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sepublic · 3 years

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Night Drivers/Return to Wartwood!

This episode was REALLY GOOD you guys!!!

Like, this was a PHENOMENAL return to the show after a months-long hiatus, and genuinely action-packed, hilarious, and had me on the edge of my seat! It was just SSSOOOO enjoyable and I’ve got a lot to say about it!

Firstly, I LOVE all of these continuity references, to Anne reading Bessie’s manual, Wally being Walliam, as well as that off-screen reference to Hop Pop and Polly being given that wish list ahead of time! It really makes the journey feel all the more cohesive and connected, bound together… And likewise, I love Anne and Hop Pop’s dynamic as the eldest of the family who have the most common sense and have to look after everyone, it’s great! I love Hop Pop’s dream gag and how he’s fairly certain there’s something symbolic to discern, but he can’t tell what- That’s a mood, and really all of his antics and declaring himself a god within was hilarious. Anne’s mood conversely starting nice but turning dark was great, and I legit expected some nightmare fuel before the reveal that it was just licorice; And shoot, now I want to try licorice-flavored froyo! I’ve got a few yogurtland coupons, but I doubt that’s a flavor, at least as far as I remember…

The monster and background design in Amphibia remains particularly impeccable in Night Drivers, like that snake with what appears to be a decoy prey animal in its mouth to attract good Samaritans; Or even just the rocks having skeletons and bones smeared across, implying they’ve crushed and run over plenty of other passengers on their way down! That foggy bit was legitimately surreal and creepy and reminded me of Silent Hill and this one movie called The Mist, I believe- I’ve never watched it but I get the general premise, and I wonder if that scene was an homage? Also, that Frobo cameo was AMAZING and clever, how it’s grabbing for the Plantars… And that joke about Anne eating Hop Pop was hilarious, I’m sorry but like; Hop Pop is HIGHLY underrated in my opinion!

The whole chase sequence from Man Door Hook Car Door Hand, or however it goes… The entirety of Night Drivers really reminded me of those urban legends, and the twist at the end where the hitchhiker is actually a helpful ghosts; It was some nice lore and world-building, but also reminded me a LOT of this one story I heard… Which, it was probably a reference towards, but this season really makes the world of Amphibia feel so much more fleshed-out and real, perilous and kind of messed-up, etc.! I saw the twist with Zachariah being helpful, but you know what they say; It’s about the journey, not the destination! Well, actually, it IS about the destination, it’s why Sprig and Polly decided to drive at night in the first place, to get to Wartwood; Speaking of which…

Return to Wartwood! Another amazing episode, I love that bit of Ivy hiding in a disguise, I saw it and couldn’t be fooled; And I’ve MISSED Wartwood, it’s felt like a year since we’ve last seen it! Which, we technically saw it in the first episode of the summer last year… But it was such a brief passing-through, that coupled with the hiatus between Seasons 1 and 2, and it DOES feel like it’s been over a year to finally get back to good-old antics here! I actually felt the homesickness and joy of the Plantars here… And as I said before, that gag about only Hop Pop and Polly knowing, but to THEM of course they remember, and them just helplessly slapping the floor of the Fwagon was surprisingly humorous. I have to wonder how their shopping trip at Newtopia would’ve gone differently, had they remembered the wish list! And don’t be so hard on yourself Sprig, YOU didn’t know of the wish list, so you can blame it all on your sister and Hop Pop; Besides, you have those broken halves of a staff…?

I love how Anne has progressed and grown into like, the exasperated, common sense person who’s getting tired of the antics now –even if she’s not fully immune herself- and wants no part in things, her growth feels clear and impeccable here. Seeing the Chicka-lisk from the intro FINALLY debut was like seeing the Intro Worm from the Owl House in its season finale; A wonderful surprise to really tie things together! And that whole sequence where the Plantars perform a satanic ritual just to get away from their responsibilities, that Loggle jumpscare, just the realization that they’re already wearing cloaks at night with candles and a glowing red circle; The escalation had me rolling!

The Plantars were surprisingly thoughtful in their choice of monster, even if things still went wrong because the townspeople have learned to be more defiant, no thanks to Anne and Hop Pop; The gag of Toady being used as a petrified shield, only for Mayor Toadstool to realize he WAS petrified… Those two frogs looking into each other’s eyes, Maddie knowing about the whole thing, I love it! It just flowed and was done so well, the whole bit felt like a video game boss fight, especially with Hop Pop and Sylvia dodging the shockwaves… The Chicka-lisk being pretty chill was kind of adorable, and I enjoyed the callback to the town’s formations against outside monsters, with this one ACTUALLY working… But for completely unexpected reasons that had me burst in unexpected laughter. Though, for all I know, it WAS the intent to offend- But regardless, seeing Toadstool welcome Anne as part of the formation and she can just roll with it and KNOWS… It’s such a welcome development from the very first episode, the growth is real and it feels like a journey we’re looking back upon!

Also, Anne’s sword skills were freaking amazing, as was her deflecting the petrification beams; Can’t wait to see more of that in action, she’s quite the fighter and Paladin at this point, and I kind of want to see more of the townspeople in action as like, something that they can rally for in later battles and story events! I really want an action-adventure game for Amphibia now, actually… I mean, I’ve always wanted one, but now it hits harder, especially with the recent Legend of Zelda vibes from the newest trailer.

…Also, SPRIVY KISS I WAS SQUEALING LIKE ANNE THE ENTIRE TIME THEY REALLY ARE THAT ADORABLE YIIIISSSSSS!!!!!

This episode was a WONDERFUL return to the show that blew my expectations out of the swampy water with the pacing, the direction, the humor and moments, the callback and action, the surprising horror bits and chaos; And I appreciate the Plantars being called out as the chaos family, they’re like the Tooks in the Shire from the Hobbit! This episode was timed well, it does feel like a return to home after so long, and it makes my heart warm as I feel sentimental and happy… I’m honestly down to just a few episodes of getting back to Wartwood, to those good old times before the story beats return with Marcy and Sasha! Here’s looking forward to next week, F-Annes!

#amphibia #amphibia anne #anne boonchuy #amphibia hop pop #hopediah plantar #amphibia sprig #sprig plantar #amphibia polly #amphibia ivy #amphibia maddie

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frankly-art · 5 years

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Frankly-Art’s Top 10 Video Games of 2018

Also available to read on my deviantArt!

With every New Year comes another year’s worth of video games to look forward to, and 2019 promise to be a good one in that regard: the release of Kingdom Hearts III is only days away, Piranha Plant and Joker are certain to be innovative and entertaining additions to the Smash Ultimate roster, Animal Crossing is coming to the Switch… and those mark only a small fraction of the many things 2019 has in store for us in terms of gaming. Amid all of this hype, I got to thinking about the varied gameplay experiences I had over the past year; so, I figured this would be as good an opportunity as any for me to reflect on them with a bit of a critical eye and definitively rank each of the video games I managed to get to during 2018!

Keep in mind while reading that, even though this is a list featuring games I played in 2018, many of these games were ones released in years past that I never got around to until last year—so, if you were expecting a list of the top 10 games that were released in 2018, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere (but not until after you read my oh-so-important list first! I crave validation!); expect a healthy mix of new and old titles in the list below. Additionally, this list will rank downloadable content (DLC) separately from standalone titles, as I don’t find it fair to compare a DLC add-on to a fully-fledged game. I’ll be weighing the score of each DLC depending on how well it improves and expands upon the narrative and gameplay of its original game.

Without further ado (and with no better means of transitioning from this introduction to the list itself than to use a somewhat tired expression in the realm of video games), let’s-a go! (Please forgive me.)

-SPOILER WARNING IN EFFECT-

Favorite Characters: Revali, Urbosa, Kass Favorite Tracks: Monk Maz Koshia (all phases)

It might come as somewhat of a shock that a game with “Breath of the Wild” in its title would rank lowest on my list, but hear me out: no matter how much fun it was to be able to return to Hyrule in this DLC expansion, in my opinion, Champions’ Ballad just felt like more of the same of what we got in the main game.

Despite the nigh perfection that was Breath of the Wild, I have to agree with critics who said that the lack of aesthetic variation between segments of dungeon crawling and puzzle solving was a monotonous bore when compared to the varied themes and aesthetics of the dungeons in Zelda games past, and Champions’ Ballad did nothing to vary the atmosphere in its new shrines and dungeon from those of the main game. This disappointment was compounded with the fact that Champions’ Ballad added no new weapons to your arsenal (aside from a risky-to-use fork that functioned virtually like every other sword in the game) to allow for new types of puzzle solving or exploration. The unicorn motorcycle was certainly a cool reward for completing the DLC (the fact that I got to write the words “unicorn” and “motorcycle” next to each other is reward enough), but I had very little use for it since I’d already combed through the entirety of Hyrule during my first playthrough of the game. I simply believe it would have been nice for Champions’ Ballad to have given players something a little fresher to explore, even if it were just an aesthetic change of scenery.

I had also hoped that Champions’ Ballad might have expanded on the lore sprinkled throughout Hyrule and, even though we learned more about the four champions, I was a little let down that they didn’t really expand on anything else (Why can’t I climb to the top of Mount Agaat? Why does the entirety of the Akkala region fill me with a confusing sense of serene dread?? What the hell happened at the Typhlo Ruins???) I appreciate that, by not explaining everything, Nintendo give players the chance to interpret these things for themselves, but, when compared to the lore provided in previous Zelda games, I feel as though Champions’ Ballad fell short in fleshing out the history of this ruined Hyrule.

Favorite Characters: Prompto, Ignis Favorite Tracks: A Retainer’s Resolve, Apocalypsis Magnatus

Given how much of a beautiful mess Final Fantasy XV was upon its initial release, it’s certainly a consolation to the main game to see how well Square Enix supplemented its (rather disjointed) story and expanded upon its (frankly, lacking) gameplay through its various DLC expansion chapters featuring Noctis’ loyal Chocobros. And while I may not love Ignis quite as much as other chocobros like Prompto or Noctis, Episode Ignis was definitely an engaging and welcome addition to the enigma that is the Final Fantasy XV.

Particular highlights of Episode Ignis include its soundtrack, which features a heroic leitmotif for Ignis that really underscores the dire circumstances he and his teammates find themselves in during this segment of the story, and its addition of gameplay modes (Motorboat Simulator 2018 being one of them) are a welcome change of pace to the somewhat rudimentary battle and exploration systems found in the main game. However, a point of contention I have with Episode Ignis is with its narrative: while I appreciate that this DLC chapter finally explains how Ignis becomes blind, its multiple endings completely undermine the storyline of the main game itself. Does Ignis’ sacrifice save Noctis from having to make a sacrifice of his own in order to save the world? Does Ignis regain his sight after Noctis defeats Ardyn? Do Noctis and Luna finally realize that they’d be better off with other people (as it’s obvious that Noctis is already too preoccupied with his three boyfriends to make room for anyone else)? I need answers, Square!

Favorite Characters: Elizabeth, Atlas/Frank Fontaine Favorite Tracks: Patsy Cline – She’s Got You, Johnny Mathis – Wonderful! Wonderful!

I claimed to be a fan of the BioShock series for so long, even though I’d only ever played the first game in the series until the summer of 2017 when I finally bought a PS4 and, with it, the BioShock Collection. Now, I can call myself a fan of the series without reservation, having explored and discovered all that Rapture and Columbia have to offer. To me, BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episodes 1 & 2 are a love letter to the entire series itself, featuring elements from the three main-series games and tying together each of their narratives (save for maybe BioShock 2, which is absolutely criminal, considering 2 is my favorite game in the series) in a way that, while forced in some aspects, felt like Ken Levine actually cared about clearing up some of the more confusing questions that remained at the end of BioShock: Infinite.

Burial at Sea really came into itself during Episode 2, where gameplay was switched up to feature more fleshed-out stealth mechanics that made sneaking around Rapture and Columbia both exhilarating and terrifying. It was also refreshing to be able to finally take control of Elizabeth, one of the most iconic characters of the series after the Big Daddies of BioShocks 1 and 2, and learn more of her own personal motivations and desires as she maneuvers through hostile environments. As I already mentioned briefly, I know some took issue with the way Burial at Sea wove the first two BioShock games together with the third, but, considering the mess that was made when BioShock Infinite introduced multiverse science into its mythos (and the narrative mess that Infinite was in general—I took great issue with the way they framed the oppressed populations of Columbia as “just as bad” as the ruling populations simply because they used violence to, you know, try and liberate themselves from their oppression), I feel that Burial at Sea did the best job it could considering that the setting of Infinite differed so greatly from that of the first two games.

Also, fun fact: I studied this game as a part of my Master’s Project and played it through a total of three times: once in English and twice in French! Isn’t academia weird?

Favorite Characters: Rando, Buddy, Vega Van Dam Favorite Tracks: 666 Kill Chop Deluxe, He’s My Dad, Brokentooth March

Anyone who reads TV Tropes is likely familiar with the trope “Gameplay and Story Segregation” and its less-frequent counterpart, “Gameplay and Story Integration”. In the case of LISA: The Joyful, this DLC game (which could practically be its own standalone title if it weren’t for the fact Steam labels it as “DLC” and won’t let you play it without first purchasing LISA: The Painful) absolutely excels in the latter and completely subverts the gameplay mechanics and narrative structure of the base game, and this can all be attributed to the way both games focus on your use of the cure-all drug that makes you feel nothing: Joy.

Indeed, where LISA: The Painful makes you question your use of the drug Joy, LISA: The Joyful (Joyful) is nigh impossible to complete without taking it in nearly every battle after you’re left to your own devices when the muscle of your party abandons you. As anyone who’s played the LISA trilogy will know, Joy is a dangerous substance, mutating its addicts and twisting the minds of anyone who uses it, and that Joy is an integral piece of the trilogy’s social and philosophical commentary on the freedom and restriction of choice, the commitment and devotion one carries for a person or cause, and the inherent, inevitable grey area of any and all actions one may take. Despite these themes, LISA: The Joyful is far from a demoralizing experience: if anything, the way the game simulates the feeling of being backed into a corner and the refusal to give up despite the odds only affirms whatever moral code by which you may already live, or is at least an opportunity to feel relief that you yourself aren’t forced to make such drastic decisions for your own survivability and freedom.

That’s it for the DLC games I played in 2018; now, the real fun begins! Brace yourself for my list of the top standalone titles I played last year!

Favorite Characters: Katie

This game was recommended to me by a friend, and, as much as I wanted to enjoy it, this game wound up being my lowlight of 2018, with its simplistic, seemingly rudimentary gameplay and conspicuous lack of any compelling narrative. Put bluntly, this game was like a forgettable rendition of Animal Crossing, only without any cute animal neighbors to run errands for. The game’s environment threatened absolutely no danger to your player character, yet still didn’t offer any engaging or challenging puzzles to solve to make up for this lack of danger (most “puzzles” involved figuring out how to get to a particular point on the map… and that was it). Despite this being an open-world game that offered endless opportunities for customization, I found myself hurrying to complete the game’s main (5-hour) campaign so I could feel justified to move on to other gaming experiences. The most unfortunate part of this to me is that I know there’s still more to the game’s world for me to explore, but I’m in no way compelled to do so.

In all fairness, though, I think that I’m a little older than the target demographic this game was aiming for. This game was never meant to be challenging or stressful, it was made to be a relaxing escape for anyone looking to pass the time exploring and discovering a beautifully modeled and brightly colored world. This game also wins serious points for inclusivity, especially considering the age group this game was most likely made for; my fondest memory of this game is of a quest where a woman requests that you find her the ingredients to make a potion that stimulates beard growth because she wants to grow a beard of her own, and not once during this campaign is she ridiculed or belittled for wanting one. Since Yonder seems to be a game for kids, I believe quests such as this are an excellent step to socializing them into a world that’s less judgmental and more receptive to other people. So, despite my earlier critiques of this game, Yonder would be a great game to consider if you’re looking for a low-key and off-beat (and all-human) alternative to Animal Crossing.

Favorite Veteran Fighters: Peach, Zelda, Zero Suit Samus Favorite Newcomers: Daisy, Ridley, Richter Favorite Stages: Fountain of Dreams, Fourside, Hyrule Temple Favorite Tracks: All-Star Rest Area (Melee), Destroyed Skyworld, Athletic (Yoshi’s Island)

We all knew another installment in the Smash series was coming ever since the Switch was first announced back in March of 2017. In fact, you might even say that the quality of each console’s iteration of Smash reflects the quality of the console itself, with Melee demonstrating the power and potential of the GameCube, Brawl being a gimmicky romp on an equally gimmicky console, and Wii U/3DS (what a title, right?) completely failing to capture player interest for longer than a few rounds of Smash (the Wii U era feels like a fever dream to me at this point). It’s a letdown, then, that with the Switch being such a commercial and technical success, Smash Ultimate seems somewhat of a disappointment when weighed against the hype that surrounded it up until its release back in early December.

It’s true that Smash Ultimate really delivers in regard to the character roster (everyone is here!) and stage selection (almost everything is here!), but the cuts that were made to series staples like trophies, event matches, and the like, detract from Smash Ultimate becoming the be-all end-all title in the series that it could have been. Trophy mode was where I learned much about video game history and was introduced to obscure series I would have never discovered otherwise, and their replacement with spirits feels a bit cheap, especially since spirits don’t come with any kind of information to contextualize them. Event Matches were hybridized with Melee’s Adventure mode and Brawl’s Subspace Emissary, creating the “World of Light”; while the World of Light has grown on me the more that I play it, it’s somewhat discouraging to me that, by combining so many modes of Smash games past into one, there will be nothing left for me to do with the game once I reach its end.

Still, Smash Ultimate offers plenty to look forward to. I’m more-than-hyped about the additions of Piranha Plant and Joker from Persona 5 to the character roster, and I can’t wait to see who might be announced next (unless it’s another Fire Emblem character… please God [Sakurai] don’t let it be another Fire Emblem character).

Favorite Tracks: The Bridge, Touching the Stars, Up to the Nest

I could never have prepared myself for the beautiful-yet-heart-wrenching experience this game would put me through, but I’m oh-so-glad that it did. On the surface, RiME is a relaxing exploration and puzzle game that takes place in a beautifully rendered in-game world, with a brilliantly orchestrated soundtrack and a plethora of diverse landscapes to get lost in. And yet, every moment of your adventure is permeated by an inescapable sense of isolation and dread, making you ask questions like “Where is everyone?”, “Just who is that man in the red cloak?,” and, “Is he stalking me, or are I stalking him?”.

Indeed, RiME’s narrative unfolds wordlessly as you explore and leaves you to discover and interpret on your own exactly what tragedies transpired before the events of the game, tragedies of which are far more poignant and moving if you were to discover them yourself. I know I’ve put a spoiler warning in effect, but I highly recommend you play this game on your own (or at least watch a decent Let’s Play of it) if you’re curious to know what unfolds during the game’s narrative. RiME is a relatively short game, too, lasting only between 5-10 hours, so it would be an easy one to fit into your queue if you’re looking for a fun gameplay experience with a story that will haunt you for weeks and months on end after completing it.

Favorite Characters: Terry Hintz, Buzzo, Wally Favorite Tracks: Men’s Hair Club, The End is Nigh, Summer Love

Having already talked about this game’s DLC expansion of LISA: The Joyful, you’re already aware that I hold the LISA trilogy in high regard—it also means I can make this entry somewhat brief, since a lot of what I said about Joyful can also be applied to its parent title, LISA: The Painful. You see, it’s in LISA: The Painful where the conflict in Joyful begins, and where we learn more of how the world came to be so depraved after the White Flash, an extinction event that inexplicably killed all women on the planet (at least, as far as the characters in the game know). The game considers what the repercussions of such an event would be on our society (aside from dooming humanity to die off within a generation) and really explores the darkest depths of toxic masculinity to call into question the detrimental effects it has on our self-esteem, our relationships, and our will to survive. Gameplay-wise, it’s a fairly traditional JRPG, though as I mentioned with Joyful, LISA: The Painful integrates its story with its gameplay by permanently increasing (but mainly decreasing) your stats depending on whatever injuries you escape or sustain throughout your journey. All in all, LISA: The Painful is a truly harrowing experience from beginning to end, but a must-play for anyone with an interest in the more macabre aspects of human nature.

Favorite Characters: Aloy, Erend, Vanasha Favorite Tracks: Louder

You know a game’s going to be good when its title screen holds you in awe before even pressing start. Imagine a sunlit vignette over purple mountains and a glistening river, a haunting and triumphant melody underscoring it all, as the title slowly fades into view in white in the center of the screen: Horizon Zero Dawn. O.K., I’m in. This game just did so many things right as an open-world game during an era where the genre was oversaturated by mediocre games that rehashed the same tired tropes and mechanics in its gameplay and world building. Horizon Zero Dawn truly set itself apart from the crowd for a variety of reasons: its beautifully detailed setting (being a microcosmic interpretation of Western North America), its intricate combat system with a graciously forgiving learning curve, and its compelling and socially-conscious narrative all worked together to distinguish this game within the open-world genre.

What really sets this game apart most of all, though, is the game’s protagonist, Aloy: a rare female protagonist who is a breath of fresh air in a sea of male heroes, whose capabilities and intellect don’t come at the cost of her physical appearance and femininity. Aloy set an example for other game developers that female protagonists are more than viable (and are in fact, overdue) in the video games of today, and her status as a female character never felt gratuitous or shoehorned (e.g. Battlefield V’s inclusion of a female protagonist as an enlisted soldier in the British Army and serving in the line of duty during World War II). It’s difficult (read: impossible) to play Horizon Zero Dawn and not fall in love with Aloy for her wit, her strength, and her general stick-to-itiveness in the face of adversity (not to mention, she’s just really cute and knows how to work a belly shirt). With Aloy as the protagonist, you’ll never tire of adventuring through Horizon Zero Dawn’s 70-hours+ worth of gameplay as you explore the in-game world to learn just what happened to “The Old Ones” and their society all those millennia ago.

Favorite Party Members: Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Makoto Niijima Favorite Confidants: Hifumi Togo, Sadayo Kawakami, Sae Niijima, Toranosuke Yoshida, Chihaya Mifune Favorite Targets/Boss Battles: Ichiryusai Madarame, Kunikazu Okumura, Leviathan, Yaldabaoth Favorite Tracks: Blooming Villain, Rivers in the Desert, A Woman, Aria of the Soul

I’ll bet no one saw this one coming! Just kidding—anyone who’s exchanged more than a few words with me since the fall of 2018 knows how much this game absolutely consumed my life over the span of, I don’t know, I think it was four months? Indeed, I wound up sinking a total of 123 hours into this game, and there’s still a loud part of me that wants to return to it to begin a New Game+ (you’ll even notice that it was too difficult for me to contain my favorite characters into one category, instead having to split them up in order to represent all of my favorites because of how much I love them all). I’m already a fan of JRPGs, so it didn’t take much for Persona 5 to win me over with its turn-based combat, but the addition of certain gameplay mechanics—like earning an extra turn for exploiting enemy weaknesses or improving your relationship with your friends outside of battle to unlock gameplay bonuses—prevent battles and exploration in Persona 5 from ever becoming stale. Indeed, Persona 5 was truly a masterpiece from start to finish and an experience that I never wanted to end.

Frankly, any drawbacks I could mention about this game feel almost nitpicky, like the way the status ailment “Envy” is represented during the final boss fight by the color indigo instead of green, or how Kawakami can only manage to make me one cup of very useful, SP-restoring coffee over the course of an entire evening. Still, Persona 5 isn’t without its faults: for one, Persona 5 loses significant points for its questionable representation of LGBT groups (the camp gay men who openly harass Ryuji on multiple occasions being the most glaring example), and this isn’t helped by the queerbaiting that’s prevalent in a lot of character dialogue and relationships. Additionally, the fact that you can’t romance any of your male confidants comes across as erasive at best and homophobic at worst, especially considering that 1) all but one of your female confidants are eligible girlfriends, 2) you can two-time all of them at once if you so desire (which isn’t just disrespectful, it’s also flippantly misogynistic), and, most importantly, 3) one of this game’s main themes includes rebelling against oppressive societal norms (a theme that will resonate deeply with any LGBT+ player). Female representation in Persona 5 is also somewhat of a mixed bag: while the game features a large cast of diverse female characters, its constant and blatant objectification of Ann is not only creepy, it’s incredibly obtuse considering the sexual harassment and abuse she suffers by one of her teachers during the game’s first story arc. Fortunately, each of these drawbacks is easy enough to ignore when discussing the game as a whole, but I hope Atlus improves upon them in future installments: considering how incredible an experience Persona 5 was, imagine how much more incredible Persona 6 could be if these issues were fixed!

So that’s it for my top 10 games of 2018. What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with any of my commentary? What were some favorite games you played during 2018? I’d love to hear your responses and start a discussion, so please, leave your comments in the notes!

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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The Best Video Games of the 2010s

Welcome to the second entry in our Best of the 2010s series! Last time we covered the best manga series released in the past decade, and this time we’re talking video games.

As with our manga lists, we compiled this list by scoring each title based on how high it appeared on the respective rankings of our three contributors: Evan Minto, Ink, and David Estrella (we’ll post the full lists on our Patreon in a few days). This isn’t an exhaustive list, and for video games in particular our three contributors’ tastes were pretty divergent. In fact, while a few games appeared on two of our individual lists, not a single one appeared on all three!

Our picks for the top 10 video games of the decade offer a cross-section of some of the trends of the 2010s: the decline of couch co-op rhythm games, the wild success of the Nintendo Switch and From Software’s “Soulsborne” games, and the renaissance in narrative game design. If you haven’t checked any of these games out, it’s not too late to give them a try! Enjoy, and let us know your own picks in the comments.

10. Mass Effect 2 (2010)

Evan Minto: Squeaking in just under the date cutoff is the high point of one of video gaming’s most popular (and controversial) franchises. Mass Effect 2 is a perfectly crafted pulp adventure, taking Shepard and the gang on a tour of the galaxy to complete a daring suicide mission. There’s space politics, a cyberpunk criminal underbelly, a story structure pulled from Western and heist movies, and choices. So many choices. The combat is polished and creative and the story is rich and full of unforgettable moments. I wish I could go back and experience it all over again for the first time.

9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

Evan Minto: What do you say about the franchise that has it all? Super Smash Bros. is video game comfort food, delivering the same high-quality, infinitely satisfying party game fun decade after decade. Smash Ultimate makes it into our Top 10 because it really is the ultimate Smash experience. Every character is back and fighting alongside a varied list of newcomers. Nintendo has embraced the competitive scene and added a host of fine-grained quality-of-life improvements. With DLC characters dropping at a regular clip, this is a game I’ll be playing for years to come.

8. Fable III (2010)

Ink: It’s probably the most hated of the Fable series, but I love its ambition, contextual landscape, and flawed mechanics; shaking hands and going through the motions of socialization takes forever, #AmIRight? That the game is devoted to division, not just of self (as is the basis of the series) but position, is a brilliant stroke. The degree of cut-and-dry choices is certainly lamentable, but praise be the grey areas and timing by which said choices are introduced! Callbacks are as entertaining as they lend to world building, and the backstory (initially) lends to apprehension as much as it does yearning.

7. Dark Souls III (2016)

David Estrella: Bloodborne is higher up on the list but Dark Souls III is, personally, not too far down below. This third Souls game is the culmination of about 20 years of iteration on concepts that finally came together with faster gameplay, tighter controls, and sprawling environments that exude thousands of years of fictional history. Whether you’re a serious gamer who must stop and read every item description for that sweet lore or you’re a poo-flinging maniac with godly parrying skills, there’s a Dark Souls experience for everyone that’s both satisfying and personal.

6. The Walking Dead (2012)

Evan Minto: No video game has emotionally affected me as profoundly as the first season of The Walking Dead. Telltale’s landmark adventure game asks players to make tough dialogue choices and resolve impossible moral dilemmas in hundreds of timed sequences. It’s a gut-wrenching experience. Zombies don’t always make for the best device for complex storytelling, but this game uses the horror setting to examine its deeply flawed cast and force players to confront the compounding consequences of violence, even and especially violence that seems a necessary evil in the moment. To add to the tragedy, the 2010s ended with one last gut-punch from Telltale: a bankruptcy that left its employees out in the cold and their game projects either shelved or farmed out to other studios.

5. Fire Emblem: Awakening (2013)

David Estrella: Released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, Fire Emblem: Awakening came out after a prolonged drought of decent games on the flailing console. Strategy generally isn’t my thing and contending with waves of surprise Wyvern Knights in the middle of a hard-fought battle as a significant gameplay loop is not my idea of fun, but what else was I going to do during the wait until Animal Crossing? I found that I actually really like all of the changes to the FE formula, especially the ones most blasphemous to purists like settings to prevent permadeath and maps designed for grinding. People will cry that the old Fire Emblem is dead and gone and as a Baby Mode advocate, I can’t exactly claim to miss it.

4. Bloodborne (2015)

David Estrella: I’ve played a lot of video games in my lifetime and I discovered my favorite one very early in my life so I spent about twenty years simply drifting from good to great experiences without finding the one “perfect” game. Bloodborne is the perfect game. It’s brutal to master and pared down from the breadth of options found in Dark Souls, but it’s a deeply rewarding experience that dominated my life for multiple playthroughs. Whenever video games disappoint me (happens often enough), I remember that Bloodborne exists and everything is okay.

3. Rock Band 3 (2010)

Ink: Rock Band 3 is less technical button-pressing showcase than Wario Party karaoke, and it owns that fact. Beyond the ability to pretend like you are more entertaining than you are, the gameplay can actually teach players guitar/bass, keyboard, and drums (on a very beginner’s scale with the right equipment/addons). Tour challenges bring a pliable narrative that’s simultaneously entertaining and fulfilling, while a song creator means the ever-expanding library of thousands of licensed songs is joined by the products of some very talented and some very untalented people with a lot of time on their hands. Bless them all.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

Evan Minto: If nothing else, the 2010s will be remembered as the decade when Nintendo reinvented The Legend of Zelda. Breath of the Wild takes the wonder of open-world games, the addictive progression of Western RPGs, and the gradual sense of mastery of Ubisoft “map games,” and brings it all under the exquisitely crafted umbrella of the Zelda franchise. It is a sublime, joyous triumph of a game, with a host of interlocked, carefully designed systems and a breathtaking world that captures the imagination like nothing else.

1. Portal 2 (2011)

Ink: Sequels usually drain every bit of good from the host in hopes of marketing to blind faith consumption. Not to harp on Schrödinger’s cake, but Portal 2, as the point of suckling for a niche puzzle-minded crowd, manages to maintain its potency by successfully layering deepening characterization atop expanded, imaginative mechanics. It’s a physics-centric puzzle box for the chakra-minded crowd, and Portal 2’s blend of dark humor and farcical, 4-D labyrinths do not disappoint. The introduction of an absolutely maddening multiplayer mode also pays off big time, delightfully, in terms of both more frustration and better tasting cheese.

Check out our list of the Best Manga of the 2010s!

The Best Video Games of the 2010s originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on February 20, 2020 at 7:53 PM.

By: Evan Minto

#Anime #News #Ani-Gamers

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gamingtipsandtrickshacks · 5 years

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MINIT Review -- The Joys of Time Management

MINIT, the newest offering from publisher Devolver Digital, begins without any semblance of pomp or ceremony. There are no opening cutscenes or congested menu screens to sift through. Upon starting the game, you simply wake up in a house with no directives. If you wander outside, you’ll quickly find a cursed sword that kills you every minute.

Developed by a coalition of game designers (notably including Jan Willem Nijman of Vlambeer and Horizon Zero Dawn contributor Kitty Calis), MINIT plays as a top-down adventure game that kills the player after every sixty seconds of gameplay. To complete the game, you must solve a series of puzzles, traverse the overworld, and interact with several different NPCs.

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MINIT’s design philosophy fundamentally subverts all of the expectations that come packaged with modern games. In a market saturated with open world and service-type games, MINIT is a welcome digression from the constant barrage of AAA games that demand dozens (if not hundreds) of hours from players. These sprawling games often test your time management skills not only inside the confines of the game but also outside of them.

How many more rounds of PUBG can I fit in before it’s time for bed? How much time should I spend farming Diablos’ in Monster Hunter: World if I want to squeeze in a few matches of Rocket League? How am I supposed to play all of these new games when I’m still playing Day of Defeat all of these years later? These are all inherently common questions that we’re forced to ask ourselves when gaming and MINIT answers them effortlessly.

With its noted absence of looting, grinding, or leveling up, MINIT only asks the player to properly manage their time within the confines of the game. Following the style of other The Legend of Zelda-esque games, your first few minutes are going to be spent figuring out the limitations of your character. There are trees you are unable to chop down, crabs you are unable to slay, and boxes you are unable to push. To succeed in MINIT, you‘ll need to identify these obstacles, figure out how to manipulate or maneuver around them, and create a game plan.

Each sixty-second life requires you to critically think about what you’re trying to accomplish and deliberately carry it out. Whether you’re trying to explore a new area, talk to an NPC, or revisit a familiar area after obtaining a new item, MINIT politely reminds you that the clock is ticking.

For example, at one point in MINIT, an NPC tasked me with finding special wood that could be used to craft a boat. Other than telling me that the wood could be found near snakes, I was mainly left to my own devices to locate it. I immediately respawned and went to a familiar underground tunnel that I knew snakes inhabited. No dice — the wood wasn’t there.

Upon respawning a minute later, I figured that I might have been overthinking the task — the wood was probably close to the initial NPC that I spoke to. Swing and a miss — the wood wasn’t there either. Grasping at straws, I decided to spend a minute walking in each cardinal direction. Eventually, after a few lives of traversing areas that I previously explored, I found snakes looming next to an odd looking tree.

Somewhat surprisingly, this stringent time limit never feels unforgiving or damning. There are no stakes, no set number of lives, and no penalties for repeatedly dying. The real, looming dread of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (a game with a similar looping mechanic) is non-existent in this game. The fate of the world doesn’t rest in your hands — if you mess up you simply dust yourself off and try again. Throughout the three hours it took me to beat the game, I never felt pressured nor compelled to pick up the pace. While MINIT is undoubtedly ripe for the speedrunning community, it allows players to enjoy a slow burn if they’re seeking one.

This sense of levity is heightened by MINIT’s unique level design, art style, and music. Areas are small enough to easily navigate and explore, but intricate enough to hide secrets. While you may sometimes feel like you’re rushing somewhere, you never feel like you’re racing anywhere. The pixelated landscapes feel mostly idyllic and calm, especially when coupled with composer Jukio Kallio’s pulsing, melodic synthesizers that make up most of the overworld’s soundtrack. Kallio’s charming tunes simultaneously grant the game a semblance of modernity and nostalgia. Similar to Earthbound composer Chip Tanaka, Kallio skillfully blends roughened synthesizers (reminiscent of the 16-bit era) with playful melodies and pounding rhythm sections when the atmosphere warrants.

Despite the game’s monochromatic art style, the level design and musical motifs come together to make each area vibrant and unique. Hanging out at home with your dog feels different from wandering around the desert or talking to the man who owns the sneaker shop. These diverse locations and the zany, motley NPCs that inhabit them grant the overworld a sense of scale. Although it’s not uncommon to run through several different areas in a single life, MINIT takes excellent care to make sure each area feels distinct.

MINIT is a game in the purest sense of the word; it harkens back to a time when solid gameplay mechanics and genuine joy were the sole cornerstones of design philosophy. It’s charming, beautiful, and outlandish in all the right places. While MINIT offers around two and a half to three hours of gameplay, it provides a substantial amount of replayability to speedrunners and folks interested in the game’s New Game+. However, it bears repeating that MINIT’s length is not to be condemned, instead, celebrated. Whether you’re a fan of short indie games or in need of a palette cleanser from a AAA game that (seemingly) never ends, MINIT is worth playing.

Reviewed by Travis Verbil, Contributor

Travis Verbil is a contributor at DualShockers. Outside of writing, he is a musician from Queens, NY. He enjoys the New York Mets, tabletop gaming, and Donkey Kong lore.

This post contains an affiliate link where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.

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gamingtipsandtrickshacks · 5 years

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MINIT Review -- The Joys of Time Management

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Reviewed by Travis Verbil, Contributor

Travis Verbil is a contributor at DualShockers. Outside of writing, he is a musician from Queens, NY. He enjoys the New York Mets, tabletop gaming, and Donkey Kong lore.

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gamingtipsandtrickshacks · 6 years

Text

MINIT Review -- The Joys of Time Management

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Reviewed by Travis Verbil, Contributor

Travis Verbil is a contributor at DualShockers. Outside of writing, he is a musician from Queens, NY. He enjoys the New York Mets, tabletop gaming, and Donkey Kong lore.

0 notes