I'm back for GOTY 2023, but before i do that, a year was missed. I am aware no one will ever read this, yet it is here for prosperity.
First of all, I've really gone off this Play station style third person action game style that has become so popular. I didn't enjoy God of War Ragnarok despite the previous entry being my GOTY winner in 2018, as a result I couldn't even bring myself to get half way through, the story was unbearably boring and the gameplay was okay, at best (when there was any). I think I encountered this first with the last of us part 2, but was most cemented by Ghosts of Tsushima, I barely got through a few a couple of hours. That said, I did enjoy Horizon zero Dawn, hardly the best game ever, but a fun story and plenty of fun side quests (some bad ones too though).
This was a year of gamepass for me, which I picked up to play the soon to be mentioned Nobody saved the world, I got 3 months and milked it hard. I only had an Xbox one then (upgraded now, low finances be damned), so largely played this on my laptop, which I finally own one that I can play a game made after around 2005 on, but it must be said I never play games on PC, apart from FM of course. Anyway, Onwards
TMNT Shredders Revenge
Ever since Foul Play I have found a new love for brawlers that I never really had before, despite remembering playing the likes of streets of rage, goldenaxe and most appropriately Hyperstone heist, I think just to be part of the zeitgeist (a word I can't even spell now, let alone knew what it meant when I was 6). Having gone back to some of these fairly recently it is clear the genre has moved on, the likes of this game, River City girls and Mother Russia bleads wipe the floor with the so called 'classics'.
On to this, sure, I watched the Turtles cartoon as a kid and saw the 3 movies, but was never a big fan, but as soon as the trailer dropped with Mike Patton of all people performing the classic theme tune along with some lovely animation I was in. Then I played it, and it lived up to the hype, I even finished it twice (once solo, once co op), something I rarely ever do, at least not without a 10 year gap between the 2 playthroughs. It plays like a fantastic modern brawler, looks great, fantastic music and is just all round fun to play.
Nobody saves the World
I love the Quacamele's, so what were Drink box doing making some top down twin stick shooter/ slasher. Well, they made the right call (let's just ignore that random Vita game I don't care about). Between multiple character's ability to swap and skills to match up, much of the fun of the game is figuring out what the best team is and what powers to use. It can be tough at the start but when you finally figure this out, the power is all yours to dominate.
The world is really fun, the RPG elements like levelling are done well (for once) and the story is cool. Twin stick games like this were something I was never really in to as a kid, but another I've had my mind changed on by many games, initially by Assault Android Cactus, and many more since and this game is by far the best one I've ever played.
Tinykin
A simple 3D platformer clearly made for kids with a nothing story, but with a great map to explore. You're a tiny alien guy who lands in a house on Earth and must make your way around the large (from your characters' perspective) rooms to fix your ship, kinda like Toejam and Earl.
This game is very simple but figuring the way around maps with the help of the Tinykin that give you the abilities to get around is just a fun, if simple problem to figure out on each level.
High on Life
Remember when Rick and Morty was good? That was a while ago now, certainly before pickle Rick (rolls eyes), This game hits with it's comedy much better than the recent seasons of this show and again the levels are fun to explore (this is getting to be a theme) and the plot is fun. Hey, they even put a really weird 90's Denise Richards film in it that you can watch all the way through. Voice acting is great too, and hey, JB Smoove is in it as a gun, and who doesn't love Leon. Shame he plays the worst gun that I rarely used. Oh well.
As for the actual gameplay, it is very simple. This game turned out to be the first game I had dusted off my Xbox One for in a few years and I'll tell you what, loading times are shocking, were they always like that? I remember going back and playing Portal a couple of years ago (maybe the previous time to this the Xbone was used) and the loading times shocked me then, but didn't seem this bad, and that was a 360 game! This is my fault for not having a series X then, a problem that has since been solved. Anyway, a fun if flawed game.
And the winner is, NOBODY SAVES THE WORLD. A real breath of fresh air for me.
Got this out quick to jump on to the actual last year, 2023, so check back in soon (maybe (probably not)).
