This Week In Games, August 10 - 16, 2014: Hohokum, Risen 3, Disgaea 4 and Some Weird Japanese Stripping

Written By: Tyler

Greetings friends, and welcome to another addition of "This Week In Games," the weekly article that I write where I discuss the finer points of surrealist art.

Each week I go on Gamespot -- you may have heard of it -- and I look at the new games that are coming out. I then write about them because this is a blog after all. I don't choose every game because to be honest, not every game is worth mentioning, but I pick some of the more interesting ones, whether it's good or bad, and I pick the bigger releases. Just because I say there isn't anything really coming out on a day, doesn't mean there isn't. It just means that there isn't anything that fantastic or worth checking out. That may sound harsh but there are so many games out these days that you have to pick and choose.

I also only talk about North American releases because that's where I'm from.



August 10

Nothing! It's Sunday after all.


August 11

It looks like there's nothing here according to Gamespot.


August 12


Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten 

Coming Out For: PS Vita
Genre: Strategy - RPG
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1vN2TGKwns
 
It was released in 2011 on PS3 but now you can pick it up on the Vita. It's enhanced and expanded, including apparently 50 pieces of DLC. The Disgaea series is one of the few RPG series that have gotten a really good following that I haven't ever tried, and I know that's criminal, but fans of the series should check this out.


Hohokum
 

Coming Out For: PS3, PS4, PS Vita
Genre: Adventure
Gameplay: http://ca.ign.com/videos/2014/07/23/hohokum-launch-trailer

It's kind of hard to explain Hohokum but it is my most anticipated release of the week. It looks gorgeous, and I'm sure the soundtrack will compliment the visuals exceptionally well. From a gameplay perspective it's a bit of an oddball... even the creators try to avoid describing what it actually is, choosing to just let them play it instead. In an article on Mashable, I saw the idea of flying a kite mentioned a lot and that seems appropriate. In it you just fly around in a colourful and active world and things happen. I can't sell you on it; if you look at that screenshot and it looks like something that might pique your interest, then make sure to watch that I linked above and see what it looks like in action.


Risen 3: Titan Lords

Coming Out On: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Genre: RPG
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vU42VAFzoE

Risen 3: Titan Lords is a medieval RPG that is promising a "classic RPG" experience, with a large, breathing world with a ton of side-quests and places to explore. It is played in a third-person view and you level up your character, use points to up your attributes and unlock skills, and do battle with various baddies using a combination of magic or melee. Use quick or hard attacks, mix them up, throw in some magic, be on your way to victory.

If this sounds like every other RPG you see, then you're probably right. Obviously I won't know until I actually play it, if I get around to it, but from the gameplay videos I've seen, it honestly doesn't look like anything that fantastic. It looks fairly generic. The visuals aren't exactly stunning, the battle animations don't look fluid (and some are laughable like what appears to be stabbing with a mace), and there's nothing here that screams "must-play." However, it doesn't look terrible either. I can't see Risen 3 standing up to the best in the genre, but it could serve you decently well as an RPG to tide you over until a better one comes... especially since, if you're like me, Sacred 3 has let you down (review on that coming). I imagine this ends up being a 6 out of 10 or maybe a 7, and people seem to forget that those scores aren't actually bad.



Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed 

Ima just leave this here and I'll be right back.

Coming Out For: PS Vita, PS3
Genre: Adventur/Action-RPG
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btW9_L8d48U

Akiba's Trip is a game where basically demon creatures have taken over Akihabara. There is a conspiracy that you will unravel, but more importantly you have to strip the clothes off of demons and expose them to light. I imagine that line is going to either make you want to play it or avoid it at all costs. You have to appreciate Japan and their willingness to do stuff like this.



Surgeon Simulator: Anniversary Edition

Coming Out For: PS4
Genre: Simulation (Of Sorts...)
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYLPHa-4sUs

Ah yes, here we are, with a port of the wildly popular and comical Surgeon Simulator... this time for PS4. Fumble your way through a variety of operations this week, along with an exclusive PS4 mode that nobody seems to know anything about. Have fun and happy surgeoning!



August 13

Just a release of Hohokum in other places.


August 14

Gaiabreaker

Coming Out For: Wii U
Genre: Shoot 'Em Up
Gameplay: http://www.destructoid.com/the-wii-u-is-getting-one-shmup-richer-soon-with-gaiabreaker-273733.phtml

The Wii U hasn't had a lot going on since it was released, but this week there's a vertical shmup being released in the eShop. It doesn't do much that we haven't seen before, but since these games aren't as common as they were back in the 90s, it's still nice to see one. It could be a nice little game to play while you wait for something bigger to be released, like Hyrule Warriors or Bayonetta 2.


August 15

Another day where there isn't really a whole lot going on.



That's it for this week folks. Make sure to comment in the little box below (is it still there? Who knows?), or follow me on Twitter by clicking here here here. See you next time.

This Week In Games, June 29 - July 5, 2014

Written By: Tyler

Hello and welcome to another edition of "This Week In Games," a weekly feature where every Sunday or Monday I give a quick preview of some of the games releasing this week that are of interest to me in a good or bad way.


June 30

Divinity: Original Sin

Coming Out For: Windows, Linux
Genre: Role-playing
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaYWfqJD3g

This is the big release of the week for me, and it's strange because I didn't know anything about it and I only played Divine Divinity briefly years ago... so I'm not a series fan. However, this prequel to that looks incredible.

It looks like a dense (as the gameplay video says) RPG, with a neat robbery system that actually affects your reputation if you get caught. You can cause a distraction with one character by talking to somebody and then use another to steal. The crafting seems simplistic but it appears that there are a lot of things you can craft. The combat is turn-based but I like the idea of your action points carrying over to the next turn so you can have a big turn. It looks like there's a lot of variety in your attacks.

The leveling system looks like it has depth, with the different perks you can put points into and all the other things that you can level up, and there's a lot of story to read and things to do. My only complaint from what I know is that there isn't a marker telling you where to go so questing will be extremely difficult. NPCs will tell you, but then you have to remember. There is a dialogue diary but it looks like it's hard to filter through.

If you're playing co-op, you can make decisions together and depending on how you interact with your partner your stats will be affected.

There's also an RPG kit to make your own adventures! The game isn't even full-priced but looks huge. $40 on Steam.


July 1

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition 

Coming Out For: PS4 (July 1), Xbox 360 (July 2), Xbone (July 2), Wii U (July 2)
Genre: Platformer
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVQbAtAQzj8

Guacamelee! sees its debut on the systems listed above in an enhanced edition. I'm not really sure why I never played the game because I love luchador wrestling, and the game is zany and colourful. I reckon now is probably a good time to try it out, and if you have Xbox Live Gold it is the free Games With Gold for July, so pick it up.



Child Of Light

Coming Out For: PS Vita
Genre: Role-playing
Gameplay: http://ca.ign.com/videos/2014/05/20/child-of-light-psvita-trailer

I really enjoyed Child of Light because JRPGs are where my heart is. They're my roots.

You can fly around in this game, which is different, and the turn-based combat has a spin on it with the fact you can use your companion to slow down enemies and just generally interact with things. The story is told entirely in rhyme, and the visual style is gorgeous. It looks like the Vita version hasn't suffered so if you haven't played Child of Light, here is another chance to do so.



Sniper Elite 3

Coming Out For: PS3, PS4, X360, XboneGenre: Third-Person Shooter

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1yg9jffjxI

It's already out on PC, but it sees its console release. Here's what I said about the PC version.

This one doesn't interest me at all, and since I don't get paid to do reviews I'm not sure if I'll get around to this one or not. It's not that it looks terrible, but it doesn't look like it brings anything to the table that we can't get a million other places. The kill-cam idea doesn't really make me feel like I'm seeing the damage I'm doing, it just seems annoying, and the action looks okay but there are so many shooters it just doesn't stand out.

Greatest Game Ever??!! A TITANFALL Review

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

About five seconds before I begin getting my ass kicked.

Rating: 8/10
Verdict: TITANFALL is an intense multiplayer experience, but it leaves a little to be desired outside of the actual combat. 

TITANFALL -- I know it's not supposed to be capitalized, but it's something I started doing as a joke in the Weekly News Round-Up to stress how intense the game is going to be -- was hyped. Really hyped. It was going to be the Call of Duty killer. It was going to give us something we've never had before. The innovation would lead to world domination. So does this multiplayer-only shooter live up to the potential and the hype? Sort-of. 

Let's get a couple things out of the way:

• A multiplayer-only game is fine so long as the multiplayer offers something interesting. A lot of first-person shooter fans will spend hours upon hours on multiplayer alone, with some not even playing the campaign. 
• I think more than any other genre, the FPS is dependent on "feel." This means that it doesn't matter how great a game is, if it doesn't feel right to you, you won't like it. For example, Killzone is my favourite FPS series because I like how heavy it feels. Whereas, I don't got them feels for a game like Call of Duty (this is important in the review). It's just personal preference and anybody who tries to tell you different should be locked in a room with a prime Mike Tyson and told to box him.

Detractors will call TITANFALL a "Call of Duty with mechs," and that's true to an extent. The shooting/way the guns handle is very much straight out of the CoD playbook, which is no surprise considering who developed this. It's quick and there's little recoil. Where it differs from Call of Duty is the movement and obviously the Titans. You move gracefully and quickly in this game, being able to jump, double jump and wall-run. It's incredible that they got this so right, and it's absolutely a blast to jump into buildings, across buildings or onto the roofs of buildings. This is a large part of why TITANFALL appealed to me from the moment it was announced, and it's definitely a selling point even now.

The Titans are also the element that makes this stand-out from CoD. You are an extremely agile pilot but the action gets bigger when you drop a Titan into the battle and you can get in and control these beats.

This game's combat only works because of the polish and balance. If this game wasn't balanced I think it would hurt it more than most games, because both humans and giant walking death tanks occupying the same battlefield could spell trouble. So rest assured, Respawn has done everything they could to make this a smooth experience for everybody. There are clear advantages to being a Titan, like firepower, but you are not completely out of the fight if you're a pilot. You can duck in and out of buildings easily, and it's extremely satisfying jumping up a building, running across the roof and riding an enemy Titan while blowing it to pieces. Or you could always just use the anti-Titan weaponry that you are automatically equipped with, so while it takes a few shots, you usually have other people firing at the Titans anyway. Don't get confused, seeing a Titan if you're a pilot is still scary shit like it should be, but you aren't automatically dead.

Part of this is because of the level design. They did good work here, offering over ten maps that are a good balance of indoors and outdoors. This is important since going indoors is best way to not get killed by Titans. I don't know why some people wanted destructible environments because that would kill the balance, but people are strange. The combination of well-designed levels and the ability to jump everywhere means that it's hard to camp and there are always interesting and exciting ways to enter buildings or get out of them.

Your Titans actually drop pretty frequently. Even though the matches are short, even if you aren't that good you should be able to get a couple drops in at least. Kill some grunts and you can have more. I had a conversation with my brother and neither of us are sure if the frequency of the drops is good or bad. I guess it's good because honestly, the game is called TITANFALL, so it's to be expected.

I'm iffy on the bots. I understand why they're there -- anti-camping and a way to balance the game by allowing everyone to get Titan drops more often -- but I think I would have preferred just slightly larger games. There are tactical advantages to the bots, because if you kill them you get points and it speeds up your Titan drop, or you can hide within a group of them and fool your enemies, but I find myself looking at bots way too often and getting killed by a real player. That could just be me being terrible at the game, but I still think there are ways to balance the game without having bots, especially considering they're always in there, with one of the game modes being one where you only get points for killing Pilots. Seems silly, but they are there for a logical reason so I'm not outright condemning it.

Even though I actually hate how Call of Duty feels, I'm more forgiving here because it makes sense. I don't think mechanics like Killzone would be appealing here, though a little recoil would feel nice. You still feel a bit like paper, but again, since I can double jump and run across walls I'm more okay with it than I would normally be.

Someone in the chat said, and this isn't a direct quote, "This is one of the only games where you could suck but you still do something cool every game." This is an intense game. People do cooler things than me, but I've done things like wall-chase a guy while shooting at him. I've been in frantic Titan battles, ejected onto a building, shot a rocket and blown up the Titan. I've seen an enemy Titan, ran to the other side of a building, jumped on top of it, ran to the edge, jumped off onto the enemy Titan and blew it up. I've seen people jump kick me in incredible ways. I've gone into Titan battles four Titans deep, and it's very cool being part of a large Titan march like that. It doesn't matter how bad you are, you'll probably do something neat, and the action will remain fast and absurd at all times. Believe me, I suck badly, but I still have a blast.

There are also little touches that I enjoy. I like having to evacuate at the end of matches by running to a dropship that can be blown up by the other team. It adds to the frantic nature of the game. I also like how it shows you jumping out of the dropship at the beginning of games because again. These are little touches but I like them.





So why is this game only an 8 then? Read on, my son.

For being a full-priced multiplayer-only game, it doesn't offer a lot of content. Sure, the combat itself is some of the more interesting FPS combat because of how it blends together a bunch of different games within the genre, but the rest of the game leaves a little to be desired.

If you're going to charge regular game price for a game that is dependent solely on being able to go online (meaning if the community ever died, well, you're shit out of luck... not that it will for a long time), you need to add some depth.

For example, the character customization is Call of Duty-lite. You pick your gun, attachments, and your tactical abilities and whatnot, but there's not much to it. There aren't many guns or attachments, and while being able to customize your Pilot and Titan loadout is fine, it still operates on the same progression system that we're all used to... and arguably does it worse than some of these other games. Love it or hate it, Killzone: Shadow Fall tried to do something different and abandoned the typical XP system we are familiar with. I'm not saying they should have done something so drastic, but this is a multiplayer-only game. Do something intriguing. I could be remembering MAG wrong, but I seem to remember it having a much better progression system. Hell, Dust 514 is incredibly (maybe overly) complex, and while the progression in that is dampened due to the free-to-play nature of gaining points, it's still a game that tried something big. I'm not saying TITANFALL needs to be Dust 514 -- TITANFALL is a better game -- but I'm left disappointed regardless.


If you're looking for game modes, TITANFALL doesn't give you many, and the ones it does give are pretty standard, outside of Last Titan Standing which starts you in Titans in a round-based game where you only get one life per round. The normal modes enter the fray like Capture the Flag or Hardpoint (which is Domination), but honestly this doesn't bother me much on a personal level because I only play a couple modes in shooters anyway. Still, again, this is a multiplayer-only game so they should have stepped their game up here as well.

The campaign is good in spirit but is ultimately just a bunch of multiplayer matches. The story doesn't matter because you don't pay attention to it while you're fighting because who has time? There are Titans everywhere! It's a nice thought, but it was unnecessary. Still, you might as well play it because it nabs you stuff that you wouldn't get just by playing the Classic mode.

The game looks fine. I'm not in awe of the graphics, even on high settings, but there are things going on in the background and they do a good job of making the game look busy while you're playing. I know TITANFALL has gotten criticized, but it's pretty enough. Visual design is more interesting than graphical power anyway, but that's beside the point.

This is one of the weirdest 8 out of 10s I will probably give a game. The fact is that I enjoy the hell out of the game when I'm in a match, but after the match I am left disappointed with what the game has to offer. The movement adds a layer to the game that most games in the genre don't have, but it's a pretty shallow experience out of the actual combat.

Reviewer Douchebag -- A South Park: The Stick of Truth Review

Written By: Tyler
Platform Played On: PC

Rating: 9/10
Verdict: If you're a fan of South Park, then this is for you. I can't imagine people who don't like South Park getting the same amount of enjoyment because it relies fairly heavily on the South Park charm.

When the television show South Park first came out, I was a teenager and I would stay up until midnight to watch it. I would laugh at things like aliens probing people, and I would watch the show for years to come. Out of the blue, I stopped watching for whatever reason. A couple years back I got back into it again and it's amazing to me that it's just as hilarious as before. This story is important because I'm important... or something. In all seriousness it's important because you pretty much have to be a South Park fan to really enjoy this I would imagine, though honestly that should have gone without saying.

South Park and The Stick of Truth is about the children of South Park and their epic role-playing game. They literally dress up as humans or elves, and they battle each other for the Stick of Truth -- an object that pretty much makes you the ruler of everything. You play as Douchebag (the game lets you put in a name but you are never called it), and I was going to say "what starts as an innocent child's game" but then I realized what game I was talking about -- the game starts offensive, but with a simplistic story, and in true South Park fashion gets more and more absurd as it goes on.

If you've come to this game it's probably because you're a fan of the series. So with that said, the story here is the main reason to play. Watching how everything unfolds, from humble beginnings as kids just playing, to a giant Taco Bell, is a treat. There was so much care and attention put into the story that every detail is spot-on, and you may spend a couple hours just wandering around seeing everything that the town has to offer, like I did. When you do the story, you meet the large cast of South Park characters and a lot of the time it's hilarious and incredible. It's been said a million times but it does sincerely feel like you're just playing an episode -- or even a season or two -- of South Park. I would imagine this ends up being the funniest game of the year. 

It's a good thing that the game is so damn charming, because the actual gameplay is more RPG-lite than RPG. Some people have said that this should have been expected because South Park is simple, which is a point I don't agree with. South Park, for all its farts and crude humour, is actually an intelligent show. It deserves a more complex, but not needlessly so, role-playing experience, much like the elaborate game that the kids play themselves.

It's not that the game is bad, because it really isn't. A lot of the time in battle you have to time your attacks to make them efficient, which means it's not just a mindless game. There is a certain strategic element to the combat, since people have armor and shields that you have to break. There is also the status effects, and I haven't seen an RPG that makes use of these things as heavily as South Park does in quite a while. The characters all have unique abilities in combat and this makes it interesting to switch back and forth between them to see what works best. The abilities, and also the animations, are a blast to watch because they're so different and South Parkian. The game also allows you to use an item each turn and it doesn't take a turn. It's a fun combat system, but there aren't really a lot of abilities to choose from so you end up using the same tactics a lot of the time. Hence an RPG-lite in that regard, because most battles end up being the same thing after a certain point.

It's a little thing but I played with a mouse and keyboard and the game would be better with a controller due to the button mashing and whatnot. I had no major issues but it's worth mentioning in order to get a smoother experience.

I also find the leveling system to leave a little to be desired, but again, it's not that bad. Gamespot made a huge deal out of how simplistic the game is, and while it's a tad simplistic, it's not as bad as Kevin said. You gain Facebook friends and when you gain so many you get a Perk point, which allows you to upgrade yourself in various ways, such as revival potions (ha) now healing people to full-life. There are a decent amount of choices, and it gives you a reason to do side-quests and meet people... something I don't want to do in real life!

You also gain an Ability point every level. The Fighter class had, I believe, five different abilities though I really only used two. That might be more me than a general consensus though. Anyway, you just level up which every ability you want. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's still something to do every level. Again, RPG-lite, because leveling up never really felt as good as it should have. It's decent, though.

A lot of people are going to complain about the length of the game, and it took me between ten and fifteen hours. I have no problem with this, and I don't expect games to offer me reasons to come back. It's appreciated, but I remember the days when "replay value" meant "play the same game over and over because you loved it." I understand that coming from the old-school conditioned me to be this way and current, or newer, gamers may not feel the same. I tend to prefer a game that gives me a shorter (though I don't deem ten hours as short) but amazing campaign over a long, dull one.

But it's true... there's not a lot of reason to come back to the game unless you just want to play it again. There are different character classes, but I don't think that's enough. The character classes are mostly generic types -- Fighter, Thief, Mage -- but Jew is an interesting one and definitely at home in South Park.

Equipment isn't as complex as some RPGs in ways, but the customization is a lot of fun. You can really only equip a helmet, armor and gloves in terms of armor, but you can constantly change your hair, face paint and facial hair. You can dye your equipment at any time. All of this means that it's fun to change yourself around once in a while. You can also put patches on your armor, which gives them various bonuses of your choosing.

The weapons consist of a ranged weapon and a melee. They both have their bonuses, and for the most part that is self-explanatory. Sometimes you need to switch to your ranged weapon if someone is in the back or defending against melee attacks, and sometimes up close and personal is the best route. Like the armor, you can modify them and make them more dangerous.

The game also doesn't offer a huge, Elder Scrolls world to explore. Don't go in thinking it will, because it doesn't. Okay? I don't even care about that, but some people seem to think that every RPG has to be Skyrim. It's not linear, but most of the game is spent in South Park (outside of a few moments... one of which being an extremely memorable trip to Canada).

Speaking of Skyrim, I love the music. There's actually a song that plays a lot throughout the game that very much sounds like one of the epic songs from that game. The soundtrack is great all-around, but that's to be expected because South Park has always had entertaining music. Hell, the South Park movie is one of the better Musicals... a contentious point that would piss off a lot of serious Musical fans I would imagine.

If the game was a little deeper this easily would have gotten an 9.5 because ultimately, I wanted to keep playing it. When I wasn't playing, I would think about it and be a little critical of it... but then I'd realize I just wanted to go back. It's that South Park charm, and seeing all the references and jokes makes it a game that is hard to put down.

The Gamecepticon Awardicons -- Misc. Video Game Awards

Written By: Tyler Selig   

These are my Miscellaneous Awards, where I give awards based on things such as music, multiplayer, etc. You’ll notice that there’s not a lot in terms of negative awards, and that’s mostly because I believe end of the year awards should celebrate the good because the bad makes me want to kill myself. With that said, I will cheat death again and include a couple negative awards.

                This will be a long post, and yes I may have a lot of “Other Nominees,” but this is my blog and the end of the year is important to me so there you have it. It also only includes games I’ve played so, sorry, no Battlefield 4 – from what I hear, nobody can play it anyway – or Grand Theft Auto 5. 

               Winners are in bold, let's do this.

Best Soundtrack – Starbound

Other Nominees

The Last of Us

Bioshock: Infinite

Animal Crossing

Super Mario World 3D World

Beyond: Two Souls

Monaco

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

                Starbound wasn’t technically released this year, so maybe it shouldn’t count, but the soundtrack was given out to people who pre-ordered it. And let me tell you something, this soundtrack is special. It’s so emotional and beautiful that it hurts. Try listening to Mira and not feel something. The Starbound soundtrack will be even better in context of the game, but even solo it’s incredible.

                If you don’t want to count Starbound, then I’d give it to The Last of Us, which is brilliant enough by itself with songs such as Vanishing Grace… but when you see the game in action combined with the music it’s a whole different ball game.

                Bioshock returned with another great soundtrack of old tunes and original content.

 Animal Crossing is a completely different type of OST compared to the others, but it isn’t any less effective in creating tone and mood. It’s just not something I listen to a lot of outside of the game, outside of a song or two, which isn’t a criticism so much as a comment on how ingrained in the game it is.

Meanwhile, Super Mario 3D World had some of the finest music Mario has ever had, with a mixture of original content and remixes/remade versions of the songs we know and love.

Beyond: Two Souls had a wonderful OST that compliments the themes and storylines of the game perfectly.

Austin Wintory can add this to his list of achievements. After almost winning a Grammy for his work on Journey, he released another great soundtrack – that isn’t quite as good as Journey – that perfectly fits being a thief.

It’s hard to argue with Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch from a musical standpoint, because it is quite an accomplishment. You’ll see this nominated on most sites that do these awards, and there’s a reason for that because it’s one of the better RPG soundtracks of recent years.

Best Multiplayer – Killzone: Shadow Fall

Other Nominees

Super Mario 3D World

Path of Exile

Anarchy Reigns

Bombermine

                Killzone wins because it’s my online shooter. It’s the same as a Call of Duty fan giving the award to Call of Duty. Whenever one of these games come out, I absolutely adore it. It doesn’t do a whole lot new, except having shields and whatnot, but it’s another amazing Killzone experience.

Super Mario 3D World is a great game by itself, but it becomes even more fun and chaotic when you introduce another player or three. It gets nuts, and for that, the game should be praised.

                Path of Exile isn’t anything new, I just like playing the ARPG genre with a friend.

                Anarchy Reigns is probably the more original of all the nominees, offering a brawler experience combined with things such as death match, capture the flag or even a rugby mode. Except you fight, y’know. Unfortunately the online community is probably non-existent at this point, but it does allow you to use bots.

                Bombermine is Bomberman but on a large scale. I’ve always considered Bomberman as one of the amazing multiplayer games, and it’s nice to see it so big.

Most Memorable Moment – Dat Moirai Ending

Other Nominees

The Last Of Us – The giraffes

Year Walk – The “Fake” Ending

Bioshock: Infinite – The end part where everything ties together

                Admittedly I often forget great scenes in things I like, so it’s kind of a poor showing on my part here, but these are the four that popped into my head.

Some may scoff that I chose Moirai over heavyweights like The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite, and believe me… it was a difficult choice. I chose Moirai because – spoiler alert – when you find out that the conversation you previously had was impacted by the player before you, that’s a “holy shit that’s cool” moment. It’s not that emotional, it’s not complicated, it’s just really, really neat and plays with the medium in interesting ways. I chose it at number one for that reason and that reason only, even though all of the other nominees are more powerful and conventionally memorable.

                That’s not to say that the other nominees aren’t also fantastic, because the giraffe scene in The Last of Us was the prettiest, saddest, most beautiful moment of the year. I just sat there and watched them walk as Vanishing Grace played over it. It’s such a simple moment that ends up being so much more.

                Year Walk had a fake ending, and when “I don’t love you anymore” flashes up on the screen, that’s an incredibly melancholy and tragic moment as well.

                The whole last bit of Bioshock: Infinite is memorable because up until that point, you’re playing a great FPS, but it’s not much different than the others in the series. Then, all of a sudden, things start getting messed up and weird, and somehow all three games are connected. It goes from fun to mindfuck pretty quick.

Best Character – Peck from Animal Crossing

Other Nominees

Bioshock: Infinite – Elizabeth

Bioshock: Infinite – The Lutece Twins

The Last of Us – Ellie and Joel

Batman: Arkham Origins -- Batman

Beyond: Two Souls - Jodie

Killer Is Dead – Mondo Zappa

            I like when award shows/articles have their own identity, and I like to think mine often do. That’s not to say every pick of mine is original by any means, as there are a bunch of awards that I need to follow the grain. However, the joy of doing these are discovering your own oddball choices, and Peck is probably one you won’t see anywhere else (unless maybe on an Animal Crossing forum or something).

                I love Peck because I cared deeply about Peck. I cared about all my townspeople, but I was sad when I was away from Animal Crossing for a while and when I came back he was gone. He made me laugh, and he gave me a picture to remember him by. Animal Crossing is great because even though they’re all AI, you build a bond with them. There was no one else in the game that I built a bigger bond with than Peck.

                The more I do these awards, the more I realize that Bioshock: Infinite is a complete and utter mammoth when it comes to everything plot or character wise, so that’s why I put both Elizabeth and the Lutece Twins in here. Elizabeth is obviously a more straight-forward important part of the game, but the Lutece Twins swoop in there in their own little way and end up being memorable… just more confusingly so.

                Ellie and Joel are one person to be in context of these awards because they are so important to one another. Joel is the grieving father, Ellie is a young girl in need of guidance and support. They fulfill the needs of each other (ew, I didn’t mean that way fanfic writers).

                Batman is on here because regardless of how many times he shows up, he’s still fucking Batman.

            It’s a good thing that Jodie from Beyond: Two Souls is a good character because the game is so story-based and Jodie is obviously the center piece for it. Also, Ellen Page gives a powerhouse performance and brings the character to life in ways most games can’t.

                Mondo Zappa isn’t complex, but I have a thing for weird badasses, and Suda51 often populates his games with interesting characters in that sense. Like Asura from Asura’s Wrath in years past, he’s just fucking cool and that’s why I pick him. Not every character worth remembering has to have incredible depth.

Best Story – Beyond: Two Souls

Other Nominees 

Bioshock: infinite

Shin Megami Tensei IV

The Last of Us

The Wolf Among Us Episode 1 -- Faith

                Beyond: Two Souls is focused on story, and it succeeds. There are a few moments where it gets off the rails a bit, but ultimately it ends up being an extremely satisfying paranormal story.

A good story isn’t just about the pacing and depth of the plot, the characters and their relationship are a crucial aspect of it sometimes. Nowhere this year is that more apparent than in The Last of Us. It’s a simplistic, but well told story.

                Or do I go for the more confusing, intriguing tale that you get in Bioshock: Infinite? Yes, Bioshock has that mindfuck element to it that appeals to me, and it does create a world that’s fun to explore and learn about.

                Shin Megami Tensei IV gets a nod here because I like how it mixes a bunch of different elements and genre to make an experience that isn’t unique, but is different from the other games this year. Samurais in the modern world, with the supernatural? It’s told well.

                Faith is also focused on story, and being able to change how it goes a little bit definitely made me consider it. It goes for similar things that Beyond: Two Souls does, but I just think Beyond: Two Souls is more emotional and well done.

                

Best Visuals – Killzone: Shadow Fall

Other Nominees 

Super Mario 3D World

The Wonderful 101

The Night of the Rabbit

Crysis 3

               

It’s important to note here that when I say visuals, I don’t just mean what is the best from a pure, technical, graphics standpoint. A game like that can certainly win, but I am more biased towards interesting art-styles and visual design.

                Killzone has an interesting world and the technical prowess to back it up. Normally I tend to go towards more original art-designs, but I’ve always loved how Killzone looks, and the fact that it’s a little more colourful sets this apart from other games in the series.

                Super Mario 3D World is the first of two Wii U games. I know the Wii U can’t manage some of the more technically demanding games on the levels that other systems can, but tell me that this isn’t beautiful Mario. It’s good looking in a different way because it nails the art-style so perfectly.

                Which is the same for The Wonderful 101. It does a fantastic job of offering a silly, colourful comic book/superhero world. It accomplishes what it sets out to do.

                The Night of the Rabbit is the only game on this list I haven’t played, but have watched, and I really enjoy the style.

                Crysis 3 would probably win had I been able to play it on a high-end PC. I couldn’t, I had to play it on 360, so that’s why Killzone beats it (though to be fair, I enjoy the art-design more in KZ than Crysis anyway).

Biggest Disappointment – Ni No Kuni

Other Nominees 

Sacred Citadel

Dust 514

Dead Island: Riptide

Fuse

Project X Zone

               

I’m not sure if there’s a game that has pained me so much to be disappointed by. I’m not even saying it’s a terrible game, because it’s not. I rate it a 7 or a 7.5, so you may be wondering, “then what the hell? How are you disappointed?”

                I’m a JRPG guy, always have been, and this was supposed to be an insta-classic, basically, but I just couldn’t get as into it as I wanted to. I went into it expecting to sing its praises, and there are great things about it, but I just don’t think the game stands-up to my own expectations, even if I didn’t give it a crappy rating.

                Sacred Citadel almost won because I love Sacred, but I also knew that it wasn’t Sacred 3 and it was a different experience so while I expected quite a bit, my expectations were tempered a bit. Now, if Sacred 3 ends up being average? That could easily win this.

                Dust 514 is an interesting case for me. The first day I played it I thought it was a 9, but then the game started to fall apart. It’s a disappointment because within the first twenty-four hours, it was going to be one of the games of the year. I had heard of Eve Online and loved the idea, and this game has so much potential it hurts. The fact that it ended up being a 4.5 for me is a tragedy. The only reason this doesn’t beat Ni No Kuni is because the FPS is not near and dear to my heart like the JRPG.

                Dead Island: Riptide is an okay game. The first one wasn’t a masterpiece but it was a helluvalot of fun, yet flawed. All they had to do was polish the first game, add a few things, and Riptide could have been awesome. But they didn’t. It has the same flaws and bugs. Why???

                Fuse is a disappointment because even though it just looked like a third-person shooter, I love the developers and their penchant for giving us odd and crazy guns. There is an interesting gun or two here, but while Fuse is a solid game, it should have been more.

                Project X Zone is a game that has gotten great reviews, and with the crossover appeal I should have loved it. Unfortunately it is the only RPG that I played on 3DS this year that didn’t leave me in awe.

Best Rehash of a Game Year Over Year – DRAW!!! CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ASSASSINS CREED 4: BLACK FLAG

                This is the only co-Award I give out. My brother and I each picked a game – I picked CoD and he picked Assassin’s Creed – and so this is the first ever Draw in the few years I’ve been doing this.

                These games don’t change. They’re yearly and you know what to expect. It’s kind of a complaint but it’s kind of not. You know what to expect.

Best Free-To-Play Game – Path of Exile

Other Nominees 

Neverwinter

Sluggish Morrs: A Delicate Time in History

Will You Ever Return: in da hood

Resogun*

                Path of Exile is an accomplishment in the free-to-play world. It’s legitimately an awesome game, and it’s not pay-to-win. Some of the prices are ridiculous, but they’ve crafted such a wonderful game for free… it’s hard to hate on it.

                Neverwinter may just be an MMO, but the idea of making your own quests for people to do is what makes me like the game as much as I do. It’s got issues, and I’m not a huge MMO guy, but it’s one of the better ones I’ve played.

                Sluggish Morrs: A Delicate Time in History is a short freeware game, and it’s one of the best free games of the year, period, if you want a quick, weird, surreal, odd adventure.

Will You Ever Return: in da hood is the same type of deal. I’ve loved the other WYERs, and this is great too.

Resogun was/is (I haven’t checked) free if you get Playstation Plus, which you have to if you want to play online anyway. It won’t be free, but when I played it, it was still free so I’m including it here. It’s a wonderful, beautiful action-packed side-scrolling shooter.

Biggest Surprise – Anarchy Reigns

Other Nominees 

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Shin Megami Tensei 4

Shadowrun: Returns

                Anarchy Reigns is not the best game in this category, but it’s the biggest surprise to me because I had no idea what to expect and actually got a game that will end up being in the discussion of “most underrated games” for years to come.

Van Helsing was a game I expected to suck for whatever reason, but it ended up being a solid action RPG.

                Fire Emblem: Awakening is only a surprise to me because I never actually played one before so I was blown away by how good it is. The reason it doesn’t win Biggest Surprise is because it’s not the type of game that comes out of nowhere like Anarchy Reigns did. It may be a better game, but not a bigger surprise.

                Same with Shin Megami Tensei 4. I managed to try out two cult-classic series that I only knew existed, and I loved both.

                Shadowrun: Returns is on here because I’m surprised it even got made. It’s not as good as the SNES classic, but after a disastrous foray into the first-person shooter world, Shadowrun has, um, returned to goodness.

The Official 'Don't Play This Game, It sucks... You Suck" Award For The 5 Worst Games of 2013 

5: Dust 514 – There isn’t a game I’ve thought about this year more than Dust. It just… it sucks. It isn’t there yet. Maybe someday it will be, but not now.

4: Apocalypse One – I hate picking on indie games, especially when they were quickly made but this just wasn’t fun at all and was buggy.

3: One Night at the Space Opera – This is a decent idea that didn’t pan out.

2: Tekken Revolution – This just reeks of bad free-to-play. This is the reason people hate that term.

1: Dark – Should have been great considering it’s a stealth game where you play as a vampire, but nothing about it works.

Best System – 3DS

                I won’t list all the other nominees because obviously it includes every other system in existence. The 3DS wins because during the year it has amassed a great collection of games – especially RPGs – and it really wowed me.

                If you want a first-person shooter, I wouldn’t go here. If you are an RPG nut, this machine is a monster. It has other great games in other genres, but I used it mostly as a way to play great RPGs (and Animal Crossing).

                The Xbox One and PS4 aren’t on here because they just launched so they haven’t had enough time to build their libraries. The Wii U has started on the comeback trail but it’s not there yet, and the PC had another solid year… but nothing impressed me as much as the 3DS.

             And that's it for these awards. Next year, if Gamecepticon is around, I may try adding more of a comic flair to these awards and at least give them funny names, but the end of the year came up on me pretty quickly (may have been the drugs, I dunno).

             Starting probably tomorrow, or at the very least the next day, I will be counting down my Top 40 Games of 2013, then I will disappear into the darkness where I came from.