Sometimes I use my “Other Games” lists to mention bad or mediocre games that I nevertheless want to say something about. For 2007’s “Other Games” list, we have a group of largely amazing games with nary a bad game in sight. Some of these games nearly made the “Favorite Games” list, but weren’t included for one reason or another. Basically, these are all games worth taking a look at.
I wonder about BioShock. The Big Diddy is such an iconic enemy, the “big twist” had the desired shock on me and many others, and Rapture is atmospheric as hell. And yet, I enjoyed BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite more. Both made sensible improvements to the combat, and I loved BioShock 2’s surprise moment more.
I previously wrote about the difference between being a good adventure and a good game, and the distinction works here. BioShock will be remembered more because it provided a great, unique (at the time) adventure, but isn't as great of a game as the sequels.
I can’t explain how Carcassonne plays. It’s a world divided into spaces and you place stuff like castles onto the spaces, and at the end the game tallies how much stuff you have… Can’t explain it, but I loved it. Microsoft gave this game, an adaptation of a board game by the same name, for free, if I recall correctly, and I dismissed it because most games that Microsoft has given to players for free have been generally mediocre. I decided to give Carcassonne a chance sometimes after and fell head over heels. This was a strong year for gaming, so it didn't make the cut for “Favorite Games.”
Despite adding a tutorial to this version, Final Fantasy Tactics on PlayStation Portable is quite unfriendly to new players. The mechanics aren't explained well enough, and the challenge is high from the start – arguably unfairly considering the low strength of your characters. It’s as if the game is saying, “Learn to play strategically or just stop playing.”
But once you get behind that hurdle and adapt to the game, it’s pretty enjoyable, if still challenging. (Random encounters are your friend, so get grinding.) The class system is plenty deep, and the story for what I played was fine (and understandable thanks to a new translation), so it earns its reputation as a cult classic.
Radiant Dawn is another solid addition to the Fire Emblem line-up. I have some complaints about the over-simplification of the support system, visuals, and (thankfully limited) voice acting. Still, the established combat is still fun, and the story jumps between perspectives to tell various conflicts from different angles, which is cool.
My big complain is that I didn't develop my characters correctly, so when I reached the final boss, I couldn't do jack shit. This boss is completely surrounded by a shield that takes several strikes to destroy. Meanwhile, you’re being attacked by a powerful beam that covers a decent portion of the battleground. And assuming your characters survive that, destroying the shields, and knock the boss down to low health, unless she’s hit by a specific character, the boss doesn't die.
And that’s why I never beat Radiant Dawn. I just YouTube’d the ending, because I wasn't interested in hitting my head against the same wall over and over.
I really want whoever is responsible for Virtual Console games on Wii U to throw Final Fantasy III (VI) onto it, because I want the “definitive version” in HD. Going by what I hear on the internet (and you should ALWAYS take what you hear on the internet seriously), by playing the GBA port, I actually played the inferior option. It’s portable and has a better translation, but the audio is worse and the battle system has some weird issues, I think, that inflict all of the Final Fantasy ports on GBA. Or at least the ones that use the Active-Time Battle, I guess?
For whatever it’s worth, I enjoyed Final Fantasy VI on GBA, but apparently I shouldn't have. Or not as much as I would if I had played the SNES version, so says the internet.
There’s no shortage of F-Zero GX fans on the internet, I've found, thanks to the almost-too-fast speed and detailed visuals, but you’ll find me instead championing for its predecessor, F-Zero X. It doesn't have the greatest graphics (to put it extremely nicely) and fastest speeds (though it’s still pretty damn fast), but I thought the stages were better and the music was better. Also, the lack of Death Race in GX is pretty damning. That mode was so awesome, and in the world of online leaderboards, I can see Death Race being quite popular.
My frustration with Guitar Hero III can be best viewed by looking at the character Judy Nails. In Guitar Hero II, Judy Nails was a tomboy with a bit of a punk-rock edge, but when Neversoft took over, Judy Nails showed a lot more skin and a lot more attitude, which took away from the charm of the character. (Only with Band Hero, aimed at a younger crowd, did Judy Nails look closest to her original style.)
Similarly, Guitar Hero III felt like it was trying too hard to be edgier than its predecessor, both in difficulty (who could forget the insanity that was “Through the Fire and Flames”?) and style. It was clearly another developer taking control, seeing what came before, and going unnecessarily far, ESPECIALLY in difficulty. But apparently it worked because Guitar Hero III was among the best-selling games of that year.
I like the Halo universe fine, but dislike Master Chief’s story with each installment. I give Bungie credit for not trying to wrap up the trilogy (back when it was a trilogy) too quickly, but… I recall a scene in which a character dies and it just felt off. There was no drama because I was never emotionally invested in the character, but I was clearly supposed to be feeling something. Yet the pace felt a tad too quick, like how I imagine a B-level antagonist would be killed off as. It’s a strange scene, and that extends to a certain degree to the entire story.
But the rest of the game is wonderful. Multiplayer continued to be a joy, and the ability to modify maps was a great addition. And I want to give Bungie credit for the colorfulness of the world, a delightful contrast to the black, gray, and browns that populate the industry even today.
I don’t consider Mass Effect to be that great of a game. It tells a fun story and presents a great world, but when it comes to shooting, I prefer a little less influence from the RPG side. And by that I mean when I place the reticle square on an enemy, I don’t want a behind-the-scenes calculation based on the amount of points I have invested in a type of firearm to cause me to miss. I had the same in Morrowind, when I would miss with my sword despite standing directly in front of the enemy.
That’s what an RPG is, right? You’re mediocre or even bad early on, and improve as the game continues. True, and the amount of times you miss because of the RPG side isn’t great. I just like a little more “shooter” in the shooting than “RPG,” which is exactly what I got from the sequels.
Passage, an indie game released in the early days of the iOS App Story, is a five-minute journey through one man’s entire life, representing through the simplest terms. It isn't much of a game, but as a piece of art, it’s surprisingly touching in a way only a five-minute piece of software on your phone can be. So what happens once the five minutes are up? Well, the man reaches the end of his life, and he’s replaced with a gravestone, obviously.
The original Rock Band is an obsolete piece of software, existing only to allow players to import its set list into sequels. It does nothing that wasn't improved later. It gets a mention because, at the time, it was phenomenal. The industry has seen games with guitars and drums and singing, but not together and not done so well. I loved it as much as I love what came after, and for that, it gets a mention.
My friends and I played too much Twisted Metal 2 when it was originally released. How do I know? Because now that it’s just me, I realize how much better at the game my friends were than I am. I can barely reached Paris, the third level, on the PSN version, but we used to reach the end together on PS1. We’d reach the streets of Hong Kong and mock Dark Tooth’s ridiculous dialogue (“I want my little clown boy back!!!”) before smacking him back into the ground. Now, without the same friends always close by (we lived on the same street), I can’t even reach Minion.
