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ichthyocentaursSame as last time, I drew a little piciture and wrote a little paragraphy for my favorite games I played this year. Nothing's in any particular order outside of the categories, and this is for every game I played this year, not just new releases. (Actually that's a little bit of a lie, I did play a bunch of game jam games but they were so short, I really should've made a little list of my favorites but whatever. Maybe sometime??)
And same as last year I send off my most hated game(s, actually) with a big fuck you. <3
Very Good, Play These:
(Secret theme: 3 of these games have significant amounts of rain featured)
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line
Shocking news: Final Fantasy has great music! It’s so hard to say what my favorite rhythm game series is, but Theatrhythm has to be up there. Every addition to the series is good and I’ve sunk so much time into all of them. There is a frankly ridiculous amount of music in this game and anytime I pick it up to play a song or two I inevitably waste half an hour.
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code
Thank you weird detective games for existing. I need one a year to pump the blood in my veins. And this one went so many interesting directions! Kodaka did not sit back and make another Danganronpa, he channeled so many fun ideas into this game and while it still has that familiar edge and flavor and style, it feels entirely its own. The world feels so multifaceted and full of possibilities; it could have gone on for 10 more chapters and I would have been happy.
Suikoden V
Fell in Suikolove again and it feels so good. The hefty intro sucked me into the story so hard; I love being given reasons to really care about the main character’s plight and want the inevitable to be avoided. It’s not, and the game actually maintaining its tragedies and joys story-wise is was so satisfying. The combat was reverted to classic six playable characters Suikoden style too and it’s damn fun to play turn based jrpgs.
GrimGrimoire OnceMore
The original is great, but this remaster fixes all my issues with it and became the definitive version to me. The story is my second favorite from Vanillaware: I love the twists and turns, the fantasy, the way you have to piece together aspects but also sit along for the ride. I really enjoy games that doesn’t necessarily care if things make sense as long as you feel them, and I find this game so successful at that romantic ideal.
IMMORTALITY
Damn, this game. I can see the scenario where it’s a total miss for people, but it perfectly hits my circles of weird movies, fucked up shit, and uh… (spoilers). It’s a game that’s hard to discuss without revealing too much, but I think the title should make things self-evident: it’s about immortality. It hands you a lot of ideas but is so open to interpretation at the same time, there’s such a feast of concepts hidden in so many layers.
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
If you have ever been on the fence: please play Dragon Quest. I can’t explain how much fun I’ve had (and am currently having playing DQ V) getting into this series. It is the quintessential JRPG experience. IV has a chapter split system where you play as smaller groups of characters who have their own origins and will, in the end, all join together to defeat the big evil, and I had so much fun picking who I liked best (it’s Torneko) and exploring the world. DQ doesn’t feel like it has to reinvent the wheel every time and despite aiming for a solid story well told, I never get sick of it and felt for every character, good and bad.
Umineko When They Cry - Question Arcs
This game gets talked about a lot in VN spaces but doesn’t have that much crossover, and it’s a shame. It’s a murder mystery turned up to 11, flipped and chopped and scrambled in every way you can think of and way more ways you can’t. It’s a vicious, hilarious, dark, challenging ride that I loved to ponder over, only to be proven wrong wrong wrong. There’s no better way to have so much fun not knowing what’s happening and having every possibility open.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel
I am an admitted loser bad gamer and this game is terribly stressful. But that’s exactly what they wanted! It is the story of a monstrous tank piloted by furry children through a warzone, and this reality is harshly portrayed. There’ll be a heartbreaking moment followed up by a conversation between a kitten and puppy about what they want to do when they grow up. If a fight is too hard you can sacrifice one of them to instantly win, and it’s actually tempting at times! You can’t savescum your way to a victory. This game is perfectly honed to cause suffering and justify its subject matter and deserves praise for it.
Raw Danger
Sneaking in at the last, perfect moment, we finished this on December 31st. It’s a Christmas game, so everyone add it to your play list. Disaster Report was easily one of my favorite games a couple years ago, and the sequel iterates on it in very, very good ways. My sister and I were laughing like hell at some of the dialogue options you can choose (go ahead and lick the knife a serial killer is holding to your throat and see what happens). The story is greatly enhanced by being able to play through different character’s experiences; it unfolds much like a mystery until you have all the pieces needed to fully understand everything that’s passed. I have to commend this series to sticking to its concept: you are surviving a disaster, you don’t need to have human enemies or anything to “enhance” it. Buildings collapsing around you and having to suddenly maneuver to escape floodwaters is plenty of excitement!
Other Games I Liked:
WarioWare: Move It!, Detective Grimoire, Tomb Raider, Unholy Heights, West of Loathing, Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, Okamiden, Tender Loving Care, We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie, Pilgrims, Ratchet and Clank, Fit For A King, Dark Fall 2: Lights Out, Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders, Dragon Quest Treasures, Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster, En Garde!, Chants of Sennaar, Rusty Lake Hotel, Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting to Danger!, Nancy Drew: Alibi in Ashes, Tales of Xillia 2, 428: Shibuya Scramble
Totally OK Games:
THE CORRIDOR, Bulb Boy, Botanicula, ABZÛ, Toren, Grow Home, Syberia, Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis – Remastered, Cooking Mama, The Gardens Between, Maquette, Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet, Tôtem, Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened – Remastered, Bloody Roar 2, Bloody Roar
Kinda Bad Games:
BloodRayne, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, GRIS, PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, I am Setsuna., Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Contrast
Worst Game(s) of the Year:
Prestigious two winners!
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
This game has some merit, honestly, though I didn’t like the first one that much the overall story and stuff is like, ok. However. I gave this a flat one star because it’s broken as fuck, and there is an upgraded version that is not free for owners of the original! I’m not going to buy your game again because you couldn’t bother have it work the first time! You just can’t have a point-and-click adventure game full of softlocks; it basically forced me to follow a guide for a majority of the game and I hate finished it and I want to blast it somewhere, at least.
Sakura Wars
This is the real winner. When we finished my sister called it banal, and it’s the perfect summation. I can’t understand enjoying this game. This idiotic dating sim disguised as an action game is so paper thin in every aspect. We had more fun playing koi-koi against the characters than talking to them because they’re just color coded waifu stereotypes. The only redeeming feature is the ability to go full pervert dickhead because then at least you can laugh. The overall story is completely predictable when it bothers to make any sense, and there is literally zero tension the whole time. The infrequent bouts of gameplay do not make up for it either, it’s the most braindead hack n slash button mash. The two aspects combine into a jumbled, pointless experience. The hate finish of hate finishes.
