What PlayStation games are you playing ?

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Which reminds me I still have Bloodborne in the backlog. Will tackle that next year as I've only heard great things. I hope it's not too scary as I've heard it has a horror elements and I hate horror games.

What's this, Greenie? Assassin Christmas. 😉 I too have also completed the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey - Crossover Stories DLC, bringing my tally to 77.

In fact, I reinstalled Odyssey solely for the two-part crossover but I’m probably gonna reinstall it again at some point because this game is badass, oh my god. Ubisoft made me nostalgic for a title released merely three years ago!  Especially because, despite this new story taking place six months after the events in the Atlantis DLC, there's constant cheeky references to the main events in the base game, such as these little riddle side missions that lead you on treasure hunts.

I won’t spoil the premise but let’s just say it does an excellent job of setting Kassandra on her new path while making me excited for any future crossovers.  It was lovely catching up with Kass; she’s the best main character since Ezio (thoughts and prayers to those who played as  Alexios 😆) I do wish your choices at the end of the main game factored into this DLC à la Blood and Wine for the Witcher 3 where either Yen, Ciri etc pay Geralt a visit, but that would require Ubisoft actually making, you know, an effort.

Anyway, Greece is still pretty to move around in and those playing on PS5 (and Series X) will receive a nice 60 fps boost which nearly always improves how games look IMO. I was glad to see the map is still respectful of your time when it comes to exploring it in that you can still find a quest item before you’ve even met the quest giver. Similarly,  if you’re on a quest and accidentally stumble upon a later step it will instantly update, much like a Bethesda game. This seems like a given seeing as this is an RPG but the reason I highlight this will become clear in a later post…

I thought re-learning the controls would take some rewiring but it was like riding a bike. Kassandra is just so fluid and responsive; it was like a breath of fresh air again after the sluggishness of Eivor. Also, despite my reservations about the spear abilities acting as a substitute for, well, skill it was such a relief to have a functional stealth system again. In fact, no spoilers, but those who are spear dependent are going to really struggle in the third act of this…Thankfully, my build is not reliant on spear abilities and I can one-shot enemies whether in stealth or open combat.  If anything, this late game development put to bed complaints that it’s not possible to assassinate every NPC in this game because I was able to do it with my assassination damage nerfed. However, for those who still insist it isn’t possible, this DLC introduces a weapon where assassinations are always guaranteed but at the cost of 75% of your health, essentially punishing players who refuse to make a good build by capping health at 25%.   A true Assassin doesn’t need health, after all…

And on that note, no, Odyssey is not an Assassin’s Creed game but it's a damn good one, and as "gameplay first" person that's the most important thing to me. I’ve gushed about it multiple times on these forums so this is a no-brainer: if you liked the base game (why wouldn’t you?) reinstall it and play this DLC today. It brings great closure to one of the best characters in the AC universe while serving as a reminder of just how fun the combat and progression systems are. I even made it as far as Megaris on new game plus before I had to force myself to uninstall it to finish off the backlog lol. Oh, and no new trophies for this DLC, thank goodness, as I got 100% ages ago.

Got bored over Christmas and made a little tier list of all the games I completed/played significantly last year.

Now that the recency bias has settled I feel confident in recapping my personal gaming experience in 2021. This list doesn't include replays/games played in previous years; only new ones.

Pleasant surprise:

Astro's Playroom was an absolutely delight from start to finish. At one point it was my GOTY but was somehow surpassed by an even more fantastic game. As well as being nostalgic it was so well made for a mere tech demo. It could have easily just been a bunch of cringe references telling us how great Playstation is but somehow the devs found a way to make those references work within the context of a genuinely lovely platformer that also showcased the best of the new controller. The music was great too - if you know you know lol. Such a wonderful welcome to the PS5.

Honourable mention:

Life is Strange: True Colours. The first one is in my top 3 games of all time and this one is definitely the most polished and well directed in the series. I could tell it was going to be great from the opening title music - instantly felt like I was back in the world of Life is Strange. Episode 3 had me smiling from ear to ear. Square Enix has taken a lot of Ls lately but every now and then they score some Ws when they let their developers, in this case Deck Nine, do what they want . Credit where credit is due.

Best game RELEASED this year:

I battled back and forth between this game and True Colours but ultimately went with Deathloop. Just an absolute joy. Everything I love about Arkane in one game. A very vocal but loud minority were predictably down on it before it was even released and it's obvious why but, hey, haters gonna hate. Arkane is the one to watch. They're so passionate about their craft and they seem incapable of making a bad game. Can't wait for Redfall.

But my Game of the Year is...

Subnautica/Subnautica Below Zero. I knew I would like Subnautica because a friend of mine was telling me how he was enjoying it on his X Box but I was not prepared for this to become one of my favourite games of all time. It's everything that's great about video games. I can't wait to see what this developer does going forward.

And now for my sh*t list:

Most disappointing game:

Late Shift. I was really rooting for Late Shift as I enjoyed Erica, and FMVG is a genre I'm quickly becoming fond of but this was just...OK I guess. The premise is inherently problematic with a major flaw that once you realise as early as I did completely lessens the impact of the rest of the story, resulting in me just not caring. Without spoilers, sometimes the best choice... is not giving the player a choice.

So bad it's good:

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I've never liked GTA (well apart from 4 and 5) and for years I took a beating for it because I was obviously in the minority. I decided to dig out the PS4 re-release after hearing people's thoughts on the definitive edition. It's so hilariously bad that at times, when I think no one is looking, I kind of it enjoy it. Every mission has me grinning at how R* mess them up with the terrible shooting, driving and camera. It's exactly how I remember except now, with the definitive edition release, more people are seeing it for what it is and I love it. And there are so many design oversights that you can actually cheese many of the missions by using its own stupidity against it. 🤣

The absolute worst:

Only one could have won this. Only one I completed this year that leaves me seething with rage even just thinking about it. Days f*cking Gone, except not enough days have gone since uninstalling this monstrosity from my console. Horrible, horrible, horrible, wretched, nasty little game with a blatant resentment towards its audience and I hate it right back. Unrewarding, poorly paced, too long, asinine, ridiculous, shallow, forced, generic, trying-too-hard, incompetent, Last of Us wannabe, Ubisoft wannabe, Red Dead wannabe etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. A bad AAA (heh) action adventure open world game, a bad survival game, a bad story driven game somehow all at the same time, the game's one good feature comes too late and if you try to engage with that feature before you're supposed to the map won't count it which is an absolute disrespect of the player's time. The story is meh, the acting is meh, the characters are bad, the enemies are worse, the open world is bland, the missions are boring, the mechanics are janky and how dare you, Sony Bend, make me fast travel TWICE with a ridiculous fuel meter that constantly needs babysitting, the lore is under-baked, the dialogue is overcooked AND funny enough, it was Anthem that kind of ruined Days Gone for me because I made the mistake of playing it at the same time and thus being reminded of what fun actually felt like. Anyway, breathing now so I'll end it with this - there's a video from a hilarious Youtuber that beautifully summed up the stupidity of Days Gone when he noted that you can't fast travel with your bike until you've cleared a nest but when you reach the nest you can ride your bike through it proving that you can, in fact, fast travel. Unforgivable. I wish I could go back in time and not play Days Gone but the trauma is a part of me now. Sony Bend is the worst developer in the world. That's all.

To an amazing 2022! 👀