He sent us back Game of the year The articles allow our amazing team of writers to share their personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2023. Today, it’s reviewer John Cal McCormick’s turn.
What a treat for this game. From the gorgeous music to the heartfelt narration to the inviting crackles and sizzles every time you cook a traditional Indian dish, this short story about Tamil immigrants trying to find a place in a foreign land nails it at every turn.
The series officially known as Yakuza is a firm favorite of mine, and this feudal-era show does everything I love about the series in a fresh and fun setting. As a remake of a PS3 game, there’s some almost dated design here, but that kind of adds to its charm for me, and any annoying quibbles are nicely outweighed by the amazing boss fights, the utterly engaging story, and the chance to see my son Kuz running around. Rot in a completely new time period.
Despite being a huge Final Fantasy fan, I haven’t actually liked any of the games in the series – with the exception of Final Fantasy XIV Online – since the ninth game on the original PlayStation. Although I would have been happier with some traditional RPG mechanics and a more satisfying outcome, I loved most of my time with Final Fantasy XVI. Excellent characters, a mostly captivating narrative, and some truly ridiculous boss fights make this the best single-player Final Fantasy since IX for me.
This is exactly what I wanted from a Spider-Man sequel. Aside from the mostly poor side content, it delivers on all fronts. I think the story reaches an exciting conclusion after a relatively slow start, and Venom is an excellent villain. The combat is great, the transitions are exhilarating, and I even liked Miles Morales’ Adidas suit that everyone hates.
This is a huge choice from the heart. I know there are games out there that are more innovative, more modern, more thoughtful, etc. But no game in 2023 has made me smile as hard as I did during the climactic battle in Like a Dragon Gaiden. There’s never been a game where my lower lip twitched like the end of this game. It was exactly what I wanted from a small-scale Yakuza game, and my only hope is that Gaiden becomes its own series of smaller games that fill the gaps in the Like a Dragon timeline. One of these years forever, please.
What do you think of John’s personal picks for the best game of the year? Feel free to agree wholeheartedly, or to scold relentlessly in the comments section below.
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