My top video games of the year

August Humphrey lists the games she has enjoyed most this year.

I play video games as a form of relaxation and entertainment, though personally, I find it kind of ironic that I become the most relaxed when playing games that involve very high-intensity and high-stress moments. This year I’ve been lucky enough to have enough time to explore this hobby that I love so much. If you’re like me and are always looking for games to dive into, here’s a list of games, in no particular order, that I have thoroughly enjoyed this year:

Set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, “Baldur’s Gate 3” is a turn-based game that tells the tale of you and your companions — all of whom have been infected with a very dangerous parasite — and the experiences you have across different adventures. Along with figuring out how to rid yourselves of the creatures stuck in your minds, you and your companions solve puzzles, fight monsters, uncover secrets from each other’s pasts, and you even fall in love sometimes. 

Before playing this game, I had never dipped my toes into the Dungeons & Dragons universe, or turn-based games for that matter — so there was a bit of a learning curve I had to figure out. My favorite thing about this game is the replayability of it; most games have a linear storyline, with maybe one or two endings, but this game is full of pathways, and there are endings I have yet to see.

Call me basic, but if I need something uplifting, I’m running — not walking — to “The Sims 4.” At its core, “The Sims 4” is a life simulation game: You can create a family (Sims), build a home, decorate that home or even set up your own businesses. The best part about this game is the decorating aspect. I don’t know what it is, but my inner interior decorator comes out, and I’ll spend hours fussing over the “perfect” lamp for the living room — it’s wonderful.

“Directive 8020” is a survival horror choice-based game from the Dark Pictures Anthology series. The main thing that I adore about this game, and the other games in this series, is the plot twist in it. In each game I’ve played in this series, I’ve thought that I’d be able to guess what was going to happen next, but I never saw any of the endings coming. Choice-based games are always a palate cleanser after I play a high-intensity game, but I’ve found that some choice-based games feel too much like I’m watching a movie. 

I know choice-based games rely more on cutscenes, but some of them rely too much on them. I want to watch how the story unfolds, but I want to be a part of it as well; that’s why I paid to play it on my console, not to watch it in a movie theater. “Directive 8020” really had me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what would happen next. Normally, video games take me multiple weeks to play through; I think I managed to complete this game in only a couple of sittings.

Another choice-based game that I couldn’t get enough of was “Dispatch.” In the game, you play as Robert, who is in charge of dispatching ex-supervillains to emergencies. You have the opportunity to form friendships with the characters, and even romance them. At the start of my playthrough, I did have some trouble understanding the mechanics of the “dispatching” section of the game — it was user error. Eventually, I got the hang of it, and I kept putting out fires before anyone had a chance to report them. If you’ve played the game, are you Team Invisigal, Team Blonde Blazer or Team Waterboy?

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Horror is one of my favorite genres to watch, but I’ve always struggled with the idea of playing a survival horror game. For me, it’s easy to watch horror television because I’m able to distance myself from it — I’m not a part of the world that these characters are in; I’m just an observer. When you play a video game, you’re in control of everything. So color me surprised when I found myself pre-ordering a famously scary survival horror game. 

“Resident Evil: Requiem” is the latest installment in the Resident Evil franchise. Throughout the game, you switch between playing as Grace Ashcroft and the beloved Leon Kennedy. While they both ultimately have the same goal in the end, Grace’s perspective is more focused on surviving this terrifying nightmare she was forced into, and Leon’s perspective is more on the zombies that are afraid of him. I really enjoyed this game, especially Grace’s sections, because I was just as scared as Grace was the whole game. Grace had never been introduced to the world of “Resident Evil,” and I hadn’t been either — it felt like we were in it together. That “connection” really helped me have a much more positive experience with the game.

‘Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden’

In “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden,” you play as ghost-hunters Antea Duarte and Red Mac Raith, who are trained to protect the living from the dead. When an investigation goes wrong, Antea and Red have to work together to find their way back to each other. I personally think that this game is so cool because you get to play as two characters instead of one — that’s not something that I see in a lot of video games. The character design was like nothing I had ever seen before, and unlike most games — I actually looked forward to the boss fights. They were challenging, but it wasn’t too challenging that it made me want to quit, and it wasn’t so easy that it felt like I was just pressing buttons to press buttons.

August Humphrey is a first-year undecided student at Miami, minoring in German. When she’s not studying, you’ll most likely find her at home in bed with her cat.