Man. 2012, right?
So I've compiled a list of games I've either played (or am looking forward to playing) in 2012. Most are actual games-wot-came-out-in-2012, although there are a few weirdos in the mix. This is primarily a place for me to keep notes to myself as I wander through this gaming year of our lord 2012.
The first Borderlands did something wonderful to my head. I installed it on my old-ass laptop and dropped all the graphical settings to ASCII, just so I could farm for loots on my lunch hour. Well beyond excited for the sequel this year.
So, yeah. When Diablo II came out, I think it took me the better part of two weeks to beat it once. On normal. Mind you, I was soloing a terribly-built Necromancer, but that's aside from the point. Flash forward to just over two weeks after Diablo III came out and I've beaten it twice and I'm already a quarter of the way through Hell. A lot of smart calls were made, here. I've come to really like the auction house. Bullshit DRM aside, this still holds up pretty well. We'll see how that plays out over the coming months, though.
Know what? Fuck it. I had a "2011 GAME ALERT" on this, but I'm pulling that. They're adding new content in 2012 and actually releasing a PC version, so it counts. 'Sides, I only got a PS3 for Xmas last year, so while the last week or so of 2011 was spent playing Dark Souls, I've lost entire months in 2012 to this game. So fnarf.
I doubt I'll be done with Dark Souls any time soon. I needed to take a break because I'm taking some part-time classes, but I look forward to sinking a bunch of time into it very, very soon. Maybe I'll even finish the first playthrough.
SO much affection for this game. Firaxis really knocked it out of the park, for me. Here's hoping for TFTD-themed dlc/expansion!
Man. Who saw this coming? Telltale's disastrous Jurassic Park game left me wary of this game. Plus, I was way more interested in dinosaurs than zombies. Still, the first episode has the distinction of being the first Telltale episode I ever played to completion.
I don't even know where to start on this, save to say that this is the kind of experience that makes me want to hug my computer. IT HAS IN-GAME BUTTONS THAT LINK TO WIKIPEDIA PAGES FOR FUCKING EVERYBODY. Of course, once I'd started to ease off on playing CK2, they release the wonderful Sword of Islam expansion. Plus, there's that Game of Thrones mod. It's really good.
As predicted, Journey got its hooks in deep. Already on playthrough 3. Terrific game.
Oh man. Man. MAN.
Oh holy fuck. How did this game get released in 2012? Beautiful graphics. Wonderful animations on those enemies. Runs on my laptop. Heavy exploration-based mechanics. A pervasive sense that the dungeon is literally working against you. I'm obligated to put the two loot-heavy games first because I'll probably play them the "most" out of all these other games, but Grimrock already feels like an old friend.
This one took me by surprise. I don't really care about Resident Evil lore at all. That said, the incoherent plot was balanced by how gorgeous this game looks on the 3DS. Plus, Raid mode is the first solid argument I've seen in favour of 3DS multiplayer being a totally viable feature. Great connectivity, minimal lag, active community, plenty of unlocks/loot. I'm very pleased. I may actually exhaust everything this game has to offer.
One of the most pleasant (and brutal) surprises of 2012.
This game is bananas.
I've played a bit of the beta so far. The addition of Arms Race was a wonderful touch. Great little low-impact team deathmatch that familiarizes me with the different weapons and how they handle before I go on to play Demolition more frequently. I was never a CSS zealot, so any of the changes they've made are a-okay by me. Totally fine with the smaller map sizes too.
It has a few rough edges and certainly doesn't stack up to the graphics of Resident Evil: Revelations, but the loot lust is still there. A nice little dungeon crawler to play at the gym. The online daily and weekly challenges that lead to Valor and better loot? A brilliant touch.
TrackMania, contrary to its kuh-raaaazy title, didn't actually drive me over the moon. It was still goofy good fun to kill some time here and there. ShootMania seems to fill that same niche. Even though I'm just drinking my morning coffee and faffing about in ShootMania, I'm still hopping up the global rankings. Sometimes a few changeable numbers is all a man needs. Mind, it took a while for the actual shooting to click with me, but I'm enjoying my time, against all reason.
Man. I don't even know where to start. I got a reasonable deal through Greenmangaming the week this launched. It's the only MMO I've been able to psychologically be okay with paying a monthly fee for. I know it has its problems. So far, it's still keeping me occupied, but I'm not convinced I'll be a longtime player. The starting area, though, has actually left me with some pretty positive feelings, and in spite of its MMO-trappings, it hasn't worn out its welcome yet.
This is probably the most I've ever played of a pre-order for beta access game. Looking at Soldak's forums, a lot of people are unimpressed, I suppose. As someone who sunk an ungodly amount of time into Operation: Inner Space when I was younger, I've been dying for something like this. An action "rpg" where your progress is articulated through ship upgrades, and a variety of factions to work with or piss on as you see fit. No base building, no researching, no resource gathering. Just diplomatic manipulation and shooting shit with lasers while scooting from solar system to solar system. I still can't tell if it was a bug in the early beta, where I bankrupted a race to the tune of $375k credits for just a single piece of technology I found in the vasty nothingness of space. What's more, even while they were being pummelled by the big bad (who I'd buddied up with) they loved me so much that they kept sending me cash that would've probably been better spent on, y'know, defenses. Since you carry your cash forward into other sessions, I'm rolling through like a rockstar. It's terrific.
Oh, my. So there's a whole lot more towns in this. Very different feeling from Diablo III, but I'm sure I'll spend some serious quality time with Torchlight II over the year.
I really hope that this comes out in 2012, though as the year wears on, I'm less and less convinced it will.
I've probably been playing this for nearly 3 years now, right? I think? The Red DLC sucked me back in for a few weeks. Still one of the most wonderful turn-based strategy games out there. I really hope the people working on the new X-Com have at least taken a look-see.
I'd largely abandoned Skyrim in December 2012 in favour of playing Dark Souls on my PS3. Dawnguard pulled me right back in, though. Yeah, okay, so the quests aren't super fleshed out, but whatever. A better skill tree for vampires is all I ask.
This one blindsided me. I've been off the 4X junk for a while, but I always knew something would pull me back in. The graphical direction for this game is something to cherish, and it runs great on my old-ass laptop. Yeah, it's still technically under development, but there are full-on releases that aren't as polished and enjoyable as this. Great factions, a wonderful UI, a terrific feeling that I kinda know what's up after only a few hours of play. Can't wait to see where this goes.
Man. Why the fuck didn't this happen to the Wii WAY earlier?
I'm no great fan of JRPGs. I'll provisionally be okay with them on the DS because what else am I gonna do? Still. After reading Tom Chick's terrific write-ups about this game, and hearing a lot of other great stuff, I took the plunge and got this. Very pleasantly surprised with the package they've put together here. A lot of terrific design decisions, plus a fascinating combat system. Don't even get me started on the crafting stuff. Fucking brilliant. Far and away one of the coolest games ever.
My fiancee and I have nearly played through all of Rayman Origins. If nothing more, this game has led to SO many high five moments (absolutely necessary when you're planning a wedding.) It truly is a wonderful achievement. I can't wait to see the Wii U Rayman game.
Fatshark did a fine job with Lead & Gold. Looks like Paradox is trying to get their next game, War of the Roses, to tap into the thriving (and INSANE) Mount & Blade crowd. Man. Executions are BRUTAL. Still has a lot of rough edges, but the act of stabbing dudes and blocking their sword swipes is super satisfying.
Not unlike FROM software's other offerings, there's a pretty daunting learning curve for this game. Still, the features and depth are absolutely fascinating. It's been so long since I've played a mech game at all, let alone any game that allows for this level of customization. As soon as I can find a populous online forum for AC designs and whatnot, rest assured I will follow that rabbit hole to its bitter end.
I don't know that this needs much more explanation. My fiancee and I blew two or three weekends last year just playing 1-on-1 games of MNC. Then we went online and realized the game that we liked was not the game that everybody else was playing. I'm pretty impressed by some of the decisions they've made, but so far, putting a ceiling on points for 1v1 games is frustrating. I get the business decision, but it's still annoying.
I'm happy to hear Max's gritty, purple narration again. The moments where you pirouette through the air and put lead through faces in glorious slow-motion are still there and as fun as ever. There's even the novelty of watching weird TV shows on occasion. The golden gun collectible stuff seems interesting, and the weight mechanics in multiplayer is a great touch. So, what's missing? Remedy's insanity. As grimy and filthy as the original Max Payne games were, there was an undercurrent of absurdity, of anarchic humour and a Lynchian cocked eyebrow over everything. Since Rockstar doesn't go as far with the grit as Remedy went with the weird, it's not quite a fair trade-off in my eyes. I'm still pleased it came out. Here's hoping Rockstar maybe takes a good hard look at some of the filmic influences from the earlier games, rather than try to superimpose Man On Fire onto the game. (I appreciate the fact that much of the game is also a sustained homage to that "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown" moment from Chinatown, but I almost wish they did more with that. Maybe actually had a mystery that someone, somewhere along the line actually cared about, convoluted and weird as it got.)
I don't really have a vested interest in the Persona franchise, beyond a reasonable curiosity. I watched a bit of the endurance run, but never did finish it. After hearing that this was an Arc fighting game, though, my ears perked up. Especially after my glowing experience with BlazBlue. Future Shop had a trade-in deal, so I got this for "free." Hopefully they'll get back in stock soon.
I played a lot of Spelunky on the PC. Not as much as some, but a pretty solid amount. I think I might've even made it to the ice caves (though, no shortcut - yet.) Playing on the Xbox is fascinating. I like the HD graphics, but the controls feel a little sluggish compared to the PC. It's still the frustrating, glorious experience I cherish, but it didn't get its hooks in quite as deep as the free version did. Odd.
Neat little Diablo clone. They riff HARD on Diablo, but their tweaks to the formula are significant and really create a very interesting experience.
I don't even know what to think about this quite yet. I'm a sucker for weird-ass online implementation and odd mechanics. I was sold when I realized I could just randomly throw a pawn over my shoulder and carry them around whenever I wanted. I fully anticipate doing weird-ass shit with this game.
So I got a 3DS in August of last year. This little title had more than its share of detractors, so I figured I'd get SFIV to satiate my fighting-game-on-the-go penchant.
Though, I didn't really enjoy playing Mortal Kombat on my reg'lar-ass DSi XL, so SFIV was kinda shelved. Then Amazon had a 5 games for $50 offer, ostensibly to clear out random stock. Kirby Mass Attack, Starfox 64 3D, Tetris Axis and Bit Trip Saga were all added to my cart without hesitation. Still needing a fifth to get over a hundred dollars in savings, so I added this. After spending a bit of time with it, I'm pleasantly surprised. What bugged me about the SF games is that they just include a barebones "campaign" mode and rely on multiplayer to keep the game going. Not being a huge fighting game aficionado, and not interested in months of losing, just to get better at a game. I really like the non-arcade game modes (even if I'm a little in the dark on what constitutes "depth" in abyss mode.) Obviously there's a lot of interlocking systems going on here, but having an actual move list on the bottom screen largely helps with some of that. (As opposed to the SFIV "HIT THIS BUTTON TO DO THAT THING" approach, which just felt weird.)
I don't know, there's a lot of features in there, and yeah, I know it's a down-res'd version of the arcade version or whatever, but it's still a pretty solid game. Again, I'm the only person I know with a 3DS, so the likelihood that I'm going to EVER play a multiplayer game is nil.
2011 GAME ALERT: I finally got around to getting this game in early 2012. Easily my favourite HoMM game since HoMM III, though admittedly I didn't play much of IV or V. Still, a lot of interesting metagame was added to the mix. Yeah, the DRM is execrable, and the fact that you can use achievement points to unlock other shit in the game is cool, but in no way mitigates the fact that Uplay is still a horrible idea. It's a shame that a really solid game is saddled with such crappy business decisions that only serve to punish me for wanting to be an honest customer.
Well isn't this lovely?
For better or worse, Arcen has once again created an experience you will literally not find anywhere else. I was part of the beta and have fiddled with it off and on since launch. I can safely say that Arcen actually HAS crafted something I'd like to play (rather than just admire.) But man is it a strange beast. There's still a lot of weird, uneven hijinks, but that's part and parcel with its procedurally-generated nature. The missions are nice touches. Exploration can get tedious, but the devs themselves warn people away from doing the Minecraft thing. There was also a moment of actual tension when I went diving in some "shallow ocean" territory and found a particularly dangerous (but lucrative) mysterious abandoned submarine? sunken UFO? I was running low on trash mobs to kill and get health back and didn't have any other methods of replenishing my HP. To go deeper, I'd have to fight some mini-bosses or schlep all the way back to the settlement for a heal.
There's a lot I haven't quite figured out, but that's to be expected. As time goes on, I fully expect that there'll be some weird interlocking systems added to pad out the rougher bits. For now, though, I'd say the game already doesn't deserve its super-low metacritic rating. I just wish the online connection stuff wasn't so wonky.
I loved the original Syndicate games. I'd play a new isometric one in a heartbeat. Starbreeze did a lot of things so, SO right with this title, though, it's hard to be too upset. Challenging campaign, satisfying co-op that is loosely inspired by original Syndicate missions, and while it doesn't capture those missions mechanically, on missions like the Atlantic Accelerator, it recreates the spirit of abject fucking chaos so perfectly it's hard to find fault.
Controls are a little fucked up. Not so much to absolutely make me hate the game - I mean, this style HAS been done before (still doesn't make it okay) but it makes me wish the devs could patch in extra support for the Circle Pad Pro to make the game a normal-ass shooter. The loot, the fusing, the storyline, the game world? All those things are fucking amazing. While it doesn't quite become the transcendent proof-of-concept Nintendo probably hoped it would be, it's amazing to see them step outside their comfort zone a little.
I spent a glorious weekend playing this in beta. I'm really looking forward to getting back into it on a semi-regular basis.
Okay, so no 2012 release. Bummer. Looks like this is for-sure coming out in the new year though, so colour me stoked.
This one is generally on my list to remind me to check back periodically to see if the move lists have been patched in. I was super excited for this for a while, but after playing for about a half an hour, that enthusiasm really dwindled. I figured it was because of a flagging interest in the fighting game genre on my part, but after being enthralled by BlazBlue for the 3DS and hotly anticipating Persona 4 Arena, I'm not convinced this is the case. I think, if I could point to the singular let-down of 2012, this might be it for me.
Provisionally excited for this game. I was very pleased with the first Darksiders. Apparently this is going to be a different experience, but still. If it's loot-driven, I could be persuaded to love.
So far this seems like a kinda flat FPS. I'm hoping that, once they get some integration with EVE Online, it'll pick up its weirdo factor.
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