Steam Replay is out, so what game did you have the most fun experiencing this year?
No love for Against the Storm? Technically it released 8th of December last year, but that’s not enough time for it to be able to get GotY for 2023, so it’s got to fit in here. (also I only played it after new years)
Other than that Balatro has got to be a strong contender for me. PoE2 is looking more and more likely to take it home next year for me.
Helldivers 2. Enjoyed the first one. Although I was skeptical of the third person view they proposed for the second one because the game can be so chaotic, I am enjoying the second one even more.
According to Steam, I spent most hours this year playing Book of Hours. (The word “Hours” is in the name of the game, so what choice did I have?) It is an amazing game, and I recommend it to anyone who likes cozy games with lots of lore to explore.
However, there is one game that I must confess I had even more fun with, even though it’s relatively short: The Pristine Cut of Slay the Princess.
I can’t really say much about it other than that it’s a horror visual novel with excellent voice acting and incredibly good writing, as almost any detail of the game’s story would be a spoiler.(Edit: I know, both of those games released last year, but the question was about which Steam Replay and which games one had fun with this year - not about games that released this year.)
Balatro
Its not even a contest. The time I spent playing a rogue like poker is higher than most other games combined.
Send HELP!
just a new round buddy, you know you want it.
Same.
I’d been starting to get into it when the Android release dropped and then I was cooked. Now between Steam/Android I’ve always got a run going somewhere.
I also bought it twice to play it everywhere! The dev deserves the support!
If you realise the RNG is really ridiculous at higher difficulties than you can stop
Animal Well, UFO 50, and Balatro in that order.
Age of Mythology: Retold. By far. It only came out in September and already it’s my 7th most-played Steam game of all time.
It was never in contention for the goty, by frankly I’m disappointed that it didn’t win its own category at least, because it is just so good. It delivers so perfectly on what it promised. It’s a remake that feels like how your nostalgia remembers the OG game, adding in excellent modern polish and exciting gameplay while keeping the core of what made the 2002 game so great.
I think the game I’ve probably had the most fun with throughout the year and not including games I’ve recently gotten over the past month or two would have to be a 3 way tie between Balatro, Peglin, and Backpack Heroes. Balatro barely hangs on there, though, do to the boredom of playing it for long enough it’s starting to get a little boring.
Non-Steam was Turtle WoW with the hardcore mode.
Steam was Path of Exile 2 and 1.
Haven’t really found anything particularly interesting from this year, so I’ve been playing mostly older games: my favorites were probably Trails from Zero/Azure and Chrono Trigger.
Some games I’m mixed on were Final Fantasy XIV and Metaphor ReFantazio. Both of them have parts I really enjoy, but also feel like they never reach the heights they could, both in gameplay and writing.
Ys X Nordics
Disco Elysium
I know it did not release this yer, but I got to it now, so it is GOTY for me.
I also finally completed the full story finally this year. I had always gone about 3 days in and started over trying completely different options lol
I got hooked, but I was like “what if I chose this option now?” all the time. So I started completely different character right after I finished. Got couple hours in, but… 1) it’s too fresh experience and I should probably give it a bit more time and 2) I wanted the new character to be this fascist, racist, egoist, alcohol and drug abuser, but damn. It’s so tough to play against some basic human principles.
I’m re-playing it right now, and it’s great.
I’ve played many different RPGs during my life, but Disco really is like nothing I’ve played before. Maybe, just maybe a little like Planescape Torment, but other than that? Nothing comes to mind. Which is unbelievable in this age, where most developers play it safe with basically sequels of successful games and new ones you barely can tell apart…
While Disco Elysium is like no other CRPOG I’ve played, I have to disagree with your other point, because Indies exist with tons of innovative stuff in there.
True, but majority of non-entirely-indie devs do exactly what I said. Sadly some indie too.
Balatro, absolutely. Now that it’s on mobile, work will never get 100% out of me again.
For me it’s #2 , wish it won GOTY this year - love the music and game play , when I saw a pixel game was in the running I knew it would be amazing and full of heart and soul , no shiny graphics to hide behind 💕
Nine Sols. Really underrated metroidvania that flew under the radar for many people.
I saw it was classified as a souls-like. Did you find the combat to be hard?
It’s a fairly difficult game, yeah. The combat is more akin to Sekiro where you need to time your blocks.
UFO 50 without a doubt. Most creative bang for your buck that’s ever been released imo
Absolutely agree with this. The product could have had fewer games and each game could have been much more shallow and it still would have been “good”. But there’s honestly a ton of bangers in this collection and the variety and creativity is astounding.
Deadlock
It brought me a new multi-player experience, something to share with friends, and it is super fun. I also don’t get toxicity out of it.
Deadlock is nice, but the toxicity is the same as in every moba like teamgame, therefore I stopped playing it because I felt the time I spent playing were not enjoyable to me. Its sad because the game is so promising and delivers Valve typical polish which rivals triple AAA garbage.
I think that the fact I keep voice audio muted helps me not to get to much toxicity D:
But then your coordination will be lacking.
I tried it when I first got an invite to it. Invited as many friends as I could. I think we ran with it for a few days and just couldnt stick with it. I personally couldnt tell what I was supposed to be doing, or if I was even helping or just being a weight to my team?
I had to watch a few videos to understand what I was suppose to do. Really didn’t get it at the start. But I think they also improved the interface and such.
