Top 8 Games of the Year
1.) Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Ori is just so dam phenomenal. The soundtrack, the art style, the gameplay, just pretty much everything. The bosses having rubberbanding was kinda cheap for some of them, but overall was still an amazing experience! Went through and beat it mutiple times, but I still have to beat my Hard mode run. (9.5/10)
2.) Cyberpunk 2077 - Even with the bugs, this game is a game like no other. There’s not a single gaming world that can come close to it for me. The story was amazing and the characters in it are so dam memorable. I finally beat this last night clocking in 45+ hours and I love the game so dam much. When it gets the next-gen patch, I fully intend on doing another playthrough. (9/10) [Would probly be a 9.5 if they could fix the bugs and make some QoL improvements for the inventory stuff.]
3.) Yakuza: Like a Dragon - I’ve always liked the Yakuza games but was still surprised just how dam good this game was. Going turn-based was the best decision they could’ve made. The side quests are still whacky, the mini games are still fun, and the classes to choose from were all pretty great. The story really surprised me as well. Got 50+ hours in the game and loved every second of it! (9/10)
4.) Nexomon Extinction - I had no clue about this game until the day it came out. It’s like Pokemon, but better and I cannot wait for the sequel. Easily the surprise hit of the year for me, since I had never even heard of it. I even made a thread for it and was very happy to get some extra sales for it from here. Thanks again to the ppl who took interest and bought it. I hope that means we get the next one on Xbox again 
! (9/10)
5.) Fuser - I love Harmonix. Dam near everything they do is just genius when it comes to music games. I miss the old Rock Band days and we’ll probly never get them back, but this Fuser game lets you be a DJ and mix songs so easily. I’ve had a blast making some great sounding stuff and it’s fun take turns with friends to see what they make. Sadly you can’t record anything you do cuz Captures are blocked 
. The campaign was pretty pointless, but you have to play it to get songs and instruments/fx unlocked. (7.5/10) [Campaign is just really bad, and lack of Capture feature really knocked it down for me, but the gameplay is so dam fun I have to put it up higher on my list.]
6.) Tetris Effect: Connected - I’ve always loved Tetris and this is easily the best version ever made. The soundtrack in it blew me away and I love how it tied in with the movements of your pieces. Tetris is just so dam good! Sadly, I can’t play it for long but I still will always love it, lol. (9/10)
7.) Spiritfarer - I knew I was gonna like this game the moment I saw it. I never did finish it, but I probly got 3/4 of the way through. Great artstyle and just a peaceful relaxing game, with a unique topic not really covered in most games. Very enjoyable experience, but kinda starts to be a slog towards the end. (8.5/10)
8.) Immortals: Fenyx Rising - I was surprised just how much I enjoyed it. It’s BotW meets Assassin’s Creed and takes the annoyances out of both games, and kinda makes them better. Great combat, and the islands are “small” enough to where I don’t feel overwhelmed with stuff to do like I do in AC games. I never got into BotW. I think I got about 10-15 hours in before I just couldn’t keep playing it. Far too many annoyances in that game for me, but Immortals was pretty much the best of both worlds. Story was fine, and you see the “twist” coming from a mile away, but the gameplay was great. I beat it in around 30 hours and it kinda started to slog towards the end, but still worth playing for sure! (8/10)
Best Ongoing Game: PSO2 - God I was sooo happy when this got released. I cannot wait for New Genesis to keep it going. I got about 70+ hours in the game and I don’t do that with hardly any game. Easily the best MMO to sink time into. Some annoyances since it’s F2P, but if you’re willing to pay the Premium Tier, it’s a very enjoyable game. (8.5/10)
Best Publisher: Xbox Game Studios - Even though they didn’t land many games on my Top 8 list, they still put out an amazing variety of games. I can’t wait to see what they do this year. Plus it’s all on Game Pass, Day One. Thank you MS for making Game Pass a thing!