I don't think I actually finished 10 games from last year last year. I'm still playing catch up and waited on others to play on PS5 after the performance boosts.

What I did play though, here's what I've got in no particular order from what I remember:

Persona 5 Royal - (haven't finished it, but played original four times so and it's one of my favorite games of all time so...?)

Final Fantasy VII Remake - Exactly what I hoped for here; it's different enough to differentiate itself and stand out from the original while feeling almost completely different in key ways

Tony Hawk 1+2 HD - I didn't remember being so bad at these games, but I loved returning to them. Most of the time I played, I was just muttering "sorry Tony" everytime I fell off my board or botched a trick

Crash Bandicoot 4 - I knocked the game a bunch in my review, but I genuinely did enjoy it despite my harsh criticism. I give harsh words because I love the franchise, and there were really awesome levels here.

Last of Us Part II - Again I haven't finished this one. Coming from the area and playing a game where everyone dies from a pandemic and many of the survivors being super politically charged violent Nazi people suddenly made the game too real too soon.

Animal Crossing New Horizons - I didn't spend a lot of time with this one. I adore New Leaf, but the introduction of crafting really made it less fun for me, and too much micromanaging. I still love the characters and charm and all that, but just too much extra economy with materials I needed to keep track of.

Huntdown- I enjoyed this a ton with special thanks to Don. While there a little too many on the nose quotes pulled from movies and references, I love how the game plays and feels, especially the boss fights. As a perfectionist there was definitely that sense of needing to restart to learn the level the best way and get all the briefcases before going on, and so I'd restart a ton! But I loved it all, and love how each character plays a little different. If only it had online multiplayer I could play with my brothers.

Doom Eternal - Again, haven't finished it, but blasting demons in the face to metal music and the added strategy of having to kill guys in different ways to recover armor, health, ammo, etc, is exhilerating. I also love the more open levels with the map. It encourages a little bit of exploration, but not enough to get lost. So you can search for secrets that tie into upgrades for further levels if you want, or plow straight though.

Neversong - Another I reviewed. I really admire when developers of Flash games end up going on to make other things, and this one didn't disappoint. It's short enough to not be obtrusive, and could use a little more mechanically, but is always a fun time just to see where things go and talk to interesting characters.

Ikenfell - My most recent review. I really enjoyed this one, less because it's an awesome, retro-style RPG, and more because of what it represents and teaches about characters and inclusivity. This is a game that ends up being specifically about inclusion, even though the plot doesn't specifically address it in the ways you expect. The underlying themes can be extremely powerful.

Super Mario 3D All Stars - This is my first time playing through Mario 64, and I picked this up the night before the fuckery in the US went down. I was really thankful to have some Mario to fall back on. Sure the camera isn't always perfect, but the amount of joy I get from jumping and trying to do different challenges is just unparalleled in the genre. Whether it's 64, Sunshine or Galaxy, I say they're all a 10/10.

Gravity Falls

I just finished this up a few days ago. I know I'm a little late to the party, but man, this may become one of my favorite animated series ever. It started out as a show that made me laugh, and had charming and lovable characters that would always bring a smile to my face with their adventures. In the spirit of DuckTales (specifically the 2017 version owes a ton to this show and you should absolutely watch it if you haven't), every episode takes on a different separate adventure. But as things go on, things come together, and do so in a big way. You realize these aren't just silly characters; they have depth. Some have tragedy strike them at different times. Most everyone has had breadcrumbs being laid for them the entire show, and once the last quarter comes around, it clicks just how much growth you've seen between the characters and the location itself.

The location of Gravity Falls hits especially close to home having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, with plans to move back there very soon. The show's creator, Alex Hirsch really has a keen understanding of the feel of the area, with subtle things like local legends and the way small towns feel, to more in your face things like the tall trees and pancakes. There's so much love and understanding for the area and the people, kooky or no, that live there, as well as these characters. When it came time to say goodbye at the end of the last episode, I was legitimately choked up and crying. It's short lived, but it's supposed to be. Looking back you realize there were so many adventures you got to see these characters go on, but just like Summer Vacation as a kid, nothing lasts forever. But those memories of your adventures will. Gravity Falls is a reminder of the fleeting, beautiful, and touching ways that made being a kid all the more special as an adult when you look back. When you're in those moments, they feels like they'll will never end. When you've grown and you look back at all the times you laughed together with the people closest to you, and how fast it passed you by, they become even more special.

I immediately purchased the blu-ray set. This sucker's going in my permanent collection.

10/10

Last of Us HBO series gets a new director.

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-last-of-us-hbo-tv-series-gets-a-new-director

I’m a little bummed that Johan Renck didn’t get it because of how much I loved his work on Chernobyl, but I’ve heard Beanpole is good even if the directing style feels decidedly different compared to what Renck did.

I love Tim Rogers, but I wasn't aware of Action Button. Has he stopped writing for Kotaku for another group?

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Yasunori Mitsuda gets me every time. This was actually the track that made me go out and buy the game (which is a common practice I'm less proud of). It sort of reminds me of Hisaishi's Ghibli tracks

I've been listening to some Final Fantasy stuff in the background while I do things around the house, and there are certain ones that just hit really close to home. I don't know if it's my relation to them as a kid, or how their stories and characters make me feel, but certain songs just bring that misty-eyed feel that is hard to articulate and describe.

Many of the Final Fantasy VII and IX tracks do this for me, especially the overworld themes. Chrono Cross also has some excellent tracks that give me pause.

They bring back a simpler time to me, in a sense. And when they play, it brings back a flood of these positive feelings; going on adventures in fantasy worlds without the constraints that come alongside them nowadays like review scores or income. So for a second, I'm allowed to return to that time, and just live for the adventure again.

What songs do this for you, and give you that guarded place of safety, happiness and comfort?

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We could promote it on the Discord. Was that successful the last time we voted?

@bard91 To each their own! I was recently playing Remake and found myself missing the blocky graphics, prerendered backgrounds and the ATB combat system from the original (not to say Remake doesn't rock in those and other ways), but growing up, those sorts of games have always been my jam. I adore turn based battles and retro PS1 aesthetics and sounds. It's sort of like pixel art to me, where there's just a different era of retro that has a different appeal to it.

All that being said though, I agree about the story. I like individual beats with characters, but the overall plot just never clicked or made sense in the same way 6 blows it out of the park. That one has character stories and a full plot to boot.

I know it's a controversial opinion, but I really just don't like Final Fantasy XII very much. I try to get into it very couple of years (most recently about a week ago), and I just wish everything was better. I wish Vaan was a more compelling character. I wish combat was more fun. I wish the plot was better explained so I don't feel like an idiot for not knowing what's going on.

I know someone will feel the opposite on all those points, and feel combat is exceptional and freeing, and the plot is deep and makes you look closely at politics. But I just don't share in the sentiment. I just really want to love it as a Final Fantasy fan.

I think pretty much any boss fight that lasts for an hour and still has an attack that happens in the last half that will off your whole party in one hit. There was once or twice in Persona 5 where this happened to me and I had to just take a break in between.

I got to the last boss fight in Final Fantasy X and legitimately couldn’t beat the game. I was too low level and an initial sword attack killed everyone at once. I tried that one for a while too with different strategies and light last room grinding. The real kicker there was the one hit kill was after an unskippable ten minute cutscene. And I had to watch it every time I restarted. Double decker of things I just point two middle fingers at.