Tuesday, January 4, 2011

My top 10 games of 2010 (finally!)

Now then, after some careful consideration of all the games I played that were released last year I have come up with my top 10 favourites. Without any further delay let's start!

10. Donkey Kong Country Returns

It's a good challenging 2D platform game but it's so low in this list because it's nowhere near as excellent or as magical as the original SNES trilogy were for several different reasons. I probably shouldn't go into too much detail about them here but there is one I can't let pass and that is the blow move. What a stupid idea that was.

9. Ace Attorney Investigations

This is an interesting third person adventure spinoff of the brilliant Ace Attorney series. I often found my interest waning while playing but I can't think of any other reason why than it being so different to the original series. There's still a lot of great humour and characters, especially the charming and quixotic sidekick Kay.

8. The Crystal Bearers

I hate calling this game by its full title: "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles The Crystal Bearers". It's just too damn long. Anyway this is a rather enjoyable sandbox style adventure game where you throw things at other things with your telekinetic powers. The game's plot is fun in an Indiana Jones kind of way and it isn't too long. It also has extremely quick load times!

7. Dragon Quest IX

This traditional RPG is advertised a lot for its networking features and it's many many extracurricular quests but I have to say I completed the main game without doing any of the extra stuff and found it to be a pretty solid RPG all on its own! I love the fact you can avoid enemies too. I was doing that most of the time and just had a really nice time adventuring in the world! Met some great characters too - my favourites being the kidnappers. It may not be as good as DQIV or V but it's a genuinely solid entry in the series.

6. Last Window

I've posted a lot about this enjoyable and easy going point n' click adventure game. The dialogue between the characters is what kept me playing the most and it hits that sweet spot of "cosiness" that makes you want to keep playing. Makes for a fantastic way to pass a boring commute.

5. Pokémon Ghost Black ReTold

Not actually a game but a "kinetic" style visual novel where you just press a button to advance to the next section. This game is FREE homebrew and a whole playthrough lasts 10-15 minutes. It's great because of its use of images and music to tell a wonderfully eerie story and it brought one of the most compelling experiences I've had this year on my DS. Please play it on your DS!

4. Sin & Punishment 2

Fantastic sequel to the N64 rail shooter that improves upon it in every conceivable way! It's very high on this list because it's incredibly stimulating and satisfying to play!

3. Sonic Colours (Wii version)

I've posted alot about this game already but here I'll say why Sonic Colours is higher than Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Generally it's a much purer, more addictive game than the other two and it is much more considerate to the player, therefore earning it all the praise it can get. Also, no load times!!!

2. Cave Story (WiiWare)

This is number 2 because it's already been topping lists for six years and it took an unbelievably long time to be available on WiiWare. Actually that's not the real reason. I'd nearly still put it at number 1 if it wasn't for the next and final entry on this list:

1. Watching "X's Adventures in Minecraft" on YouTube

I couldn't play Minecraft over the last year because my computer was extremely temperamental so I had to watch this video series recommended to me by everyone I expressed curiosity of this game to.

So wow, two things that I loved straight away about this. One was where X was spending his first night in a tiny cubby hole he dug out for himself while he could clearly hear the eerie moans of zombies outside. The second was where he was making his way into a deep dark unexplored cave. It was an amazing experience watching all this going on accompanied by his commentary.

This is my game of the year because it captured my imagination like no other. I still haven't actually played it but I will now that I have a newer, less temperamental computer! I won't actually build much I'd say. Just whatever I need to go adventuring and exploring!

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