Okay, so I know a lot of places are doing, or indeed have done, a best of 2008 by now, but that's something I'd kind of struggle with.
You see, I've never really been one to keep up to date with new releases and such. With games in particular, there are many
occasions where I'll choose to replay something I've finished rather than play something new. I'm not sure what the reason is, maybe it's comfort in the familiar, maybe it's just really liking the things I like.
So, instead, I'm going to make a top five list of the games I've whittled away most of the year with. Some of them are new, most aren't.
Devil May Cry 4
I never really got into Devil May Cry until the third game in the series. I did play the original, but I never understood what the point of it was supposed to be. It was only after repeated attempts to get into 3 that things finally clicked and I started having fun with it. Since I'd become so attached to 3 in such a little amount of time, I guess I became a bit protective of it, as I was pretty wary about the addition of a new lead character in 4, Nero.
Thankfully, that wariness was completely unfounded, as I find myself having more fun using Nero than I do with Dante, almost entirely due to the ability to grab and throw enemies around (although, I remember Capcom claiming that couldn't be done on last generation hardware, which I'm still unconvinced with.)
Either way, I'm even more keen on 4 than I was on 3. It's not without it's faults, the most popular being the fact that Dante's levels are just Nero's ones in reverse order. That's not really something I'm particularly concerned about though, as it's the sort of game that's made for replays. The other fault is a particularly infuriating platforming section in the early stages, which I can't try to excuse.
As with the aforementioned replays, it really does have a lot on offer. With multiple difficulties, most of which have to be unlocked, along with a huge amount of abilities that you can earn for Dante and Nero, it's just as well that it's a long lifetime game that you can dip in and out of.
Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
This is certainly the oldest game featured in this list, but as it's a fighting game, it's got a nearly infinite supply of replay value. As with
DMC, it took me a while to get into Street Fighter 3. I remember initially not being too keen on the range of characters it had to offer, with
Ryu, Ken and
Chun-
li being the only recognised faces. It was some time before I realised that this is one of the best parts the game has to offer. It's nearly a fresh start.
In motion, it's absolutely gorgeous, the amount of animation that each character has is bordering on the obscene. Despite the fact that it originally came out in arcades in 1999, the only game that seems to have that level of animation is King of Fighters XII, which isn't even out yet!
The unfortunate side is, Street Fighter 3 doesn't really seem that popular with people outside of fans of the series. The character roster in Street Fighter 4 is a good indication of the fact, as so far it's done a good job of including characters from each game besides any iteration of 3. In fact, I think it's only in
Tatsunoko vs
Capcom that the new characters have had any kind of recognition, and even then it's only Alex. More
Makoto and
Ibuki are required in
Capcom games!
Monster Hunter Freedom 2I'm a big fan of Monster Hunter. I'm well aware that it's a love or hate game, but I can safely say that I'm on the loving side. In fact, I think it's the only game that I'm glad I own a PSP for. As such, the PSP spends many an hour on my bedside table, ready for when I decide to try a few missions first thing in the morning, or I'll occasionally hunt a few dragons on the bus.
Saying that though, while I really do love the game, I admit I do kind of suck of it, I've not beaten a single dragon in it, they're much too tough. But that is what I actually love about the game. Originally, I became very interested after learning that, with enough skill, it's possible to take on and defeat the last monsters in the game with basic weapons and next to no equipment being carried around. It does make me a little bit depressed when I have to upgrade my armour regularly to stand a chance against mid-game monsters, but the fact I've got that far is something I'm happy about.
The other thing that needs mentioning, is that I've only played solo so far. While I love it at this point, I've heard from many others that the game is much, much, much better when playing multiplayer. If I ever get to that point, I dread to think how much I'll love it.
Mass Effect
Just as well this game came out really, since this post seems to have become a bit of an "I love
Capcom" one. Which is understandable, but I also love
Bioware, and this game is a great example of why I do. It's hard to speak about Mass Effect without simply reiterating what other people have said before, so I guess all I can really do is talk about my thoughts and experiences with it. That's surely what you're here for after all.
While it's usually classed as a shooter/
RPG, I'm going to have to make myself sound like an incredible
fanboy and say that there's just so much more to it. Which is okay because I am an incredible
fanboy. For a start, the magic equivalent in combat is fantastic fun to use. Called
Biotics here, it's pretty much an excuse to do battle by messing around with physics. Charging into a room and making a bunch of people slam into the ceiling with a slight hand gesture is pretty awesome. There's also a range of attacks that focuses on technology, but I'm yet to give that a proper try yet.
Which is one of the things I like so much about it and it's why it's in this list. There's a huge amount of content to it. While you've got the usual good or evil responses to make use of, the quality of writing and the sheer number of things you can do is fantastic.
Also, while writing these few small paragraphs, I experienced several urges to play it again.
Persona 3 FES
Final one! Which is also kind of cheating a little. You see, Persona 3 came out for western audiences towards the end of 2007, which was followed up with what is essentially a director's cut during 2008, which is the
FES version, apparently an abbreviation of festival. While it is the second
RPG in the listing, it's also the only Japanese one.
JRPGs as they're known, usually have the reputation of being
cutscene heavy and having a very simple battle system to work with.
Both of these are true for P3, but the great thing is that it's all done so well. During most
cutscenes, you often get responses that you can give. They have next to no impact at all on the actual narrative, but being able to take part a little is a good start at least.
As for the battle system, as Persona 3 is a
spinoff of the Shin
Megami Tensei series, it uses a slightly tweaked and simplified version of what that has. That system is one that greatly rewards exploiting enemy weaknesses, and managing to exploit all of the weaknesses of enemies in one battle allows your party to for an all out attack, creating a giant dust cloud with comic style sound effects coming out of it.
This is all mixed in with having a school life simulator, which means you have to maintain a social life, prepare for exams and save the world at the same time. School life simulators are fairly common in Japan, but they're a rarity over here. All of this comes with a flashy presentation and funky soundtrack. It's pretty damn awesome really.
