 script is a baffling choice that undermines the point of the mode being there in the first place, if I want to actually play the PS1 version I'll probably still have to go to emulation. Also, maybe minor but I did kind of miss the WOTL PSP content in the end, I missed Luso and Balthier, I really missed Dark Knight on my Ramza, even so, it's another reason why this might be the 'best' version but it's not a definitive version sadly.
That said, pretty easy GOTY for me, the base game alone is good enough and having it on the Switch 2 feels pretty special.
Credits rolled on Outer Worlds 2. That was a fun time!
There's no New Game Plus, which is a little disappointing but given I'd hit the max level cap several missions before the point-of-no-return I don't know what I'd get out of it. If I was to replay it (which, honestly, I might) I'd probably focus a bit more on specific areas rather than the jack-of-all-skills approach I took this time—and probably be a bit more principled than trying to make peace at all costs.
Keeper
Odd little puzzle game / walking simulator from Double Fine in which you play… well, a sentient lighthouse. It's very pretty and has a lovely soundtrack, and that's probably enough for a lot of people, but it doesn't give you much reason to care about its world - a lot of it is quite abstract and even in the more grounded bits things happen randomly and with little underlying logic to them. Your only means of interacting with the world are shining your light at stuff, and sending a bird to interact with stuff, so you'll figure out every puzzle soon enough even if only by trial and error. So you walk forward, because there's nowhere else to go, and you solve puzzles, because there's nothing else to do, and then after a few hours it ends. It is pretty, though.
Ninja Gaiden Black 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baldur's Gate 3
Shadow Hearts
Atelier Sophie: the Alchemist of the Mysterious Book
Gunstar Heroes
Koudelka
The Punisher
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Doom: The Dark Ages
Shadow Hearts 2
Xenoblade X
Goldeneye
Death Stranding 2
Resident Evil 2
Donkey Kong Bananza
Shadow Hearts: From the New World
Metal Gear Solid Delta
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS)
Hollow Knight
Trails 1st
Resident Evil 2 (PS1)
Resident Evil 3 (PS1)
Silent Hill f
Ninja Gaiden 4
Resident Evil 4 (Remake)
Shinobi
Sakura Wars 2
I really liked the first game but this game improves on it in almost every single way, honestly besides the final boss it was just a joy to experience from the start to end, one of my favourite games I played this year. I really hope we get the third game, it's apparently the series peak and also I'm just going to really miss the Imperial Assault Troupe who feel like old friends at this point. This is still, rough description but, half Visual Novel and Half Strategy game set in a Japan where Taisho never left, I still wish the combat was a bit better but it never made me groan when it came up. Despite that, and that VN and Strategy games are nothing new, this still feels quite unique to me.
The fact that this game seems to have died with the PS4 'reboot' game is one thing, but like, where is the respect? Sonic Crossworlds gets Sonic, Joker from Persona and Spongebob Bloody Squarepants as guest characters, but we can't get Sakura Shinguji or a level set in the streets around the theatre of the game? Come on man. Sakura Wars 2 was a massive success on the Saturn as I hear it and Sakura is one of the coolest poster girls Sega has.
Done with Outer Worlds now, too. Really appreciate all the QoL improvements for the sequel, but that core of wandering round with your pals, fixing (or causing) problems for various flavours of zealous sociopath is rock solid.
I'm not as interested in another go at it as I am with the sequel, though—probably because my experiences in OW2 made me much more deliberate in my character choices so there's less of a sense of "should have done that differently".
I have, of course, immediately restarted the sequel with the intent of a heavily speech-focused build and a strong anti-corporate approach, so we'll set how that plays out.
