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Post by Raison D'etritus on Dec 31, 2011 15:27:15 GMT -5
Which games were your faves of the past year? Share~! And it doesn't matter if they weren't released/published in 2011 either. XD I suppose you can also include replays of games finished long ago too ... or something! - Shining Force 3 Scn. I
Much better than I'd anticipated, and a damn shame the patch version I used accidentally reinserted the original English ending (and that I've had to wait a year to continue). Can't wait for V13 so I can get on with this epic trilogy.
- Radiant Historia
Best Super Nintendo game that never existed! Everything about it reeked of nostalgia, and it was great on its own even without that factor. If I'd played it as a kid, I think Chrono Trigger would have taken up less of my childhood.
- Baldur's Gate 2
What PC RPGs lack in plot, they tend to make up for in sidequests and exploration. The game could be really frustrating at times, but the sheer awe of killing a dragon with one hit with a vorpal blade balances out that BS Irenicus fight. . . .still have to find time for Throne of Bhaal. . .
- Yakuza
Never expected a beat em up to get onto this list, but the strong, well drawn out story alone made it worthwhile. Stomping people's faces into the sidewalk after throwing them at their friends and slamming them into a brick wall? That's just priceless.
- Langrisser IV
Okay, I'm still working on this one. (put over four hours into ONE battle last night) Easily the most strategically demanding video game I've ever played in my life. It's actually hard to get into sometimes because the sheer amount of mental effort some battles take--with a hundred units on the playing field, chess seems watered down in comparison. The fan translation is easily professional quality (better, considering what professional quality often means), and the deep story told through a bevy of cutscenes really puts it above its plot-weak predecessors.
- Xenoblade
Fucking
- Xenoblade
Master
- Xenoblade
Piece.
The story wasn't up to par with other games with "Xeno" in the title, but the gigantic fully realized world to explore, with its hundreds of living breathing inhabitants would be well worth the 130 hours I gave it even if not for the strategic battle system. Considering it's evidently being released again in American English, it'll probably be on my 2012 list too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2011 16:38:00 GMT -5
I foresee this thread dying a slow and painful death. I was just kidding Raison no need for violence. The only game I recall enjoying this year was Call of Duty: Black Ops for Nintendo Wii. None of my XBOX360/PS3 friends understand the Wii version of Black Ops like I do. I'm a beast with the Wii motion controls. Tatsunoko VS. Capcom was a pretty good game. It was cool being able to play as Zero and Roll from the MegaMan series. Tekkaman Blade was my favorite playable character from the Tasunoko anime series. Yami from Okami as the last boss was a nice touch. I haven't really played much games at all this year. One game I'm looking forward to is the March release of Xenoblade Chronicles. I still need to finish Skyward Sword. I was in the process of playing Muramasa. Only time will tell my fate in the world of gaming.
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Dec 31, 2011 17:02:44 GMT -5
I thought stealing the title and introductory paragraph directly from Nunuu might counteract the fact that I'm the one who started it!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2011 18:58:22 GMT -5
Cave Story: I don´t think I need to explain what it makes this game that awesome, do I? You played Cave Story It is by far my favorite WiiWare title. I like these old school games, short but sweet. I'll be impressed if you tackled that secret dungeon, Sanctuary. It was a real sense of accomplishment conquering that dungeon, considering it drove me to near insanity. Very good game.
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Post by lailmith on Dec 31, 2011 19:14:31 GMT -5
Haha I started YU-NO just few days ago myself! Well well.. as for the topic, do I even remember what games I played this year? No I dont! But I ll try .. i wonder if i can use that cool ball system u did.. - Ys Origin Do I need to say more? Ys game waited to play for six years or something and it didn't fail me thanks all
- I guess I could say Skyrim too.. but I think I ll pass.. Its not that good.. its good, better than obli but still the more I play it the worse it feels - made to easy well didnt expect much from it after obli
- Tales of Vesperia! Almost forgot it lolz even though I dressed as Yuri in school end party or whatever it is.. maybe MP knows what to call it in English xd awws I miss my Yuri-like hair... Well anyways awesome tales game, not maybe as good as symphonia was for me, but still dam awesome
- Super Smash Bros Melee though it was a short school year, I dont think there was a game I had as much fun with my friends as this one. Just. The. Best. Fighting. Game. Ever. Period.
- I think I'm missing something.. But cant bring my mind to it now.. I also kinda hate thinking about this. Reminds me about the fact that my old pc is broken and all those games, saves, pictures and all is gone I ll add more here if I feel like it
Seriously is that really all?
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Jan 1, 2012 2:07:18 GMT -5
Red Faction 3(probably my fav os the series) 3rd Birthday(kinda love hated it) Final Fantasy 4 Complete(had fun, but, didn't live up to the expectations of finally playing it after all these years DC Universe Online(only done the free stuff so far) Ys 1 & 2 Chronicles(need I say anything?) Trails in the Sky(ditto) The Incredible Hulk(PS3/most recent Hulk movie) 3D Dot Game Heroes Balder's Gate Dark Alliance 1 & 2(though, I enjoyed the Champions of Norrath games MUCH more) Batman Brave & the Bold for Wii(super fun!) Dirge of Cerberus Arc the Lad Justice League Heroes Lunar Silver Star Story Tomb Raider Underworld Uncharted 1 & 2 Crisis Core LocoRoco Metroid Other M Warioland Shake It Lufia Curse of the Sinistrals(though, it couldve been ALOT better, still enjoyed it) Warioland 3
Those are the ones I've beaten in the last year or so, that I enjoyed, there are more, like Dawn of Mana....that I did NOT enjoy!
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Post by AllenSmithee on Jan 1, 2012 13:12:47 GMT -5
I've honestly played like no video games last year.
None that came out that year anyway. I played Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast and Sonic The Hedgehog games. I played Saira a bit and some Kane & Lynch (both Dead Men and Dog Days)
and DooM. that's my shit, yo!!
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Trebia
Chryolos
In love with a certain Wall-Crusher
Posts: 578
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Post by Trebia on Jan 1, 2012 14:12:04 GMT -5
-Ys Seven: is becoming one of my favorites, I adore it. -Ys Chronicles I & II PSP: it is a lovely game, seriously. So funny and addictive, as well as Ys Seven. -Ys Oath in Felghana: at Dogi´s home. Do I need to say something more, coming from myself? XD -Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D: the old magic returns. -Star Fox 64 3D: The same about Zelda. -Pilotwings 3DS: I can´t stop laugh, specially when the plain crush. But 64, and SNES has nothing to envy. Anyway, it´s awesome, and funny.
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Post by lailmith on Jan 1, 2012 15:30:14 GMT -5
Gonna add two more to my list - Fire Emblem The one with Marth's rise - fan of Fire Emblem like games and a fan of Marth - perfect for me
- Utawarerumono Dam good, nice story (except those nonsense ero-scenes) and funny parts - too bad the anime was bs
more comming as they pop in my mind if they ll - though I'm wondering if I played those 2011 or 2010 - who cares I still played them I think..
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Post by Xalphenos on Jan 1, 2012 15:42:35 GMT -5
I didn't get to play many games in 2011 due to my son who is now 17 mos old. What stands out most in my mind though is Braid followed by Ys Origin. Both are great games. Beyond that I think the only other things I played where Modern warfare 2 and Black ops but not very much.
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Post by Kimimi on Jan 2, 2012 0:00:29 GMT -5
My favourites from 2011 would be -
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Post by Xalphenos on Jan 2, 2012 1:40:19 GMT -5
Oh I forgot about Portal 2. That is a good one.
I used to own all three SFIII scenarios but I sold them a few years back and shortly there after I found fan translations for at least some of them I can't remember now which ones or if it was all of them. I've regretted it ever since.
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Jan 2, 2012 3:47:52 GMT -5
-Ys Seven: is becoming one of my favorites, I adore it. -Ys Chronicles I & II PSP: it is a lovely game, seriously. So funny and addictive, as well as Ys Seven. -Ys Oath in Felghana: at Dogi´s home. Do I need to say something more, coming from myself? XD -Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D: the old magic returns. -Star Fox 64 3D: The same about Zelda. -Pilotwings 3DS: I can´t stop laugh, specially when the plain crush. But 64, and SNES has nothing to envy. Anyway, it´s awesome, and funny. I guess I should include Ys Seven & Oath, as they were played within the last year or so.
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Post by kolibri on Jan 2, 2012 18:41:14 GMT -5
- Yume Nikki and .flow: I love how they managed to make some impressive experience with little to no-dialogue, instead showing one bizarre area, sprite, character and/or scene after another, leaving its true meaning to the player´s speculation. The music, while simple and repetitive, it brilliantly works in favour of the situation displayed right there...
Yume Nikki can be described as an interesting representation of the inconscious mind, while .flow is more "confusing", being a more macabre and psicotic version of it, and it leads to equally disturbing speculations of what´s happening there...
Yay for Yume Nikki ! \o/ That's an awesome game, it produced me such weird feelings that after beating the game, i was wondering if i liked the game or hated it. No I'm sure it's a masterpiece. Not like Hatoful boyfriend, which is pretty much as weird as Yume Nikki but overall such a terrible game xD I advise you to try, just for fun and for the 'uniqueness' of the game !^^ Damn, the switch is on again... I have to put that switch off again so thaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAあああああああああ-----
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Post by Jason X on Jan 2, 2012 20:18:27 GMT -5
Hmm. I'll probably have to look at my Backloggery to see what all I played over the past year. A few stand out, though:
Dead Space 2 (360) - A very good sequel, though it feels like a mistake to make Isaac talk after being mute in the original. The plot also kind of goes in a boring and predictable direction during the ending.
Back to the Future: The Game (PSN) - A cute little series of adventure games. Not the most mentally taxing stuff I've ever played, but I think I'm well past the point where that sort of thing matters to me. The guy who did Marty's voice was uncanny, as well.
Strongbad's Cool Game for Attractive People (PSN) - Probably the funniest game(s) I've played in ages. I'm a casual Homestar Runner fan at best, but it was still great to see all of the little in-jokes and references across each episode.
Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX (XBLA) - You'd think Pac-Man wouldn't still be fun in this day and age. You'd be wrong. DEAD WRONG.
Hard Corps: Uprising (XBLA) - Hard as HELL, but still a bunch of fun. My only real complaint is that they put a bunch of insta-deaths in related to timed jumps.
Lumines Live! (XBLA) - Tetris ain't got shit on this thing. I have a new, all-time favorite colored-block game with catchy music...thingy.
Dragon Age II (360) - I was pretty torn on this one when I first played it. They changed a bunch of stuff for seemingly no reason (hello, Mass Effect 2), but the plot and characters are still really solid. If for nothing else, the game is great for its revised dialog / character tone system.
Nier (360) - Saddest game ever made. The presentation and core gameplay is EXTREMELY rough around the edges, but the story justifies the investment on the player's part.
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (XBLA) - I really like this game, but I had to quit because my wife kept stealing the controller from me to play it herself. I really need to finish this thing off one of these days.
Mortal Kombat (360) - The best MK game since MKII, though the story mode's resolution feels pretty unsatisfying.
Rez HD (XBLA) - I have no idea what happened in this thing. It was really fun, though.
Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax (XBLA) - A cute game, and something I really need to get back to in the near future.
Catherine (360) - R&D1 has still got the magic touch. The puzzle sections were great, but what really hit me was the way the plot tackled a rather serious issue faced by many men at some point in their lives. Do you really want to commit, or do you need your freedom?
Every Extend Extra Extreme: E4 (XBLA) - Another great game from Q Entertainment. I don't know how they keep doing it, but more power to them.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360) - Sort of like a cross between Shadowrun and Metal Gear Solid. Also, why oh why is everything tinged gold??? Still, this was a pretty good game, and served as my first experience with the Deus Ex franchise.
Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition (XBLA) - A lot of fun, though getting the Achievement tied to Q was a royal pain in the ass.
Portal 2 (360) - I don't know how they did it, but Valve somehow managed to top the original Portal in pretty much every aspect. Even the multiplayer mode was a lot of fun.
L.A. Noire (360) - In another time, this could have been a contender for game of the year. Too bad it came out in 2011 instead of say, 2006. Either way, I'd seriously recommend this one to anyone who enjoys noir films or even just GTA-style games. This was a really adult story, without coming across as crass.
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (PS3) - The first good Disgaea game since the original. I really wish they'd go back to the old way for transferring character skills, though.
Resident Evil 4 HD (XBLA) - This marks the third time I've bought this game, but it was still fun to play through. If I had to swear by any particular version, though, I'd go with the Wii release.
ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection (PS3) - TAKE MY MONEY.
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (XBLA) - A time machine in game form. Can you believe we used to play games like this...and that they were considered fun? Believe it or not, the original version of this thing was the reason I bought a Dreamcast. It was good for its time, but the gameplay is just too archaic by today's standards, especially after RE4.
Radiant Silvergun (XBLA) - Sure am glad I didn't drop $250 on the Saturn version all those years ago. It's a good game, but not THAT good.
Batman: Arkham City (360) - The best goddamn Batman game ever made...AGAIN! I still can't stand the art style, but the game itself was amazing.
Dark Souls (360) - My personal choice for game of the year. It gets a few things wrong that Demon's Souls did right, but overall, this is one hell of a sequel.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360) - Interesting, but not anything close to game of the year material, in my opinion. Bethesda games are fun, but they lack the sense of color that you find in Bioware's efforts. Sure, you can marry people now, but all of the NPCs still feel like cardboard cutouts with voice actors, rather than people with genuine emotions.
Metal Gear Solid HD (360) - My favorite game of all time, remastered in HD and featuring Achievements. Also, MGS2.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD (360) - Much more manageable with a second analog stick, as opposed to the PSP original.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (360) - Finally done with Ezio's trilogy of games. Honestly, the game itself was okay, but the fact that we were dealing with the same protagonist for the third game in a row really made things feel stale.
Tropico 3 (360) - It's been a long, long time since I played an RTS game. I haven't had this much fun with one of these since Pharaoh on the PC.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360) - People love to talk shit about Call of Duty and shooters as a whole, but I really enjoyed this one. The Vietnam setting felt pretty unique, though I hope this isn't the start of a ton of annual games set in that era.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360) - Not too far in this one just yet, but I like what I've seen so far.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (XBLA) - I don't understand all the hate for this thing. It feels like half of a game due to it only containing four proper worlds, but that's about the only problem I see with it. Well that, and the fact that it would have looked a lot better with sprite-based artwork.
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Post by Kimimi on Jan 3, 2012 0:14:29 GMT -5
Dark Souls (360) - My personal choice for game of the year. It gets a few things wrong that Demon's Souls did right, but overall, this is one hell of a sequel. I'm going to get murdered for saying it, but I don't think Dark Souls is as good as Demon's Souls. Apart from the fact that it gave me motion sickness (which means I didn't play that much of it anyway), it felt like a lot of the deaths I had inflicted on me were because I didn't have a crystal ball/guide book next to me, rather than because I was unskilled. Don't get me wrong - Demon's Souls killed me a lot too, but I thought that Dark Souls was venturing into Limbo levels of cheapness rather than being legitimately hard. Good job mentioning Pac Man DX though - love that game!
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Post by Yakra on Jan 3, 2012 11:10:08 GMT -5
Looking at ye all's lists makes me ashamed at my own list of games played. Which is almost next to none. But I shall still attempt to add my bit to this thread~! I don't really have much much to contribute though, as I pretty much played (and am still playing! ^ ^;;; ) just one game the whole year. And so, that gets the very default mentioning. Afterall, if something can make me play it for pretty much.... a year, non-stop, it IS grand for me, even with my super slow pace. X'D So~! Tactics Ogre: LUCT (PSP)~! The non stop need for levelling (atleast, to use all the newly gained players!) is mainly what has kept me stuck in this game for so long - along with wanting to collect every amazing equipment piece. But even aside that, it's been a while that I've found a game like so, that I'm not tiring of, and not feeling the need to put down finally. It kind of really fit my snail pace - playing only an hour or two a day - schedule. Amongst the other games..... these are the only other two I managed to touch and play this year (along with the unending FFXIII!), so.... perhaps I'm just liking them loads because I have nothing else to compare them to, but~ Ys Origin~! I've only played through Hugo's route, and half of Yunica's before I got distracted again, but~ wa! How I loved it! As fun as Ys Seven was, I really liked the Ys VI battle system, and it felt even more refined in YsO~ I didn't mind the linearity either. It felt to me that it rather helped me get to know the characters quicker, and know their background stories faster, since.... Adol's had over 7 games to get somewhat 'fleshed out'. One only got to meet and know these guys in one game. I somehow didn't expect I would like it this much really, considering how before, one part of me had been most 'pooh~! no Adol! ', and had gone into playing this without expecting to love everyone this much. But in the end I did~! And~ Recettear. This one was a super surprise. I don't even remember how I ended up grabbing this. Maybe I was looking at the Threads of Fate/Dewprism fan-sequel, and discovered this? But... even though I never finished this either, it was really fun! It felt like a mini-lite-version-type crossover between Atelier Annie like looks and selling system, with a very water-ed down Ys-like dungeon exploration. I really loved the few weeks I spent upon this game~!
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korzic
Chryolos
Hmm, something feels off...
Posts: 697
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Post by korzic on Jan 3, 2012 16:17:06 GMT -5
Not too many games played this year. Well, not too many finished, at least: Ys I & II Chronicles: Pretty obvious. Despite playing the PC versions many times before, it was nice to be able to play them in English again. Ys Origin: Again, pretty obvious. Combat-wise, a very nice improvement to the Napishtim/Felghana engine. Story, not so much (then again, plot has never been the Ys series' strong point). Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky: A really nice, immersive game. Normally, too much story gets in the way of my enjoyment of games, but not so in this case (probably because the characters and world are really fleshed out). The combat was also one of the more interesting systems I've seen in a while. Soul Blazer: Like Ys, I enjoy it because it's mostly about the gameplay. It can be repetitive at times, but it's such a short game that it doesn't really bother me much. Illusion of Gaia (a "spiritual" sequel, or is it prequel?) I also replayed, but it just didn't do a good job of immersing me. For one thing, the story is so scattered about, it's hard to appreciate. As for combat, while I did clear out all the enemies, it leaves something to be desired (mostly because you'll automatically get any missed enemy power-ups after beating a boss, so it's like, "Why bother?"). Not being able to backtrack to a lot of areas is also frustrating, if you're trying to collect all of the Red Jewels (I didn't this time). Baldur's Gate: Mixed feelings about this one. While I do enjoy being able to explore freely, many of the side areas (and there were a lot of them) didn't have a lot of interest. Plus, the main hub of the game was way too huge for my liking (mostly because I really hate talking to townsfolk in almost every RPG I play). That said, once I finally got into the game, it was hard to put it down. I just wish it didn't take me 3-4 separate tries to get to that point. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn I also tried to play shortly after finishing the first one, but I didn't make it very far before quitting. A lot of it has to do with the way things are presented. For instance, this game starts you off fighting almost immediately, and then you end up in some town (which is where I stopped). As much as I hate talking to townsfolk, I'd rather get that out of the way first, and then move on to the meat of the game. When I made it to the town, the excuse for continuing the story just completely failed to grip me, something I think that could've been alleviated somewhat if I visited the town first. There's also the issue of the load screens: I really disliked that they were "teaching" me game mechanics that way. Most of it I could've came up with on my own (and would've preferred to, in this instance). I really wish there was an option to turn that off (if there was, I don't remember finding it), as it was hard to get immersed with those messages constantly popping up (and I tend to load a lot in these types of games to explore the possibilities). Keep that stuff in the tutorial, or let players figure it out for themselves (like in BG1). Well, BG1 took me a few tries before it grew on me, so hopefully I can enjoy this one more the next time I try to play it. Alundra: Pretty neat puzzle/platformer. Sometimes it was hard to tell if you could make a jump, or if the ledge was too high. Also, I read that Working Designs increased the difficulty level for at least the last couple of bosses; no wonder they were so frustrating (if I recall correctly, it was "artificial" difficulty - aka, simply giving them more health ).
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Post by Jason X on Jan 3, 2012 16:25:11 GMT -5
I'm going to get murdered for saying it, but I don't think Dark Souls is as good as Demon's Souls. Apart from the fact that it gave me motion sickness (which means I didn't play that much of it anyway), it felt like a lot of the deaths I had inflicted on me were because I didn't have a crystal ball/guide book next to me, rather than because I was unskilled. Don't get me wrong - Demon's Souls killed me a lot too, but I thought that Dark Souls was venturing into Limbo levels of cheapness rather than being legitimately hard. Good job mentioning Pac Man DX though - love that game! That's a fair complaint, but I think they sort of had to go that route this time around. Demon's Souls was known for being crazy hard, so they probably felt like they had to add a lot of cheap ambushes to up the ante for the sequel. When I mentioned that Demon's Souls got a few things right that Dark Souls didn't, this was definitely one of those things. As for Pac-Man, I'd heard that Namco gave a similar treatment to Galaga recently. I'm half-intrigued to see if it's on the same level of quality as Pac-Man CE DX, but ye olde backlog is already tall enough to blot out the sun, as it is.
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Post by Kimimi on Jan 4, 2012 21:00:31 GMT -5
Thank you very much for not calling for my head for speaking out against Dark Souls Galaga DX is brilliant! It's definitely one of the most played XBLA games in our house, and hubby's in the top 2% of players or something like that.
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