Posts made by Brannox

I can't speak about either Gradius or Ace Combat, but I do want to say I find it funny and fitting two flight games (albeit EXTREMELY different kinds) tie for placement.

Going one by one of the above three way tie:

Pandora Tomorrow: What I say in our most recent countdown regarding Chaos Theory applies, so I'll copy it here:

"I've never gotten into Splinter Cell, but it's been a franchise that I should on paper because I'm such a big stealth fan. However, I'm kind of, in the best case scenarios, lukewarm on Ubisoft and honestly a little tired of the Tom Clancy brand. As for Splinter Cell specifically, I consistently hear Chaos Theory tops them all, with Pandora Tomorrow being a strong contender as well. But Splinter Cell also has a TON of games and I'm not really interested in both starting over and going through Sam Fisher's whole arc nor just jumping in blind. Nowadays, Splinter Cell is the one Ubisoft game I hear so many fans call out for and Ubisoft, for whatever unknown reason, just doesn't want to do. Granted, I thought the same about EA and Dead Space, but if the release date holds, we're just (six) months from that so...."

KOTOR II: I actually DON'T like this all that much. Of the 11 games I played, I have it 9th, but because of an ineligibility, it got my final HM slot, so in a sense, it wouldn't have made the countdown. My biggest gripes all revolve on its sequel nature and the fact the end is so abrupt, unsatisfying with how it ends with unresolved arcs, the two main antagonists (both the one you chase and the REAL antagonist) are uninspired AND telegraphed. There's a magic in the first KOTOR that just isn't there in the sequel, and this could be do to being done by different developers, but for me, it's a major disappointment. I've played the original a few times, I'm so stoked for the remake, but because of how much of a letdown KOTOR II is, I don't foresee replaying it again.

Metroid: Zero Mission: I haven't played/seen this, but I've dabbled with watching playthroughs of Prime, Super Metroid, and Dread because of a casual interest in the franchise. So while I'm good on going through another Metroid stream for awhile, I would be down with this one because I hear good things about this game whenever it gets brought up.

For being such a massive DOOM fan, this is the one game in the franchise I haven't played. It's so different in so many ways from anything else in the DOOM franchise, I don't think I'll ever try it. I DID give serious consideration to grabbing the BFG edition that got put out in the PS3/Xbox 360, but there's just too much I shied away for:

I don't like the enemy design. I dislike having to juggle between flashlight and weapons. The weapons themselves don't look impactful. The level design doesn't appear inspiring. And I don't think it's overall look has aged well.

Still I remember the hype it brought to the point it was voted Game of Show at the previous year's E3 and I remember it was a feather in the cap for being an original Xbox console exclusive to pair with its dominant PC base.

So overall, I'm happy it made our countdown.

An incredibly bittersweet HoG.

With Ben leaving EZA, regardless of what game he brought, I was pulling for. Happy to say that hope proved true.

A mostly retro feel, I was pulling for one of the most retro games brought tonight, but bummed it didn't get in.

I'm all over the place at the moment because by far this wasn't in my top 5 ceremonies they've had, but Ben leaving just puts a shadow over everything, which is kind of unfair to the overall stream.

@bam541 Thanks and the same for you!

If we're talking about games that we were first made aware of for the first time, then there was only one that grabbed me, and it was in the Future Games Show of all places:

The Entropy Centre

To me, it looks like Portal, but instead of a portal gun, your weapon controls the flow of time.

As far as showcases, well, I've been on here enough for most to not be surprised to see me say the FF VII Celebration (If Capcom would've just put all their stuff in State of Play or in Summer Games Fest proper instead of spreading it out, then that would've been a tougher call). However, State of Play was super strong, with my only knock against it being the only first party thing there was Spider-man finally getting ported to PC. If only the Last of Us Part I was there...

However, I'll slightly cheat here by listing out ALL Games that impressed me OR were updates on games I was already interested in, and I'll do it in order of hype:

Final Fantasy VII block: (Rebirth, Crisis Core: Reunion, Ever Crisis)
Final Fantasy XVI
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Redfall
The Entropy Centre
Gotham Knights
The Callisto Protocol
(And it doesn't count but a 10 minute gameplay demo video came out today: Evil West)

@bruno_saurus Excellent! And the schedule says it's time for the Allies to gather again the same day.

Gonna be a goooooood day.

Looking at my 2004 roster of games, this was surprisingly a strong year for me.

For the first time since these countdowns started all the way back at this Forums' inception in 2016, I played a game for the first time to become my GOTY in a countdown year. All "Retro" years we've done, I may have added a game that wound up being pretty far down the list, but THIS YEAR I played a game that made me shocked at how (to me) great it is.

Also, I will shoutout a game at the end of the countdown that would've been my #4 vote, but it is not eligible...

For whatever reason I had Republic Commando as a 2002 game, and I don't know how I got my wires crossed there. Updated my wrap-up post with thoughts on it because it wouldn't have cracked my honorable mentions, but still, I wanted to make sure I talked about it above.

I thought these would place top two, and I don't like either of them.

Regarding Shadow of the Colossus: For context: I was so swept up in the E3 of Dreams and Sony's presentation back in 2015 with the Last Guardian, I decided to see what all the fuss was about by diving into Ico and this. And I despised my experience. I won't go off on Ico, beyond saying the thing across both games that's absolutely terrible are the controls. So when I started Shadow, I was already dreading it. Sure, the colossi themselves are spectacles of scale, but for me, the story was kind of barebones. Yet, the thing I have grown to hate is Argo. I can not stand that freaking horse. Having to be in the pixel perfect spot to mount him, the unwieldy way he moves/ran, and combat while astride him were so convoluted, I wanted to throw my controller. Hell, I wanted to throw my controller all the time because of the climbing/movement mechanics to being with. When the bridge fell, I cheered. When the credits rolled, I let out a guttural cry of anger. So of course it sits last, 13 of 13 of my list. (Disclaimer: My list actually sits at 14 games, but one game wasn't eligible. I'll get to that in a bit.)

Which leads me to Resident Evil 4, sitting one spot higher at 12th. Admittedly, it's the one game on my list I haven't played, but I've watched a playthrough a couple times. I've stated several times how Huber has made me a casual fan of the franchise, but this was an RE game as a viewer I just didn't like watching (for comparison, by the time I first watched this playthrough, I had seen VII, 2 Remake, REmake, and 3make). As a viewer, this game drags on for a WHILE, plus aside from Leon, none of the other characters were interesting to me (to say nothing of Ashley). I also don't like scenarios where you have to survive for an undetermined amount of time (which is why I think Village's first combat encounter is the worst part of the game as a viewer), so the beginning is annoying.

I do commend RE4's efforts in mixing up the enemy types (especially Las Plagas), and perhaps my favorite thing about this game is the inventory management (Tangent: If you haven't seen the recent Easy Update where Isla and Huber play a game on Steam called 'Safe Room' where someone turned the inventory management into a puzzle game, it's awesome. I hope the indie-dev can get some budget, polish it up a bit, and put it on console. It's RAD.) Also, mixing up the locations between the village, castle, island, and others keeps it environmentally fresh (though a lot of the castle seems annoying to playthrough). Overall, I don't regret watching it, and yes, because Huber has me on the hook, if the rumor is real and this is being remade, I will watch a playthrough of that, but unlike VII (and currently debating for 2 Remake), it's not a game I want to own, much less rewatch beyond what I just stated.

As for our countdown, my votes, with comments on what didn't show, countdown style:

GOTY: God of War
2.) (NOT ELIGIBLE) **Final Fantasy IV: Advance
3.) Star Wars: Battlefront II
4.) Mario Kart DS
5.) (Would've been an HM if FF IV: A was eligible) Gran Turismo 4
6.) (HM) Ratchet: Deadlocked
7.) (HM) Pokemon Emerald
8.) (HM)LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
9.) (HM) (Wouldn't have made the cut if FFIV: A was eligible) Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
10.) (DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT) Star Wars: Republic Commando
11.) (DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT) Burnout Revenge
12.) (DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT) Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
13.) (DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT) Psychonauts
14.) (DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT) *Resident Evil 4
15.) (DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT) Shadow of the Colossus

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is actually the most recent addition to this list as I played this for the first time on Vita either last year or the year before. And it's not a great port. I went in-depth about my time on a Community Showcase, but the short version: Saw it talked about on old school G4's Cheat! back in the day and loved the concept of playing as a bounty hunter with wacky ammo being animals, but the reality didn't feel great. I like the concept, but the story wasn't for me, plus how it handles the 1st/3rd person modes are not intuitive. I only need to beat hard mode to unlock the Platinum, but it's going to be some time before I ever feel like going back to it.

Star Wars: Republic Commando is another VERY recent game as I played the PS4 port after watching the Allies stream it some time back (I think it was a group stream). On its surface, it's interesting. As time as gone on, I've become more and more interested in having a clone/stormtrooper game as opposed to a Jedi one because, while lightsabers are rad, it's by far the more focused on thing. And while the game has it's moments, the uninspired level design, borderline moronic A.I. of your fellow troopers, the immense difficulty, and very short runtime all hold it back. It still makes me hope for a Star Wars FPS game where it's all about being a trooper/soldier and having a dedicated campaign going to multiple worlds and having multiple battles without the need of playing as a Jedi/Sith.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is easily the least fun of all the Sly games (if it wasn't for Sanzaru inexplicably not putting in a remapping function in Thieves in Time to get around the mandatory Sixaxis, I would put it last in my personal rankings of the series. Seriously, if you play Thieves in Time with a controller without Sixaxis support, one of the early main missions requires it, thus making it impossible to progress). Don't get me wrong, there are some neat things about Sly 3: The dialogue options, Holland and the Caribbean being standout locations, and an interesting concept of Sly building a gang to get into his inheritance of his family's vault on a long forgotten island, but beyond that, there are many things I don't vibe with: I dislike the third recasting of Carmelita (I'll never understand why one actor couldn't play her throughout the whole series), I don't like the levels in Australia or China, the "3D" implementation is a gimmick that never worked, I was bummed they got rid of the clue bottles and safe concept, and I disliked how the story ends (which leads me to other gripes about Thieves in Time, but that's another game...). I'll still play it when I do a series replay, but it's the one I look forward to least. Also, whenever the question, "What would be your dream announcement" gets asked around this time of year, I hardly ever have an answer because most things are in the works already, but Sly is a franchise that has become my answer. Will it ever return? No. And that makes me sad.

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game is where the craze of stellar Lego games started and I remember putting in a lot of time into it, but I can't remember much more. Courtesy of the recently released Skywalker Saga, I had been debating whether or not I would want it because it's been so long since I've played Lego Star Wars, but I just can't quite commit. I can't remember why I fell off, nor can I explain why I don't feel the pull towards it. But still, it was fun in the moment, at the very least.

Ratchet: Deadlocked is another fun game for what it is. It's super short and not much of an investment (if anything, I would say it's the least critical of the "necessary" games to play in the overall R&C story). I think it's biggest downside of being a six to eight hour game of running obstacle courses over and over doesn't do quite enough to recommend to anyone who isn't a fan of the franchise already. However, if you are a fan of Ratchet & Clank, I DO recommend it for at least a single try, and I still enjoy it whenever I replay it.

I think I put more time into Gran Turismo 4 than any of the other GT games (and I stopped playing the series at this point). I remember being so struck how realistic the game was on PS2 and being addicted to the license tests. But I discovered an exploit where, there was a particular rally race/qualifier you could run on a very hilly track with a lot of 180, sloping turns stacked on top of themselves. In this rally, if the game registered if you hit the wall, it was an insta-fail... Well, if you hit it head-on that is. But saying on the gas and using the wall at just the right angle to fly through turns quicker than expected, you could EASILY beat the clear time. And every time you did it, you were awarded a car worth over 229,000 credits (which, at that point in the game, is the most expensive prize you could get, and get continuously). By winning, selling the car, and repeating, I racked up so much money I could buy anything I wanted and take on races much sooner than the game planned for. I guess that's where I lost interest because I figured since there wasn't anything for me to chase, I didn't have any reason to keep playing.

And the final game that didn't make it is the one that could not be eligible: Final Fantasy IV: Advance. I had been wanting to play FF IV for the first time for a while several years ago, but didn't know which version to get. I don't own the original's hardware, the DS's models look outright ugly to me, and I heard/read a lot of negative things about the After Years. So the GBA is where I went. And I LOVED it. I've only played through it twice, but I was really taken with the plot, really enjoyed both Cecil and Kain as characters, the worlds (Regular, underground, and the Moon) were interesting, and it has perhaps one of the absolute best themes of the franchise. It's currently my fourth favorite in the series and my 42nd favorite game of all time.

WHEW! That was a lot (as I often write). So I'll end it here by thanking you for reading if you chose to, to everyone who participated, and for @Shoulderguy for leading the charge. Until the next one!

I think the original God of War was the first "mature" game I ever purchased that I called my own. There is a disagreement between me and my dad what my first game was (He says it was DOOM and Wolfenstein 3D, but I find it much more believable they scared me shitless as a 3-4 year old, so I say it was either Super Mario Bros. (or the Deluxe version for GameBoy Color), Pokemon Red/Blue, or Spyro the Dragon).

Anyway, the original God of War was truly a spectacle for me, especially since I got it when I was 16. I fell in love with this interpretation of Greek mythology and it inspired me to go read about the "real" thing.

The game's combat is satisfying to this day. I appreciated the Blade of Artemis changing up the combat to being a slow and powerful cleaver, the Blade of Chaos just had that iconic look, speed, and versatility of movesets that have them probably on my top list of favorite video game weapons of all time. While it might be a bit of a stretch because of how much of the game it is, but Pandora's Temple is easily the highlight for me. It's one giant puzzle, that's made up of so many other puzzles. So many combat sections, story revelations, and interesting areas. Every time I do a series replay (to which I'm looking to do soon. Just need that exact Ragnarok release date so I can plan out the timing), the original is one the highlights.

I will say however, Hades, for the most part, is a fun area... But the pillars... The pillars SSSUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK. I hate those blades so much. I understand they were so rushed and crunched to ship the game on time they couldn't be properly QA'd, but if that was the case, it should've been cut. Another thing that I really don't like is the fight against Ares. The entire game is a hack-and-slash, but the climax is like it's ripped out of an obtuse fighting game. And I don't like fighting games (except the a singular exception as I've discovered over the past month and am still playing as of writing...). So the fact Ares switches up the mechanics at the end is irritating to say the least, despite him being an interesting character.

Also, for how old it is, the game still looks good, not necessarily great, but I still think it has some charm. And the cinematics! On PS2, the God of War games had some of the best CG on the console, full-stop. I remember being awed when Ares realizes what's happening at Pandora's Temple, and throws the spire so many miles to bullseye Kratos into a bloody mess as he's pushing Pandora's Box and thinking, "Holy hell this looks incredible."

All of this isn't even getting into the secrets! The concept art, the dev-docs, different costumes with buffs, and the Trials of Olympus are all great, but the absolute best are the two phone numbers. Granted, with the advent of YouTube, the magic of secrecy on these is completely lost, but the concept of developers putting in extremely hard-to-find Easter Eggs with tangible, meaningful rewards, ESPECIALLY rewards that are outside of the game itself isn't done enough. I don't know (and I don't think it is, but it might be) if this was a first in gaming, but rewarding players with a secret phone number to call for a message from the game's director and main actor is AWESOME.

I have such fond memories of this game. If it wasn't for the reboot (and probably the coming Ragnarok), this would be my favorite of the entire franchise. As of writing, it currently sits at 29th on my top 100 games of all time and is my 2005 Game of the Year.

And now, I'm CERTAIN of what are top two are... And if I'm right, they're games I'm not high on...

Regardless, as always, massive shoutouts and thanks to my fellow voters @Crepe, @bam541, @DIPSET, and @Sentinel-Beach for getting God of War as high as the Bronze of our list!

Psychonauts is a weird one (pun not intended) for me. Of my 13 2005 games, it sits at 11th. This isn't because of its creativity or design, because it's one of the most unique games out there and I'm so stoked its sequel is so well regarded. But when I played this back in the day, I only got as far as the lake monster fight and I just couldn't beat it for whatever reason. Which means it's so low on my list only because I never finished it. I actually like it more than several games ahead of it on my list, but I at least finished those games (and since I don't think all but one will place top 3, I'll talk about it in my closing post).

Overall, from what I remember, it's really solid, and am happy to see it crack our top 5.

Wow. While I didn't know what to expect in terms of points total, I didn't think Uncharted 4 would place so high. Which means, once again, NOT BANNED BAYBAY!!!

But in all serious, this round was a toughie. I felt the cross-examination period rubber-banded a bit, with some activity the moment questioning opened, silence for a long while, then a flurry of questions/answers at the end (I chalk this up to people being busy during the week and only having time to focus on this during the weekend). I also was quite surprised I didn't answer many cross-examinations.

Regardless, to any of you who chose to vote, if it was only a point, I thank you kindly. Big congrats to both Batman: Arkham Asylum and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt for being recognized as Greats (tm). And as always, if people wanted to share what they voted for and why, I'll do so to by either going back and editing this post or dropping my decisions separately.

To close, shoutouts to @Capnbobamous for making these and to everyone who participates. These are so fun and I always look forward to them. Can't wait for the next one in three months!!

EDIT: Since others left their votes below, here's how I went:

3 Points - Dragon Age: Inquisition. Personally I felt this had the strongest combination of presentation and cross-examination

2 Points - Batman: Arkham Asylum As much as I love this game, the detective vision's lack of penalty (as appreciating the art design doesn't impede gameplay. Apologies for not wording my cross-examination question better) is my only gripe. And though I may prefer other Arkhams, Asylum is fantastic

1 point - The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Of the remaining games to vote for (that I could), I feel like this had the strongest remaining case (And I agree with ffff0 about the point regarding the Mass Effect Trilogy. But I do hope all three get in at same point). I still don't foresee myself playing it, but to me, it's undeniable the exceptional quality it has.

Devil May Cry is a series that I get hot-and-cold interest in at the very least watching. This started with the DMC 5 presentation during Xbox's 2018 E3 conference and it had such a jolly vibe. That said, I constantly hear DMC 2 is awful and the DMC reboot from Ninja Theory is divisive. Plus there are some enemies and art choices that are a turn off as well. As such, I don't hear about DMC 3 specifically. In one way or another, I've heard about every other DMC entry in some way. Weird but it is what is.

Also, top 5!!! And as such, I think I can guess the final four left to be revealed, but I'm curious as to the order.

The only Need for Speed I've played is Undercover, so I can't comment on Most Wanted. The only other thing I can add is I feel Need for Speed as a franchise is now to the point where I personally feel like it's been overdone and there's too many of them. It could use a break of several more years.

So this is when Ace Attorney started... Well, I've said all I can in other countdowns for other Ace Attorneys, but 17 years for a franchise is a sneaky long time for consistent quality. Good on ya Phoenix.

I've never gotten into Splinter Cell, but it's been a franchise that I should on paper because I'm such a big stealth fan. However, I'm kind of, in the best case scenarios, lukewarm on Ubisoft and honestly a little tired of the Tom Clancy brand. As for Splinter Cell specifically, I consistently hear Chaos Theory tops them all, with Pandora Tomorrow being a strong contender as well. But Splinter Cell also has a TON of games and I'm not really interested in both starting over and going through Sam Fisher's whole arc nor just jumping in blind. Nowadays, Splinter Cell is the one Ubisoft game I hear so many fans call out for and Ubisoft, for whatever unknown reason, just doesn't want to do. Granted, I thought the same about EA and Dead Space, but if the release date holds, we're just eight months from that so....

Of the 13 games from 2005 I've played, Pokemon Emerald sits at 6th.

Personally, I prefer Ruby/Sapphire over Emerald as I'm not a big fan of Scott or the post-game Battle Frontier. I DO think the coolest thing about Emerald are the double battles and how you can team up with Steven on Mossdeep Island at the Space Center (though I think it's kind of dumb he's a "secret" boss and not the Champion. Wallace, the Water gym leader from R/S is the League Champion, and the Sootopolis City Gym is ran by Juan and honestly, no Champion should have a single type, but that's another thing I dislike about Emerald).

And while I appreciate you getting to choose between Latios and Latias you want to spawn once you become Champion, getting a lv. 70 Rayquaza as early as you can in Emerald kind of makes the challenge not all that much. Instead, I wish he was 45 like the others because catching Groudon/Kyogre being roughly at the same level in their respective games and be a viable team member for the final Gym/Pokemon League. (And yes, I know you catch the opposite at Level 70, but that's more of an endgame thing and at that point, there's really nothing left worth doing).

Overall though, the third gen is the last gen of Pokemon I truly love. While I do agree the adventure goes down in quality once you go out to sea post Lilycove/Team Hideout (which is super fun!), it's still an overall great time. Like all three Pokemon gens I hold dear, I always find the opening hours the best. So in this gen, I would say by the time you finish Dewford Town is when the magic gets a little lessened for me. And because it's a Pokemon game, I gotta drop my preferred team:

With the exception of choosing Torchic (which, for me, all gen 3 starters are good, unlike the previous two, but I'm always partial to Fire types for whatever reason) and catching the given game's Legendary, all the rest of my final team I trade in from another game:

Metagross (from Beldum) and Salamence (from Bagon) are always locks, so no matter what, I will always have the same half of my final team (including Blaziken). To provide some varied typing, I'll also try to bring in Raichu (from trading Pikachu), and Crawdaunt (from trading Corphish). But along the way, at one point or another, I typically will make the effort to pick up a Taillow, Ralts, Shroomish naturally, and even trade in a Skarmory and eventually when I hit an appropriate level to switch them out for my choices above. However, if I'm lucky enough to have found an alternate Legendary (like the aforementioned Latios/Latias) from a previous playthrough, I'll sub out one of the others to ensure the Dragons are brought in.

Meaning: My ultimate Dream Team of gen 3 is:

Blaziken (Fire/Fighting)
Metagross (Steel/Psychic)
Salamence (Flying/Dragon)
Groudon (Fire/Ground)
Kyogre (Water)
Latios/Latias (Dragon/Psychic)

• [Rayquaza (Dragon/Flying) when not available]

To close, as always I want to give my digital fist-bumps to my fellow voters! Shoutouts to @Shoulderguy and @bruno_saurus!

@jdincinerator

1.) In terms of things not done in any Uncharted prior:

• The first thing that jumps to mind is the stealth icons/open level design to make stealth a more viable and rewarding option (which I mention in my presentation).
• Driving jeeps/boats is quite fun, particularly the former because of where you are and what you're doing. The winch on the front of the jeep provides some puzzle mechanics on how to pull the jeep up muddy slopes or break wooden beams for optional treasures for example.
• Related to the vehicles, the dynamic conversation system. For example: You're in the jeep and Sam and Sully are talking. You see a ruin so you stop and hop out. They'll say something like, "Oh we'll finish this later then." After you've finished exploring and jump back in the jeep, after a second, one of the characters will say, "What were you saying?" or "Where was I?" and pick up where they left off.
• Sam. Kind of a cop-out answer but still the truth.
• The dialogue choices. Quite few and not really consequential, but still neat to have three unique dialogues per situation and you can only have one per playthrough in these moments.

I'm sure I'm forgetting others, but these instantly sprang to mind.

2.) Not at all, as in my view, every Uncharted has had serious moments as well as a ton of levity. It's kind of what Uncharted's campy identity is to an extent. Personally, I don't see Uncharted 4 as any more or less serious than any of the others in the series.

Without boring all who read into the reasons why (and in no particular order):

Ico/Shadow of the Colossus
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
Crackdown
Killzone
Crash: Twinsanity
Assassin's Creed
Need for Speed: Undercover
SoulCalibur IV
Fuse
Destiny
Titanfall
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (the original trilogy)
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Inside