A year ends, and a new one begins. So many things happen and it’s easy to forget what happened recently, let’s then take a look back to imprint in memory what was seen during the year and regroup all the reviews in one place. I’ll first list all the elements of a category, then have a handful of titles for the more memorable ones. However because something is listed isn’t equivalent to a mark of quality, or a lack thereof if it’s not awarded a title. It’s worth seeing for yourself if something would feel interesting or not, I will add an excerpt to help giving an idea.
Of course this is a wholly subjective evaluation and might include elements from before the current year because I experienced these first this year. Before deliberating on how impactful each was, I will do honorable mentions of every element for even being part of what I had the chance to try. Well done on having been made! Creation is a difficult and often ungrateful endeavor, so this is the least I can give to appreciate this.
Games
List
Higurashi When They Cry Hou+ - They all have their merits even if I’m not a fan of all of it.
Teslagrad 2 - The experience was both expected and renewed.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Is a weak willed human worse than a monster killing by its nature? What about an upright person doing reprehensible acts, even justified? Who can you be in this desolate world…
Reus 2 - Symbiosis leads to prosperity. Evolution is inevitable but it doesn’t erase the past, it builds upon it. Embrace the change, let it shape the world and flourish.
Figment - It’s a cute and short game.
Figment 2: Creed Valley - Everything the first did, this one does better.
Universe For Sale - The biggest strength of this game is its strange and unique world.
Battle for Wesnoth - Worth the time to look at it, at least to see if you fall in love or not.
You Suck at Parking® - Complete Edition - As a singleplayer game, it was pretty fun.
Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode - Letting go of grief isn’t something easy, it might even be too comforting to leave. Yet an end doesn’t come without a journey, and there is no journey without an end. Until then, let’s continue it…
Jusant - A contemplative journey.
Ex Astris - Not something I thought I would experience, but the combat had pieces that once they click, feel great. Even though it’s on mobile, I was impressed by the world building. Wish it had been on PC though.
Shady Knight - Power alone isn’t enough, wielding mastery is a necessity to truly display that strength. Reaching that state is truly exhilarating, almost like a sense of omnipotence in the chaos.
The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales - Familiar with a touch of uniqueness.
SpellForce 3 Reforced - If the start needed adaptation, past that point I had more and more fun.
SpellForce 3 Soul Harvest - While not perfect, the package was again a pretty fun experience.
SpellForce 3 Fallen God - Surprisingly fresh and interesting for the formula.
The Invincible - I liked the themes it explored.
TUNIC - The feeling of wonder through discovery and understanding is one of the primary drives of humanity. The world is full of secrets to uncover, set out on the adventure, even with unclear instructions.
Titles
- After all these years
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Almost 9 years since I planned to play it, the end of a long saga started then. Having such a roadblock done, I can look forward to new horizons!
- Planetary evolution
- Reus 2 managed to morph the old game in such a fun way, keeping the same essence but changing unrefined aspects. I’m still playing it often, and looking forward to new content.
- Nostalgic renewal
- Battle for Wesnoth is one of those games I played a ton while I was younger, and revisiting it now is so damn fun. All the improvements, albeit slowly, have increasingly managed to surpass the nostalgic memories I had of playing it. Playing way too much of it, even though it’s not a new entry of this year.
- Eternal messiah
- Shady Knight’s gameplay is so powerful, so captivating, that it doesn’t need anything else. It’s raw unadulterated drive, in style! I ended up recording every stage clear…
- Childhood dream
- TUNIC is everything I would have dreamed for as a kid, and was still craving now. It shot right up in the pantheon of greatest games.
DLC
List
The Talos Principle 2 - Road to Elysium - Took me around 10h and some head scratching in some places, overall pretty solid and decently more difficult.
ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree - Some of my favorite fromsoft bosses in there.
Blasphemous 2 - Mea Culpa - Though things weren’t perfect and some minor things were annoying, I still had good fun.
Titles
- Gameception
- ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree was just like playing the game anew, and the size of a normal game. Learning to dominate the combat was a delight as always.
Minecraft
List
Isle Oblivion - Well done, it’s impressive this was done in only 2 weeks. review
Quickfire 23: Jinglebell Jamfire - Incredible! A great new way of playing CTM maps is born. review
Evergrowth - Fantastic map well worth the effort searching for the many secrets, incredible job! review
Rebirth Mob Arena 2 - Some parts lacked polish, and that’s pretty much the only big criticism I could find for the map. Really fun time and some banger tracks! review
Mapwreck 6 - Sunset to Sentience - What a map… many experimental things in this one, some good, some less, a lot of overuse.
The Blood Donjon - A really fun little map to snack on. review
Froglight Frenzy - I won’t lie and say I enjoyed it, I did find the first area interesting. Well done on making your first map, it’s a difficult process. review
Darkness Crusade - It was an interesting lateral progression map, the items being unbreakable helped focusing on the combat gameplay. review
The Nightshade - Had a pretty fun time! review
Patchwreck 2 - Overall quite cohesive and honestly enjoyable to play. Great work all around! review
Told her I needed to go to the bank - It was fun going around searching for new places where a wool would be hidden. review
3DM: Lights of Darkness - Overall it was a nice map, even if the end made me wish I could skip it somehow. review
Ragecraft 4: Underworld - It’s hard to describe from the present the impact it will have in future times, but after discussing a lot about how the map came into fruition and experiencing the final result it is clear it deserves to be called a turning point in CTM history, just as its predecessor was. I had an incredible time, and so will many others.
Duality’s Rebalance - Interesting first map, the theme of the jam was fairly integrated. review
Mapwreck 7 - Subterranean - While the process is still kinda cursed, the end result is becoming more and more enjoyable and a way to see a good variety of every mapmaker’s style. Thanks for hiding the names till the end.
Flowering Heavens - A happy colored adventure, it was a joy to progress with the layout variations and twisty path. review
Deadly Ventures 3 - The Blackened Realm - It’s interesting to see the evolution progressing. review
Lumina Complex - I loved almost every minute of play, aside the inevitable beta shenanigans. I say “Yes” to this, and the many unorthodox maps. And you, can you find everything? review
A city in flames - Anyway, off with the tangent, this map is fun, fast, and furious. Great. review
The Trickster’s Fief - A decently long jam map, it kept surprising me. review
Ignite - An intense map for the new version, it definitely should be labeled hard and not medium. Was a (wind) blast to play. review
Stranded - In my very subjective opinion, this map is one of the best I ever played, and par for the course the best of this year. Which is a tall order considering some incredible ones that came out then.
Clock Strikes Midnight - It’s a crazy and fun map. Made me figure out I’d love Hotline Miami. The madlad actually remade the full gameplay into a different game. review
Titles
- Don’t break, push on
- Evergrowth really started the year incredibly hard. The quality was so on point, it felt like an entire other game. The puzzles were also pretty tricky, fun, and inventive. Glad to see this section of Obsolescence was made into a full map!
- Rise like a phoenix
- Ragecraft 4: Underworld was highly anticipated after the mythic trilogy long ago. Probably the strongest comeback of a dormant series I’ve seen. Technically and visually impressive, it’s almost spotless.
- One shield to rule them all
- Lumina Complex was a pleasure to test, and another technically impressive map changing how you play the game. The way it creatively used the same item for your many abilities felt fresh.
- We are number one
- Stranded just blew me away. Swarmofbears took everything good from Sun Guardian, and made an absolute banger of a sequel. I am absolutely honored I got to contribute to it, even with all the goofy comedy. 2 maps and 2 yearly titles, well done sir.
- I’ll be back
- Clock Strikes Midnight is the last one I played, and yet it again managed to completely shift the gameplay around, now it’s a bona fide action game! The mix of puzzle and badass was on point. I loved testing it.
Wrapping Up
I didn’t play as many games this year, but I managed to complete some gigantic ones! Halfway I also started doing a monthly game from Humble Choice and kept up so far. I got pretty busy in some periods with projects and work, but I’m also clearing up some things for the future. I’m already considering the big titles I want to do next year, we’ll see how it goes!
I added the DLC category because there were multiple sizeable DLC I played and they don’t really count as a game entry, meanwhile I merged the Minecraft category because I just didn’t have time for a modpack, sadness, hopefully next year. In the last handful of CTM I played, almost all were incredible and funny enough I was lucky enough to test them, maybe this is what being at the peak feels like… Next year will be unrecognizable.
More promising things to come, see you soon!