So in this post-Christmas time, I picked up a few games that decidedly fell into the Elijah category, in addition to other things I played, but cut in the interest of making my top 10 list contain 10 items. And, being bored enough to want to write things about them, I figured what the heck, let's write about them. These are in no particular order.
What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? Truly a fantastic strategy game, well deserving of overall game of the year from this fine establishment. I can't possibly come up with a new way to say "This game is great."
This game. This deceptive, deceptive game. Yes, it demos poorly, but man, when you actually play it, everything clicks into one of the most clever, twisted, and dark tales of the year. And I expected nothing less from the creators of World of Goo.
While the single player is definitely solid-though-not-mind-blowing, playing this game multiplayer is where it really shines. The speedlist system is one of the most amazingly chaotic things I've played in years, but man, when you get a group of people going, everything just clicks into the best multiplayer driving in years.
Okay, the voice acting is rather terrible and the last handful of rhythm games are BRUTAL. But the cast of characters are memorable, the rhythm games, while difficult, are still fun, and the rather jaunty treasure hunting story never failed to entertain. And maybe I'm just biased because the main character looks like me. And Charlie is pretty awesome.
If ever there was an early contender for my 2013 2012 game of the year, this would be it. The fast, frenetic action, combined with some of the best UI design, and ENTIRELY TOO MUCH CONTENT mirrors a lot of other games from developer Masahiro Sakurai, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Combine that with a script that's genuinely hilarious, and you have a surefire winner for me.
Let it be known that I love Nifflas games (except FiNCK, but you can't win 'em all). Knytt Underground's atmosphere simply can not be beat, and simply exploring this ambient paradise is just relaxing fun that I can't wait to continue with.
After the bad taste left after playing Double Dragon Neon, I thought the sidescrolling beat-em-up genre was dead. Luckily, Code of Princess came along and taught me to love again. Breaking everything down into Peace Walker style missions was a genius play, keeping the gameplay from getting too monotonous. Plus, another game with genuine humor in it. I like this trend, let's keep it up.
While I'm not one for the user-created levels here, the main progression in Sound Shapes never ceased to be fascinating. From the downright surreal Beck levels, to the low-key, dark urban style of the Jim Guthrie levels, each level was a new experience, held tightly together with responsive controls. In short: This game is fun and has good music.
Being a bit late on the Alan Wake train, I went in hot off the heels of finishing Alan Wake for the first time. And man, this one plays a WHOLE LOT better! Plus, this is just personal opinion, but I like the southwest setting a lot more than the Washington-area forest. While it lost some (not all) of the psychological thriller-ness of the original, it picked up a pulp anthology series vibe that kept it fresh and fun, despite what is a fairly lazy twist, design wise.
