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.

Rabbit and Steel

I haven’t had a chance to properly play it in coop, but I tried Rabbit and Steel and it is really fun.

I’ve replayed Metro 2033 after ~8 years, this time the Redux version. It felt much less atmospheric than what I remembered and a bit too easy (I think I never ran out of ammo and in the end I had around 300 extra military bullets.

I found a used copy of Bravely Default and I’ve been playing that, along with FFXIV where I was planning on starting endwalker but got distracted leveling crafters.

More puzzle platformer with progression in the form of abilities you unlock.

For why I don’t think it’s a metroidvania, it’s because there’s no backtracking when you get a new ability (except for small optional stuff), you start from the center and go to each area in order and the areas themselves are mostly linear.

I played Ori and the Blind Forest which I enjoyed, although I was expecting a metroidvania. The platforming was quite fun and challenging enough and the art looked great.

I played a bit of Moonring, which seems really good, but I’m probably not used to the genre and found it a bit too confusing to continue.

I briefly played Marvel Rivals with a friend, I had fun with it in these first few hours, but I haven’t played hero shooters before so it’s early for me to judge. I’m a bit surprised there’s no restrictions on roles in a party, as most matches seem to have 1 tank and 4 dps and as a healer I can’t figure out how to keep everyone alive alone. Hopefully ranked is more balanced.

Also started playing DnD (5e) with friends. First time, seems fun. I’m playing artificer, planning on specializing to alchemist at lvl 3.

I’ve been continuing Etrian Odyssey, but I’ve gotten a bit stuck on a floor so I’m taking a short break.

With the current Steam sale I got Core Keeper and Blue Revolver, both of which I’m enjoying (although I’ve been mostly playing Core Keeper).

Meanwhile I’ve been playing Balatro, but already gotten a bit bored - I’m not really a fan of how roguelikes are structured.

I’ve also bought a bunch of games during this sale (and have others from the previous one I still haven’t played) which I would like to get to.

I don’t think it’s comparable to those examples as it affects the pacing of the story, instead of being just an abstraction of a system.

In my case it has damaged (and in some cases ruined) my experience of the story or made me skip side content, as I can’t ignore it.

I’ve been mostly playing Etrian Odyssey, I’m at the 4th stratum.

I’ve also played a bit of Balatro which is really fun, but I’ve played too little to tell if it suffers from the usual issues I have with roguelikes (mainly the difficulty curve in a run).

I’m still playing Triangle Strategy and played a bit of Granblue Fantasy Vs Rising, but I’m on pad as I didn’t have my hitbox with me so I’m trying to relearn the controls.

I’ve been also playing a bit of Genshin Impact and while I don’t like the monetization and think it hurts the game even if you don’t interact with it, it’s still enjoyable to play and the exploration is quite relaxing.

I’ve also been playing Etrian Odyssey which I had put on hold for a few months because I had gotten stuck on a certain floor, but now I figured out where to go. I am really enjoying it, it does feel a bit old, but it probably enhances how hostile the dungeon feels.

I’ve finished Metaphor and it was really good, although I expected a bit more from the story, the ending felt a bit rushed.

I’ve started Triangle Strategy and while I’m enjoying it, the xp/difficulty curve feels really weird, as the battles feel too hard as soon as I reach them, but failing them once I level up enough to reach the recommended level and pass them.

I’m curious, if you consider them average, what game has good or great side quests ?

Probably average wasn’t the right word, as I don’t really think sidequests are generally good storywise in games. I wanted to say “mediocre” but thought that sounded negative. I meant that I didn’t find anything special in them, neither bad nor good.

But for examples of games with sidequests I think are good (storywise), I can think of only The Witcher 1 and 2 and Yakuza 0 (all of which I haven’t played in a while so I might only remember the good parts).

I played it both at launch and a year ago with the DLC. It’s alright - 6/10, but pre patches like 4/10.

The gameplay is fun because of how customizable your build is now, after the skill system was completely reworked.

The story is shallow, the characters forgettable and the open world really doesn’t fit the urgency the story is supposed to have and ruins the pacing. The DLC is much better, but there’s some parts where I don’t really like how V is written, especially at the start, since it forces a specific personality I don’t think fits them.

I remember the sidequests being generally entertaining, but I wouldn’t call any of them special, just kinda average.

It feels a lot like a Far Cry game, but with much better build customization.

I think I’m close to finishing Metaphor. I have a few sidequests left before what I think is going to be the final dungeon/sequence. It’s been great, and I only have very small complaints about things that don’t really matter.

Still playing Metaphor, I’m really enjoying it. I think I’m around halfway through. The story is going in an interesting direction, and the gameplay is still fun, altho I’m always feeling a bit underleveled.

Same. I generally like exploration but it didn’t feel rewarding in NMS.

Metaphor! I’m at the third town and loving every part of it.

I’m kinda struggling with the difficulty on hard, so I might turn it down a bit, as the resources feel a little too strict and stressful, but it also makes finishing a dungeon more satisfying.

For some reason I struggle finishing the games (VII, X, XII, XIII), but I’m always drawn to them, as I find the worlds and designs rather appealing.

I also really like how they experiment with different mechanics from one game to another and always try something new.

I did finish XV, VIIR and XIV (excluding Endwalker and Dawntrail) and liked them a lot, with Shadowbringers as my favorite out of them.

I’m playing Metaphor ReFantazio. I’ve played the first 15 hours and it seems really good.

It feels a lot like fantasy persona with smt combat (which is good because I always felt like turn press was more fun than one more). The new job system is interesting, and fights are challenging enough (on hard).

Story and setting started off strong, so I’m curious to see how it goes.

Not much this week. I got bored of HZD, as after a pretty good start, it turned into a generic open world, which I really don’t like.

Now I’m playing Ys Memories of Celceta, but I’m mostly waiting for Metaphor to release on Friday.

Its in my wishlist! I’m waiting for it to release tho, I don’t really like playing early access games and risk getting tired of them before release.