The Skylanders franchise fell victim to the sophomore jinx. Skylanders Giants failed to address the issues of its predecessor while its biggest innovation was a boring character class that actually made the game less fun and more difficult to play. Clearly having learned its lesson, the Skylanders are back in their best adventure yet.
The fighting game genre had been left for dead long before the release of Street Fighter IV. After Super Street Fighter II, I left the genre because the games got too complicated, the competition among players got too fierce, and as a Nintendo-only console owner, the fighting game options completely dried up.
Street Fighter IV did way more than just provide me with a fun blast from the past. It marked the beginning of me falling deeper into a video game rabbit hole than I’d ever fell before.
Rock Band at face value is the logical next step from Guitar Hero. With the inclusion of drums and vocals, it took a rather solitary experience and made it one of the biggest multiplayer phenomenons of this generation. As a franchise, Rock Band has set the standard that all rhythm games should aspire for. Based on its merits alone, this game would have made my list regardless. However, it appears so high up because of the life-changing impact its had on my life.
Commander Shepard has the best of friends. While there are so many wonderful aspects to Mass Effect 2, from its great combat, to its wonderful story, this is a game that I feel is defined by the relationships you make with your crew.
How often does a video game make you question your own humanity? The Walking Dead does throughout in brilliant fashion. At every turn, the game puts you in one terrible circumstance after the next, demanding that you make one gut-wrenching decision after another. By the end of its 5 episode run, I was moved to tears.
For me, Borderlands was the ultimate ‘don’t know it til you try it’ game of the generation. Leading up to its release, nothing about it sounded like something I wanted to play. However, after all of the positive buzz, I figured that I should get around to it eventually for academic purposes. By the end of my 100-plus-hour run, I might as well have been rewarded with a Ph.D, as I explored every nook and cranny of that game.
During Black Friday, I bought a copy of LEGO: Marvel Super Heroes. Historically, I haven’t been a fan of the LEGO games, as I don’t have fun playing them. Quite frankly, I suck at them. I always get stuck on the puzzles, even though they’re designed for little kids to figure out. In spite of that, I still bought this in hopes that the Marvel license and a sale price of $25 would be the turning point. After two hours of disappointing play time, I packed it up and traded it in.
The “I normally don’t like this style but…” purchase is one that, in hindsight, I make way too often.
I’ll never forget my first foray into Rapture. Before the game came out, I hopped into the demo with no idea of what I was getting myself into. From the moment that bathysphere went underwater, I was hooked. Below the ocean was the world of Rapture; an underwater dystopia that was beautiful in a way I’d never seen in a video game before. Once inside, the story that unfolded rose to a dramatic crescendo…and stopped. When that promo screen enticing you to buy the full game appeared, I just had to have this game.
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Season 2 of The Walking Dead video game puts you in the shoes of Clementine. Despite being a little bit older and painfully aware of the world around her, she’s still very much a child. This is the theme that drives episode 1 and will likely carry through the season if she manages to make it through. After playing through the events from All That Remains, I really hope she does make it through.
Up until its release, I’d written off Catherine as a niche porno game. While there’s nothing wrong with that if you’re into that scene, that style of game is not for me. As it turns out, this is not that type of experience at all. Instead, it’s equal parts puzzle game and dating simulator. It’s also one of the most unique and awesome games to come out of this generation.
In Third Person 