What have been your favorite games this year?

[XoPachi]

Apparently they patched out the stunlocking issue after player complaints. Among other criticisms.

[ryu]

Apparently they patched out the stunlocking issue after player complaints. Among other criticisms.

Is that even possible without noticeably altering the game?

[XoPachi]

Is that even possible without noticeably altering the game?

I don't have the game so I wouldn't know what they did for certain. But I imagine it's as simple as giving the player more i-frames during certain recovery animations.

[To Far Away Times]

I feel like gauging this genre purely on how punishing it is in combat is missing much of the point of the design for these games. The most revered search action titles are not difficult by any means from a survival perspective. And if they are, that's almost never why they're lauded.
It might be important for some, but I think how these games decide to craft the interconnectivity of their world design and pace their tool upgrade centric progression is the driving force of their success. You couldn't ask for an easier search action title than SotN but it's half of what spearheaded the sub genre's moniker. Super Metroid is generally still seen as the peak of it, if not, at least top 3 and that game is similarly piss easy.

If the exploration succeeds in being engaging and fun, that right there is mission accomplished. That's the primary objective of the genre. You don't really need to brutalize players to achieve that.

Well said. Part of the fun is the power trip at the end, and the anticipation leading up to it.

[ryu]

I agree with the above sentiments. My main complaint with Blasphemous was that travelling around the map was a chore sometimes because of the game's high difficulty. Wouldn't have been much of an issue in a linear action platformer though.

[Marc]

So far, in the relatively new category, Deathloop by a mile.
More folk should play it.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Super Mega Baseball 4 is by far my most played game this year. Nice game to kick back with after a miserable day at work.