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Jerusalem posted:
I love Hitman Absolution, it's one of those four of five games I'll always be chiming in to defend a bit I guess. As a big stealth fan, and I do dig the series, to me it was a masterpiece. Like a mix of MGS4 and Hitman, and fun to see Hitman taken out of the formula a bit, while still having some sections that did adhere to the classic formula along the way. And the narrative was pretty cool and fun, call me crazy. I don't see how it's the Nadir of the series, it's way better than the first Hitman by most standards, and I think Contracts as well. Gets a lot of flack for trying something different. Agreed on the RDR2 love though, and not to say I disagree on new Hitman love either. And Yakuza 0 rules. Though it does also make the bit about calling Hitman Absolution trashy seem a bit odd. Trashy is good.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 14:28 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 18:50 |
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Heavy Metal posted:I love Hitman Absolution, it's one of those four of five games I'll always be chiming in to defend a bit I guess. As a big stealth fan, and I do dig the series, to me it was a masterpiece. Like a mix of MGS4 and Hitman, and fun to see Hitman taken out of the formula a bit, while still having some sections that did adhere to the classic formula along the way. And the narrative was pretty cool and fun, call me crazy. I don't see how it's the Nadir of the series, it's way better than the first Hitman by most standards, and I think Contracts as well. Gets a lot of flack for trying something different. I think the majority of my beef with Hitman Absolution can be summed up with this trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65gcndvshAY e: And on the off-chance you don't want to watch it... It's 47 murdering a bunch of fetish-gear wearing nuns in the cheesiest slo-mo action sequence you've ever seen. While a building burns. It's like the anti-thesis of what the Hitman franchise is.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 15:01 |
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StrixNebulosa posted:e: And on the off-chance you don't want to watch it... It's 47 murdering a bunch of fetish-gear wearing nuns in the cheesiest slo-mo action sequence you've ever seen. While a building burns. It's like the anti-thesis of what the Hitman franchise is. Yeah, any Hitman fan knows it should be 47 wearing the fetish gear nun outfit.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 15:14 |
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Surely if Kiryu fought nuns with guns we'd forgive him.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 15:20 |
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Heavy Metal posted:Surely if Kiryu fought nuns with guns we'd forgive him. Hitman and Yakuza are both really dumb in wonderful yet very different ways.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 15:29 |
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5. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon: Castlevania 2 was the first new game I got for the NES and it gave me hella nightmares. So after trying and failing horribly at the original a year or two later, I didn't return to the series until I got hooked on Aria of Sorrow. I've played most of the Metroidvania-style ones by now, but I missed out on the remaining old-school Castlevanias. I enjoyed my time with Curse of the Moon enough to where I might end up checking out Castlevania III and IV eventually, and if Bloodstained proper ends up being well received I'll probably give that one a try, too. 4. God of War: I didn't like the old God of War games, but this one gave me the cool, cinematic experience I imagine most people got from its PS2 iterations. Some of the best-looking set pieces and coolest cinematography(?) I've seen in a game. I did burn out on it pretty hard (although not nearly as hard as I did on Red Dead Redemption, which I can't put on my list because I can't imagine ever wanting to go back despite being into the story) months ago, after sailing around doing side quests for most of my time with it, but I think I'm close to the finish line and will probably get around to it in the new year. 3. Yakuza Kiwami: Well localized and super funny. The Majima Everywhere mechanic, despite occasionally being hilarious, made it a bit more of a slog than I had expected, though. Yakuza 0 was my favorite game of last year and possibly of the last few decades, so although Kiwami is clearly the lesser game, I'm so on board that I can't imagine not playing through all the games. 2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: I played SB on the N64 a bit, but I barely remember touching the GameCube version, and since then I've taken a 15+-year break from the series. The dumb, never-ending Nintendo Direct thing + the dumb thing about having to unlock all the characters like Tekken in the old days suckered me in. I'm glad it did, because the crazy amount of cameos and silly gimmick fights and familiar music and playable characters keeps giving me something new and nostalgic every time I come back to it. I also feel no shame or disappointment when making every tactical mistake in the book during online play, while getting just one elimination feels good. 1. Yakuza Kiwami 2: I'm only halfway through, but it's felt more like 0 than Kiwami 1, and it's a blast to play. Best use of Japanese pro wrestlers since the Nintendo 64-era of games, too. I wanted to try more 2018 games -- stuff like Return of the Obra Dinn, Into the Breach, Octopath Traveler, Dead Cells, and Hitman 2 probably would've been right up my alley -- but falling out of old games along with God of War and Red Dead made me wary of adding to my backlog since I've been so bad at finishing games. I did play through Suikoden 1, 2 and most of 3, though. 2 would probably claim the top spot for me every time I play it, so I'm not counting that as a 2018 thing. Skjorte fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Dec 31, 2018 |
# ? Dec 31, 2018 15:40 |
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Heavy Metal posted:Surely if Kiryu fought nuns with guns we'd forgive him. I'll be shocked if this hasn't happened in one of the Yaks
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 16:34 |
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Posting to find my list.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 20:07 |
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Updated for 12/31/2018. I almost put smash at 10 just because the online actually worked compared to SC6 but I still like SC6 more so I left it. See you all next year! In Training posted:10. Soul Calibur 6
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 20:11 |
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10 - Iconoclasts I wish I had played it back when it came out because it was one of those games I really wanted to talk about with someone but it was fun reading the archived thread at least. The save file icons made me think Black was gonna join the party at some point but it never happened. elro is garbage 9 - Valkyria Chronicles 4 It's just more VC1 with some fun new units (idk how I lived without the APC) but I guess it just came at the right time for me because I loved every second of it (except for that weird upskirt scene) (and the hot springs scene) (and the couple of scenes early on where Raz is a creep) 8 - Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle This came out of nowhere for me because I haven't played a BlazBlue since CS2 and I'm still not 100% sure what RWBY is but I played the demo and it was good as hell. I was only into it for a couple months but it was probably the best fighting game I played this year 7 - Katamari Reroll I actually only got into Katamari a few years ago with the not great Vita game but it's cool that the series is getting some attention again. more remasters please 6 - Tetris Effect It's just Tetris with the Lumines skin system but I love it. I still haven't even played it in VR!!! 5 - Danganronpa V3 idk why I was so late on this considering I loved the first two games. I was a couple months back into working full time and was always too tired to play anything when I got home, but I bought this on sale and it was a good feeling to get completely hooked on a game again. I think a lot of people kinda roll their eyes when it comes to games doing meta stuff but it really worked for me here I did a ton of grinding towards the platinum trophy but then I couldn't get an S rank in the treasure minigame in the casino rip 4 - Hitman 2 Season 2 is too good. I played Miami for like a solid week when it came out but the whole thing is incredible (Miami/Mumbai/Isle of Sgail are all up there with Paris/Sapienza/Hokkaido for me) I think I'm one of the only people that wishes they had stuck with the episodic structure because I've already kinda moved on from it but there's still elusive targets + hopefully whatever DLC they have planned is good 3 - Super Smash Bros Ultimate Everyone is here but I still only play as Link and Samus 99% of the time forgive me Sakurai 2 - Splatoon 2 + Octo Expansion I was pretty late to this one (I bought it in March) but luckily the game was still active. I've been into a bunch of different shooters the past year or two and everytime I play them they really just drive home for me how ridiculously good Splatoon is. The maps/modes are fun as hell/Off the Hook owns/the weapon balance is great/Salmon Run is a perfect co-op mode and the character customisation is too good (Especially if you're coming from something from like Rainbow Six Siege or CoD where they try to nickel and dime you on changing the colours of incredibly bland military equipment) People never really talk about the single player in Splatoon but the Octo Expansion was amazing especially if you're pathetic like me and love splatoon lore you are so articulate marina 1 - Yakuza Kiwami 2 I could understand people getting burned out on these games but I could (and will) yakuza until the day I die I didn't realise this was going to be #1 until I actually tried to order the list but I guess it's about right. It felt like Kiwami 2 ironed out a lot of the little problems with 6's new engine and it felt great. Yakuza 2 is actually the only one I had never played but I thought it was incredible and Goda is probably my favourite antagonist in the whole series honorable mentions monhun world (which I didn't put enough time into because work) warioware/428/RE7/Octopath
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 20:23 |
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Oh yeah I'm playing through VC4 right now after picking it up on sale and I love it, WSPECIALLY the upskirt scene, the hot springs scene and Raz being a creep. But I'm nowhere near finished with it or DQXI so I can't say they're top 10 games without impinging my journalistic credibility.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 20:45 |
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At this pace 4 of the top 10 games are going to be Yakuza games. 5 - Europa Universalis 4 The latest DLC and patch cycles have been underwhelming but I still keep coming back to it, and finding new stuff to do, even at 600 hours played. 4 - Nioh: Complete Edition It's billed as samurai Dark Souls, but it's really a third person Samurai Diablo game. The level design and art is not good, the loot system does gets tiring, but Nioh's combat system is such a delight and rewarding once you being to understand it's intricacies. I got burned out before managing to get to the final difficulty level, but I loved every minute of it, even if many of those minutes were inside ugly rear end caves, and towns on fire. 3 - Yakuza 0 It's really corny, extremely melodramatic, often nonsensical, but it's so good from start to finish and then some more, also Goro Majima is a real cool dude and my friend. Only bad thing about it is that Yakuza Kiwami has been on "RELEASE SOON" forever now on Steam. Come on Sega just give it to me now! 2 - Total War: Warhammer II Never cared for Warhammer, and after Rome 2/Atilla I was ready to write off Total War as a series, but CA managed to turn things around with TW:Warhammer and continues their streak with it's sequel. The main attraction and feature of this game still feels like a beta run, but this is CA's biggest and most ambitious Total War game yet, the scale of it is incredible and with the addition of Tomb Kings and Vampire Pirates as DLC, CA made some of the best and most fun armies to play in the series. Looking forward to whatever comes next, and the eventually third title to close out the Warhammer trilogy. 1- Monster Hunter World This became my second most played game in Steam, after EU4, at 340 hours. It has consumed almost all of my game time since its PC release in August, and it doesn't even have that much of a good endgame. It's just so much fun to play, and I haven't even touched some of the weapons types available, so there's still stuff to discover and master. I fully expect to drop another 100 hours or more until the next expansion, which hopefully won't take long to hit PC side.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 21:13 |
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Heavy Metal posted:And Yakuza 0 rules. Though it does also make the bit about calling Hitman Absolution trashy seem a bit odd. Trashy is good. I guess it's all in the execution. Yakuza 0 takes some really seedy and potentially hosed up things and just ramps up the campiness and silliness to 11 and makes it loving hilarious while Absolution for me just felt nasty and meanspirited: trashy in a bad way. To be fair, some of the background graphics in the telephone dating in Yakuza 0 push it a bit far, and the catfight club is a real sour note in the game I wish they'd just left out entirely.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 21:22 |
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I will never get another Rumble Roses, let me have the catfights.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 21:23 |
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Top 10, here we go. Absolutely not covering every game I loved this year but heck with it, these ten won my heart and deserve space on this list. 1. Kenshi - Unexpected but it came out of Early Access, got an absolutely stunned review on RPS, and I found myself dreaming of it. Playing it has lived up to those expectations and then some. It's a game about survival and beautiful alien landscapes and stealing cooked vegetables from cannibal hunters. The UI is a little obtuse, the jank is there, and yet - you can do anything. The sense of accomplishment from taking my starting lady and recruiting dudes and building a tiny farm was immense, and it got even bigger when we all killed a giant insect in the desert together. I can't wait to explore more of this map and the writing and so on. 2. Hitman 2 - This would have been my GOTY if not for Kenshi pulling a surprise indie smash hit. It's an even more polished Hitman 2016 with more maps and this one takes the plot somewhere genuinely good. Every map has a dozen+ secrets, every target has a bunch of neat ways to kill them, and I have absolutely no complaints with this game. It's actively being patched, the ETs so far have been neat, and just... it's the stealth puzzlebox of my dreams. 3. Doom - The original one, the genre-defining game. I cracked it for the first time this year and what can I say that hasn't been said? It's visceral, simple, elegant, and you feel so drat powerful when you kill cyberdemons. I'd put this higher on the list if I could, but Kenshi and Hitman 2 are like, laser-targeted to make my brain happy. 4. Stardew Valley - The multiplayer update made this game come alive to me once again, because it's given me something I've never had before: a long-term gaming group with my friends. We get together at least weekly to do an hour or two of farming and we shoot the poo poo and it's the nicest thing. The game itself gets a little dry given that we're on our second farm and we know all the secrets, but it still works as a chill hang out and fish/farm/mine adventure. I love it. 5. Monster Hunter: World - I'm in my downswing away from action games at the moment, but I put like a million hours into this back when it came out and recall having a ton of fun, so here it goes. It's the best of the franchise and genre, it feels incredible to solo-kill a Diablos with a great sword, and when my mood cycles back around to want this again, it'll be here, waiting for me. I love it. 6. Prey - Okay, I'll say it straight: the gameplay was okay, and I'm not into Deus Ex-esque games like this. But this game is on my list because the story actually genuinely compelled me through the whole thing even when it got tedious and the ending blew me away. What an incredible sci-fi experience, something you can't do in any other medium. To top it off, Mooncrash is a super clever way of turning the gameplay into a roguelike experience. Also - yeah, while the gameplay isn't my thing, it's well-done and exploring is lots of fun, especially when the environment is that well realized. 7. Return of the Obra Dinn - It'd be higher up except for a few things: A) I haven't finished it, I bought it this morning, B) the UI needs work, it's all classy and fits with the theme, but drat if I'm not having trouble keeping track of which dudes I haven't IDed yet. And C) Short! This game needs a million sequels where the heroine goes around with her magic pocketwatch and investigates crime. But drat: this game gets a spot on the list because it's crawled into my brain. I'm thinking about the mysteries I haven't solved yet, I'm thinking about the plot, I know I'll get back into it soon. What a work of art - and again, something that can only be done in this medium. Also shout-out to a mystery that forcibly says to you "you have all of the clues. Think!" - I haven't seen this since I read Ellery Queen mystery novels. 8. Frost - Atmospheric challenging deck-building survival game that has been my obsessive solitaire for whenever I need to unwind for the last month. I'm slowly running out of scenarios in it, which means I'll be on the hunt for something else when it's done, but... this is incredibly well done. The music, the writing, the theming, the sense of desperation when there's a wolf-pack and you don't have a way to kill 'em... It's basically one of the best in the genre, if not the best. 9. Far Cry 2 - I played this for the first time this year! Hot dang did it get almost everything right in making a tense jungle shooter with morally gray characters. Every strange thing about this game somehow makes it work, from the guns jamming to the characters talking way too fast to the way fire is animated. I love it. A classic. 10. Strain Tactics - Does this belong here? Probably not, except that like Kenshi and Hitman 2 this game was laser-targeted to make me happy. The military sci-fi horror story, the gameplay that's Door Kickers but actually good, the intricate class and equipment system, just - it's a little clunky, it's a lot janky, but it's mine. This game belongs to me and I love it a lot so it will get the only vote in this entire thread.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 23:21 |
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This and the Dead Island(2) promotionals are probably the most revoltingly misogynistic pieces of videogame marketing in history, which is saying something because the industry has been loving rife with the stuff for decades.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 23:41 |
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I put this off long enough so here's mine. There's still some 2018 games I need to get through especially right now that I've got God of Boy and Yakuza Kiwami 2 but here's the top 10 for the 2018 games I've played this year. 10: Megaquarium I got my start with video games on PC so I grew up on stuff like Humongous Entertainment adventure games, multimedia edutainment stuff, and tycoon games. When it comes to tycoon games I liked stuff like RCT 2, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Sim Theme Park, Zoo Tycoon 1 and its expansions, and some of the Maxis ones like Sim Safari. Nothing really filled that void Zoo Tycoon 1 left for me (I played a little of 2 and didn’t like it) until I just got around to buying Megaquarium a few days ago. I’ve already gotten 10 hours clocked going through the campaign and yeah it’s the Zoo Tycoon-esque game I wanted. 9: Dusk Departure to Destruction Dusk is a modernized take on 90’s FPSes in all the right ways. The combat is fast and furious, the controls are smooth, the weapons have weight, and the level design is top notch. The game’s atmosphere is really nice too, what with its old school Quake-esque aesthetic and metal as hell soundtrack. Dusk is one of those fantastic genre throwbacks that just improve on its influences. 8: The Return of the Obra Dinn Main Theme One of the best detective games ever made, Obra Dinn is a superb experience. Obra Dinn doesn’t cheat you or hold your hand in anyway and just leaves it up to you piece together who each crewmember and passenger were and how they died with ample trove of clues for you to discover. I beat the game without looking for help and it was a great ride. 7: Deltarune Field of Hopes and Dreams Undertale is one my absolute favorite games and it comes to my personal favorite indie games the creators' follow-ups tend to not be to my liking so I was really happy that Deltarune is a great game with some nice improvements over Undertale already. While it doesn’t hit Undertale’s highs its consistently really fun and the hints that it’s sort of a thematic other side of the other coin for Undertale could end be pretty interesting. While it’s not technically done Deltarune is still a fabulous game already. 6: Unavowed March of the Wise WadjetEye proves yet again why they’re one the best teams in the adventure game genre with Unavowed, a fantastic urban fantasy adventure set in the Blackwell world. The puzzles are logical, the party system, while relatively simple is cool, and the choices you make are interesting even if they don’t change a lot. The character interactions are great and the plot has some good twists and turns. Unavowed is just a shining example of a modern adventure game. 5: Yakuza 0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHh6LgKkO4A Fever Time I’ll cheat a little on this one, I played the PS4 version early in the year and the PC version came out a few months ago so I think it still counts. 0 is my first real entry into the series and it’s a drat fine entry. Yakuza juggles gangland melodrama with wacky rear end sidequests shenanigans far better than one would think. The game has a lot of heart and you can tell a lot of love was put into it. I really enjoyed 0 and I’ve been making my through the whole series since then, having beat Kiwami a few months ago and now I’ve got Kiwami 2 to play. 4: Spider-Man Main Theme When it comes to everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood Spider-People Sony really knocked it out the park this year with Into the Spiderverse (Seriously, it’s really good, go see it) and this game. I loved the first two Arkhams but after playing Spidey at launch a few months ago I’d say it wins out as my favorite superhero game. The game plays and controls super well what with its excellent web-swinging and really nice Arkham-eseque combat focused on MvC-esque air combos. Also surprisingly it has quite strong writing, with one of the best iterations of the character I’ve seen. There are a few hiccups that clash with the game’s themes, namely in the beginning where Spidey mindlessly helps the cops set up cameras all over New York, but overall it does a awesome job doing its own spin on Spidey and pals with a great ending. 3: Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Skudrinka While I enjoyed the first game, 2 is a major improvement over the first game in practically every way. The game fleshes out the world out in interesting ways, the writing is snappier overall, the characters are fun, and the faction system is cool and a good spiritual successor to New Vegas in that regard. I’m not big on WRPG combat but 2’s combat does get rid some of the archaic stuff from the first game. The roleplaying and exploration are also really great. Deadfire is just overall a fantastic RPG and it’s a real shame basically nobody played it. 2: Hitman 2 Menu Theme Hitman 2016 was already one of my favorite games of all time and now with 2 it’s been polished to an even finer sheen. 2 has some of the best levels in the entire series, expansive levels that give you a multitude of opportunities to kill your targets with great attention to detail; it’s almost like a third person immersive sim in how the game designs its levels. I still have barely breached the surface of finding everything to do in the levels and I've played for nearly 20 hours already so I’ll be definitely still be playing the game for a long while. 1: The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories The Missing The Missing is Swery’s newest game. I became a fan of his after Deadly Premonition, which is one of my favorite games of all time. So it didn’t take me long to buy The Missing and play through it. The Missing ended up being the type of a game that I cherish most of all, one that pushes games as a narrative medium by using being a game to tackle themes and really speak to people in ways that other mediums like literature do, and I have to say The Missing is one of the thematically strongest games I’ve ever played. It’s a puzzle platformer akin to Limbo and you solve puzzles by using JJ’s regeneration powers to injure herself to progress; without spoiling anything this mechanic fits the themes of the games expertly. The Missing is a powerful and hard-hitting game and it’s for that reason that its my GOTY. Honorable Mentions: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Lamplight City Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Jan 2, 2019 |
# ? Jan 1, 2019 00:14 |
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Here's my top 10. Would have played more from this year but dang, parenting eats into the time. 10. Nier Automata. I loved the music and visuals a lot more than the combat, but it was a great game with some wonderful and soul-crushing moments. Very haunting. The ending was the sort of emotional catharsis I needed. 9. Torment: Tides of Numenera. This is a good game that is greatly let down by the direct comparison it invites with Planescape Torment. As a spiritual sequel, it was... decent, and I felt like it stumbled at the finale. But it was a good game with some fun worldbuilding. 8. Dragon Quest 7. I'm honestly not sure why I liked it so much. The combat is simplistic and the characters felt rather one-note. But there was just a pervading sense of fun and charm that filled the game and made it a delight at all times. 7. Subsurface Circular. This game is short, snappy, and does interesting things with making knowledge into a usable inventory. I hope bigger devs are taking note of how to make dialogue games more interesting with stuff like this. 6. Smash Ultimate. It would have been Yakuza 5 but my PS3 broke halfway through that game. World of Light is just the sort of stream of challenges that makes fighting games great for me, the weirdo that plays fighting games but prefers single player content. 5. Bowser's Inside Story. I love all games the let me pilot Bowser. That is all. 4. MGS5 - The Phantom Pain. It barely feels like a metal gear game with a near-silent protagonist and all the dialogue in tapes. But as a stealth game machine it was top notch. I would probably have liked it better if it had just ended after the solid chapter 1 instead of tacking on the half-finished chapter 2. 3. Xenoblade Chronicle 2. I honestly cannot believe my in-game clock, it felt like I spent 1/3 the hours it claims I said I did in the game. It's not as good as the original game but very few will be. 2. Mario X Rabbids. There is nothing like setting Mario and Luigi to overwatch and then playing a game of volleyball with a big minion. I do wish they had done more with the 'rabbids combine with mario characters!' premise. It felt like all the non-boss enemies were just varieties of weird rabbid, rather than a Rabbid Charging Chuck or a Rabbid Snifit or whatever. Minor gripe, the tactical gameplay was great and I hope Ubisoft makes more strategy titles like this. 1. Ghost Trick. The music is phenomenal and the fluid spritework feels like a lost art these days. Wish Capcom would make a game like this every year, I would eat them up.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 00:27 |
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xedo posted:1. Ghost Trick. The music is phenomenal and the fluid spritework feels like a lost art these days. Wish Capcom would make a game like this every year, I would eat them up. I am jealous that you got to experience this for the first time this year. I wish I could erase my memory of it and play it again...
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 01:04 |
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:This and the Dead Island(2) promotionals are probably the most revoltingly misogynistic pieces of videogame marketing in history, which is saying something because the industry has been loving rife with the stuff for decades. Or it's a nonsensical mish-mash of John Woo and Dario Argento, and isn't hateful in any way. The Hitman one. It's a bit baffling, but anyways, the game doesn't focus on these characters much, and if fighting fetishized characters is hateful, that puts a lot of good games in the crosshairs here. John Wick kills both male and female goons, I think that's a positive. On the weird mish-mash of violence and sexualized women, that's where I give Dario a nod, also John Wick 2 but again, these are both stylized assassin stories with some black comedy etc. They could've just had him fighting some merc goons (which he does in other parts of the game), it's just a weird stylistic idea. I have no reason to think IO is being hateful here, and I think as a bit baffling as their stylistic choice is here, with all the weird stuff you like and post (me too), to me this seems like a pretty benign thing to be revolted by. And in general, to me it's a delightful game, also the only Hitman game that has moved me with the story, the Diane bit was cool and well done I thought, there's a cool woman in the game there.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 01:05 |
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Heavy Metal posted:Or it's a nonsensical mish-mash of John Woo and Dario Argento, and isn't hateful in any way. The Hitman one. It's a bit baffling, but anyways, the game doesn't focus on these characters much, and if fighting fetishized characters is hateful, that puts a lot of good games in the crosshairs here. John Wick kills both male and female goons, I think that's a positive. On the weird mish-mash of violence and sexualized women, that's where I give Dario a nod, also John Wick 2 but again, these are both stylized assassin stories with some black comedy etc. They could've just had him fighting some merc goons (which he does in other parts of the game), it's just a weird stylistic idea. I have no reason to think IO is being hateful here, and I think as a bit baffling as their stylistic choice is here, with all the weird stuff you like and post (me too), to me this seems like a pretty benign thing to be revolted by. And in general, to me it's a delightful game, also the only Hitman game that has moved me with the story, the Diane bit was cool and well done I thought, there's a cool woman in the game there. I hold marketing to different standards than the finished work itself.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 02:57 |
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Fair enough, I was buggin' a bit there. I should add Smash to my list by the way, I'll replace my #9 with that if that's cool
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 04:10 |
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Heavy Metal posted:Fair enough, I was buggin' a bit there. Hey, it's the New Year, we all need to purge a bit
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 05:04 |
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I kind of burned out on big-map open worldy games in 2017, and I think my 2018 list reflects that: 1. CrossCode For a 2D game, it sure cares a lot about altitude. Charming art and writing and solid ARPG gameplay fill in the moments when you're not clambering on top of things or jumping between things to get to the next higher thing, but the whole world is so dense with things to explore. Also, there's a special mechanic for butting in to NPC coversations. 2. Cultist Simulator Alexis Kennedy's whole shtick is elevating unredeemably terrible game designs with really sharp writing, and he's done it again. It fits--the feeling of smushing cards together that you're not quite sure what they do is appropriate for a dabbler's first steps into the occult--but if the individual cards weren't delightful it would just be a chore. 3. Return of the Obra Dinn Not telling you whether you've got the answer right until you've got three of them is clever, keeps you honest. When he showed his early tech experiments I was like, "what kind of game can you make with this?" but it gives it a late-80s edutainment vibe that totally works. 4. Celeste Some drat fine platforming. Looks & sounds good too, and the difficulty was just right. 5. Into the Breach A puzzly tactics game that really feels like a kaiju battle: how often do you get to kill a giant bug by smashing it into a mountain? Not a building, of course, buildings are more important than you are. This emphasis on protecting the city over your mechs or killing the enemy works perfectly with the turn structure that puts the choice of what takes damage squarely on the player. Sometimes it's enough just to run out the clock. 6. EXAPUNKS Jamming with the console cowboys in cyberspace! I love these games, and EXAPUNKS is the best yet. I am too much of a baby for real assembly programming. Bonus: The documentation is in printable zine format. 7. Minit You're going to die in sixty seconds!!! A cute gimmick, doesn't overstay its welcome; makes you think about map layout in a new way.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 06:11 |
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So who won?
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 06:44 |
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In Training posted:So who won? I spent too long trying to figure it out and realized I'm less than half way done counting, so I'll leave it to Rarity. I'd expect to see: Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, and Assassin's Creed Odyssey in the top 5, and Spiderman, Soul Calibur VI, Monster Hunter World, and Return of the Obra Dinn make the list. Yakuza would probably have done better if they hadn't released 5 or 6 titles in two years.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 07:46 |
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DalaranJ posted:I spent too long trying to figure it out and realized I'm less than half way done counting, so I'll leave it to Rarity. I'd expect to see: It's Celeste
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 08:02 |
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elf help book posted:It's Celeste I was guessing that too as the thread went on, yeah, it's on most people's list in the top 3 Hell of a game. Matt needs to Make more Games
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 10:00 |
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:Hey, it's the New Year, we all need to purge a bit I don't know what to make of this post.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 11:18 |
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It's a surprise, guys Thanks for taking part, everyone! I'll be doing a full results reveal including a full countdown of the Top 25 tomorrow starting from 8:00pm GMT/3:00pm EST. Come join us, it'll be a blast!
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 13:26 |
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Thanks for putting this on, it was cool to see people's diverse selections and rationalizations for their top picks without any lame hot takery.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 13:44 |
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Thanks for running this! I never would have written up a list otherwise, and it reminded me that oh right, this year has been amazing for games. Also it's been run to read all the other opinions.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 13:53 |
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Thanks, peeps! I'm a huge lameo nerd so this is a genuine pleasure for me
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 13:56 |
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Rarity posted:It's a surprise, guys Cool!
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 15:13 |
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The higher SoulCalibur VI is, the better luck we have this year. It's kinda like Groundhog Day.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 22:37 |
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Heavy Metal posted:The higher SoulCalibur VI is, the better luck we have this year. It's kinda like Groundhog Day. Did they ever fix those looooooong load times on Xbone version? My first arcade experience was like 30% rear end kicking and 70% loading screen. The exploration mode had bit better loading times.
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# ? Jan 1, 2019 23:09 |
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Ugh dammit, I was going to do my Top 5 games list (which was really just the five games I played this year) and include Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass on it. It's a ridiculously overlooked game.
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# ? Jan 2, 2019 04:31 |
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get that OUT of my face posted:Ugh dammit, I was going to do my Top 5 games list (which was really just the five games I played this year) and include Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass on it. It's a ridiculously overlooked game. It won't count towards the vote but please feel free to share your list for funsies
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# ? Jan 2, 2019 05:57 |
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Come to think of it, I've only played four games from last year, so it wouldn't count to begin with. Not surprising because 2018 was my first serious foray back into video games in a while. Here's to more gaming in 2019. All the same, just for the hell of it: 4. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition: This is such a sensory overload that I can only play one mission at a time, but it's so jam packed with content that it appeals to my "get everything" gamer instinct. 3. The Messenger: Two gameplay twists in one game. A loving recreation of Ninja Gaiden/Shinobi, lots of funny dialog, really recommended. 2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The amount of care put into every universe involved in Smash Ultimate (except for Square because they whined a lot or something) blows my mind. I'm glad they put a focus on single-player that Smash 4 didn't really have. I wasn't a fan of Classic Mode when it was announced, but dammit, there was a lot of thought put into each character's paths there too. A real treat for fans of everyone that made it into the game. 1. Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass: If you like classic SNES RPGs, get this on Steam immediately. It's only $15. It's a combination of Earthbound's aesthetics and funny dialog, FF5's job system, SMRPG's overworld interactivity (to a lesser degree), and FF6's/Chrono Trigger's absolute glut of optional stuff to do, complete with a way of navigating the overworld. Also it has the most depressing storyline I've ever seen in a video game.
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# ? Jan 2, 2019 07:07 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 18:50 |
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The anticipation is killing me... we'll soon know the results I know they won't count, but my top 5 for fun: 5. Diablo 3 (Nintendo Switch) When they released it on PC all those years ago, it was a complete mess (that auction house? What the hell!) But they then fixed the bad game, made a great game, and now I can play it on the toilet. The Switch is awesome! 4. SNK 40th Anniversary Collection A bunch of games I have never played but have found to be completely wonderful to discover. Genuinely, this is an amazing trip into some of the more obscure history of our passtime and it's really flipping good. 3. Dark Souls Remastered It's in 4K, it's running at 60FPS and it's still a flipping good game. Love it. (I am just now realising that the only three so far have been re-releases of old games that came out in 2018, time to get a bit more modern!) 2. Smash Bros Ultimate OK, whilst this is a modern game it's pretty similar to the great Smash game we had on the Wii U a few years ago. It's been great fun over the Christmas break to enjoy this with friends and family. The number of characters is crazy and the constant unlocking is really great. Love it. 1. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Nintendo Switch) OK - so World is a great game, it's accessible, my friends who don't normally play this kind of game love it, and it looks great on my TV at home. However this is the MOST Monster Hunter you can get on a game cartridge, it looks great on the Switch and it plays fantastically with the control layout on the Switch (rather than the 3DS). Monster Hunter is just so much fun, each hunt feels fresh even when you're doing it for the 3rd or 4th time - as you can switch up your weapons and approach in so many different ways. Sadly, this one got caught in the shadow of MHW but stands out as the best portable Monster Hunter experiance you can have
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# ? Jan 2, 2019 20:16 |