I'd say no unless you want to play through it primarily as a shooter, because the realtime combat is significantly improved. In much the same way I'd recommend Mass Effect 2 over 1 if you're playing it as a shooter even though I think ME1 is a far better RPG.
__________________ "Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how theTatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan
I'd say no unless you want to play through it primarily as a shooter, because the realtime combat is significantly improved. In much the same way I'd recommend Mass Effect 2 over 1 if you're playing it as a shooter even though I think ME1 is a far better RPG.
Yeah probably not then, I'm a massive fan of the Elder Scrolls series but just can't get into Fallout for some reason.
When I played Fallout 3 it felt like I was just playing a very bland Oblivion that was re-skinned as a post-apocalyptic game.
I'm pretty sure I tried out New Vegas also, and that wasn't much better for me either.
In third place: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4, PC, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, Commodore Vic20, Spectrum QL)
Never have I been so conflicted about a game.
For the first 40 hours I was playing, from a gameplay standpoint, probably the best action game I had ever experienced - Tight controls, satisfying combat, a huge tech tree and fantastic visuals, culminating in a memorable boss fight.
As chapter two wore on the cracks started to appear. Missions began to become repetitive to the extent that you're actually replaying earlier ones verbatim (at a higher difficulty level, granted) from chapter one. Then there was the entire plot strand left hanging in the air - suspicious when Kojima had earlier promised five complete game worlds, with MGSV ending up having just the four.
This felt like a game which had either been released much too soon or the development team had run out of money...
I can't really comment on the microtransactions and being forced into the online FOB section as these were patched in after I had completed the game, but there has been much grumbling from fans.
I'm taking a 'glass half full' approach to MGSV because its highs are stellar. It's a fantastic port across all formats as well - The PC version runs brilliantly on wide varieties of hardware while the (new) consoles have something rare: an action game running at 60 fps.
We don't have the melodrama that accompanied earlier Metal Gear Solid games but I didn't mind the change of pace. There is a mountain of exposition contained in the tapes and one character's story arc had me genuinely moved - In an open world game this is rare.
If chapter 2 had been half as accomplished as chapter 1 then MGSV would have been in the running for my game of the decade. Even without this, the game's brilliant.
Depends on what you didn't like about the 3rd, they added some things and took away some. Using guns feels much better, settlements are interesting, (but could use some work) and Dogmeat is more adorable than ever.
I didn't like the way the 3rd looked, I thought the graphics were muddy and the world bland. There was a second in the beginning when you first escape the underground settlement when you look out into the open wasteland that I was kinda excited (similar to Oblivion when you first escape the sewers and you get your first look at the game world) but that excitement wore out so fast when I actually started playing.
It just didn't immerse me at all. I can barely remember anything else like the combat and story and whatnot.
In third place: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Rep for this... but I can't help but be disappointed with MGSV. I never even finished it, I stopped playing a little bit into Act 2. The breaking point for me was when you started to have to REPLAY MISSIONS FROM ACT 1!!!
Seriously... I was getting annoyed with the side-ops; hostage rescue mission number 14, take out the tank unit mission number 8 etc etc and then when they started pulling that crap I just had it.
I wanted story! I wanted the MGS-style cutscenes! All the cutscenes ended way too soon and just didn't have the flavor the old ones did.
The underwhelming story combined with the constant and endless recycling of missions and areas really brought this down for me. There were some glimpses of greatness, the gameplay for the most part is pretty good and some parts of the story did have real potential but seemed to fall flat.
I know that I should actually finish the game before really judging it. I am planning on finishing it sometime—but I just got so tired of the mindless, repetitive, endless side missions and recycled first act missions.
I wouldn't even have this as game of the year... let alone game of the decade. Imo this isn't even on the same level as MGS 1, 3, or 4. Maybe on the same level as 2 though.
Cutscenes ended too soon? I wanted story? Man, this is everything wrong with games today. Films, that's what you want. Films and tv, not games.
That is true, most next-gen games today have very underwhelming stories to them. Also inb4 anyone says "they mainly focus on online and multiplayer now" cause I know all that. Why does focusing on multiplayer affect the writing department so much though?
Also, if you've played the previous Metal Gear games, I think you'll know where I'm coming from. Their campaigns were phenomenal!
I was fine with the trade off between traditional MGS camp melodrama and the need to have a coherent open world game - his would have been really difficult to pull off with 15 minute cutscenes every half hour.
Yep, the second half is majorly disappointing but the first chapter is everything a modern action game should be. Chapter two has the same gameplay, of course, but it felt incomplete/rushed to a noticeable degree.
Sorry man, health issues. I have a note from my mum.
In second place: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (PS4, PC, Xbox One)
I loved the first two Witcher games despite quite a few things, but mainly despite the combat. The first game's had a rhythmical clicking mechanic which was novel, if nothing else, while Witcher II eschewed this for more conventional hack 'n' slash controls.
Frustrating and half baked hack 'n' slash controls.
The rise in popularity of Dark Souls meant that CDPR could not afford to get away with anything less than solid for the third Witcher game's fighting. Fortunately it's, while still not perfect and miles away from Dark Souls new standard, solid.
The rest of the game is a tour de france force in how to do an open world action RPG - A believable, lore-drenched fantasy world containing a huge, meandering, mature story quest and 100s (possibly a slight exaggeration, but there's an almost obscene number of them) of well written side missions.
The cast of characters is a memorable one with just enough fan service to keep existing Witcher nerds happy while adding a host of new heroes and villains. Gerald is still as delightfully taciturn as ever and an example of the voiced protagonist done properly - He has character and a past but just enough so that you can play him however you wish and have no conversations feel out of place.
Add huge amounts of meaningful loot, stunning visuals (especially the lighting) and free DLC every week (a marketing ploy but a successful one) and you've got a game that I was over the moon with from beginning to end.
I say "from beginning to end" but must point out here that Witcher III suffers to an extent with a problem that the previous games have - It's got a soggy middle. You spend far too much time on a particular quest path and that might be something which would irritate more casual players - I didn't mind it (although I most certainly did in Witcher 1 & 2) here because any dips in the story's pace afforded me ample opportunity to go a side-questin'.
There aren't many games where I'll sink 100 hours into finishing then immediately start again in New Game + at a harder difficulty. I did with Witcher III.
Oh man, and the music! I still get the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when I hear the battle theme.
Rep for Witcher 3! I agree it is a great game, and quite possibly the best looking next-gen console game so far. Definitely a game of the year contender for me!
Life Is Strange (PS4, PC, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, ColecoVision)
This one surprised me, it really did. It's been such a strong year for games in genres I like, and I end up giving my GOTY to an episodic adventure game about teenage girls?
Yep. And I'm 100% happy with that.
You play Max, an 18 year old student coming back to her home town to enrol in a prestigious photography class. One day she witnesses a murder and life gets ... well ... life gets a bit mixed up.
I'm loath to say too much more concerning plot apart from: This game goes places. It really does.
The game plays much like the recent episodic releases from Telltale, The Walking Dead being the most well known. It's so much better, however, and you feel that your choices matter in a way that the Telltale games ('soandso will remember that') can only dream of. The writing can get a bit clunky but I found that easy to forgive, with the time travel mechanic the icing on the cake - The resulting puzzles elevate Life Is Strange far above the interactive novel category.
Not everyone you meet is likeable but they're all well rounded characters with a humanity to them that's not often found in games.
I don't think I've ever played a warmer, more sincere game than this. The last game to make this much of an impression on me was Deadly Premonition, which is now firmly in my all-time top ten.
We have fairly similar taste in games, so I find these write-ups and lists (and recommendations) very useful. But even when we differ, the reasons for liking or disliking things are always solid and interesting to hear. I'm way behind on a lot of these, and probably will be for the next couple of months, but you've made keeping up with the best games a lot easier on my schedule, so I owe you a huge thanks!
I hope you do one of these every year. Or heck, even a couple of backward-looking ones.
The Mass Effect games are great. Dragon Age games are also made by Bioware and are pretty much just fantasy versions of Mass Effect but the lore in both game series are strong. I played The Witcher 2 but I just couldn't get into the game series. The controls were very clunky for me. And Fallout 4, like seriously the best game I've played this year. I have never had any interest in the Metal Gears franchise (mostly because I have an Xbox) as I'm not a Anime fan in the slightest. I have not played Life is Strange personally but I have watch playthroughs of it and the game looks very well made and it is pretty much a mix of the Telltale games and that Time shift game that came out back in 2007.
Mucho gracias para de list migo'. I would love to do one, but it would only have 3-4 games and consist of "I liked it" reviews. I will finish playing my nightmare and LiS will be the next game I play (as long as it is before March ).
In the context of the games you played that I did as well, this has to be really good.
I have been playing Witcher 3 recently. Found it vastly superior to Fallout 4. Really amazing almost perfect game. It's main problem for me are the unresponsive controls. Though I guess it was made in that way. Have you played Pillars of Eternity and Age of Decadence?
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, but it will be a complete surprise now. March on!
Films, that's what you want. Films and tv, not games.
