My Top 40 Games of 2013, 10 - 1: R.I.P. 2013

Written By: Tyler Selig

                Hello everybody and Happy New Year! To start the year off, let’s remember the ten best games of 2013, according to me of course.

10: The Wonderful 101

                I’m going to rage a bit here. This Platinum Games superhero action game should have sold systems. People bitched about how the Wii U doesn’t have new IP and this interesting fast-paced beat ‘em up comes out and people don’t seem to care or even acknowledge that it exists. It’s one of the best games of the year and does something different with the genre, allowing your superheroes to form things like giant hands and whatnot. From the visuals, to the silly over-the-top humour, to the intense action, The Wonderful 101 really is wonderful and people shouldn’t sleep on this.

9: Fire Emblem: Awakening

From here on, you could switch any of these around and I’d be okay with it. It ultimately only came down to the mood I was currently in, since a lot of these are so entirely different than one another.

This is the first Fire Emblem game I’ve ever played and I was blown away.  I love tactical-RPGs, I love ‘job systems,’ and I love how deep the combat is in this game. One of the best RPGs of the year, by far.

8: Shin Megami Tensei 4

                This was also the first time I’ve played a Shin Megami Tensei core game. I also bought that other one that was finally release over here, but that was a tad dated. I loved what it was offering me though so I got really excited to play 4. It didn’t let me down at all… part Pokemon, part old-school RPG, it’s got incredible depth and a great story.

7: Batman: Arkham Origins

                I don’t care how many people want to say it’s too similar to Arkham City, or even that it sucks, this is another fine entry in an epic and legendary Batman video game series. Glitches aside – in which there were many when I played – it’s everything you could want from another Arkham game. Great villains, a logical story for why Batman is fighting so many villains at one time, and awesome gameplay that in some ways redefined the genre. No, it’s not a complete overhaul of the series, but since we don’t get one every year, I’m completely okay with that.

6: Bioshock: Infinite

                I think the first one may still be better, but this is another great Bioshock game. Wonderful story, solid game mechanics and dat mindfuck of an ending. It’s an accomplishment on pretty much every front.

5: Super Mario 3D World

                This game is just fun incarnate. It’s hard not to play this without a smile on your face, from all the references to games past, to the way the game works, it’s all on point. People can hate on Nintendo and all the Marios they release, but when Mario is at its best, there isn’t a platformer on the planet that can beat it. This is one of the best of the series, and that says a lot.

4: Path of Exile

                Free-to-play means shit right? Nope. Path of Exile is one of the best ARPGs of all time. It has your classic hack n’ slash action, but it does a few things different within the genre, such as having a barter system, or levelling up on something that is like the Final Fantasy X Sphere Grid. There is an incredible amount to love about Path of Exile. Did I mention it’s free?

3: The Last of Us

                It’s important to note, again, that from 9 on, any of these games could be number one but I believe in the integrity of the list so there has to be winners. The Last of Us was number one until right now, but I did a quick switch up. The Last of Us, like Bioshock: Infinite, is an accomplishment on everything. One of the best told stories of recent years, with memorable characters. One of the best soundtracks of the year. While some criticize the gameplay, I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. The Last of Us is one of the best PS3 games ever.

2: Killzone: Shadow Fall

                The bias is strong with this one. Killzone is my jam, I say it all the time. It’s a game I can sink hours into. I don’t know if this is the best one or not, but it does some things amazingly well, and they released a patch that fixes some of the issues I had with it. If you want a slower, Sci-Fi shooter, Killzone is where you should go.

1: Animal Crossing: New Leaf

                That’s right, I moved The Last of Us so I could put Animal Crossing: New Leaf as my number one. It’s mostly because it was a game I kept going back to for a couple months, whereas I basically only played The Last of Us for a while. Animal Crossing was my first real go at the series, since I only played the first one for a little bit, and I’m a huge fan now. But like I said, The Last of Us could be here, Super Mario could, Killzone, Fire Emblem, etc. Just depends on what genre I felt like playing at the time.

                And that’s it folks. I don’t know what 2014 is going to bring for me or this blog, but I hope you enjoyed my end of the year extravaganza.

Is It Okay To Be The Same Or Should They All Be Unique Snowflakes? The Answer Is Batman.

Written By: Tyler Selig

That's me throwin' molotovs at people who feel different than I do, and who didn't ask for my opinion anyway. I don't know who the other two are because I have no friends.

                Hey there everybody, I know it’s been a while since there’s been a blog post. My next post was originally supposed to be a review of Batman: Arkham Origins, but I got it for Xbox 360 and my save got corrupted about ten hours in. This means that I’m too annoyed to restart the game right away, and since I saw other people having this problem I’m hoping it’s not just my piece of shit 360 and it’s something they can patch. Either way, I’ll have to finish my experience with Batman later on.

                But never fear because I’ve found a way to make an article not about Batman, but actually kind of about Batman. An article with a Batman “review” (in quotation marks because it isn’t a review to me unless I’ve at least finished the story and done a bunch of side quests) jammed in there. The genesis of the article came from me reading reviews of the new game (specifically IGN and Gamespot) and taking issue with one main complaint: how similar it is to the other games in the series.

                I’ll go on record and say that Arkham City is one of those games I’d rate a 10 and I firmly believe it’s close to perfect. I don’t think any game is perfect and I never will. Even my most loved games have minor flaws but that’s the thing… they’re so minor it hardly matters. I would say Arkham Asylum isn’t perfect but damn it is an awesome game. So I had high hopes for Origins and even though the series switched developers, I felt their heads were in the right place. I thought reviews would reflect this. I single out sites like Gamespot and IGN because they’re so big within the industry. The fact that IGN gave it a 7.8 (which is pretty good) and Gamespot gave it a 6 (which is a terrible rating) rang some alarms in my head. And it hurt.

                So I investigated. The general consensus is that it’s more of the same. That’s when my brain started to do think. And that also hurt.

                Why is that a bad thing? Some of the best series of all-time have been doing it for years. And why was Batman singled out when series like Call of Duty are notorious for getting high ratings despite offering very similar experiences. In the case of CoD, there is literally one – Modern Warfare or Black Ops, which offer slightly different experiences from one another but are still ultimately CoD – every year.

                I’m not picking on Call of Duty. It can have its fans. I’m sure they do this with Battlefield but I’m not into the series. They do it with Assassin’s Creed as far as I can tell (again, not a series I’m real into). Metal Gear, which is my favourite series of all time, doesn’t really differ that much from one another. Some differ more than others but I’d say Solid 1 to 4 aren’t a hell of a lot different outside of where they take place and some evolutions of gameplay mechanics. But it’s still Metal Gear. Killzone hasn’t changed a whole lot since the first one. Another series I love. Borderlands 2 is not a hell of a lot different than the first. I doubt the third will reinvent the series.

                I didn’t want Origins to break new ground… I just wanted it to feed me more of what I loved about the other two in the series.

               In my play through that was tragically cut short, I enjoyed the shit out of Origins. It had more of the free-flowing combat that is one of the best things to ever happen to fighting games. It gave me an intriguing story that did a wonderful job of giving Batman a reason to fight so many villains in one night (saw that in a review, thought it was a good point). The predator mode is still amazing, with clever level design and so many ways to take out opponents. The crime scene investigation element isn’t as deep as it could be but the game is better for having it, though I think this is a point of contention for people. The few boss battles I’ve partaken in have been exciting and Deathstroke was challenging to me. I also got to see people like Anarky. It also has a fast travel which is always good in an open world game. I don’t care what IGN says: it doesn’t disservice the world at all to be able to move quickly around it. I fast travelled in Skyrim like a boss.   

                So to me, Origins captures the essence of both Batman and these recent Arkham games and though it’s probably not as polished as Arkham City and it’s not a step-forward like that game was, it was an extremely satisfying game, not taking into consideration things like corrupted save files (like I said, I don’t know if that’s my systems fault or the games) or other glitches that are patchable, if the developers are paying attention.

                Okay, so this has become more of a Batman review than I wanted. So let’s get down to the points I wanted to make.

                My point is: Origins is more of the same but that’s okay. You have to have your series that don’t innovate every time. There are times that I just want to take part in something familiar, something that I know I will love.                There is a reason you gravitate towards a certain series of games, or even movies, books, etc. It’s because the original gives you something that you can sink your teeth in and like drugs, you want more more more. Not everyone is like this, but judging from the sales of certain series that are mammoths within the industry, it’s obvious that there are a lot of people picking up what I’m putting down.

                It’s hypocritical of me to say this, but yes I’ve criticized games for being predictable and for playing it safe. On the surface my comment doesn’t make any sense because I play games that are predictable and play it safe. Underneath though, that statement is more of a personal preference than anything. It’s less “this game sucks for being the same” and more “I just got tired of playing it.”

                There are just so many games that have the same gameplay mechanics, but they’ll throw in a few different guns, change up the maps, tweak something a little bit here and there, polish the game, make it a little bit bigger and badder, then release it. I know it feels like I’m picking on shooters but they have been the genre of choice for a lot of people so that’s what I’ve used as a point of reference.

Not every game is going to revolutionize the industry. I don’t even want them to, nor do I want every game to be completely original. I don’t want every game to be like Journey but I’ll enjoy the fuck out of Journey when it’s given to me.

                Maybe Origins falls apart as the game goes along, though I doubt it. I’ve seen it called glorified DLC and that’s unfair because then you have to start shit-talking a lot of classic games. The fact of the matter is, the game industry, much like the movie industry, will find things that work and exploit that. Developers will find something that sticks, and they will release that over and over because it’s a business and because they know there’s a market for it. So while it can be annoying that new and fresh games get overlooked, and believe me it happens all the time, there is still place for these sequels that provide consumers with a product that they know and love. It feels weird to treat massive series like the underdogs, but I’m just calling it like I see it. I’m the first one to pimp a title that I feel brings something new to the table, but the truth of the matter is, I just love games as an art form so I embrace both familiar games and games that have their own little niche.

I didn’t mean for this to be a long article but it seems to be. I’ll make one final point and allow me to generalize for the next little bit: You can’t actually satisfy gamers. This is true for fans of everything, but since this is a game blog I’m targeting you. Yes, you. And me. And the person next door. We all suck.

If WB Games Montreal had changed the series too much people would have bitched. They keep it the same (but add a few things) and people bitch. So what’s someone to do? Origins isn’t a bad game but people keep rating it way lower (seriously, a 6?) than is necessary. I don’t expect people to gush over it, though I am, but what were they to do? Origins suffers mainly from the fact that it’s from a great series and is arguably the weakest link of the three. But that doesn’t make it a bad game, and people can’t seem to realize that. It’s like, if a game doesn’t live up to peoples ridiculous standards, it becomes a shitty game. Although I don’t think people are going that far with Origins, my point remains.

I was playing Warface a while ago and in my first-impressions I said that it’s a generic shooter but all I saw in-game were people saying it’s the worst game ever. The nerve of me to say this because it’s all personal opinion but no, it just wasn’t a good game. It wasn’t the worst ever. People who say that make me wonder if they’ve ever played a truly bad game.

So what do you think about me white knighting for a big-budget title? Think I have no soul? You’re right, but let me know what you think in the comments below and see ya next time.

My Top 50 Favourite Video Games of This Generation, 10 - 1

Written By: Tyler Selig

Well folks, here we are. We’re down to the Top 10 games of this generation. I hope you enjoyed the ride because I could hardly contain my excitement. Or something.

                There are a few games in the Top 10 that are a part of a series, and it was difficult for me to pick just one for each series.

                But let’s do this.

10: Batman: Arkham City (PS3, 360)

                It’s really astonishing what they’ve done with Batman… just in general. Christopher Nolan starts making legendary (yes I said it) Batman movies, and then the same starts happening in video games.

                Arkham Asylum was a great start with a story focused around my favourite Batman comic. But it was a little limited in scope compared to Arkham City, which took everything I loved about Asylum and opened it up more, meaning now you can actually move around the city. But it doesn’t sacrifice story for it.

                The fighting mechanics are the best thing to happen to ‘beat ‘em up’ in a long time. It’s a simple system, but it is so fine-tuned it allows a lot of excitement and different things to happen. Yes, you will see a lot of the same moves, but every now and then, Batman will do something that maybe you haven’t seen before. Above all else, it’s an easy system to get into, and they build on the possibilities of it as you go on.

                I always love a good superhero story, and they paid a lot of care to it here.

                And what would Batman be if he wasn’t creeping in the shadows? Yes, you can do that here too, which makes stalking your enemies a hell of a lot of fun.

                This is pretty much a perfect game. This could be closer to 1 than it is, but this is how I felt on the day I finalized the list.

9: Xenoblade: Chronicles (Wii)

                One of the best RPGs of the last 10, 15 years, bar none. The story is really interesting, and I especially love how the world is built on top of a God.

                The battle system is intense and frantic, but not overly so. Battles happen quickly, but they’re easy to follow.

                The levelling up is just deep enough for me to mention it, and the fact you can build relationships between characters that allow you to upgrade your character even more is a nice touch.

                It got a lot of recognition from critics and whatnot, but since it’s on the Wii, I feel many people overlooked it.

8: Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, 360)

                Many – if many read this blog – will criticize me for including this, but I’m a bit of a Suda51 homer. I don’t think everything he has made is awesome, but his games don’t get real glowing reviews for the most part.

                I think people approach his games in a different way than they’re meant to be, a lot of the time. He is ultimately a style over substance type of guy, and that’s great once in a while, but that style is a hell of a lot of fun. His games are almost always crazy, and most of the time you aren’t entirely sure what’s going on.

                Lollipop Chainsaw gets criticized for the same things a lot of his games do. People say it’s just a stupid hack n’ slash button-masher. I don’t know when being a button-masher is a bad thing. Am I to believe that the only way to have an action game is to have a real in-depth battle system? Can’t some games just be Dynasty Warriors? Sometimes that’s just a lot of fun. But Lollipop Chainsaw isn’t even that simple. You can upgrade yourself, which allows different possibilities in combat… but yes, it’s more of a button-masher than some.

                That didn’t bother me because a) I just said I enjoy that sometimes and b) because of the sheer silliness of what was going on. You play a hot cheerleader who ends up carrying her boyfriends’ head around with her. Oh yeah, she hunts zombies.

                Lollipop Chainsaw is grindhouse with glitter. I can’t remember where I saw that, but it’s true. It’s over-the-top with raunchiness, sexiness and violence, but that’s the appeal. Mix in the soundtrack and you have a different type of experience.

                I’m well aware that many won’t see it my way and call it a shitty game, but I stand by Lollipop Chainsaw because I was never bored by it.

               

7: Yakuza 3 (PS3)

                I didn’t know whether to pick Yakuza 3 or 4. I picked 3 because you play solely as Kazuma Kiryu, whereas in 4 you play as four different people, and playing as Kiryu is the most interesting to me. He’s the badass of the series, though there are many.

                Before GTA and its numerous mini-games/activities to play/do, there was Yakuza… a melodramatic tale of gangsters that are known for having a lot to do. Yakuza is part beat ‘em up, part RPG, part GTA-style sandbox, and the story is a hell of a lot of fun to follow.

                You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hit people with bikes, and Yakuza is amazing for it.

6: Nier (PS3, 360)

                My, this list has a few pics of games that only got mixed reviews, isn’t it?

                I stand by Nier. I didn’t think it was going to be anything special, but I was blown away.

                It’s another game, like Lollipop Chainsaw, where maybe the actual fighting isn’t as deep as it can be, but I think people overstate the complexity of some games anyway.

                Nier is an RPG, and as such, it should have a memorable story. It does. What starts as a heart-warming tale to find a cure for your kid, becomes much much more.

                Nier blends a few genres together… there are moments of side-scrolling platforming, moments of over-the-top shooter, and even some text adventure.

                Oh, did I mention that the soundtrack is one of the best ever, bar none? You can take all your favourite video game OSTs, and make Nier compete against them and Nier stands strong. It may not be the best, but it can make the claim convincingly.

                People need to pay attention to the games that don’t necessarily get the best ratings, because there are sometimes absolute gems in here. Games like Nier prove that theory.

5: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

                Speaking of games with crappy ratings… just kidding, obviously.

                The Smash Bros. series have been my favourite fighting games since I played the first one, and they keep getting better.

                I like how it operates on a different system than most others. You technically have a life bar I guess, only it’s a percentage and when it hits 100 it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of the fight.

                On top of that you have stages that morph and change as you do battle, and you can have four people fighting at a time. What I’m trying to say is, Smash Bros. gets intense.

                Plus you get to play as classic Nintendo characters.

4: Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)

                Sick of games that try to tell a decent story and have a triple A budget? Yeah me too! That’s why I play Earth Defense Force.

                What started as just renting a game because it was two-player, grew into a deep love. I didn’t know whether to pick this or Insect Armageddon because they both have elements I approve of (Insect Armageddon and the different classes), but in the end I picked the one that got me to the dance.

                I know I haven’t made a convincing argument yet, but here it is. If you’re one of these people that think games should be fun, above all else, then this is a game for you. You want silly, stupid entertainment? You want the video game equivalent of a movie like Shoot ‘Em Up (in style, I’m not saying it’s the best movie ever), then here you go. I’m going to give a basic rundown of what happens in this series.

                Pick your guns (pick something explosive because buildings literally just collapse), start the level, shoot ants, spiders, robots, etc. Pick up weapons. Blow up buildings (especially if it’s your first play through because it’s amazing at first), shoot ants, spiders, robots, etc. Go underground, shoot ants, spiders, robots, etc. Pick up weapons. Fight giant Robot on beach. Shoot ants, spiders, robots, etc.

                My point is… this is a GAME in the purest sense of the word. It doesn’t need great graphics. It’s funny and a blast to play. Every single person I’ve shown this to loves it. Give it a chance.

3: The Last of Us (PS3)

                And now a game that is sort-of the opposite. I think people overstate how movie-ish it is, because there is plenty of gameplay. Most of it is scrounging around for stuff, but I feel they do put enough gameplay in here.

                But that’s not why you come to this. You come to it for the story, and it succeeds wonderfully. It tells a story that isn’t that uncommon, but does it with such finesse that it’s one of the best video game stories ever told.

                The Last of Us is as good as critics say. So far it’s Game of the Year and I’m not sure if that’ll get changed or not.

2: Killzone 3 (PS3)

                I figure a lot of gamers that play a lot of games and don’t just play one genre have a favourite multiplayer shooter. The FPS is so popular it’s hard not to pick a side. Games like Halo and Timesplitters (release a new one please) are games I adore for this, but Killzone is my king, which means I can sit down at any time and play it.

                What I like most about KZ as opposed to others is how it feels. It feels heavy, it feels good to shoot and throw grenades. It doesn’t feel like paper, like Call of Duty. It hasn’t been a perfect series, but it gets most right. I also love class-based multiplayer as opposed to just picking your weapons and loadouts.

                I picked Killzone 3 because it’s the one I spent the most time with, because I played it with my brother. Killzone 2 has better maps, though.

                So, Killzone is my jam and I await Killzone: Shadow Fall. Launch day baby!

1: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

                Anyone who knows me knows I’m a massive Metal Gear fan. It’s my series, and it always wins these types of lists. I’m a fanboy, I have a hoodie with Foxhound on it.

                What got me to this point was the story, ultimately. The story of Solid Snake and all the crazy (nanomachines) things that happen is compelling and emotional from game to game. It’s also silly sometimes. That’s one of the things I really like: it tells a serious story about war, but it has a sense of humour and it remembers that it’s a game.

                What I mean by that is, it has incredible stealth-based gameplay, but even with the bosses… it doesn’t try to be realistic. It wants to give you the kind of bosses that only video games will. It doesn’t concern itself with reality, it gives you memorable bosses, every time.

                I always say that Metal Gear is a perfect example of games as art, but unlike some games that claim that, it also is well aware that it’s a video game. It strikes that balance perfectly.

                There are so many memorable moments within the series that it hurts.

                I don’t know which Metal Gear is the best in the series. Old-school purists could go with Metal Gear 1, but I’m more of a Solid guy, so it comes down to either Metal Gear Solid 1 (which has the single best story of all the games), 3 or 4. I love 2 as well, I ain’t hatin’ on it. So basically any Solid could get picked.

                But Guns of the Patriots was the only one released this gen, so I don’t have to pick.

                Some hate that as the game goes on, it has less game play and cite the first couple acts as what Metal Gear Solid should be. I can see that. But I’ve always loved the story so much that I can watch hours of it. It does still allow you to play, but I admit it’s less frequently later in the game.

                But returning to Shadow Moses? Amazing. The part where you have to tap the button and basically break your finger while Snake crawls through a furnace? Amazing.

                I just love Metal Gear. Metal Gear Solid V will kill.

                I wasn’t aware how much of a Playstation fanboy my list would make me look like until I saw the Top 3 games.

                Thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comments!

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