So, continuing off of last week, let's take a look at the flip side of the coin and take a look at the top games that pleasantly surprised me.
10.) Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Considering that I'm a hardcore Final Fantasy fan, you're probably pretty surprised to see this game make this list. Most Final Fantasy fans completely shun anything to do with the series of games centered around the Final Fantasy XIII universe. However, I'm only mildly ashamed to admit that these games aren't that bad. I think due to blatant problems that Final Fantasy XIII had with being a sequel in the famed JRPG series, the other two games of this trilogy never really stood a chance with fans.
When I put this game into my system, I didn't really have high expectations for it (which helped). However, I found that this game wasn't going to be so bad after all. As far as exploration, it's the opposite of the first game of the trilogy. Instead of one linear road, the game is a completely open world from the start to near the very end. The problem with this is that the game lacks direction with the main plot. It's almost exclusively side quests until the final boss; the objective of the game being to help as many people as you can before the world ends.
What pleasantly surprised me about this game is the ingenuity that this game throws at you. The battle system is completely new from the previous games in the series. Lightning fights solo and changes between one of three outfits in battle that have different attributes and abilities (which you customize yourself). For the most part, it works really well and opens up the opportunity for interesting battle strategies. There's also an in-game clock that you have to keep track of; the time remaining until the end of the world. Some objectives can only be completed during certain times of day and some can only be completed whether it is day or night out.
Although these new game mechanics aren't perfect, they could definitely be worse than they are. In a couple of weeks, I'll be posting about the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy as a whole and what I thought of it so I would stay tuned if you want to hear more about it but, otherwise, this game certainly didn't blow me away and has a fair share of problems but it was definitely better than I expected.
9.) Fallout: New Vegas
I never really understood some of the fan hate for this game. I've heard people talk about how much they hate this game compared to Fallout 3 and I'm not really sure why they hate it so much.
First of all, this game is just about identical to Fallout 3 except it's in the desert instead of in the Washington DC area. A lot of the enemies from the previous game make a reappearance in this game as well. The core gameplay is just about the same with one main improvement in that you can play the game in a mode where you have thirst, hunger, and sleep meters. I always thought this was blatantly missing in Fall Out 3 from the survival experience of the wasteland. This game also has a more interesting story than the previous game, which quite frankly, had a terrible main plot. Actually, in that way, Fall Out 3 is quite a phenomenon because the Fall Out universe is very interesting and innovative which means that you will probably really enjoy side quests and DLC quests. However, the main story is lacking and, whatever there is of it, is surprisingly typical. Oh and it's topped off with a terrible ending; Fall Out 3 players will know what I'm talking about.
The Fallout: New Vegas universe is rich with interesting side quests like its predecessor, but the main quest is much more involved. The main quest branches all kinds of different ways depending on what faction(s) you decide to align yourself with opposed to Fallout 3 which basically had an ethical code of actions being blatantly good or blatantly bad. Fallout 3 has a lot of replayability but Fallout: New Vegas makes its replayability even more so due to it's multi-branching main story.
Overall, very pleased that this felt so much like the Fall Out 3 I loved along with new features that further improved upon it.
8.) Tomb Raider (2013)
I guess this one is kind of cheating because this isn't a sequel, it's a prequel. But whatever, same concept. This one surprised me so much because I am not a fan of the praised Tomb Raider games on the original Playstation. However, I figured I would give it a try since it was getting rave reviews and I ended up really liking this game.
The main things to note here are that the controls and story are incredibly improved from the older games. Lara no longer controls like a Resident Evil character and the story actually exists in this game. If you want to hear more about it, I did a post about it awhile back that you can read by clicking here.
7.) Ace Combat Infinity
All my friends know that I'm a huge fan of the Ace Combat series (except for Ace Combat 3, that game blows). But some of my favorites are the ones for the Playstation 2: Ace Combat 04, Ace Combat 5, and Ace Combat Zero. When I heard there was going to be a free-to-play Ace Combat for the Playstation 3, I was very skeptical, especially after the drastic change in gameplay that was Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. Although I thought the combat was fun in that game, it wasn't a game mechanic I would like to continue to see.
Apparently Namco Bandai didn't seem to think that it was a good game mechanic to continue with either because Ace Combat Infinity is nothing like Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. Ace Combat Infinity actually plays and looks a lot like Ace Combat 04, my favorite Ace Combat game. So, I was incredibly surprised at how much fun this free-to-play really was. Unlike a lot of free-to-plays, this game has a single player campaign you can play for free (if you have the patience to wait for fuel and save up for an outrageous number of in-game credits for them). The single player campaign is pretty mediocre though so I wouldn't waste time or money playing it. This game is definitely centered around the multiplayer competitve co-op play. I had a lot of fun playing this when the game first came out and imagine that the devs made a lot of additions by now (I haven't played it in a really long time).
The online gameplay is pretty innovative as well; a style we haven't seen at all in an Ace Combat game until now. I talk about it more in a post I wrote when this game first came out. You can check it out here.
Overall, this game definitely made me happy that there was a developer that cared about the fans (even with a free-to-play game). The only drawback is that it's free-to-play which any gamer knows is more accurately titled as: We'll Make You Pay Later in Some Way You Don't Know Yet.
Since it is free-to-play though, this game won't cost you money up front to try if you have a Playstation 3.
6.) Valkyria Chronicles II
You're probably tired of hearing me talk about this series by now but this game seriously needs to be in this list. Considering how good the first game was, the second game further improved the art design, gameplay variety, and side missions from its predecessor drastically; all while downgrading from the Playstation 3 to the Playstation Portable.
I love just about everything about this game. This game is a great example of undermarketing. If more JRPG fans knew about the innovative gameplay of the Valkyria Chronicles series, it would have sold better in North America.
But yeah, this game took a concept that was really good already and improved it by leaps and bounds, not a very common occurrence with any game franchise past the year of 2008. If you want to know the details of this game, I talk about it in depth here.
5.) Crash Bandicoot Warped
Anyone who owned a Playstation as a kid has probably played this game. When I was a kid, I didn't think that 3D platforming got any better than Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Well, I was dead wrong. Crash Bandicoot Warped brings back everything that we loved about the previous game and adds all kinds of new levels and controls.
In Crash Bandicoot Warped we can now control Crash's sister Coco who has two different kinds of levels. One of these types involves racing a jet ski around land mines and other life threatening obstacles and another involves riding a tiger through a level. On top of being badass, she's also incredibly smart.
In order to not make Crash look too out-classed by his nerdy sister, Crash can now do a super body slam, shoot wumpa fruit from a bazooka, and fly a bi-plane. All of these are cool additions from the previous games.
Overall, this game is probably the best in the series and overcame my high expectations for greatness (unlike Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex)
4.) Tony Hawk's Underground 2
To date, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 had been my favorite skateboarding game. Then Tony Hawk's Underground came out, falling a little flat compared to previous games. It wasn't a bad game but not a great one either.
Then, Tony Hawk's Underground 2 came out. This game was the fucking shit. I didn't really expect this one to be that good since its predecessor was mediocre. However, this game has really proven itself and, in my opinion, is the best of the Tony Hawk games. The levels are all spectacular, the added gameplay mechanics were all incredible and really opened up the variety and length of combos that could be pulled off. The game also stars a good number of the guys from Jackass, which basically means lots and lots of shenanigans, something that the previous game was greatly lacking in. The game also has a plot (not a great one but it actually has one). The soundtrack is also incredible; one of the best of great soundtracks in the series.
You can probably get this game for cheap now but man, is it money well spent. Don't waste money on new skateboarding games when you can get the best right here. I love this game, I still love this game, and every now and then I still pop it in for some great fun.
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| The license has been saved! |
Boy, this game just came out of nowhere after a whole host of some of the shittiest console games ever made (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but seriously, these games are bad). Have you ever played that South Park first person shooter for Playstation/N64? What a terrible game. Seriously, in just about every way.
When South Park: The Stick of Truth was announced all I could think was, "Oh great, another bad South Park game." But, upon its release, this game was getting really good reviews so, being the South Park fan I am, I figured I had to check it out.
This game cherry bombed my low expectations to oblivion. This game is so good that it holds up to some of the mainstream RPGs out there. The game looks and plays exactly like how you would want a South Park game to play (a side scrolling adventure RPG with art style and animation identical to the show). The game retains the voice acting and writers of the television show which is definitely obvious here. Particularly this game is for the fans making plenty of inside jokes and references from episodes of the television show. It's also fucking hilarious. Just about everywhere you look in this game there's something to laugh out loud at.
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| Though stylistically the same, the people on the cover actually change depending on platform |
For those of you that haven't played The Sims games on console, you won't realize how different these games are compared to the PC versions. Even Sims: Bustin' Out on Playstation 2 is drastically different than the Gameboy Advance version (I would recommend either one). The Sims 2 on PC was a fantastic game and I put many hours into all of what that game had to offer. However, The Sims 2 on PSP is nothing short of an awful game. The whole thing is fetch quests in a somewhat interesting horror-themed universe but the game is so boring, tedious, and repetitive that I couldn't complete it (which is saying a lot considering that I at least completed Urbz: Sims in the City).
The reason why The Sims 2 on Playstation 2 (it might have been on Xbox as well, not sure) was so special was that this was The Sims game where you could directly control your character with the left analog stick. It sounds trivial but this should be a common feature in these games. Being able to walk up to things and interact with them opposed to moving a track beam thing and clicking on stuff from across the room was much more fun and immersive. Also, this game had some odd ball characters that kept you interested in learning more about them. Also, like Sims: Bustin' Out you could play the main campaign mode with another player. Basically, there was a lot of fun to be had with this game and was completely different than other games with The Sims 2 label on them.
Unfortunately, in Sims 3 for the Playstation 3, the developers made the game more like the PC version and completely eliminated the option of controlling your character directly with the left stick. Also, two player mode is completely absent which disappointed me since playing with another person in the room adds to the fun in a way that Mario Party or Super Smash Bros. does. Still a good game but I wish that they could have kept those features at least as an option.
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| Let's stand all dramatic-like |
By now, you probably want to murder me for talking about this series but I can't help but to talk about it some more here. I've just never been so happy with a sequel of a game. This game took the previous game which I already loved everything about and improved them even further and added new features that I didn't even know I wanted yet. I mean, that's crazy! This is really the only game I've ever played where I sat down before playing it and said, "There's no way that this game could possibly be better than the previous one. It's physically impossible." Well, they proved me really, really, wrong on that one.
Not only was the art design further improved, the gameplay was also revamped and rebalanced to near perfection. The only thing tedious about the last game, materials collecting, has been eliminated from this game. New vehicles and broader weapon varieties further push the horizons of tactical possibilities. The story is also incredible, by far the best in a series that has already had very good story telling.
It pains me that this game never got a North American release because it deserves so much more than that. C'mon Sega, c'mon...
You can check out my extended praising of this game here from a year and a half ago.
Other Notables:
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
This game just got edged out by the other ten in my list, mainly because I already knew it was going to be a fantastic game going into it. Nonetheless, if you would like to read more about it, click here.
Dissidia 012: Duodecim
Although finding a near perfect balance between making changes and keeping the core gameplay intact, it did disappoint me in that it didn't extend its multiplayer gameplay to beyond ad-hoc and LAN in North America. I thought for sure they would take the next step after the success of the first game but, I was proven wrong in a bad way. Otherwise, a great followup to a great game. You can read more here.
South Park: The Stick of Truth Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth.jpg
The Sims 2 Image: http://xboxmedia.ign.com/xbox/image/object/742/742600/sims2_ps2box.jpg
Valkyria Chronicles III Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Valkyria_Chronicles_3.jpg
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