My Top 8 of 2008: #1 The World Ends With You

I'm a big believer of personal preference, and since 2008 has ended, its high time to look back at the year and point out the games that grabbed my attention the most. Truthfully, I should be honest and say that I wasn't expecting much out of the games of 2008, but was I wrong or what. Sure, 2007 had "BioShock" and "Portal", heck it even had "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Halo 3", and these are all games that had incredible design, high production quality, and unique input to their respective genres, but 2008 was just as endearing in terms of quality, even if quite a few of my most anticipated were disappointing (more on that in a future blog, trust me).

So lets get this Top 8 of 2008 list started with Square Enix's "The World Ends With You".

"The World Ends With You" is a hip contemporary Japanese role playing game for the Nintendo DS that was released in the US on April 22, 2008. It follows a small group of kids (designed by "the main man" over at Square, Tetsuya Nomura) that are participating in a deadly game through the streets of a hyper stylized Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo. The group is given challenges they must complete over seven days by a mysterious group named the reapers. The story here is very well written and delivers enough surprising moments to keep you engaged, but the battle and equipment systems are where this game really shines..

In TWEWY players control two characters at once, which would seem like a small task except the developers chose to take advantage of the DS hardware by placing them on separate screens. The character on the bottom is controlled via the stylus while the character on the top is controlled using the D-pad. Two characters on different screens may seem like sheer chaos on a handheld (or a sad way to end up cross-eyed), but its actually quite manageable, and there is a setting to let the top screen be AI controlled, which helps. Equipping different pins gives your stylus character a variety of different attacks and abilities, from scorching pyro-kinetics, physical attacks, and projectile based ones as well. Each pin has its own leveling system and initial value for trade ins.



To TWEWY’s credit, the developers managed to add some unique zest to the often-rote formula of JRPs by allowing the player to up the stakes of enemy encounters. Yes, it means facing tougher enemies outside your level bracket, but the results are better items and currency, a plus given so much of this game is centered around buying decisions. This 'commerce' portion of the game is driven by brand names, just like in real life. Different neighborhoods of the Shibuya support different brands of clothes and equipment. Following the in-game neighborhood trends gives you a distinct advantage in combat with stronger resistance to attacks, or the ability to dole out more damage to enemies. If you chose to ignore the trendy consumers of Shibuya, that's fine too, and the game isn't too difficult on you if you don't. Instead, you'll influence the trend yourself by boosting the performance abilities of the brand that you're currently wearing over time, eventually making them stronger and more popular. On a whole, the entire experience in TWEWY is very user friendly and customizable.

Up until this point, I've almost given up on the JRPG genre. Clearly I haven't been interested in enough games of this type for portable systems like the DS: I tried playing the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance a while back and failed miserably to appreciate it. Crisis Core was the same problem again, only on the PSP. A great game should be driven by strong visuals, narrative, and a intricate battle system, that while nuanced, still manages to be engaging for the player and doesn't risk becoming a chore. TWEWY was an amazing experience for me in 2008 from a genre where I expected little change. Give it a go, and prepare for unique experience that manages to shake up the RPG formula in 2008.

What you should be playing in Little Big Planet.

Someone must have posted this one already considering the recent outcropping of web portals charged with sharing user levels in LBP, but I'm posting it anyway. ;)

That, and it isn't half bad for a very condensed version of a full 3-D game. If you loved "Ico", then dive in and see what this does for you.

A Brief Chat with Alex Evans Courtesy of Gamevideos.com

Little Big Planet 'Spike VGAs 2008 Interview'

Sam Kennedy, site director for 1UP.com, speaks with Alex Evan regarding the future of Little Big Planet at the Spike VGAs..

Game Diary: Left 2 Rot...

**This is a post from a few weeks ago that I sat on for a while, mostly because I've been focused on other stuff.**

I did a horrible thing my first night playing "Left 4 Dead".

I followed my self-preservation instincts and ditched my teammates, leaving them as fodder for the infected horde.

It should never be over stated that some choices, especially tough ones, aren't simple. Take our situation for example. We were surrounded on the hospital rooftop, engaging in the final rush, a final crescendo moment where waves of infected attacked us from all corners of the rooftop . Worse, we already failed three times before and although no one was frustrated yet, there were small bouts of in-fighting on th team.

But this time things were going much differently. We survived the first wave of zombies without a problem. The next obstacle came in the form of a Tank, a special infected that can take large amounts of damage and deal high damage as well. We took him out quickly. In fact, everything was looking great until the middle of the third wave. Special infected zombies managed to up our team, making us a group of desperate men. I managed to hold my own, dropping as many infected as I could.

And then the helicopter came, and along with it the pivotal choice: save my friends or make a run for the rescue copter.

The tension in this moment was palpable, the choices distinct and very clear. As much as it made sense to stick it out, grab more ammo, and save my friends from the horde, I chose the easier goal. I chose the copter and what would be my first level completed achievement.

So maybe my decision was influenced by outside achievement-whoring urges. Or maybe it was the feeling that I didn't want to chance restarting the level for the fourth time. Regardless of the initial factors I made my choice, and the results were exhilarating and still troubling for me all at once.

Yeah, the "Left 4 Dead" has a few flaws - not enough weapons, needs more maps, special infected could use a little more variety - but the experience as a whole is still amazing.

Simply said, Left 4 Dead is incredible (probably more worth it for PC owners than the way I played it, on 360) and worth your time. It punishes you relentlessly with infected hordes, it manages to be engrossing without a connected story-arc, and it presents you tough choices similar to the one I faced. I may have chosen to save myself, but who knows what you'll do given the same choice.

I'm Back on the Wii Fit Bandwagon!

**REPOSTED FROM http://ghningtest.ning.com/profiles/blog/list **

A few months ago, I made an ambitious promise to myself - that I would spend at least a month or more exercising to Nintendo's self-help/feel-good game of the year, Wii Fit. But between spending way too much time reading and working a retail job (plus school), my Wii Fit time had all but diminished.
I suppose the same thing happens to anyone that joins a gym, as those ambitious fitness promises are all too slowly broken. Missing my "Wii Fit" fitness regimen still filled me the same self-loathing you feel after weeks of skipping my workout, and then realizing that 'this time' might not have been the 'right time'. Still, I'm glad Wii Fit managed to make me more conscious of my very unhealthy diet/ lifestyle, and that's something that no other game this year could do.

That's right. Regardless of how cool it felt to parkour, I'd stand little chance scaling my house and executing graceful jumps over to my neighbors' rooftops. But getting myself to get up and stand on a scale to do Yoga poses and other stuff worked like a charm. It might lack some focus and polish (like the ability to follow a set regimen of workouts to burn fat in certain areas of the body - i.e. like my gut), but its still a good experience.

Its easy to complain that Nintendo has lost focus with the people that made their products successful. And as betrayed as core gamers have felt, there is something I feel is right with products like Wii Fit. It's a different experience and one that I welcome next to all the space marine driven shooters and open world games. Something like Wii Fit or Wii Sports is unique in and of itself. Sure, those hi-def games were much more entertaining and sported higher caliber presentations than most of the stuff on Wii, but simple fun - a.k.a. most of the stuff Nintendo's put on the Wii - is still a good thing and its still manages to be just as fun.

Its what manages to make a friendly game of Boom Blox multiplayer shift into a tense free for all. And that feeling is still alive on the Wii, despite the negative sentiment out there.

So, I for one, am glad to be right back on the scale giving it another try and slowly become more invested in my physical health. I've already admitted to myself a long time ago the affects of Wii Fit are more placebo than anything else, but I still desire something to get my physical fitness ego rolling, and for a gamer like me, making it a game is a good place to start.

(Images courtesy of Gaygamer.net and multiplayer.mtv.com)

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince

Prince of Persia is my most beloved franchise from last gen. The three prior Ubisoft games were true milestones of game design featuring grand storytelling, inspired art and engine design, and a great musical score (Yes, even the emo-inspried sequel to the original Sand's of Time continued the tradition). As the player, you deftly guided the nimble Prince past a series of twisting puzzles and dark foes trying desperately to save his homeland from the darkness affecting his world. And lets not forget the principle gameplay mechanic of the series, the actual Sands of Time - a system designed to reverse ill platforming and combat decisions to give players a second chance, a do-over to set poor choices right.

As amazing as those games were times have changed. It was only a matter of time before Ubisoft revived the Prince franchise for this console generation. Of course, few expected a complete series reboot, but it's happened. Thankfully, this new Prince is still quite nimble. He just isn't surrounded by the same old sand. Those powers are gone, replaced by this game's biggest addition - Elika, your adventure/ platforming/ combat partner in crime.

Elika's chief goal is to help the Prince. Think of her as sort of like Yorda, that silent girl from the Ico series, minus the tedious babysitting. The Prince can't advance without here. She's playable, in a sense - her attack moves are mapped to your controller, but that doesn't stop her from competently keeping up with the vaulting prowess of the Prince - in fact, she helps him double jump. Elika's focused attacks weaken enemies, putting the Prince in a prime attack position to defeat powerful creatures. As much as Elika's design makes her more of an assist character, she also shares an agenda with the Prince - her main purpose is to harness spirit orbs that unlock her powers to rejuvenate the corrupted land.

The inclusion of an assist character in the new Prince of Persia game represents a major shift in the series' design. The focus seems to be on making the game accessible and remove the punitive measures commonly associated with the adventure/ platforming genre. It affects this game in slightly unusual ways; there aren't many ways to die in this adventure. Miss a jump, and Elika extends a hand, saving you from a terrible demise (and putting you back on the platform you jumped from). Elika will also come to your rescue in combat, saving you from a potentially lethal blow.

As much as this makes her the opposite of a damsel in distress, the results left an uneasy feeling for me.

As impressive as this design goal might be - less frustrating platforming, seamless in-game checkpoints whenever you misstep -, but how will removing death for the player affect the final game? See, taking away penalties is fine to an extent, but the unfortunate side affect is that it makes this game feel way too easy. Yes, dying/ losing in games is an artificial consequence, but it's still a consequence or more importantly, an outcome. The penalty forces players to learn what killed them, or what not to do. It contributes to a game and adds a certain amount of risk. Miss that jump, die, and go back to the beginning. As boring as loading screens can be, this formula is something that we're used to, and removing it (while helpful) is quite jarring.

It can also be argued that using the Sands of Time removed any sort of punitive consequence, but I'd argue that while it did in some respect, the mechanic is slightly different because you controlled that system directly. If a certain amount of time passed, you'd be unable to rewind time and die. If you ran out of sand - the fuel that makes time manipulation possible -, you'd die. Maybe my whole remove-death and-game-is-easy-mode argument is invalid, but it's still worth considering.

The new Prince of Persia game really has the potential to be many things. It's again a visual graphic benchmark and the platforming mechanics are quite solid; sporting fluid animation and some great new tricks. If it can mimic the strong presentation of the last trilogy, then Ubisoft has another chart-whopping hit on their hands. But it'll be interesting to see what the fans think of the new game. After all, what happens when a game takes away the ability to lose?

Only On Xbox 360?

"Gears of War 2" is finally out at retail to equal amounts of both hype and rapturous rejoicing.

Okay, so I haven't played Gears 2 yet, but plenty of evidence suggests how awesome it is. But ignore that user score, that score is bogus ;).

But the bigger take away for me is this: Now that Epic has released a proper Gears of War sequel on the Xbox 360, what will happen to the future of the intellectual property? According to Epic's deal with Microsoft, they retain intellectual property ownership after the fulfilling their contractual agreement. Will Epic take one of the most notobale franchises of this console generation multiplatform? Or will they ignore the potential multi-billion dollar sales, and submit to another exclusive agreement with the boys at Redmond?


Honestly, Epic can go either way, but the wait for their next big announcement will be tantalizing, and the end result will still undoubtedly surprise.