And my Game of the Year is....

Yup, Rockstar's done it again. Red Dead Redemption's the real deal. For my more detailed thoughts on it you can read my review in the post below this, but nobody but Rockstar seems to be able to mix fun gameplay with such a well-written and presented storyline. This is a Western video game like none other that I've played, single-handedly destroying the original Red Dead Revolver and Neversoft's (also good,) GUN. This is why I play video games in the first place, to always be in awe at the many activities available to me, to realize that every one of these activities is well-made and fun to play, to see that amazing visuals and audio can make it feel like I'm really journeying through the old West....it's amazing. This is definitely the best game of the year, and though it's similar to GTA in many ways, it also never stops feeling like its own thing. If you haven't played this one yet, definitely give it a shot. Amazing experience to top a year of great games.
 Here's hoping for more great stuff this year, 2011!

Blog Post: Awesome games that just missed the Top 5

Well, we have my top 5 for 2010:

*Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
*Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
*Final Fantasy XIII
*Red Dead Redemption
*Super Mario Galaxy 2

As soon as I finish a couple of these games, I'll be ready to say for sure which one has been my favorite game this year, and it won't be an easy choice to make.

Until then, though, I decided I'd give some recognition to the games that were good but that didn't quite make it into my top 5.
Here's a list of games deserving of recognition.

Why you should play it: Kirby's Epic Yarn was one of the biggest surprises of 2010 for me. The game has an amazing visual look and a charming atmosphere, not to mention very fun and inventive platforming. Plus, nothing was as awesome as seeing yarn versions of King Dedede and Meta Knight.

Why it didn't make it: The easy difficulty made this a fun, relaxing gameplay experience, but this, combined with the game's very childishly-delivered story, also makes this a game that's a little too difficult to recommend to older gamers for $50. Younger gamers will probably have their minds blown by it. For older gamers, it's a fun playthrough that I recommend, but worth $50.......eh. Debatable.



Why you should play it: Yakuza 3 was a game that felt like it took forever to reach Western shores, and there was a real debate as to whether Western gamers would ever get the chance to continue Kazuma's epic story. The Yakuza series is one of the strangest (in a great way) game series I've ever played. Brutal, over-the-top street fighting action is mixed with a fantastic story that's delivered in well-translated and voice acted cutscenes and creates a truly awesome tale. The cities you explore (which in Yakuza 3 includes the seaside town of Okinawa) are brimming with life and tasks to complete. Karaoke is beyond epic. This is definitely a game worth playing, and it looks like enough gamers have done that: we'll be getting Yakuza 4 this spring.

Why it didn't make it: The Yakuza series has always dabbled in mundane quests, but Yakuza 3 took this to a new level by essentially making the badass Kazuma errand-boy for a group of whiny orphans. While amusing at first, these nonstop fetch quests began seriously bogging the game down at times, and I wish Sega of America had taken the axe to these instead of removing the Hostess Clubs and some of the sidequests from the Western release. And though the story's still awesome, it's missing a lot of the film noir flare and complex intrigue that made the previous two Yakuza games, especially Yakuza 2, excel so much. It also ends rather anti-climactically, again, compared to others in the series. Still worth a play for sure, but not the best in the series.

Why you should play it: Heavy Rain proves that Indigo Prophecy was no fluke. European developer Quantic Dream has once again blurred the line between movie and video game with every cutscene being interactive and giving you full control of what your character says or does. Any character can die in this game, and once they're gone, they're gone. A lot of this is up to you. Near the end of the game I put my controller down and sat there for 10 minutes, trying to make the hardest decision I had to make in a video game since, well, the end of GTA4. I'm happy to say that unlike in GTA4, this time I made the right choice to get the ending I wanted. :]

Why it didn't make it: Though I enjoyed this game, I have to admit that it lacks some of the freshness that Indigo Prophecy had, and I found myself starting to wish that Quantic Dream would try their hand at something more gameplay-driven very soon. The voice acting is spotty at times, as are the controls, and the commands, relying largely on analog stick and Six Axis movements, are often confusing. If you have the Playstation Move, I'd definitely recommend using it for this game.

Why you should play it: Alan Wake is even more proof that Remedy, the studio responsible of the first two Max Payne games, knows how to tell a story. The narrative here is very strong, as is the soundtrack, which is really one of the best musical scores I think the horror genre has ever seen. And Poets of the Fall needs to be in more video games. Their song fit Max Payne 2 like a glove and the work they've done for Alan Wake is great too. The interesting story and great visuals all combine to make an experience that's as scary as it is action-packed. I fear for Max Payne 3, because it will be done by another studio, and I think it'll be lost without Sam Lake doing the writing.

Why it didn't make it: The gameplay's a bit underwhelming. The flashlight mechanic is innovative and works well, but the endless dark forests you constantly find yourself having to hike through get old awfully fast, and the town of Bright Falls feels like an afterthought when it should have been an essential part of the game. And it's hard to be surprised by enemies ambushing you when the game (loudly and obviously) autosaves right before every enemy encounter.

Why you should play it: Sonic Colors is proof that SonicTeam still has it in them to create innovative and fun platforming. An energetic and catchy soundtrack mixes in with some very colorful environments and cool Wisp powerups, not to mention some fun writing, to create yet another strong Sonic game that demonstrates Sega's willingness to improve the series.

Why it didn't make it: Damnit SonicTeam please do something about these controls. If you're really going to continue taking this series in a more 2D-oriented direction, you need to design a new control scheme that isn't so slippery. And please for $50 make a game that's not beatable in two sittings. Nothing's more of a buzzkill than when an awesome game ends too soon.

Why you should play it: Halo: Reach, the final Halo game from Bungie, tells the story of the ill-fated attempt to save the planet Reach from the Covenant invasion. This is one of the best campaigns of the series, especially if you're playing splitscreen or online co-op. Getting into your gunships and doing battle in the skies as you dodge the tall skyscrapers of the city is easily one of the most epic moments of the series, and the campaign feels a lot more focused than Halo 3's somewhat vehicle-focused campaign did. The areas here are smaller but you feel much more like a team, while in Halo 3 you'd get into a Ghost and pretty much drive away from everyone up to the next massive boss. Aside from a strong campaign, Reach of course has its amazing multiplayer.

Why it didn't make it: It's hard to be surprised by a Halo game after all this time, and Reach certainly feels familiar. The sky battles were awesome bits of new stuff, I wish more of the campaign and multiplayer felt as fresh as these did. I also wish there were more multiplayer maps available in the box. I know the trend is to hold some off for DLC, but come on, guys...the game was $60.

Why you should play it: Metroid: Other M is actually the type of risk I'd like to see Nintendo take more often. Granted, this game has its issues, but I'm just happy to see them make a game (and Epic Yarn was another one) that wasn't afraid to  try something a bit different. Metroid Other M was very story-driven, moreso than any other Metroid game, and the accessible difficulty, fast pace, and interesting use of hand-to-hand combat made this game feel like another world from the Metroid Prime games. It's a lot of fun and I was very glad to have played it. I actually liked the story too and thought it added a lot to the game.

Why it didn't make it: that said, a somewhat surprising lack of polish seems to exist in every corner of this game. Moments where cutscenes stop dead in their tracks for you to locate a tiny pixel on the screen are ridiculously dumb, some areas look nice while others look borderline unfinished, and the voice acting would have sounded a lot better in 1999. Not to mention, the way Samus unlocks her powers makes no sense whatsoever, even in this game's established universe. None of these flaws stop Other M from being a game worth playing, and I recommend it to all Wii owners, but they do prevent it from reaching its status as a top-tier game of the year.

Anyway, there you have it. These were all games worth playing, and I feel that they deserve recognition, even though they, for whatever reason, didn't make my top 5 for the year. 2010 was an awesome year for video games, and I'm looking forward to an exciting 2011.

Next post: My GOTY 2010. Stay tuned, whoever's reading this. :]

Game of the Year 2010 Fifth ( and final ) Nomination: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is exactly what the title says....it's more Super Mario Galaxy. Though I'm usually not a big fan of this type of "more of the same," sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2 totally proved that you can have a "more of the same" sequel that doesn't feel like, well... more of the same. An entirely new and stremlined hub world made it easy to jump from one level to another, and the levels themselves took some of the more brilliant ideas from the first Mario Galaxy game and expanded on them. There's no shortage of platforming brilliance in this game, and the visuals do a great job of working around the Wii's weak graphics capabilities. This is one of the best-looking platformers this generation, HD system or not. The art direction's fantastic, the lighting effects are beautiful, and the camera's very cooperative. Enemy designs and boss designs look better than ever. Even the challenge has been ramped up a bit from the first Mario Galaxy game.

With the exception of the story and the final boss battle, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an improvement over the first Super Mario Galaxy in every way, which is an accomplishment, since the first Mario Galaxy was one of the best games this generation. Mario Galaxy 2 proved itself as being much more than a $50 expansion pack to Galaxy 1, and it deserves the near-universal critical acclaim it's been given.

And those are the nominees. I'll need a bit more time to give them all a fair shake but I'll have a GOTY winner up soon.

-nS

Game of the Year 2010 Fourth Nomination: Red Dead Redemption

My fourth nomination for Game of the Year 2010 goes to Red Dead Redemption, the insanely good game from Rockstar that once again demonstrates their gift for strong dialogue, characters, amazing visuals, and very fun gameplay. If you've played a GTA game you'll definitely notice similarities in the gameplay department, but this still feels like a completely different experience, with more than enough relating to its excellent setting to set it apart.

I rarely find myself doing sidequests in video games but in Red Dead Redemption you're constantly given the opportunity to do missions for people you run into on the road, and I always find myself excited to do these, usually just as excited as I am to get to the next intense main story mission. The main character's very likable and with top-notch production values and dialogue that sounds so convincing that these characters might as well be real people talking to you, not to mention the amazing voice acting, the story's awesome. The gameplay's intense, the visuals are amazing, and there's so much to do. One of those games that's very easy to lose yourself in.

Red Dead Redemption's definitely one of this year's highlights and is totally deserving of all the praise and great sales it has gotten so far.

Game of the Year 2010 Third Nomination: Final Fantasy XIII



Well, after yet another unbearably long wait, Final Fantasy XIII was released this March, and just like Final Fantasy XII before it, it would seriously divide the fanbase. The developers' decision to base Final Fantasy XIII's game design on that of an action game meant that things like interaction with characters outside your main party and exploration were scaled back to a very bare minimum. Even though it was flawed, however, Final Fantasy XIII pulled me into its story and characters and took me along for the ride like only Final Fantasy seems to know how to do. One of the best battle systems I've ever experienced and very frequent and captivating cutscenes ensured that Final Fantasy XIII was always a blast to play, and its action-driven approach, though not without its issues, meant there was literally not a second of downtime in the game's first 9 chapters. Amazing visuals and a great score that merges orchestration and electronica made me excited to see every new environment that the characters would end up in.

Final Fantasy XIII's relentless pacing, likable characters, awesome battle system, and top-notch visuals and audio, and incredibly-directed cutscenes make this latest installment in the long-running series worthy of a nomination, even if it's not necessarily the best in the series. It still manages to be the best Japanese RPG I've played this gen.

Note: As with all the games that I've nominated, you can read my review of Final Fantasy XIII in the Archive, though keep in mind, my GOTY is not based on which game this year has gotten the best score. It's based on which game has, looking back, left the biggest impression on me and delivered the most memorable experience.  

Game of the Year 2010 Second Nomination: Enslaved Odyssey to the West

The second nomination for my GOTY 2010 goes to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, another game that didn't get the attention it deserved. This cinematic and jaw-droppingly gorgeous action/platformer, which takes place in a colorful post-apocalyptic world, combines some great character customization with a rock-solid combat system and music and sound design that's completely absorbing.

But what makes Enslaved truly stand out is its storyline, which, though maybe a bit predictable, features great chemistry between the two lead characters, Monkey and Trip, as well as the addition of the hilarious tagalong Pigsy in the game's final 1/3. Their banter throughout the game always feels convincing and natural, but then again, with a script co-written by 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland and the main character voiced by Andy Serkis, I guess that shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. The characters are so likable and the story is so well-presented that I found myself hooked into it in the same way that I was pulled into the Enslaved's gorgeous world. The visuals are not only great on a technical level, but artistically they shine as well, with some imaginative enemy designs and a fantastic lighting system that reminds me of the awesome-looking Dinosaur Planet from Star Fox Adventures back on the Gamecube. It's just such a colorful look, and I can't tell you how refreshing I found this in our era of so many brown and gray-looking games.

I just can't express how fun an experience Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is, from its start all the way to its mindblowing ending. It's an ending that's almost hauntingly beautiful, making fantastic use of live action footage in a very Wall-E like way, and it stuck with me long after the credits rolled. It's too bad that this game didn't sell all that well, but hopefully more people discover it down the road. It may not necessarily re-invent the genre, but what it does, it does so incredibly well.

Note: As with all the games that I've nominated, you can read my review of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West in the Archive, though keep in mind, my GOTY is not based on which game this year has gotten the best score. It's based on which game has, looking back, left the biggest impression on me and delivered the most memorable experience.

Game of the Year 2010 First Nomination: Sin and Punishment Star Successor

The Wii has had so many rail shooters over the course of its lifespan, but none of them has managed to be quite as awesome as the criminally overlooked Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. From the moment I booted this up, I felt as if I'd entered a time machine and I was back in my local arcade (before it closed down) jamming quarters into one of the machines. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is probably one of the most action-packed titles I've ever played, let-alone this year. In what other game do you have hundreds and hundreds of enemies flying around on screen at any given moment? And let's not forget the epic boss battles every 5 minutes.

As far as the arcade vibe goes, Star Successor is loaded with all you'd want. Squealing guitars on the soundtrack at the Game Over screen? Check. Wonderfully cheesy voice acting? Check. Online leaderboards to rank your score against other people's scores? Check. Old school challenge? Aaaand check. Thia game's challenging but rarely unfair, and the (skippable) cutscenes are surprisingly frequent, demonstrating two pretty likable main characters. The level variety's also impressive, and each level and action scene feels different from the last.

Really a gem. I wish more people had gotten to experience the old school fun that is Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, definitely one of the craziest and most "hardcore" games of 2010 and one that deserves its place on this list.

Note: As with all the games that will be nominated, you can read my review of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor in the Archive, though keep in mind, my GOTY is not based on which game this year has gotten the best score. It's based on which game has, looking back, left the biggest impression on me and delivered the most memorable experience.

Announcement: Game of the Year Awards (Yeah, seriously.)

Alright, even though it's just one person's (my) opinion, and even though it's probably only going to be read by like, 10 people, I thought it would be kinda cool to do a Game of the Year awards-type thing here on my blog, mainly because I've always wanted to do one of these.

So here's how it's going to work. Of course since this is just me doing this, the only games nominated will be games that I've played, so even though many sites will be giving GOTY noms and awards to games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and CoD: Black Ops, they won't be nominated here because I haven't played them. These will just be the best games that I've played that were released this year, and which one I feel, overall, was the top gaming experience I've had in 2010.
So I have right now 5 nominations set in stone. That has the potential to grow to 6 or 7, because there are two other games from 2010 that I plan on playing. And I have a feeling (though of course I could be totally wrong,) that at least one of them will be up for a nomination. I'm going to give myself the opportunity to play these games, but what I'll begin doing is releasing my nominations one at a time, starting probably late this week. And in early to mid, January I'll reveal the winner, and then maybe I'll even do one of those "honorable mentions" things where I talk about games that were very good but didn't totally make the cut, or even my biggest disappointments of the year. But we'll see how this goes first. If it's a total bust I'll probably just leave it at GOTY.

So that's pretty much what this blog will be about for the next couple weeks unless I find something else to post about as well.

-nS