This is the first year in many years that I did not request or receive any games as Christmas gifts. My haul was, in terms of the number of gifts, very light, but the awesomeness quotient is off the charts:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Box Set #4: Thanks go to Ryan Davis and the Giant Bomb Holiday Gift Guide for pointing out which episodes were in this set. Space Mutiny is one of my all-time favorites.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Volume II: The second half of the novel that inspired a bajillion Koei titles, but the story itself is a classic of Asian literature.
Sunshine, by Robin McKinley: This novel, which has absolutely nothing to do with the horrible sci-fi movie of the same name, came highly recommended by a good friend of mine. It's an actual good vampire novel that has none of the nonsense that Twilight has inflicted upon the genre.
A queen-size bed: I recently moved out of a tiny studio apartment into a one-bedroom condo, meaning I finally have room for a bed. No more sleeping on that crap futon!
Around this time last year, I posted my Best & Worst of 2008. 2009 has been a year filled with new and exciting games...and a few let downs. As I noted last year, keep in mind that I'm only going by what I played this year. If you don't agree, try not to be too offended, as this is only my opinion.
And away we go!
Biggest Disappointment of the Year (Hardware): The Xbox 360
Fun games, but the hardware itself is shoddy crap. We have a repeat winner, ladies and gentlemen. I don't mean to pick on it again, but I'm afraid that yes, it actually managed to fall even farther this year, escaping my favor completely. I've always had issues with the console. I hadn't owned it for more than a month before I had to send it in to Microsoft to fix a faulty disc drive. I got it back a few weeks later, only to continue encountering issues with the way that the console reads discs. Consequently, this and my wariness of the possibilities of the RROD left me hesitant to play games on it very much. When I eventually got a PS3, I determined that I would buy the PS3 versions of 360/PS3 multiplatform games unless the PS3 version was of a significantly inferior quality. And so, life went on.
Then, earlier this year, I got a hankering for some Warriors Orochi 2 action. If there's one thing that the 360 had been good to me for, it was serving as my Koei hack n' slash box. I say that not to demean it because I honestly enjoy the Warriors games a lot, and the 360 had seen some domestic releases in the franchise that had yet to hit the North American PS3. The Warriors Orochi games being among them. Unfortunately, this peace would not last. After Warriors Orochi 2 crashed five times on me in two days, I finally pulled the disc out of the tray only to discover that there was some very noticeable disc damage that had definitely not been there when I had put the disc in. The console ate my game.
It was then that I made my decision. The 360 had to go. While the console has a great line-up of titles and the best online service of the three current gen consoles (aside from the fact that Microsoft charges way too much for the wireless adapter), the console itself is easily the shoddiest game console I have ever owned. There is an NES that still works in the basement of my parents' house, yet Microsoft apparently couldn't wait until they ironed out the most basic of flaws in the hardware design before shipping it out the door. Why should I pay money for games on this console if the console itself runs the risk of scratching my games to hell?
And so, the 360 is no longer in my home. I had some excellent times with it, to be sure. The aforementioned Warriors games, Eternal Sonata coming along at the perfect time, pulling me out of a depression, these were things I enjoyed. It's just a shame that they played on hardware that is, to be quite frank, utter shit.
Biggest Disappointment of the Year (Software): Scribblenauts (DS)
Scribblenauts had the potential to be an incredible experience. The ability to summon all sorts of items merely by writing their names and using them to solve a series of puzzle levels sounds like an ingenious idea on paper, and in some ways, it succeeds. Unfortunately, the game failed for me largely due to the fact that the controls for the main character were so poor, making him difficult to control and leading to numerous unnecessary deaths that could have easily been avoided were there an easier way to move him about. Also unfortunate was the lack of certain words in the game's dictionary. I love the aesthetic of Scribblenauts, and I love its concept. I just hope that if there's a sequel that the designers put more thought and effort into the way the game controls.
Worst Game of 2009: Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga (Wii)
Do not play this game. I implore you. I'll be honest. I did not play a great deal of this game, but what of it I did play was both painful to play and to look at. The Valhalla Knights series started off on the PSP, where as I understand it has gained a cult following. Eldar Saga was the first entry in the series on a home console, and well...ouch. Just, ouch. The graphics are bland and washed out, the characters are completely uninteresting and generic, and fighting even the most basic of field enemies is an exercise in tedium. Imagine Monster Hunter, except ugly, generic, and not fun in any way. That's pretty much what Eldar Saga is. I buy the occasional odd release to sate my curiosity, but if I owned a cat when I bought this game, I would have come home to find it dead and draped across my Wii. Disgusting, and symbolic.
Best Hardware of the Year: The Wii Motion Plus
There is before, and there is after, and the best way that I can illustrate this notion is by playing any golf game that preceded Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, and then playing Tiger Woods using the Wii Motion Plus. I was a fan of We Love Golf for its arcadey, Mario Golf-esque feel and Capcom character costumes, but the basic flick controls of that game are nothing compared to actually swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club and getting the sensation that it actually means something. Motion controls still have improvements to make, but the difference that the Wii Motion Plus makes is enough to make it the best hardware of this year.
Best Fighting Game: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PS3/360)
Noel is my main, for those of you wondering. The fighting game genre has seen a resurgence this year, and while most of that credit should rightfully go to Street Fighter IV, I felt that BlazBlue was the better game. What looks like the lunatic fringe of fighting game design on the surface is actually a well-designed fighting game in which each character feels strikingly different from another. The 2D sprite art and backgrounds are gorgeous and just what should be expected from the people that brought us the Guilty Gear series. And speaking of Guilty Gear, Daisuke Ishiwatari's soundtrack is filled with pulse-pounding tracks that are perfectly suited to the game's aestheic. On top of all of this, the game's online features are the best of any fighting game released this year; in the time I've spent playing, I've suffered very little in terms of lag, whereas I found it incredibly difficult to play SFIV without encountering severe lag multiple times per play session. And though it's a touch that only a relatively few will appreciate, I enjoyed the fact that BlazBlue includes an actual story mode, giving the characters all a measure of substance that goes beyond their flashy looks. Street Fighter IV may have been the biggest fighting game of the year, but BlazBlue was the best.
Funniest Game of the Year: House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
House of the Dead: Overkill follows a pretty simple formula. Take a game series known for its horrendously awful dialogue and campy zombie horror themed gameplay and revisit it through the filter of a grindhouse movie. Yes, it's cheesy, and yes, it's over the top, and yet, I could not stop laughing at this game. Some of its best moments are truly over the top, and it's obvious that the developers did their research before setting out to parody grindhouse films. The humor is so consistently spot on that it makes the brief run through the campaign all the more enjoyable.
Best Soundtrack: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP)
For the PSP remake of the original Persona, Shoji Meguro went back and created a brand new soundtrack that fits more with the tone hip-hop of Persona 3 and the pop of Persona 4. While some fans of the original version may not like the new soundtrack as much, my exposure to the original Persona was very limited prior to the remake, and the soundtrack is something that's stuck out at me in the way that good songs should. The game came packaged with a two-disc soundtrack, and it's well worth a listen.
Best New Character: Xion (Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days)
Xion is something of a quandary. A new character that appears in Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, her story by necessity would need to conclude in such a way that wouldn't interfere with the fact that she is never mentioned in Kingdom Hearts II. Yet, the team behind the game managed to accomplish just this, making her a very meaningful character to the protagonist Roxas all the way through to the game's inevitable conclusion.
Best Remake: Punch-Out!! (Wii)
Would you believe me if I told you Princess Peach was originally considered as a secret opponent in Punch-Out!!? If I had more time to dig into it, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories might have taken this spot, but as it stands, Punch-Out!! wins this one easily. The game takes the entire roster of fighters from the NES game sans Mike Tyson/ Mr. Dream, adds in a couple of characters from Super Punch-Out!! and throws new fighter Disco Kid into the mix, resulting in a roster of goofy caricatures with far more personality and flare than the NES and SNES could have ever provided them. The cel-shaded character art, combined with voice acting for all of the characters in their native languages, is a perfect fit, enhancing the game's charm. And while the returning fighters may still rely on old tactics, they finally learn from their mistakes. Who knew that with a helmet to protect him, Glass Joe actually becomes formidable? This game is classic Punch-Out!! through and through, which is exactly what I wanted, and it also goes a long way in showing just how spectacularly awful Punch-Out pretenders like Facebreaker and Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution actually are.
Best PSP Game: Dissidia: Final Fantasy
After finding so few games that caught my interest on the PSP in 2008, 2009 was a breath of fresh air with a good assortment of quality games. However, none of them hooked me quite as much as Dissidia, the all-star Final Fantasy brawler. Dissidia takes heroes and villains from throughout the twelve main titles in the series and sets the stage in a story that, while something out of a fanfic writer's dreams, is actually fairly well told, making frequent references and call-backs to the games that each character appeared in. The combat is also a lot of fun, with characters flying around expansive arenas, stealing enough points from their opponents in order to do more damage as they unleash their attacks. The game also offers a fair degree of customization, with weapons, armor, and summons boosting and augmenting the characters' abilities in battle. The only thing that might have made the game even better would have been the inclusion of more characters beyond the primary heroes and villains, but I suppose there's always room for that in a Dissidia 2.
Best PS3 Game: Dragon Age: Origins
Weirdest Glitch of the Year: Watching a cutscene replay itself sans Flemeth's head. I'm generally not a fan of western RPGs for various reasons, though that's a conversation for another time. Dragon Age caught my eye for a couple of reasons. One is its high degree of D&D-ishness. Though the rule set may not be the same and the characters and world have no connection to the Forgotten Realms, Dragon Age is very much a new generation of D&D in video game form, and a fun one at that. The second thing that caught my eye was its gameplay, which takes inspiration from, of all things, the JRPG Final Fantasy XII. Though Dragon Age lacks polish (I've encountered several odd glitches here and there), there's definitely heart behind it, from the amount of detail put into the world's lore to the quality of the voice acting. The story in Dragon Age may not be the most original, but it's entertaining, and the amount of things to see and do in the game is absolutely staggering, even after embarking on a second playthrough.
Best Wii Game: Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Muramasa is a rarity among games today. Rendered with beautiful, painting-like 2D sprites and animation, it demonstrates that artistry in 2D game design is far from dead. Equal parts hack n' slash and Metroidvania, Muramasa presents two playable characters with unique storylines and boss fights, and each story can be played using two difficulty settings. The game is challenging without being frustrating, and its atmosphere perfectly evokes an era of a fantastic Japan through both its gorgeous artwork and Ignition Entertainment's decision to keep the game's voices in the original Japanese.
Best DS Game: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days has an odd title, but those that play the game should understand its meaning fairly quickly. A sidestory to the overall Kingdom Hearts narrative, the game explores the life of Roxas, first introduced in Kingdom Hearts II, during his days as a member of Organization XIII, who served as the antagonists in both KHII and Chain of Memories. The Kingdom Hearts style of action role-playing combat is translated well to the DS, and the game looks gorgeous, as is typical of Square Enix titles on the platform. For ease of portability, the game is thougtfully segmented into a mission-based structure, and the four-player local multiplayer is an absolute blast.
Best Game of 2009: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
In addition to the excellent single-player, the multiplayer is addictive and is javelin-glitch free. This was a tough call. I was very tempted to call Dragon Age my favorite game of the year, but for all the game has going for it, a few technical issues and gameplay choices ended up hurting it. 358/2 Days, by contrast, was fun from start to finish. While the story starts off simply, it evolves into something that is surprisingly touching with an ending that is absolutely heartbreaking. It's difficult not to feel for Roxas, who begins the game without any memories (not to be confused with amnesia) and needs to be taught the most basic things, from his tasks as a member of the Organization to what to do with his free time. There's something innocent about his desires that holds true throughout the course of the game, and when he finally does grow a spine, it's easy to root for him, to want to see him succeed despite his fate, already known to anyone that's played Kingdom Hearts II. 358/2 Days doesn't break any boundaries in its gameplay, and its narrative and characters may not be the deepest, but the game is a pure form of fun that made it my favorite game of the year.
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The JRPG genre is, like any other genre, rife with cliche. The spikey-haired teen hero. Amnesia. A game of repeatedly pressing X. Combat that hasn't evolved in a decade. Given recent heated debate on this topic (which is neither new, nor likely to go away any time soon), I thought it might be a good idea to revisit some noteworthy titles in the genre and see exactly how stereotypical they are. First up: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.
Basic Premise
The day starts off fairly normal, but the world goes straight to hell before your first random encounter. The story of Nocturne begins in modern-day Tokyo and puts the player in the role of a normal high school student who meets up with two friends in order to visit their teacher in the hospital. Things quickly go awry when they discover that the hospital is deserted, and the protagonist stumbles across a cult leader planning to sacrifice the teacher to bring about the end of the world. Except that the teacher is perfectly willing to go along with this plan. And the plan succeeds within the first half-hour of the game. The world is now nothing more than the twisted, demon-infested remains of Tokyo, the Vortex World. To make things more complicated, the protagonist is transformed into the half-human/half-demon creature that comes to be known as the Demi-Fiend.
The question Nocturne poses isn't how will the world be saved, but rather "Now what?"
Cliche Factor: Non-existent. Nocturne isn't a game about saving the world, but rather finding your place in a destroyed world preparing to be reborn, whether that be by shaping the new reality with the power of a Reason, or by forging your own path.
The Protagonist
The protagonist in Nocturne is a nameless teenager to whom the player can give a first and last name, as well as a nickname. As the Demi-Fiend, the few remaining humans fighting to establish their Reasons each want his help to fulfill their own agendas. He is allowed to follow any of those paths, or none, at the player's choice. He wields no weapon save his fists; his only equipment are the magatama, parasites that grant him stat boosts, elemental strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to learn new skills when leveling up.
Cliche Factor: The Demi-Fiend is definitely a "chosen one," in that a character chooses to transform him into the Demi-Fiend, but he was not born into his destiny. His equipment and skill growth are also unusual for the typical standards of the genre.
The Party
The player's party is composed of the Demi-Fiend and a cadre of demons that join his side through either negotiation or fusion. The character Dante from Capcom's Devil May Cry also appears as an optional party member, but none are of significant story importance. The player receives a Game Over only if the Demi-Fiend falls in battle. The large number of demons in the game ensures that no two players are likely to play through the game with the exact same line-ups.
Cliche Factor: The demon party member aspect in Nocturne is not entirely unlike Pokemon, but it's also a far cry from the rogue's gallery of standard RPG party member tropes.
The Combat
Combat Style: Turn-based
In Nocturne, pressing X until the victory screen appears is asking for death. Combat is predicated on understanding the elemental strengths and weaknesses of both the enemy and the player's party. Stat boosting/reducing skills don't reach their full effectiveness until multiple castings have been completed. Turns aren't strict one-and-done affairs, either, as effective exploitation of enemy weaknesses extends the player's turn. (Of course, the same holds true for the enemies.) The combat is also exceptionally brutal. Failing to take the Demi-Fiend's weaknesses into account can lead to a swift demise.
Cliche Factor: This game in no way subscribes to the notion of making victory as easy as pressing X until all enemies are dead. Even a random encounter can pose a significant threat if you aren't paying attention.
Final Thoughts
The girl in the first screen shot? Same person! Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is a prime example of how not all JRPGs are the same. While it does extend into a few familiar tropes with its main character, the overall premise is nothing like a standard save-the-world affair. Overall, the game is the antithesis of what is thought of as the stereotypical JRPG; the sword-wielding, spiky-haired hero out to save the world from an ancient evil. In Nocturne, evil is relative; not even the cult leader responsible for the apocalypse is as bad as some of the game's other characters. You can even side with him, if that's what you want. Its for reasons such as these that the game breaks free of the chiche mold and is one of the most unique RPGs on the PS2 or any other platform.
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Have any of you ever played a game that you were enjoying a lot, only to have something in the story basically ruin the whole thing for you? The gameplay is still okay, and you didn't run into any show-stopping bugs, but some plot point happened that you either found revolting or that just made you stop caring entirely?
I actually had something like this happen to me while playing Valkyrie Profile 2. I love the original Valkyrie Profile on the PS1. It's easily one of my all-time favorites and had a story and characters I found moving, even through the unconventional manner that the plot was told. I was absolutely psyched to play the second game when it came out. As a prequel, it promised to fill in a lot of the backstory regarding some minor characters and events that were only touched upon and left unresolved.
The game was a lot of fun, too. I burned through about fifty-some odd hours of it, revisiting cities and dungeons from the first game, meeting the new cast and seeing things unfold in some of the most breathtaking graphics I'd ever seen on the PS2. It was pretty much everything I could have asked for.
An antagonist from the first game manages to fuck up the timeline, making it so that the events of the first game never happen.
At first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but it soon became pretty clear. When I turned off the game, I actually went online to see if my fears were unfounded, but I only had them confirmed. I'm not sure how I felt. Betrayed, maybe? I loved the first game's story, and to see the developers do that to it just left me depressed. I couldn't bring myself to finish the game, and I have yet to even try the Valkyrie Profile DS game.
Have any of you been similarly stung by a game? How did you react to it?
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Last night, I finally beat Dragon Age after clocking in nearly 45 hours on the Human Noble origin path. The endgame is pretty damn awesome, even if the final battle turns into a goddamn clusterfuck. The game is filled with fleshed-out characters, incredible atmosphere, plenty of activities (and more than a few glitches). It was totally worth my time from start to finish.
But to go back to the very beginning, this really needs to be said:
Duncan, you are an asshole.
I mean really. Thank you, Duncan, for forcing my hand into joining the Grey Wardens and doing jack shit to help my parents. How absolutely generous of you to risk my life in the Joining only to do absolutely jack shit for me in return. The only reason I don't curse your name out loud is because Alistair is usually within earshot in my party and I actually think he's pretty cool. At least he cares about other people.
Someone linked me to a review for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days at gaygamer.net. It's not a website that I normally visit, but I've been playing and enjoying the game, and it's interesting seeing how the reviews have compared to each other. However, this review in particular is one of the worst I've ever read, and what's worse is the reviewer was completely open about slacking on the job. He didn't even come close to finishing the game.
I'll admit that I've stopped playing plenty of games in the middle because they were either not fun or too frustrating to finish. I'll also note that I respect the reviewer's opinion in his dislike of the game. Still, when write a review, you should make sure that you've finished it first. Don't give up five worlds in and slap a 4 out of 10 at the bottom just because you couldn't be bothered to finish it. If you review a game for an editorial website of any nature, I expect you to complete as much of the game as one could reasonably ask, whether that be beating the campaign and experiencing the entire narrative, playing through all of the modes in a fighting game as well as giving the online a fair go (if said online is actually operational), or playing through a season in a sports game. Don't just quit in the middle and call it good (or bad).
Do not trust the reviews posted on gaygamer.net. There are better sources out there.
I picked up Dead Space: Extraction yesterday, along with a copy of the PS3 version of the original Dead Space. I elected to start Extraction first since the game is shorter, and I'm interested to see if the horror in Dead Space is still able to hold weight if I play the prequel first. So far, I'm really liking it.
I'm about halfway through the game and playing on Normal difficulty. I refuse to call it the "guided first-person experience" EA's marketing reps tried to nail into our heads, but for a rail shooter, it's very advanced. The pacing and camera angles feel more like the movements of a person than watching something filmed on a steady-cam and there are more tools at my disposal than the basic strategy of gun ---> bigger gun ---> BFG. It's possible to slow enemies down by using a stasis attack, which really helps when dealing with crowd control even with its limited use, all weapons have basic and alternate fire which can be switch back and forth from by twisting the Wii Remote, and debris can be cleared and moved using the kinesis beam, which doubles as the tool for gathering weapons, ammo, and health. One of my favorite touches is the way that the audio logs are piped through the Wii Remote speaker; they come in clearly despite the speaker's low quality.
As someone that thoroughly enjoyed House of the Dead: Overkill earlier this year, Extraction is giving me more of what I want, which is a solid on-rails experience that benefits from being designed for a home console rather than being targeted as an arcade release. The story is well-told if stock horror movie fare with some standard character archetypes filling the lead roles, but the cast is likeable. I kind of wonder if Isaac in the original Dead Space will be as likeable given that his face is masked.
I imagine that it won't take me much longer to beat the game. Another evening or two in front of the Wii is probably all I'll need, but I'd say that this is definitely a game I'd play through again. I should also give the Challenge Mode a shot once I've beaten the story.
The game also comes with an unlockable six-issue Dead Space video comic book. The copyright attached to it is 2008, so I don't know if it was previously published in paper form, but it tells a story regarding other characters on the colony as sanity breaks down. It's interesting, but unfortunately the art has a lot left to be desired, and the voice acting isn't as sharp as that found in the actual game. Still, it's not a bad bonus earned for progressing through the game. I still have two chapters to unlock, so hopefully it ends with a bang.
Out of the cast of Street Fighter Alpha 3, my favorite character to play has always been Juli. Not exactly the strongest personality in Street Fighter, but her moves clicked for me more than other characters in the game. Still, given that she's not exactly a frequenter of favorite Street Fighter character lists, I can't say I ever expected her to appear in any other game beyond the odd Alpha 3 port or remix.
So today, word started leaking about some more of the characters to be included in the next edition of Street Fighter IV. One of the character names that I saw crop up was "Juri." Not exactly the same, but it's similar enough given the longstanding l/r translation issues from Japanese. Could it be? Did Capcom somehow randomly decide to put my favorite Alpha 3 character in Super Street Fighter IV?
Nope. Instead of my favorite of Bison's dolls, we're apparently getting a raver chick that's into Tae Kwon Do.
Huh. Well, all right. At least I didn't have time to get my hopes up. Also, she's a better inclusion than T. Hawk, at any rate. But god damn you, Capcom. You've created so many awesome characters, and then you come up with characters like this. :P
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I don't have to many other games for the rest of 2009 that I consider "must-own." I'm not into Modern Warfare at all, so no one should be shocked that it's missing from my list, but here it is:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
???
Yeah, I'm not exactly hyped on the big-name games this year. I am interested in Super Mario Bros. Wii, but the big guns I want from Nintendo aren't coming out until next year. For the next four months, it's pretty much going to be niche games for me.
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A Quick Look of the just-release hack-and-slasher Muramasa: The Demon Blade was posted on the site today. Aside from Ryan's inexplicable reluctance to find out what the B Button does, the video does a good job of showing just how pretty the game looks in motion. It's an excellent game and one of the best Wii games yet. From the time I've spent with it, I'd recommend it to anyone with the console. It's just a shame that any time a game like this comes along, there's always that group of knuckleheads that feels the need to post comments like these:
"I would play this if it was on PS3, PS2 or X360
No thanks to a Wii version though"
"Man, I'm really sold on this game but I don't think I'm ready to buy a Wii just yet... I wish it would come to 360 or PS3."
"If this was on XBL Arcade, I'd be willing to pay 15 bucks for it. But nothing makes we want a Wii."
"Can't help thinking that this should have been a downloadable PSN/XBLA game. Too bad."
"word, I want this game in HD."
I can understand not wanting it if it's not your cup of tea, or if you just don't have the time or money for it, or in general just don't have the interest. But seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you guys? The moment a Wii game that would appeal to a crowd other than the casual party game player comes out, you leap on it like a bunch of starving wolves, only to reject it for the fact that it's on a console you don't like, or you're too spoiled to play it in anything other than HD. What does it matter if it's in HD or not? It's a beautiful looking game in the resolution it was made for.
This generation has done nothing but produce a bunch of graphics whores of the worst kind. They ignore the beauty that exists in a game's art, pay more attention to hardware specs, and don't believe a game is worth a disc-based release if it's in 2D. Apparently, as consoles become more powerful, the people playing those consoles are becoming progressively dumber. It's depressing, really.
And I say all of this despite owning both a Wii and a PS3. Why should I ignore a fun game on one console because of some petulent desire to play it on the other? If a game is engaging and looks gorgeous on less-powerful hardware, why should I ignore it if I have the means to play it? Why should I announce to the world that I have no interest in the game if the sole reason is that it isn't on an HD console?
In other words, why should I make myself look like a hardware-elitist douche?
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