#But the Character of Yoku Fascinates me

[snakeoil2]

Part 1: Conquest

You know, I’m not an old man. Even by dragonborn standards, I’m pretty young. I’m only twenty seven. But I’ve had a pretty eventful life, assassination, murder, and adventuring. I fought the Conqueror, and helped take Pakan.

However, there is something that I’m not too happy to see. When I lived with Kallum’s Clan below Dracor, I bore witness to all manner of stories. Tales of titanic dragons, scouring villages with a breath. Legends of unflappable tyrants, ruling with an iron fist. Whispers of vile mages, breaking the laws of nature.

Now, I see none of that. In this sunlit world, no tyrants, few legendary dragons, and “villains” that proclaim the better good while murdering aimlessly. And hired murderers, oh right, “assassins,” who only kill for a good cause. It’s sickening.

Why, even one of the Sleeping Dragon Crew was like that. She called herself Crybaby. Going on and on about good, and how one could do bad, in the name of good.

I’m writing this book for any aspiring villains of the world. Here’s the first lesson for you lot.

BE EVIL.

Don’t become some greater good. BE A VILLAIN! Revel in the dramatic! Pillage! Plunder! Live!

So many I see just… fail. Fail because they can’t stand what they need to do. They’re crushed by the weight of their desire to do what’s right competing with just how inherently destructive what they’re doing is. 

I met a hobgoblin once. Insisted on calling herself a hero. Unfortunately, she began to fall apart when she reaped the seeds of war. Luckily, I was there!

She forgot to burn a couple towns, she was so distraught.

Ultimately, the most important facet of villainy, the cornerstone of villainy, is the desire to do evil. Doing wrong, ENJOYING doing wrong, is what ultimately allows us our drive. And that drive is what grants us true power.

-Yoku Zuna, Archlord and Titan of Pakan, Professional Villain

Chapter 1: Yoku’s Woes

Ah, Pakan. A land torn apart by a hard fought war against the conqueror. Between the Conqueror, the Giants, and the land itself, most preferred to leave it alone. Even the kingdom of Epanak tries to leave it alone.

All those factors were what led Yoku to try and claim it. A land with little to no governing authority, no laws he had to work around, wasn’t that just perfect?

No. No it wasn’t.

Everything that made it a tempting target, also made it rather difficult to take over.

A pair of ogres were lumbering over. The metal plates armoring their body indicated their station as members of the conqueror’s army. The brutes towered over most men, bearing a cruel axe, and a wicked hammer. 

Yoku sighed.

To most a pair of ogres would be a fearsome opponent. Even if they weren’t terribly powerful, at ten feet tall, they loomed head and shoulders over most humanoids.

Yoku was not most humanoids. 

His horns, tail, and red scales marked him as one of the Dragonborn. His Hacenalian heritage had blessed him with extraordinary size, such that he was eye level with these lesser giants. Yoku was not skinny either, layers of fat and muscle rippled throughout his body.

Yoku’s size meant most recognized his strength, but it was hard to recognize just how strong he was, for more than mere muscles were at work.

Yoku felt the magic pump through his veins as he threw the first punch. It connected with a sickening crunch. The ogre began to stumble backwards, only for Yoku to then grab it, pulling it back for a punch to its stomach.

The other ogre rushed forward while Yoku was occupied. With a guttural bellow, it raised its hammer, and brought it crashing down. Yoku raised his arm to catch the blow, and grumbled at the sting. Luckily, it seemed that this pair had not been outfitted with magic weapons.

The ogre Yoku had grappled attempted its own swing, chopping at Yoku’s arm. Again, Yoku merely grumbled at the sting. His thick scales took the edge off most blows, so he’d probably get out of this with only flesh wounds.

It still hurt though.

Yoku chose to ignore the hammer-wielding ogre, instead focusing on the one in his clutches. He hammered its face with several punches until it melted into a bloody sauce, and its struggles ceased.

The other ogre had not simply paused to let Yoku pummel its partner. It rained down blow after blow upon his back, but Yoku ignored it.

Now that the first ogre was dead, Yoku turned his attention to the second. He seized its raised arm, and twisted it. The ogre first thought he meant to take his hammer, but the increasing pressure alerted it to its mistake.

With sudden desperate howls, it struck Yoku with its free hand, aiming to break his grip. Yoku didn’t stop it, continuing to twist, until, finally, the bone snapped.

The hammer fell from the now useless arm, the ogre staring in shock at its broken limb. By this time, Yoku would normally be gloating, or monologuing, or something, but he didn’t bother wasting words on this stupid creature.

He reached over and snapped its neck.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Yoku had chosen the wastes of Pakan, hoping that they might serve as a decent first conquest, but all he’d found were the remnants of the Conqueror’s army, numerous giants, and no proper towns.

Currently, a hill giant was attempting to kill him. The towering oaf carried a long log which served it as a club. It swung the log, making the most of its reach to prevent Yoku from retaliating.

Yoku opened his mouth, unleashing three streams of fire into its face. The giant staggered, raising a hand to its burnt face. Yoku charged forward, raising his blade, hewing its leg with ease.

There wasn’t even anything fun to fight here, it was all just tedious busy work. Go kill these pathetic ogres, kill this starving hill giant.

Occasionally, he would be told by one of the bosses of the Epanakian forces to handle some special quest, a band of trolls burnt to a crisp, a rising star among the Conqueror’s legions crushed by a boulder, et cetera. It reminded him of old times, but something was missing.

He missed the Sleepy Dragon Crew. At least when he’d been adventuring with them, Yoku wasn’t bored. 

Corvus could be annoying, but her magic was fun, and she enjoyed being with him, more than these soldiers anyhow. It was mostly the bird that bugged Yoku anyhow. Nasty little meal thief. She had been given a place among the nobility.

Navar… Yoku could always trust Navar to be at his side through thick and thin, dire straits, or whatever stupidity he and Corvus would dive into. He’d left the Sleepy Dragon to study storm magic, and Yoku didn’t know where he’d gone.

Dionysis and Fennec were interesting. Yoku wasn’t that close to them, but they were entertaining. Of course, they kept messing up the table, disrupting meal times. The pair had left to establish their own… kingdom? Cult? Yoku wasn’t too sure what they were up to now.

Godren… Yoku always found Godren… freaky? Even ignoring the whole were-croc thing, his obsession with death was worrying. He stuck his hand out to grab a drop of primordial death energy! Granted, this was after Yoku grabbed the whole death sword, but apples and oranges. Godren still ran the Sleepy Dragon.

Crybaby never made a good impression on Yoku. While the others had never been as open about their evil as Yoku, at least they didn’t bother hiding behind good like Crybaby. She was frustrating. Last he’d heard, she still worked with the Sleepy Dragon.

And then there was Sword Lady. She didn’t have any other name. She was Fey Shaped, a mortal who has a certain path that they are meant to follow, but if they stray, they can shatter. Other Fey Shaped view this as most would view death. But the Sleepy Dragon didn’t really know much about Fey Shaped, and took her in. Over time, she began to develop some sort of personality, but she still had difficulty expressing her wants. For whatever reason, liking Sword Lady was just about the only thing both Yoku and Crybaby agreed on. She still worked with the Sleepy Dragon Crew. Yoku hadn’t talked to her in a while.

Yoku hadn’t talked to any of them in a while.

He looked to the band of soldiers with him. None of them spoke casually with him. Why would they? A ten-foot tall hired killer, with a history of incredibly violent feats, and now had been named Archlord of Pakan. 

Sure, there were probably others of a higher rank somewhere in Epanak, but the smart ones avoided getting put in charge of Pakan, and even those that did run Pakan didn’t particularly want to be here.

Yoku was both a terrifying figure, and the highest ranked person here. Sergeant Daniels, an Aasimar who had been given the job of wrangling this wild operation, would discuss missions with him, and while she gave him missions, they often felt like busy work. Dealing with trolls? Yoku’s fire was their most effective weapon against them, sure. But a pair of ogres? 

A dull ache was rising from his back again. The entire camp was beginning to run low on potions. And food. And water. They’d need to turn back. Again.

It didn’t matter how many giants were killed, or how far back they drove the Conqueror’s Legion, both had a hold on the region. Pakan wasn’t a rich landscape, but it had enough to sustain people if you knew what to look for. But the Epanakian forces didn’t have time to forage, they needed to establish a foothold. But they didn’t have time to establish a foothold before the supplies they’d brought ran out, and they needed to retreat.

Yoku was angry.

Angry at these soldiers who surrounded him, angry at the giants and Conquerors who fought him, angry at the tribes which just…

The tribes who just survived.

A thought cut through the haze of building rage, like a piccolo in an orchestra. If those tribes would work with them, that would be a step towards solving the food problem. And if the food shortage was no longer an issue, they’d have time to establish a foothold.

For the first time in a while a grin formed on Yoku’s face. It was a grim expression, proof of satisfaction, more than any true enjoyment, but it was a less morose expression than he’d had in months.

He’d need to talk to Sergeant Daniels.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Master Sergeant Daniels was exhausted. She was the highest ranking officer, and she was stuck. Stuck on some dead end assignment, fighting wave after wave of these Conquerors, hoping to one day breakthrough. With the death of the Conqueror, some of the unity had broken, yet there were still a lot of fanatic bodies to try and push through.

This was the third time she’d been sent here. The previous two efforts had failed for the same reasons this one was: lack of support from the nobility. Those fat cats would sit up high, talking about whatever schemes piqued their interest. And their interests didn’t concern Pakan, or the now dead Conqueror. 

One of her soldiers, wasn’t his name… Evan?, came into the tent. “Sergeant? Uh, Yoku wants to speak with you.”

She lifted a hand to her face. That was a new headache.

Dalkan had appeared before her company, she’d been worried. An ancient assassin walking up to someone is a recipe for disaster. Then he said that he had an archlord he wanted her to take to Pakan. Normally, she’d have refused, no matter which Count it came from. But Dalkan didn’t like nobles, so she was willing to entertain his request.

And then she met the hired killer, self-proclaimed villain, and one of the people who helped kill the Conqueror.

A towering dragonborn, glowering at all around him. Though, that might have just been his face. Yoku was far less threatening than he had first appeared. Despite calling himself a villain, he was strangely amiable. At least, til they hit Pakan.

When they got there, Yoku’s many… quirks reared their heads. His stubbornness, his simplicity, his lack of tact, and especially his strange independent streak. 

Sure, he was shockingly capable of surviving in the wastes of Pakan, and he’d often handle the beasts that their company, only three dozen strong, couldn’t deal with without incurring heavy losses.

BUT WHY DID SHE HAVE TO TALK TO HIM!

Ah well.

“Send him in,” Sergeant Daniels said, resigning herself to this fate.

“Oh he’s-” Evan began, before stumbling away from the door as Yoku poked his head in.

“Hey! Sergeant!” he bellowed.

Daniels didn’t shrink from his volume, but Evan lacked her resolve. Granted, she didn’t have the misfortune of standing next to Yoku’s mouth.

Yoku wriggled through the door, fitting most of himself in the tent. He left his legs and tail in the cold, so as to let the other two have some room to breathe. Evan quickly backed up, giving a wide berth to the dragonborn, as wide as he could anyhow.

“Archlord Yoku, what do you need?” Daniels said as amicably as she could manage. 

“Well, I was thinking,”

A miracle, Daniels thought to herself.

“The problem is that we can’t get set up in Pakan? Well, there are tribes that are already set up! Why don’t we just get them to help us? They know how to survive here!”

Daniels sighed. Sure, that’d be swell… just find the hidden tribes that have been hiding out here, unable to be found by the Conqueror or our armies, and then convince them to help us. Brilliant.

“Of course sir, we’ll take that into consideration.”

“Great! Then we should probably retreat for now, thirty some people might be too many,” Yoku replied.

“Wait, what?”

“Yep, glad that’s sorted. I’ll let the soldiers know.”

Daniels watched Yoku squirm out of the door. She turned to look at Evan.

“Did I just lose control of our company?”

Evan just shrugged.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Yoku went to get the soldiers. They were a bit bewildered as Yoku took charge, but they couldn’t exactly ignore him. He was an Archlord.

The troop moved back to Savarak, the territory under the rule of Count Dalkan Arental. They had been using this land as a staging ground for the forays into Pakan. Thanks to Yoku’s favorable relationship, Dalkan had been providing them with a decent amount of resources to maintain their forces, but not enough to properly replenish them. Dalkan had more important things he needed to spend his gold on, and Yoku had asked to take Pakan.

The mood on this return was different than before. The other times there had been a sense of exhaustion, of failure. A weary band, returning bedraggled and starving to a city. This time, they still had a decent amount of food, and only one or two died from the battles they had fought.

Yoku was at the head happily chattering about ways he believed that they could find the tribes of Pakan. Sergeant Daniels was confused. How did he think he could find tribes that hid from the entire army of the Conqueror, or all of the Epanakian armies?

Eventually, they’d returned to their barracks, and the troops dropped all of their packs. Yoku pulled Daniels aside to tell her what he needed.

“Right, I’ll need you to pick, four or five people who you’d want with you. I’ll be back in a week or two.”

“Sir, what is the plan?” Daniels asked. He was surprisingly evasive about answering that question, probably not even intentionally.

“Oh, I got a kobold back in Keep Rememberance who should be able to find the tribes, we just need to avoid the armies.”

Daniels attempted to say something to this proclamation, but Yoku had already begun walking off. She stared after him, shocked. This could not work. But… what other choices did she have? The other lords of Pakan were doing their damndest to avoid this whole issue, the people who could request backup for the armies fighting for Pakan were either uninterested or actively hampering them.

“Sergeant?” Daniels turned. It was one of her soldiers, one who’d been working with her even before the Conqueror’s death. Corporal Reigen. One of the many tired faces who were dying so often from the weather or armies. 

“Corporal, gather up some of the most experienced soldiers. We’re making a gamble.”

If she played her cards right, who knows how well this could go. Either they die the same death their previous course was aiming for, or they risk everything for a dream they could never hope for.

[infriga]

Some random Egghead meta about Vegapunk because he was on my brain today for some reason and I just wanna get it out of my head:

Honestly Vegapunk fascinates me as a character. I feel his existence as an individual gets overshadowed a lot by his existence as an important part of the overarching series/arc plot, but there's actually a lot of interesting things to think about regarding him as a person too.

One aspect that I probably think about the most is the mole plot regarding his satellites. Oda deliberately had him make several supposedly "negative" satellites, one being straight up Vegapunk's EVIL persona, and yet the one who truly turns out to be the traitor isn't Lilith, it's York. And sure, on the surface it's easy to say that it wouldn't be Lilith because that would be too obvious, but if Oda was just going to go for the surprise factor with this twist he would have had it be one of the more "positive" Satellites like Shakka (good) or Pythagoras (wisdom). In fact they were popular choices for theory crafters when the fandom was trying to predict who it would be. But he didn't go with that because the twist was based more on Vegapunk's actual character and actually makes a LOT of sense when we learn more about who he is as a person.

York is usually called Vegapunk's "greed" persona, but she's meant to represent more of a mix of greed, desire, avarice, hunger, appetite, even passion, etc, hence why her name is written in kanji as 欲 (yoku) which can mean all those things. With that understanding it's more understandable why her initial depiction comes across more like sloth and/or gluttony, after all her "job" is just to eat, sleep, and poop for Vegapunk, which may seem like a strange job for the "greedy" persona, but does fit the "appetite" or "hunger" aspect of the term yoku.

Obviously this comes with the benefit of hindsight but I actually kind of wish translators had translated her role to something more like desire or appetite instead of greed in most instances, since part of what makes the reveal a twist is that she really is more of an embodiment of "greed" as it's typically viewed despite appearing at first to be a less dangerous form of the concept. We're lead to believe that she's not as ambitious as she really is.

Ultimately I think the thing she represents is desire itself as a whole, unchecked by things like logic or wisdom or conscience. And knowing what we know now about Vegapunk's backstory, it makes sense why she would be the one to turn traitor, because Vegapunk's greatest weakness has always been his unchecked desire. I know some people might interpret it as being his naivety, but naivety on its own isn't a flaw or a weakness, someone can be naive and still make productive choices if they're smart and diligent and let their conscious and logic temper their first impulses. Naivety isn't always automatically a complete lack of wisdom or intelligence, it's a lack of experience, and that CAN be compensated for. Vegapunk didn't realize the extent of the government's cruelty, or the dangerous potential of his knowledge and technology in the wrong hands at the start because he hadn't yet experienced it first hand and he didn't try to compensate for that potential risk. If he'd tempered his desire for progress, for knowledge, for advancement, and exercised his intelligence and conscience, he likely would have realized the potential risks from the start and likely wouldn't have relied entirely on giving the government the benefit of the doubt because he would have prioritized being responsible with his abilities. He might have at the very least done more to gain leverage and have proper oversight over how his inventions would be used. This is something he eventually learned, as seen with stuff like his secret broadcast, but it came from hindsight after the damage was done, rather than from foresight.

A lack of foresight can be an issue, but what really drove Vegapunk's actions was, again, his desires overriding his common sense. The government was his meal ticket to the things he wanted, and he reasoned it away by saying that the means would justify the ends, up until he had to witness what those horrible horrible means really were with his own eyes.

Vegapunk's satellites don't only represent things like good, evil, wisdom, violence, intelligence, and desire, they specifically represent those aspects of HIM, and for all his flaws Vegapunk is clearly not an evil man. So it makes sense that Lilith would not actually be all that evil. And he is not a particularly violent man, which is why Atlas is not actually particularly violent at least in terms of the One Piece universe. Heck, Nami is arguably more violent than her. But Vegapunk IS very greedy. Not in the classic "wants to be rich and powerful" sense, except in terms of how riches and power would help him reach his true goals. He's covetous, he has an appetite, he is driven by desire. It is as much a strength as it is a weakness, it's why he has made so much amazing technology, and why he looked into stuff like the void century despite the risks, but it's also why he chose the government as his benefactors over the revolutionary army, it's why he built so many dangerous things without thinking of the consequences of who might weild them or how they might be used to harm instead of help. He always needed more. He needed more money so he could fund more projects, he needed more projects so he could make more discoveries, he needed more discoveries so he could gain more knowledge, and so on and so on. This is of course represented quite aptly by his ever expanding brain, not unlike the common imagery of an ever expanding stomach that represents gluttony. He may have meant well with how he wanted to use the knowledge and discoveries and technology, but, well, you know what they say about good intentions.

As he grew older, eventually his experience overcame his naivety, his wisdom and good conscience overcame his desire, and he finally stopped seeking more above all else and started trying to mitigate the damages and make up for the consequences of his actions. But York? York doesn't have that wisdom or conscience, she's just the desire, unchecked. And Vegapunk's remaining naivety ended up aimed at himself, when he didn't recognize the danger of that aspect of himself.

So with this full picture in mind, it makes total sense why York was the turncoat, not someone like Lilith or Atlas, because Lilith is only as evil as Vegapunk is, and Atlas is only as violent as Vegapunk is, and unfortunately, York is just as hungry for more as Vegapunk is.

[johnmkenney]

Game of the Year 2018

2018 was an interesting year for games.  While there wasn’t as much depth as previous years, the games that stood out were truly something special.  This was certainly a year where big franchises that had been dormant for a few years came roaring back, but more importantly some developers released some truly unique new IP that took the industry by storm.  All of this combined for some great experiences that won’t soon be forgotten.  There wasn’t a ton of games I thought were fantastic outside of the top 10, but this was one of the most difficult years to order the top 10 as the quality of each game was unbelievable.

As always, the rules for inclusion are as follows:    

The game must have its final retail release in 2018.  Thus, anything in an alpha/beta state or Steam Early Access does not qualify.  This rule is still being under consideration for removal.

In the case of episodic games, they must have their final episode delivered in 2018 to make the list.

While this list is comprehensive, I haven’t played everything.  Games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Dragon Quest XI, Hitman 2, Forza Horizon 4, Florence, and The Messenger all seem great but are unfortunately all still on my backlog.

Most importantly: the game has to be really good.  No-brainer there.

Honorable mentions:

While this year wasn’t as competitive past the Top 10, there were a few other games I played that deserved mentions as my final cuts:

Monster Hunter World - This was a causality of not having enough time to get deep enough in the game, but from what I played MHW does a great job making the series more accessible to a broader audience. Octopath Traveler - The game oozes style and has a great combat system, but unfortunately the late-game repetition and disjointed story keeps it from becoming something great. Yoku’s Island Express - It was truly a unique idea to mix pinball with Metroidvania, and it pays off with a fun game and a great soundtrack. 

Without further ado, here are my top 10 games of 2018:

10. Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Bandai Namco/Sora - Switch)

The follow up to Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS, this entry once again delivered.  Nintendo managed to bring back every character that has ever been in a Smash game, including characters that were cut from previous installments for various reasons.  The team managed to make enough subtle tweaks to most characters to keep the brawler as entertaining as usual.  However, the standout mode in this version has to be in the massive single-player Spirits system.  There are over 1,000 unique spirits to collect in this game, and to unlock most of them you need to complete a special battle that represents the character of the spirit you are trying to unlock.  These clever fights help pay homage to characters that don’t make the cut for Smash, and it is a nice touch to help add several dozens of hours of fun moments.  

9. Into the Breach (Subset Games - PC, Switch)

Following up to their 2012 indie hit FTL, Subset Games is back with another clever run-based adventure.  Into the Breach is something all its own though, as this turn-based strategy game tasks you with using a few mechs to defend various cities and structures from an invading alien menace.  Customization is key here, as you are able to unlock multiple squads and pilots that help completely modify your strategy to save the world.  One of the more brilliant parts of the game is that almost all the information is provided to you prior to each turn.  You know exactly where each enemy is going to attack the following turn, so the goal isn’t just to eliminate your foe, but also disrupt them.  If you see your opponent is poised to barrel ahead in a straight line towards a building, you can use a ranged attack to instead knock it of its path so that it instead rams into another adversary.  While it is incredibly challenging to have the perfect turn, everything is within your control so you know it was your fault if things go wrong.  Ben Prunty also delivers an incredible soundtrack yet again, as his melodies help really set the atmosphere for each tense battle. 

8. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Studios - PS4/XBO)

Easily the most talked about game of 2018, Rockstar’s prologue to their 2010 western is an incredible technical achievement.  The amount of detail that goes into every aspect of this game seems mind-blowing, and it is quite easy to lose yourself in the world that has been created.  The story is also one of the biggest improvements in the game this time around, as seeing how Dutch’s gang fell leading to the events of the previous installment is a fascinating tale.  The protagonist, Arthur Morgan, has one of the more gripping character arcs seen in the past few years.  There is an absolute ton to accomplish in this game, as it is constantly introducing new side quests as well as presenting random stranger events that help make everything feel very alive.  Unfortunately, sometimes the gameplay gets in its own way, and some of the later missions can be a repetitive slog despite the gripping story being told.  This is one not to be missed, but there’s just enough keeping it from being a true classic.

7. Donut County (Ben Esposito - iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, XBO)

Donut County is easily the weirdest game on this list as this is a game where you play as a hole.  While in most games that have pits you are used to avoiding them, here you are actually trying to have as many characters and objects fall into a hole as possible.  The puzzles aren’t difficult at all, but every time you suck something up, the hole gets larger so that you are able to go after larger items until nothing is left on screen.  It is a unique concept that works, and it is something that anyone can play.  What ties everything together though is the tremendous cast of characters in the game, as BK the raccoon and everyone around him will keep you laughing the entire way through.  There is a journal in the game, the Trashopedia, which includes hilarious descriptions written by a raccoon describing real world items.  It is worth ready every single entry.  The soundtrack does a great job pulling everything together, and the game only being 2 to 3 hours makes it a great quick jaunt for everyone.

6. Tetris Effect (Monstars Inc/Resonair - PS4)

At this point, everyone knows what Tetris is.  So, there’s nothing new that can be done with Tetris, right?  Wrong.  Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the mind behind Lumines, helped gets the rights to Tetris so that his studio could help work on a version of Tetris that functioned similar to his music-based puzzler.  While he only served as a producer on the title, his influence is clearly seen.  The hallmark mode, Journey, has you making a specific number of lines as the speed changes based on the tempo of the song that is playing.  All the while this is happening, interactive backgrounds also animate to the rhythm.  Once you hit your line goal, you keep your blocks on screen, but you are then transported to another song and environment to continue on with its own tempo with a new count of lines to achieve.  While the game was initially built for VR, it plays just fine on a normal TV and will have you glued trying to get that classic four line namesake.  The presentation also extends to multiple other challenging modes, including trying to build the highest combo as well as using 3 or 4 blocks to clear every line on a puzzle.  The weekly events will keep you coming back, and overall this a great package to help revitalize one of the best games ever created. 

5. Marvel’s Spider-Man (Insomniac Games - PS4)

While the previous generation saw great comic success with the Batman Arkham series, it was often wondered when some other classic heroes would get a resurgence in the gaming world.  It took a while, but Insomniac found a way to capture that lightning with their PS4-exclusive Spider-Man.  Skipping the origin story that has been told to death at this point, you are transported into the life of Peter Parker years after he has already become Spider-Man and several of his foes are already locked up in the Raft.  Certain characters have yet to become their iconic villainous forms yet, while others are already terrorizing New York City like the Shocker.  A unique Spider-Man story is told here, as with the change of canon you aren’t sure the twists and turns each character arc is going to take which always keeps you on your toes.  Most importantly, the gameplay here is a blast.  Previous Spider-Man games always have trouble making it feel fun to swing around the city, but Insomniac’s version has you darting around the city with ease.  Random events happen in the city in real time, and everything is so tightly packed that you can accomplish anything even if you only have small amounts of time to play.  There are great nods to Spider-Man and Marvel lore through with Peter’s costumes and collectibles.  The underrated gem of the entire experiences are the sequences where you play as Mary Jane and Miles, as their ventures help show that everyday people are just as important to Peter’s success as Spider-Man is.  

4. Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC - PC)

Definitely the most unique game on the list this year, Return of the Obra Dinn casts you as an insurance claims collector that needs to catalog the deaths and disappearances of a few dozen people from an abandoned ship that has just returned.  Ok, that might not sound captivating at first, but stay with me.  Lucas Pope (creator of Papers Please) made one of the most novel puzzle games here, as you are given an empty journal and an artist’s rendition of everyone who was aboard the doomed vessel.  You are then able to walk up to any corpse on the boat and be instantly transported back to the exact moment of their demise.  Sometimes you hear brief dialogue, but mostly you are just able to walk around a still scene of the exact moment of their death.  Here, you walk around and try to figure out who the person is, how they died, and who else was there.  While you can typically figure out how the person died, the true puzzle solving comes with finding out the names of who each person is from their involvement in other scenes, and it creates a deep loop of investigation and revisiting moments.  There truly is nothing like this game, and the unique look helps it give it a style all its own.  

3. God of War (Sony Santa Monica - PS4)

While multiple franchises saw returns this year, none had more of an impact than the return of God of War.  Previous installments in the series saw Kratos as a bloodthirsty screaming god looking for revenge, but this time around he moved away from Ancient Greece to Midgard for a quieter life where he is taking care of his son Atreus.  His wife in this realm has recently passed, and your objective is to honor her last wish of spreading her ashes at the highest point in the realm.  Part of what makes this entry in the series so satisfying is that it slows down the adventure and gives more weight to the combat as well as more options to vanquish your foes.  The light-RPG system implemented helps you determine what skills Kratos can utilize and lets your specialize your character more than previous games.  While the combat is great, the world and its story is what takes center stage here.  Kratos’ relationship with his son makes for great moments throughout and does a lot more to humanize Kratos compared to previous games in the series.  The supporting cast does a great job of making the world feel alive as well, especially Mimir who will help give insight to the history of everything around you in real time as you travel.  Kratos’ return is a triumph, and it helped make me care about a franchise that I thought I had lost all interest in.  The ending was left very open, so its very exciting to see where Sony Santa Monica goes from here.

2. Dead Cells (Motion Twin - PC, PS4, Switch, XBO)

Early Access has been a system that has certainly had its ups and downs, but Dead Cells just may be the best thing to ever come out of the program.  There have been games in the past that have attempted to fuse Metroidvanias and rouge-lites, but none have succeeded like this.  It’s simple, at the beginning of every run you are given a melee weapon and a choice of one other weapon, all of which differ depending on what you have unlocked so far.  From here, you’re free to explore the first level of the game and keep any upgrade that you find.  Also along the way you occasionally pick up cells from enemies, which serve as your currency for upgrades.  However, if you die before the end of a level, you lose everything that you picked up so far in that area.  This helps build tension when you’ve gotten a rare blueprint for a new item or a large number of cells, as you want to make sure you can reach the collector who will essentially bank your cells and let you buy things to improve future runs.  Its a loop that works.

While the upgrade system, the unique weapons and skills, and branching paths help set this rogue-lite apart, the true glory in Dead Cells is the combat and how tight the controls are.  There are few 2D action games that feel this good to play, and it makes some of the more frantic levels an absolute blast.  You’ll certainly get to the first boss in an early run, but he’ll likely demolish you.  Improve yourself a little bit, and the next time you get back to him you see progress but still no victory.  Hone your skills more, and the next thing you know it you are trouncing the first boss every single time you get to him.  Then as the game ramps up in difficulty in the following levels, you learn to adapt in new ways to advance even more.  After tons of runs and hours, you’ll eventually find yourself at the final test: The Hand of the King.  He is without a doubt the hardest aspect of this game that will do everything to crush what you thought was a perfect run.  But when you finally have a run that allows you to land that final blow and defeat him, it is something special that encapsulates the beauty of perseverance in this game.  This just might be the best rogue-lite since Spelunky.

1. Celeste (Matt Makes Games - PC, PS4, Switch, XBO)

At the beginning of the game, you’re told that Celeste is a game about climbing a mountain.  While that is very true, it’s about much more than that.  Celeste is a precision platform that stars a young girl named Madeline who is setting out to climb Celeste Mountain to prove she can do it.  Her intentions aren’t crystal clear at first, but she’s told by one of the other NPCs that she’ll fail.  She has told by her mother in a dream sequence that she’ll fail.  She’s followed by a dark version of herself that tells her that she’ll fail.  It becomes evident quickly that this is a game about conquering your own anxiety and doing something outside of your comfort zone.

While Celeste draws inspiration from games like Super Meat Boy and I Wanna Be the Man, there is enough to give the game its own identity here.  This game is punishing, but at the same time it is incredibly fair.  Anytime you die, you are sent back immediately to the beginning of the screen.  This allows you to easily evaluate how you made a mistake adjust or fine tune your strategy from there.  Soon obstacles that seemed impossible are nothing to you, and you instead need to figure out how to get through the next roadblock.  You get better and learn something every time you die, and that helps you propel forwards better than other similar games in the genre. There are also collectibles hidden on most screens known as strawberries, and they serve as an extra challenge to help make each level even harder if you want to take the extra step.  But the true difficulty lies in the bonus B-side and C-side levels that unlock should you find the other collectibles in each level.  These are remixed levels that are shorter than the main game but present new twists on the mechanics of each world, leading to one of the most rewarding feelings should you be able to conquer these.  They are not for the faint of heart.