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ArbitraryWater

Internet man with questionable sense of priorities

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Best games of 2010... that didn't actually come out in 2010.

I play old games. This much is sure. Even though I will no doubt make a list concerning my favorite games of this year, that actually came out this year, this list is just as important. Remember, these are games that I came to this year. Not games that I have been playing for years. Because then Heroes of Might and Magic III would win every single award every year. Oh yeah, and some of these games are blogged about and some aren't, and I try to keep games of the same series in the same block of text. Oh, and please take these with a grain of salt. I'm pretty bad at numbering things in any sort of specific order, and in the end I still think all of these games are great.
 
While I'm here, let me direct you to some of the other things I wrote this year, including a diatribe on the viability of character building options, a review of Alpha Protocol (spoiler: I don't like it), my three forays into the strange and dangerous world that is the DOS era, (part 1) (part 2) (part 3), and that one time where I said I thought Arcanum was ok, and then the part were I decided playing it was no longer worth my time.

List items

  • Yep. This is the #1. Weird how that happens, eh? Wizardry 8 represents to me the pinnacle of "old school" RPG design. It's hard, but not impossible, It's combat heavy, but the combat is almost always interesting, and it has a fairly goofy tone that I approve of immensely. It's not without flaws, by any means. There's some serious level scaling voodoo, and the general pace of the game is almost infuriatingly slow at times. But it's still great. And I finished it.

  • Believe it or not, the debate in my head between these two was pretty fierce. Despite it's flaws, repetitions, and inconsistencies, X-COM is perhaps some of the most fun I have had playing a game in a while. It's a testament to that game's design that its sequels and derivatives are so disappointing. Of course, I also didn't finish it. The beginning of that game is far more interesting and fun than the end.

  • Icewind Dale is a game that I can appreciate. Even though it aims lower than something like Baldur's Gate, it hits its mark on the dot. It knows it's a hack n' slash dungeon crawler, and it embraces that whole heartedly. Although, as an aside I haven't finished the game at the time of this writing, but I probably will, all things considered.

  • Technically the first game I blogged about this year, I now fully understand the fervor surrounding it. Certainly, the gameplay part is about as fun as being punched multiple times in the groin, but the absolutley balls to the wall story makes up for it. Kind of. Fission Mailed. You can count MGS3 here as well, for being less crazy but having a better tone and somewhat better gameplay. The first game? Bleh. It doesn't hold up so well.

  • After messing with the 4th game, I have to conclude that this is easily the high point of the series. Once again, it's hard but not unbearable, and it rewards competence. Definitely one of the games that makes me glad I now own a PS2.

  • Master of Orion 2, for as rough in spots as it is, is an excellent and well designed game that manages to interest me far more than most games of the genre do. It loses points for being super micromanagement heavy, only having one truly viable win condition, and having some fairly bad balance issues (Creative is a game breaker).

  • Who knew? Video Game King was right all along. As far as Fire Emblem games go, this is easily one of the better ones. That reminds me, I should finish it. Translation patch recommended. Also include Fire Emblem Thracia 776, for being crazy masochistic yet well designed. Would be higher, but direct comparisons are hard for me. Is this a better game than X-COM? Maybe?

  • What? Why so low? As I discussed in my blog about it, Baldur's Gate is a game that, while influential and ambitious, is also somewhat unrefined and full of occasionally questionable gameplay decisions. And the final boss is messed up.

  • What, you thought I was going to fill this list up with obscure mid-late 90s RPGs? Nope. I obtained and finished Bioshock this year. Much like MGS2, the actual gameplay is fairly bleh, but the story and atmosphere created are... impressive to say the least. It loses points for lasting a little too long, and being an excellent proponent of having one playstyle that is far more viable than all others. *Insert "Would you Kindly" reference here*

  • For being a Heroes of Might and Magic derivative game, Age of Wonders is pretty cool. Unfortunately, I'm also pretty bad at it and have yet to devise a suitable strategy for beating the easiest AI difficulty. Thus, the low rank.

  • That's right. Of all the games that I played thoroughly enough to give a valid opinion on this year (thus, no Planescape, Temple of Elemental Evil, Icewind Dale 2, or Ultima Underworld), Arcanum was one of them. And, to be fair, it isn't terrible. It's just unpolished, unbalanced, unrefined, overly ambitious, and overrated by people "on the internet". I would rather play it than Alpha Protocol, Ishar, or Realms of Arkania if that makes you feel any better.
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