Don't play big games using it then. That's how you shop your way out of it. If you think every game is full of bad monetization practices, you're not looking very hard for your video games. There's an asterisk there on the addiction that a lot of them prey on, but if you're sick of playing a game where they keep asking you for money instead of letting you enjoy the game, play a different game. There are too many great games that don't bother with that nonsense.
A victory isn't the totality of Netflix as a company sinking in the ground. It's every step along the way, including directing your money toward those that respect you as a customer. Pretty much unanimously the best game of last year went to a game that's sold DRM-free, with no DLC, with the ability to play mulitplayer without some stupid live service strings attached, and it sold about 10M copies. Rewarding those games is the other side of the coin of voting with your wallet.
My fiance and I just finished the DLC for The Case of the Golden Idol, and not only is that game awesome, but the story hooks for the DLC were a pleasant surprise. We can't wait for the sequel.
I've been playing a lot of Pillars of Eternity, and I made it to Act 2. It's impressive how insanely good this game is. And then on top of that, it's impressive that I think everything I like about it is done better in Baldur's Gate 3.
I finally made it to Master rank in Street Fighter 6! Still some input frustrations until the game can get a season 2 patch, but I'm just happy to finally have something like an Elo rather than the superficial league system, even though my master rating settled slightly below the default 1500 value.
EDIT: Missed the bonus question. Of the games I'm confident are coming out in 2024, I'd say Avowed, which is why I'm playing Pillars of Eternity now.
Yeah, it's on my to-do list. "Seamless" co-op was never really my problem with FromSoft's mulitplayer design, as they implemented really cool mechanics to make strangers want to help each other. The unfortunate part is that they put in additional mechanics to deter them from helping each other (invasions). The summon sign system is also neat but is prone to race conditions where the sign disappears before you can summon the person because someone else got there first. Things like that are why menus may not only be simpler but also better.
I don't think the OP was really looking for a review of the game, and given the accolades it received for writing, calling the game "badly written" likely makes your review an outlier.
I'm with you on Dark Souls 3. The invasion mechanic was a fun experiment, but in practice, it just kinda blows. It would be nice to have a game with the good combat and level design of Dark Souls, without the invasions, that just lets you summon people from a damn menu like a normal video game.
Thanks for the tip! I actually heard from some friends that the combat was pretty tough in this game, and so far it's manageable, but I will absolutely take a level advantage that I've earned if the game gives me that prompt, lol.
I just got an ergonomic mouse after struggling with wrist pain for most of the year, so I'm putting it through its paces in Pillars of Eternity. I'm loving it so far, but it gives you vague notions of "this is really tough, so come back later" for a few different areas, but I don't know how much later they mean. I'm nearly level 6, and I know the level cap for the game before the DLC was 12. Do they mean come back at level 8? Or level 12? Or 14? I've still got plenty of other areas to explore first, but I'd still like to know...you know? I've also only got 5 party members, so I'm on the lookout for a sixth.
I'm still trying to hit master rank in Street Fighter 6. Inching closer, in diamond 4 now.
I beat Wargroove 2. It's a solid iteration on the previous game, and I'd recommend it if you want more Advance Wars with the bonus of being able to play it on better hardware than a Switch.
Baldur's Gate 3 was my favorite for the year and one of my favorites ever. It was just too hard to top.
I'd personally recommend Shadow Tactics and Desperados III first, and Shadow Gambit only when you're still itching for more or if you just really love the ghost pirate setting. Shadow Gambit throws in some unnecessary repetition that I felt dragged the game down a bit compared to its predecessors.
Got examples? I feel like there were a handful of users submitting the offending articles, probably a site that user is affiliated with, and because the moderators had no rules against it, I just ended up having to block those users. I'm not seeing a lot of clickbait, personally.