If I am being honest my heart has not exactly been in this blog for the last 50. I have had such a turbulent time of it that there are a number of games where I just watched them being played rather than playing them myself since I had so much work to do in the evenings and over the weekend. However, now that I have quit the job that made me ill and I am happy again this blog will have more of a place in my heart now.
Best Game I Had Not Previously Played
Despite my heart not being in this blog for the last year or so there really has been a number of games that have captured my interest and resulted in a lot of happy free-time (whenever I could find it) playing.
The best game is a hard one to decide but if I have to choose it would go to Mass Effect 2. It’s bad to day but before starting this gaming blog I had not played a single game by Bioware (and I have to say that I am beginning to warm to them LOADS)… but more on that later.
The close second would have to be Journey. I was really taken aback by how this game built a feeling of camaraderie between myself and a random player; to the point that I felt bereft when we became separated in the penultimate level and I was left on my own. The feeling of isolation was palpable and I kept calling and calling in the vain hope that they would find me again. It was a truly haunting experience.
Other than that there is the awesome Ni No Kuni (which I need to get back to since completing Grand Theft Auto V ) and Bubble Bobble which is a contender for best music encountered during this blog.
Worst Game
I hate having to come up with this since I know all the hours that go into making these games but two games really felt like turds to me this fifty. Firstly, there is Army of Two: The 40th Day a game which would never have spoken to either of us on the get-go but playing it just felt like an incredibly laborious experience… as did spending time with such gun-ho protagonists.
Then there is Bounty Bob Strikes Back… I am still not entirely sure where to put my finger on that game.
Most Surprising Game
When I first read the synopsis of The Darkness the expectation that I had was of some rather poor version of Devil May Cry which we would play just to get through and then move back to a game we wanted to play. Boy was I wrong. As a game it feels more like a demonic-Prototype (minus the open world) but also with the most realistic depiction of a relationship I have ever witnessed in a computer game.
Other than that I was surprised at how weird The Sentinel was and how addictive Nethack was another surprise being that I was actually quite good at it.
Biggest Disappointment
I think this is the first time that either of us have included a game that we previously played under this header but Little Big Adventure really fits the bill. It’s one of those games that I have been really looking forward to trying out again now that I am older… now I wish I hadn’t really bothered. As games go it promises so much but it is just way too clunky to rank alongside a lot of the other games on this list.
Best Blast From The Past
I’m so glad at how much Jeroen has been getting into Fallout 3 and have enjoyed a number of our Civilization IV games but neither wain Blast from the Past as that goes to Broken Sword.
I used to love Broken Sword when I was younger but I could never progress further than Syria (playing it again I realise why… that souvenir puzzle was ridiculous… yet I got past the Irish goat… curious). I got so much more enjoyment from it now I am that much older and previous blog games like Time Gentlemen, Please, Machinarium and Sam and Max Hit The Road have really warmed me back up to point-and-click games.
Games We Kept Playing
I have talked about a lot of games that would fall under this category already but I REALLY need to highlight Mass Effect 2 again. It has been a long time since I found an RPG was this addictive and where I felt so attached to the characters. I loved the first Mass Effect and yet this one was even more involving since I knew that if I did something wrong I could lose a teammate and I was NOT going to have that! I also may have developed a weird straight crush on Miranda that I am still unable to explain…