What Game Surprised You This Year?

[Daystar Clarion]

Xenoblade Chronicles.
A JRPG I still want to play after 30 hours?
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

I second this.

It's a truly great JRPG if I haven't strangled myself with my own intestines after a few hours.

Its a JRPG for people who hate JRPG's, is essentially the overriding opinion on that.

Like Twilight is the book for people who typically hate reading.




On topic, Mortal Kombbat. I was suprised by how much I really liked playing it, getting a feel for the combos, the special moves, the Fatalities, it was really enjoyable for me.

There are two things that make or break a JRPG for me.

Is the voice acting annoying?

Is the plot an angsty piece of Japanese soap opera shit?

If the answer is no to both of these things, I'll probably like it.

If your answer to both of those pretty much involves removing all plot and characters with a scalpel, then you may have made a mistake.

Uhuh, I don't see where you're coming from but whatever.

It's better than Final Fantasy 13, that's for sure.

And a fuckload inferior to any Persona game.

Good for you?

Am I supposed to say something else now so you be contrary again? Or can I state how I like a game without you coming along and telling me I'm not a 'real' JRPG fan?

 

[Kae]

THAT one game, you know that game, the one everybody is talking about.
Ok you got me I didn't play any games that I hadn't played before this year, but to be fair it's because my PC sucks and I no longer have my PS3 because it died in a fire along with all of my PS1 games, that bastard, but at least I still have my N64 and Gamecube, and well PS1 too but without games.

 

[Subwayeatn]

I had my doubts before i got Skyrim. I've never playing an elder scrolls game beforehand, and i felt like it was over hyped. Boy was i wrong.

Also i finally got Starcraft 2. (a little late) It always seemed like a game with deep mechanics and lots of variation in gameplay. It is hard to get into since i'm new to rts, but winning brings great satisfaction and i looove to see my enemy panic in replays.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Xenoblade Chronicles.
A JRPG I still want to play after 30 hours?
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

I second this.

It's a truly great JRPG if I haven't strangled myself with my own intestines after a few hours.

Its a JRPG for people who hate JRPG's, is essentially the overriding opinion on that.

Like Twilight is the book for people who typically hate reading.




On topic, Mortal Kombbat. I was suprised by how much I really liked playing it, getting a feel for the combos, the special moves, the Fatalities, it was really enjoyable for me.

There are two things that make or break a JRPG for me.

Is the voice acting annoying?

Is the plot an angsty piece of Japanese soap opera shit?

If the answer is no to both of these things, I'll probably like it.

If your answer to both of those pretty much involves removing all plot and characters with a scalpel, then you may have made a mistake.

Uhuh, I don't see where you're coming from but whatever.

It's better than Final Fantasy 13, that's for sure.

And a fuckload inferior to any Persona game.

Good for you?

Am I supposed to say something else now so you be contrary again? Or can I state how I like a game without you coming along and telling me I'm not a 'real' JRPG fan?

You are free to like the game and I don't mean to say you shouldn't. I just hate the people who act like its a revolution of JRPG's because it stripped out everything unique about them and rendered it as just an RPG. An alright put together RPG, but certainly not deserving of the scores its getting.

What exactly doesn't make it a JRPG?

Because I'm interested to know how you think it isn't.

 

[CRRPGMykael]

Driver: San Francisco. I expected another really terrible GTA knock-off (even though the first Driver game came before GTA III, which was when the series revolutionized the genre of sandbox-iness-things-etc-whatever), but when I found out that this game was driving only (no on-foot sections, shooting, etc) I became even more distant to it (especially when they showed that teleporting mechanic thing), but I found it to be a great game, actually. Play it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Xenoblade Chronicles.
A JRPG I still want to play after 30 hours?
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

I second this.

It's a truly great JRPG if I haven't strangled myself with my own intestines after a few hours.

Its a JRPG for people who hate JRPG's, is essentially the overriding opinion on that.

Like Twilight is the book for people who typically hate reading.




On topic, Mortal Kombbat. I was suprised by how much I really liked playing it, getting a feel for the combos, the special moves, the Fatalities, it was really enjoyable for me.

There are two things that make or break a JRPG for me.

Is the voice acting annoying?

Is the plot an angsty piece of Japanese soap opera shit?

If the answer is no to both of these things, I'll probably like it.

If your answer to both of those pretty much involves removing all plot and characters with a scalpel, then you may have made a mistake.

Uhuh, I don't see where you're coming from but whatever.

It's better than Final Fantasy 13, that's for sure.

And a fuckload inferior to any Persona game.

Good for you?

Am I supposed to say something else now so you be contrary again? Or can I state how I like a game without you coming along and telling me I'm not a 'real' JRPG fan?

You are free to like the game and I don't mean to say you shouldn't. I just hate the people who act like its a revolution of JRPG's because it stripped out everything unique about them and rendered it as just an RPG. An alright put together RPG, but certainly not deserving of the scores its getting.

What exactly doesn't make it a JRPG?

Because I'm interested to know how you think it isn't.

Stripping out the gameplay style and the character focus.

Silly me, I thought it had something to do with it being an RPG that was made in Japan.

I don't know which game you played, but there was plenty of character focus, and I don't even know what you mean by 'gameplay style'.

 

[Smeggs]

RAGE, actually.

I was expecting some 16-20 hour campaign of generic Falloutiness+Shooterness. What I got was an actually enjoyable and different game that was fun to the very last minute, when it abruptly ended.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Xenoblade Chronicles.
A JRPG I still want to play after 30 hours?
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

I second this.

It's a truly great JRPG if I haven't strangled myself with my own intestines after a few hours.

Its a JRPG for people who hate JRPG's, is essentially the overriding opinion on that.

Like Twilight is the book for people who typically hate reading.




On topic, Mortal Kombbat. I was suprised by how much I really liked playing it, getting a feel for the combos, the special moves, the Fatalities, it was really enjoyable for me.

There are two things that make or break a JRPG for me.

Is the voice acting annoying?

Is the plot an angsty piece of Japanese soap opera shit?

If the answer is no to both of these things, I'll probably like it.

If your answer to both of those pretty much involves removing all plot and characters with a scalpel, then you may have made a mistake.

Uhuh, I don't see where you're coming from but whatever.

It's better than Final Fantasy 13, that's for sure.

And a fuckload inferior to any Persona game.

Good for you?

Am I supposed to say something else now so you be contrary again? Or can I state how I like a game without you coming along and telling me I'm not a 'real' JRPG fan?

You are free to like the game and I don't mean to say you shouldn't. I just hate the people who act like its a revolution of JRPG's because it stripped out everything unique about them and rendered it as just an RPG. An alright put together RPG, but certainly not deserving of the scores its getting.

What exactly doesn't make it a JRPG?

Because I'm interested to know how you think it isn't.

Stripping out the gameplay style and the character focus.

Silly me, I thought it had something to do with it being an RPG that was made in Japan.

I don't know which game you played, but there was plenty of character focus, and I don't even know what you mean by 'gameplay style'.

No, it had characters, but never gave any one of them depth, or any reason for me to give a fuck about them.

I did, so that pretty much blows that argument out of the water.

But it doesn't, because I don't treat my opinion as fact.

You can not like the game all you want, but unless you can come up with something that objectively doesn't make Xenoblade a JRPG, it will remain a JRPG

 

[Hal10k]

Xenoblade Chronicles.
A JRPG I still want to play after 30 hours?
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

I second this.

It's a truly great JRPG if I haven't strangled myself with my own intestines after a few hours.

Its a JRPG for people who hate JRPG's, is essentially the overriding opinion on that.

Like Twilight is the book for people who typically hate reading.




On topic, Mortal Kombbat. I was suprised by how much I really liked playing it, getting a feel for the combos, the special moves, the Fatalities, it was really enjoyable for me.

There are two things that make or break a JRPG for me.

Is the voice acting annoying?

Is the plot an angsty piece of Japanese soap opera shit?

If the answer is no to both of these things, I'll probably like it.

If your answer to both of those pretty much involves removing all plot and characters with a scalpel, then you may have made a mistake.

Uhuh, I don't see where you're coming from but whatever.

It's better than Final Fantasy 13, that's for sure.

And a fuckload inferior to any Persona game.

Good for you?

Am I supposed to say something else now so you be contrary again? Or can I state how I like a game without you coming along and telling me I'm not a 'real' JRPG fan?

You are free to like the game and I don't mean to say you shouldn't. I just hate the people who act like its a revolution of JRPG's because it stripped out everything unique about them and rendered it as just an RPG. An alright put together RPG, but certainly not deserving of the scores its getting.

What exactly doesn't make it a JRPG?

Because I'm interested to know how you think it isn't.

Stripping out the gameplay style and the character focus.

Silly me, I thought it had something to do with it being an RPG that was made in Japan.

I don't know which game you played, but there was plenty of character focus, and I don't even know what you mean by 'gameplay style'.

I think he's holding to the "traditionalist" view of JRPGs, which holds that, aside from being made in Japan, it also has to be primarily focused on party-focused turn-based combat, delivering the majority of the story through uninteractive cutscenes. I have no idea if Xenoblade is like that, but if it isn't, I think I've found the point of contention.

 

[AnotherAvatar]

Shockingly bad: Dead Island; who would have thought they could make killing hordes of zombies un-fun? It was all okay, fun enough if a little tedious and poorly designed, and then the endless sewer levels started.

Shockingly good: Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker; A game this huge Metal Gear fan never bothered to play for a dislike of Portable Ops and the PSP, when I heard tale of it coming to the PS3 with MGS2&3 I knew right then I'd own the pack if only for 2 & 3. When the day finally came to play it (after an awesome run through 3, where I picked up almost every trophy just due to countless hours sunk into the game on PS2) my mind was blown. It's probably the ultimate Metal Gear aside from the graphics, with a beautiful plot, epic online play which is linked beautifully to your solo game, and endless submissions, not to mention that it fixes a lot of people's main complaint, the long-winded nature of the cutscenes, which are now nicely broken up, still to be enjoyed by plot freaks like me, but easier to get through for adrenaline junkies... like also me sometimes. Anyway, amazing game, not the strongest Metal Gear in any one category, but the best all around I feel, and I am very glad that I didn't just let it pass me by.

 

[Dfskelleton]

DNF. How could a game that took over 14 years to develop suck so much?

You just answered your own question. Due to its horifically long development time, in that time it has taken influence from all FPS trends within those 14 years, the good and the bad. Unfortunately, while I can almost see the good parts at times, they're too far outweighed by the 300 tons of crap on top of it.
Also, I think they got a new writer since DN3D. While it's hard to say how, DN3D used poop jokes cleverly. In DNF, it was more like this:
"It's poop!"
"...so?"
"LAUGH, CONSUMER WHORE. IT IS POOP. IT IS FUNNY. LAUGH."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Xenoblade Chronicles.
A JRPG I still want to play after 30 hours?
WHAT IS THIS MAGIC??!!

I second this.

It's a truly great JRPG if I haven't strangled myself with my own intestines after a few hours.

Its a JRPG for people who hate JRPG's, is essentially the overriding opinion on that.

Like Twilight is the book for people who typically hate reading.




On topic, Mortal Kombbat. I was suprised by how much I really liked playing it, getting a feel for the combos, the special moves, the Fatalities, it was really enjoyable for me.

There are two things that make or break a JRPG for me.

Is the voice acting annoying?

Is the plot an angsty piece of Japanese soap opera shit?

If the answer is no to both of these things, I'll probably like it.

If your answer to both of those pretty much involves removing all plot and characters with a scalpel, then you may have made a mistake.

Uhuh, I don't see where you're coming from but whatever.

It's better than Final Fantasy 13, that's for sure.

And a fuckload inferior to any Persona game.

Good for you?

Am I supposed to say something else now so you be contrary again? Or can I state how I like a game without you coming along and telling me I'm not a 'real' JRPG fan?

You are free to like the game and I don't mean to say you shouldn't. I just hate the people who act like its a revolution of JRPG's because it stripped out everything unique about them and rendered it as just an RPG. An alright put together RPG, but certainly not deserving of the scores its getting.

What exactly doesn't make it a JRPG?

Because I'm interested to know how you think it isn't.

Stripping out the gameplay style and the character focus.

Silly me, I thought it had something to do with it being an RPG that was made in Japan.

I don't know which game you played, but there was plenty of character focus, and I don't even know what you mean by 'gameplay style'.

I think he's holding to the "traditionalist" view of JRPGs, which holds that, aside from being made in Japan, it also has to be primarily focused on party-focused turn-based combat, delivering the majority of the story through uninteractive cutscenes. I have no idea if Xenoblade is like that, but if it isn't, I think I've found the point of contention.

It does deliver the story through uninteractive cutscenes, the only thing different is that it isn't turned based.

But not all JRPGs have to have turned based combat, so I don't see what the problem is.

 

[MrLumber]

El Shaddai. Probably the most unsung gem of this year, while perhaps not the most innovative in terms of gameplay (that being said it has a ton of gameplay elements, just none of them particularly groundbreaking), in my book it is one of the few games that I believe to be a must play if you want to gain (or cement if you've really got the time in) credence in your opinion of games.

Dark Souls gets an honorable mention though, as a huge fan of Demon's Souls I was worried From would take the route of most developers and essentially just rehash the game, but it damn well improved on near everything Demon's Souls had to offer (IMO Demon's had the better story of the two, as well as more characterization in the NPCs and levels). Its definitely my GOTY.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Arkham City. I bought it only really to see what all the fuss was about, having never played Asylum and assuming that it was only really a game for already established Batman fans, which I am not particularly. By the time I had finished the game had torn up all my preconceptions and left me in a state of Nirvana.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Darksiders. It sucked.

I'd heard reviews in both directions but I wasn't prepared for how much of a letdown it was.

The most interesting character was the horse and this game ain't Skyrim.

You know it came out nearly two years ago, right? Beginning of 2010, not 2011.


OT:
Hard Reset. Coming from ex-People Can Fly employees, I expected something better (I liked both NecroVisioN and BulletStorm). The demo was great, and the beginning was fun, but the more I played the more it bored me. There weren't that many different enemies, and all the levels seemed the same.

 

[Koroviev]

Earlier I would have said Outland, but now I have to say Bastion. It's just a really great time.

 

[Slenn]

WoW because it actually drew me back into its gameplay recently. And NOT because of Mists of Pandaria. I guarantee you the next 3 or so new races will be more anthropomorphs that completely ruin Warcraft's reputation.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

DNF. How could a game that took over 14 years to develop suck so much?

You just answered your own question. Due to its horifically long development time, in that time it has taken influence from all FPS trends within those 14 years, the good and the bad. Unfortunately, while I can almost see the good parts at times, they're too far outweighed by the 300 tons of crap on top of it.
Also, I think they got a new writer since DN3D. While it's hard to say how, DN3D used poop jokes cleverly. In DNF, it was more like this:
"It's poop!"
"...so?"
"LAUGH, CONSUMER WHORE. IT IS POOP. IT IS FUNNY. LAUGH."

tbh, I'm not sure how much of this is really the case. It might just be that the people who liked the humour in DN3D have since, well, grown up...

 

[Koroviev]

Resistance 3

Best FPS sp campaign this year HANDS DOWN

I forgot about this, but it's true. I love the boss fight on the pier, but Satan is pretty underwhelming.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

DNF. How could a game that took over 14 years to develop suck so much?

Do you know nothing of how it was developed? It wasn't one company working on it for 14 years. It started then, and everyone that picked it up had closed down at some point (that or something happened). Plus every time someone else picked it up, they first had to understand the code, then go through and update it all. I don't think Gearbox spent that long on it at all (year or two), and I think that was mostly just to get it out the door. No game could live up to 14 years of hype, plus with all the babies now day that will just hate it to hate it (like when people said it was bad because you could only hold two guns. Really, the only having two guns made the entire game bad? They just wanted a reason to hate it because it was Duke Nukem Forever).