Lots of games this year for me, finally doing this...or at least starting this. Order is "whatever I thought of them in" which is to say no order at all.
DmC: Devil May Cry:
Ok, so I thought of this game first not because it's the best but because it's the first game I played this year, so it makes sense! I was going to throw screen shots about this but I figured this isn't the topic for it, SO I'LL SPARE YOU! Anyway, this game originally gave me the "OH GOD WHAT ARE THEY DOING!?" thing when they announced it initially, but as they showed off more of the game, it slowly worked its way back into my interest pile. How did the game end up? Decent enough for what it is, and generally succeeds at what it tries to be. It's a decent hack and slasher, not amazing by the series standards, but still solid enough by it's own right. What it succeeds in is two things compared to other games. First off, it's more streamlined and accessible, which is the point of the game; they were trying to bring in new players, though it didn't latch on that much. Secondly, the plot is notably better than the rest of the series. There's actual world building other than "Demons bad, Sparda good, Dante is Sparda Spawn, so good!" and a legitimate premise in the plot. Also some outright fantastic stage designs in Limbo, contrasted great with how the mundane world looks so bland. There's some flaws in writing like they swear a little too often, but once you work out the bias against the game, seems pretty clear that it beats the main series in serious plot, for all that you could argue this doesn't make up for the downplayed spectacle elements of DMC3/4.
Still, solid game. While it is the #4 game in the series, the top 4 are all close enough in quality that it's not a big deal, it's mostly DMC2 that is a significant step below it. Worth playing if you want another action game, or want a good jumping on point in the series.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance:
The reason I played MGS1-3 and watched MGS4's cutscenes! I don't think that was entirely necessary but it did let me catch onto some random series jokes at least. It's an interesting stylized action game, being focused entirely on Melee and the Ninja Gaiden-esque limb removal, with some stealth elements to reward you. Games like GoW should take cues from this for how to do purely-melee oriented, highly stylized action games. Also, despite the massive amounts of slicing, it managed to not be tasteless violence...gain, GoW could learn something!
Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge:
Wii U version because shut up. I didn't play NG3 because I heard it's awful, I played this version instead which apparently makes it unawful. Playing this, you can see where they shoe-horned in a lot of mechanics that weren't in the original to make it suck less. Like in NG1 and NG2, you'd actually find new weapons lying around and thus feel rewarded for finding them, or in some cases, you'd get it via a Boss that used the weapon. This game? A random bird comes by and hands it to Ryu. Why? Because they weren't in the original game! That said, I am ok with this as at least it brings back the weapon variety the previous games had, which was one of their selling points. Mook Combat is still decent though not quite the level of NGB, boss fights suck ass, Ninjutsu is interestingly handled, as you can't spam it but do want to use it, and some other neat mechanics. Downsides is that there's only so much you can do to a fundamentally broken game, so it still feels weaker than NGB, I think I prefer it to NG2? Oh, and it also has Ayane Missions...which are actually kind of fun because she plays a little different than Ryu, while not feeling like a gimped character, contrast to Rachel in NGS who not only used the worst weapon in the game, had worse mobility, and a useless ranged attack.
God Eater Burst:
Oh hey, free game on PSN Plus, and it's tied in with PXZ! Time to ignor-OH SCREW THIS I'M TRYING IT BECAUSE THOSE WEAPONS INTRIGUE ME! I expected an action game and got...a post-apocalyptic Monster Hunter style game. Disappointed but I still played the entire thing, from start to finish, skipping a lot of side missions later on because repetitive. Plot is surprisingly interesting, characters are mostly like-able when they're not Soma being an emo-douche, Silent Protagonists still suck (even if it's an avatar), and game basically has made it clear that Monster Hunting style action games are not my thing.
Pandora's Tower:
Zelda-style Action game where all puzzles are related to a chain, you have a time limit before needing to feed girl some disgusting flesh, and this Love Simulator (no, not a dating Sim because it's all one girl.) Easily the worst of the Rainfall trio, and a game that would have gone under the radar if not for the fiasco related to those three games. I guess it tries to do new things, but honestly has nothing going for it, and making a whole interesting unique setting but relegating it literally to a fortress involving 13 towers is not good play, especially when the second set of 5 are just more advanced versions of the first 5, last two do kind of make up for it OH WAIT GAME BREAKING BUG THAT FORCES YOU TO RESET DURING THEM! Yeah, not exactly enthusiastic about this one...
Darksiders 2:
Also Wii U version which gave free DLC! I didn't use that factor much, so just played it the way it was; Wii U version turned out to be the right one only because Off Screen play came in handy at times when Mandy wanted to make use of the 360 (which shared TVs.) Anyway, the core combat is dramatically improved over the original, and Death is actually a more interesting protagonist than War; not angsty for the sake of false depth, just kind of a snarky jack ass, but in a way that makes him reflect what the player is thinking, not "I am cooler than you, deal with it!" faux-bad ass. Despite the shift away from Zelda-style game into a more Diablo-style one, dungeons are still creatively done, plot is...kind of meh as it's just Death doing odd jobs until he gets what he wants, contrast to the first game where we actually had some nifty plot aspects. Also no Mark Hamil Navi character to troll you throughout. It's a very different game from the first in any event, but I enjoyed it more, though I can understand having an opinion opposite of it given the different natures of the game.
THQ going down is sad given I'd like to see Fury and Strife's games, though I think the IP was eventually picked up by someone, so hopefully they get their game(s). If the first two games are any indicator, I expect more Action + something else genre factored in (first game being "God of War meets Zelda", second game being "Devil May Cry meets Diablo.")
New Super Mario Bros. U:
Never played any of the NSMB games outside of some multiplayer Wii with Elfiatos at DLC and brief stint with my sister at a gamers meeting, so this is my first full game! The mechanics and stage design aren't bad but the game is really damned easy. There were maybe like 3 stages that had anything resembling difficulty, the rest...well..there's a reason I ended the game with 80+ lives.
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D:
I played this shortly after NSMBU and god was the difference immediately apparent. This game kicks is ruthless and murders you dead, and you never feel safe, even though you can get a slow fall from Diddy, and have up to 4 hits before dying. Thing is...game never feels unfair about it, just plain cruel. When you die, you do see what you did wrong and try something different, or try the same thing again and different, and likely fail again, but point is, game plays by the rules, just finds a way to twist them to kick your ass over and over again. I could go into a stage with 60+ lives (which I got by buying a bunch from Cranky Kong), and lead with just over 10. Yes, it's easy to lose nearly 50 lives in one stage. A very good 2D Platformer, if you don't mind a game that doesn't pull any punches at all.
New Super Luigi U:
Take NSMBU, add in Luigi odd-ball physics like low traction and different jump arcs, make stages be short but very obstacle oriented, and give you only 99 seconds to complete them and you have this! It's a gimmick version of NSMBU basically, and notably tougher as a result, but not sure if I'd say "better" because the short length of the game does make you feel less fulfilled. To the game's credit, it brings back Penguin and Coptshroom from NSMBW, so having more power ups does make things more interesting (and given the way stages are handled, Coptershroom isn't broken, because lots of obstacles from all angles, flight can lead to your downfall!)
Sonic Lost World:
Yeah, I'm trying to do games based off genres, deal with it! Anyway, Sonic Lost World is the latest main Sonic game, and tries for a new formula entirely. You can already see the promise in the formula and the ideas are all there, but the engine needs smoothing out. Some Stage design can use work (like, most of Frozen Factory...), the mechanics are rough around the edges, what have you. The game is still competent and gave me enjoyment, but definitely feels like a step down compared to Generations (Modern) and Colors. It makes me look forward to the next entry, hoping they follow the actual GOOD Sonic Cycle of "First game experiments with the formula, 2nd game polishes it up and expands upon it, making use of it, and 3rd game perfects the formula." See Sonic 1 -> 2 -> 3&K, and Unleashed (Day) -> Colors -> Generations (Modern) if you want further examples of what I mean.
Super Mario Galaxy:
This is the last game I finished this year, but it's the one I started the first...like over a year before. The reason being because I promised I wouldn't beat this before Mandy did, and she took her sweet time getting obsessed with various things, even though she was like RIGHT OUTSIDE THE FINAL STAGE!!! So when she finally did that, I finished my file with about 60 stars, and...haven't decided if I'll get back to it!
ANYWAY, all I'll say is the game pretty much rightfully earned all the critical acclaim it got. It's not perfect (I blame swimming), but it definitely elevated the standards of the genre, and can see why so many platformers afterwards get compared to it, whether they deserve it or not.
Gravity Rush:
The only Vita exclusive worth a damn, and I'm pretty sure it still is this way, at least in the west. In a time period I was feeling a burn out of action games, platformers and RPGs, because that's all I was playing, and didn't have anyone to play a fighting game with, I felt like I needed to either take a month off of Video games in general, or play something entirely new and different. Gravity Rush ended up being the perfect thing to play. It was an ambitious game that played around with completely new mechanics, a different setting, a very like-able main character, and just kind of fun. I can't really hype this game THAT much because it's not perfect, but I wouldn't say it has any real flaws outside of GRAVITY SLIDE HATE HATE HATE HATE! Just I needed something different yet competent and it delivered.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story:
So in an attempt to keep genres relatively consistent in grouping (For all that I think I'm cheating with Gravity Rush as a platformer), this game comes along as a convenient excuse to tie platformers to RPGs! Ignoring that silliness, this is just a fun fluff game and not much else to it. Doesn't take itself seriously, makes Bowser a primary protagonist who punches things a lot, and has PC Giga Bowser. Also two idiot plumbers running around his insides because why not? It's just a silly game and doesn't pretend to be anything else.
Mother 3:
Ok, let me get one thing clear: I don't hate Earthbound. I find it tolerable enough, use to like it a decent amount but don't think it's anything special these days. So no, I didn't go into Mother 3 expecting to dislike it as much as I did. The thing is I am not convinced Mother 3 really fixed many of Earthbound's problems. Less restrictive inventory, sure, but still a crappy one. Game is actually doing well at serious plot then suddenly takes a heel turn and decides to go into silliness, and unlike Earthbound, the silliness goes too far here. I've ranted about it before, but the main difference is Earthbound knew what it was making fun of (SNES and prior era jRPGs), and was right at the end of the era, so the jokes were appropriate. Mother 3 felt like it was trying to make the same jokes during the PS2 Era, when all the jRPGs of that era go "Yeah, see, that's why we DON'T do these things", and it was being MORE OBVIOUS about it too. If you need more proof at how hard Mother 3 is trying at comedy and overstepping it's boundaries, look no further than the Magypsies. It's sad because Mother 3's early parts show legitimate competence in the serious writing department, but decide "oh, right, Earthbound sequel" and thus completely miss what made Earthbound work. Better Gameplay could have salvaged it, but Mother 3 doesn't really enhance anything Earthbound did. Ok, dashing is good, I'll give it that, but the battles don't show any forward movement. A Rhythm system that is the worst Timed Hits system I've seen to date given how unintuitive it is, and the party is just worse handled than EB, giving you 2 legitimately underpowered PCs.
I didn't want to dislike this game, but it really just missed the mark on so many accounts, and the parts it did right, it ruins by quickly whiplashing back into "Right, we need to make this Earthbound like!" For example, the game is well paced for the first 8 chapters, but then suddenly pulls a Zelda's Axiom. Earthbound had one too, the difference is that it was announced at the beginning of the game, so it was an early established goal, thus didn't feel like padding the way Mother 3's did.
Radiant Historia:
After my slamming of Mother 3, you might be thinking "Bah, Meeple just being a hipster and hating on popular things, don't hate you hater!" but you'd be wrong, because Radiant Historia is very much in the same boat. A game that was getting critical acclaim in the DL to the point of me going "How good can it really be?" and when I played it, my response was "ok, this is actually pretty good, I can see why it's hyped." This feels like the true spiritual successor to Chrono Trigger, using both position based gameplay (with a different spin on it), focusing on team synergy more so than individual actions, but more in a chain attack manner rather than literal Combos, and has a Time Split plot that is more elegantly handled than Chrono Cross'. So yes, this game is what Chrono Cross should have been, is what I'm getting at. This is one of those games that does things right with little wrong, but not going to say it does things perfect either, as I see areas of opportunity to improve upon, and honestly, the character work felt kind of weak overall. Stocke is good, and some of the supporting NPC cast is fine, but the main PC cast just felt kind of bland, especially Raynie and Marco, who felt like they existed purely to avoid forcing Solo PC Arcs for Stocke (which would suck because RH combat becomes BLAND AS HELL during those.) Interestingly, I was thinking "wait, is RH my Game of the Year" but then smacked myself realizing I forgot at least three others, and one definitely trounces it! NONETHELESS, it is a good game.
Endless Frontier:
Remember how I said there were 3 games I forgot to consider when thinking if RH was GotY for me? Yeah, this isn't one of them! Endless Frontier is just a decent game with nothing really stand out about it other than a quirky battle system that's just competent enough, though any longer and the game definitely would have overstayed it's welcome. Also, the game intrinsically flawed because T-elos exists and speaks in the game, which never does anyone any favors. SPEAKING OF WHICH!!!
Project X Zone:
...this game also has T-elos speaking and the game is worse off for it. Seriously T-elos, shut up and go to hell. You're even worse here because the existence of Juri completely obsoletes you; she does the whole "Evil Villainous Female Who Is Allied To You" thing only with way more character and a sense of fun involved (this is also me being biased in how Juri is one of my favorite characters to play as in SSF4...odd considering I originally despised her based off trailers, but hey, she won me over!) Otherwise, the game is fun but yeah, way too long for it's own good. Maps can take forever, to the point of "play one map a day" is demanding, though not as tiring as NxC if only because they cut out enemy animations, supers not-withstanding, which can be skipped. More importantly, it has Zero yelling THAT line. You know exactly what line I'm talking about! Plus sexy Yuri action is never a bad thing, right?
...I'm aware my PXZ review said little about the actual game, but I'm keeping it that way <_<
Fire Emblem Thracia 776 (aka FE5):
Every year, I need to play one game that makes me hate myself for some masochistic reasons I still haven't figured out. I figured this year I'd go a route of game that is not regarded as BAD, just downright mean to the point of being absolutely unfair and expects the player to be a GOD DAMNED PSYCHIC about everything (as opposed to DKCR which is just the God Hand mentality of "Ball Bustingly Hard...but fair...") I was wrong; this game doesn't demand you be psychic, it demands you sell your soul, your sisters soul, sacrifice your pets in a blood ritual, and toss in a tuna sandwich just in case to the RNG Gods...on top of being psychic. It pulls ridiculous stunts out of nowhere and there's no consistent way of dealing with anything sometimes just "pray the RNG doesn't kick in." It is the first to do a number of conventions the series would either adopt or improve upon (or find a better alternative that spawned from what this game came up with), like a way to offset weapon weight, rescuing, and something resembling modern supports, so I give it props for that. Thing is, the game also shows the direction the series was heading in was not necessarily a good one; game loses sight of what it is many times, instead of being a basic tactical RPG and more of something way more convoluted than it needs to be. Apparently Tear Ring Saga is the successor to this game and shows what direction it was heading in. I am eternally thankful IS went the route they did with FE6, because I can't imagine what the series would have become if they kept going down this route.
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem - Heroes of Shadow and Light:
Speaking of FE games that followed in some direction, FE12 takes most of the bad ideas of FE11 and...holds onto them. Like seriously, why would you hold onto the bad ideas from games about 20 years ago that your predecessor held onto, like "ONLY MARTH CAN GO TO TOWNS!" or "No, being Mounted offers no advantages other than implied higher movement!" Seriously, these are stupid ideas and they should feel bad about keeping those! That said, game does fine tune a lot of ideas from FE11, like class changing is more balanced, there's more original content which is actually kind of neat, the invention of My Unit allowing for a sense of immersion even if your MU is a total Mary Sue in every sense. Also invented Casual Mode, which while I will never use because MY FIRE EMBLEM PENIS DOES NOT ALLOW IT, I am totally in favor of because I know enough people dislike some of those ideas. FE11 forgnig returns as one of the good ideas it holds onto and yeah, just a bunch of little subtle things made the game overall more enjoyable than FE11, even if the two aren't that much different.
Fire Emblem Awakening:
Remember how I said I forgot a few games when thinking of RH? Yeah, this is actually one of them! Though I still want to know what's wrong with giving Canto back to Mounted units. Rescuing also doesn't return but that's because FEA did make an alternative feature in Pair Up which can be used for the same thing, if a little broken. FEA very much has a bunch of awesome polish ideas that FE12 had like turn/battle animation skips, adds in a like-able cast, the plot of the DBZ Android Saga (...yes, it is the Android Saga. Lucina is Trunks and Grima is Cell, and the Vaike is Yamucha. No, I am not prepared to defend that last one), and AWESOME IN BATTLE QUOTES OF FUCK YEAH YOU JUST GOT OWNED DEAL WITH IT MWAHAHAHAHAH! *Ahem* This game is of course hated by Fire Emblem hipsters because WAAAAH IT'S POPULAR AND A LOT OF NEW PEOPLE JOINED HERE but screw them, it's a well designed game that uses a lot of the good ideas of earlier games, and it's pros drastically out weigh the Cons. And anyone who argues otherwise can PICK A GOD AND PRAY!
...ok, that sounded better in my head...MOVING ON!
Pokemon XY:
What, this should be earlier because it's not an SRPG? Well the connection is that FE = 1st Party Nintendo RPG series, so damn it, that's how it connects to Pokemon! That said, yes, this is game #2 that I forgot about, and well...what can I say about it? Best Pokemon game to date. The only real con I can think of is an empty aftergame. Super E4 + ONE Kanto Bird + Token Z legendary + Mewtwo = really, you couldn't think of anything else? I guess the plot isn't anything special but seriously, POKEMON PLOT! Either you mock it for glorious EXPAND THE LANDMASS, ignore it entirely because Pokemon is a gameplay driven series whose plot just exists as a vehicle for "Go do X to reach Y because more Pokeymanz and Gym Leaders!" or it's BW1 which makes a legitimate attempt at plot and arguably fails or succeeds. I could sing this game's praises, but I think everyone else summed the game up for the most part. It's the exact direction you wanted to see the series take, in it polished up a lot of the older ideas, while adding in new ones like a new typing, a few new gameplay modes, re-balancing the Type Chart a bit, etc. Also, the main character does something many jRPG Protagonists never even consider to do when you come up with the scenario:
When you see a bench or a chair, you can SIT ON IT!!! No more of this "Chair is a wall shaped like a chair!", no, this game, CHAIRS ARE CHAIRS! Progressive Game Design as it's finest!
The Last Story:
The 2nd of the Rainfall games I played, the Last Story is a game that excels in one area very well while being just competent enough in other areas for them to not get in the way. That one area it excels in is character work, with characters constantly interacting at every moment and bouncing off one another, with memorable personalities and even some good development. It's very much the game's strongest point and it shows. Everything else is ok to decent, but not spectacular. Unique gameplay, plot, while a little predictable, at least didn't feel like "I've seen this story a bajillion times" and music is pleasing enough to listen to in-game at least. It's a solid experience overall; not an amazing game, but a solid one.
Xenoblade Chronicles:
This is the 3rd game I forgot to consider when that RH thing came up, and yes, this is the one that I consider just flat out beating it, and is my clear GotY for new games I played. The game is just extremely well done from all fronts as far as I'm concerned, with little to complain about. In fact, my only complaints about the game were some interface nuisances that came up and the fact that the "CHANGE THE FUTURE" music is kind of meh and doesn't stop playing, so when a vision pops up, and the song "You Will Know Our Names' is playing, suddenly it changes to this bland "OH NO DANGER IT IS DANGEROUS DO YOU NOT FEEL THE DANGER STOP THE DANGER, DANGER!!!" theme kicks in and you're stuck with it the rest of the fight. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS GAME!? Otherwise, just see my rant about the game in WGAYP topic; all you need to know is this is the best game I played in 2013, and I'm probably going to be roasted about it by someone if it ends up anything less than amazing!
Legend of Zelda: The Oracle of Ages/Seasons:
I'm putting these two together since they very much blend together as games, and are two parts of the same whole, kind of like Pokemon XY, except there's a reason to play both, as opposed to "if you played one, you played them both." While 3D Zelda leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it's slow and uninspired most of the game, 2D Zelda I felt showed hope in that regard, especially when I saw ALBW was being creative and such. So I figured why not try the Oracle Games which were on sale on the E-shop. Games ended up being decent enough fun stuff that were in fact creative and like Link's Awakening, didn't take itself too seriously. What's the point of discussing these games any further when I can simply say "You can ride an Aquatic Dodongo"?
