Marcus Orchard – Paradise Killer
Paradise Killer completely caught me by surprise. It’s a fantastic detective game with a gorgeous style that gives it an aesthetic like nothing else. The characters are all charming and full of personality, and give more to the story than just a few suspects to check off. The music brings the whole thing together. Paradise (Stay Forever) still plays in my Spotify playlist regularly, and it always makes me fondly remember the moments that Paradise Killer blessed me with.
Ryan Easby – Hades
Hades isn’t just the best indie game of the year. It’s one of the best games of the year, rivalled only by Final Fantasy 7 Remake. An absolutely beautiful game, developed by Supergiant Games, it’s a roguelike with an engaging as hell story. All of the characters are absolutely beautifully designed, and unlike a lot of roguelikes, they’ve all got depth and oodles of character. And the gameplay…. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had playing a game all year, and it’s so satisfying to play. You can “Beat” the game and you still won’t want to put it down because of how weighty and satisfying the room-to-room combat is.
Pashtrik Maloki – Hades
Hades is one of the very best games of the year, plain and simple. Supergiant Games is a fan-favorite developer, known for its mechanically tight games with wonderful visuals, fantastic audio, and unconventional storytelling. Hades is all of that, and then some. The game is beautiful, the characters are wonderfully acted, the story is surprisingly relatable and the gameplay offers some of the most engaging, tight action of the year. Even if you are not a fan of roguelikes, I’m fairly positive you will fall in love with everything Hades has to offer.
