Introducing the Hat Canon

I think Baldur's Gate 3 is quite possibly the best game of all time. It had to be on this list. I was blown away by the ambition of this game and how well it executed. The game really feels like D&D, you can solve problems creatively and the devs somehow found a way to work that idea in, even the dumb goofy ideas you'd come up with your friends.

The other amazing thing is that while the story itself isn't anything too insane, the other party members are so well done. They feel like real characters and have the kind of depth you and your friends wish you could pull off at a home play session.

Cyberpunk is the 1B to BG3's 1A. What this game does is make it feel so much more intimate through the first person perspective, something I never really liked as much in other rpgs. Johnny Silverhand, your friends, your enemies, they're all talking TO you. Even though V is voiced, I don't know if another game has felt so immersive to me in that aspect.

Also, I love the setting. I really like cyberpunk settings because they hold up a mirror to our society and what it could be and is already becoming, in all the best and worst ways. It's a setting filled with awe inspiring advances and shows us that those things won't fix our problems. In fact, it just might make them worse.

There was a lot of competition for this spot. Blazing Blade or Three Houses were both worthy candidates, but neither of those has the exact right balance Awakening does. Awakening has a strong story and great mechanics. We keep the weapon triangle, the right amount of class changing and character building, and the kids mechanic is one of my all time favorites. I love the added layer of considering how to build your characters in the present to set up their kids for success.

Monster Hunter games have such a tightly well refined loop that really makes me feel like I'm the one getting better, not just my character. Sure, you get gear, and maybe that's doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but no amount of gear is going to keep you from carting. You have to learn the fight, the monster's tendencies, and then take it down. And then you do it over and over in the search of rare materials and in the process you master that fight. Rise wins for now, as the one I've put the most time into so far.

Dread reminds me what I like about the genre so much, that sense of exploration and gaining power and strength. This game does the best narratively with Samus, not just in the actual narration, but in subtle moments where you can feel her fear, or her power that surges. While Metroid Dread might not be the best Metroid in every aspect, it controls the best and has the best balance of story and mechanics and how those things interact to immerse you in the atmosphere of the setting.

This game is the best a remake can do, it takes the old game and updates it for a modern era with an abundance of love and care for the source material throughout. The combat system is fast and dynamic while still paying homage to the original. Most importantly, the characters are here and alive in the way we imagined them when we played it all those years ago. A stunning tribute and a damn good game. Watch this space for when I actually beat Rebirth though.

Plenty of options here for a grand strategy game but CK3 is the one that feels most personal to me. The scope of the game being a pretty narrow slice of history (compared to say, Civ) and the fact that you're really managing a family, not just the concept of a civilization helps feel like you're really in it. Someone taking your territory feels like more of an affront, how dare you, that was my second favorite child you just took! It's less detached, less being some omniscient being from up on high.

Thousand Year Door is and was a revelation for me. It was the first turn based game that really clicked for me and replaying the remastered version now really cemented how good this is. The real time button presses still hold up as a fun but simple way to keep engaged with the game after you've selected your attack and during the opponent's turn. The badge system lets you be really creative with how you build Mario, you can go all in on hammers, jumps, regular attacks, special attacks. The game is also just witty and fun and creative. Making the battles take place on a stage and then having the audience interact with the game is a great idea.

Pokemon Pokopia is here because of what a surprise it was to me. When you told me it was a cozy Pokemon game where you played as and became friends with Pokemon, that idea sounded wild to me. It turned out to be incredibly cute and cozy and the progression in this game feels fantastic overall. It's full of tiny little moments you want to show your friends and family to show how cute this game is.

I love Spider-Man and yes I know that's not a unique stance. Spider-Man 2 managed to show both Spider-Men and realize why the web crawling superheroes can be so much fun. It's an open world game where the open world feels alive and the events worth doing because it fits with the character and the story. Peter Parker is never too busy to stop and help someone in need on his way to bigger things. It makes you feel like him in essentially every aspect, his braininess, his sneakiness, and then how easily he can beat up on bad guys. When you master the systems here you feel like Spider-Man.