For all games eligible for GOTY 2012 awards, please visit our homepage.
Epic Adventures
I love games with a good heartfelt story. It's like a roller coaster, taking you up and down and twists and turns. As with any roller coaster, it's measured on the thrills, not the length. That's why I don't care how LONG the adventure is, I care about how it went and how I felt during it. I must say, I've played through some terrific games with some terrific stories. Then there were also some duds that didn't make it past my 10 minute mark, and some games that I played for a few hours that I'll pick up again later. All in all, 7 games stuck out and all seven of those will get recognized. So let's begin.
Honorable Mention:
Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS) - Ok, you might be wondering why this wasn't in the "Things with guns" series. To be short, he shot arrows, not guns. And also he wouldn't have made it on that list. It was a really fun game, decent story, but terrible controls eventually ruined it for me. Overall a fun ride while it lasted.
Honorable Mention:
Fable: The Journey (Xbox 360 - Kinect) - When it was good, it was great... and it when it was bad it was annoyingly bad. I haven't gotten to play much of this game and I do intend to when I get it in a few days, but from what I did play at a friend's house and via the Demo there's a lot of filler which is terrible but the action outweighs it. Still, highly recommend to showcase what the Kinect could do.
#5 - Zelda: The Minish Cap (Game Boy Advance)
Yay for being a 3DS ambassador, otherwise I probably never would have gotten to try this game. I like to play the game on its original system so I ended up stopping the 3DS download after the first dungeon, but from what I've seen the game is miles ahead of any other zelda game I've ever played (YES that includes you Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, and the NES ones). Will add more to that list likely when I try them out hopefully this year. Why is this one different? A) It's portable, which is where I believe games like this should be. B) It has great, colorful graphics C) It's actually FUN as opposed to annoying. The only other Zelda I've had fun playing was Link to the Past for the GBA, but got annoyed playing it on the SNES. Maybe it's just a hand held thing?
#4 - Shining Force 3 (Sega Saturn)
Another game I need to play more of, I kind of set it down for a little bit on accident and then it's hard to get back into the story. I WILL play and beat it in 2013. From what I played though, it's wonderful and a bit like Fire Emblem, which is one of my favorite games of all time. Fire Emblem did it better though with its autosave system and its whole staying dead unless you restart the level thing. However, I reserve the right to change my mind on that after I get through Shining Force 3 because it definitely is a fun game.
#3 - The World Ends With You (Nintendo DS)
Square Enix's new IP for the Nintendo DS is a smash hit and has a very intriguing story with many twists and turns. Definitely recommend a playthrough for anybody. It does seem a little busy at times, but the characters totally made this game. They developed them perfectly.
#2 - Albert Odyssey: The Legend of Eldean (Sega Saturn)
Wow, this game totally came out of nowhere. I bought it in a bundle with Shining Force 3 and one day I just popped it in, thinking it wouldn't even pass the 10 minute test and then take it out and play something else. That was my mindset going in. I was astonished with this game. It is absolutely brilliant, and that is completely 100% the result of Working Designs. The game itself is pretty standard, although the fighting is fun and the graphics are beautiful and I think hand drawn. Good boss fights, etc etc but that is just describing a good RPG. This is a GREAT RPG, as a result of Working Designs classic dialogue and character development. I was laughing all the way through this game and it ended way too fast. Bad ending though :(
#1 - Panzer Dragoon Saga (Sega Saturn)
Sega Saturn RPGs > Playstation RPGs. Just saying... 3-0 on this list and I played the same amount on each system. Anyway, I almost picked the underdog Albert Odyssey simply because of its low expectations going into playing the game. But I cannot deny Panzer Dragoon Saga this honor. I had such high expectations for it, I even took off work that day to play it. I was not disappointed. You will not be in for a more wild ride than this game, its story and gameplay are superb. My only 2 complaints: They could have had a harder final boss and they could have developed Edge and Azel a little more. Either way, a Sega classic well worth $215 or whatever I paid for it. And for that it takes #1 in my retro GOTY 2012 Epic Adventures category
No comments:
Post a Comment