BraidAhh, this game. One of the most prolific indie titles out there and arguably one of the games that fueled the indie boom. And it's definitely a game worthy of the attention it gets. The game is a puzzle platformer that provides a variety of levels based around time manipulation mechanics. And there's no way to "lose"; you can rewind any mistakes you make and get another chance without having to restart the entire level. It's a great anti-frustration feature that many games (including a game pretty high up on my list have incorporated as well.
What really makes this game work is the sheer variety of the puzzles. You start out in World 2, which is just straightforward platforming to get you used to the game's controls and basic mechanics. Then World 3 throws in rewinding time being a major element of the puzzles. And World 4 has this fantastic gimmick where time moves forwards when you move right and backwards when you move left. Probably my favorite world of the game even if it contains the most infamous level of the game as well. World 5 is focused around time-clones of yourself that repeat actions you perform when you rewind, and World 6 gives you a ring that creates a sphere of time distortion around it when dropped. And World 1, the last world, well, I'm not going to spoil that one. The puzzle design is pretty consistently strong with only one or two minor annoyances. The secret content has a lot more annoyances (including a rather infamous puzzle that literally just requires waiting for two hours) but it's all optional stuff that I'm not really bothered by, if I want to replay the game I can just outright ignore it all. The game is primarily puzzle-focused but there is at least a solid degree of execution involved which is the trait of a well-made puzzle platformer, one that keenly fuses both aspects of the two genres.
The game still looks pretty visually solid over 8 years later and the soundtrack is pretty nice as well. The story is a bit pretentious, there's no real dodging that, but it's so minimal that I can't really be bothered by it. I still haven't gotten around to playing The Witness despite being pretty intrigued by it, and if the puzzles are anywhere close to as strong as this game has I imagine it'll be an enjoyable game, different as it is. But yeah, this game is well-praised for a reason and deserves the attention it's gotten.
The World Ends With YouThis game is the kind of game I've kind of moved past in general, but it's also the kind of game that, looking back on it, still feels like a really good game, one that holds up. Granted I haven't played it in years but I'd imagine if I did I'd still get plenty of enjoyment out of it. The game is an RPG with an interesting dual-screen combat system that... kind of sort of works, but usually ends up just being a lot of button mashing in practice. But it hardly matters as it's still pretty fun, and the rest of the game more than makes up for it.
The main appeal of this game is really its sense of style. The game does its best to emulate the culture and atmosphere of modern Shibuya in its game world and, while I don't have any real world experience to compare it to, I'd say they did a pretty great job at capturing that atmosphere. There's a lot of in-game landmarks and the game just looks great, the overworld, the character designs, the monster designs, everything. The soundtrack also attempts to emulate the kind of music you'd expect to hear in the city (well, at least in 2008) instead of going the usual "epic and orchestral" route of a lot of Square Enix games, and the tracks in the game are all the more memorable for it. I wouldn't say I necessarily love the soundtrack, but I definitely respect it, and there's still a number of earworms that pop up in my head from time to time. The game's story, as well, it was the kind of thing that was riveting to 14-year old me but looking back on it now, it's still a pretty solid story. The characters all have lots of personality, there's enough interesting twists and turns, and it's a game focused around teenagers that avoids most of the cliches (though there is a decent share of angst, but given the context I'd consider it excusable). The basic premise is that, when you die, you're drawn into a game where losing means you are outright erased from existence and winning means you can be brought back to life. Oh, and whatever you value most is taken away from you. That's the gist of it anyways, and with a heavily story-based game I'd rather not say more.
The game plays out as a series of missions with combat interspersed between, and generally no random encounters. The lower-screen combat involves a variety of touch commands, and the button screen in theory involves pressing buttons in a specific order, but in practice usually just devolves to button mashing while you pay attention to the bottom screen more. And the game has a decent amount of playtime to it, with all the main story points being quite neatly wrapped up at the end of the final day.
Without saying much more I'll just say that this is easily one of my favorite RPGs and one of the few I can still keep coming back to and enjoying. Maybe because it's not very grindy in nature, maybe it's because it's super easy to replay since you can play through the story as many times as you want on one save file and keep all your overpowered endgame equipment, maybe because the story is pretty solidly compelling, maybe it's because the atmosphere is great. Whatever it is I'd personally call this Square Enix's crowning achievement, though I doubt many would agree.
Fly'nThis was actually the game on the list whose placement I had the most trouble with. At first it was off the list entirely, then I put it somewhere near the bottom of the list, and ended up actually going back and revisiting it to determine where it should end up, and my judgment lead me to believe that, yes, it does belong just baaaaarely off the main list. Which is a shame, since I do enjoy this game quite a lot.
The first thing that will strike you about this game, if the above screenshot doesn't make it clear, is that this game is
absolutely gorgeous. One of the best looking games I've ever played, bar none. The worlds are all vibrant and colorful and diverse enough to stay interesting to look at as you progress through the game, all while keeping the main elements of the level plainly visible. And the gorgeous aesthetic doesn't end at the visuals; the soundtrack is also fantastic, one of the few game soundtracks I've gone back to revisit by itself in recent years. It's just a gorgeous game on a purely spectacle front.
And gameplay-wise it is generally pretty solid too. It's a platformer with light puzzle elements and some exploration elements, and the levels generally stick to three major styles. First, the chill exploration-focused levels that are probably my favorite levels in the game, you best get the chance to stop and appreciate the scenery in these levels and there's a bit more variety to them than the other levels. Second, the chase levels where you have to outrun a rising wall of death while overcoming a series of platforming challenges. These levels tend to focus around each particular world's main power, barring the last world where all powers come into play equally. Third, the bonus levels you unlock by clearing the chase levels without dying, which tend to be more experimental and centered around one gameplay mechanic. I generally find that these levels are a bit clunky but well-intentioned and generally pretty interesting. There's also boss levels at the end of each world which are... okay. The bosses themselves vary, I don't particularly like the first two bosses but the last three are cool, and each boss also features a platforming segment where you go inside the boss machine and destroy it from the inside, which tends to be pretty cool as well.
The major flaw the gameplay has, at least for me, is that the game is a bit mean to completionists. There are a lot of levels with spots where you can end up missing collectibles either through a "gotcha" moment where you have no point of return or a one-shot piece of level that you can't complete if you fail it the first time. As well, some of the collectibles often end up hidden too well; the only indication of fake walls is this faint orange sparkle which can be hard to see sometimes, especially in the chase levels. As well, the controls aren't perfect; the characters all tend to be a bit touchy to control, and the physics of the bounce power are a bit weird. But in the grand scheme of things the game is still pretty fun to play and has kept me coming back to it many times to replay through.
It's a game that definitely won me over with its aesthetic more than its actual gameplay but I still do enjoy playing it a decent bit and most of the mean tricks aren't really too punishing in the long run, just a bit annoying at worst. I'd definitely recommend this one to fans of 2D platformers and I imagine you'd have a pretty good time with it regardless of how much you want to clear in the game.
Crypt of the NecrodancerOh man, here's a cool idea. Combine rhythm games with an action-puzzle style of roguelike and what you get is an intense and addictive game that's just, plain fun to play. As someone who generally isn't a fan of roguelikes (and sticks to rogue-lites whenever I do play them) I can say that this is easily my favorite in the genre. Just the way the game plays, and the various ways the difficult escalates. It's really cool.
The game is controlled entirely by the four directional arrows on your keyboard, controller, or heck, dancepad if you're a DDR fan and want to use that here; yes, the game was entirely designed with that in mind. You have to defeat the miniboss monster of a floor and find the exit to reach the floor below, and every world is capped off with a boss fight. Sounds simple, but the game ups the complexity in quite a variety of ways. The enemies in the first world are all pretty basic and easy to deal with, but they get more and more complex as you descend the crypt, to the point where most of the enemies in the last world are quite weird, and the boss that caps off the last world is a fair bit more difficult to deal with than the standard bosses as well. The game plays out at the pace of the song being played, which tends to escalate the further you get into each world, and the further you get into the game in general. And they have a lot of fun with the rhythm as well; there's a boss with a really fast pace to it, and another with a missing beat, and as well a few of the many alternate characters change the rhythm of the game as well.
And of course the soundtrack is fantastic. At least, two of the three versions; I'm not a fan of the dubstep soundtrack but the standard soundtrack and the metal soundtrack are both just, great and intense, really good at getting you pumped while being damn fine songs on their own merits. There's also a lot of variety; every floor is procedurally generated, there are quite a lot of different weapons and accessories, and a fair number of different characters to play as, each with their own unique playstyle. And there's a true roguelike mode where you start from the first floor and have to make it all the way to the bottom on a single life with no starting bonuses like you get in the standard gameplay.
So the game on the whole is great and the kind of game that kept me hooked for a long time. Why did it just miss the list? Well, aside from that fact that I probably would consider all the games above it better in general... I have not beaten this game. I never cleared Aria's story mode, which is definitely part of the main game. Because Aria is absolutely insane. Brutally unforgiving and incredibly stressful to the point where it stopped being fun after a while and I have barely played the game since I gave up on beating Aria. It's honestly completely uncalled for to have one of the hardest to play characters be part of the main story and just incredibly disheartening to fail over and over due to even the tiniest mistake. So I do have that one major gripe with it, but on the whole this game is still tons of fun and definitely worth checking out.
And that is... finally... the last of the honorable mentions.
I intend to have even longer write ups for the main games on the list which will mean posting less at a time but I'll try to keep the pace at least fairly reasonable.
Topic: Top 25 Video Games Lists v2.0: Cable's NES Nostalgia 15 & 2 (starts pg32) (Read 84131 times)