Video Games right? Not to be such a downer, but it took a real long time finding five games that stood out from the rest. Not saying there were a lot of bad games, but in terms of games that really wowed me or had some lasting impression, there were few. People will argue with me I am sure, but to each their own. I will say that these five games were rated more on a lasting impression more so then anything else. It’s in no way organized in any fashion. I just looked at a list of Video Games and said “Oh right! That was pretty good.”. Anyways, here’s the list:
Bastion
Believe it or not I actually haven’t been all that fond of this genre. But that’s probably because I didn’t give this genre much of a chance. Never thought much of it, still don’t actually. But you always get that one game per genre that you somehow seem to like, and Bastion was it for me.
I find it extremely rare to try out different weapons in a game. I usually just stick the same set (usually the first ones given) and plow through the game. In Bastion however, each weapon made me say “Well, OK, I’ll try this for a bit.” and boy does the game give you a ton of options to play with. Simply put, even until the end of the game, Bastion did not stop giving you weapons/abilities to try out.
But the combat isn’t what Bastion brought to the dance. While it was fun, it wasn’t what kept me going. Like most people, it was the story and the awesome narration by Logan Cunningham who is literally fifty percent of that game. I very much doubt that I would of liked the game as much as I had had it not been for that man and the writing put in place. While the game uses a lot of different colours to make the world look unique, the narration makes the world feel alive. Whether it be him giving a backdrop to a situation, describing a location, or simply him narrating what The Kid was doing, Logan Cunningham made not only the game, but the idea the game put forth with its narration into something only Bastion can say they did, and did well.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Back in 2009 a game called Rhythm Heaven came out for the DS. The basic concept of the game was to tap and flick on the touch screen to a rhythmical beat. At that point I was done with DS games. I thought that nothing could top that game. It used the touch screen and stylus in such clever ways that I never once thought I was doing the same thing over and over again in each game. But if there was one problem, it was in that classic “what is easy to make?” fashion, it was a mini-game based game. So you didn’t get any story, if any at all. And that’s where Ghost Trick comes into play.
In some ways, I was shocked this was the same team that made the Phoenix Wright games. But once you get into, you can see where it all starts to make sense. Probably the most notable is the fact that murder is involved, and the other is a ton and ton of dialogue. Aside from that the aesthetic has changed forgoing the anime style to a more… I don’t know what. Add that to the crazy animations and you already got a game that looks totally different from the Phoenix Wright series.
Then there’s the whole use of the touch screen. While many of the Phoenix Wright games were on the GBA first, there were a few that came out solely on the DS. But since the mechanics of that franchise were already well known, the other games didn’t (or couldn’t) change much in fear of backlash from the fans. Ghost Trick however, uses it very well. Being a ghost you travel between objects and are able to manipulate said objects. These are used both to traverse and, prevent a potential death. It worked great never felt like it was getting old. Add that to the amazing story that played out, and you got yourself one hell of a game.
Batman: Arkham City
I’m going to be upfront and say I did not like the direction this game went. Yes open-world seems like the right thing to do for a superhero game, but Arkham Asylum showed that it didn’t have to be one to bring in a sense of exploration. Also does a Batman game really need to be one?
Having said that, it was still a very good game. I didn’t have a terrific time shooting the Batclaw and gliding to traverse the city, (let alone having that entire place filled with prisoners in what seemed like a dumb idea) but pretty much everything else was fantastic. The combat was fluid as ever, each boss fight didn’t just seem like I was repeating same thing over and over, you beat up a shark, the story was pretty strong, you beat up a shark, most of Batman’s enemies were well realised, great cape animations and you beat up a shark. What more can you ask for?
Saints Row: The Third
I have always been that “Video Game guy” amongst my friends and family and it has its ups and downs. Most notably is getting the “What game should I get?” question. For whatever reason, I tend to over-analyze the question more then I should. Do I consider the person’s taste? Does them not playing video games all that take into affect? Should I could actually recommend them I game I like? Probably not because it may be a bit to hard to grasp. So then I usually just recommend whatever is popular. Skyrim, Batman, Gears, or games of that equivalent are usually the ones I end up recommending, safe bets if you will. But I cannot fathom anyone not enjoying Saints Row: The Third for whatever reason.
The question going into Saints Row: The Third was pretty much “What else can they do with this genre?”, and the developers (Volition) seemed to know this and delivered a game that has a sense of lunacy that just clicks on so many levels. Open-world games work best when you can just do stupid things. Not saying emergent ones are bad, but why limit the player when you created a huge area for them to play in? Saints Row: The Third knows this and keeps revving it up as the game goes on. Whether it be skydiving in a Tank, driving around in a car with a Tiger, or just being part of a wrestling match shows that this game knows its stupid fun. Probably my favourite part of it all is that you don’t have to go looking for it. I’ll admit I hate dicking around in open-world games. I can’t stand doing side stuff as I just like to press on with the story. So any hidden gems in a game are lost to me. Fortunately, Saints Row: The Third showed everything it had to offer in its single player campaign that I didn’t need to stray off the path all the while showing off what I could do had I not wanted to keep pressing forward.
As a whole, Saints Row: The Third is just pure entertainment. Open-world games are usually fun to dick around with, and the campaign continues to deliver until the end. I can’t help but let everyone know they should play this game.
Corpse Party
I think it speaks volumes for this game to be on this list because I hate playing horror games. Dead Space, Resident Evil, Clock tower, you name it and within the first moment of something creepy showing up I’ll say “Fuck no.” and be done with the game. Maybe it’s because they setup the story early enough for me to press onwards, maybe because it’s Anime, or maybe it’s because it’s all sprite based that I can overlook a lot of the imagery… though I doubt that.
Corpse Party may be a simple game, but it still delivers in its atmosphere and storytelling. Yes it’s pretty much an adventure game, but it’s one of the few Horror games I played that avoided letting the characters you control fend off the paranormal experiences. They’re young, confused and helpless. So the only thing they can do is run away. Which is something I had very seldom experienced when playing a horror game. Not to mention the voice talent behind the game helped a lot. Maybe it was a budget reason, or maybe Xseed actually intended to leave in the Japanese voices. Regardless, it was a wise choice. Not saying English voice actors would have been a bad choice, but the Japanese voices certainly added to the games mood. Hearing the voice actors scream, cough, gurgle or laugh manically added a lot to the game.
Corpse Party’s story telling and fearlessness to express what it wants helps what is pretty much a RPG maker presentation. You really don’t think much when you see a sprite based game, but its descriptiveness helps the mind over think a lot out of a situation. I didn’t really think I’d be afraid of this game, but I was. A lot more then any other horror game really.
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