5 Games in 2005: wrap-up

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 »

I was going to write this up on Saturday but then Morgan came over to hang out, so I'm finally getting this out this evening.

Yes, I still have more to say about last year's games. Tonight I'll give out some honorable mentions, and maybe some of the slightly dishonorable variety, as well.

As I mentioned before talking about Resident Evil 4, innovation was a huge buzzword in 2005. In selecting my choices for the top 5, I wanted to recognize games that were not only excellent, but also presented entirely new ideas in gameplay or presentation. I think my finalists (in case you missed them: Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Tekken 5, and Kirby: Canvas Curse) fit the bill pretty well.

But wait, Tekken 5 is just a typical fighting game sequel, you say. Right, but while the game didn't really break any new ground, it's the one that finally got me hooked on its fighting gameplay and I wanted to recognize it, so I managed to squeeze it into the list. 2005 saw plenty of other games in a similar vein, though—that is, sequels that mostly just added some features here and there, but were still great games because their predecessors were also great. I extend my honorable mentions to these titles:

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Here's a game whose primary offering, instead of a bunch of fancy new modes and abilities, is just another lengthy quest with the same tried-and-true gameplay that still hasn't lost its charm. In fact, I think the best new features in this were tiny improvements to the user experience—displaying the map constantly on the top screen and having a button to switch between two equipment sets, for example. Also, major points just for allowing every button and command to be remapped instead of offering a bunch of pre-determined controller schemes that seems to be the new status quo.

Mario Kart DS - Mario Kart is pretty much the original party game. Unfortunately, the occasions when I've actually been able to get four people to huddle around the N64 or Gamecube have been pretty infrequent. Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection is a brilliant solution that makes it easy1 to match up with three other players pretty much any time you feel like throwing some shells around. The matchmaking interface may be pretty bare-bones, but I wouldn't say that dampened my enjoyment of the game in the slightest.

Animal Crossing: Wild World - I didn't play the Gamecube version, but from what I hear, the DS sequel is mostly the same, with the major change being the online multiplayer. The game—if you can really call it that—may not be for everyone, but I've really enjoyed the experience in my virtual town. With many of the accomplishable tasks requiring a small amount of regular attention over a long period of time, it's a relaxing break for a few minutes every day. Plus I love being able to spread my custom designs over the WFC.

Soul Calibur III - While the gameplay has hardly changed since Soul Calibur II, SC3's character customization, a feature which I was initially pretty skeptical about, turned out to be a major selling point for me. It offers a surprising amount of variety in the costumes you can create, and, being a self-proclaimed videogame character design freak, it's like a dream come true being able to put together a character (Maybe you'll recognize these two?) and then actually have him or her fight it out with the Soul Calibur cast.

And now, two games that I disqualified from my top list:

Battlefield 2 - An incredibly addictive squad-based approach to the old Battlefield formula, and a great example of multi-level gameplay. A squad that is smartly-led and where every player supports each other with their complementary abilities is a force to be reckoned with, and when you actually get to play in one, it's an experience unparalleled by any other game. Unfortunately, I can't ignore the fact that a few mind-bogglingly severe technical issues—for instance, a laggy server browser with the tendency to permanently erase the server list and a bug that marked random teammates in enemy colors—were only fixed literally yesterday, nearly seven months after the game's release. If only EA hadn't been in such a hurry to get that first expansion pack out the door.

Dragon Quest VIII - Ooh, this is hard to say. This game does so many things so well, and yet several aspects of it I find maddeningly grating. About halfway through it I decided to take a break and have just picked it up again. I'll write up some more complete thoughts once I'm done with it, but ooh.

All right, I think that's everything. There were, of course, still several 2005 titles I didn't get around to trying (God of War, Killer 7, Radiata Stories), but this way I have something to write about next February.

1 Unless you have a bad router.

5 Games in 2005 #1: Shadow of the Colossus

Friday, February 10, 2006 »

Note: In order to fully appreciate Shadow of the Colossus, I'd recommend you not read anything about it beforehand in order to discover all it offers on your own. With that said, here are my thoughts on the best game of 2005:

Shadow of the Colossus has a lot going for it. It's got Ico's sublime puzzle/platforming gameplay. It takes place in a mysterious land that seems to unfold endlessly in every direction, yet as you explore you'll come across a tiny forest tucked between some mountains, or caves in a cliff that seem to just be there at the designers' whim. I could write an entire entry full of superlatives in praise of Kow Otani's powerfully evocative, symphonic score. And there's little that compares with the feeling you get after climbing to the top of one of the game's towering colossi and sending it crashing down in defeat.

Yet, it's not without some very unfortunate and glaring faults. It's evident that Shadow of the Colossus is squeezing every last bit of power out of the aging PlayStation 2, and if the gorgeous environments and effects don't tip you off, then surely the abysmal framerate will. That, and the clumsy control scheme, including the most recalcitrant camera in recent memory, constantly chip away at the otherwise immersive experience of this game, and that is truly a shame. The game is so captivating right from the first battle that I wanted to focus only on the content and ignore the game's technical faults, but they're so persistant that it became impossible. It's been an amazing trip, I thought, facing off against the final colossus, but it looks like Resident Evil 4 will be taking the #1 spot after all.

Then I watched the ending, and everything changed.

There's an ongoing debate in the gaming community about whether or not games can be art, or whether their stories can compare with great movies or literature. In general, I think game storylines have a long way to go before they reach that point. You'll probably wonder what I'm getting at if you play the game after reading this, since, except for some vague exposition at the beginning, Shadow of the Colossus only offers the slightest hints of a story all the way up to the end. But it's the ending that made me look back on the rest of the game and reevaluate everything that had just taken place. Even after the credits roll, the story's events remain pretty ambiguous, but something that always seems to surround great stories is the endless reevaluation and speculation about what they might mean. And if Shadow of the Colossus is able to prompt a discussion like that, then maybe games are further along towards being considered art than I thought. Maybe they're already there.

5 Games in 2005 #2: Resident Evil 4

Thursday, February 9, 2006 »

Hopefully 2005 will be remembered as the year the game industry took a good look at itself and decided to start innovating. OK, that's pretty optimistic. At the very least, it'll be remembered as the year when creative stagnation and sequelmania reached an uncomfortable high. Still, innovation was a popular goal for developers last year, and the large number of creative titles that popped up was at least a sign of everyone beginning to get on the right track. One of the most exemplary of those is Resident Evil 4.

Every developer boasts about how their new game is going to "redefine the genre," but few games actually do. In fact, fans of the the earlier games' horror aspect may feel like RE4 is a little too revolutionary. There are no zombies this time around, and the game isn't really scary at all. It's sort of in the vein of old NES sequels like Super Mario Bros. 21 and The Adventure of Link: It takes the very basic gameplay and thematic elements and builds on top of them in a new direction. And the result is an incredibly fun product that manages to find a balance between addictive gameplay and dramatic presentation.

On the gameplay side, RE4 is hard to put down because the action is pretty much non-stop. In previous Resident Evil games players were encouraged to conserve ammo or even avoid encounters altogether. RE4 hands out enough bullets to let the player take on every not-zombie along the way, but still limits the supply enough to ensure some strategy goes into each engagement. Plus the new Metal Gear Solid-like laser targeting system that replaces the clumsy aiming controls of the older games is easy to get into and a lot of fun. There's also hardly any backtracking through old areas and puzzles are kept pretty minimal, which is great because it means less downtime between one shooting sequence and the next.

Aside from the ridiculous premise (A lone agent sent to rescue the president's daughter?) and the often corny dialogue voice acting, RE4 handles its story very well. I was actually pretty curious about what was up with all the not-zombie villagers, and larger plot unraveled at a good rate. Then there's the matter of the cutscenes. Ever since Super Mario RPG, I've always liked the idea of throwing in some timed button presses to keep things interesting. So naturally I love that there are now "quicktime events" during the (already amazing) cutscenes. These, the display letterboxing and all the contextual actions that pop up during game really do give Resident Evil 4 a strong cinematic feel. If Capcom could just work a little harder at writing a five-star plot and hiring some less hammy voice actors, they could give Hideo Kojima a run for his money.

1 Yes, I know.

5 Games in 2005 #3: Ouendan

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 »

I already said quite a bit about last summer's surprise import, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, so I'd just like to summarize that quickly and then answer one question. So, what made Ouendan one of 2005's best games?

1. Great soundtrack with full songs
2. Insane story sequences with hilarious characters
3. Rhythm gameplay is a perfect fit for the DS and incredibly natural, especially compared to stomping arrows or even playing a guitar

That third point brings me to the question: Why is #3 not Guitar Hero?

Well, because I already played Guitar Freaks like five years ago.

OK, long answer: Guitar Hero is really an excellent game, one which I am guilty of playing long enough to inflame the carpal tunnels of my future children. (I think of it as time saved.) And it was a welcome release considering how stingy Konami has been with Guitar Freaks console releases. And it had full-length songs, instead of those 90-second snippets in the arcade. But wait, so did Ouendan! Also, back the carpal tunnel thing: Guitar Hero made my hands hurt! Granted, so did Ouendan, but that was only after a lot of spinning.

OK, maybe that's a little unfair to try to take Guitar Hero down a notch just because it caused me physical pain. So here's one thing Ouendan really had going for it: Investment! First, you have the obvious emotional investment because of the story scenes. You want to know if that horse will catch the burglar! Will the kung-fu ramen chef be able to roll those noodles??? SPIN HARDER OR YOU WILL NEVER KNOW. Next, there's the musical investment. Sure, it's very immersive to wield Guitar Hero's guitar controller (or stomp, but the way Ouendan's gameplay didn't attach itself to just one component of the song means that for one section you can be doing the guitar, then vocals for the next, and then drums or back to the guitar for the next. Basically, your actions are synched with the most prominent track of the song at any moment, so you have more of a connection with the song throughout. It feels more like you're responsible for carrying the song through to the end. And isn't that what all the instrument-based rhythm games are trying for?

Now, all a developer needs to do to have the next great rhythm game hit on their hands is to develop a controller that is simultaneously a guitar, a drumset, a keyboard, and a microphone, yet operates as easily as it is to play whack-a-mole. Plus, when I sing, I'll need the game to make me sound like Bono. Get on it, iNiS!

5 Games in 2005 #4: Tekken 5

Tuesday, February 7, 2006 »

I have this theory that fighting games are the epitome of competetive gaming. Sure, they have televised StarCraft matches in Korea and Counter-Strike tournaments in every dorm in America, but games like Street Fighter II take the layers of strategy required by the former and crank them up to require the latter's breakneck decision-making and button-clicking. It's an exhilarating combination, if you can keep up.

With that in mind, Tekken 5 offers some of the deepest and most complex strategic options of any fighting game I've played, and also requires lightning-fast execution. It's extremely technical and has a steep learning curve, but it's ultimately very rewarding and satisfying when you get to a point where matches turn into you and your opponent both guessing each other's next moves and trying to psyche each other out.

Beyond just the gameplay, Tekken 5 is a pretty substantial offering. You've got something like 20 characters who each (for the most part) have their own fighting style, many based on real martial arts. You want to see an old-school karate fighter go against a muay thai kickboxer? Done. How about Jackie Chan vs. Bruce Lee? Heck, how about Jackie Chan vs. a giant panda? Then there's a load of accessories so you can customize your characters (if you're into that (like me)), and Namco was feeling so generous as to include the first three Tekken arcade games, which are playable right from the start. Yes, there are actually four complete Tekken games on this one disc. There's even a stupid 3D brawler/platformer if you decide you don't like fighting games at all.

You're probably just frustrated with the learning curve, though. Don't worry, the sooner you get over it, the sooner you can crush all your friends with your amazing Wesley Snipes kung fu!

5 Games in 2005 #5: Kirby: Canvas Curse

Monday, February 6, 2006 »

When the Nintendo DS came out a little over a year ago, I, along with many other naysayers, profiled it as a doomed gimmick system. Adding a second display on a portable seemed like a completely arbitrary decision, and I expected the touch screen to be a novelty at best. That turned out to be a pretty accurate prediction based on most of the games out at launch and during the system's first six months or so.

Then this Kirby game came along, and I started to get an idea of what Nintendo was thinking when it came up with the DS. Canvas Curse doesn't boast immersive 3D graphics or a storyline full of twists. It's straightforward and unpretentious1. It's a game. The way you interact with and guide Kirby through each stage with the stylus is intuitive and simple, yet it allows enough control to the point where I kept remembering in amazement that the game never uses a single one of the DS's buttons (unless you want to pause). It's a welcome change of pace from having to memorize a new controller mapping for each new console game. At times, it's even relaxing.

Kirby: Canvas Curse is often compared to Yoshi Touch & Go, an earlier DS game with a similar gameplay mechanic. However, whereas Touch & Go evidently contained two whole stages, Canvas Curse offers a lengthy main game where each stage features its own unique obstacles and gameplay twists. On top of that, there are bonus characters and unlockables to provide a ton of replay incentive, time- and line-attack modes, and three (or four) minigames that are all actually pretty fun. And did I mention that all you use is the stylus?

Many reviewers credit Advance Wars: Dual Strike or Nintendogs as being the first must-own DS game, but I'm going to say that Kirby: Canvas Curse was the first to show how a game on a nontraditional, maybe even avant-garde2, platform can still be plenty addictive.

1 At least until I call it "avant-garde" later on.
2 There we go.

5 games in 2005: warmup

Sunday, February 5, 2006 »

Now that February's here, I'm hoping to roll out my list of the best games of last year. That should be coming up this week, but before it gets started I wanted to give some shout-outs to all the old games that I was finally able to clear out of my backlog last year.

Advance Wars 2 - This is really well-balanced strategy game with a great art style and a lot of personality, but about halfway through it I realized I don't care for strategy games with a large emphasis on managing an economy. I think I'll stick to tactical RPGs.

Astro Boy: Omega Factor - Challenging action-platformer from Treasure with a lot of replay value. It brought back fond memories of trying to crush my NES controllers with my bare hands. Probably in every GBA bargain bin at the moment, so don't miss out. (more thoughts here)

Contra: Shattered Soldier - Ludicrously hard, but also disappointingly boring for a Contra game. I blame it on the lack of weapon pick-ups (and the SPREADER), and probably the phoned-in level design. Also, why doesn't the ratings box on the back mention how disgusting this game is? The first stage boss is a skinless head that vomits at you. A later level features a midboss that eats the raw product of a meat grinder and then... wait for it... vomits at you. WTF?

Deus Ex - This didn't live up to the high standards set by PALIDOR, but I think those may have been biased because he got engaged to Michael Brown Walton Simons recently. It was still an extremely good game, though. The combat could have used a little work, but the stealth action, story and voice acting were all excellent. And I'm sure the graphics looked great back in 2000 or whenever.

Dragon Warrior VII - Read my post-game thoughts here. Some thoughts about the sequel will show up this week.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Morgan and I finally got around to finishing this early last year. I don't know why we shelved it for so long. It may have been how the plot was spread pretty thin over a bunch of repetetive dungeons, and the action interface was pretty clunky. (Instead of just having one button for "defend," you had to cycle through a list of available actions in real time and then activate a defensive stance with the A button.) It's a shame this didn't work out, because it had the potential to be a Secret of Mana-caliber action RPG, with more integrated teamwork elements. I suspect it gets exponentially better with three or four players, but we never got the chance to try that out. On the plus side: the graphics and soundtrack were beautiful and there were a lot of adorable characters. Hopefully the DS version will pull off this style of gameplay a little smoother.

Front Mission 4 - My favorite console game on this list. While the previous series entry bored me, Front Mission 4 has a fantastic storyline and, largely thanks to the link system and squads with a diverse range of abilities, a tactical battle system that actually requires tactics. The large map sizes offered another incentive for careful strategizing; if you don't plan out each turn impeccably, there's a good chance you won't have many units still in fighting condition (or still standing) by the time you reach the final waves of opponents. Also, few games last year offered a sensation equal to the one you get from watching your squad of mechs surround an enemy, unload on it with machinegun fire, and then having your melee fighter dodge past its counterattack and floor it with a set of brass knuckles the size of a pickup truck.

Half-Life 1 & 2 - I had heard all the hype about Half-Life "redefining the genre" and all that and I didn't really believe it, but wow. The entire game had a very Zelda-like quality in how each area was put together, and how one puzzle or obstacle would lead seamlessly into the next. The game eerily seemed to know exactly when to cough up another medkit or ammo magazine, too. Half-Life 2's much-lauded gravity gun was an inspired addition to the formula and a great way to make use of the new physics engine. It seemed a bit gimmicky at first, but it seemed like such second nature by the end of the game that it's hard for me to imagine going back to HL1 and not having it. I'm very much looking forward to Aftermath, and the inevitable HL3.

Silent Hill 4 - The Room put a bunch of new twists on the series' formula which had been mostly the same for the last three games. There was a bigger emphasis on action, which turned out to be sort of paradoxical since Silent Hill has never been about action, first of all, and also they actually removed all of the firearms except the handgun and replaced them with a huge set of nearly-identical melee weapons. It wasn't the greatest thing to do gameplay-wise, especially when you have Resident Evil earning tons of praise for its latest iteration, which ditches most of the old survival-horror conventions in exchange for almost constant gunplay. It turned out to be a great move in keeping SH4 in the horror genre, though, as removing the long-distance solutions really brought the fight-or-flight decision to the foreground. Second, there was the whole half-of-the-game-is-an-escort-mission thing, which RE4 sort of copied, although probably not intentionally. Nevertheless, this is still a horrible idea. Nobody enjoys escort missions. (Just ask James Bond.) Last but not least, there was the apartment room/nexus, which they pulled off pretty well. Next time, though, I want to see the entire game take place in a closet. Or maybe a phonebooth.

OK, that's it. It turns out there were lots of old, good games that were still available in 2005! Check back this week to hear about some of the new ones.