You’d pay about $12 on mass transit ($2.90 PATH and $2.90 MTA in each direction), and the reasons for the government to incentivize one versus the other are numerous, not the least of which are safety, noise, air quality, and efficiency.

I try to keep it down to a few categories.

There are always a few fighting games I’m playing; typically Skullgirls, Guilty Gear Strive, and Street Fighter 6. When a new one comes out, I tend to spend a few dozen hours learning it before moving on.

Then there’s a story/campaign game. Right now, it’s Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Then there’s a “shut your brain off”/“second screen”/“podcast” game. Currently that’s Borderlands. It doesn’t mean that I’m always listening to something while playing it, but it does mean I don’t have to think too hard to enjoy it, and I can consume it like junk food. I may not have the highest opinion of these games, but it’s good to have some of them as palate cleansers.

Then there’s whatever game I’m in the middle of playing co-op with friends. Currently that’s V Rising.

The above is what my plan is, but it rarely goes that way. Often times I’m in the middle of a campaign/story game, and then the new, shiny thing came out before I finish it, and I can’t help myself but to start up the new one too, so I’ve accumulated a running total of other games I’m in the middle of and haven’t finished. As for time management, mine is a DINK household, so there’s plenty to go around, even after social gatherings and such, but our schedules tend to be fluids that will expand to fit their containers. I’ve begun to arrive at something similar to an Agile board, if you’re familiar with software development. I’ve got a number of games that I intend to finish before the month is out, and based on HowLongToBeat data, I’m estimating how much time I’ll probably have to play them and how long it will likely take me to finish them. This is a new development for me from the past few months, but it’s starting to pay dividends…then again, that may also have to do with new releases slowing down at the end of the year.

I entertained the possibility that Invasions was a suitable replacement for the Krypt, but it sure wasn’t. The thing that always made MK such a good value proposition was that you had multiplayer, story mode, towers, and the krypt, but one of those is missing and the replacement sucks, it knocks the wind out of that value proposition. I also liked the systems changes but didn’t love how long the combos were given that you can’t meaningfully bait burst.

It still seems strange to say that there’s nothing to be excited about (except for all the stuff to be excited about), you know? And even if we were only talking about AAA games that were already announced, Monster Hunter and GTA would still be sucking all of the oxygen out of the room for 2025.

And Bloodlines 2 graduated beyond development hell. They gave it to another developer, a developer known for walking sims, and it looks like they’re making something like a small-scale vampire Dishonored rather than an RPG.

Well, I didn’t think the scope of this conversation started and ended with AAA. I largely agree with the pessimism for AAA, but some good stuff still comes through, like Indiana Jones and Shadow of the Erdtree this past year. Things you might consider AAA that I’m still looking forward to this upcoming year include Death Stranding 2, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Judas, Civilization, Mafia, and a couple on the borderline like Avowed, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and Outer Worlds 2. Truthfully though, the games I’m probably most excited for are Mina the Hollower and Mouse: P.I. for Hire. Then after that, there’s the likes of Earthblade, Descenders Next, Duck Detective’s sequel, Knights in Tight Spaces, and more. I don’t consider them to be any less exciting just because the developers spent less money making them.

And if I might save you some heartbreak now, unless it’s a morbid curiosity, the latest gameplay videos for Bloodlines 2 look very far removed from Bloodlines 1.

Well, I don’t know that you necessarily represent the consensus with that pessimism. There’s Civilization VII, Avowed, Split Fiction, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and Monster Hunter Wilds coming right in the beginning of the year. Grand Theft Auto 6 has a real shot at making it this year, plus the inevitable Switch 2 launch lineup. There’s a lot to be excited for right now before we even get to Half-Life 3s and Silksongs.

You really feel that way? I’ve got a list of over 20 games that I’m expecting to come out this year that I’m excited for.

Having played the game in VR, I think what feels like an appropriate scale for a firefight in VR would feel underwhelming and small in non-VR.

That spoiler is what I’m referring to. If you only read about it, I think the delivery of it is worth seeing. Obviously it’s better to participate in it yourself, but I appreciate the way the dialogue is specifically written and delivered to almost break the fourth wall.

There’s no way to make a Half-Life 3 without acknowledging at least one big moment in Alyx, perhaps even in a reveal trailer. If you can borrow it from someone, I’d recommend it. If there’s something physically stopping you from playing it for some reason, I’d recommend at least checking out the ending, pre- and post-credits, on YouTube.

Nothing about this list is objective.

I got it included in Amazon Prime, and I wish I could get those two hours back.

No, you’re misunderstanding my position entirely if you think Skyrim DLC applies here. Lots of games, especially multiplayer games, are built around repeating content but changing the variables in the middle of it. Eventually, and naturally, that will run out of gas for most, but you’ll still have die-hards stick around. The live service model, including battle passes, is meant to keep you playing past the point you’d have run out of gas because you’re so close to the next carrot on a stick.

When you buy Dragonborn, you’re getting new content that wasn’t there before, not just changing the variables in the middle of the same thing you’ve played. It doesn’t enhance the value of a new civilization in Civilization if I have to grind to unlock the thing I bought first; why would it enhance the value of a gun in Helldivers? If you want to play more Helldivers without that gun before they give you that gun, you can do that, and no one will stop you. The reason no one championed the horse armor in Skyrim is because it’s a horrendous value for the customer. To turn your own analogy back at you, would you be saying, “Hell yeah” if you had to grind more of the game you already had before it let you equip the horse armor? Does it suddenly become more valuable when they attach an objective to it that you wouldn’t have done before?

The totally benign reason to unlock content as you go in a game, when the business model doesn’t interfere with it, is to gradually introduce mechanics to the player. When you’re already at the point where you’re looking for expansion content, you’re choosing which content to add and at what pace. The grind is superficial, to keep more bodies logged into their server at once, because the live service model depends on it.

No characters’ story modes are locked in Skullgirls. What are you talking about? You’re choosing not to see the game you like as having a manipulative business model. Why do you think the costumes in Magicka didn’t have a battle pass tied to them but Helldivers II does?

Just because they removed the FOMO part doesn’t mean it isn’t manipulative, and this game is also online only, so by design, you will not keep it forever, once again, because that’s the business model of a live service game.

The game I’ve put the most time into, on Steam at least, is Skullgirls. It has no progression whatsoever. I play the same content over and over because I enjoy it. If you enjoy playing the same Helldivers II content over and over, awesome. These systems are designed to get people to play less content for more time though. Perhaps not you, if that content hasn’t worn out its welcome for you yet, but the person who would have otherwise put the game down earlier.

They have rewards tied to grinding out the game’s content as opposed to just buying the rewards directly to play with in the game’s content, right? I’d say that’s the difference. In Magicka, I bought costumes that had different gameplay mechanics tied to them, and I could use them right away. But for business reasons, live service games create incentives to keep you playing longer than you would otherwise.

They don’t need to gamify something that’s already a fun game.

Maybe some day, but on top of disagreements I’ve had with that developer’s game design in the past, there’s also the looming threat that Sony patches in more dependence on a PSN login to give me pause.

It’s funny, because I’m much more forgiving of BioShock 2 and even Dishonored’s DLC, which reuse the same levels but chop them up differently and have you approach them from different directions. In an open world, you can go anywhere, so even if they deform part of the map, it still feels like the same map to me.

Or, hear me out, maybe games should just sell you a good product at a fair price rather than trying to manipulate you into playing it longer than you enjoy it for.