Our Review I normally save the best for last but this year? The King is at the top of the pile!
Dragon Quest Builders was my absolute favorite title of the year. Taking a what if scenario, Builders follows the events of what would have happened to the world if the Hero decided to side with the Evil Dragonlord instead of slay him to free the lands from his malevolence. Given an open sandbox it’s up to you to restore the light to the world in order to pave the path for the future Hero that will hopefully do the job right this time.
I spent countless hours and stopped paying attention to the clock after having put sixty or so hours in two or three weeks. Hell the first day of release was a good twelve of those hours. Building towns, saving people, creating new items and recipes, and generally having fun either tearing something down or building something up before going into epic boss battles and then diving back in to do challenges, I was hooked. The first dragon you go up against in full set of armour was awesome! Then there was the next one… in your underwear… not as awesome but you had a stick! It was exhilarating for different reasons.
Our Review The Little Acre has just come out and honestly it deserves a space on this list regardless of how late to the game it was. It was a brilliant work of art and it had me hooked from the beginning to the end
I’m still learning the ropes on what makes a good Point and Click Adventure as I’ve honestly only started experiencing this style in the past few years. You can keep looking at me that way if you want to but no, no I have not yet played Monkey Island. The Little Acre however has a perfect balance of story, characters and their interactions with the world that mostly come through puzzles. Some of these were obvious, while others had to make you wonder exactly how the hell you were going to get dressed without getting out of bed all the while not waking up the sleeping monster AND getting the dog to do your dirty work.
Our Review Dancing Dragon Games have really hit gold with Echoes of Aetheria. Actually not only have they hit gold but the two that follow are all Indie RPGs created with an RPG Maker. That’s how much these three titles meant to me this year and the runner ups while I loved, didn’t mark me as much.
I had already had a chance to play Skyborn (DDG’s previous title) and was shocked when I loaded up EoA to see that the battles were an entirely custom system designed from the ground up with three rows and five columns in which your characters could move around. The story was good but the systems that it used in order to tell the tale were amazing including sieges that had enemies come from several avenues and had to be dispatched before they could get to their destinations
Our Review Tales Across Time is Critical Games’ second title following 8-Bit Adventures which was its own level of interesting. A good interesting. While it isn’t overly long, it focuses more on a narrative experience of three individuals separated by time but with something that they unfortunately all have in common.
Not many games can cause me to have shivers but this is definitely one of them. Had it been any longer I’m not sure the outcome would have been the same as the concepts would have been marred by fluff. Instead of fluff, Tales Across Time only takes a couple hours but it is time very well spent with three completely different storylines, fleshed out characters, interesting battle mechanics and one of the creepiest bad guys that I’ve had the pleasure of running away from. I know they are working on an 8-Bit Adventures 2 but I would really like to see more like this.
Our Review In a way this is best for last because… wow. Ara Fell really showed what could be done with and RPG Maker and quoting Stegosoft games once again, they “brought RPG Maker 2003 kicking and screaming out of retirement!”. I’m very glad that they did.
Ara Fell blew me away. Honestly anyone who says that “oh it was just made with an RPG Maker” has a lot to learn with titles such as these. One of the first items starting off is that the world while not open, does not feel restricted. Exploring places that you should not even be in yet (due to level differences) is possible if you look hard enough. Walking around, crawling, jumping, and other abilities that follow exist in order to better explore the world. Combat is fun and a little different than usual with twists of its own. If you need an RPG to get away from the AAA levels, this is definitely one to look into.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2 – Our Review
Class VII are back and after finishing the first and jumping straight into the second it was clear to see that Trails of Cold Steel 2 was only one one of the best games that I played on my Vita, but also an improvement upon the original which was already great.
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend – Our Review
I’m a fan of Musou titles but Arslan for me was one of the best as it runs more with a story than it does with combat. There’s still a fair amount of combat but all of it feels like it actually matters and is not simply filler between cutscenes because your actions are what lead the events from one point to the next.
Dark Souls III – Our Review
Love it, hate it, run away screaming in the night, Dark Souls 3 was awesome and one of my favorite of the series. Seriously try to go back and play Demons Souls… good luck. Holy Hell it’s hard after playing this. It’s not everyone that will love this newest entry but for me it was the best one yet and I quite enjoyed the Bloodborne smoothness of dodging added into what makes Dark Souls, Dark Souls.
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir – Our Review
From cult classic on the PS2 to hit on the PS4. Best part? It contains the original if you feel like taking a trip back down memory lane. Honestly? Play the new one. Leifthrasir is more than just a HD port, it’s a full blown remake of the game with new systems in place in order to provide a smoother experience. The story is the same but the supporting elements make it much easier to re-experience this magical tale.
I am Setsuna – Our Review
I am Setsuna is an homage to the great Chrono Trigger. Those from the white expanses known as Canada, where it snows three quarters of the damned year (another two feet yesterday), will feel at home as the arctic wastelands are all that you are going to see. Thankfully there are bright colours to permeate the snow as well as an incredible piano arrangement that supports the title from start to finish. I do hope that more is done with this series as it was a pleasure to sit through.
