I suppose there are people who will see the misery in TLOU2 and say "ahh yes... this is art" or something, but i don't know who those people are. I'm not put off by it it doesn't disturb me, i just think it's boring, watching people do nothing but suffer is boring, the only comparisons i can think of are the Saw movies which are boring beyond "creative ways to kill people", and the Tomb Raider reboot where Lara spends so much time screaming in pain that you just spend most of it rolling your eyes, it's SOOOO boring. Bored misguided people putting themselves in danger and expecting me to be surprised when they get hurt, fuck off.
After listening to the debate and checking out the soundtracks myself i can see why it was hard because there are almost no bangers here, all the music is good and works for the games they're in, but there's nothing i'm itching to save to favourites and show to friends. Of the final few games i will say Yakuza reminds me of my favourite Japanese action games like Devil May Cry, which are soundtracks i always go back to and i really like it, and my other favourite is Spiritfarer. There's a difference between orchestral soundtracks and beautiful orchestral music and Spiritfarer is the latter, Ori's music doesn't stand out as anything unique, it's great for its purpose but i think it's replaceable, Spiritfarer has a unique charm. I can't go with Jeff on the Umurangi ride, it fits the style of the game but the music itself is kind of generic, some tracks steal parts from Jet Set Radio, the rest is generic simple drum and bass and could have come from Rollcage. Risk of Rain 2 is good and i like the variety in its soundtrack, but there are long sections of not much going on in its music, which is probably nice when you're having a long run in that game, then when it gets a bit heavier it probably feels good, but outside of the game it's a bit slow with not much going on. Also, Doom takes it, i don't even want it to i don't like the soundtrack that much and barely remember hearing it during the game, which i didn't enjoy, but i'll take a Doom riff over anything here and Hulshult managed to fill in for Mick Gordon very well.
Best Music? Damn i don't think i've thought about game music all year, i'm usually all about it, i can't think of any that stood out to me. Doom wins i guess? What a bummer year.
I'm glad Flight Sim was so well recognised in this debate, even by Jeff!! It was fiction vs fact and wonderous works of fiction and the emotions they bring naturally have the advantage, which is why i'm not mad it didn't win because that a simulator got to where it did is amazing enough. I can't discount the insane and phenominal work that went into Flight Sim, it's a real moment, a historical achievement the likes of which we've never seen, so for me it automatically wins :P.
Woah Alex AC:Unity was not "bad", you've been swept up in the zeitgeist of the time, it was expected to be and promoted as a shining example of the next generation but ended up just being pretty similar to prior AC games, and the "disappointment" of that was exaggerated due to the bugs it had. If you return to it now without that expectation you'll find a great original style AC game with a still impressive rendering of late 1700's France. If that sounds bad to you that's fine, but it's not a bad game by any stretch.
@lonelyspacepanda Similar to what i just said about Unity Cyberpunk won't win any awards for its design either, but i'm enjoying it with my lowered expectations, the trailers didn't look great and the final product isn't great, but i'm still enjoying the moment to moment action.
Jeff is so wrong about Perfect Dark, it's an amazingly special game that is unique for so many reasons. PDZ was rushed for the 360 launch, and while i think it would still miss a lot of what made the original so amazing if it was finished, given better AI, controls and performance it would be a really good game (i want a remaster). I want the new PD to be a first person shooter, i want it to remind people what made Goldeneye and the original so special, first person shooter campaigns are so much rarer these days, i probably play 1 or 2 a year.
I don't know if the rest of the UK is with me on this but i distinguish between "smart" and "mobile" phones, i have a mobile, i assume most people have smart phones so it just seems like a quick way to clarify what i'm talking about.
@ahifi: I get what you mean, i thought Abby was going to say something about that but didn't because they're friends, i let it go because you say things when a camera is on you that you wouldn't usually say and i don't get offended by... anything really, similarly i have friends who say racist jokes all the time but that doesn't reflect their actual feelings, there's no malice behind it.
I'm on Jeff's side when it comes to Souls games, i loved Dark Souls 1 and 2 and replayed them both to feel some kind of dominance over them, which was good at the time but i'm so past that now, i need these games to have some kind of easy mode if i'm going to play them, and i've never subscribed to the idea that they HAVE to be hard, everything should be accessible to everyone in some form or another, i want your grandma to play Dark Souls.
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