Hi. I'm Excalibur. I played A LOT of EA FC 24 this year. More than I should have. I didn't play Alan Wake II or Street Fighter VI this year. That's on me, I'm sorry.
Circling back, I'm Excalibur. I am a play-by-play commentator for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), appearing weekly on our DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE professional wrestling broadcasts that air on various networks and streaming services around the world. I also just started Against the Storm, which seems really cool, and, in full transparency, worked on AEW: Fight Forever, the first-ever video game launched by All Elite Wrestling, which at the end of the day (or year) is a really cool thing to be able to say.
That said, I was given ample notice on compiling my Game of The Year list... and here I am writing it up at 11:25PM on the night it is due (DON'T SAY "END OF DAY SUNDAY" IF YOU DON'T REALLY MEAN IT). Anyway, here we go, in alphabetical order:
Baldur's Gate 3
For those that haven't played the first two Divinity: Original Sin games (or Divinity or Dragon Commander), I can see why this was such a surprise. The fleshed out characters and lived-in world, the perfect marriage of a tabletop RPG and CRPG, the tremendously witty and yet anxiety-inducing writing; where did all of this come from?! Larian Studios have been sharpening their tone and perfecting their systems for years, and it all comes to fruition in this absolute gem of a game. I rarely revisit story-driven games, usually feeling I've seen it all, or nearly enough on my first play through. Baldur's Gate 3 is a game I will undoubtedly revisit year after year not to see how it all ends, but to reunite with my friends Karlach and [REDACTED] and experience a different perspective on this deep world. To pull seventeen barrels out of my backpack and place them under my feet and to toss a lightning bolt onto a soaked battlefield. To play with Scratch, the bestest boy. What a game.
The Case of the Golden Idol
The Spider of Lanka & The Lemurian Vampire - In compiling my Game of The Year list I realized that a lot of it was going to be "More of the Same. But that's good!" and this game is exactly that. My elevator pitch about The Case of the Golden Idol and its wonderfully challenging DLC is that each time I solved a puzzle, I wanted to stand up and shout to the rest of the plane, "YOU SEE THAT?! HOW SMART AM I?! I DID IT! I CRACKED THE CASE! NONE OF YOU DID IT! I DID IT!" The detective aspects of the game, and even the art style to a degree, feel very Return of Obra Dinn, but quickly you will find that the narrative takes hold and the two DLC packs flesh out and already intriguing world. What's next, Color Gray?
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Despite buying it on day one, I waited until the 1.5 patch to play Cyberpunk 2077, and restarting the game (female Streetkid V is canon, sorry Corpos) was one of my great gaming pleasures of the year. Not only did I get to revisit the early moments of the game, I was able to experience the tweaks and refinements CD Projekt Red made to the game and its systems from the version I initially played, which was already tweaked and refined! And that's even before I get to a wonderfully crafted tale of espionage and betrayal with some of the most spectacular setpieces of any game in recent memory. William Gibson is one of my favorite authors, and the Cyberpunk world that Mike Pondsmith (et al.) created is so rich and rife for exploration, so I was really rooting for this game to be a success. While initially disappointed at launch, the redemption arc of Cyberpunk 2077 is not only personally satisfying because, A, it's a cool world, and B, because we got a great game out of it, but it's also a testament to the dedication of the CDPR team, really one of gaming's feel good stories.
Dave the Diver
It's a diving/exploration game combined with a Tapper-inspired sushi shop management sim. It's two great tastes that taste great together. And it's well written, the hooks keep you going because you're interested in the world, not just in finishing the game, the twists are unexpected and entertaining, and for some reason the underwater pixelated art just sings on the OLED Steam Deck. If only there were a thematically similar, alphabetically subsequent, yet completely different counterpart...