Part 1
Part 2
27. Bloodborne: The Old Hunters - July 7th
I ended up doing a second playthrough of Bloodborne along with the DLC, and people were not kidding when they said how much it improved the experience. OoK, Lady Maria and Ludwig were absolutely top tier bosses and the new assortment of weapons were a blast to try out, if ultimately kind of irrelevant because I still stuck to the Saw Cleaver I was toting the entire game. I ended up feeling like I actually got better at it this time around, as I mostly got the hang of parrying attacks and even built up enough Arcane to try out some of those Hunter tools. Tried the Chalice dungeons too but eventually gave up at the Defiled Watchdog 'cause ain't no one got time for that.
28. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal - July 12th
It's funny playing this after the reboot, because it feels like the twice the game. I can't really call any of the main games in the series better or worse (well, the original, the reboot and Deadlocked all kind of err on the poorer side), because they all do something different, and pitting UYA's stronger gunplay and hilarious writing against GC's better platforming and more side content seems kind of pointless. Like a good series, Ratchet & Clank changes things up every game.
29. Metroid Prime - July 20th
It's Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime is basically perfect, save for the terrible artifact hunt. What was with early 2000 Nintendo games making you go on a scavenger hunt before the endgame?
30. Parasite Eve - July 27th
Parasite Eve is phenomenal and I hope one day someone recaptures its beautiful marriage of RPG and Survival Horror. Probably going to return to it and do the Chrysler Building.
31. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance - July 30th
MGR is fucking ridiculous and perfect because of it. That we'll never see a sequel is a crime.
32. Transistor - August 9th
It was a game.
33. Banjo Kazooie - August 15th
Got all the jiggies and enough to open the secret note doors, but fuck it if I'm replaying all of Click Clock Wood for twelve notes.
I like Tooie more. Grunty Industries is an unforgivable sin, but it has more of its own identity than just being a cute Nintendo platformer.
34. Shovel Knight - August 16th
Shovel Knight is perfect. Nuff' said.
35. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - August 23rd
I've come to realize that for all the improvements the 3DS version brought to the table, the original is still the definitive version. Even aside from the unforgivable alterations to the swimming mechanics, MM3D made Termina into a lucky charms coloured wonderland, whereas the aesthetic of the original version is vibrant and strange while still feeling grounded.
36. Dishonored - September 9th
I fucking love Dishonored so much. It suffers from a binary morality system, a silent protagonist and a bland cast, but there is so much so cool stuff going on that I can't muster the effort to get too upset about it. The rotting carcass of Dunwall is beautiful and haunting to explore, and the sheer level of dickery you can inflict on your enemies warrants tons of playthroughs.
37. Mass Effect - September 16th
Forgot to update. Mass Effect is the only good game in the series and the entire thing should have just died afterwards instead.
38. Mass Effect 2- September 21st
I like Mass Effect 2, but everything good about exists in conflict with everything that should have been in a sequel to Mass Effect. The main plot is paper thin and the game doesn't feel as interested in crafting a full sci-fi world most of the time; just a Badass Game of Badasses who do Badass things.
Everything I didn't complain about is great.
39. Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse - October 4th
One of the best RPGs in recent memory.