Recommended Posts

I'm having a hard time remembering what games I played this year.

 

Dota 2 - took up a bunch of my time.  I had given it a shot before, and had tried LoL but was frustrated by both games having some implicit meta game that I didn't have the time to figure out.  Then one day I just decided not to give a shit, and the new tutorial really helped me get through some of the things I hated in the UI.  Also people like Patters and other thumbs helped make it a welcome place to play.

 

Brothers a tale of two sims - I think the reviews of this will be a bit hyperbolic, but it's a solid game and definitely worth the 2-4 hours it took to finish.  Don't play it without a controller.

 

Starcraft 2: HotS - I didn't get into SC2 as much this time as I did last time.  I feel like the multiplayer community has become too proficient that "standard" conventions involve insane amounts of macro and boring builds.  IMO SC2 was better when people were still finding crazy things to do, and even a fresh set of units didn't seem to give the meta game that fresh start.  But the single player campaign was solid.  The story is pulpy, and bad, and the kind of thing I would have loved as a 14 year old.  But it's still fun to play along with.

 

Bit trip Runner 2 - This game is hard, but I don't ever feel like it's ever unfair.  The level design will try to subvert your natural instincts, but it expects you to pick up all the gold and won't lay traps that can't be escaped.  It's hard to explain the way this game uses rhythm, but you start predicting jumps and dodges ahead of time because they augment the music and you get a feeling about where one should be.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I know it's probably not the greatest game around, but I had the most fun with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance this year. It's stupid.

 

I still need to check out the DLC stuff.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey, I'm glad others put themselves through it so that I don't have to!

(whoops that was in response to the vgx stuff pages ago)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Brothers a tale of two sims - I think the reviews of this will be a bit hyperbolic, but it's a solid game and definitely worth the 2-4 hours it took to finish.  Don't play it without a controller.

 

I didn't think you could play it without a controller.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

3DS.

Most of the games I played this year weren't 2013 releases, but those that were consisted of The Wolf Among Us (which was great, but still only at one episode so far), and then 6 or so 3DS games. My favorite was probably Fire Emblem, but Pokemon got 3-4 of my friends to pick up a system so that's good too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My thoughts on the four games I was really looking forward to this year:

 

Rising Storm - I loved Red Orchestra and despite the rocky launch of RO2 way back in 2011 I stuck with it.  Since then Red Orchestra 2 has turned into a respectable product that is a pretty good successor to RO1.  Anyway, the Pacific theater mod turned expansion, Rising Storm, is one of the most exciting and immersive games I have played in recent years.  When I find the house to myself I crank my speakers up and wash myself in the crack of rifle fire and cries of fallen soldiers.  It's awesome and has caused a nice community to form around Red Orchestra 2 to further sustain it.

 

Company of Heroes 2 - My brother and I looked forward to Company of Heroes 2 since it was announced, both being arm chair historians about the eastern front of World War 2.  I remember CoH2 having a rough launch, but I can't remember specifics as the game seemed to work on my rig.  Due to this I think pretty highly of the game and would recommend it to fans of the original, despite some odd multiplayer dlc choices.

 

Rome 2 - This is another one my brother and I looked forward to, sigh, it gets better with each patch but I would rather play Napoleon.  That said we had a pretty fun multiplayer campaign until desync problems became too much for us.  We are planning to try the Caesar in Gaul dlc in multiplayer during winter break which should be fun due to the focused nature of the dlc.

 

Link Between Worlds - I feel split about LBW, it changes the formula and makes for a more interesting experience but falls prey to usual Nintendo problems.  Simply put, it's too easy.  The idea of renting items and losing them upon death is great, but besides the last boss I never died, so it never really factored into my experience.  The dungeons are also a let down.  I think I spent at most 20 minutes in one dungeon and in general they are far too linear.  This lack of challenging dungeons really shone a light on the poor combat of Zelda games because there was nothing to stall my progress - it's a disappointment.  Really great music, characters and over world however.

 

So yeah 2013, it was alright.  Zelda and Rome 2 really pulled the wind out of my sails.  They are both decent games but are a let down to me.  Other things I played that I really enjoyed were Antichamber, which is basically the equivalent of a Paul Lansky song for puzzle games.  I also thought Papers, Please was awesome with some great characters and gameplay that was actually pretty fun.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Gone Home

I always play as a nosy tourist in first-person games but am always getting shot, so Gone Home is basically perfect for me. I'm so excited there's now a Gone Home genre.

 

State of Decay

I think State of Decay is one of the few open-world games that really takes advantage of the fact that it takes place in an open-world.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can I pick Baldur's Gate? Because that's the game I played the most this year.

 

Costume Quest? That's semi-recent.

 

No? Okay, how about Pikmin 3Pikmin 3 was fun. I liked it.  It had a very....good...quality to it.  It made me think "Ah, this is pleasant." 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't think I have played one thing actually released this year. So I'm going to pick things I remember randomly that were good since others are doing it:

 

Metroid Zero Mission - Geez, can't believe I held off on this series for so long. My first Metroid game and it is absolutely amazing. I was continuously marveling on how well constructed every area was and how jam packed it was with secrets.

 

Iron Brigade - I finally got an Xbox Live subscription this year and I played this game yesterday. The amount of fun I'm still having with my buddy and survival modes is a bit astounding. There's a few bugs and annoyances, but those only become readily apparent after playing it to death.

 

Splosion Man - Also started because of the Xbox Live. Really late on this game, but it was motivated by waiting until I could do multiplayer with a friend. A lot of people have said this game was hard, but I never felt anything was unfair outside of the zappy flying robots and even then those aren't so bad. Finished hardcore mode and felt pretty satisfied with myself.

 

Enslaved - Hot damn this was a good chunk of game that never got frustrating, buggy, or cringeworthy. Just a great story and tons of great art through and through. Gameplay was incredibly smooth. Bonus points for that fucking awesome DLC.

 

Tales of Monkey Island - Hahaha, yes, extremely late. Always fun to continue the adventures of Guybrush and many fan faithful choices were made by the developers.

 

Walking Dead - Nothing much else to say. I kind of hate that that shitty DLC kind of capped it off with a bad taste in my mouth though.

 

Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal HD - I really did enjoy this game, but I had to play it nearly four times (standard is two with a Ratchet and Clank) because of an obnoxious game breaking bug introduced in the HD version that corrupts your save and you cannot finish. If I do my best to separate that horrible experience and look at the game as Insomniac originally released it, I can see how well constructed it is and how fun the variety and weapons were that was not apparent in the first two games in the series.

 

Rabbids Go Home - I love collecting garbage, obnoxious songs, and screaming at babies! Do you?


Journey - Another game where everything has all been said. Nice to see tons of people are still playing co-op the whole way through though. That certainly says something.

 

Lollipop Chainsaw - Sultry costumes and lots of stupid and crude humor. The style is oozing in both level design and graphics. Supposedly the combat was boring for everyone, but the amount of combos and attacks to learn was well suited to a noob like me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am surprised that you liked Lollipop Chainsaw. I found it dull and derivative. The combat combos you learn are all pretty pointless and some of them are actually a hindrance.

 

The style seemed to have been slapped over the top of some atrociously old and creaky engine. It reminded me of Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad but with all of the fun removed from it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Walking Dead - Nothing much else to say. I kind of hate that that shitty DLC kind of capped it off with a bad taste in my mouth though.

 

I didn't think the DLC was shitty, precisely. It certainly wasn't as good as the main game, and I had a few issues with it where options were offered, but only one option would be acceptable, eg.

twatting wossname in the face. If you recognise it as her and don't do it, she kills you, and you just have to retry and hit her next go around.

 

But, I think that criticism can be levelled at the main game too. Either way, shitty seems a touch harsh to me, but each to their own.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Most Criminally Underrated Game - The Last Of Us

An inspiring tale of success from a scrappy little studio with nothing to their name but a dream, a mocap studio and millions of dollars.

 

I initially just read the bolded part of this, thus not realising it was a joke. :tup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Of course I loved The Last of Us and GTAV. As populist as those choices will be you can't not appreciate what they did unless you're some kind of jerk. 

 

But the ugly duckling in the room is Beyond: Two Souls. I hate that I have to be defensive about it, and I hate to instantly feel like I'm announcing that I'm in the Tea Party or I like to wear adult diapers or something, but I loved Beyond. What really drew me in was the relationship between Jodie and Aiden, and the feeling of helplessness Jodie has as a little girl. It's terrifying to be tethered to a spectral monster, and as they grow together it becomes something really special. Bonus points for the Homeless chapter, who knew that panhandling would be one of the best gaming moments I would have in 2013? 

 

I also loved Outlast and Metro: Last Light,  but the other memories I have of the year were from games that didn't do a lot well but had some great moments; fighting Deathstroke in Batman: Arkham Origins, wading through a river of blood in Tomb Raider, an overdose of warped nostalgia and neon in Blood Dragon. On the negative side I was pretty disappointed in Bioshock Infinite and Gone Home, but those complaints are probably better served elsewhere. 

 

Oh and my game of [insert previous year] for 2013 is Catherine. Finished it last night and there's really nothing else like it. Intelligent Cube meets insane loli dating sim meets the Divine Comedy. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Link Between Worlds - ...Simply put, it's too easy.  

 

Thanks for making me feel like a baby. I'm not struggling with it, but for me the level of difficulty is just right. Dungeons can take me up to 40 mins (which is perfect) and some bosses I've come up against gave me a challenge.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree. I died half a dozen times or so, I thought the difficulty was spot on and the dungeons were a good length. I don't play a Zelda game to struggle to overcome enemies, I play them to explore and feel smart when I solve a puzzle and it does all that perfectly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am surprised that you liked Lollipop Chainsaw. I found it dull and derivative. The combat combos you learn are all pretty pointless and some of them are actually a hindrance.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask about it, not having played any God of Wars or Devil May Crys. Probably another case of style over substance for me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Journey:

 

:blink: Whooooaaa. This is the sort of experience I'd have loved to have gotten with Gone Home or The Walking Dead or whatever. When you say "Awesome emotional experience." This is pretty much the ideal. I know it came out a while ago, but shut up. When I missed a jump near the end, and the person I was playing with deliberately fell down all the way to the beginning of the level just to make sure I wasn't alone in going through the entire thing again... well that was just amazing.

 

Grand Theft Auto 5:

 

What can I say? I played it, and played it, and played it, and it was the first GTA game, or even Rockstar game I ever beat. It was an amazing technical achievement, a technical achievement I really appreciate. As playing even AC4, and having to load for the stupid quasi Google levels, and for the cities, and even for going into my own damned ship made me realize how annoying and breaking loading can be. No loading in GTAV is awesome! But more than that, it was just entertaining.

 

I still need to play The Last of US. Maybe I'll get it for myself for Christmas.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Journey:

 

:blink: Whooooaaa. This is the sort of experience I'd have loved to have gotten with Gone Home or The Walking Dead or whatever. When you say "Awesome emotional experience." This is pretty much the ideal. I know it came out a while ago, but shut up. When I missed a jump near the end, and the person I was playing with deliberately fell down all the way to the beginning of the level just to make sure I wasn't alone in going through the entire thing again... well that was just amazing.

 

I found Gone Home and Walking Dead pretty awesome emotional experiences, but not quite in the same way I felt about Journey. It's hard to explain what specifically was so affecting about it, but conquering that last mountain with a silent, anonymous partner who seemed to care as much about my well-being as their own was a pretty profound experience.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for making me feel like a baby. I'm not struggling with it, but for me the level of difficulty is just right. Dungeons can take me up to 40 mins (which is perfect) and some bosses I've come up against gave me a challenge.

 

We got ourselves a baby gamer over here!  I kid, I kid.  I really want to know what Zelda you played where the dungeons were 40 minutes because Link Between Worlds ain't it.  The only dungeon that really stumped me was the shadow(?) dungeon because I missed a platform I had to break to let light into the lower levels.  It really seemed to me that LBW followed the trend of Nintendo's 3ds games having small levels for "playing on the go" which I think is incredibly aggravating.  Despite this the minute to minute puzzles are usually quite good and it seemed that giving the player every item upfront allowed for a bit more variation in solving them.  The bosses are also pretty good and I liked how each one had multiple stages, even if it was only a movement/attack speed increase.  But I again found them to simply be a cakewalk - especially if you brought a bottle or two of milk into the fight.  It certainly isn't a bad game, but was lacking enough in key areas to be a disappointment for me.

 

In the future I really hope Nintendo opens up and lets me play the harder mode from the start.  Unlocking the difficulty I want to play after beating the game once is a really dumb move that seems to be done only to stop kids from picking the harder mode and not enjoying themselves.  Unfortunately this mentality seems to extend to all Nintendo games these days.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wind Waker HD has Hero Mode available from the very beginning.

 

What?! That makes it even more confusing to why they would lock it behind a complete play through for Link Between Worlds.  The little bit of Hero mode I played in Link Between Worlds was pretty challenging and how I would have preferred to play the game... bummer.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wind Waker HD has Hero Mode available from the very beginning.

 

Damn it. Why does this game have to be on The Worst Console.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It does have exclusives PC owners know they will never see. It both saddens and enchants me that I'm genuinely interested in a mario game for the first time since (potentially) Sunshine for the gamecube.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now