A Personal Video Game Retrospective (1986-2015) 2011
by riostarwind
Even with E3 in full swing I still have time to look through my gaming history. I’m sure all of these games were shown off at E3 at some point even if it was just a trailer. With everything that has been going on lately I’m going to keep this brief and to the point. Video games are obviously a big part of my life. The joy I get from playing them myself or watching someone else play them with commentary is part of why I continue to write about almost every game I ever played in these blogs. Wither a game makes me happy or even sad it is pretty great that our little hobby is able to bring out the best (and sadly the worst) in our little community. Keep on trucking along duders so much fun awaits us just over the horizon.
3DS
The 3DS wasn’t the biggest departure from Nintendo’s last handheld yet they did manage to make a glasses free 3D device. They even managed to make games that used that feature well like the depth perception while jumping around in Super Mario 3D Land. To bad as the years have gone on I’ve used this feature less. Although I might have it active for a few minutes I usually turn it off quickly to save battery life. Without the 3D the games are just better looking DS games. That may be true but the important thing is that it still has a bunch of Nintendo games for me to play.
2011
At first you might not think a NES game would be that impressive in 3D but this does do a good job of showing off the feature. Seeing the background extend out in 3D is neat even if it adds nothing to what Excitebike is about. Which is to race around a track while trying to beat a time limit. It does that well and I always found it fun to jump into a game randomly. As a play for a few minutes game it works really well. If I actually bought this on a NES I might have been bummed out about it.
American Mcgee’s Alice in wonderland is quite a bit more darker than Disney’s version. Alice was not doing so well in wonderland last time so the fact she has come back means she has gone crazy. This is also a sequel to the PC game that came out 11 years ago. Compared to that game this one is so much better. Not just in the graphical (cutting edge hair tech!) department either since the combat is no longer a mess. Fights are varied and the player has a lot of tools at his disposal when fighting off the hoard of tar monsters. Between a longer range pepper gun and a variety of light to heavy melee weapons you have everything you need to defeat some of the darker villains that now inhabit wonderland. It really is to bad this didn’t do that well since this is easily the best game created by this development team.
Tell Tale getting a variety of IP’s from a bunch of notable movie properties starts here. At this point they were still making a traditional adventure game. I think they managed to use the source material well. With time travel being part of the plot it was pretty easy for them to create a scenario where Doc ended up lost in time. It is up to Marty to travel through time and correct all the mistakes without changing the future. Which ends up being a tough thing to fix. Overall a average game that I remember enjoying playing.
More Batman now in a city full of villains to explore. Walling off one part of Gotham just to let a bunch of criminals run amok seems like a horrible idea. I guess all the context behind Hugo Strange creating this monstrosity was in a comic book. Weird but whatever it lets Batman glide around Arkham. The real issue is that they don’t really do much to keep the city interesting to explore other than a bunch of Riddler trophies. Beating up a bunch of thugs is still as satisfying as before. The more complex it gets as the game goes on the less I enjoyed playing it. So the early fights like taking on all Two Face’s thugs is still fun. Mostly because it lets me get a big combo going between one enemy to another countering or punching my way to victory. A great game even if it isn’t my favorite.
Shantae made me a fan of Wayforward so I kept up with whatever they ended up releasing after that. Including BloodRayne: Betrayal which is one of the oddest IP’s they’ve ended up working on. After all I’m pretty sure no one wanted a 2D BloodRayne game since the rest of the series isn’t that great. But we got one and it’s okay. As a action game it hits all the right notes and it becomes a tough game to beat. Bosses don’t mess around and stage hazards become a real issue at one point. Overall this always seemed fine even if it didn’t stand out in any way.
In some ways Beyond Good & Evil would have been a nice solo shot game with no sequel. They just had to have a cliffhanger at the end of it instead of wrapping things ups. Ugh, anyway this HD version looks nice. All the textures uprezed still look good today. Plus in gameplay terms Ubisoft took a lot of mechanics from other games and put it all together in a fun package. Do you like taking Photos? Then earn some money by taking shots of every animal on the planet while doing some investigative reporting as Jade. Things aren’t as they seem on the planet that is constantly being invaded by alien lifeforms and is run by a corporate cormorant. While going through the different areas combat comes up often and is similar to Zelda. In the end everything comes together to make a fun game to play.
I never played much that much Blazblue but with the 3DS having a lackluster launch lineup I ended up picking this up.Compared to Guilty Gear I really don’t know what is going on with the narrative in this game. Although it does look like they included a backstory for anyone who cares about what is going on. Since this is the uh updated version of the 2nd game. Plenty of extra modes to check out for any fan of playing a fighting game solo. Between abyss (rpg elements) arcade, story and more this has plenty of stuff to check out. This also includes a in depth tutorial which is vital for anyone new to this crazy fighting game. The 2nd screen on the 3DS is usual since it shows me all the special moves at a glance. Great for someone that likes to play through the game with every character.
This game may be trying to resurrect some kind of soul but it doesn’t really tell much of a story. Going by the first mission all you’ll get about what is going on in Bleach is a bunch of text. Making the game entirely about the combat. I should mention the graphical treatment is really good similar to the Naruto games. As for the combat it ends up being the usual selection of square/triangle combos. Unless I’m missing something important it looks like the animations take priority with no real way for me to avoid damage other than a dash that can’t be instantly activated. Which is the best way for me to not enjoy a game. Without any narrative and the combat not being that interesting this didn’t keep my interest when this was new. Now it’s just bland.
2D horror games is a tough thing to do well. Corpse Party relies on some excellent sound design to creep out any who decide to check out this first game. Showing you horrible monsters just isn’t that effective in 2D which is why hearing them or reading the gruesome details works so much better. Wondering around the halls of Heavenly Host Elementary may be this game's strong point but the adventure game like item gathering is its weak point. Messing a item or having to do something in a specific order lead to some annoying moments. Hell I even got to the point where I couldn’t get the good end because I didn’t pick up a certain item. Didn’t get to see any of that in the introduction that spends a lot of time just setting up some of the characters and why you should never trust anything you read on the internet.
After buying so many other franchises for way too long something about the souls games didn’t impact me like most other players. I know why everyone loves these games and even I liked that aspect once. Yet bashing my head against a wall of unique bosses didn’t seem that fun the second time through. The big connected world in this one was a nice upgrade too. Plus the combat has been refined but still relies on perfect dodges to obtain success. So really weird that this didn’t click for me. Still watching other people die a bunch is great going by all the content I’ve watched about these games on Giant Bomb.
In a year where zombie survival games weren’t all over the place Dead Island was neat. A cooperative adventure about exploring an island full of zombies was a good idea. Although it may be optional the analog control scheme was a neat feature. Especially since the combat is partially about hitting enemies in their limbs to cause their attack to go down. To bad it all sorta falls apart as the game goes along. With more of a focus on guns and requiring the player to have some other players around to continue. Plus even now during this session I ended up getting stuck in place trying to place a gasoline tank on the ground. I couldn’t do anything other than resetting to the last checkpoint. So it is a flawed game that has a few good moments.
Has it really been 5 years since the last Deus Ex game? Explains why I’m ready to journey into the dark cyberpunk future one more time. As for Human Revolution it stars Adam Jensen as he runs into some thugs that tear up the lab he was guarding and only the latest cybernetics can save him. He is now a cyborg allowing him access to the typhoon rocket launcher that sends missiles flying everywhere. Plus if you're not an offensive type this has plenty of stealth sections. During my first playthrough I tried to go for a no kill run. I remember it being tough but doable.
The dynasty warriors train never stops. In this addition a brand new force has been included into the narrative. Shu, Wu and Wei may have been the focus every other time but the true ruler of China ended up being Jin. Which also means this one is focused on telling a unified story per kingdom. In this case Koei does do a much better job of telling a overarcing story compared to the last time they tried this. The new additions of being able to swap to another weapon whenever is a nice inclusion. The conquest mode adds a lot of replay value by giving the player a bunch of challenges to compete. One of the better DW although it still doesn’t have a dodge roll.
From the creator of the Ace Attorney games comes another tale featuring a unique cast of characters. With the protagonists being the oddest one of them all cause he happens to be dead. Sissel is in a bad situation being in middle of a junkyard dead but a helpful glowy light lets him know that he can be resurrected if he figures out the mystery behind his death. To do this he’ll need to poltergeist his way through many rooms and end up saving quite a few lives on his way to the end of his quest. What it comes down to being a collection of puzzles to solve. Like figuring how to lure someone over and cause them to pick up a object that then carries Sissle to a new area. All of this is highlighted by some great characters like Missile the dog that has so much personality that you can’t not love him.I know it didn’t sell but this is a prime example of a creator getting to do his own thing while still being a great video game.
The goal is to remake a game that was beloved by almost anyone that owned a N64. Turns out the best way to do it is to make it like like a modern action FPS. Which was most likely true even if this ended up coming out with very little fanfare. This plays well and it has more of a focus on explosive action scenes. This does what activision wanted them to do with the game. Even if that just makes it very average FPS.
Going only by the concept I had to pick this up. Turning consoles into a cute girls was dumb enough to make me want to see what it was about but this also seemed like the perfect place for some commentary on the video game industry. Of course I expected mostly jokes which is what the story relies on a lot. Apparently the Japanese version was more serious but I think that would have made the game worse. Whenever Nep-Nep isn’t doing something ditzy she is running through a dungeon fighting monsters. Smashing out combos that can be changed on the menu. As the game goes along extra CD’s are added that can customize attacks like sending the Altered Beast guy to punch out a enemy. These moments are cool but these dungeons do get boring after a while. Even back when I tried to play through this I ended up stopping about 40 hours in. Oh well didn’t stop me from more of these games later on.
Going from Ico to the Shadow Of The Colossus it is easy to see how they got from one to the next. Ico has plenty of climbing sections and puzzles. With some combat about protecting the mysterious girl he found in this dark castle. Very little storytelling with most of it left up to the player to interpret. Then in SOTC it switches over to being about wandering around a big area fighting bosses. Yet the narrative hook is minimal and is more about experiencing these wild boss battles instead of telling an epic storyline. Gotta give them credit for making boss battle the game work. A task that is harder than it seems.
Round 2 with even more electric power shenanigans in Infamous 2. The last game was spent getting Cole ready to take on a beast that threatened to wipe out all of humanity. Turns out he wasn’t quite ready and must retreat down to New Marais. Conventionally he loses all his powers after fighting the Beast and must regain them. Having a bunch of electric powers is cool and the greatest weakness of the first game was that it was hard to get around. That has been fixed along with giving Cole some new powers in the form of either fire/ice. A bunch of user created stuff was added in although I don’t think it ended up being used that much. Overall a solid sequel that amped up the heroics/villainy to the next level while still keeping what was fun about the first game.
If you thought one Kirby was an issue what about 10? Our villain this time didn’t think things through when he split Kirby many versions of himself. He may not have his classic copy ability but he does have some new moves using the touch screen. Ganging up on a lone enemy is his main offensive skill. Slinging them around the touch screen is what the player will be generally doing. Although tapping on the screen will also make all of them run which seems like a perfect way to speedrun this game. A bunch of mini games get unlocked by collecting medals which has been some of the better rewards I’ve seen in awhile. The one I played again was Kirby Quest where timing your button press is the main gameplay loop. Simple but fun thanks to all the animations that play out during the RPG battles on the top screen. Most of the time Hal laboratory makes great use of the touch screen and this is just another one of those moments.
The biggest thing about Skyward Sword was the addition of the wiimote plus. It allows the player to wield a sword with 1to1 control. Swinging around the sword accurately is key to fighting some monsters that must be taken out with a certain slash. Out of all the battles in the game the one I remember the most is the final boss. It really feels like a sword fight that requires some skill to win. Swinging the wiimote can get tiring though and this game is pretty long. Still it was a fun Zelda game to play through.
Surprising no one this is more Little Big Planet but now with new gadgets for players to use. Like the grappling hook which makes it easier to swing between platforms. Other than more gadgets like that one this is still a character platformer with a focus on user created levels. Media Molecule even took time to create voice overs for cutscenes this time too. A narrative was even included about a crazy machine that is trying to destroy everything in the universe and only Sackboy can save the day.
I only bought this to play Peace Walker. Having another way to play MGS2/3 is okay too. Now that I’ve had some time to think about PW again it is actually good for the most of the game. Replaying the first mission made me realize that the stealth and action missions early on are alright. The story told via comic cutscenes is interesting too. It’s just the last post normal ending missions were soooooooooo boring. Having to put in a extra few hours into getting the true ending left me drained of ever coming back to this again till now. As a whole this is a great collection of games that are mostly worth playing through.
The best thing this reboot of Mortal Kombat did was upgrade what most players thought a story mode for a fighting game could be. Going through all the lore of the first 3 games again and the new twists added some new drama to it as well. Making it a very memorable story mode compared to a generic arcade ladder. Which is still apart of this game too along with a challenge tower. Oh course the fighting feels good too with the combat being simple enough that anyone can jump in and play a match. Overall a very successful reboot to a franchise that never quite worked for me till now.
Yup I imported the PS3 version of No More Heroes. A pretty pointless move but I really wanted to see if the controls held up without the wii controler. Turns out it wasn’t that hard to remap all the moves to the right analog stick. Not sure if the pace is faster but it is easier to dodge attacks now. Upping the resolution of the Wii game to HD works fairly well thanks to the cel shaded graphics treatment. Although everything looks really shiny now. I remember liking this one more than the sequel but now that attitude might have been reversed. The second game has a better opening while this one gets better as the player gets closer to the number one spot. Still a wacky fun ride worth experiencing.
Another game that I own yet didn’t put much time into it. Which is to bad since it is a gorgeous looking 2D game. Having a cast of different playable characters lets the player experience both sides of the same war in this fairy tale story. At least I assume that is the angle they are going with. Drama starts off right from the very opening scene where Gwendolyn loses her sister and must deal with the aftermath. In battle the game is pretty much just a beat em up. A few different attacks are all mapped to one button. While also giving you a magic attack to pull out if a meter has been filled up beforehand. Seems like it could still be fun to play even if it isn’t that complex.
I could talk about the rest of the Parasite Eve games since they were all released on PSN this year. Yet with each new game they kept getting further away from what I enjoyed. PEII added in tank controls and real time combat. Then in PE: The Third Birthday they made a dumb story and took it to the extreme and made it into a generic third person shooter. While this first one still has a dumb story about a parasite trying to infect the world and only a cop named Aya has the cure. Aka a metric ton of bullets into every monster she meets. This also has a great opening where you go to a operna only to watch as everyone catches on fire except for Aya. More than anything the combat is the reason I keep coming back to this over and over again. All it does is mix real and turn based combat with the ATB meter from FF being the main mechanic. So in battle you’ll need to run around the battlefield avoiding damage till it is your turn then you either blast the enemy with a few bullets or cast some parasite magic. Really that is nothing special yet the presentation of the narrative being in modern New York makes it really stand out from the rest. Overall I’m not sure if anyone has done a RPG with guns better than this one.
This was the last Pokemon game I competed and put quite a bit of time into. (80 hours) Not really sure why this is the case. This has all of the elements that make it a solid Pokemon game like the rest of them. I can’t even say it was because of the backstory cause I don’t remember what Team Plasma was trying to do. This was the one that had online but I never really put much time into that part other than battling a friend. Finding stuff to say about Pokemon gets really tough. Each one may have new things but none of the additions really change the core of what every one of these games is about. The neverending quest to catch em all.
As a turn based tactical RPG this is pretty generic. Move units around a map and hit the enemy a lot. A few missions in it adds in benefits by positioning your forces correctly. If they are in the right spot then a combo attack can occur letting the far off unit attack with close up attacks from far away. I didn’t get to see the uh “breeding” side of the game. Which sounds horrible when stated that way. Basically whichever girl Sieghart ends up befriending the most will start the hero of the next generation with a different skill setup. The game is set up where you get to see multiple JRPG storylines throughout many different characters. Till evil is finally banished from the land of Agarest.
A big developer doing a small downloadable game doesn’t happen that often. With Avalanche Studios penchant for destruction it set up a perfect storm for them to create a dual stick shooter. Renegade Ops is about a group of rogue agents that decide to take on a nefarious madman named Inferno who wants the whole world to burn. The only way to stop him is to jump into a vehicle and blow everything up while also helping the local populous. Driving around juking attacks and using the unique ability from each playable character to come out on top is the main focus of the moment to moment gameplay. Each mission is timed and forces the player to use his/her time wisely to compete secondary objectives between each primary objective. In the end this is a cool game with a lot nice looking explosions. No clue why I never played through this yet.
The Marvelous era of Harvest Moon started a trend of slow introductions to the world without being able to skip them. Because of the small amount of time I’m putting into each of these games that meant I got to battle a few monsters in the intro. The action felt stiff but it worked. Then I got to see Sonja and Aden get sucked through a time portal. Somehow they both inhibit Aden’s body and then follow a girl around who shows them every house. Then a gay priest shows up and I just gave up on this one. The only thing I didn’t see was the ablity water some plants to earn some money.
Saints Row decided to go in the complete opposite direction of Grand Theft Auto. I played the first two but they didn’t do anything to make me want to buy them. Unlike this game which starts off with a dumb bank heist where the Third Street Saints are trying to airlift out a bank vault that then gets followed up by fighting a bunch of thugs on a plane that is about to crash. The main gist of the combat is still just a third person shooter with some car sections. It’s just that every main mission has so much dumb stuff that it is fun to play through.
This has a lot of cool additions to the warriors formula and it only appeared on the 3DS. For one having up to 4 controllable characters at different points of the battlefield is really awesome. It takes out having to run around the battlefield since you’ll always have someone close to a mission. Having missions during battle is something new too. Just gives the player more of a focus on something other than defending the leader. A guard crush is a nice addition too. Even the narrative that goes through every notable battle in Japan from all sides using a created character was more interesting than I thought it would be.
I’m surprised it took this long for Nintendo to directly translate the older Mario games to 3D. I’m sure the 3DS helped create this game. Some of the platforming really shows off how effective a 3D effect can help a player judge jumps. Plus like older Mario games it is fun to just speed run through a level. Which they end up showing to the player in some of the later levels that have a stricter time limit. In general this is a fun platformer that might rely a bit too much on collectibles. Yet the levels aren’t that long so I never really thought it was a issue.
Uncharted 3 is where things started to go downhill? Not sure why I thought that since this has quite a few cool scenes that I never got around to seeing till now. It even has the best use of the supernatural elements but I can’t really expand on that fact without spoiling it. The setting and tone of the final boss might just be my favorite of the set so far too. Sure the gameplay may remain the same for most of the game but it does a good job of mixing things up with something new to see.
With each new Yakuza game it is apparent that Sega has been refining the combat as it goes along. With this one it feels a lot snapper than the previous attempts. Although it could just be that the first in the 4 playable characters is speeder than the rest.Yes this game takes the 4 on its cover seriously with Akiyama being the first protagonist the player gets introduced to. He happens to be a loan shark with the heart of gold. The fact that he sticks his face into things a bit too much ends up getting him into trouble. The gritty Yakuza focus storyline has always been a treat to see and that is what this game does well in the opening moments. The cavalcade of mini games throughout the streets of Kamurocho are still around too. Of course that means not much has changed other than the story but it still seems like an engrossing game going by the fact I didn’t want to stop once I started it.
Conclusion
It is easy to forget how many different worlds and fictions are created in the many games that come out every year. Where else would a serious game about crime in Japan would be along side of a game about a ghost who must save lives to reclaim his own? Even that isn’t the best example since Yakuza also has its own brand of silliness too. It just proves that our industry allows a lot of different styles of narrative. Gameplay is a harder thing to improve upon but it doesn’t have to be a new idea to still be fun. Tune in next week to see the power of booby ninjas and see what happens when someone decides to remake Double Dragon.