Cause smurf you, it's close enough to years end with little else note worthy coming out. (The two that are being Saints Row and Skyrim, which those of you who love Elder Scrolls will probably already know where on your list it will fall).
First off, there is one game coming out this year that will likely end up in my top ten, being Saints Row. There is also Catherine, which I may not get the chance to play by the end of the year, and for that I am sad. :cry:
And now, for honorable mentions.
First Being Agarest War 0. It was a well made game, but it suffered from not doing enough different from Agarest War, and they got lazy and re-used a good number of tracks. Anything added to the game wasn't really enough to make the difference notable, and on top of it being a Prequel to a game that game a pretty solid synopsis of events prior to it if you got the true ending, a good chunk of plot is very predictable. It was pretty much inferior character wise, and while they were good this game fell short of what it could have been.
Next up is Deus Ex. This game would likely have been in my top three had it not been for two points. One was difficulty. Playing on the hardest mode, I still didn't feel very challenged outside the first boss fight. The AI was way to easy to trick, and lugging around a couple EMP's, one armor Piercing 10MM, and one heavy weapon to handle the last fight was more then enough to monkey stomp this game. The other is this game had among the worst endings ever, made all of your actions in the game seem entirely smurfing pointless, and managed to completely kill this game for me.
Finally is Atelier Totori on my honorable mentions. Pretty much it was Ateleir Rorona with slightly improved combat systems, and an element of Time Management that made it pleasantly more difficult. True, it is a good game, but both this game and Rorona are missing the same level if awesome the cast of Mana Khemia 1 had, and in a game where the plot is far from some world crisis event, the characters and their interactions are the biggest driving force being investing you in the story.
And now, on to my top ten of the year.
10. Hyper Dimension Neptunia
This was almost going to be the honorable mention instead of Totori. In reality, the game systems of Totori were superior in most ways. And this game suffered from the huge problem of it's share system, which I wont get into because the game itself never does. And that is stupid, cause you need them all for the true ending. Whats worse is if you screw up you can loose out permanently and never realize it. And unless you get the optional, you have no way of switching party members which is very stupid, since there are a number of abilities connected to attacks to switch members mid battle. And you can't even get the characters until near end game.
The combat is well designed, though lack of variety for what moves actually do lead you to make a few combos leads to combat that because repetitive by mid game. They do have a fun take on item use, though again I'll avoid detail since it's bit awkward to explain, though it's not a system a lot of people will like.
What I loved is the characters were just outlandish and silly. They were all fun, and there's pretty much a never dull moment in any of the games dialogue.
While I highly enjoy it, it's really not a game for most people because of all the problems weighing it down.
9. Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny
I can, in no way shape or form, convince any one of you it's a good game. It's a farming simulator/Dating Simulator with aspects of an Action RPG. Rune Factory puts more emphasis on the combat, and less of the farming, which makes for a different experience, though I do prefer Rune Factory 3: The best of the series to date. What draws Rune Factroy down a bit is the cast is much less interesting then Rune Factory 3, or even the only other Console version of Rune Factory, Frontier. On a whole the, the improved combat was very welcomed.
It's also to easy to build up your money. But hey, it's still fun.
8. No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise
No More Heroes was outrageous, fun, and visually appealing. The PS3 version is no different, and the extra boss fights while he's on the crapper is fun. Nothing really new was added to the game from the original on the Wii outside of prettier graphics. Really this game shouldn't be on this list because of that, but I'm also a No More Heroes Fan boy, so smurf it.
7. Dragon Quest VI (DS)
All I can say about this is I had fun playing it. Though for the life of me I can't remember anything about it. Yet I swear I remember it being fun enough to put here.
6. Devil Survivor: Overlocked (3DS)
Pretty much see No More Heroes, but with a bit more story added in. The original was awesome, though I really don't know why this was released, and didn't add enough to warrant it coming out. But again, I'm a fan boy. If you have a 3DS though, pick this up over the original on the DS. It is a tad bit improved in a couple ways.
5. Dragon Age 2
This game did a lot right, and a lot wrong. I'll start with the wrong.
The re use of maps. The smurfing re use of maps. Extreme laziness is the only thing that could explain this. If you do the right quests in a row, you'll see the same map used in three different places in a row. The environments get repetitive.
The other problem is no matter what path you take, the key end events never change. Regardless of the mass amount of options the game gives you beginning to end become kind of pointless.
The positives are the awesome battle system. Very fast paced and a lot of versatile options among the classes. There are enough supporting characters to create a wide variety of parties as well.
The characters are awesome in this game two. They all have great stories and very well developed personalities, Merril being a personal favorite. In addition, all of their designs are pleasing, once again Meriil being my favorite, her costume change after all of her story is done being the amazing.
Unlike many others, I also loved the story. It was a fun tale of Hawkes rise to power in Kirkwall, the final fight actually feeling like tit really did hit the fan. It was a great climax with well done atmosphere. The ending was really good, though held down on my previous complaint.
Overall it was a very well structured game, and set itself up for another., which I've never had issue with.
4. Disgaea 4
Oh Disgaea, one of the few remaining JRPG's on the consoles. The combat system remains as deep as ever, as well as adding a lot of new elements from it's predecessor. Improved combat from three, and a hilarious and kind of depressing story once you finally learn whats going on behind the Scene. Truly superb, and a lot of post game content, and a full length normal game to boot.
3. White Knight Chronicles 2
Considering how little was added in terms of game play, I really don't think this should be added to the list. But you know what? I love it so very much. I cry knowing there lingers a bit of hypocrisy to me putting this so high on my list, but smurf you all. Shapur is a smurfing bad ass.
2. Batman: Arkam City
Arkam Asylym, you guys play that one? Well make it more awesome in virtually every way, and add in Ra's al Ghul, and you have a game made of win. Amazing environments, a lot of great villain fights, plenty of side missions and a very fulfilling story. They even advance a lot of plot elements from Arkham Asylum which helps it feel these games really are in the same world, all while being a self contained story in and of itself. Oh, and the ending rocked.
1. Infamous 2
You know I love this for the same reason as Batman. It took everything from the first game, improved on it, and made it better. They even give you two different endings depending on your last choice, (The alignment system is still pretty stupid given the choice is the only thing that affects the ending), and while it can kill reasons for multiple play through for purpose of seeing the other ending, it's actually a bit heart breaking no matter which path you pick. So thank you Sucker Punch.
This year was actually pretty radical for gaming. And I've still yet to play Catherine and Saints Row the Third, both of which I kind of expect to knock Rune Factory and Hyper Dimension off my list.
Oh, and IceGlow, you remember last year when you were all 'you're list is all PS3 tit, blah blah blah' even though there were 2 exclusives, which were low on the list, and all my high ones were either DS or Multiconsole? Well this year you can legitimately bitch and moan about it given five of these games are PS3 exclusive, one of them is only Wii and PS3 (no 360), and only two of these games available on 360.
So Suck it!
Edit: Forgot about Dark Souls, another game that if I play it, likely to end up on list. :p
