Throwing my nomination at Halo Infinite. I’ve got some quibbles about the campaign but it still has that great Halo feel - and the multiplayer has been exceptional. It’s the most I’ve been invested in a straightforward multiplayer FPS for years because it feels so good.
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Another vote for Halo Infinite. There is a deliberate physicality to the weapons, movement, and reactivity of the environment that few other games match. Using the grappling hook to clip to a cliff top above an enemy encampment the watching it explode into chaos as you pick off targets is deeply satisfying.
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I mentioned this in another thread, but Rift Wizard nails the feeling of being a powerful wizard in a way that I haven’t seen in other games that follow the D&D model of making wizards glass cannons that are heavily constrained in what they can often do. In Rift Wizard you start out powerful, and (assuming you manage your build well) you just keep getting even more powerful.
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My favorite “game feel” this year has most certainly been Inscryption the way they build so much atmosphere and creepy crawly feeling in the game The ways in which it goes from this creepy sort of game then it gets expanded and expanded as you go from act 1-3, really shows what the game has in how it builds its atmosphere then flips those expectations multiple times. Personally I found the card game mechanics very enjoyable and the concept of deathcards and how those can give you a leg-up on the competition gives the game a very hand-crafted and methodical feel. The feelings you feel as you go through the game are what the creators want you to feel and those surprises are meant to undercut your expectations in a delightfully playful way.
I agree really strongly with some other commenters saying Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart had excellent game feel, I am coming to Rift apart being a longtime fan of the series and of all the Ratchet & Clank games I have played over the years this iteration feels like the most polished and tightly controlled game in the series. The adaptive triggers add a lot of fun as others have said, however I wish not all the guns used such similar implementations of the triggers so that each would feel slightly more distinct. But overall the adaptive triggers and the rumble of the PS5 controller are an utter delight to the hands and greatly open the possibility space of a PS5 triple A game. Of course I wish there was more length to the game and some additional things to do in that world, but overall the experience of the game was fantastic.
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Metroid Dread was really impressive in a lot of ways but I think game feel would have to be one of the main categories. Everything just feels so smooth and natural.
I’ll also mention Skyward Sword HD. The original game was innovative but I think a lot of people just couldn’t handle it in terms of motion gameplay, and I’m glad they added a button mode and made meaningful tweaks to the motion control mode too.
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After putting nearly 5 hours into Solar Ash, it firmly has my pick for favorite game feel. It has a gentle pace to it with some of the rhythms of abzu, but with bits of action between the platforming.
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My favorite so far has been Exo One. There’s just something that clicks with controlling that metal … ball, I guess? … after a while. Increasing the gravity to gain momentum down a hill and then letting go to soar through the air feels so natural. Sometimes you hit that perfect ramp where you go far above the clouds and it feels amazing. You then turn into the glide form and dive to speed up, skidding just above the ground at maximum velocity. Just great stuff.
