#581 Fallout: New Vegas (Playstation 3) – Summer 2015
This game has five expansions and they're all great. Each one tells a different story and the game almost takes on a Twilight Zone type episodic feel because of it. I started this one way back in mid-2012 after Fallout 3 and played a lot of it then, but it didn't grab me the same way FO3 did at the time. FO3 has that incredible setting with post-apocalypse Washington DC, while this is less post-apocalyptic and more just a desert. It's got a completely different mood.
This one feels more like a Western, more like Twilight Zone, more like something out of the 1950's. FO3 feels more futuristic, with lasers and whatnot being emphasized while this game errs more towards the classical weapons.
I finally got around to resuming the game here in 2015, and this time it did grab me, so I pretty much did everything. I platinumed it in one playthrough by making backup saves at the main story branches - there are two points in the story where it splits into branches depending on your decisions, meaning there are two versions of the second act and four versions of the third act...I played 'em all.
Most Memorable Part: Reaching New Vegas itself, looking out over the landscape and seeing all the neon lights.
Favorite Weapon: The silver, ornate-etched 1911 pistol.
Which is Better, This or FO3?: That is a tough call, they're both tremendous games, and they're different in a lot of ways. If it came down to it, I would definitely say New Vegas lands better and is more memorable. There are still people playing this game today and finding new things to like about it.
The Only Downside: The game is very brown, in true-to-life late 2000's video game fashion. Very brown and very desolate. The desolation is the point, though. That's what makes the game: The sense of isolation in a Western-themed world, setting out and getting into adventures / helping random folk with their problems / finding out the secrets behind the gleaming facade of New Vegas itself.
Best DLC: There isn't one, they're all really freaking good in different ways. New Vegas might have the best DLCs of any game in the entire PS3/360 console generation. No, I'm not kidding or being hyperbolic about it. The only competition I can think of is probably Dark Souls II, but aside from Frozen Eleum Loyce being amazing, the other two DLCs there are very much "you have to be a hardcore fan" type of DLCs. New Vegas on the other hand has five DLCs that run the spectrum where anyone can find something they love.
Each is basically a story unto itself, turning the game into Twilight Zone style serials for a while. They add a lot to the game's runtime, too, and they did a much better job with these than Fallout 3's DLCs (which were made by different developers, but yeah). And Fallout 3 had great DLCs, too. These are just on another level. I remember liking Old World Blues the most, but Lonesome Road also had a pretty strong impact on me. So it's likely going to come down to one of those.
#582 Witcher 2 (Xbox 360) – Summer 2015
At this point I wanted to play Witcher 3 and figured it'd be a good idea to play the predecessor first while I had access to a 360. Funny thing is I then proceeded to never get to Witcher 3. One of my biggest missed games to date, along with Breath of the Wild and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. (That last one incidentally inspired the other two in a huge way).
This one was a pretty solid game, but on the easy side with lots of overpowered consumables. I remember this being the first time a last-gen game really started to look dated to me compared to the new PS4 stuff. It was hard to go back to the XBox 360 to play this. That's the cost of advancement on tech, eventually the modern TVs just don't jive with the old consoles anymore. Nor do your eyeballs, after getting used to the new tech. And there was a big gulf between the PS3 and the PS4 visually, especially the larger your TV got.
#583 The Unfinished Swan (Playstation 3 and 4) – Summer 2015
Sad game here from an indie developer. Doubt very many people played it. I ran through it twice, once on PS3 and once on PS4. I believe it was one of the Playstation Network's free games at the time. I considered counting this as two different games, but since they're identical, I'll give 'em one slot rather than blatantly padding my numbers. Why did I play it twice? Once I realized there was a prettier version, I decided it was worth another run anyway. It's pretty short.
The game itself...is really something, actually. I don't know for sure but I suspect the creator of the game may have used it to help cope with a loss. The game is about retracing the artwork of your character's lost loved one as a way to get to know them better now that they're no longer around.
#584 Final Fantasy Type-0 (Playstation 4) – Summer 2015
It's pretty rare for me to absolutely despise a game. Well, I absolutely despised this game. Why? Not even sure. It just rubbed me the wrong way on a near-constant basis. The sad thing is, I wanted something like this for a long time, a Final Fantasy war game that kinda served as a prequel to the series, using some of the concepts the series used to such great effect. The tropes, monsters, character types, etc.
Has a dark and foreboding mood throughout and is one of those rare games where the bad guys win a lot of the time. I wish you played as actual grizzled military commanders for this war instead of a bunch of right out of the academy rookies who are somehow smarter and better fighters than everyone else in the land, and of course save everyone. Because it just had to take place in a Japanese High School, I guess. That's basically what the military academy is. There were too many characters to get attached to anyone, the battle system was pretty stiff for an action-RPG, and it just ran afoul of me the entire way through. Well, at least some of the female characters were pretty.
...except they're all supposed to be teenagers, so I can't even enjoy their hot little outfits without feeling like a weird neckbearded reddit mod.
In retrospect I really should have liked this, with the "magitek war" type setting. Like I said, I always wanted to see this sort of backstory in the Final Fantasy universe. I just wish it were actually backstory for something. It was supposed to be a prequel to Final Fantasy XV at first, I think, and somewhere in development that just sorta fell off. I think they were both supposed to be part of the FFXIII series at that time too. Who knows, the FF series was a mess by then. One of the reasons I haven't covered it on here is that is just becomes such a mess as it goes on. As mentioned earlier, FFVII Rebirth is very likely going to land on here, though, because I want to revisit that game and talk about it. It's just a matter of finding time.
Posts HERE. I toughed this out enough to bang out six posts about it despite despising everything about it. Well.
#585 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Playstation 4) – Summer 2015
^That super-serious picture absolutely landed a Game Informer cover.
The "real" MGSV after the appetizer of Ground Zeroes. Well, I thought GZ was more refined and polished, while this felt more like a big empty open world with few things that made any major impact. The first time through it was totally carried by the story and wanting to see what'd happen next. Lot of questions were asked early on and the search for answers kept you playing. Also liked seeing Big Boss' metamorphosis into the lord of Outer Heaven, though the whole thing with him growing horns was a bit on-the-nose.
All of that said, the moment to moment gameplay felt pretty dry here, and the big open world wasn't what I was looking for in an MGS game. Like I said, it felt empty, for the most part. Going around taking out enemy camps is fun to a point (and this might have the best raw gameplay of any game in the series) but it felt like it was trying to be a Far Cry game instead. When I play MGS games I'd rather have MGS gameplay, I guess, with tight confined levels and corridors to explore. Not a giant open world full of empty space and not a lot of focus or direction.
Post HERE.
#586 Mortal Kombat X (Playstation 4) – Summer 2015
While MK9 rebooted the series by essentially retelling the first three games, MK10 here went a step beyond by retelling MK4 and then having a time jump to show how things turned out for the new set of characters. It's a really good game and a worthy sequel to MK9, even though it isn't covering beloved story elements like that game was.
Favorite Character: Jacqui Briggs, Jax's incredibly gorgeous daughter
Post HERE.
#587 Street Fighter IV (Playstation 3) – Fall 2015
At this point I was on Street Fighter series mop-up, which meant knocking off some of the ones I missed. This was the latest one, at the time, I believe.
Favorite Character: Akuma, who is unbelievably badass in this game. The color scheme, the look, everything about him is insanely cool. It's no wonder they made him the cover image for Ultra Street Fighter IV, the later revision that I haven't played.
But Why: Why isn't Kenny Omega playing Akuma in the upcoming movie? That casting seems like a layup.
#588 Street Fighter II (Super NES) – Fall 2015
Kinda hard to believe that it took me until Fall 2015 to play the original Street Fighter II, isn't it? Well, there's a reason for that. As a kid, the one I'd rent, borrow, and probably even play in arcades was Super Street Fighter II, which in my mind obsoleted the original due to having twice as many characters. And I was right. This first one lacks my character of choice Fei Long, but it does feel like a real classic that I was about 20 years overdue in spending some time with.
Favorite Character: Dhalsim, because he was great for someone who was terrible at the game. Can't figure out consistent projectiles? Just launch projectile-distance kicks!
Favorite Tune: Final battle with Michael Bison
#589 Street Fighter II Turbo (Super NES) – Fall 2015
And here's one I was really interested in as a kid (though again, by the time I could actually rent games, Super SF2 was out). It moves faster and it adds the four bosses from the previous game as playable fighters. Imagine if Mortal Kombat got a 1.5 version that added playable Goro? That would have been huge. At least until people realized there isn't actually a whole lot you can do with Goro, like I did with MK Trilogy.
Favorite Character: Vega. Jumping off the walls, sharp claws. He was great as the final boss of Mega Man X2.
#590 Uncharted 2 (Playstation 3) – Fall 2015
Speaking of long-overdue, after finishing the first one four years earlier, I finally made some time to take on Uncharted 2. One of the best games on the PS3 (some would say THE best) and I'm not here to argue with that. While I've got plenty of others I like more, this game is top-shelf in every sense of the word, with an insanely-high quality level from start to finish. This and Uncharted 3 were a great pair of games for me to, basically, see the PS3 out with, since this was the last year that it had any real prominence. I also replayed the PS4 remaster of this game, but it isn't gonna count on the list because it's identical.
#591 Uncharted 3 (Playstation 3) – Fall 2015
Generally regarded as a bit of a step down from the previous game, I found this to be just as fun and interesting. I might have even enjoyed this one MORE than Uncharted 2. This is a straight continuation of that game, with more world-traveling to explore lost forgotten locales, the characters are still quite likeable (and now you've got a lot of history with them), and it's the closest you can get to playing out a movie series in real-time. Without ever falling into the Beyond: Two Souls trap of feeling more like a movie than a game. This isn't a semi-interactive story, it's instead a perfect hybridization of video game and blockbuster film where you never feel left-out.
Unfortunately, my attempts to get into Uncharted 4 after this fell totally flat, and it ended up getting shelved for many, many years. Though I eventually did manage to get it done. Not sure why Uncharted 4 was so much harder to get into than the others. It felt like it went overboard with the puzzles and their solutions got a little too obscure, I guess.
Next: From Software returns to dominate another post as I turn over 2015's month of falling leaves (aka Halloween) to another of their masterpieces.
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