Dr Lave wrote:
Ooh, I'll try and do this all year this time (yeah, right).
1. Nidhogg Vita/PS4 - the greatest fighting game since bushido blade. Essential same room multiplayer. Even really enjoyed the, very short, single player.
2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. - PS4 - Short, sweet campaign and the best in years. The first since MW with a coherent plot, and the robosuits really freshen it up. But the end is a bit of a squib. Enjoyable fluff. (it appears to be Xmas tradition that the wife gets a copy - well done Activision).
3. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze - WiiU such a great game. Controls wonderfully, and so differently to mario. The lion king level is a musical masterpiece. Rayman legends gets so much love due to its graphics, but give me something that controls as well as this any day.
4. Game of Thrones: Episode 1 - PS4 - Not bad at all. Never really got on with Telltale's Walking dead game, but I think that is possibly because I got the whole season at once. Playing this for a couple of hours every other month seems better somehow. Very enjoyable way to 'play an episode'. Excited to find out my partners choices when she plays it as I think she will be appalled at some of my choices.
5. Final Fantasy X - Vita The first time I've finished a FF game since VII at release. I thought JRPGs were dead to me. Full of grind and random battles and filler, but in a portable format I loved this. Would never have completed it on a couch, but it's made the last month of commuting a blast. Ignored every side quest and went straight down the path, so was constantly a somewhat low level, which made the combat fascinating, rather than the typically. Hammer-standard-attack-until-you-win style of others. Fell apart at the 3rd to last boss when I had to do X damage in 15 or so turns, and that was impossible with my skill set, so I had to grind to level a character for 2 hours, and then they had an attack that made the rest of the battles boringly easy. Looking forward to X-2.
6. Kick and Fennick - Vita - I've said it all over the place, but this is such a surprising delight. A genuinely novel and new 2D platformer. Game of the Year contender. I'll be wittering about this all year. Fantastic. As I said in the PS+ thread, there is something really primal and entertaining about parabolas. Must be evolution getting us to enjoy chucking rocks at mammoths. Or the use of urinals. Or something. But whatever the reason, a 2D platformer based on the recoil from a sniper rifle sending you flying in beautiful parabolas across the map is just superbly enjoyable to play. Binged and completed it over 3 days. Didn't outstay it's welcome, and bar a tiny dip in the middle where there is too much of a focus on timing puzzles, it fires on all cylinders throughout.
7. The Swapper - PS4/Vita if anything this year has proven it's that 2D platformers are such a vibrant platform for different experiences. Wonderfully explores it's central idea, and the mechanisms tie so well with its, actually great, plot. Genuinely good scifi. Which is rare in any format outside books. Highly recommended.
8. GoT: Episode 2 - PS4 yep, I guess this will count as six games over the year. Treaded water, slightly, and I'm hesitant about the importance of our decisions. But it's interesting how different me and my partners choices were.
9. BoxBoy - 3DS - Played it for 7.5 hrs. It cost about £4.50 - 5.50? And every tiny level was incredibly entertaining. I recommend it very highly. it's all about making squares.
10. Gunvolt - 3DS - the nes de-make that comes free with the 'real' game, or available for a couple of quid. Very slight, but fun enough. Doesn't set the world on fire.
11. Knights of the Round - Arcade, via PSP Capcom Collection, on a PS Vita - looks pretty, but absolutely mindless. A real example of how business models can make a game truly terrible (cf. F2P).
12. Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo - Vita, via PSP Capcom Puzzle Collection - on sale for £1.60. Bargain. and great fun, but I've yet to really click to why it's the tetris beater people claim. It must be so much better in multiplayer than the single player experience.
13. Kirby: Triple Deluxe - 3DS Easy as pish. But lovely to look at and stunning in 3D. A joy to play, but so easy it may put people off. (actually finished this before number 11, but forgot to post it).
14. New Super Mario Bros 2 - Special Edition - 3DS Another much maligned Mario games. By this time people had become bored of the graphical style and really disliked it. The idea that you had to grind a million coins made people hate it, but throwing that idea out of the window and focusing on the 3 coins per level gives you a wonderful, wonderful game. I've really enjoyed it but it's nowhere near the heights of NSMB:U or the original DS title.
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