Why Rise of the Golden Idol is My Game of the Year

[@GoldfiveV]

I really enjoyed the weird timeline the game had, it felt so cool to figure out what happened when.

[@CheesecakeMilitia]

I enjoyed Rise quite a lot, but not as much as Case or its first DLC. I think the revelation that the cases were all connected in the first game was a wonderful "oh shit!" moment, and the formalization of a "do you get it?" puzzle after every set of 3-4 puzzles didn't really do much for me. I also think the big ending twist didn't hit quite as well - partly because there's a lot of built up sympathy for Jack so his face-heel turn kinda comes out of nowhere (and his plan is... dumber than we expect of him). The big bad of Golden Idol 1 had their identity revealed long after they revealed themselves as a total piece of shit, so everyone roots for Peter to take him down. I also feel like the worldbuilding made a little more sense (no ancient Lemurian hard drives) and the puzzles were a little more elegant (less date guessing needed since everything was in chronological order), but it's hard to remember more specifics through rose-tinted glasses. Rise was still an excellent time, but man was this a stacked year for Games of the Year (I just put up my selections on Backloggd and had a hard time choosing). Your point about movie sequels vs video game sequels is pretty interesting, and I think it speaks to how dev teams can think of a million ways to improve their game mechanically - but *narratives* in a sequel are trickier. Most video game sequels completely eschew connected storylines (Zelda, Dark Souls, Silent Hill) and when they don't, the lore baggage can be hysterically overwrought (Metal Gear Solid 4, Resident Evil 6). Rise of the Golden Idol probably didn't hit as hard for me because the first game was already mechanically and narratively sound, so Rise felt like more of a Hollywood sequel in that it couldn't surprise me to the same extent the first game did. Hell, I was even a bit tired of the concept by the second DLC ("The Lemurian Vampire"), which I recall not providing any major new lore or character arcs. Thinking on it, there are a couple other respected arty game followups (Inside, Inscryption, Immortality, Shadow of the Colossus kinda) that don't hit as hard for me as the originals (Limbo, Pony Island, Her Story, Ico). This was also a problem I had with Metaphor Refantazio this year, which - despite having a completely different setting, premise, and battle mechanics - felt like it never surprised me as much as Persona 5 (which itself feels like a pale imitation of Persona 3 at times). And then there's studios like FromSoft where I'm just 100% down for whatever they put out, asset reuse be damned lol. Anyway, Rise of the Golden Idol was definitely snubbed as a nominee for best indie game... I think at least. Jeez there were so many other good ones this year I haven't tried like Lorelai and 1000xResist and UFO 50 and Mouthwashing. But glad you're showing it some love on this cozy corner of the internet.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

I think my love for it came from a lot of the little mixups that slowly reveal themselves, like Eugene's misinterpretation of the idol, Oriel's backstory, and the all the memory transfers. Actually a high point for me story wise was the chapter with all the birds in it, even if it was a bit of a low point in terms of mechanical complexity. I just loved being thrown completely in wild directions by it in ways the first game never did. That said, I would agree that I don't think I achieved the same high of the first and my experience was helped by playing a lot of it on a plane where I was excited to be doing something else. I think I feel weird because all the games I would say are my favorite I have some chip on my shoulder about (Helldivers being multiplayer, animal well being too small, balatro being all mechanical, and Shadow of the Erdtree not REALLY being a game), but probably if I made a better go at playing major and minor releases I'd come up with something different. Got gifted 1000x recently and I'm sure I'll love it when I find the time.