melmer

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That's really awesome, but I should have added that your heart has to be open to joy to really click with this game. Please let me know what you think of it!

That is potentially the stupidest thing I have ever heard in regards to video games.

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Convinced and bought.

Same here (actually I always intended to get it but had forgotten it existed). Thanks to the wonders of Steam I now have the game installed 3 minutes after reading that post :)

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Have finished 53 games so far this year, and I am still conflicted but my list for favourites:

Awesomenauts - My favourite multiplayer this year, a side scrolling LoMA.

Witcher 2 (X360) - Great story but terrible gameplay still a pretty great RPG

Dragon's Dogma - Terrible story but great gameplay, the RPG antithesis of Witcher. I dropped about 70 hours on it though

Spec Ops: The Line - This game has had me thinking about individual moments in it more than any other game except Witcher 2

Dust: An Elysian tale - Beautiful to look at and delightful to play, very simple but a great palette cleanser after the rest of things I mucked around with

The Walking Dead - Definitely been enjoying all of these and cannot wait for the conclusion. Would like to go back and replay it and see how some of the story elements hold up before I would put it as number 1.

Way of the Samurai 4 - More of the same but it was so good that I cannot recommend it enough. Can't wait for my Christmas break to get really stuck in.

Games I liked as well:

Tokyo Jungle

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Binary Domain

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Journey impressed me like Thirty Flights of Loving did. They held your hand through their stories in a way that wasn't obnoxious.

Walking Dead was good too, never before have I seen those various gameplay elements so cleanly separated yet cohesively put together: point&click/conversations/cutscenes/quicktime&action. It definitely feels more than the sum of its parts, and the characters are well-written enough to guide you through. Honestly the game thrives on its character interactions. Most of why I didn't like 4 as much was because there was less character development, more exposition, and more interacting with the shallow game mechanics. The whole

"lee getting bit" thing, especially the way it was handled, really put a damper on my "I have control over the narrative" feeling and made me wonder what kind of game they're making exactly. It made me stop trusting them.

Hotline Miami easily had the strongest aesthetic, and the best implementation of that aesthetic through game design. The exploration of that aesthetic was simultaneously awesome and also kind of a shame because they undercut it with an obscure, confusing plot. The best part of that game is worn on its sleeve.

Dishonored is the coolest game to come out this year, hands down. It's a power fantasy like no other presented in a world like no other. The level of player expression in that game is insane. I agree now with most people in that it isn't hard enough, or doesn't provide enough of a challenge. I think what people want in this game is simply conflict. There isn't enough of a sense that the bad guys know what they're doing, know what they're after, and are powerful enough to stop you on their way from getting it. Despite the shallow characterization, the presentation and conviction of the characters that are there is impressive.

Natural Selection 2 is the best team-based FPS this year. No question. Best atmosphere, interesting dynamic between the teams, deep mechanics, just most fun all around.

FTL is a lot of fun too.

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Witcher 2 (X360) - Great story but terrible gameplay still a pretty great RPG

Terrible?! It's hard, takes some getting used to, but I can't believe anyone would think it's outright terrible.

Then again, maybe it's just been too long since I played it. It has been almost a year and a half since it came out for PC.

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That also raised my eyebrow. It has its flaws, it's glitchier than I would have liked, but it's still a really nicely designed combat system at the end of the day. Especially during my second playthrough, when I experimented with bombs, knives and traps in addition to magic, it felt varied and complex and so much more meaty and visceral than your average rpg swordfighting simulator.

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Well, as long as I'm not the only one who thinks so! :D

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Hotline Miami easily had the strongest aesthetic, and the best implementation of that aesthetic through game design. The exploration of that aesthetic was simultaneously awesome and also kind of a shame because they undercut it with an obscure, confusing plot. The best part of that game is worn on its sleeve.

Hm, strange to hear you say that as though it's a bad thing. I think the obscurity and the confusion was part of the draw of it for me and for many others.

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Hm, strange to hear you say that as though it's a bad thing. I think the obscurity and the confusion was part of the draw of it for me and for many others.

I would include myself in your group, although with the caveat that, although it was a draw, it also wasn't hugely important to why I liked the game. The story was entirely secondary to the gameplay and the presentation.

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Didn't really like Hotline Miami, mostly I think because huge motivation for me in enjoying game mechanics is learning how to use them. Once I was good enough at Starcraft 2 I quit. Once I'd gotten Dishonored down it became progressively less interesting. Hotline Miami, you can learn all there is to know in a few levels so far as I've played.

Which brings me, I suppose, to games who's mechanics I didn't mind for hours and hours. Kindgoms of Amalur and Borderlands 2 were both there, but each with enough problems that I couldn't confer my own BS game of the year title on them. Same with FTL. Not that I actually had a problem with almost anything that was there, except that FTL just didn't have that much there. XCOM is a lot of fun for a tactical combat game, but that's not generally a super enjoyable genre for me and continues not to be. The problem with XCOM is I feel like I could just sit long enough for each mission and complete it perfectly. The solution set wherein I can find the perfect way to complete without a single death feels like just too small of a set, too easy (sorry for the computer language/love of GO here.) Except of course when it isn't, and some enemy gets lucky and gets missed 4 times in a row and then gets an ultra high crit off one of my soldiers, killing them and there's literally nothing I could have done to prevent it, which bothers me when trying to play like a perfectionist.

I'm hoping Hitman Absolution will do it for me then. A lot of games I've enjoyed quite a bit this year, but nothing that's clicked like finally playing Uncharted 2 did, or Portal or one of those games. Not that I should really expect such a game every year.

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Kingdoms of Amalur?!

You people are full of surprises. If there's any game that becomes boring and repetitive in a too-short amount of time... it's Amalur.

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Kingdoms of Amalur?!

You people are full of surprises. If there's any game that becomes boring and repetitive in a too-short amount of time... it's Amalur.

Not much variety in quests sure. And the story really needed much better presentation. Also the obvious MMO mechanics really held it back in places.

But if you liked combat it was the best any type of this game has ever had. Easily outclasses The Elderscrolls, Fable, even Zelda in that category. It's legitimately fun in it's own regard! But it's also too long for what it has, and you get to the point where you just stun lock every enemy to death and the combat gets ruined. Which is why I'm replaying it on the PC, there's a mod that should help with that last bit. And I'm excited to see what Impossible Studios, or whatever they're new name is, come up with at EPIC. I'd easily buy another open world action RPG from them.

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The combat was great until I realized that anything other than warrior was a cakewalk on the hardest difficulty. If the enemy AI existed to make me actually have to work to be awesome, it might've been a good game, but it didn't. It was just way too easy.

That's not to say I didn't like the good parts of the game, but the bad parts dragged it down into shittown. I would totally have bought Amalur 2, if it had come out, though! It's a lot like Assassin's Creed. Clearly flawed, but lots of potential. U:

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Hm, strange to hear you say that as though it's a bad thing. I think the obscurity and the confusion was part of the draw of it for me and for many others.

Did you feel like it paid off in a meaningful way?

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IN ORDER!

1. X-com: Enemy Unknown

I think it's a pretty fantastic triumph. Firaxis created a game that is mechanically quite distinct from the original series, but completely nails the feel of the barely contained chaos and the emergent personal narrative. Also, seeing it go on to be relatively successfull makes me retroactively angrier about Syndicate having been re-imagined as a shooter. Arrgh, EA!

2. Xenoblade

I will emphasize that if you own a Wii and hold any appreciation for RPG's, you should check this one out. When so many JRPG's feel so stuck in the past, it was incredibly refreshing to play one that is both cleverly modern and briskly paced. (Which does not mean that it's short, I personally spent around 170 hours on the game.) I cannot recommend Xenoblade enough, I loved this game.

3. Borderlands 2

It's more of that thing you like and it's still pretty good, probably even a fair bit better. It really comes down to whether you burnt out on the first game or not.

4. Halo 4

343 didn't fuck it up and they did try some new things. Story is actually pretty decent, if hard to follow for those not already immersed in Halo. I'm deep into the MP right now and mostly loving it, but Spartan Ops is a disappointment and there are a number of issues that 343 needs to address. If 343 gets on that shit, this bumps BL2 out of its spot.

5. Dragon's Dogma

People were really down on this game before it came out, but the whole dynamic of the learning AI pawns and the incredibly solid combat system make for a thoroughly entertaining action RPG. Don't expect a story, don't even expect a world, it's an action RPG and it does that very well.

Honorable mentions for Persona 4 Arena, the 360 version of The Witcher 2, and Dishonored. (Just barely though, i admire that game more than i like it.)

Edit: You know what? I'm going to throw Transformers: Fall of Cybertron in here too. I won't pretend like I can make a convincing defense for it, but I enjoyed the hell out of that game.

Now I'm realizing that i've constructed a very boring list. How about some of the 3DS games i've played this year? I think there were some real standouts, like Resident Evil: Revelations, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Code of Princess, and Virtue's Last Reward. I really liked those, i feel like the 3DS really came into its own this year. Big games and weird small stuff alike.

Biggest disappointment?

Armored Core V, a game that i actually really like and really appreciate on just about every level except for the one where the matchmaking metagame was completely broken at launch. (Leading to confused and wildly inaccurate reviews, a dead-on-arrival community, and a lingering fanbase harassing Namco for months to get updates that had been deployed almost immediately to the From Software-maintained Japanese version.)

It's apparently fixed for the west now, but it's too late, they lost everybody but the most hardcore.

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Biggest disappointment?

Armored Core V, a game that i actually really like and really appreciate on just about every level except for the one where the matchmaking metagame was completely broken at launch. (Leading to confused and wildly inaccurate reviews, a dead-on-arrival community, and a lingering fanbase harassing Namco for months to get updates that had been deployed almost immediately to the From Software-maintained Japanese version.)

It's apparently fixed for the west now, but it's too late, they lost everybody but the most hardcore.

Namco as in Namco-Bandai, right? I can't speak for games, but Bandai staged a catastrophic withdrawal the US anime market completely a little over six months ago. They're just letting their licenses lapse. Apparently, western consumers want too much too fast and too cheap. I wonder if it's the same philosophy in their other divisions.

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The Walking Dead is my Game of the Year, it's just amazing in it's story telling. I've already rambled about it enough in it's own thread.

Worst / most disappointing game? I'm going to have to with Lucius, I've probably played worse, but this one was the most disappointing, it had so much potential!

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Namco as in Namco-Bandai, right? I can't speak for games, but Bandai staged a catastrophic withdrawal the US anime market completely a little over six months ago. They're just letting their licenses lapse. Apparently, western consumers want too much too fast and too cheap. I wonder if it's the same philosophy in their other divisions.

At the time, it had seemed like ACV was just kind of the hanger-on in the deal to get Dark Souls publishing rights. Namco's marketing push for ACV amounted to poorly translating a couple of From's tutorial videos, opening up a facebook page with absolutely no meaningful information about an incredibly complex game, and asking a tiny fansite to host "official" forums. You know, and then basically completely dumping support for it once it became clear the west wasn't really getting behind it.

It can't be completely blamed on Namco though, that game did in all honesty launch with big problems. (Which i understand to finally be fixed on the western version.)

It's a shame though, i thought it was a really cool game with a ton of promise.

So yeah, definitely my biggest disappointment of the year.

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Terrible?! It's hard, takes some getting used to, but I can't believe anyone would think it's outright terrible.

Then again, maybe it's just been too long since I played it. It has been almost a year and a half since it came out for PC.

Maybe I am being overly harsh but I found the combat clumsy. I basically only used one spell and a couple of traps but it was disappointing to see them become pointless in every boss battle as you basically had to hit them with your sword for any hope of winning. This had a fallout on how I levelled as it would have been nice to experiment with the levelling system but I was always aware that there would be bosses that would essentially be immune to half my repertoire and only really susceptible to hitting.

For an RPG it is pretty good, but played so closely to Dragon's Dogma that really does have a fantastic combat system, Witcher 2 looks half-arsed and gauche.

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Fez isn't on PC, yet, so I can't play it, yet. );

It's a shame because so much of that game was based on the immediate community reaction to it. But it's still worth playing if you've manage to avoid spoilers so far.

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I agree that the Witcher 2 boss battles were terribly designed. Luckily, they only make up a very small section of the playable game. I'd like to check out Dragon's Dogma but I'm really afraid of having to deal with what sounds like an incredibly mundane world and storyline.

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