It's Time To Make Do With The New

When I'm not being a fresh, new writer, I enjoy playing video games in my spare time. I've tried a lot of games, some of which I'm not proud of, but I feel the need to bring what I believeare the best games ever created to attention. And here we go~

SPOILER ALERT IN NUMBER 3

5. Animal Crossing (GCN)

Yes, I know. How could a guy like Animal Crossing, or at least put it in his Top 5 list? Well, I got this game the same year I got my Gamecube and immediately loved it. The sheer innovation of it (I mean, talking animal neighbors; haters gonna hate, right?) and the fact that you actually want to play day after day is more than enough to make me put down such classics as Super Smash Bros. Melee for a little bit. It would be higher on my list, but its replay value drastically dies after several weeks of playing; once you realize you've done everything in the game and the only way to wring more enjoyment out of it is to start all over, you find yourself putting it away and reflecting fondly on the fun you used to have.

4. Team Fortress 2 (PC)

I can hear the rage already. "WUT HOW CAN THIS NOT BE NUMBER ONE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE ITS PERFECT RABBLE RABBLE." Yes, this game is phenomenal is almost every aspect. Yes, it is the most fun FPS ever created. Yes, it makes me cry tears of joy every single time I go 96 and 30 as a Pyro.

But, it has a few things going against it. The community has been diluted by the sheer influx of Free-To-Players, which give me a lot more kills but make me lose even more games due to sheer noobishness. There's also the matter of hats. There's a type of social heirarchy within the community, where those with hats outrank those without hats. Of course, hats are given out indiscriminately and have a 3.7% chance of dropping during every random drop. I've played for three months, used up all of my item drop play time, and have yet to acquire a single hat through drops. My cousin, who's player maybe half of that, has gotten about three. Random drops in an online game with an active trading market is not a good idea. However, this game is incredibly fun and I reccomend it to everyone. Just don't reinforce the stereotype that Free-To-Play players are bad.

3. Final Fantay 4 (GBA)

This game introduced me to hardcore RPGs and has never made me regret it. For some reason unknown to me, and possibly the gods, this game is amazing beyond words. The storyline is pitch-perfect, with flawed heroes and one of the best villains of all time: Golbez. His character design is flawless and even the music that plays whenever he's onscreen is phenomenal; (spoiler) even his death is one most touching moments in all of my video game experiences. There is a reason I picked the GBA version, by the way; you're allowed the option to use any character you want during the final mission. Instead of merely being handheld and forced to use a specific group layout, you can decide to take more DPS characters or more tanks or more healers or whatever the hell you feel like.

The reason this isn't higher on my list is because of its remake. The DS version of Final Fantasy 4 has less substance than the GBA version, for some reason I can't possibly fathom. The only saving grace in the newer version is that there's an auto-battle button. I can assign each of my characters a move to use, let the battle play through itself, and enjoy a nice bowl of cereal while Cecil and Rosa fight for their lives. While this is nice, it still doesn't save the game from its lack of end-game content and lack of party customization.

2. Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360)

When I first got this game for my birthday, I couldn't put it down; there were all of these hidden allies to explore, espionage to engage in, quests to figure out and complete. The characters in your party are all incredibly likeable (even though some of them fall into stereotypes) and have this massive amount of banter between themselves, which ranges the gamut between downright hateful and wonderfully teasing. There are moral choices you can make, starting from the very beginning, that shapes and molds your experience, changing the endgame for better or for worse. The combat is excellent and tactical, which I always love; those RTS games are too fast for me. The positioning of characters, their skill trees, and the equipment down to the very last ring they wear makes an incredible difference in a battle. The best part is that if you, say, are killed by a massive dragon, you can just charge back in with a different strategy and pray that the dragon doesn't eat you whole.

The only problem I had with this game was that, in order to get the FULL experience of it, you had to beat it six times over (one for each beginning class/race). I've gone through four of the starting stories, then I had to stop; it was just getting ridiculous. When a game takes around 14 hours to beat, I don't want thirty minutes of it to be new content; I want almost all of it to be new. Those moral choices you have to make add an element of newness, but only the first time; after that, you realize you're playing the same game over and over again with a different class; after all, you barely have to change your party set-up.

1. Tales of Symphonia (GCN)

Ah, Number One.

I love this game with all of my heart. This is the one game, the only game, that lasted for more than forty hours with me. And I played through it three times. Since then, I have lost the discs and can no longer enjoy it.

Back on topic, this game is phenomenal. The combat is the best combat in any RPG ever; the controls in battle are smooth and responsive, the special attacks wonderfully unique (the first time you use them), and every character has his/her own fighting style. You can take four of your party members into battle and play as any of them, enjoying and experimenting with all of the different fighting styles. The dialogue is funny as well, with all of the wit and charm one would expect from Namco.

The sole bad thing about this game is that it's cliche. Its characters are stereotypes, as is its plot. However, once you start to play the game, you overlook these facts due to the sheer magnitude of fun you have while playing.

Haters gonna hate.

It's Time To Make Do With The New

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

A Work In Progress