5 Games in 2005: wrap-up

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 » gaming list thought

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.