I really enjoyed Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Generally I think most folks regard Spider-Man 2 on the PS2 with highest regards, and others still might mention the NeverSoft PS1 games and Ultimate Spider-Man (which are also great games, especially USM), but I really fuckin loved the combat and traversal stuff in Web of Shadows. Story-wise it was kinda cool too, if not the most original. Symbiote stuff, but you get to do fun things like fight a symbiote Wolverine and all that. Really dug it, and still sometimes load it up to swing around the city.
Dragon Age II is a game that I remember more and more fondly the more I think about it and the years go by. That's probably just distance from the bad stuff (repetitive locales chiefest among them, even though it makes story sense some variety would be nice). People bring up the spawning enemies but I couldn't care less about that in particular. Spawning enemies in a video game, my god. Sure the first one didn't necessarily have that, but it's not a big deal. Really love what they did with the story though.
It's just such an odd thing to do. Basically tell three stories across three different times in your characters life, building up characters and the world around you until the stuff that's been simmering on the outskirts from the start (and from Origins) boils over spectacularly. Meredith invoking the Right of Annulment still stands as a great video game moment for me. And yes, even Anders' somewhat compromised part in that was great. Your party felt like actual characters with influence and intent, rather than dolls for you to command in combat and dress up (and bang). The combat's definitely less engaging than Origins though, I'll not deny. If I were to go back to play any Dragon Age game it'd still probably be Origins, but I really enjoyed Dragon Age II, and still look back on it fondly.
Remember Me is more a game with middling reception that I really loved, as opposed to something more hated. I suppose Web of Shadows was in a similar boat in terms of reception, as opposed to being quite reviled like DAII, but I enjoyed Remember Me significantly more than WoS. The combat's simple, yeah, but it boils down to being more puzzle-like than dextrous. Do the right combo on the right enemy type, balancing the enemy groupings they throw at you. Certainly at some point Arkham style combat boils down to that, but I found it far more front and center with Remember Me. The story was also really interesting, with the few memory alteration sequences being a highlight. There's not really any player choice to consider (they're another bit of straight-forward puzzling really), but narratively changing someone's memories of a past event to immediately turn them into an ally is a hell of a thing conceptually.
I also really liked Mass Effect 3, which is a weird one in terms of reception. Suffice to say I thought the original ending perfectly acceptable and the DLC incredibly frustrating after-the-fact. Javik I thankfully got with the game for my playthrough (and I really only play BioWare games the once, so most DLC ain't content I've ever engaged with), but that DLC that completely sets up the ending reveals is exactly the sort of thing that you'd think obvious to include in the final act of your trilogy. Sure, it's a bit of an exposition dump, but after all that set up and grandstanding about the big bads that sort of thing is almost a necessity. I say almost because like I said, I managed just fine without it, but goddamn if seeing GB play through that on GotY stuff didn't annoy me that moments key to the overarching narrative were relegated to a piece of optional post-release DLC. And the same goes for Javik, which was day one DLC. Ugh, I sure don't miss those days of digital passes and shit. So maybe some reservations with Mass Effect 3 lol, but still, I enjoyed it.
Assassin's Creed 1 is still probably my favourite proper Assassin's Creed. I suppose it's cheating a bit to consider Black Flag different enough to stand apart from the rest of the mainstays, the former of which I'd say is definitely one of my favourite games period, but whatever, call AC1 my second favourite then if that bothers you. Assassin's Creed one actually delivered on the open world, hide in crowds, parkour or die sort of stealth. To the point where it stood out as it's own subgenre, among Hitman and stuff like Chaos Theory. It's the only AC game where I planned my approach and my escape and could then execute it without interruption (most of the time) by the game. After that the whole series became much more reigned in in terms of mission design.
I also really, really enjoyed the story and its twists and turns. It's kinda funny that it's kinda the only AC game where their upfront disclaimer about multiple faiths or whatever felt understandable was the very first game, and then they kinda just put it in every game after. In any case, the world they built in AC1 felt far less comic-booky than it's immediate follow-up in terms of the Templar/Assassin conflict. Assassin and Templar felt more like blurry ideological lines than stringent orders, which is a portrayal I've yet to see them make good on (though I'm currently playing Unity, and it's seeming like they might try to go there here; also AC3 tried that a bit but then gave up at the end). So yeah, tense open world stuff and a great story about hypocrisy and idealism. Altaire was also great. Yep, he was totally as asshole in the beginning, and that's kinda the point. Exceptional young and brash Assassin gets taken down a few pegs to learn humility, and through the ensuing investigation finally takes to the tenets of the Assassin's creed. Simple but just as well effective. It's also a story that came at me at a particularly relevant time in my life, and seeing some of those ideas I was elsewise engaged with reflected in this video game was especially intriguing.
Those seem like the big ones. I suppose there's also Battletoads & Double Dragon, which is fuckin rad. And I definitely don't consider any of those games bad. :P
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