 It has been one heck of a crazy year, both on the eShop and this channel. And we'll get to my channel, let's start with the eShop since that's why most of you are probably here. As you guys know, I have a series on YouTube about 10 eShop games worth buying, where I take 10 of the most recent releases on Switch and I blab about them. I talk about how great they are and why you should buy them. In no particular order, of course, just, hey, here are some games. Now, at the end of the year, like right now, I look back at those lists, I break them all down, I pull the best ones, and I make a top 10 list of my personal favorite best, in my opinion, but they are the best games of the year, and I actually do order them from 10 to 1 with 1 being the best. These videos are really fun for me because I not only get to take a look back at the eShop over the last year, but we all get to take a look back at my channel over the last year. Not only do we get to see how much the eShop has grown, we get to see how much this channel has grown. Fortunately, this year is going to be a lot less cringy than last year. I don't know if you guys remember, but I was the 10 eShop games worth buying. I don't know where the channel started. All I know is where we are now, and where we are now is about to hit 800,000 subscribers on the channel, which I still can't fathom. The channel passed 100 million total views across all my videos yesterday. We're hitting milestones, and it's all because of you guys. I don't know how this stupid little channel of some dumb Australian guy with long hair who foolishly named his channel after a genre of video game, and yet somehow we're here. And I can never say thank you enough because I literally wouldn't be here at all in any way for one last time this year. Thank you. Until next year, and then I can start thanking you all over again. So, number 10, from episode 14, a game that I originally played on my Xbox, and then out of nowhere, moved over to the Nintendo Switch and blew everyone away, Hellblade. As the title would suggest, you find yourself in Hellheim armed with only a blade. Taking control of the warrior Senua, she tries to save the soul of her dead lover, Dillion. The story is mind-bending and messed with my head a lot. The visuals are gorgeous, but at times they're also really disturbing. I played most of this game on edge, worried, confused, and nervous. The voices inside Senua's head definitely didn't help with that, as they constantly try to discourage her with whispers of negativity. And wearing headphones, it sounds like those voices are in your head, and it aims to make you feel like you're the one going crazy. The voices beg you to stop progressing through the world and turn back to where it's saved. The combat is brutal and uncompromising. You can block, dodge, and strike. You can be easily overwhelmed by enemies, or taken down by the intense boss fights, and not only will those deaths hurt your video game pride, but they will also hurt Senua. You see, this game is roughly an 8-hour, single-player story-driven, hermedeath game. Every time you die, the rot works its way up Senua's arm more and more. If you die too much, it'll reach your head, and then your game is done. For me, Hellblade is a piece of artwork come to life, with a brilliant story and rewarding combat. I am so happy that, as of like three days ago, we know a sequel to this game is on the way. I highly doubt that game managed to cram its way on the Switch, but I'm excited to play it on the new Xbox whatever they decided to call it now. It's getting way too confusing. Number 9 is from Episode 16. It's a game that I otherwise might not have gotten into as much as I did if it wasn't for the fact that I had just came off of playing both Dragon Quest Builders and Minecraft, and I was looking to further fill my crafting needs. That's Forager. In Forager, you can craft your own tools and weapons, explore dungeons, and even help out NPCs. The most unique and honestly exciting addition to Forager is that the items you collect in the world can be sold for coins, and you use those coins to bite the tiles around you, forming new islands. You have no idea what's gonna pop up on those islands until you buy them, making the concept of grinding for more coins addictive. The dungeons are also a fun mix up from the other crafting games I mentioned, and inside you'll discover new items, enemies, and even a cool boss battle at the end. And there is even more depth to this game, including skill points to unlock, as well as new things to craft as you gain experience. Since I made that video, Forager did get a physical release that you can now buy in places like GameStop, and I just I highly recommend it. Number 8 is also from Episode 14, and it's a game that honestly would be in my top 3 on this list if it wasn't for the fact that I'd already played it and played it and played it on my Xbox, and by the time it came to Switch, I was just happy it was there, and that's Cuphead. The old school cartoon visuals get me every time I play it. The fact that they hand drew all of this is unbelievable, and I appreciate it so much. The 3 hour long soundtrack of jazzy barbershop big band songs is a perfect complement to those visuals, and the game is so bloody difficult that it almost ruins it for me. But somehow, it makes it better. Again, Cuphead could be an easy number one, I'm sure for many of you and myself, but looking back at my experiences this year on Switch, I had way more fun with these other games because they were just newer experiences for me. Speaking of, another game from Episode 14, Number 7 is a fast-paced sword slicing game. Katana Zero. The setting of the game is this great cyberpunk neo-noir style, and the visuals are incredibly pleasing to my eyeballs. Oh, and that's all backed by a kick-ass synthwave soundtrack. I love that at the start of each mission, before our katana-wielding assassin starts his killing rampage, he throws on a pair of headphones and boots up whatever awesome track is going to be pumping throughout the chaos. In Katana Zero, you have no health bar. One hit will result in an instant death. That forces you to keep moving and moving fast, deflecting bullets with a well-timed slash, sending them screaming back towards the enemy, or dodge the attack all together with a roll and move in for the quick kill. Mercifully, the game features an ability to manipulate time, thanks to a drug called Kronos that your psychiatrist slash boss, I'm not really sure, administers between each mission. Speaking of those parts of the game, or any part of the game that has dialogue, it's done really interestingly. It's a real-time conversation system that you're able to interrupt if you just don't feel like talking to that person. Although, if you do decide to engage, you'll be given a bunch of dialogue options. There are loads of hidden secrets and paths and way to kill the marks and the enemies in ways I didn't even find out about until after I finished the game. Number 6 is from Episode 13. This is a game that I actually hadn't heard of before that was getting ported to Switch, and it was one of those rare occasions where a sponsor just couldn't have been more perfect because I fell in love with this game, and we even gave away a hob-inspired Switch on the channel to one lucky winner. From the moment I started playing, I was hooked. Not only by the beautiful artwork that is the game's visuals, not only the intriguing and intricate character designs, but mostly I was hooked by the level design and the gameplay. I love when a game doesn't hold your hand. Hob never taught me how to jump, how to climb, or how to platform, but as soon as I saw this platform twist around, it was so clear what I needed to do. Also side note, even that big punch he did to spin the platform around was a subtle clue a hint as to later gameplay mechanics. And that holds true for every single gameplay element or puzzle you find or react with in the game, even the combat. After finding a sword and learning how to swing it, there wasn't much left to teach me that I couldn't discover on my own, developing my own skills as I played and even unlocking more from there. And with no written or spoken dialogue, it is still perfectly clear what the story is and what the conversations between the characters might mean. So the game is split between puzzle platforming and action combat, with the focus being more on the puzzle platforming side. And in this game that really works as the entire world is like one big puzzle for you to solve. Every part of the game feels fresh, every puzzle different to the last, but with everything you have learned from the previous puzzles playing a part in helping your thought process when it comes to solving the next one. Number five was from Episode 15 and it's a game that as soon as I saw it in an indie director and indie director, I can't remember which one I saw it in. I could not wait to play it because the max pain, slow down, shooting bullets like crazy while on a skateboard gameplay got me really excited and it absolutely lived up to my own personal hype. And that game is My Friend Pedro. In My Friend Pedro, you play as a master assassin armed with as many guns as he can carry, the ability to fire those guns while simultaneously hanging upside down, and a severe lack of knowledge on how physics actually work. But physics be damned, this is just straight up fun. Every level throws something new at you, new mechanics. Whether it's a frying pan that you can kick right at an enemy's face and then pump that same frying pan full of bullets ricocheting off of it and hitting every other enemy in the room, or jumping on a freaking skateboard and rocketing through levels while pumping shotgun rounds. And beyond the senseless violence, it actually is quite a bit of clever platforming and puzzle solving going on throughout the levels, with some of the later areas of the game becoming quite the brain teaser. Oh and your friend is literally a banana. Number four is from episode 12 and this is one of those way too short indie games that I buy it and I sit down and I get addicted and I play it in one sitting and I just wish there was more and that is Donut County. Donut County is a very satisfying and perfectly stupid game. It's stupid in all of the right ways and it will in so many ways remind you of a little game called Katamari. The first way being the very charming and cartoonish art style which I absolutely adore and the second way being the hilarious dialogue and brilliantly written story. Every conversation these characters have with each other is exactly how I talk to my group of friends. And the third and most obvious way this game will remind you of Katamari is in the gameplay. In Donut County you start with a very small hole in the ground which you can control either using the touchpad or the analog stick and you start by sucking in small pieces of trash or tiny animals and every time you eat something with your hole it grows a little bit larger. Obviously allowing you to consume bigger and bigger items into your hole until finally and you probably guessed it swallowing up whole buildings or entire freeways worth of cars. This game playing mechanic on its own is weirdly therapeutic and extremely addicting. Anyway as fun as that mechanic is there are others that you can unlock like the catapult which allows you to shoot out some of the items you require and you can use that to hit switches to open doors to go into other rooms or to hit a ferris wheel with water to spin it faster and faster until it flies off its frame. And in between each of the levels you get treated to a little bit more of the story piecing together what actually is happening in this town and why this hole is swallowing everything up. Now as we get up in here into the top three I have a feeling that all three of these or at least two of these for a lot of you are gonna be your number one. Some of y'all will get mad that one of them isn't Wargroove. So let's just all play nice and remember again that it's opinions and I say this because number three is uh untitled goose game. You are a silly goose that can honk duck flap and most affectionately hold things in its beak or more accurately still things with its beak hide them and or taunt the humans with them and that that that is the entire game. Screwing with people like knowing the heck out of them and watching them try to deal with a goose that just won't leave them alone. It's such wholesome hilarious fun. I honestly couldn't tell you how many 30 second clips I grabbed off this game using the switches capture button to then go and show Kim later and both of us would be laughing at this stupid little goose. I think this might be the one actually where he goes to sit down. It's just so stupid because it looks like it's what a goose would do. All right buddy come here you can join me for the end of the year. He's developed a habit he'll be sleeping downstairs this is the only time he does it he'll come running upstairs screaming because he wants to be held. Kim thinks it's because he wants to be a star on YouTube. Maybe that's the case. Number two is from episode the very last one I did. I'll be honest uh while playing this one I thought for sure this one would be number one. I have a bad uh case of when I'm playing a game I really love it's the best game I've ever played and then once I finish it and reflect on it for a week I'm like yeah regardless tourist is my number two spot. This game came out of nowhere for me. The tourist is a switch exclusive that boasts a beautifully perfect blocky art style mixed with realistic lighting and world elements. With a huge focus on exploration and puzzles tourist is breathtaking from the very first island to the last. The first island has a small shop some huts and a dungeon where you discover your path to find other dungeons on islands scattered across the world. As you travel to each new location you'll find rainy forests, beach parties and a shopping island with stores that allow you to buy music, more travel pamphlets for new islands, an art gallery where you take photos for the creator based on hints and clues he gives you for what he wants to put in his gallery. Then this island even has a little arcade with working arcade machines. The world design, the music and audio design, lighting and art design and gameplay design are all a perfect 10 for me across the board. I was completely lost in the world of tourist during my stay. The dungeons were so unique with puzzles that finally had me stumped for a while. Um I don't think that leaves number one as any surprise. A lot of you already know that I am a huge zelda fan but honestly that nostalgia that love for zelda doesn't really even play into it here. I mean it does a tiny bit but the game hit number one on its own merits. I already loved Crypt of the Necro Dancer and it was in my top 10 last year. So throwing in a zelda theme and releasing what ended up being a much better game than the first, well it just secured cadence of Hyrule as my number one for the year. Like I don't think Nintendo themselves could have done an any better job at taking the zelda franchise and developing a game in that universe that you played to music. Other than that one mechanic this game felt like a brand new zelda game. That's something that I never knew I wanted, a rogue like zelda game. In fact you could even turn off the playing to music side of this game and play the game like a rogue like zelda linked to the past. So every time you take a step, every time you pick up an item, every time you attack an enemy it all has to be on the beat. Every enemy has their own distinct attack pattern and even when you have a ton of enemies on the screen that would otherwise be very overwhelming in any other game you can really move around this board like you're reading the matrix and kill everything without taking a hit of damage. I must have watched that trailer for cadence of Hyrule like 10 times showing it to my friend, showing it to Kim and then just showing it to myself again and again. There was something so hype about the way that trailer builds up and then when the zelda music kicks in not to mention I finished that game several times trying to speedrun it to see what the best time I did it on stream in under three hours. This is so much fun playing that one. Okay now before you go anywhere we get to rank my videos from best to worst or at least my top video and then my worst video of the year in the sense of what video had the most games in this list and then which one had the least. So episode 14 had three of my top games those games being Cuphead, Hellblade and Katana Zero. Number 15 had two of my top games but one was the number one spot it had cadence of Hyrule and it also had my friend Pedro and then number 17 was the only list to not get a single game in my top 10 for the year but Risk of Rain 2 did come really close. I hope it's doing really well because it honestly does deserve it and it has a physical now as well since I made my video okay and so Hyrule needs to get a physical. Yeah don't you agree buddy? Don't you agree buddy? Those are the best games of the year. I mean okay in my opinion those are the games I had the most fun with this year so please leave your top 10 down below. I'd really love to know how different it was to mine. Again I can't say thank you enough for everything you guys do for me and you did this year. I mean I know I'm not always the most tolerable person in the world. You know I take sponsors and a lot of people can't stand it when their favorite YouTuber takes a sponsor but like my actual followers that enjoy what I do they're just happy to see me doing my thing and grow on the platform. I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks for putting up with my shenanigans. Going in the next year I definitely want to mix things up and change things up a little bit. I mean I know I want to completely change this behind me. I can't wait for January so hopefully in the next video you see me in things will be different. I hope you had a fantastic holiday season. I hope your Christmas was wonderful. I hope you got the switch you are asking for. I just spat all over the camera enjoy that. What do you have to say buddy? Anything? Nothing? See you next year.