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The Top 10 Games I Played in 2015

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It seems like every year I begin my best-of list by stating I didn’t play many new releases. This year is no different, and the rate of current releases to “older” games is very close to last year’s. Nonetheless, I do feel like I played more new releases this year, they just didn’t make the cut. Again, like last year I’ll order these alphabetically and provide links to any of the title’s that I actually wrote about.

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut – This game was such a bore for the first handful of hours. I couldn’t quite figure out where the love for this game originated. Granted, it’s mostly ironic love, but it was still lost on me. Then everything clicked. One weekend in particular I had ample free time to devote to the game and I figured out the side missions and realized that’s where the addictive qualities lay. After forty hours, I had a platinum trophy in my possession and a new found appreciation for Swery65.

Her Story – This is one of the few games this year that I was able join in on the zeitgeist. The weekend it came out (or maybe one or two later), my friend and I devoted an entire gaming session to solving the mystery within the game. Interacting with the emulated vintage computer system and watching the four second to three minute clips of interviews was a gaming experience unlike any other I’ve had. We took notes and had fun speculating about the mystery every step of the way. Heck, after all was said and done we went back and watched the entire interviews spliced in chronological order on YouTube. Unforgettable. Unlike my intentions to come back and write more about the game as mentioned in my review…

Lost Odyssey – There’s always a few games that I fail to write reviews for but luckily, I did at least write something about this game (two articles in fact!). I’m bad about doing that, especially with the games I enjoy the most. That’s the case with this gem. This is by most measures, a very traditional JRPG; it is, though, an exemplary traditional JRPG. Like Deadly Premonition, it took a while for this game to click with me but once it did, I was irrevocably sucked in. I could lavish praise on the mature story, or the addictive character growth mechanics but I failed to do so after originally beating the game so why start now? Nonetheless, easily one of the best games I played this year.

Metal Gear Solid – With the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, I felt the urge to play through the entire MGS series (I tend to get these urges, especially with long-running series’ damn it!). Since that urge, my friend and I have played through this title and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and we’re currently working on Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (and I played VR Missions, solo). The second game had much more to analyze and is likely the more important video game to the industry (perhaps of all time?) but my friend and I had more fun playing the first one.

South Park: The Stick of Truth – Here’s one of those games that I didn’t write anything about. Without a doubt, it’s got the funniest writing in a game I’ve ever played. The vulgarity may offend some, but hey, it’s a South Park video game! It’s a brief riot that invoked the sensibilities of the Mario RPG games, ergo, turn-based combat with quick-time events.  It was a well-crafted romp through the South Park universe and Jeff, if you’re reading this, play it already!

Super Mario Maker – I haven’t written about this game, yet. I’m still playing it all the time and it’s been a hub for the gaming sessions my friend and I have. I’m not usually attracted to games that have a user-designed focus but I’ve had a lot of fun designing stages in this game. It definitely helps that I’m designing Mario stages and can immediately understand how everything will work and how to design a stage. That being said, I’m learning so many new techniques and playing so many awesomely difficult stages that you’d never find in a Nintendo published 2D Mario game.

The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Series – I missed out on this originally, despite the pleas of a friend and the acclaim that was thrown this game’s way, but I was looking for just such an experience after getting my PS4 after Christmas last year. This game told an enthralling story that packed a punch and left me wanting to find two hours to devote to the next episode after completing the previous one. So glad I played this.

Wolfenstein: The New Order – Okay, apparently this is just the section of the list where I talk about games I never wrote about. Like many of the games I’ve included, I’ve selected this game based in part on its story. That’s something that is rarely said about an FPS, but it’s true. This was a narrative-driven shooter that had me interested in what was going to happen to the characters it revolved around. It didn’t hurt that the gameplay was fun as heck, too.

Xenoblade Chronicles X – Like Super Mario Maker, I haven’t written about this game as I’m still playing it. I’m about thirty hours in at the moment and can’t spend enough time in the world. I’ve been doing way too many monotonous side missions instead of the affinity and story missions, but I’ve been doing this to spend more time roaming the large environments and exploring every nook and cranny. The story is rubbish but who cares with a world like this one’s!

You Must Build a Boat – Mobile games for me serve mostly as time wasters, so it’s impressive when I play one when my time should be devoted elsewhere. The dungeon-crawling, character growth elements put a spin on the tile-matching gameplay. For a couple of bucks, don’t think about it, just buy this game.

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Lost Odyssey and My Disc Four Woes

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Lost Odyssey - Japan

“Are you kidding me?” I sat there and thought as I kept failing in my attempts to install the fourth disc of Lost Odyssey to my Xbox 360. You see, in the hopes of reducing load times and allowing my Xbox 360 to take it a little easier (less disc spinning should mean moving parts are being used less) I prefer to install any game I play. And, this tactic worked just fine for discs one, two, and three. The fourth disc on the other hand was being a bugbear and dampening my good feelings upon reaching it after 35 hours of traditional JRPG excellence.

So, when I had the opportunity, I took the troublesome disc to a local game shop to have it resurfaced. This, being Friday after work (aka payday) and accompanied by my closest gaming equal Jeff, we made an evening of the trip. As I always say: “it isn’t a weekend if I haven’t bought a video game!” The first stop – Tulsa’s midtown Vintage Stock – was a bust. Their disc resurfacing machine was out of order, but we took a look around nonetheless. Were it not for his suggestion to choose this Vintage Stock location, I wouldn’t have added Rippin’ Riders (Dreamcast), Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit (Xbox), Battle Fantasia (Xbox 360), and Space Invaders Extreme 2 (Nintendo DS) to my collection. In other words, the trip wasn’t completely unfruitful.

Thus we headed to the Tulsa Hills Vintage Stock, with the foreknown knowledge that their resurfacing machine was in order. As it was getting late (around 9:00 at this point) and both he and I (as well as Jenny, back home) were ravished with hunger, I quickly scanned the walls and only walked away with Ferrari F355 Challenge for the PlayStation 2 and the strategy guide for Infinite Undiscovery. The former, in the hopes of comparing/contrasting it alongside the Dreamcast port, and the latter in the hopes of… well, we’ll see if I actually ever get around to playing that game; I mean, I’ve owned Lost Odyssey for a couple of years now, have wanted to experience it since its announcement, and I’m only now getting around to it!

With food retrieved (Chinese, if you must know) we enjoyed our meal with a humorous selection of videos courtesy of YouTube. Afterwards, we proceeded to play the first episode of Telltale Games’ Game of Thrones adaptation. Wait… what!? Well, Jeff had just played through it himself and was curious to see how my decisions contrasted with his. Personally, I very much enjoyed what I played. This was my first experience with the newer style of their games, and was a strong reminder that I NEED TO PLAY THE WALKING DEAD! When he vacated the premises to return to his abode, I sat down and set about installing the final disc of Lost Odyssey. And it got no further. Heck, I even tried multiple times, again.

“Okay, what’s really wrong with this disc” I thought to myself. As they generally do, the quick Google search I performed yielded the answer and luckily enough, the solution. It turns out, for the North American and European releases of the game, the clamshell packaging was only made to contain three discs (which I always thought was odd considering the secondhand copy I acquired had all four in the disc slot clearly labeled three). The solution was to place the fourth in a paper sleeve, which, at some point during shipping or storage or whatever, a thin film of grime was produced on this disc, which has proved difficult for most to remove. As I mentioned however, my Google search also yielded the solution, although I was equal parts hesitant and flummoxed at the suggestions: boil the game disc.

As a layman on the structure of a DVD, I was understandably incredulous. However, many disparate sources were suggesting the remedy with as many or more claiming it worked for them. “I can always acquire another copy, or borrow Jeff’s. Surely he still has his copy.” I thought, placating my doubts. And so, I started to boil a pot of water on the stove. As the water was getting to temperature, I tried installing the game yet again in the hopes I wouldn’t have to take such a drastic measure, but no dice. So, with the water at a steady boil, the disc took the plunge.

I held it just at the top for the recommended ten seconds, dried it off on a nearby towel and forced the plunge once more. As it neared the water, the heat emanating from the pot caused it to warp slightly, inflicting second doubts in my mind, but it returned to normal after the plunge. After a moment for it to dry and return to room temperature, I went back to the living room to try yet again; all the while leaving the water on a low boil in case it was needed once more. I sat patiently as the percentage slowly climbed. When the 40% figure was reached, I grew tentative. The Xbox 360 was audibly having difficulty and this was always around the percentage the system gave up. The odd starts and stops soon disappeared and it smashed past 50% and never looked back. I could get on with my life again – problem solved!

Thinking back on it now, there’s surely another reason for the fourth disc to cause so many people issues. I mean, I’ve played games that have been kept in paper sleeves and they worked just fine. Perhaps there was an issue with the manufacturing of the mentioned regions’ fourth disc. If it truly was the paper sleeve, it still comes down to Microsoft as the publisher choosing to skimp on the clamshell case and jury rigging a solution. Whatever the case may be, I can now resume a damn fine JRPG. Plus, I got an interesting story out of this predicament!