Welcome back to another week of gaming goodness. With a smidge of bad too since I can’t like every game. At this point can I really call this a retrospective? I’m kinda just recapping the games that caught my eye this year more than waxing on about how it has a neat gimmick or still holds up so many years later etc. No reason to change the title at this point through. Time to see the start of the present timeline with the other two consoles that make up the trifecta.

PS4

After the PS3 being my main device to play video games it isn’t surprising that the PS4 continued that tradition. I’m sure the story that was being told helped lead me in that direction plus that is where my friends play too. It may have not had the big graphical leap we are used to but it still has the majority of games I like to play. The gamepad is actually the biggest leap with it being my favorite one to use. If only PSN could match the speed of XBL this console would be even better.

Xbox One

I didn’t see a reason to get a Xbox One year one but I just couldn’t stay away. Collecting all the consoles is eventitible for me. Every console has its exclusives and I just have to be able to play them all. It isn’t a huge list but it does add up over time. Another thing I like about consoles is that they will continue to play every game in its catalog till it becomes outdated. Looking like we are getting to an iffy area where that might not be true soon.

2013

A new leaf has turned over and a new mayor has been elected in the world of Animal Crossing. Not much has changed in the daily routine. As new resident of a town you’ll need to fish/dig and buy your way to a bigger house. Nook will continue to build onto the house till it turns into a mansion. As ever his overall goal is to continually rob the player of all their hard earned bells. Not even the honorary mayor is above his influence after all. Yet as the mayor it is possible to build things to make your town look unique along with a few policy changes like making shops stay up late. I may have a soft spot for the first animal crossing but this might just be the best game in the series so far.

Games made by Examu tend to have a same artype with how they are made. At least going by the two games I bought that were both fighting games based on visual novels. Both games have a story more and then a alternate story mode. The story is loose at best with the only plot being that a bunch of characters get put into a situation because someone decides to do something stupid. Each of the different fighters are unique and the simple nature of the special moves makes it easy to jump in at any time. Which is great for me since I like to jump in a play through with one character and then come back at a later time to check out another fighter. The additional mechanic of giving the attacker/defender a buff for doing well is nice. Keeps each fighting going at a breakneck pace.

I may have a lot of Game Boy games but I did miss a few that I ended picking up on the 3DS/Wii eshop. Avenging Spirit is a run of the mill action platformer with a twist. The player character is a ghost that can possess other people. At the start he was killed but decides to use his newfound powers to rescue his girlfriend from the rival gang. Each of the different playable characters has different jumping arcs and a different attack. For example a ninja has a high jump and can throw shurikens. While the gangster has slow but powerful bullets with a small jump. Surprisingly this even has a good and bad ending too. Overall a short game that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Yup I never played Balloon Fight till they released it on 3DS as part of the ambassador program. That seems like a travesty because I like Joust so much. This game is pretty much just a variations on that style of game. Pop evil ballooners by bonking them on the head to obtain a bunch of points. A alternate mode of play called balloon trip is pretty much a endless runner where the goal is to survive. I kinda think this works a lot better on a mobile device than if I owned the NES version.

The one thing Bioshock always does well is set up a alternate history that is believable if someone went all out on a project. While the first two games set up a city that was already in decay Infinite shows off Columbia in its prime. Both the good and bad side of a city in the clouds is made apparent before Booker even gets a gun. Once the player does get a gun and some virgors the main gameplay mechanics have improved over Bioshock. Running around dodging attacks and grinding on rails becomes a fun time. Between moments of wonder and mystery as the deeper Booker goes the more things become unclear. By the end the ending will surprise you too. The gameplay may be more compelling but the story of Columbia and all of its residents is still the highlight.

This is one those hallmark examples of a good premise that ends up being really effective. All you needed to know is that two brothers must travel across the land to find a root to help their father. As the player you will be controlling both of them at once. Each one has different skills and weaknesses making the puzzles diverse and unique as the game goes along. It did take a bit getting used to controlling them both at the same time but after a while it becomes second nature. By the end of the game it becomes a rewarding experience that was certainly worth playing.

It is absolutely amazing that in 2013 I could actually care about a Call Of Juarez game. Which was thanks to making the gunplay quick and about getting combos. Especially in the arcade mode it comes down to quickly moving through the level accurately shooting everyone who stands in the gunslingers way. Figuring out where all the enemies will come from is part of the challenge. If you manage to get a full clear it is very satisfying. Even the story has a unique twist with a old man recalling his previous adventures to some bar partratos. Making a few points in the story change in real time depending on what he said happened. If you never played this it is worth checking out.

Honestly I kinda wish this game spent more time with Naomi dealing with the fact that she can’t remember her best friend Seiko after the Heavenly Host incident. The intro video really sells that plot so freaking well. Kinda sucks that the game is spent just telling mini stories instead. Although getting some backstory to the characters is good too. The game itself is now mainly a visual novel with a few adventure game elements. In some ways I made the first episode in this more compelling by thinking it was Naomi revisiting Heavenly Host over and over again in her mind. If only that was true instead of it just being a what if story.

This is one of the very few times that a bad game can be enjoyed because of the story instead of the gameplay. Seeing the next plot point or wacky resident of Greenvale is worth trudging through the sub par shooter elements. I don’t find anything wrong with shooting shadows but it does become boring after a while. With this being the director's cut they added a few new scenes that don’t do much other than set up that someone is telling a story to someone else. Oh well FBI agent Francis York Morgan being a strong protagonist keeps the mood light. Not quite knowing what is truly going on keeps the player intrigued too and I’m sure the fact that this was an obvious reference to Twin Peaks helped make it more memorable.. More than anything else this made me a fan of SWERY and whenever his name comes up I have to check out whatever he is working on.

I kinda feel like I’m a easy player to please. All I really need is some nice 2D artwork and some basic moves. Vanilliaware made a beat em up and that was pretty cool in my opinion. I do like that the game has AI partners to replace other players since they are pretty useful at this point. I highly doubt that many people are playing this right now. As for the game each playable character has a different style of fighting. In my case the Elf is about quick attacks up close and far away it is all about shooting a ton of arrows at the enemy. I ended up leaving off after competing all the levels it expects the player to go back through each level to collect keys to the final boss. Not sure how much I like that aspect but it did give me a reason to replay levels multiple times. Plenty of hidden rooms in each level too if you want to find the real loot. Oh yeah this is a loot game and better gear makes the numbers that pop off enemies keep going up.

I just liked this game because it was obviously referencing Dragon Warrior in the first chapter. Plus a bunch of other RPG’s too. The humor filled story was quite amusing at the time. By now this kind of thing is commonplace so it most likely doesn’t work as well. Yet it is so short by the time it gets annoying the game is over.

The Dungeon & Dragons arcade games were high priced beat em ups that only came to the Sega Saturn. So when it was announced that they were being ported I was hyped to be able to play them again. Like a lot of other beat em ups these were part of my arcade experience. They hold up the best too thanks to the leveling system and the alternate stage setup depending on which way the player decides to go. The cavalcade of collectible items/magic that you could use was a nice addition too. Making this one of the best beat em ups of all time.

The dumb B movie plot and visuals is why EDF works so well. Taking down hundreds of ants as they ragdoll everywhere works better than it should. With overacting of the VO during the missions adds to the atmosphere so well. None of the missions overstay their welcome plus this game has a metric ton of unlockable weapons. It is also made to be replayed over and over again. Continually ramping up the difficulty till it is almost impossible. Kinda sad that this looks just as good on vita as it did on the 360. In the end this was a budget priced fun time that held up over time.

A turn based strategy game is rather rare in these yearly recaps other than Disgaea. I was curious about Fire Emblem for a while since I played some of the previous games yet never bought any. With Awakening it seemed like they were trying something new while still sticking to what made it unique. The fear of losing a unit forever is a big aspect of this game. Even if all it did was make me want to perfect every map. Even though I had it on the new mode where you can’t lose anyone I can’t seem to break that habit. As for the game it is a turn based strategy game where using the strength of all your units is key to victory. Knowing who to pair up or the weakness of each unit is important. Running into a battle without a strategy is a great way to lose this game. To bad like the rest of the series I stopped playing it mid way through the story.

A game starring a luchador isn’t something you see often. The fact that it is also a metroidvania just makes it better. Between the fitting music and the combo system this was one of the few games I ended up playing through 4 times. It was just that good. The combat may be rather basic but it does let me do crazy combos without much skill other than knowing when to dodge. Comboing a room full of enemies without getting hit is always a fun time no matter what kind of game it is. The bright visual style is also a notable aspect of the game too. Which is something Drinkbox has always been good at in every one of the games they developed. I’m always excited to see what they put out next.

Welcome to the psychedelic murder simulator that makes you feel good. That’s a horrible thing to say but Hotline Miami is a very good puzzle game. The action may be constant but it really is up to the player to figure out the best way to complete each level. More than most games the music really sells what is going on in front of your face. Piecing the narrative together with what hints are given out is neat. The vague nature of everything is why that part is so compelling. Even now I want to keeping playing this after starting a new playthrough. It just goes to show how effective this game is at making the player just want to see one more mission.

This might be one of my favorite fighting games to play. Getting big combos doesn’t take much and it looks real cool. Linking normals into specials usually takes very specify timing and for someone that tends to play all the characters with very little time spent on just one I never tend to learn much. So the fact it is possible to mash my way into some neat combos without a lot of practices is neat. I know I’m not good at any fighting game but I do like it when the game gives me the tools to look cool. This was pretty barebones when it released but now it is very much a fully featured fighting game. Plenty of single player content to keep me busy for a while.

Like the PS4 my choices for the kind of launch game and I ended up buying a FPS. A easy choice since the rest of the library wasn’t that great. Even this is just a adequate shooter. It does what it aims to do well with the biggest noteworthy fact that it looks much better than before. The start of the story is just set up to make the main character want to get back at the Helghast because they’re evil. Then by the end end it isn’t quite so simple etc. The setup is just a reason to shoot through a bunch of places. In the end this was just a inbetween game as I waited for more interesting games to start showing up.

Some of the best HD remakes were thanks to how good the games looked on PS2. Kingdom Hearts already looked nice before but upping the resolution just makes everything look crispier. Although this was a combo pack of Kingdom Hearts games the original one is the one I liked the most. Adding in the card system to Chain Of Memories just made me want to stop playing after a while. 356 days is just a movie that gives some backstory to the nobodies. At this point it kinda looks like I’m putting random words together that have no meaning unless you’ve played these games before. Yet on the base level I like this series just because it mixes Disney with Final Fantasy. Nostalgia for Disney may be a curse but I don’t mind.

Why doesn’t more games use dynamic music? Kicking in some lyrics to pump up the already awesome moments in this game and make them even more memorable. It really is a reminder that good music can make moments have more of an impact. Whenever Raiden isn’t cutting a metal gear in two the fights with the normal enemies are stylishing looking too. It is a standard action game with some cool mechanics like being able to counter attack by also attacking at the same moment. Makes those action scenes look even cooler if you master the combat. This really is one of the games that explains why Platinum games is loved by a lot of people.

Not much has changed from the last Mighty Switch Force game. The main difference is that setting has been changed. Instead of being a cop this a firefighter themed. Mostly just means you’ll be putting out fires and monsters while rescuing the 5 trapped people in each stage. I consider this to just be a expansion pack since they didn’t add anything other than the gun being a water hose. Which is used to put out fires in each level otherwise the swapping puzzles are exactly the same. I was disappointed they didn’t think up new kinds of puzzles. Still a well made puzzle game even if it didn’t add anything new.

Not having access to a gamepad anymore apparently won’t let me start this game up. This first game really impressed me but a lot like the previous game in this list the sequel didn’t seem that great. It’s weird but the fact this had more games that I never played made it more interesting.The gist of these game is challenging the player to a small section of each video game. Like getting a mushroom in Super Mario or dodging a bunch of barrels in Donkey Kong. The best part of the game doesn’t get used that often. Mixing in one game to another one like putting Link into Super Mario Bros is cool.

In every way but the name this is A Link To The Past 2. The world of Hyrule is set up exactly like the SNES game. At first that might sound like a rehash but the new ways to tackle dungeons makes this game even better. A new evil has decided to invade hyrule a evil painter is turning the descendants of the seven sages into paintings. Link must pick up a sword and set off on a adventure to banish evil. The biggest new aspect of this game is the fact you can tackle any dungeon in any order. Because a salesman named Ravio lets Link rent out any of the items that are normally scattered around a dungeon. He can also swap into painting form on any wall which adds some new kinds of puzzles to figure out too. Overall this was one of the best Zelda games that I’ve played in a while.

The HD version of Wind Waker looks really good. They didn’t need to do much to make this look great since the original was impressive when it was released. Although I say that about most cel shaded games that have come up on this list. The big hook for this release was the sailing. Traveling the ocean to rescue his sister is Link’s goal at first. Afterwards it becomes about defeating a great evil that has been trying to take over what is left of the world. So it's really just another Zelda game whenever Link is on land. With a lot of exploration possible while on the high seas. A good combo that made this another landmark hit for series.

2013 was the year of Luigi according to Nintendo. Which allowed Luigi to go back to his ghost busting ways. Instead of just one mansion he now must go through 5 different mansions. Each new room may have new ghost to suck into the poltergust 3000 or some type of puzzle to figure out like using fire to burn web. The only thing I miss from the original game is that the unique ghosts have been replaced entirely by a generic list of normal ghosts that’ll keep coming up till the end. It might might have everything I would have wanted from the original game but it did still hit all the rights notes to make a spooky adventure.

My thoughts on this game are the same as the review I wrote. I’m fine playing a 30-50 hour RPG if the story keeps changing or the gameplay makes it worth the time. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team does neither of those things. Rehashing what they did before in Bowser's Inside Story seems to be the goal of this game. Oh look Luigi can grow humongous or hey a whole other world is explorable in a dream land. They did both of those things before and the humor is not on point this time. Sure the game is adequately made. I just wish it had some of the flair to back up the battle system that can still be fun in a better game.

After having almost no representation of the top down shooter for a while I figure it might be worth bringing this one up. Not that this one does anything of value other than being a over the top anime shooter. At some point it became common to have a character shooting a bunch of lasers at enemies. Not sure why but the action is solid. Bullets are constantly being fired and with the help of some magic it is possible to dodge them all. If you do everything right it feels pretty awesome.

I think the art style is the thing everyone remembers about Ni No Kuni. A game that looks like a studio ghibli film doesn’t come around often. Hard to not remember the likable Mr Drippy with his very distinct Welsh accent. The game is basically a 3 way Pokemon match but the fights are in real time. Options are still chosen on a menu that then get acted out. Which works for a while but after a while I got bored by the combat. The story about saving a world was rather generic and it didn’t keep me hooked enough to finish it.

In some ways the original Pilotwings works better than the sequel. The muddy 3D graphics in 64 have been replaced with nice looking 2D artwork. Somehow the hang glider controls better in this game since I managed to land the target in the first try. At the same time it is harder to judge how close the vehicles are to the ground in this game. Overall I’m glad I got to play this even if it was 12 years since it was first released on the SNES.

Capcom decided to change up this visuals this time. Instead of 2D artwork every character now has a polygonal models. The style has been kept so all the animations look like they came from the older Ace Attorney games. Not much has changed from the last game the main goal is still to prove that someone who has been blamed for a murder is innocent. To do that Wright and company will need to explore crime scenes and uncover the truth by cross examining witnesses. A new character named Athena has a gadget that lets her see emotions. Using that to find new clues is a nice little addition. Still mainly the same game as before with new cases to solve. That is really all I need.

It took over 10 years for Nintendo to finally create a 3D polygonal Pokemon game. The new graphics gave the aging series a fresh look that brought back some fans. Yet it is still classic Pokemon game. Now it just looks a lot better if you don’t prefer 2D pixel art. This ended up being the game that I put a lot of time into but didn’t finish it off. I had 7 badges but I guess some other game got my attention. More than anything else I feel like this was also the first game in the series to promote online components at all times. Before they were relegated to pokemon centers but now it is possible to jump into a game with a friend at any moment. Trading with others is a lot easier too making it possible to get Pokemon that are hard to find easier. Overall a good game that did a lot to get me interested in this series again.

I didn’t know that I wanted a way to play a bunch of recreated pinball games till this game was released. For the kind of game this is the fact I own a physical copy seems kinda silly. As the name implies this a bunch of pinball tables. They are based on the real thing like the Star Trek The Next Generation table. Compared to Zen pinball I prefer the physics of the pinball in this game. Not sure if I’ll ever buy any more tables since the first season covers just about everything I would want to play.

Although I covered the sequel first I got interested in this game when I watched a let’s play of it. Wayforward really pushed the limits of the Game Boy color with this game and it is noticeable even in the intro stage. Changing the color pallet from daytime to on fire and then night must have been pretty impressive for 8bits of processing power. The type of game they made wasn’t showing up that much around this time either. Since it is a metroidvania and is about exploring all of sequin land to stop the vile Risky Boots from using the steam engine she stole for devious purposes.

SMT IV made me realize that I like it when Japanese developers have more of a budget. Going back to a game that has a bunch of text and a focus on battles for most of the game didn’t feel that great. The weakness system that forces the player to learn weaknesses to get extra turns is a great gameplay system. If only the battles weren't so bland looking with all the monsters being 2D cutouts. In some ways I would prefer this to be more pixelated since I don’t actually like the artwork. With none of the characters being more than what they appeared to be it was hard to care about what was going on in the narrative. Glad they included a ending that fit my viewpoint on this game.

Someone decided it was worth making another Sly Cooper game in 2013. Sanzaro games took what Sucker Punch did and directly made another one of those. Sneak around with Sly to steal some stuff. Do some platforming and hacking with Bentley. Beat up everyone with Murray. Having a bunch of different playable characters are neat and the time travel aspect adds in some of Sly’s ancestors into the mix. Running around levels collecting stuff and competing missions is what you’ll be doing for most of the game. A very solid game that is fun if you enjoyed the previous games in this series.

Spelunky is all about quick restarts. The player will die a bunch till they eventually compete it. Even after they end up beating it it has a bunch of replay value thanks to the daily challenge mode and the many secrets that await all who seek them out. Half of this game is about skill while the other half is a bit of luck. Finding something like the jet pack can make things a lot easier. Yet if you don’t watch out so many things will kill the spelunker in only one hit. Luckily it is real easy to get back to where you left off. Which is why this game works since it is fun to keep playing this over and over again.

Out of the games Housemark has made Resogun ended up being my favorite one. Easily the best launch title on PS4. All they really did was create a better version of defender. Going back and forth shooting enemies while rescuing all the humans is the goal. The dash is what makes this game work. Being able to dash through enemies to avoid getting destroyed is awesome. All the voxels flying everywhere after said collision just makes it look cool too. Each level also ends on a boss battle and if the player wins everything it blows up. This was one of the very few games that got me caring about getting a high score. I never got that good but it was fun to keep up with my friends for a bit.

Xillia is like every other Tales games with some slight differences in the combat. It is the standard action system with shortcuts to 4 specials skills that can be mixed into normal attacks. Simple yet still very tough since the game doesn’t pull any punches difficulty wise. I can’t point out the differences but the combat is only half the reason I liked this game. The characters were more likeable than I expected. The trademarked skit system is how Namco manages to put some extra humor and narrative into the spots between important story points. Which makes it easier to make Millia and the rest of the crew more in depth. Overall this was my favorite Tales game since Symphonia.

A lot of what Falcom did for Ys Seven continues into this game. Once again Adol finds himself in a new land full of problems he has to solve. New teammates are obtained as his journey continues and up to three can be used at once. Swapping from one to the other is possible. Each of the characters has a different type of weapon making swords effective against one type of monster while shooting an arrow into another one might damage them more. Thus it forces the player to swap constantly to continue to do damage to all the standard enemies. Once the boss monster shows up it starts getting serious. Dodging attacks is key to winning every boss fight. Overall another solid Ys game.

Conclusion

Mixing the new with the old seems like something I tend to do a lot. More so than most years this one has quite a few retro re releases of games that I never played till now. No matter how old a game is it is possible to enjoy it today. Not sure how much that means from someone that tends to check out older games constantly. It is kinda just something I like to do. Tune in next week for the penultimate retrospective post. See what happens when Koei gets their hands on The Legend Of Zelda and we find out what really happens if you pick up the purse.