BGE S1: Demon's Souls (Review)

Video games have to move on and evolve. This might seem like an obvious statement, but it's all too easy to look back at older games through the veil of nostalgia and rose-tinted glasses, something that I think many people just don't realise. Sure, there are games that endure for one reason or another (such as my previous review of Final Fantasy VII - still one of the best stories ever written and worth experiencing), but generally speaking, you will find older video games clunky and cumbersome to play. Gameplay is one one area that is always getting tweaked and improved, along with graphics, and it always amazes me to see how basic some of those games are that I once held dear. However, one thing that is worth being nostalgic about is challenge and difficulty - basically most modern games are way too easy.

The medium has changed over time to become more accessible, as the target audience moved from niche (teenagers in bedrooms with lots of time on their hands) to the mainstream (adults with higher disposable income but also with jobs and time commitments), and as a result the level of difficulty dropped to allow people to progress easily and feel rewarded for playing. Those of us who are often given the moniker of "hardcore gamer" craved a bit more challenge and something more akin to the worthy progress we earned in the good old days of our youth. Along came Demon's Souls, and with it the message "You Died",  again-and-again-and-again... this is a 'hardcore' game, a fusion of old-school game design with modern technology and concepts, and one of the best video games ever created.

When you first start your inaugural game of Demon's Souls you'll begin in a tutorial section of the game, which does a good job of quickly introducing you to the basics of combat before throwing you into a boss fight, which you will probably lose. In fact you must die. By dying this early into your adventurer career you're reanimated in a place called the Nexus and your soul bound there for all time, or at least until you kill various powerful demons across the land and eventually lure the Old One back to slumber. This focus on death is an important one because it is the cornerstone by which the game's notoriously high difficulty is based. There is only one currency in the game (souls) that you use for leveling you character, upgrading weapons and armour, or purchasing supplies - and if you die, you drop all of this in a blood stain. You then have one chance to go and get it back, as dying again causes all that progress to be lost forever. This might seem unnecessarily harsh but it's actually a stroke of genius, as it causes you to play the game with caution and patience instead of just running in sword flailing.

Patience especially is key, as combat in this game is very precise, with parries and ripostes, blocking and circling you foes for a backstab, and the prospect of being brutally cut down by even the game's most meager of enemies. Obviously the highlights though are the demons themselves, each of them unique and requiring one hundred percent concentration and perseverance to overcome; there are some names that still give me the fear when I think about them ('Flamelurker' and 'Man-Eater' to name a couple). With this great challenge comes great reward though and there really is an overwhelming sense of elation after finally beating a level or demon that you have been stuck on for so long and knowing that it was your own skill that made it possible. Even though souls can be spent to level up in this game, it is the "leveling up" of your own skills as a gamer which is the most satisfying - to beat this game, you will literally need to get better at playing, and you will as long as you learn how to play and persist.

The world of Demon's Souls is beautifully realised, when I first played it, I was reminded very much of Shadow of the Colossus for many reasons. Firstly, the idea of a central hub, from which you are sent out to slay a powerful (and usually colossal) adversary and then return for respite. Secondly, that sense of loneliness  for even though there are other characters to talk to and enemies to slay, through ingenious game design this journey still feels like a solitary and melancholy pursuit. Thirdly, the lore and backstory of the game are again told almost exclusively through art direction and world design rather than dialogue or narrative. This sense of (albiet foreboding) exploration creates a driving force in the game that makes you want to explore every inch of the various labyrinthine dungeons and fortresses; all created in a superb graphics engine with excellent use of lighting and geometry. The soundtrack is also absolutely brilliant, as usually the game is silent except for ambient noise of the environment, but when those musical scores do kick in they are extremely memorable and expertly composed.

Something I've failed to mention yet is the online aspect. You see, even though Demon's Souls is a single player adventure, it is constantly online and accessing the games of other players as they take place in real time. You can see the ghosts of these other adventurers as they move through their world, and see the bloodstains of where they have died, but the game also allows some more direct interaction to help or hinder your own endeavors. You can leave messages for other players, which appear in their world and warn them of traps or difficult situations coming up, but you can also briefly enter their game directly either as a blue phantom to assist them destroy a demon - or as a black phantom to try and kill them and steal their souls. This component of the game is still very unique (aside from it's spiritual successor Dark Souls of course) and is only just starting to be copied by other developers, such as the pawn system in Dragon's Dogma, the idea of an always-online single player game was very progressive.

That is really why this game is so important and also one of the best games ever made (I've barely scratched the surface with this review); the fusion of old and new. Demon's Souls is an old-school 'hardcore' game given a modern lick of paint, control system and innovative online capability. It was something that a certain niche of gamers were crying out for, and it delivered, so much so that Dark Souls quickly followed and improved on the forumla still further, opening this sort of experience to a much larger market that didn't even know it existed. Still, Demon's Souls remains unique because of it's hub-based structure and dedicated levels, and so provides a gaming experience wholly unlike anything else out there.

BGE S1: Silent Hill 2 (Review)

I must confess, I've never played the original Silent Hill through to the end. I played it too late into the PlayStation's life-cycle to fully appreciate it and even revisiting it later on PS3, fully aware of it's graphical and gameplay shortcomings, I still couldn't get all the way through. It's sequel though is the complete opposite; it is actually the video game I've played through (to the end) the most. I think only Journey, a game that is easily completed within a couple of hours, has beaten it. Silent Hill 2 captivated me the very first time I played it, and was really the first video game to deal with some extremely adult themes: uxoricide, psychological trauma, dementia, sexual repression, etc. I remember being completely swept away with the plight of the game's protagonist James Sunderland, as I played through to the small hours of the morning. I also remember being almost paralysed by fear, unable to switch off the console and go to sleep and unable to continue the game because it had gotten it's psychological-horror hooks deep inside me.

Silent Hill 2 doesn't waste any time getting you into the game, as it opens on the outskirts of the infamous town and has you searching for your, previously considered, deceased wife who's waiting for you at your "special place". The town of Silent Hill is enshrouded within a thick otherworldly fog, limiting your viewing distance to a mere meter or two infront of James's face. This helps the game designers to build up a palpable sense of confusion and fear, as in the early stages of the game there is very little in the way of physical enemies, just a clever use of soundtrack and musical score, which I'll get on to later.  When you do eventually happen upon the first creature haunting the mists it sets up a few things - firstly that the enemies in this game are not your typical zombies or other survival horror tropes. Instead, the menagerie of menacing adversaries reflect the psychological ailments of the main character and are usually women (or women's bodyparts) disfigured into some sort of tortured being. This is obviously all very disturbing and part of why the game gets under your skin; zombies are ten-a-penny especially in modern video games, but these monstrosities remain as creepy as ever. The second thing it sets up is how weak and alone you are.

You see, Silent Hill 2 is true survival horror, a genre that has been diluted now to the point where it is almost non-existent. In this game, there are few firearms, and even then bullets are scarce  instead your only means of defending yourself is either to ineffectually hit things with a stick or run the hell away! Usually the best option is to do the latter (although in the HD re-release there are trophies to the former), especially in the case of the game's most iconic and undefeatable adversary: "The Red Pyramid Thing", also known as Pyramid Head. This silent hunter stalks you throughout the game, it's every appearance marking a key moment of panic and terror, it is little wonder that this has become such a memorable icon of video games and of survival horror. Pyramid Head's visual design and role within the game is again directly tied to the plot and themes explored within it. A faceless killer with a head shaped in painful, spiteful angles, he represents James Sunderland's guilt and desire to be punished.

The narrative takes you throughout the town and out across Toluca Lake, stopping several times along the way to let the game world (as well as the well being of the character's mind) literally break down and become abstracted. There is a sequence within a prison underneath the lake that slowly turns into a strange labyrinth, where connected halls and doorways seem to openly defy the laws of space and time. The events happening on screen as are much metaphor as they are actually happening and I've never experienced anything quite like it except maybe 'Catherine', another favourite game of mine from the past few years. Production values for the game are extremely high, and still hold up well to this day. The level of detail that the town of Silent Hill is lovingly rendered in is staggering, with lots of cryptic clues and messages hidden throughout that may let you piece together the lore and mythology of the game. A stellar soundtrack by composer Akira Yamaoka is still one of the best ever recorded for a video game and the voice acting (while dreamlike and unnatural in an Eraserhead-kinda way) was so well done that fans literally protested at the idea of a re-recording for the game's HD release.

As I mentioned above, I've completed this game multiple times and it still holds up to this day as a unique and almost perfect example not only of pure survival horror, but also of modern adult-targeted video games. Silent Hill 2, for me, symbolises a turning point when game designers took the brave step towards using the medium in other ways besides just entertainment. In recent years a HD remake of this game was released, initially with several flaws but now patched and completely faithful to the original, giving me the opportunity to relive this experience once more. Silent Hill 2 still scares, still captivates and unnerves me, and is still one of the best modern video games ever made. It is such as shame that (excluding Silent Hill 3 which is also excellent) Silent Hill, and the survival horror genre in general, has never managed to again create anything as amazing as this.

BGE S1: Final Fantasy VII & X (Reviews)

During the 16-Bit era of console gaming I was firmly embedded in the Sega camp (with occasional forays into Nintendo territory whenever going around a friend's house who had "chosen the wrong side"), so when the Sega Saturn was released at the birth of 32-Bit I picked one up, and shunned Sony's PlayStation nonsense despite its popularity. I managed to keep this up for quite a while too until one day when I purchased a copy of CVG magazine and feasted my eyes upon screenshots of Final Fantasy VII for the first time. I was blown away by how awesome this game looked and sounded, especially when the accompanying article had made such a fuss about it. When the game finally hit UK shores and was released in shops nationwide... I picked up a Sony PlayStation and felt dirty. I'd betrayed my beloved Sega. But by the time I got to the end of Final Fantasy VII's three discs and over forty hours later, I didn't care anymore.

For myself and many others, Final Fantasy VII was our first real experience of a huge sprawling JRPG, sure there had been many similar games before, especially on the Super Nintendo, but this game was the breakthrough event. My previously short childlike attention span was completely destroyed by this game, I can't remember ever being so absorbed within a video game story before or putting in so many hours to leveling up and perfecting my characters for their final battle. The presentation of Final Fantasy VII was simply groundbreaking, not only regarding it's highly detailed pre-rendered environments, but also the CGI cutscenes lavishly produced in real cinematic quality (for the time). Previous entries in the series had used two-dimensional battle scenes, often with very little animation aside from some special effects such as fire, thunder, etc. Final Fantasy VII has fully three-dimensional and dynamic battle scenes, with highly detailed character models and some awesome special effects, which was only magnified during the epic-scale boss fights and magical "summons" that characters could call upon. As I'm writing this blog post I'm listening to orchestral versions of the game's soundtrack, which was also just amazing, and still is! Many tracks such as 'Aerith's Theme' and 'One Winged Angel' are classics, still loved and performed live all these years later.

Now that I've gushed about how this game blew me (any everyone else at the time) away with it's production values and technical merit, lets get on to the real reason why this is one of the best video games of all time and it's not a reason you often hear in the world of gaming: the story. The story told in Final Fantasy VII is still one of the best ever written for a video game, and was unique for the way that it told a grand tale of heroes saving the world while also fitting in themes of environmentalism, genetic engineering, post-industrialisation, and many other adult content that just wasn't done in this medium at the time. The characters, both your playable characters as well as NPCs and antagonists, were so well developed in terms of their backstory and psychology that it really made you invest in their personal journey. Also, this was the first video game that ever reduced me to tears. I don't feel an ounce of shame in typing that, as anyone who played Final Fantasy VII will understand. Before the first disc, out of three, is even complete you will have had your heart strings tugged on and then torn from you, and I'm a sucker for tragedy.

Final Fantasy VII starts off at a good pace, and slowly introduces you to it's core characters and gets the plot underway before throwing you into some fairly lengthy and difficult fights. After what seems like a decent amount of playing time by itself you are eventually expunged from the opening city of Midgar and given free reign to explore the world. Not only do you have the sprawling narrative to tend to but there are also lots of side quests, activities and hidden easter eggs to find that the volume of content is through the roof; people have been known to put in around one hundred hours just breeding 'Chocobo' (giant flightless birds).

I popped in my PlayStation discs into my PS3 a couple of years ago and had another blast on Final Fantasy VII. While the battle system doesn't hold up compared to modern entries in the series (after Final Fantasy XIII's hectic fast-paced affair the original PlayStation games feel like they're in slow motion!) and the graphics have obviously aged an awful lot, the story and characters remain. I was still gripped and enthralled, because despite the aging of the medium, some stories are timeless. I was not to feel this strongly about a video game story again (personally VIII and IX weren't anywhere near as good) until much later when I picked up a PS2 for a similarly named game, for a familiar reason...

When Final Fantasy X was released, I'd been out of the video gaming loop for a while and it was yet again another release in this series that sucked me right back in; largely for the same reasons as before. I picked up a PS2 console largely just for this game, as I couldn't resist after seeing screenshots and reading the glowing reviews. What I didn't expect was another complete classic in the making, and another unforgettable experience that I'll always remember. Final Fantasy X is even more special to me because I played it while attending university and will always cherish that escape when stress was getting to me; the world and story completely hooked me and I spent many hours absorbed in their splendour.

Again, it's easy to espouse the technical merits of this game, especially in the context of it's release. The graphics are a massive step up from those of the previous console generation: lost are the pre-rendered backgrounds, instead three-dimensional environments allowed you to move through them and the camera to follow. The battle scenes were still loaded separate from this of course, but they were now even more dynamic and action packed, the special effects even more explosive, and the bosses truly monstrous. My personal favourite being the summonable boss 'Anima', which I had a statue of in my student house. The characters were now ultra-high detail and completely voice acted, and the musical score was a fully orchestrated affair replete with vocal tracks and pop-songs to boot. Animated CGI cutscenes were now so lavish and well produced that they literally put Hollywood to shame (something they realised and tried to address when they gave the game creators money to make 'Spirits Within' - which unfortunately sucked in every area except the visuals).

I will always have a fond space in my heart for the gameplay of Final Fantasy X, especially the battle system, which to this day remains unique within the series. Rather than the filling of time bars to dictate when certain characters could take their actions, this installment had a turn-based system similar to a board/card game. The layer of deep strategy that this added, as you could play with the sequence by casting certain spells or using abilities, completely absorbed me. Some of the boss fights in particular were very lengthy as a result of this, and the sense of achievement when you finally realised the sequence of events needed to emerge victorious with your team alive was outstanding. However, and similar to Final Fantasy VII, the real beauty of this game, despite the overwhelming levels of polish in all areas (the music is one of my favourite video game scores of all time!), was again the story.

The tale told in Final Fantasy X is once again almost unrivaled in video games, both in terms of the main narrative and (again) in relation to the themes and ideas that it explores; this time there is lots of lamenting over the devastating effects of war, something close to the Japanese psyche and often explored in anime and movies from that country. Some truly memorable characters emerge from this game too, and again they are so well realised that its hard not to completely invest yourself in them - despite some occasional slip-ups in the quality of voice acting; or perhaps because of it, after all this is before the series started to take itself a bit too seriously. The relationship between the two protagonists Tidus and Yuna is one of my favourites, and the tragedy of their story touched me very deeply, especially sitting in my room late at light, lights off completely transfixed on those final closing hours.

About a year ago, they announced that a special HD version of Final Fantasy X was coming out for PS3. At the time of this blog post, it still hasn't emerged, but if/when it does, I will be picking up and playing this most classic of tales once again. I'm very much looking forward to it, and will rejoice to live these characters stories all over again. Final Fantasy X is fondly remembered as a highlight of the series, so much so that it is one of the rare cases where a genuine sequel was created in X-2, and along with Final Fantasy VII these are some of the best examples of video game narratives ever created.

BGE S1: Shadow of the Colossus (Review)

Imagine a game where there are no levels (in the conventional sense), no bad guys to attack, and no background music for most of your playing time. For the vast majority of your experience you'll only have your horse for company as you ride and trot your way through a huge barren landscape, almost devoid of life and overwhelmingly lonely. Your only guide in this spartan wilderness is the disembodied voice of a dissected and vanquished god, whose fractured soul is trapped in sixteen large and unbreakable statues. It is your quest to decipher the cryptic clues given by this entity, point the glint of your sword towards the sun and find the greatest secret contained in this forgotten landscape: there are sixteen colossal beasts, creatures of varying size and temperament, and you must find a way to vanquish them all and cheat the death of your loved one.


"Raise thy sword by the light... and head to the place where the sword's light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat."


At the time this game was released I remember being utterly blown away by the vastness of it's open world, as I'd never played a game that gave you so much freedom to explore and investigate. In open-world games like the Elder Scrolls or Red Dead Redemption the landscape is populated by side quests and NPCs with which to interact and lots of lower level baddies that stand in your way and provide things to do en route to your destination. Shadow of the Colossus has none of these. Your journey is incredibly lonely, and Team ICO did a fantastic job of creating scenery and landscapes that dwarf you and make you feel incredibly small and insignificant. This also infuses your surroundings with a sense of wonder, and by investigating the ruined buildings and shrines dotted throughout the land, you start to build up your own interpretation of the history and lore prefacing events in the game. Again, this was the first time I'd experienced anything like this, and in fact wouldn't experience anything like it again until Demon's Souls.

Whist exploring and navigating your way across the forbidden land, through mucky swamps, rolling tundra and rocky canyons where the wind howls in echoed sadness, there are some things to pass the time. It becomes addictive finding and hunting the right kind of wild lizard, eating their tails and gaining a bit of stamina in the process. Climbing trees and harvesting the myriad types of fruit to increase your health bar is also very rewarding, as is finding the different hidden save shrines scatted throughout the land, and occasionally messing about with a playful eagle who swoops down on you inquisitively. It is the carefully crafted isolation and sense of being alone in the wilderness that draws you to these things, as well as bonding you very strongly to your horse, Agro. He is your only companion on your quest and the AI controlling him is programmed in such a way that he is not a mindless tool or vehicle; sometimes he will wander off and eat/drink on his own, he won't always go exactly the way you want him to, he bellows when distressed, etc. Agro feels very much like a sentient companion and you really grow attached to your equine friend through the course of the game.

Eventually, of course, you arrive at your destination and lay eyes upon the colossus you are tasked to dispatch. This is where the meat and bones of the 'gameplay' take place, as the game is essentially a series of (what would be in other games) "boss fights", with each colossi being more akin to a carefully crafted puzzle, the solving of which is key to its downfall. It's not an easy task, to first work out exactly how you're meant to overcome these gargantuan beasts, and then to actually put it into practice (although sometimes the game will chime in with a cryptic clue to help you figure it all out). Suffice to say, slaying these creatures is very exhilarating and such a stark juxtaposition to the bleakness and serenity of your travels, but there is also an air of sadness to your actions. Through the slow motion collapse of these distinct beings, coupled with a melancholy musical score, you genuinely feel guilt at having slain them; especially when so many of them seem to be peacefully going about their business until you show up and stab them in their magical vitals. For the completion of these challenges, your character is punished and sent back to the large tower in the centre of the forbidden land, a statue shatters and your are sent forth once more with new quarry by the suspicious Dormin.


"I don't believe this... So it was you after all. Have you any idea what you've done?! Not only did you steal the sword and trespass upon this cursed land, you used the forbidden spell as well..."

By the end of the game, Shadow of the Colossus has tugged on every heart string and put you through an emotional roller coaster, especially in it's closing hour or so. You will cheer, you will cry, and you will feel incredibly moved by the whole experience. This was the first game that really made me quietly reflect upon what had happened for days after it had ended, and showed the world that not only were games not a mindless point-collecting shoot-things-in-the-face-fest, but they could also be art and actually say something deep and meaningful. That the designers of Shadow of the Colossus managed to use stark minimalism to tell such a rich and fulfilling tale is pure genius of video game design and is utterly unique to the medium. This is not a game that wants to be a film, or a quick way to pass five minutes and get an adrenaline rush, this is something special to be savoured - a story told uniquely and with great catharsis through an interactive experience wholly different to anything that came before it (and influencing many that came after).

As an addendum, a high definition remaster of Shadow of the Colossus was released onto the PS3, and I had the opportunity to replay this experience all over again but with a framerate and resolution closer to the designer's intentions. Even though some of the technology has aged slightly (the streaming open-world pops up more viciously than modern video games) the game itself is still timeless. If anything, in a modern video game climate where gun-violence and warfare dominate, Shadow of the Colossus is still a breath of fresh air and if anything its uniqueness is only magnified. Whenever I'm asked what I think the greatest video game ever created is, I always default to this game, and until something comes along with as much ingenuity and impact as this had on me (and continues to do so every time I play it), I've a feeling it will remain in the top spot for years to come.

"...Now, be on thy way."

BGE S1: Best Games Ever - Series One

I could often be quoted as saying that 'X' is "one of the best games ever made" or "this game is definitely one that I would add onto my greatest games of all time list"... well, I've never actually sat down and made a list of  (what I would consider) the best video games ever created. Recently I've been thinking and trying to develop that list, but I don't think I'm going to be able to come up with a numerical order or anything like that, as I'm much too indecisive. Also, there are a few games which I might put on the list, alongside a load that DEFINITELY deserve a place on there. Since it takes me ages to get around to typing anything on this blog, I've decided to start with those games that I'm absolutely 100% sure are some of the best video games ever put onto disc/cartridge/projected into my eyeballs. Following this post then will be a small selection of games that are incredibly special to me and fundamentally changed my preconceptions about what this medium can achieve.

(Note: There are three games that would go into my 'best games ever' list that I'm not going to review as part of the 'BGE' series, either because I've already done a full feature review (Metal Gear Solid and Journey) or I've mentioned them in some detail before (Dark Souls was my video game of the year for 2011.))

VGOTY 2011 #1 - Journey

Now, I'm gonna avoid writing too much about Journey, because I've already done a written review of this game earlier in the year so you can go and read that for my views and opinions about the game in general; as well as why it is **one of the best games ever made** in my opinion. Here, I will just qualify why I think it deserves to be number one game of 2012.

Basically, when it came out I think I played it through about four or five times, back-to-back. I waited a week, and then I played it through again, achieving 100% trophies in the game. Recently (about a couple of weeks back), I loaded it up and played it again. I will play it again too. and again. and again.

GOTY 2012. One of the best games of all time.

VGOTY 2011 #2 - Dragon's Dogma

After the open-world fantasy-fest of 2011, with Dark Souls and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim dominating a huge chunk of my time, there felt like a gaping hole in 2012 that other RPGs just didn't fill. That is, of course, until I picked up Dragon's Dogma because despite some "good but not great" critics reviews, it looked like it would be up my street. Well, not only was this game superb, but it turns out I was not the only person to think so - Dragon's Dogma went on to sell so many copies and be raved about by so many people that Capcom instantly green-lit a sequel, in fact a whole franchise based on this game, but with a bigger budget and larger internal focus from the company. Still, if large sprawling open world fantasy RPGs are your thing, then this "flawed" original should definitely not be overlooked. In fact, while I would never disagree they there is room for improvement, I would argue that the perceived "flaws" of this game is probably what endeared it to so many people in the first place!!

So, what do you do when a huge fire breathing dragon lands in your quiet seaside town, starts some shit, and then rips the still-beating heart from your chest? Why, become immortal of course!!.. and go kick that damned dragon's ass!!

The first thing that I really liked about Dragon's Dogma is that it doesn't hold your hand. At the start of the game, the map is blank, you haven't got a clue where anything is and your character doesn't magically know where to go to complete quests. This is realistic and forces you to actually, you know, talk to people and explore the map to discover things. Stuff like this instantly makes me enjoy a game, especially if this is backed up by a steep difficulty curve, which it is in Dragon's Dogma. However, the game cleverly gives you a little control over this with it's day/night cycle - basically, in the daylight you will find the usual array of fantastical creatures and enemies, all appropriately levelled based on location and visible some distance away; allowing you avoid them if necessary. Once the sun has gone down, and night draws in, the game world turns pitch black (a bit like how night actually is (i.e. not the blue-tinged romanticised Hollywood nighttime)) and chock-full of horrific creatures who's only ambition is to tear your face off. These more difficult nighttime encounters provide greater challenge and level-up your character quicker, as well as providing access to some of the game's random giant-creature battles.

Occasionally, and with greater frequency the further you progress, the game will spawn massive boss-like battles that feel AWESOME to struggle with and eventually overcome. A robust combat system backs this up, with lots of stat-building, armour-swapping and assignable hot-swappable special moves providing a deeply satisfying role-playing system. You also have the much maligned 'Pawns' that follow you around and obey your commands, although some of their use is also outside battle to provide quest markers if they've done the quest before. This also makes up the game's online component, as you're continually searching 'the Rift' to find other player's companions and aid from those pawns who have already completed quests or who have something that you party is currently lacking.

There is still so much I haven't talked about regarding this epic game, such as some of the side-quests and randomly generated material, or the **AMAZING** "final" battles (the dragons in this make Skyrim look like absolute bollocks!) leading into an end-game lasting another several hours on top of the main storyline!! Dragon's Dogma was just a superb game, which seemed to complete lose critics who overlooked everything that it did new and did well, instead choosing to compare it to "safer" western fantasy epics, which while robust and excellent in their own way, were no where near as refreshing to play as this game. Totally deserving of a place as one of the best games in 2012, so much so that an extended mini-sequel is coming before Dragon's Dogma 2 hits at some point, I can't wait!!

VGOTY 2011 #3 - Binary Domain

The primary reason why I was so nonchalant about Mass Effect 3 this year was because I played it back-to-back with Binary Domain; which was mostly superior in every way! Largely overlooked both by critics and the general public, Binary Domain is an excellent third-person shooter that not only had an engaging storyline and memorable well-voiced/acted characters, but also had some of the tightest shooting controls since Vanquish. In fact those two games bare more than a passing similarity, and while Vanquish hasn't made a GOTY list for me before, in 2012 Binary Domain stood out and deserves a spot in the top three.

If you like the Ridley Scott film Bladerunner, then you'll like this game. If you enjoy the robo-anime output of Mamoru Oshii (specifically seminal masterpiece Ghost in the Shell) then you'll like this game. If both of those things apply to you and the idea of having a smack-talking character called Roy "Big Bo" Boateng and an openly gay french robot sound hilarious, then you will absolutely **LOVE** this game!!

For what initially comes across as yet-another-fricken' mindless shooter, Binary Domain quickly introduces its core themes of post-humanism and simulacra/simulation of human beings through some amazingly directed cut-scenes. This is a game produced by Sega's Yakuza Studio and their experience in long complex storytelling really shines through and transforms what could have been a by-the-numbers game into something special and quite thought-provoking in places. Structure-wise, the game is actually very linear; funneling you down a tightly woven and constructed narrative that throws all sorts of sticky situations and boss-fights at you in relentless succession. Small "hub" areas provide some refreshing breathers and a chance for the game to build up not only the narrative but also the relationships between the different characters.

Branching dialogue and several important player-choices make it seem like you have much more control over the game than you actually do, although this is not a detriment - the game never purports to be an RPG or anything more than an action/adventure romp. It delivers this in spades. I mentioned boss fights above, which is something often either missing from western games or greatly underused. Not here! They're some of the best moments of the game, requiring careful tactics and some precise cat-like reflexes to beat, with the difficulty ramping up nicely as the game progresses. The game never outstays its welcome however, and just as the tendrils of fatigue start to tickle you slightly, the pace increases and speeds you to the violent tempestuous conclusion.

I played Binary Domain during an especially tumultuous period of the year, yet it captivated me, entertained me and held my attention right through to the end; leaving me begging for a sequel. I hope it gets one.

VGOTY 2012 #4 - Borderlands 2

The first Borderlands surprised the hell out of me when I played it for the first time, I really did not expect it to be so addictive and so much fun. I remember staying up late at night and binging on it all day during holidays as I found ever more valuable, and ludicrous, loot with which to shoot people in the face. At a time when the idea of playing yet another game of gunning people down appeals to me about as much as watching the Queen's speech (i.e. I'd rather not!!), my enthusiasm for Borderlands 2 is testament to just how awesome these games are. I was really looking forward to picking up the sequel to one of my favourite games and it did not disappoint.

What I like most about Borderlands 2, is the humour. There are lots of games out there that take themselves very seriously in a po-faced attempt to say something significant, when often the reason people play video games is that they simply want to have a good time. Borderlands 2 has a solid plot, and some great characters, and some moments that make you sit up and laugh/cry/scream-at the screen. However, it also has lots of incidental detail that will have you chuckling all the way though. Quests are equally as varied and entertaining and often result in you obtaining crazy weaponry that may or may not be useful in the game, but is always entertaining none-the-less.

The game is also expertly well designed and improves on the original in almost every conceivable way. Graphically, there is a lot more variety this time 'round, as you start off in icy tundra before moving onto familiar deserts, and on to forested mountains, swamps, volcanic basins, etc. All in the trademark cell-shaded comic book style that made the original so different, improved further here due to incremental advancements in the Unreal Engine. Character models, animation, and voice acting are also raised several notches and really bring the world of Pandora to life like it's never been before; with characters such as the villainous 'Handsome Jack' and the goofy 'Clap Trap' being stand out favourites of mine.

As I write this blog, I'm actually still playing the game (the ending could cause it to rise or fall on this GOTY list I guess), my slower progress due to the plethora of side-quests and random activities that proliferate the world, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Borderlands 2 was definitely worth the wait and is definitely one of the top games released in 2012.

VGOTY 2012 #5 - Tokyo Jungle

Tokyo Jungle is an arcade game. Lets get that out of the way first: there's no grand story, characters, voice acting, high-budget production values, or any of the other tropes expected of modern video games. Instead you have the joy of pint-sized escapism in it's purest form...

You pick up the game pad, select your desired animal (such as a cute little Pomeranian dog), start off in Shibuya Station near the train tracks, drinking water and marking your territory by pissing on some red flags. Then you savagely attack and devour several bunny rabbits, chickens and possibly cats before finding a horned up soul-mate and 'boinking' in some hay. Then you have a whole conga-line of cute little puppies with which to start all over again but in new territory. Watch them eat, grow, shag and eventually get mauled to death by an Elephant that they foolishly thought they could bite the arse off before it trampled them all to death in a fit of bleeding-cheeked anger. Why is all this so strangely addictive, like cuddly savage crack!?

Tokyo Jungle is like a hyper-stylised and fast playing version of games like The Sims, where you get to watch a family that you create evolve and change over time based on your decisions and gameplay. The game also keeps the interest up by randomly generating events in different areas of Tokyo for you to explore and partake in; as well as challenges to complete as you try to survive for the longest time possible. Built in are several different species of animal to unlock, and different accessories to find, collect, and enhance your animal's stats in a pseudo-RPG dressing up feature. There is also a vague "story mode" to collect and unlock as well as history and background material to find... hell, the game even supports an offline local co-op mode where you and a friend can join each other in the race for survival and supremacy!

As you can see it's not short on content, despite the fact that the game can last anywhere from ten minutes to several hours depending on how much time you want to invest in the longevity of whichever species you've chosen to play as. It may not be the most deep and meaningful, or polished graphically/aurally, game in the world... but it is certainly one of the most unique. In an industry dominated by shooting people in the face for hours on end and watching cut-scene after cut-scene where failed movie actors 'emote' as hard as they can through clumsy scripts, it's refreshing to pick up a controller, select a Sabre Toothed Tiger and maul some other animals for half an hour.

Addictiveness and supreme amounts of fun mean that Toyko Jungle is easily one of the highlights for 2012 and an easy pick for my top five this year.

Video Game of the Year (VGOTY) 2012 - Intro and Disclaimer

Generally speaking, I feel like this year the standard of video games has been significantly lower than last year. I remember sitting and composing my top games of 2011 and being spoilt for choice, to the extent that it was pretty agonising deciding on the final order of those top five games. Even now, I look back and would change the order a bit (for instance Portal 2 would be my number two game, and Dead Space 2 would probably drop off the list in favour of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). I also recall that there was a still a massive list of games that I had stacked ready to play but hadn't gotten 'round to it.

This year is a little different. I've played through most of the games that I was looking forward to and caught up with a lot of the games outstanding from 2011. My top five games were actually pretty easy to pick once I'd put certain rules in place: no HD re-releases or DLC! If I had ignored this rule then the number one and two spots would belong to Dark Souls (again!!) and the Metal Gear Solid Collection. Dark Souls was re-released this year in a "Prepare to Die" edition, which included the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. I downloaded this DLC separately and played through the entire game for the second time (picking up some trophies I'd missed along the way)... AND I LOVED IT!!

The Metal Gear Solid Collection is actually a game that I picked up at the end of last year (when it was released in the USA), however it wasn't out here until mid way through 2012, and that was pretty much when I ended up playing it. These are some of the best video games ever made and in particular Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater ended up joining my "greatest video games of all time" list, which I really must get around to posting in the future. I've yet to play Peacewalker as I type this, and have been saving it for a rainy day, but that could start me off on an MGS binge all over again!

Anyhoo, without further delay, following this post will be my personal top five games of the year for 2012. Notable absences are Mass Effect 3 (I played through just over half of it before getting bored and leaving it alone for a while - I will return at some point when I'm in the mood for a third-person shooter) and Dishonoured (because I still don't own this game, even though it looks incredible!).