I really liked Steamworld Heist a lot, and think more people would like it if they gave it a shot. The variety of functionality between the characters was probably my favorite part, as they all felt like they had their place. I also appreciated how streamlined the game felt. As you mentioned each mission feels deliberate, and you usually get something meaningful out of it. There's not much filler, and I felt like every time I sat down to play it I had a good time. It may not be the "deepest" tactical game ever made, but it had enough going on to keep my interest throughout, and even a few clever new ideas of its own. Just a fun, well-made game :)
@slag: Thanks!! Sorry for the delayed response- life's been super busy lately!
I might counter and say you've lost it if you think FF13 is better than FF2 ;) I kid of course, but I genuinely like FF2 more than 2 or 3 of the other games on this list. I thought it had some cool ideas, even if it didn't always work perfectly, and was ultimately more enjoyable than the long slog that made up most of FF13. I'll take a game that tries some neat things but is a bit of a mess, over something that's just long and dull any day :) (I also think FF13 was as much a chore to play, in a different way.) That said, I think most people would agree (as I do) that both FF2 and 13 are closer to the bottom of this list.
One of the cool things about FF is that the games are different enough that personal taste plays a big role. We realized it was hard to truly argue a lot of the games because certain games clicked with different people in drastically different ways. Take FF8 for example; some of us got really into dissecting that game's narrative, while others never picked up on any of it. Therefore some people loved the game and some hated it. Other games had similar love/hate dynamics for gameplay reasons. Almost every game on this list had some drastic split, and it was hard to say any stance was invalid (contrary to our Mario ranking, where someone said Mario Galaxy is a bad game- clearly that's wrong). I think it's a fun series to chat about.
By the way, I sent Stephanie your compliment. That made her happy :P
I really wanted to like Owlboy a lot more than I did, but I think my final impressions mostly line up with yours. I loved, loved the art style and music, and thought the story was effective as well. But the feel of the game never quite clicked with me in a way that's hard to describe- it feels just "off" enough to make the act of playing it not as smooth as it could be. The game is also a little all over the place with its gameplay style. It even tries to throw mediocre (at best) stealth sequences, which felt totally out of places. And the difficulty curve was rough too. I'm glad I played it, and enjoyed it overall, but it's hard not to see where it could have been a lot better.
@danielkempster: We definitely talk about FFXV a lot, but I don't think we have too many spoilers, oddly enough (maybe because there's not a lot of meat to that game's plot). I know we name-drop the primary villain, which is some level of spoiler, but we don't expand on that any. Otherwise, unless I'm forgetting something our story talk for FFXV is mostly relegated to the dynamic between the four primary party members. We talk a lot more about that game's combat, for better or worse...
Our spoiler talk for this thing was all over the place in general; we didn't avoid them, but didn't seek them out, so different games are spoiled to different degrees. In the case of FFXV, if you want absolutely no spoilers then maybe avoid, but if you don't mind a few lighter spoilers it shouldn't be a big deal. Anyway, if you get around to listening, I'd be curious on your thoughts! :)
Man, I really liked N++ a lot. I was a fan of the original N back in the day, but I think this second sequel really rounded out the entire package. It's such a huge game as you point out, and I worked my way through a darn good number of levels, and never got tired of it. Just became a time issue, but part of me would love to go back and try and beat my head against those later, harder levels some more. I also really like how they expanded the multiplayer (both co-op and competitive) and level creation parts of the package.
Anyway, I think this was a game that was sorely overlooked at the time. It may be simple, but for challenging platformers, I'm hard-pressed to think of many better ones. I think it just controls super tightly, has so much content, and I even like its look and style a lot.
Nice write-up Mento! I liked Ori a lot, my biggest issue being the way it blocked off some collectibles in the original version, which I played. I missed a single item in the entire game, but it was in one of those sections. Yes, I'm still bitter about it. Nice to hear that the Definitive Edition may have fixed that. I also liked that the game was challenging, which most, um, SpaceWhippers are not. It never felt as hard to me as some seemed to think, but it definitely made you work for it.
Have you played any more since this write-up? If so, do you still hold it in such high esteem?
By the way, don't be surprised if I comment on some more older posts over the next few days. I've been super busy the past so many weeks, trying to catch up on stuff I missed here and there ;)
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