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InfiniteSpark

I'm an idiot.

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GOTY 2012

Here's my list of my favorite games of 2012. Unfortunately, I have not played many games that were released this year due to a myriad of reasons. The first half of the year I was concerned in whittling down my enormous backlog and playing whatever game I felt like tackling. The second half of the year has been dominated by one game, which is my top game of this year. I did manage to play the following games enough that I can confidently list for my list. It's been a tough year for me all around, not only in falling further behind with my gaming backlog, but dealing with a lot of stress from family and at work. Anyways, enjoy reading my list.

2012 Games that I have yet to play, or not played enough to form an opinion on: Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland; BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend; Borderlands 2; Code of Princess; Crashmo; Dance Central 3; Final Fantasy XIII-2; Forza Horizon; Joe Danger 2: The Movie; The Last Story; Mark of the Ninja; Need for Speed: Most Wanted; Skullgirls; Street Fighter x Tekken; Tales of Graces F; Tokyo Jungle; Twisted Metal; Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown; Xenoblade Chronicles

List items

  • Persona 4 Arena did what no other fighting game this console generation do, made me have fun playing a fighting game for once. I've gotten quickly frustrated with many other fighting games due to a myriad of reasons. Persona 4 Arena got it right by doing a few unique things to ease folks who are not big into fighting games play competently. It provides a simplified four-button system, followed by a short but easy to learn command list for each character as well as a few other unique tools (Burst) for the user to get into. But what set it off for me was that once I got comfortable with the game, I felt like I can actually not only compete against others, that I actually learned more about the game and somehow improved my play a little bit. [I don't think I'm that great in this game, rocking a 35% overall win percentage.] My love of the game increased as I participated in the number of Giant Bomb P4A events and made a few new social links with some fellow Bombers here. Oh, let's not forget the game's surprisingly long-winded but solid story. Here's hoping to a sequel of some sort? [Special Shout-Out 1: To FluxWaveZ for organizing all of the GB P4A events. They were so much fun to be involved in! Thank you! Special Shout-Out 2: To TheFakePsychic and IrrevelantJohn for their streaming services in these events! Special Shout-Out 3: To everyone I've come across playing this game. You guys and gals made my life a bit easier with all of the battles we had. Thanks!]

  • I am a fan of strategy RPGs and enjoyed the first Devil Survivor despite its flaws. I was a little nervous on what Devil Survivor 2 was going to bring to the table, but once all was said and done, delivered a much more enjoyable experience than its predecessor. I loved the little numerous tweaks Atlus did to make the battles, demon management, and difficulty progression. The battles are much more tolerable, demon management is streamlined with an easier UI to cycle through your demon compendium, along with faster auctions and fusions. Lastly, the difficulty level in DS2 feel more more gradual and fair than in DS1, where it spiked on the final day. The story is okay and the characters are a bit cliched, but I had a fun time thinking over every move I had to make in this game.

  • There is beauty is simplicity. By stripping the gameplay down to two buttons, Nintendo not only makes each mini-game much more tolerable to play, and as a result, more fun to play. All the player has to do is to hit the button at the right time. Gone are the times where you had to perform extra moves to count. Each mini-game has great music, fleshed with beautiful art and overwhelming charm. I kept coming back for more, even as far as trying to perfect some of these mini-games. Though I haven't played it in a while, the times I had with it were filled with so much joy that I can't help but catch its rhythm.

  • There is a point in everyone's life where the journey, not reaching the end point, is the highlight. Thatgamecompany's attempt to capture the rollercoaster emotions ride that a journey takes is quite ambitious, but they were able to capture that emotional essence of a journey well with this game. The presentation is beautiful itself, with gorgeous graphics and landscapes along with a amazing orchestral score, but the sudden appearance of a fellow journeymen really heightens the tension during the journey. Some folks will travel with many journeymen, others will manage to stick with one fellow all the way through. On my journey, I traveled with three men and managed to end the game with the final person I met. During those two hours, I was enraptured in my own journey. A short, sweet, beautiful, and enriching experience.

  • By the end of 2011, my love of singing through a microphone and playing on a fake instrument faded away. I love the Rock Band franchise and the constant DLC support Harmonix has provided throughout the franchise's life, but I couldn't get myself to play anymore due to the rhythm instrument bubble. What a way to breathe life back into the franchise by going back to your roots and crafting a fun game where you hit buttons in tune with actual songs on different highways which represent an instrument. I was a fan of Frequency and Amplitude and was excited to see Harmonix bring that style back here in the form of Rock Band Blitz. Hitting the blocks, switching lanes and using the various power-ups to attain the highest score possible. A neat twist to the RB franchise that has me going back to it again and again.

  • How much time have you sunk being stuck at one point of the many insanely designed tracks of Trials Evolution? How many of you at that time was half thinking that you can pass it one of these times and half thinking you should just yell at RedLynx on how hard it is just to pass this one point and quit? How the hell does RedLynx want me to go back to re-attempt that batshit stage just for me to get all stressed out again? How many times after you turn off the game, come back and laugh at yourself? Damn you RedLynx, you win.

  • What first seemed to be a strange idea turned out to be a surprisingly fun rhythm game. Compiling the numerous beautiful, lush songs from its long-running franchise, Square Enix creates an enjoyable game where you interact with it's songs through three well-crafted modes. Each franchise is equally represented with songs, characters, and enemies, along with a brief summary of the story along with movies and backgrounds of each game. But the highlight is the gameplay, which is represented in its three styles. Each mode presents their own fun challenge of tapping, holding, and swiping notes along to a movie backdrop, a journey, or battling enemies. Instead of just listening to a great Final Fantasy song, now you get to play along with it.

  • SSX is a decent game, it's not what I particularly expected. There are things that I like about this game, from the beautiful slopes, crazy tricks, a good sense of speed, and some fun peaks. However, the lack of competitive online along with some lame and frustrating peaks hamper what could've been an excellent game. I guess I was expecting more of what EA brought with SSX 3 with well-designed peaks and free roam, but that was not to be. Where the game shines, it really brings out what SSX supposed to be, where you utilize the entire peak to perform as many tricks as possible in that run.

  • Another game where I wanted to like a lot more, but the issues I had with this game relegate it to this spot on my list. Rhythm Thief sports a fun short adventure where you visit the numerous locales of Paris while playing through a number of different rhythm games. Most of the mini-games are fun, though there are a few that don't play out as intended (ARGH TILT RHYTHM GAMES). Unfortunately, the sudden difficulty spike with the game's final chapter rhythm games hampered my experience a bit. It's still a fun and solid game overall and those looking for a rhythm game with an adventure should give this game a try.

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