In the decade or so past, I have done my GOTY post around this time. In the lead-up to the GOTY post, I did a post in which I gave cutely named awards to other games. Last year, I didn’t do the latter, mostly because there was only one game I played. That would be Elden Ring (FromSoft), obviously. I did many posts on the game last year and who knows? I may mention it this year as well.
I do have a few awards to give this year. Some good, some not good. Let’s start with a negative award.
The sequel I really wanted to like but just didn’t
Cook, Serve, Forever
Surprisingly, there are two games that could fit this category. I will mention one of them later when I give it a different award, so, sadly, Cook, Serve, Forever (David Galindo) wins this award.
I love Cook, Serve, Delicious and especially the second in the trilogy. I have platted the first one (before he added more content to the game), but I really dug the second because I could decorate my restaurants in my spare time. The third was still fun until the last act in which there was a tournament that made everything way too hard.
Still. It was good fun unitl then and I know chubigans (Galindo) worked on balancing it after it was ‘done’. I just hated that I worked so painstakingly hard all game long to buy upgrades. Such as making the foods that are sitting out decay more slowly. Oh, and we were running a food truck so we were on the road.
For the tournament, all the upgrades were turned off. That’s what put me off the game. It felt like a slap in the face, and chubigans must have agreed because he loosened up on it. But I still did not like the iron chef-like competition aspect. See, I play the game to get golds as I go. I could not do that for a few of the competition days, which really annoyed me. It happened in the previous game as well–and now, there is no chance I can do those.
The basic gameplay is that customers come in and order a dish. You have to create the dish by hammer keys as fast as possible. And the recipes get more complex the farther in the game you go. So if the customer orders a basic hot dog with ketchup, you have to cok the hot dog and then put in in the bun and then hit K for ketchup. Then you serve it up.
It’s very rhythmic, and when you get in the flow, it’s just trance-like.
In Cook, Serve, Forever, it’s vastly simpflied. I didn’t realize it was more of a casual game than the others, and the button pressing is so simplified. It’s the arrow buttons. That’s it. I made it through the first area (so to speak), and it was just the same thing over and over. There were different recipes, but it didn’t matter. You only did the same tihng over and over again. It’s still in early access, but I haven’t been back in months.
It pains me to say, but this game is not for me.
Let’s go for a mixed award now. There were a few games I played and didn’t dislike. Yes, that word is deliberate. I’m telling you. This year was not great, either.
The soulslike that frustrated the fuck out of me but ended up being the best soulslike of the year
Lies of P
Look. There were three notable soulslikes this year. I played two of them. I will get to Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games) next year (it’s on Game Pass). I did not like the first game, but I’ve heard this one is much better.
Lies of P (Neowiz Games/Round8 Studio) dazzled people from the very start. `They did note that it was very similar to a FromSoft game (you say homage; I say clone), but many people saw this as a good thing. In addition, some people argued that it was different enough to make it its own thing. I agree with both sides. it’s very similar to a From game .If you told me they oversaw it, I would not blink an eye. Except, I would bet Miyazaki wasn’t involved because the heart wasn’t there. It had all the trappings of a From game, but it didn’t quite hit the mark–for me. Everything was just a bit blurry as if I were looking at it with outdated glasses.
Plus, the level design was nowhere near as elegant. Plus, in some places, it was so fucking frustrating. There was one bit that was just every Souls trope in one small area. Casters who could hit you from afar. Rotating windmill blades that can’t quite be seen (but can definitely hit you). slender beams that you have to traverse over. Poison pit underneath if you fall.
The devs made the same mistake that so many do–the games aren’t about the difficulty. I am not going to go as far as to say that they aren’t difficult (they are), but it’s more about the exploration and the environments. The difficulty is incidental. Even From themselves fuck this up when they start buying into their own hype.
Most people loved Lies of P. I did not. When I played the demo, I did not gel with it. I could not tell you why, but I simply did not. The dodge was slow and clunky, and it felt so inefficient. Playing the gam eitself (on Game Pass, so for free), that impression did not go away.
And yet. I could not quit it. I kept playing, despite my multiple frustrations with the game. And the Red Lobster merchant was my best friend.
But I did it. I managed to beat the game. And it’s a 6 for me. Maybe a 7. Because you can only play it one way, really (perfect parry) or rely in throwables to carry you through the bosses.
That’s not engaging gameplay to me. It just isn’t. But I acknowledge that the game is competent, somewhat imaginative, and many people loved it.
That brings me to the other notable soulslike of the year. The one that I was really looking forward to–that was also a sequel (of sorts).
The most disapppointed soulslike of the year that I finally gave up on
Lords of the Fallen
The first Lords of the Fallen came out a decade or so ago. It was done by Deck13 Interactive with CI Games publishing it. It was slow and ponderous, and I could not get into it. Deck13 was going to do the sequel, but that fell through for many reasons. (They went on to develope the very janky, but very fun The Surge, also known as Junkyard Souls and the sequel, The Surge 2.)
The sequel of the same name was promising something unique and very metal. There were two worlds! One that was like an underworld! Such a cool idea, but I was underwhelmed by what I saw of the gameplay. Still. I was hoping that it would be better than Lies of P which I had just finished. I jumped into it and was met with slow loading times and stuttering. It wasn’t too bad (and I heard for a lot of people, it was terrible), but it was frustrating. Hexworks, the developer, worked tirelessly on all the bugs, so props to them.
I was underwhelmed by the game. It was janky, but that wasn’t the reason why. It just didn’t feel good to play. I started as a pyro because of course I did. That was considered an advanced class, but I thought I could deal with it. I assumed it was considered an advnced class because it was ranged and maybe a bit weak in the beginning. I don’t know if that’s true, but a guy in the RKG Discord who stormed through the game as a strength character before starting as a Pyro said that the latter was so much harder.
I purified the first beacon (of four or five?), grimly pushed on for a bit longer, and then just gave up. I was not having any fun. I hated the wither system (you took wither damage that immediately sapped your health. You could get it back by attacking, but one more hit and all the gray health was gone. It was brutal for someone as shitty as I am at these kind of games). The game also has only shitty shields. Nothing over fifty-percent blocking, I think. Which was not my jam at all. Plus, a perfect parry did nothing. Well, not nothing, but it did not immediately allow you to riposte. You had to do several, and you still took damage. So what’s the point?
There were glitches galore. I bugged out a boss so he was repeatedly attacking my NPC–who had died. He was attacking the spot where she used to be. And then I just threw fire at him until he died.
I am done for now. More tomorrow.