#4: Divinity: Original Sin 2
(Author's note: I backed this game on Kickstarter when it was announced)
The infinity engine style RPG is really experiencing a sort of second Renaissance at the time of writing. From Wasteland to Pillar's of Exile, it's been super cool to see what this sort of classical take on the tabletop RPG has become with better game making tools, and Larian Studio's adventure into the genre has really clicked with me in every instance. In just about every respect I can think of, the sequel manages to be a superior upgrade to the original (sin). There's a more approachable plot, deeper and more complex combat, better multiplayer options, and even custom scenario support.
If there is one quality that I can try to sell newcomers on to the series, it would be the range of actions present, and the delightful intermingling of systems present. The turn based combat system plays on a robust level of interactivity between terrain, elemental types and status ailments and buffs. You might start an engagement by having your archer shoot an oil flask arrow into a group of foes and have your mage follow up by igniting the patch for extra damage. This can give way to a host of other plays too, such as dousing the fire in water to create sight-obstructing steam, only then for you to exploit the hazard and have it conduct electricity, stunning your targets. This constant interplay makes for a dynamic push and pull that both you and your foe can exploit, making battles a fluid tug of war as you try to exploit positioning and elemental combos. It can be a lot to take if you're fresh, and a healthy amount of quick saving and loading may be necessary to get your combat legs under you.
These options can also stretch out of combat too and have you solve problems in unexpected ways. Need an item on the other side of steel bars? Maybe you have a character with telekinesis? Or you could use the offensive teleport skill and move one of your party members in, trading some small bits of damage for the previous unreachable item. It's remarkable that so many problems not only have solutions, but valid ones at that. I have trouble recalling any situation that I encountered that I couldn't solve in a way that made sense to me.
Finally, this game (series even) is just really funny. In an industry that is swept up in having the fantasy genre be coupled with dark or mature themes, it feels good to have a game that will let you invest early perk points so you can talk to animals for tips (all of which, including the narrator, are voice acted). Or polymorph your body into animal parts for combat. Or a multitude of other tone-breaking actions that just help to liven up the world.
#3: Super Mario Odyssey
Not to bag on Sunshine, Galaxy or any of the 3D entries, but this feels like the follow-up to 64 that I've been waiting 20 years for. And I can't quite put my finger on what it is that this game manages to knock out of the park so spectacularly.
An incredible amount of variance is in play here, with environments so eclectic as to delight and make players wonder "what comes next?" A lunch-filled pastel landscape filled with sentient forks and food puns. Or an autonomous garden held aloft above a dark and foreboding forest. Or Egypt, but we're playing with a Dia de Muertos skeleton people and Moai statues with pink sunglasses because it's Mario and we should have that minor acid-trip fantasy undercurrent that we always do (touch fuzzy, get dizzy). This all works, and is realized the way that only Nintendo knows how, even when we bash into the supposed real world of New Donk City and have to ask "is Mario even human?"
Mario still retains one of the best move sets of any video game character that exists. Jumping for the plumber is essentially a language you pick up and learn in order to master challenges in the environment placed just for you. This verb-set only expands with the addition of Cappy, making you not only able to perform new, impossible and wonderful acrobatic acts, but also to add variety with the possession of enemy types. They play as gimmicks, but really good ones that help to break up the action in interesting and unique ways. Being able to take control of long running rivals like a Bullet-Bill and use them to navigate an environment are just plain fun.
The fanservice on display here is also just a joy. Just about everybody has some memory of Mario, and the nods to classics are all here. 2D sprite sections add classic challenge, and collectible costumes refer back to massive back-catalog of games. An entire world in the game plays off the notion that Mario got his start trying to climb a tower and defeat his rival Donkey Kong in order to rescue Pauline. And the finale for this section literally had me wiping away a few tears, just because of how much fun and joy were on display.
Odyssey is a celebration of all things Mario: it revels in it's legacy and reminds players just how much unabashed fun video games can be.
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