Today is Wednesday, which means a new amazing post by everyone’s favorite NATE LILES! As I have not had time to play anything worth reviewing over the past week I have decided to make my final post of 2009 about my top nine games of the year. Many of you will notice that I am far from the first person to do this, and this is because I am unoriginal and lazy. I encourage all my NATE LILES fans to post their own personal lists in the comments here! So, in no particular order, here is the long-anticipated list!
1. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - Who knew that a game “based” off 50 Cent would turn out to actually be good? Much of the fun of the game is derived from how over the top and ridiculous it is, but the developers knew this and did not hold back any punches. I mean, how can one go wrong with a game that allows you to yell a homosexual slur at a terrorist at the press of a button?
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum – I do not think there was a doubt in anyone’s mind as to how good this game would turn out to be. Not only is the combat smooth, but the game looks absolutely beautiful as well. I have even heard from people who do not like the Batman franchise that they really enjoyed the game.
3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story – I have really enjoyed each game in the Mario & Luigi franchise, but none as much as the most recent addition. The addition of Bowser as a playable character instantly shot the game into my top nine.
4. Ghostbuster: The Video Game – For a while nobody could decide if this was going to actually turn out to be good, but all those fears were extinguished when the game finally released. As a major fan of the Ghostbuster’s franchise since I was young, having a game based off the movies that was actually good was a more than welcome treat.
5. Scribblenauts – I knew this would be one of my favorite games of the year pretty much from the get go. I spent about an hour on the title screen writing different words and laughing to myself when they showed up on the screen. You know the game will be fun when typing in “Game of the Year” creates a copy of the game you are playing.
6. Infamous – This is one of those games I had a hard time putting down. The way the main character Cole jumped from rooftop to rooftop was incredibly fluid and worked well for the open world of the game. This is one of those games one can easily sink hours upon hours into.
7. Dragon Age: Origins – I feel this game will be on the list of pretty much anyone who has played it. The various story lines make the game worth playing several times, as does the hilarious writing. The RPG combat is well-done, but that is no surprise coming from Bioware.
8. 1 vs. 100 – While some may not consider this a true “game”, I have sunk countless hours into answering the most random trivia questions created by man. I will often hop onto my 360 thinking to only play one round, and end up still playing a couple hours later. It is even more fun when you get a group of friends to play with you and try to trick your friends into answering wrong.
9. Shadow Complex – Incredible Unreal engine graphics: check. Metroidvania-style gameplay: check. Nolan North’s hilarious and snarky voice-acting: check. These three elements combine to create one of the best games I have ever played. The only thing wrong with the game is that I wish it lasted forever, so I could always have something new to play in it.
And there, my dearest of doves, is my list. Now I ask of you: which of those do you agree with? Which do you not agree with? Are there any games you feel I should have added? How much do you love me? Tell me all this and more in the comments!
Lusipurr
Bup
Ginia
Lane
Eric J
2009.12.30 at 17:36
Nate, you are most assuredly my second favourite NATE LILES ever. Second only to NATELILES my Hunter’s pet piggy in WoW. (pics coming, maybe!)
If I had played, like, ANY of the games in your list, I would probably agree with them. Except for 50 cent. On principle. Me so sowwy.
2009.12.30 at 18:52
50 Cent Blood on the Sand? No.
2009.12.30 at 18:54
I’m nominating Blood on the Sand for our next playthrough.
2009.12.30 at 19:57
There’s something to be said for a game that knows what it is and embraces it whole-heartedly. While 50 Cent: BotS isn’t really my type of game, just the description alone almost made me want to seek it out when it was dirt cheap.
Sadly, I’ve only played 2 games on that list, though, so here’s my “Top 9″ because I’m even more unoriginal than NATE LILES!
9.) Red Faction: Guerilla
8.) Valkyria Chronicles
7.) Prototype
6.) inFamous
5.) Borderlands
4.) Chrono Trigger: DS
3.) Dragon Age: Origins
2.) TF2
1.) Persona 3 (and 4)
Just for clarity’s sake, these are game I played this year, not games that came out this year (since I’ve only finished 9 games that came out this year, there wouldn’t be much competition otherwise).
2009.12.30 at 20:38
(Favorite games i have played this year)
1. Beatles Rock Band
2. MGS1
3. Persona 3
4. Final Fantasy VII (Beat it for the first time this year)
5. Chrono Trigger
6. Kingdom Hearts Dumb name
7. Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core
8. Valkyria Chronicles
9. Legend of Zelda: Links Chocho Adventure
2009.12.30 at 23:46
Blood on the Sand!
2009.12.31 at 00:24
No one has Uncharted 2 on there list? I’m disappointed.
2009.12.31 at 00:26
That’s because it’s UNCHARTABLE!
2009.12.31 at 01:31
That is the only excuse I will accept.
2009.12.31 at 08:30
I haven’t played Uncharted 2 yet (just got a copy on Saturday), otherwise I’m sure it would have been on my list :D.
2009.12.31 at 11:28
I know you left me because I am not into videogames,
but Nate ; I still love you.
I beg you to reconsider.
Megan Fox is nothing but a skank, please dump her.
All I want is you to come back to me.
Hearts,
Jess
PS: Please let me be your Cooking Mama again.
2009.12.31 at 11:39
@ Nate: I have to say, Scribblenauts is an AWESOME game. Cthulu is in it! That’s win right there.
Can I make a Top 9 List of 2009’s played games? I played a lot of classic games I missed this year, so my list will look really weird.
1) Dissidia Final Fantasy
2) LittleBig Planet (PSP)
3) Final Fantasy VII (I beat it for the first time this year too, hi-five volke!)
4) Final Fantasy IV
5) Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
6) Final Fantasy XII – Revenant Wings
7) Metroid Prime
8) Valkryie Profile
9) Pokemon Diamond
Wow, I really love Final Fantasy.
2009.12.31 at 12:23
@KJJ: Absolutely nothing wrong with that, it’s an excellent series (although I’m surprised at how many people just finished FFVII this year :D).
2009.12.31 at 13:22
1) New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2) Dissidia: Final Fantasy
3) Final Fantasy VII (PSN)
4) Pokemon Diamond
5) Punch-Out Wii
6) Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
7) Castlevania The Adventures: Rebirth (Wiiware)
8) The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
9) Metal Gear Solid (PSN)
I had a hard time finding my top 9 mainly because I only had three systems, a Wii, PSP, and a DSi so it was rather hard in some areas to find really good games out of those systems that I played this year, but I found them. Hopefully I will have a PS3 next year to make my list for next year a bit smoother.
2010.01.01 at 14:03
@ Syrek: Wow, exactly the same for me, except I do have the Gamecube and the PS2, which have good games, but are, admittedly, last gen consoles. Instead of playing recent games, I find myself playing Final Fantasy X for the eighth time, or wasting hours on Harvest Moon :P Is it just me, or are most of the decent games for the DS now Square Enix titles?
2010.01.01 at 19:37
@kenjujuu: I do have a PS2 and a gamecube, however I don’t really use them anymore seeing as how I own a Wii and I’ve played my PS2 games to death, mainly FF IX, X, and XII along with some Kingdom Hearts games. Also the list I created were all games that came out in 2009 in some form or another and out of the many other games that came out.
I’m looking forward to 2010 game lineup for both the Wii, DS and PSP and hopefully before the middle of the year I will have a PS3.
And it’s true, many of the decent, if not exceptional games on the DS are from Square Enix. However the first party titles do not fail to disappoint either but many of the third party titles on the DS do. Alot of garbage on the DS and Wii due to the casual gaming market. Oh well. *shrugs*
I found myself playing alot of games that did not come out this year, or even last decade for that matter. Not that it’s a bad thing or anything of course. I was finally able to play FFIX after skipping over FFVII and FFIX in favour of FFX.
2010.01.02 at 08:15
@ Syrek (@DG): That makes sense – I think bringing FFVII to PSN this year was a really clever choice from Sony, since everyone and their mother is waiting for the remake, and this will hold off people (like me) who didn’t want to play a small fortune for the original discs so they could play it for the first time. FFVIII is out now, so I’m playing that for the first time too, but I hate the battle system with a passion, and would prefer the blobby FFVII graphics, to be honest.
Which first-party titles for the DS, excluding Mario, are really worth purchasing though? I’m really struggling to think of any, aside from Nintendo Presents Style Boutique that my sister bought earlier this year and hasn’t stopped playing since. That’s not a good thing though; it looks simple, and childish, and very boring.
And did you buy the original discs to play IX, or did you crack your PSP?
2010.01.02 at 12:01
@Kenjujuu: Yes, it was the perfect move for Sony to make in regards to FFVII, I’m suprised they didn’t do it sooner to be honest but oh well. I too am playing FFVIII on my PSP for the first time and I must say that in all honesty, I hate the battle system and the junction system greatly. I tried my best to like both systems but failed miserably when I had to start over because I realized that the more stocked up magic of one kind, say Thunder for instance, the stronger it will be when you attach it to a stat or use it on an enemy. What a dumb move! I mean half the time you’ll be drawing magic from your enemies because you want to be as powerful as you can be. They had an almost perfect battle system in regards to FFVII, why then did they feel they needed to completly change it? ARRGGGHHHHH!!!
Anyways, rant aside, Mario Kart DS and New Super Mario Bros. comes to mind as a few worth purchasing titles for the DS but maybe that’s just me. Mario and Luigi Partners and Time and Bowsers Inside Story looks to be promising from the reviews and such. And that’s pretty much all I can remember in regards to good Mario games on the DS.
Yes, I purchased FFIX through Amazon and played it on my PS2. I had to buy a new PS2 just to play Disc 3 and 4 because my PS2 was the first model of the PS2 and it was over 5 years old and collecting alot of dust and for some reason it could barely read the discs if not at the price of making rings on the disc itself. So I bought a new PS2 slim and instead of the load time for the disc to start off being over 2 minutes, it took 5 seconds to load up and disc 3 and 4 worked perfectly. It’s sad though that I was forced to spend $100 more just to finish the game but I suppose it was worth the hefty price tag.
Also, I have no idea how to crack a PSP. I’m not that creative or that smart when it comes to hacking and pulling apart technology. ;)
2010.01.02 at 23:39
@Syrek/KJJ: Agreed, I think the biggest problem with FFVII (and VIII and, hopefully, IX) on PSN is that it didn’t happen sooner. I was able to use the PSN release to get my sister interested in it, and she’s playing through that now. I’d never have been able to get her to play it on a in-livingroom console, but having it on the PSP makes her infinitely more likely to try.
As for why they changed the battle system between VII and VIII, they do that between every FF game. Sometimes it goes well (personally, I really enjoyed FFX’s battle system and the sphere grid), and sometimes, not so much. I’m glad they keep changing things up, though. As much as I love the FFVII battle system, I would want them to just iterate on it for the rest of the series.
From my understanding, most people who played through FFIX for the site did so on hacked PSPs. Personally, I can’t find my FFIX PS1 copy and my PSP is not hacked, so I didn’t take part in the playthrough. I will say, though, I’ve been looking for an excuse to play through IX again. Hopefully it’ll be released on PSN soon so I can play it on my PSP with minimal effort (although, from what I’ve read, hacking the PSP isn’t all that difficult, depending on the hardware version you have). When I played through IX the first time, I didn’t particularly care for it. I think my biggest issue was that I started the FF series after IX came out, and played VII, VIII, and IX in rapid succession. Not only was I fairly burnt out on playing nothing but JRPGs at that point, I hadn’t played any of the “old school” FF games at the time, so FFIX’s setting was something I really didn’t expect, which left a bad taste in my mouth. I think if I played it again now that I have a broader understanding of the series, I’d enjoy it quite a bit more.
2010.01.03 at 00:42
Just put it on my PSP, not that I’ve got the time to really play it.
2010.01.03 at 13:15
@Syrek: Wow, that’s some dedication! Was it really worth that much to play FFIX? (I speak as someone who is trying to play it on the SLOWEST EMULATOR ALIVE.) Although if your PS2 isn’t working, you may as well get a new one, as there are SO many games on that console, and (for some inexplicable reason) more to come! And hacking a PSP has something to do with a custom battery, I think, but I’m lazy, technologically backward and skint, so yeah :P maybe SiliconNoob can explain the overly complicated process!
@DG: I agree completely – I played 10 first of all, and most of my friends hate the sphere grid with a passion, but I loved it – it’s definitely a unique way of levelling and gaining abilities. I didn’t like having to use spheres and items to give my aeons abilities though, that was dumb :)
I think the problem with FFVIII is that it makes the game really hard to get into with such a weird battle system – no one has the patience to go through all the tutorials given at Squall’s SeeD desk thing, and Quistis is not all that helpful. I still don’t really get junctioning, and if magic is going to be like an item, give me some from the start, or be able to buy loads straight away like in the old style games. Don’t make we waste valuable turn time stealing magic! FFVII was really simple, being built on the basic premise of ‘equip the materia, you have the ability’, and if you’re going to have a new kind of system, it should at least be simple, otherwise no-one will understand it.
oh, and BTW Darth, how’s Lusipurr’s Fountain of Perpetual Disappoitment going? (If it still is…) I have Christmas money, and if it’s near completion, I may just go out and buy a 360.
2010.01.03 at 15:47
Really? I’ve never known anybody who didn’t like the sphere grid. You obviously need better friends :F. I’m probably not the best person to ask about that, though, since I even enjoyed Blitzball to an extent.
I’ve always thought the best part about the FFVIII’s leveling system is that it’s actually in your best interest to keep your character’s levels as low as possible until the very end. If I’m remembering correctly, I got to disc 4 with my main party at level 15 or so. Besides that, though, my problem with the junctioning system was that it made me even LESS likely to use magic than usual, since it would effectively lower my characters stats (I hardly ever use magic in FF games as it is, since I usually rely on straight attacks more than anything else). FFVII and FFX are really my favorites, I think, just because of the degree of flexibility they give you in character creation. I really prefer being able to re-arrange my abilities as I want, as opposed to FFIX’s system (and most old-school iterations), where one character is the black mage, one is the white mage, one’s the thief, ect.
As for LFoPD, I’m still working on it, but it’s still quite a ways from being finished, sorry :f. I hit a bit of a dry spell since Thanksgiving due to holiday nonsense combined with the dirth of great games that always comes out this time of year. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things as soon as I get home, though, and get the ball rolling on that again. There’s still plenty of other (less disappointing) reasons to get a 360, though :D.
2010.01.04 at 06:03
@ DG: I LOVED Blitzball! I load up my save file on that game and say ‘I am GOING to do the capture the monster thing and get Auron’s Ultimate Weapon!’ and then I spend three hours playing the Championship :P
And yes, I think that’s probably part of the reason why FFVII is so popular, because it allows for customization without making it ridiculously complicated. And seriously? Level 15?! That’s ridiculous and very impressive :D
And LFoPD is a very good reason to get a 360 – if i’m going to be disappointed, it should at least be amusing, after all. The thing is, if I don’t play FFXIII in 2010, I will shrivel up and die. It’s very simple. So (preferably) before release I need a 360 or a PS3, and it’s really hard to choose between them – sure, I can play all the cool PSN games on a big screen, but the PS3 is expensive, and the only other game I want for it is LittleBig Planet. *sigh*…
2010.01.05 at 01:03
@KJJ: haha, I know the feeling. It’s so easy to get sidetracked in FFX. There’s shinies everywhere! Glad to find somebody else who thought Blitzball got a bum rap, though :F
If I’m being realistic, you’d probably have enough time to re-start saving money and get enough for a 360 all over again before LFoPD sees the light of day. Even if I can kick it into high gear and get the programming side done, we’ll still need a lot of art assets and plot-based content and such. I think Ethos has the overall plot thought through, but we still need to iron out a lot of specifics, you know? At this point in the console cycle, though, there’s probably enough content on either the PS3 of 360 to keep you plenty busy for quite a while. I’ve had both for a few years now and I usually find myself playing them about equally, which definitely wasn’t the case last generation (you were spot on earlier when you said the PS2 has an awesome lineup. I find myself playing those game just as much as my next gen stuff recently). Whichever one you get, add me as a friend if you set up an online account (I’m DarthGibblet on PSN and XBL).
If FFXIII is your main concern, I’d say I’m definitely going to be picking it up on the PS3 over the 360. I always try to buy games for the lead sku, and the fact that the Japanese PS3 version was (presumably) nearly completed before they started work on the 360 port, in my opinion, doesn’t bode well.
2010.01.05 at 12:00
I have played these this year and loved them and this list is in no particular order:
Flower
Uncharted
Uncharted 2
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
Sacred II: Fallen Angel
The Beatles: Rock Band
Borderlands
Trine
Shatter