Your year in gaming

[Arqwart]

Spoiler: Leaving this wall of text in a spoiler box to save space in the thread

Beginning of the year was the tail end of playing Dead by Daylight after picking it up last October. Need to get back into it now that MFT got kneecapped so Hag isn't an F- tier killer anymore.

This was the year of the Survivors genre for me. Still need to get around to trying Brotato. Super excited to see what the new update early next year in Death Must Die brings as I LOVE the game.

• Vampire Survivors
• 20 Minutes Till Dawn
• Soulstone Survivors
• Death Must Die
• Halls of Torment

Talos Principle 2 came out and I need to get back to it as I've not made it super far. Absolutely adored the first. Second is much more of a mixed bag, though the scale and beauty of the world is phenomenal. Could absolutely use some harder puzzles as each area resets to basic difficulty with the newly introduced mechanic each time.

Lots and lots of MTG Commander on Tabletop Simulator with friends. Many a deck made on tappedout. Many a deck discontinued for being too cancerous. Still on the road to creating one deck in each color combo.

Goofy dumb shit with friends and partner. Have an absolute blast playing Lethal Company with people that commit to it being scary and silly. Got many a highlight clip of dumb shit with my friends.

• Plate Up
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Lethal Company

Dropped Guilty Gear Strive like a bad habit earlier in the year due to its absolute shit online connectivity and design. Fuck those stupid chibi tower rooms as a "ranked" system. Beyond absolute garbage. Finally some new fighting game releases with SF6 and MK1. Remembered very quickly the myriad reasons I dislike Street Fighter as a franchise, though Jamie is an absolute joy to play as a character. Disappointed a lot by the shallowness of content in MK1, but happy that the game is fundamentally fun and Kitana is actually fucking good this time around.

Back to Path of Exile after a burnout hiatus on it. Trials of the Ancestor was boring shlock as a league mechanic, but blasting maps was fun. New Affliction league is an absolute goldmine for currency and I'm the richest I've ever been in the game. Also finally made a build entirely on my own that's extremely successful which feels great.

Risk of Rain Returns is an absolute hoot.

Partner got us a Quest 2 for Christmas so this holiday season is Beat Saber season. Custom song downloads are all set up and ready to go so now just working to build up the song list. Godsend of part entertainment, part cardio for my sedentary ass.

Steam's highlights:

Overall a damn good year for games, especially the last 4 months since leaving my shit 55-60hr/week, giga stress job at the end of August. Still miffed Shadow of the Erdtree DLC hasn't come out yet as I've been holding off from getting back to Elden Ring until then. Here's to 2024 with Hades 2, Silksong (lol), Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Last Epoch full release, Death Must Die first content update, and whatever else comes.

 

[Gooberking]

Overall a damn good year for games, especially the last 4 months since leaving my shit 55-60hr/week, giga stress job at the end of August. Still miffed Shadow of the Erdtree DLC hasn't come out yet as I've been holding off from getting back to Elden Ring until then. Here's to 2024 with Hades 2, Silksong (lol), Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Last Epoch full release, Death Must Die first content update, and whatever else comes.

Like a no work situation? I bounced out of my job last April. Having the best run of time that I can remember having. Played games, learned to cook better, goofing around with Godot, got into a relationship with a former coworker that's been the best thing I've ever had. I took it a bit far though and now it's looking like I may not be able to get back in. Not sure if it's an "oops" or "oh well situation"

 

[Arqwart]

Like a no work situation? I bounced out of my job last April. Having the best run of time that I can remember having. Played games, learned to cook better, goofing around with Godot, got into a relationship with a former coworker that's been the best thing I've ever had. I took it a bit far though and now it's looking like I may not be able to get back in. Not sure if it's an "oops" or "oh well situation"

Yeah, no work. Glad to hear it's been working well for you too. In a similar boat of "have I been letting it ride too long," but whatever. We don't exist to be wage slaves day in, day out for all our lives. "Took time for personal health" is a perfectly valid response to any recruiter asking about a resume gap.

I had plenty saved up so have been coasting doing fuck all since quitting, though will be on the job hunt starting next week once the holidays are done. Considering my work stress was to the point I had a massive panic attack that I thought was a heart attack (EMTs called, EKG taken, and x-ray done just in case), quitting was absolutely for the better. Friendships are doing better, stress is all but gone, relationship is doing infinitely better (to the point of potential marriage talk), and I'm doing much better from a health perspective. All that helps a lot for games to be more enjoyable instead of raging at every turn or feeling too burned out to care to play anything. Can't imagine how stupidly angry MK1 would have been making me if I'd still been working when it released.

 

[Gooberking]

Yeah, no work. Glad to hear it's been working well for you too. In a similar boat of "have I been letting it ride too long," but whatever. We don't exist to be wage slaves day in, day out for all our lives. "Took time for personal health" is a perfectly valid response to any recruiter asking about a resume gap.

I had plenty saved up so have been coasting doing fuck all since quitting, though will be on the job hunt starting next week once the holidays are done. Considering my work stress was to the point I had a massive panic attack that I thought was a heart attack (EMTs called, EKG taken, and x-ray done just in case), quitting was absolutely for the better. Friendships are doing better, stress is all but gone, relationship is doing infinitely better (to the point of potential marriage talk), and I'm doing much better from a health perspective. All that helps a lot for games to be more enjoyable instead of raging at every turn or feeling too burned out to care to play anything. Can't imagine how stupidly angry MK1 would have been making me if I'd still been working when it released.

Sounds familiar. I'm kind of prone to frying though my situation wasn't that bad. I just saw the work environment/culture deteriorating while hitting my limit. We hit a stopping point and said I would enjoy the perk of being paid well enough to just go recharge, reset, and start over.
I wish us both luck on reentry

 

[Juxtapose]

Like a no work situation? I bounced out of my job last April. Having the best run of time that I can remember having. Played games, learned to cook better, goofing around with Godot, got into a relationship with a former coworker that's been the best thing I've ever had. I took it a bit far though and now it's looking like I may not be able to get back in. Not sure if it's an "oops" or "oh well situation"

Overall sounds like a very good, well needed rest for you.

A dear friend of mine once told me something that I've found to be true: In life, we're constantly juggling multiple balls, and on occasion, we will fumble and drop one. The thing is, all of the balls you're juggling (i.e. health, personal life, family, etc.) are made of glass. When you drop it, it breaks. You can piece it together again, but it'll never be the same.

The exception to this is the ball representing work/career. That one is made of rubber, and will always bounce back.


As I said, I've found this to be very true. We put far too much emphasis on work, especially in North American society. There is a period where you need to break your balls hard to establish yourself, earn that coin, and set yourself up financially, but once that's done, work should no longer be your top priority (though it still needs to be a priority as long as you require revenue).

 

[Gooberking]

Overall sounds like a very good, well needed rest for you.

A dear friend of mine once told me something that I've found to be true: In life, we're constantly juggling multiple balls, and on occasion, we will fumble and drop one. The thing is, all of the balls you're juggling (i.e. health, personal life, family, etc.) are made of glass. When you drop it, it breaks. You can piece it together again, but it'll never be the same.

The exception to this is the ball representing work/career. That one is made of rubber, and will always bounce back.


As I said, I've found this to be very true. We put far too much emphasis on work, especially in North American society. There is a period where you need to break your balls hard to establish yourself, earn that coin, and set yourself up financially, but once that's done, work should no longer be your top priority (though it still needs to be a priority as long as you require revenue).

It's tricky stuff. It's important not just for survival, but also important to "participate" in life and society on some level; which can mean a lot of different things. So often though, people can get into no win situations where they have to do whatever is asked of them, and there is rarely hesitation to see people as an expendable resource. You did it once, do it again and again. Can you push a little harder than the last time you pushed a little harder? You aren't like Peter, be more like Peter. "We need you to xyz" when "we" is probably not talking much about the people connected to a situation at all. I've been lucky/privileged enough over the last 10 years to make enough that I have been able to buy time off when needed or situations demanded (Covid layoffs, cough cough).

People can walk for just about forever and jog for awhile, but they can only run for a short while. A lot of people are being pushed to run all the time, which means they are kind of fake running after awhile which frustrates all sides. Then, some people are born runners, so that's cool for them I guess. I just hope nobody expects me to keep up with them. Getting too old for that.

Anyway, sometimes you just need to sit down and play some games.

 

[Juxtapose]

It's tricky stuff. It's important not just for survival, but also important to "participate" in life and society on some level; which can mean a lot of different things. So often though, people can get into no win situations where they have to do whatever is asked of them, and there is rarely hesitation to see people as an expendable resource. You did it once, do it again and again. Can you push a little harder than the last time you pushed a little harder? You aren't like Peter, be more like Peter. "We need you to xyz" when "we" is probably not talking much about the people connected to a situation at all. I've been lucky/privileged enough over the last 10 years to make enough that I have been able to buy time off when needed or situations demanded (Covid layoffs, cough cough).

People can walk for just about forever and jog for awhile, but they can only run for a short while. A lot of people are being pushed to run all the time, which means they are kind of fake running after awhile which frustrates all sides. Then, some people are born runners, so that's cool for them I guess. I just hope nobody expects me to keep up with them. Getting too old for that.

Anyway, sometimes you just need to sit down and play some games.

Absolutely is. Ignoring societal pressures is very important since they're oft flawed and lead us down paths that hinder as opposed to help us.

Generally though, you need to look at what you realistically want, investigate what you need to do to make it happen, and then do it. That last part usually being the hardest since it's often not a "quick fix."

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Resident Evil 4 Remake was easily my GOTY. I replayed Halo CE and OG RE4 like I do every year as well. Did another Elden Ring and Sekiro play-through. Finally got around to playing DMC 5 which kicks ass and Demons’ Souls Remake, which feels a lot more grounded in the old fantasy setting than games like Dark Souls 3 which has a ton of animae type weapons and moves. Fun seeing where one of my favorite series got started and was impressed with how well it holds up. It’s not as ball bustingly hard as its younger brothers but is still a challenge. Each boss has their own unique gimmick instead of being a roll spam fuck fest. Even if it’s not as fun on repeat playthroughs once you know the gimmick, it was a really fun game.

I know you said not necessarily top 5, but it’s how my brain works. For games that launched this year, here’s my ranking of the ones I played.
1 - RE4 Remake 10/10
2 - Dead Space Remake 8/10
3 - Jedi Survivor 7/10 (would be higher, but poor launch performance)
4 - MK1 - 6/10
5 - Spider-Man 2 - 6/10

Pretty disappointing year for gaming, but I had fun playing old favorites and trying more recent games like DMC 5 that I didn’t play at launch for whatever reason. Replaying or playing a fromsoft game is always fun too, but I really gotta be in the mood.