Overwatch 2

The original Overwatch was a runaway success that garnered a sizeable player base and many awards, and many fans were understandably excited about the sequel. Overwatch 2’s announcement sparked excitement with promises of expanded PvE and a broader scope, but what we got in reality was a shooter that lost focus of what made it so special in the first place. The magic of Overwatch’s PvE was gone, and the expanded PvP options felt shallow and generic.

Mass Effect 3

Bring up the topic of video game endings, and Mass Effect 3 will undoubtedly be mentioned. As the grand finale of a trilogy that honored hundreds of player decisions, Mass Effect 3’s outro felt incredibly lackluster and underwhelming. Heck, many 10-hour games contain more branching conclusions than ME3. But ME3 has a heart of gold that can get overlooked. Some of the most memorable highlights in the entire saga take place within the third game. Mordin has perhaps the most heroic moment of the series, and a hefty amount of story threads get a satisfying resolution. For players who were appalled by the simplistic ‘crayola coloring’ endings, it really is the journey and not the destination that makes Mass Effect 3 so spectacularly special.

Returnal

Rogue-like third-person shooter Returnal is relentlessly unforgiving, a game in which time is an agonising loop for astronaut Selene after she crash lands on the hostile alien world Atrophos. Otherworldly creatures stalk cadaverous biomes, hurling bioluminescent bullet hell between Selene’s scavenging for artifacts, resources, and ether. Its challenge can put players off but stick around and the accumulated muscle memory makes subsequent playthroughs a breeze. Returnal’s emotional narrative weighs heavier on successive runs too when the unfolding of events has already been discovered.

THE LAST OF US PART 2

We had to start with this one, because it’s hard to think of many games that have ever been as divisive as The Last of Us Part 2. From a gameplay and design perspective, there’s little to dislike about this stealth horror action-adventure gem, but its story was one that continues to provoke strong reactions one way or another to this day. With half-true spoilers leaking out before the game came out, The Last of Us Part 2 seemed like it was on this path even before launch.

METAL GEAR SOLID 5: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Hideo Kojima has a knack for directing games that people are either going to love or hate (except, of course, when he creates ones that everyone just universally loves), and MGS5 is surely one of those divisive works, which is putting it mildly. From not being a finished product to controversial narrative decisions, there was plenty about The Phantom Pain that rubbed many the wrong way. At the same time, gameplay-wise, it was nothing short of a revelation, so you’re also going to get plenty of people telling you that it’s one of the best stealth games ever made.

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT

You know a trilogy is an all-timer when its weakest instalment is supposedly Arkham Knight, but compared to just how ubiquitous the love for Arkham Asylum and City was, Knight definitely had way more detractors. From predictable twists and revelations related to the central villain, to a bloated open world with an excess of repeated side activities, to, of course, is controversial implementation of the Batmobile, Arkham Knight stumbled in enough areas for many to take issue with it.

FALLOUT 4

For about a decade or so, Bethesda consistently delivered genre-defining open world RPGs with the likes of Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim, but Fallout 4 was definitely a step down from that. It was, of course, still a great game in its own right, thanks in large part to its compelling world, but there were many who felt that it shed too much of what made Bethesda RPGs great, from the simplified progression mechanics to the poorly implemented dialogue wheel.

STARFIELD

In hindsight, the consensus on Fallout 4 has grown a lot stronger with time, and it’s fair to say that Starfield has contributed to that by being significantly more divisive. With renewed emphasis on player choice and role playing mechanics and a rich sci-fi setting, there’s a lot to love about Bethesda’s space-faring epic. At the same time, it’s also got its fair share of detractors, drawing criticism for the segmented structure of its world, how much emphasis it places on procedural generation, its technical issues, and more.

GRAND THEFT AUTO 4

Even Grand Theft Auto 4, one of the highest-rated and best-selling games of all time, can end up being a divisive game- which, in fact, became clear within weeks of its release back in 2008. Its move to a new engine, its compelling story, and its obsessively detailed open world drew widespread praise, but GTA 4 also represented a shift in tone for the franchise, with a larger focus on grittier storytelling, in sharp contrast to the goofier, over-the-top style of its predecessors (and its successor). For many, that felt antithetical to the whole point of the franchise.

DAYS GONE

Days Gone’s fandom has continued to grow in the time since its release. Its systemic open world is one that constantly encourages players to engage with the plethora of content it has on offer, and from its bike-related survival-lite mechanics to the Freaker hordes, it uses its post-apocalyptic setting in some really interesting ways. It was, however, a technically rough game, and that roughness translated to some gameplay and storytelling areas as well, which meant there were many that it just failed to stick the landing for.

RISE OF THE RONIN

Team Ninja’s first crack at the open world genre hasn’t enjoyed the sort of widespread acclaim that the developer saw with, say, the Nioh games. Rise of the Ronin launched recently for PS5, and was on the receiving end of criticism directed at its generic open world, rough storytelling, and technical deficiencies. It does, however, have plenty of staunch defenders, thanks in large part to its excellent combat (typically enough for a Team Ninja game) and the consistently enjoyable traversal mechanics.

DARK SOULS 2

Probably the weirdest and most experimental of all FromSoftware Soulslikes, Dark Souls 2 is considered by many to be the legendary studio’s black sheep. It’s received plenty of criticism for everything from larger issues like its level design and inconsistent difficulty balancing, to relatively smaller one, to frequently unreliable hit detection. It is, however, also one of the more mechanically interesting games in the series. Is it rougher around the edges than its peers? Perhaps- but to many, that’s what makes it stand out more.

RESIDENT EVIL 3 REMAKE

After 2019’s RE2 remake, expectations from Resident Evil 3’s own remake were sky-high, but the game ended up falling short of many of them. Nemesis wasn’t at all the terrifying pursuer enemy many had hoped he would be, significant portions of the original game had been cut out, and for many, the game was just too short. At the end of the day, it was still a fun, well-produced, polished survival horror game in its own right, but by not hitting the level of quality that most other Resident Evil games have in recent years, it became a notable low spot in the series a fair few that played it.

THE ORDER: 1886

Sony’s first-party output was firing on all cylinders in the second half of the PS4’s lifecycle, but is early efforts were much more hit-and-miss. The Order: 1886 was a perfect example of that. Ready at Dawn’s third-person shooter was an absolutely gorgeous looking game, on top of boasting a fascinating setting and solid, cinematic storytelling. That endeared it to many, but it was also deemed by a large section of its player base to be not only too short, but also bland and unimaginative from a gameplay perspective.

FINAL FANTASY 16

Final Fantasy games are pretty much guaranteed to always be divisive, and Final Fantasy 16 continued that tradition. Are you going to find a large number of fans who’ll swear by its stylish combat, stellar production values, and standard-setting boss fights? Absolutely, you will. You will, however, also find just as many people who’ll call out the game’s complete lack of that tradamark Final Fantasy goofiness, its extreme streamlining of role playing mechanics, and how bland many of its side quests were.

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM

Silent Hill 2 was the last time we got a Silent Hill game that was universally liked (unless you want to count P.T.), but Silent Hill 4: The Room is perhaps the most divisive of them all. It’s a game of incredibly high highs, but also depressingly low lows. It’s got weirdly designed puzzles, frustrating design choices, and key narrative beats that just don’t hit at all, but it balances the scale with some genuinely chilling psychological horror, top notch visuals (especially for the time), and memorable story moments.

MASS EFFECT 3

Mass Effect 3 is surely an obvious pick for a list such as this one, to the point of being unavoidable. After the incredible heights BioWare touched with Mass Effect 2, expectations from the trilogy’s conclusion were in the stratosphere, but thanks to a controversial ending and much less emphasis being placed on choice-and-consequence mechanics than expected, the backlash against the RPG shooter was strong. Mass Effect 3’s fans, however (of which there are a fair few) will tell you that, in spite of those issues, thanks to its tight shooting mechanics, thrilling set pieces and combat encounters, and an excellent cast of characters, it was still one hell of a game.

DEATH STRANDING

It makes sense to sign off with another Hideo Kojima game. With Death Stranding, Kojima and his team once again ended up delivering the sort of game not many had expected them to, and that once again proved to split opinion. To many, Death Stranding’s surreal post-apocalyptic world, its collaborative and asynchronous multiplayer, and its zen gameplay loop make it an unforgettable experience. Then again, there are those who, simply put, just find it a bit… boring. With Death Stranding 2 coming up, it should be interesting to see how Kojima Productions builds on the first game’s foundations.

FromSoftware has announced via the official Dark Souls Twitter account that the online servers for Dark Souls 2’s PS3 and Xbox 360 servers will be shutting down a little over three months from now, on March 31, 2024, at 5 AM Pacific Time.

That means players on those platforms will no longer be able to play online past that date, though single player will, of course, remain unaffected. Meanwhile, FromSoftware has also confirmed that the game’s online servers on PS4, Xbox One, and PC will remain unaffected.

Additionally, FromSoftware has also announced that on the same day, Armored Core: Verdict Day’s online servers on PS3 and Xbox 360 will be shutting down as well, which means only solo play will be available beyond that. Unlike Dark Souls 2, Armored Core: Verdict Day isn’t available on any other platforms, which means it’s effectively losing its multiplayer permanently.

The servers will close at 5:00 PDT | 14:00 CEST | 21:00 JST.

Thank you for your comprehension and support.

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) December 22, 2023

Armored Core: Verdict Day PS3 and Xbox 360 servers will shut down on March 31st, 2024.
After this date, AC:VD will continue to be playable offline.
To all players and fans who have enjoyed AC:VD over the past 10 years, we offer our heartfelt gratitude for your undying support.

— FROMSOFTWARE PLAYER SUPPORT (@fromsoftware_sp) December 22, 2023

Iceberg Lounge – Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is a great game with plenty of high points, but the Iceberg Lounge isn’t one of those. And the reason behind it is simply how uninventive this section is to play, since it requires pulling the Dark Knight across an iced out pool of water through the Batclaw. If something goes awry during this process, a shark will come out of the water and eat you and you’ll have to do it all over again. In addition to this, you only get to fight a few goons during this section – so it’s also pretty light on the action as well. All in all, it’s not difficult or very frustrating, but it can be surprisingly unremarkable – which is why it deserves its rightful place in this list.

Two months later, with the server for the game still down, one of the people who discovered the exploit has publicly disclosed more information on how the RCE (remote code execution) works, after Bandai Namco released a statement claiming they would fix it. The disclosure, which has been shared via Github, contains documentation detailing the exploit, and according to the description, the vulnerability is available in all the released versions of Dark Souls games on PC.

Allegedly, the vulnerability is available on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but there is no way to trigger it. Speaking to VGC, they said that LukeYui – the developer of the fan-made Dark Souls anti-cheat software Blue Sentinels – sent the documentation detailing multiple exploits in the Dark Souls games to FromSoftware, and they actually fixed every single one of them in Elden Ring- however, they also point out that the Easy Anti Cheat implementation in the game is flawed and can be bypassed in various ways.

They said: “Even if the simple bypasses are patched, it would require a full rework to make proper use of all EAC features, which is necessary for it to be effective.”

As of writing this piece, the servers for the Dark Souls games on PC are still down, so hopefully, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco figure out a way to fix those issues soon.

Demon of Hatred – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

The Demon of Hatred is easily one of the most difficult boss fights in FromSoftware’s 2019 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, although fans wishing to be a bit creative with their approach will be able to dispatch the boss such that it falls to its own death. As soon as players enter the boss arena, they will first have to clamber up to the very top of a watchtower and then make a double jump to an otherwise inaccessible rooftop. Once there, you have to position yourself at the very edge of an adjacent rooftop which will lure the boss enemy to the very edge of the arena. The boss AI will then glitch out, and once the Demon of Hatred will perform its charge move – it will fall down to its own death.

The first batch of games in those three categories has now been revealed (courtesy of SteamDB), and there are some interesting names in each list. The list of Unsupported games is a pretty short one with just 5 games, though it does have one notable name- Persona 4 Golden. The game’s own page says that Valve is still working on adding support though, so hopefully this won’t be permanent. 

24 games so far have the Playable tag. The list includes the likes of The Witcher 3, Slay the Spire, Inscryption, Subnautica, Valheim, Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, NieR: Automata, Bravely Default 2, and more. That means that right now, these games are playable on the Steam Deck, but might still run into a few issues here and there. 

Finally, there’s the first batch of Steam Deck Verified games, which lists 38 titles right now and is already looking impressive. Games that have already been fully optimized for the upcoming handheld device include the likes of Portal 2, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Dishonored, Cuphead 2, Psychonauts 2, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Death’s Door, Death Stranding, Mad Max, Scarlet Nexus, Aliens: Fireteam Elite, Hot Wheels Unleashed, the upcoming Total War: Warhammer 3, and many others. 

You can check out the full list of the Steam Deck’s Verified, Playable, and Unsupported games so far below.

The Steam Deck is scheduled to launch in February.

NYX (PERSONA 3)

Persona 3’s final boss is a force to be reckoned with for several reasons. Not only does it look absolutely terrifying, it’s also the mother of all boss fights, with Nyx taking numerous forms throughout what might be one of the longest boss fights you’ll ever experience. Persona games have always dealt with darker themes, of course, but very rarely has it done so on the same level as it did with Nyx.