The following is not really a 'favorite games of 2013'. It’s most just a ranking and commentary of the games that I've played this year even if some I largely didn't care for. The rank itself isn’t very important. Anyways:
1. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; It wasn't long ago that I had no familiarity with the Shin Megami Tensei series or any of its spinoffs. In 2012, I jumped into Nocturne head first, after hearing tons of praise for the game. To be concise here, I'll just state that Nocturne ended up being one of my absolute favorite games I've ever played. With rock solid mechanics and battle system, a stylish setting, mood, and presentation, moderate difficulty, interesting dungeon layouts and design, and a compelling yet subdued narrative, it's difficult to express what I didn't like about it. When SMTIV was announced, it easily became a highly anticipated title for me.
SMTIV had a very high ceiling of expectation, and it probably never had a chance to reach it. Even still, as you can see, here it is at the top of the list as my GOTY. First I'll start with how SMTIV was similar to Nocturne, which mostly comes from the basic fusion mechanics, battle system, and world exploration. Just like Nocturne, you get a main playable character that you can build pretty much however you'd like, and a team of demons to support him. Being able to build your own party in battle is easily the most enjoyable part of the series for me. You converse with demons, and either through trial and error or if you are familiar with other games in the series, you learn their personalities and attempt to persuade them to join you. Then you can fuse any number of demons in a large variety of ways. You have to keep track of weaknesses, abilities, and attacks to try and keep a balance as you progress through the game so you can counter whatever is thrown your way. One aspect of SMTIV that I quite appreciated was the improved number of 'slots' you could get for demons. It might just be the collector in me, but I enjoyed not only making sure I had 4 battle ready demons, but a variety of effective 'back ups' that I could substitute in and out whenever I needed to. Tinkering and playing around and watching my team of demons get stronger with better abilities (and eventually up to some of the series big name demons) was incredibly satisfying. The battle system is mostly the same Press Turn system the series is known for, with only some small changes (from games I am familiar with anyway), such as 'smirking' which benefits the player for getting element effective hits. Just like with most menu based battle systems, planning your moves - attacks, heals, and buffs - and learning your enemies and how to counter them is key to success. A couple of changes were added to make the game more 'friendly', such as saving anywhere, picking abilities to retain after fusion, and allowing the main character to fall in battle. I don't feel too strongly about changes like that - perhaps it lowered the feeling of tension in the game, which could be seen as a negative.
Other aspects in which SMTIV differed from Nocturne include having a quest list that you could obtain at set locations, usually involving a fetching of items, or defeating a particular set of event battles. While I don't think the quests detract all too much from the game, I felt that it wasn't a useful addition. I also didn't care much for the world map, which felt more constrained than I wanted it to. The narrative tone is quite different as well, SMTIV features a set of characters that remained with the protagonist/player for extended periods of time, which facilitated a more outward approach to the narrative. In Nocturne, that story mostly unfolds as you play as the silent protagonist who bumps into demons or other characters as you explore devastated Tokyo. It was a much be subdued manner in which a story was placed in the game. SMTIV had a lot more dialogue in general, and the cast of characters, I felt, wasn't nearly as interesting as the characters in Nocturne. Finally, SMTIV's setting and mood is much different, much lighter, than Nocturne, which put simply, I didn't care much for.
All in all, the battle system was rock solid and the fusing was as addicting as ever. All the key gameplay was there, so a couple of disappointing changes to the narrative and characters aside, I had a blast with the game.
2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; If I had to pick one 'series' as my favorite, Fire Emblem would be my answer. Mechanically speaking, it is a relatively simply SRPG series. You get variety of characters who are a variety of classes, you place some on a map against a group of enemy characters, and you have to coordinate your units to take them out effectively. Of course, you have to be sure none fall, because you can't use them again if they do. Unlike other SRPGS, you cannot recruit more units, and you cannot reclaim fallen units back if you clear the level fast enough. You are only given so much to work with, and you have to make the best of it. In a nutshell, that's what I love most about the series. A sense of working within your limits, trying to figure out how to distribute EXP among your team, buying what equipment you must with what cash you have, and making sure you build a team that can survive a variety of situations. Second to that comes the strategy gameplay of course, working your units in sync on interesting maps to avoid having one fall as you complete the objective. In addition, I love the setting of the series in general - a good mix of fantasy and medieval. Fire Emblem Awakening manages to hit some of these general statements, and falls second in my list.
However, FEA incorporates a number of elements that prevent it from joining my favorite Fire Emblem titles. Corresponding with the aforementioned, I much prefer the chapter-to-chapter style found in titles like ‘Fire Emblem’ and ‘Path of Radiance’, where there is a limited amount of EXP to obtain that you have to manage that carefully. Awakening, having the world-map and removing the limits on EXP and character use removes the things I enjoyed best about the series. It didn’t sit well with me in ‘Sacred Stones’ and it doesn’t here either. Sometimes I have a difficult time articulating why I dislike this. I think the best way for me to answer that is I find it much more satisfying to complete the levels knowing that it was working the strategy and decision making that ‘won the battle’. Being able to exploit infinite EXP and money to strengthen your party in between missions throws the balance off. Some might say to simply avoid those aspects of the game, but even still, the game was designed with that in place, and ignoring it does not really feel the same as working within the limits of the chapter system – feel more artificial than what I like.
In addition the pairing system did little for me as well; I much prefer the old fashion support systems. Generally speaking, comes down to that it feels more restricting than past games. Supports in past games were very useful of course, but units could still be effective independently if they needed to be, or if they were 'grouped' with other units outside of their 'supports'. Just because I had Soren support with Ike didn’t mean I had to have him near Ike all the time if there were situations where it made more sense to have Soren either work with other units or perhaps by himself. In Awakening, it eventually comes a point where units had to be paired up to be effective and I suppose I felt that restriction limited how I could approach the maps and use my characters. That the game also seemed to ramp up the otaku pandering didn’t sit with me well either. Maps were also less interesting than past games - a lot more open fields, which removed the level of creativity that can be incorporated into unit placement and such. Finally, FEA’s characters to me felt a bit shallower than past games, especially the Radiance game, usually revolving a trait that felt gimmicky.
Now I know I just spent two paragraphs criticizing things I didn’t like about Awakening, but all in all I did enjoy the game. I am probably more vocal in my criticism than usual because I do hold the series to a high regard. Most of the SRPG gameplay is still rock solid, and the satisfaction of clearing a difficult map is still a great feeling. But there were a number of changes or additions made that I’d prefer not to be there in the next installment.
3. Ys: Memories of Celceta ; Ys: Memories of Celceta plays quite a bit different than the other games in the series that I am familiar with. I am aware that it is an extension of the gameplay and systems found in Ys Seven, a title I have yet to play, with a party system and a handful of playable characters, and similar guarding and ability systems. I tend to enjoy games with multiple and varied playable party members because I enjoy trying out the various characters and learning how to effectively use them and their skills and abilities in combat. Celceta is no different. Some monsters are more vulnerable to certain weapons than others, so swapping party members around is beneficial. The gameplay is fast paced like Ys titles tend to be and the boss encounters are extremely fun, and can definitely provide an adequate challenge on the higher difficulties. The game feels pretty fluid in general, even the general pace the on-screen character moves on the maps is brisk. Warp points are also fairly frequent, so back tracking is largely a non-issue.
The general structure of the game is fairly simple. You have a half dozen or so towns, an interconnected maze of paths that connect the towns, and a few dungeon areas scattered about as well. Typically the player will encounter a story event in a town, find the path to the dungeon, clear it and repeat. The dungeons aren’t especially impressive in their designs and puzzles, but most are solid enough and interesting enough to not drag or feel like filler.
While I love how Celceta plays in general, I suppose my general criticism of the game is that it feels very ‘typical’ in many regards. I already stated that the structure of the game is pretty standard, but also the characters and narrative. The story isn’t terrible or insulting, but it’s not very interesting either, and to go along with that, there’s a lot more dialogue than other games in the series. I wouldn’t say it takes much away from the games, but it doesn’t add much either. While the combat is strong, Celceta otherwise feels more homogenized, more like a ‘typical’ JRPG. That said, if you think JRPGs are bogged down with grinding, random battles, and turn-based systems, then Celceta might interest you as it’s largely free of those things. It can be bogged down a bit by the dialogue, however.
4. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers ; I purchased this at launch this year, hoping to get around to it before SMTIV hit. Somehow that never happened and it’s been on my backlog for half the year. I think this game was my biggest surprise for the year. I thought it would feel too old or too different, and I guess I wasn’t all too excited for it despite recently becoming a fan of the SMT series. But needless to say I enjoyed it a lot.
Soul Hackers uses a round-based battle system rather than a more usual press turn. Instead of deciding on each demon attack’s independently, you choose all the rounds actions and then the round proceeds in order of agility. On top of that, you have 6 participants in battle, two main characters and 4 demons, with a front and back row. This is the first SMT game I’ve played that had positioning matter in battle, even slightly, and while I don’t think I can say I prefer it or not to what SMTIV has, I did appreciate the contrast in gameplay. As mentioned before, demons have personalities now that affect their loyalty to you in battle, depending on what you have them do. Some demons love to heal and some love to cast magic, etc. I didn’t really have much issue balancing a team of ‘personalities’ that worked. And on that note, this is the first SMT game I’ve played where demons do not gain exp, which felt awkward for a while, even though I am aware that this trait is shared in other older games in the series. ‘Fuse and forget’ is often a quick bit of advice given for SMT, and it is especially true here. A solid entry of the Megaten series with a fun setting, satisfying dungeon crawling, nifty music, and a fair amount of customization in how your build your team.
One part of Soul Hackers that I liked more than SMTIV was the cyberpunk-esqe style to the mood and narrative, as well as the characters in general. I think it really helped that there wasn’t the typical ‘Law’, ‘Neutral’, ‘Chaos’ ciphers blabbing at the player character. The companions that you spoke with felt more natural and believable than those in SMTIV. The story was slightly more interesting to me as well, maintaining a simpler focus.
The game is very short, which was slightly disappointing, and also felt easier than SMTIV in a lot of ways. The main reason why I placed Soul Hackers underneath SMTIV in my ranking is that demons in general felt more ancillary. Most of my damage output was done by the main character and Nemissa, and she also performed 80% of the healing. I usually used demons for buffs, but for the most part they were interchangeable. I felt like I didn’t need to be too careful about the demon line up because the main duo was so effective. Heck, the demons often felt like dummy targets just to keep the enemies busy. In SMTIV, the selection of demons felt to have a much more immediate effect on the battles, and thus was more important to coordinate properly. I had to be more careful in how I built the party where that wasn’t the case in Soul Hackers.
5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; It’s been a while since a 2D Zelda has grabbed me. Both the DS entries disappointed me greatly, although I suppose that’s not an uncommon opinion. While I don’t have the nostalgia for Link to the Past like others might, I was certainly interested in A Link Between Worlds, hoping this would be the 2D title I’ve been waiting for.
Simply put, it’s a very solid game. You're given a lot of freedom in exploring the overworld, looking for Heart Pieces and Maiamai’s, which was the most enjoyable part of the game. Once you land in Lorule and the training wheels are removed, that's when the game was at its best. Dungeons were shorter and more simple in general, but still provided a satisfying puzzle element - felt fresher to have the main puzzle item before entering the dungeon. I would have appreciated a perhaps more complex final dungeon (or two) where you have to use all the items at Link's disposal.
I think the paradigm change of having all items available was a neat idea and a breath of fresh air, but I do not think it should be used again in the next title, not without changes anyway. I missed the progression of having dungeons become more and more complex, and that is an element that I think needs to be looked at if they want to maintain a formula akin to what this game used with respect to the items. Also, the items were relatively cheap considering how many rupees you obtain in the game, so I found myself with all the items early on, which also kind of messed with the progression. The game is also so much better on Hero mode, which unfortunately is locked to a second playthrough. The game is too easy otherwise, with plenty of fairies or other healing options available.
6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ; The Wind Waker is my least favorite 3D Zelda game. The segmented overworld, basic dungeon designs and lack of dungeons, as well as the Triforce quest of course always kept it out of my favorites, despite the wonderful music, artstyle, and maybe the best Link/Zelda/Ganondorf trio in the series. When the HD port was announced I was certainly curious to see what they could do to improve the game.
The improved sail speed and shortened animations sequences – such as the Wind Waker songs and grappling hook - alone dramatically improve the game. It’s a very simple change, but those small things reduced the tedium greatly and I definitely appreciated it. Exploring the Great Sea was no longer as frustrating as it used to be, changing the wind frequently and watching the same sequences again and again. The Triforce quest tweaks also helped a fair amount, although the flow of the game still feels broken at that point. The convenience of using the gamepad to switch items around cannot be understated either.
I love the visual change to the game. I was hesitant at first like many, because on some color changes and I still think the sky is a little too neon-blue at times, but otherwise the improvements in lighting and shadows I grew to love. While Wind Waker is still probably ranked last for 3D Zeldas in my mind, I do consider it a good title, and the HD version in the definitive version to play.
7. Splinter Cell Blacklist ; I won’t say as much about this game, and looking back on my list it kind of sticks out from the rest, haha. But I really enjoyed what Splinter Cell had to offer. Unlike other Ubisoft games that put a lot of focus into ‘filling bars’ like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry, Splinter Cell tends to avoid that…somewhat. I think the game had pretty well implemented stealth that fans have been asking for. The levels are well enough designed that there are plenty of ways to stay silent/undetected has you clear an area of enemies – which is always satisfying to do, but the game isn’t as ruthless as some earlier games which punished the player heavily for failing to be stealthy. Some people might say that is /not/ a good thing, but I dislike having to redo a section because I was caught for a brief second. Let me effectively ‘go loud’ for a moment and let me continue on. Compared to Conviction, I think Ubisoft did much better with the stealth elements mostly with regard to the level design, but keeping some of the combat aspects there in balance. The shooting mechanics are a bit better than Conviction too, although the controls did take some getting used to. There were some levels that didn’t seem to gel as well as the rest in a ‘stealth’ game, but only a few. All in all I think Ubisoft succeeded in what they were trying to do with this title, and I applaud them for that. The co-op and multiplayer modes are also very, very fun.
8. Tales of Xillia ; Tales games are a comfort food of JRPGS. The narratives are typical, the characters are usually cliché, and the villains are boring. You know what you are going to get with each one. However, just as I was saying with Ys earlier in the list, I tend to enjoy games that offer a variety of playable characters and Tales games do just that of course. The Tales games are often touted for their action battle systems, and Xillia is no different.
Tales of Xillia is an evolution of the style of gameplay found in Abyss and Vesperia, with some tweaks similar to Graces CC system. Linking up with a particular party member would initiate different actions from the AI, like stealing items or stunning the enemy in place. Chaining attacks and artes, and coordinating with the AI (or a second player) to perform long combos is always a blast. I love to spend time with each of the characters, getting familiar with their movesets and ‘mastering’ their playstyle. A common criticism of Tales tends to be that the combat is spammy, but usually turning up the difficulty alleviates those issues, at least somewhat. I heard some criticisms about the bosses in the game, but they were probably my favorite part altogether. I don’t think I was enjoying the game until a boss fight in the mine area maybe 8 hours or so into the game when I remember thinking to myself: “this is fucking fun!” during the battle.
My largest criticism of Xillia are the repeated field areas that are almost literally copy-pasted from one to the next, and that most of the dungeons otherwise were mostly straight paths in a maze and you had to simply find your way around. No puzzles are anything to mix things up like some earlier Tales games have had in the past.
9. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX ; Kingdom Hearts is kind of a weird series for me. There are plenty others I enjoy more. A lot more. And there are quite a number of things in the KH games that I really don’t like at all. But I still play them. Perhaps it’s just the craziness of it all? The wacky Squeenix/Disney mix? I’m not sure.
Anyways, the first Kingdom Hearts is still one of the better entries in the series. The plot has yet to go totally stupid, and the world designs are a little better than what is seen in later entries. The combat isn’t as good as Birth By Sleep or maybe even Dream Drop Distance, but it’s passable and not totally button mashy like I found Kingdom Hearts 2 to be. The ReMIX version included the slightly more difficult Proud mode, which is by far the best addition to the port. While the game is still not a ‘difficult’ one, the enhanced difficulty helped the balance a lot, and nullified attack mashing on bosses to be a viable strategy.
Visually the remaster looks great, and the music changes were mostly for the better. One of Kingdom Hearts best aspects is the artstyle, which I find to fit well with the various Disney characters and upscales to HD resolutions very well.
Moving the camera to the right stick didn’t help much. In fact, it may have made things worse in how going through the menus controls.
10. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team ; Mario and Luigi RPGs are a light hearted, really silly at times, and are (usually) humorous and charming. The battles are a little different too, often requiring memorization of attack animations so you can effectively counter or dodge. For some fights, boss battles in particular, these attacks can sometimes be quite elaborate. Battles can be fun to participate in and each new set of enemies will have a new ability for the player to figure out how to counter and dodge effectively, keeping things fresh. However, fighting the same monsters again and again in long dungeon areas, with the same attack sequences turned became repetitive quickly.
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team is significantly longer than other titles in the series. Dungeon sequences are much longer, sometimes taking many hours to complete from start to finish. In addition, like in most Mario RPGs, there is a lot of dialogue spoken by the NPCs. I became less tolerant of the amount of text I had to skip through to get through each area. Mario titles aren’t usually touted for their narratives, but other Mario RPGs did a much better job creating interesting and quirky plotlines, villains, and other NPCs. In this case, Dream Team mostly fails at creating humorous banter or interesting personalities, which made the long dungeon areas feel even more bogged down.
While the combat itself can be entertaining on its own for a while – the lengthened dungeon segments coupled with inane dialogue and uninteresting characters lead to a game that I wanted to end a dozen hours before it actually ended. Everything felt stretched out.
