1.
Fire Emblem: Awakening ; (3DS) My Game of the Year is Fire Emblem Awakening. I really had a hard time deciding between this and my number 2 game. It’s interesting to attach the label to either of them because I actually did have quite a list of issues with each. I guess it’s a testament to the fact that I didn’t really fall in love with any specific game this year. But at the end of the day, I felt that a highly regarded entry in potentially my favorite series is more deserving of the nod. My perception is that Fire Emblem Awakening introduced many new people to the series, which is excellent news. I was introduced to Fire Emblem through the introduction of Marth and Roy in Super Smash Brothers: Melee, and started with the simply named “Fire Emblem” for GBA. However, it seems many others had managed to remain uninitiated as it were. For this I am very thankful to Awakening, despite the changes it presents to the series.
The core gameplay is still there. While I am not a fan of the world map and random battle mechanics, individual map clears still function as they should. Especially on higher difficulties, gameplay involves a high degree of strategizing, planning, positioning, and a bit of luck. Any mistake can result in permanent death, which has the possibility of weakening your army significantly, and it ensures the stakes are always high. While the game offers a game mode where death is not permanent, I guess I am more of a purist where I actually find this mode less fun to play. Some might argue that since most players might always restart upon a character’s death anyway that it doesn’t matter; I argue that having such a penalty forces a player to tackle a map much more carefully and cautiously. Being able to simply waste a unit as a distraction, knowing that they will be available in the next battle, significantly changes the amount of freedom you have when it comes to clearing the map. I am eternally grateful that it at least remains an option and not a forced gameplay change.
The open map and ability to ‘grind’ does induce a forced gameplay change even if you decide to not really utilize that. This basically means the developers can assume the availability of the grind when designing the later maps, especially on the higher difficulties. It’s not a bad gameplay style, just not one I expect or desire from Fire Emblem. Gone is the tight, more highly polished nature of the earlier games where the only extra exp came from a smattering of arenas or bonus exp. Instead of learning to readjust one’s tactics, you can always just grind or re-adjust your classes. Having the open map also limits my desire to replay it, since you can just utilize every unit every playthrough. Without the ability to vary the playthrough significantly, it simply leaves no reason to work on leveling your units again. Secondly, the Pair Up mechanic is another addition that I found unneeded. While pairing units through Supports has been a series staple, requiring units to act as one reduces a bit how much freedom you have and how you can utilize those units. The fact that it becomes essentially a required mechanic is good because it doesn’t become meaningless or gimmicky, but it basically means you must really commit to your pairings, whereas in previous games having a maxed support still offered the flexibilities of having two distinct units with a benefit for keeping them close. Pair Up feels like a penalty for keeping them separate.
While the story is unremarkable, it’s enough to motivate the game and many of the character interactions, support or not, do feel genuine and are a pleasure to read. Many characters might be a little flat when it comes to only identifying via a singular trait without much depth, but the game doesn’t really suffer for it. Even the player avatar, only present in a few of the earlier titles, plays a role in the story. While this addition is a little disputed, I enjoyed having one character that you could really call your own.
That’s a fair bit of negativity, but it is simply out of love for the series. Like I said, the core gameplay is great, and both overwhelming a map with unstoppable force or winning by the skin of your teeth at the mercy of lady luck are rewarding experiences. The mechanics at their core are very simple but there is enough to it that there is enough going on to keep the player thinking. The added layer of giving each unit a unique personality fleshed out through the cutscenes and support conversations, along with the permadeath mechanic, gives a level of empathy to the series that can sometimes be lacking in other grid-based strategy games.
2.
Ys: Memories of Celceta ; (Vita) This was probably my most anticipated game of the year after enjoying Ys: Origin and Ys: The Oath in Felghana last year; I was really excited to participate in the OT and discuss the game at release, and while it lived up to most of my expectations it fell short in many others. Still, on average, it managed to be more enjoyable than not and retained a high ranking relative to other games I played this year.
Ys has always been a high octane, low bloat action jrpg series. No slow menu-based battle systems, no melodramatic story proceedings, just an awesome soundtrack and fast paced battles. However, it seems that this newest entry tends to lean back in the direction that leaves it less remarkable than it should be. A heavier emphasis on story, a party full of archetypal characters, and a soundtrack less sterling than other entries in the series leaves a game that fails to impress but also doesn’t offend. The gameplay, luckily, remains largely intact otherwise. A fast paced battle system best experienced on hard or nightmare difficulty requires the player to learn enemy tells and master the guarding and dodging techniques in order to win the various encounters. The game rewards good timing instead of just soaking up the damage and outlasting your enemy. In this way the game becomes very much an experience in finesse, something that many cumbersome or slower jrpg battle systems may lack.
The main hindrance to this is the performance of the game itself. The game struggles to maintain 30fps and chugs during any particularly hectic moments. While not unplayable, it puts a damper on the excitement felt during the battles relative to Origin or Oath. To make matters worse, the game runs at below native res, resulting in a blurry image quality that disappoints. This means that there’s not really any tradeoff for any of the performance shortcomings. It’s just blurry
and runs poorly.
The boss fights are fairly challenging, and even normal enemies encountered in the world are usually peppered with tougher foes that require you to commit to fighting them with the entirety of your focus or return when you’ve leveled up a few times. Being able to play as multiple characters also afford the player the decision to either learn one or two playstyles very well or dabble a little bit in all of them. Most of the characters play very differently, keeping the gameplay fresh as you add the playstyles to your roster as you progress. The characters’ motivations seem a little bit hackneyed as they are required to follow the protagonist throughout the entire game as expected in a jrpg, but the dialogue and writing is believable enough to not really make it as issue. Characters are generally well rounded with a few layers to their opinions and beliefs that keep them interesting and keep the player wanting to round out their individual story arcs. It is a bit weird, however, to have such a factor in a Ys game.
The exploration mechanic is a great strength of the game. As you explore the forest that acts as the overworld of the game, your map percentage is constantly updated, letting you know exactly how much of the map you’ve explored. While this may not seem terribly exciting when stated, it becomes increasingly more addicting to find one or two more percent before ending a play session, or doubling back and exploring every nook and cranny for the secrets that they hide. I was lucky enough to not have to really go back and do any map edge scraping to reach 100%, which I suppose leaves me more fond of the mechanic that one who may have had to go back and do such. You are rewarded in game with gold and powerful relics for the completion of the map giving an extra, tangible incentive for being a bit OCD.
All in all, it’s a good game that avoids the issues that many jrpgs run into that keep people away from the genre. However, heavy story focus and average soundtrack means there is less setting it apart from any other action jrpg series to put it as my GotY or even my recommended Ys game. Performance issues also are disappointing. I do suggest it for anyone looking for a familiar feeling but well-constructed action jrpg.
3.
Soul Sacrifice ; (Vita) Soul Sacrifice is a game I truly have PS+ to thank. Somehow or another, my perception of this game was locked into the idea that it was "like monster hunter". I guess the idea was that Sony no longer was seeing those games and thus of course this would be a knock off. However, outside of some base similarities, it really isn't like Monster Hunter at all. It is very much its own thing and a game that I suggest to anyone looking for an efficient, truly "pick up and play" of game design. It's perfectly suited for the Vita.
The game unfolds as a series of missions, with the story relevant ones bookended by some art and dialogue. Each mission is self contained, where you are given an arena and a set of foes to fight. There is very little bullshit. The menu tells you what you will fight, and you gear up accordingly and go fight it. The way that the skill and level system is set up allows for a lot of freedom in how you design your character. There are 5 different elements and skills of 5 different types, along with augments of a specific type that you can equip, all on top of a system where you must choose between high defense or stronger damage. It sounds complicated but every is neat and organized so that nothing seems overwhelming. If gets to the point where you eventually have favorite loadouts for a specific enemy as well as an "ol' reliable" in case you are encountering a new foe and are yet unsure of the needed tactics.
The shortcomings of the game are its soundtrack and sometimes the feeling of lack of variety. There are a lot of reskined monsters which act identically and only differ in their elemental weakness. A lot of the zones you fight in seem a bit samey and none are truly memorable, though I do like some of the indoor areas quite a bit. The soundtrack is also unremarkable. There's also a large large cast of recruitable allies when I think less would be more. It's nice that they don't have to really think up actual characters for each of them, they act purely as a gameplay mechanic, but since they level up when you use them, I found myself rotating the same handful and leaving a bunch on the bench. It just seemed a bit unneeded. However, aside from these shortcoming in trimmings, the core gameplay is still pretty damn remarkable. Lots of tense moments and close calls, as well as a few ass whoopings as well.
4.
Metro: Last Light ; (PC) I lucked into Metro: 2033 with the THQ Humble Bundle and into Last Light with the Best Buy penny “giveaway”. Thus I really went into the two games with no real expectations, so I can say I came out pleasantly surprised. This was also one of the very first games that I played with a high end computer set up so it was enjoyable to push my hardware with a very good looking game. Anyone looking for a single player FPS with a drop of survival horror should give both of these games an extended look.
While post-apocalyptic settings are a dime a dozen these days, something about the setting of Metro really sticks with me. The blending of the supernatural with the typical survival trimmings of the dilapidated old Russian metro environment keeps the player feeling constrained and handcuffed. Having limited ammo stores and gas-mask timer mechanics during excursions to the surface keep this feeling of unease present in many facets as you continue throughout the game. There’s also significant about of variety to the gunplay with many weapon types at the player’s disposal and each being able to be upgraded in various ways. The game also is friendly to stealthy or non-lethal approaches to the encounters and in fact rewards the player with an alternate ending should you focus on this type of method. However, there are some cases, especially at the very end, where it can feel a bit manufactured to avoid trying to kill in clearly life-threatening situations simply because you want to preserve your morality score and ensure the unique ending. While the game does a great job in being highly immersive with great visuals, good voice acting, and unique settings, it’s little nuances like the morality meter that remind you that you’re playing a game.
Metro Last Light has a slightly stronger focus on secondary characters compared to 2033, which benefits the game, I feel. The safety and survival of other characters becomes something I found myself sympathetic to. The single player campaign is also quite lengthy, and while I did not replay the game, the dual endings and possibility to using a more or less stealthy approach as well as a small amount of collectables does give a few reasons to replay the game.
5.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; (PS3) This was a game I was always interested in but never got a chance to try, and as a new IP I guess I wasn't really willing to gamble. I'm glad I didn't have to! Dark Arisen is an ambitious game, and while it doesn't seem to be unique in any fashion from a first glance, there's really nothing quite else like it that I've experienced. The artstyle used for this game is not very memorable and doesn't really offer much of interest, which I can see being a turnoff if you aren't willing to look past that. The performance of the game itself is also quite atrocious, with framerates likely dipping below 20 during many encounters. But the mechanics and gameplay ideas are fantastic.
The pawn system seems clumsy at first glance, but after switching out pawns just a few times, the appeal is immediately obvious. Effectively, you have unlimited possibilities for your party composition, and the ability to create and share your own creation is a great motivator for making sure your pawn is given its due diligence when it comes to being combat viable. There would be nothing more embarrassing than your pawn going out into the world and bring dropped because it's a terrible unit. The game does a fantastic job of putting your friends' pawns first, and I have put a few of them through their paces without even knowing it. The combat is highly varied too. SotC type enemy scaling, counter play melee classes, there's a lot of ways to play the game and while I didn't experiment with all of them, there doesn't seem to be any redundancy in the classes available. My only gripe is that magic seems highly essential late game, meaning that if you did not spec into a magic class yourself, then you are at the mercy of your pawns and, thus, the erratic-at-times AI.
6.
Bioshock Infinite ; (PC) Bioshock Infinite is a hard game to judge. The game has absolutely no consensus; on one page it’s the best game of all time on the other it’s a mess of nonsensical drivel and terrible mechanics. I was drawn to Bioshock because of its interesting setting and environment, and while I found the universe of Columbia maybe the most interesting of the generation. I enjoyed the game more than I didn't, and it was good enough that I went and bought the first two games of the series after finishing it. In ways, it was my favorite of the three but it others it was also the least remarkable.
Columbia is a very unique setting whose appeal is very hard to describe. The color and artstyle choices of Infinite grabbed me in a way unique from Metro, which was well realized but perhaps more derivative. The Vigor system was interesting to me and provided a unique level of depth early on. However, I felt that they were a little underpowered to be truly useful. I found I was often better off just playing the game like a normal shooter, going for headshots, utilizing cover, and letting Elizabeth restock my ammo and health. I’m unsure if this would be made better or worse on a higher difficulty. Vigors compliment the gameplay well but being made more difficult might have leaned me to simply focusing on the gunplay entirely. Maybe playing the game on easy would have opened up the playbook so to speak, but then there would be literally no penalty to just running and gunning with the shotgun. Maybe a system where the vigors were significantly more powerful but placed on a cooldown instead of a mana meter would have been smarter.
The game is pretty story heavy and there is more than enough motivation given to keep the playing wanting to continue on. It’s too bad that the gameplay itself doesn't really accomplish the same thing. I found myself playing from cutscene to cutscene and not really enjoying the gameplay in between. The mini bosses of the hulking ogres and the machine statues and the ghost didn’t really click with me nor did they really change up the mechanics much. Just felt like a lot of running and gunning and soaking up hits with the recharging shield and going into and out of cover. The ending twist was enjoyable and I’m surprised that I was able to go into the game several months late without being spoiled. I enjoyed the twist more than I didn’t. The lacking nature of the gameplay stuck with me more than any absurdities of the story telling.
7.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ; (Wii U) While it feels a little silly to put an HD re-release as an entrant on my top ten, I still enjoyed the game greatly. Wind Waker still has my favorite incarnation of Link and Ganondorf ever, one the more unique artstyles in games today and the second best Zelda world after Majora’s Mask. Playing as a hero not destined by the gods fighting a Ganon that actually manages to be imposing in an artstyle not emulated anywhere else is enough for me to happily include this re-release on this list. While the game may be a little bit thin on the core areas on dungeon crawling and memorable boss fights, the open nature of the world is something that I hope returns to the console Zelda games in future entries. I prefer the wide open Great Sea, even if it is a bit thin, to the segmented chambers of Skyward Sword. One thing that prevents this from ranking higher is the fact that the core gameplay is limited compared to the slightly deeper systems present in TP or the motion gameplay of SS. Simple dungeons along with cut content and unremarkable boss fights leave you wanting more. Great visual design, gameplay freedom, and music hold the game up fairly well, however.
8.
Batman: Arkham Origins ; (PC) Batman Arkham Origins is basically an expansion pack to Arkham City. In that way, if you enjoyed that, you'll enjoy this, provided you aren't already burnt out on the whole thing. Combat is a bit arcade-y which is kind of nice for people who seek to score high. Additional multipliers for not being hit, varying your attacks, I can see the draw to the challenge modes that further this goal. The shock gauntlets kind of cheese the difficulty by being able to override shields and foes that typically have to be stunned, so it feels like a bit of depth is lost once you have those. Perhaps alleviated when played on a higher difficulty.
The stealth sections or room clears didn't gel with me. Particularly because I guess I was not great at them. Clearly them silently seems to require extensive patience since any stealth take down typically results in the enemies finding the body and them all being near each other until you wait for them to spread out again. Plus it's easy enough to just to knock out who you want and then retreat to the rafters and repeat. Story is forgettable. There’s no real interesting variations to the boss fights. Just lots of enemy hoards or sneaking around. For the most part.
People who seek collectibles and enjoy filling bars will find plenty to do. Clearing optional villian based objectives or performing combat challenges. I'd enjoyed clearing the map and the Most Wanted but Enigma Trophies are too numerous and same-y for me to drop the time required to gather those up. I can see the draw, though.
9.
Papers, Please ; (PC) Papers, Please is described as a “A Dystopian Document Thriller", which introduces the general setting but doesn't tell me much at all about how the game plays. Basically you are a new worker at a border checkpoint, responsible for maintaining security for your nation within the small role you have. At first you are just checking for minor discrepancies for incoming foreigners and returning natives, allowing those in who check out and turning those away who don't have everything in line. Meanwhile, you have a small family to bring home your wages to, making sure to keep on top of rent and heat and food so that they can at least survive in a not-ideal situation. The game is segmented into days over the course of a month, allowing for bite-size play sessions, and each serves as a savepoint from which you can retry in case you don't care for a certain outcome.
However, for each day that passes, the layers of complexity multiply, at first slowly and then the gameplay becomes increasingly more complex as the month heads towards its conclusion. While the first and most obvious way this manifests itself is the degree to which you have to use the information (documents) available to identify good and bad immigrants, the underlying "dystopian" going-ons come further and further into the light until the game's sudden conclusion, which highly varies depending on your in-game decisions. Throughout the month you'll have to make moral judgments about whether to aid people who earnestly require you to bend the rules, or whether to take no nonsense and abide to the letter of the law while forsaking the goodwill (and generous bribes) of those you figuratively crush under your unrelenting bureaucratic boots. The end result is a lot of decision making, in which the right answer is not immediately obvious. It does allow you to roleplay to some degree, whether you make decisions as you yourself would, or whether you shoot for the fewest citations possible, or getting away with as many bribes as possible. Needless to say, the game suits itself to many, many replays.
It's quite astonishing how quickly and strongly this game sucked me in. "Just one more day" became quite the excuse to keep playing regardless of how late it got or whether I originally intended to do something else. Before I knew it I had a couple family members sitting in front of the monitor, lending their eyeballs to double check what I might have missed
10.
The Last of Us ; (PS3) This game I felt obligated to play due to this thread mostly. I am out of space though. My opinion is pretty boring. The game is good, great even, but I just don't see it as consensus GotY like some seem to think it is. Factors that I merely liked must have been loved by many, and the few annoyances I had must have not registered to others. Great game just no real WOW factor.
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