MizuMikomi wrote:
Probably not what you'd expect from me; save for a few of these which are blooming obvious, anyway... I will add a bit more information later when I am feeling better. Sinus infections... oh joy.
Titles:
1) Tales of Vesperia (360/PS3): Second X360 game, and my third PS3 game.This is what introduced me to the Tales series, it showed me how deep a story can be, and still be an enjoyable gaming experience. My apparently "former" friend BladeZeroX25, suggested it; being a major Tales fan, and it ended up being my favorite game or pretty much... ever.
before I had never thought characters could have so much depth, or that a game's story could actually have a plot that compelled me to play more. Yuri's sense of justice was refreshing to me, and the characters are dynamic and amazing. Although i admit the story turns out to be rather cliche, and almost a Global Warming type scenario. It is still a masterpiece all it's own.
The gameplay was addictive, mastering my arts and developing the characters and adapting to each one's playstyle was insanely fun and above all enjoyable. The music, atmosphere, and world of Terca Lumires as a whole was impressive and awe inspiring too me.
Tales of Vesperia is the sole reason why I garnered an interest in more RPGs than just Kingdom Hearts of the first two Paper Mario games.
Tales of Vesperia is also the main influence that gave me the inspiration to start writing.
2) Chou Jigen Game Neptune Mk2: Sequel to Neptune Hyperdimension Neptunia, my GOTY for 2011Rather hard for me to review a Japanese game; in a general sense, but I find Mk2 just... it's interesting to say the least.
As most know, I only imported it for the Limited Edition with the nendoroid petits, as I was expecting it to be a fanservice infested pile of $#!@. Luckily after giving it a chance, I was pleasantly surprised.
This game showed me that there still is hope in development. Compile Heart took what they did wrong, and redid numerous elements to find a formula and combination of gameplay that just works.
It proved that developers can STILL get better and learn from their mistakes. Something I had been losing hope with in regards to many big name developers. The difference between Hyperdimension Neptunia and Mk2 is like night and day, there really is not comparison.
Neptune Mk2 is proof that Compile Heart knows how too make games RIGHT, when Neptunia just shows how to take an idea, revamp it, and make it worse.
/Referring to Trinity universe.It was a surprising and enjoyable experience from beginning to end, and I am still trying to Platinum it as I type. Mk2 IS a JRPG, at most Neptunia was a polished version of Trinity Universe
; which pulled it off better than the crap that is TriUni. Definitely the most surprising game I played this year... or ever.
3) Paper Mario: The Thousand year Door: Second RPG I ever played, first was Paper MarioPaper Mario is what eventually sparked my interest in Kingdom Hearts.
It showed me that even though the story is completely predetermined
; I only played Mario and Banjo-Kazooie games before I played the first Paper Mario, you can still enjoy a game to it's fullest, if not fuller. It taught me what grinding was, and made me a completion whore.
There's not much else I can say, since this game just sparked my interest in RPGs as a whole. Definitely an eye opening experience. Leveling up, buying items and equipment, begin able to explore and open world with many characters and interactions... I became addicted to that style of gameplay. And until I found Kingdom Hearts, I only ever played Thousand Year door and StarFox Adventures.
4) Final Fantasy XIII: Very hesitant to play, first venture into Final Fantasy.I'd always been hesitant of venturing into the Final Fantasy franchise, don't ask why... it was just never appealing enough for me to care.
I decided to rent Final Fantasy XIII a week before Christmas last year, and played it quite literally nonstop. Not because I particularly liked it, but the concept the game presented, where it was solely plot driven was intriguing.
The characters were interesting, and the plot was rather enjoyable.
The "on rails" aspect never got too me, it being my first Final Fantasy title, so I didn't have near as many complaints. But all that changed when I got into the midpoint, when you are given your entire party, and your paradigms are unlocked for all characters.
It was fun and enjoyable to combine different tactics in battle, learning what worked against what enemy, and utterly decimating them was so fun. I went on unintentional grind fests just because I enjoyed the game play, I wondered what was next, and that's what's kept me playing.
The graphics were amazing, and really showed me what the PS3 could do
; as I hadn't played anything in full 3D graphics until the as I have BlazBlue CS and Disgaea 3, I was awestruck, dumbfounded, you put the feeling here, I really have no other word for it.
The character's desire for change and to be accepted, to change the status quo was just... out there for me. I hadn't seen much along the lines of that, ever. And it kept me around just for the story.
The only influence it really had was it opened my mind to new ideas in gaming, and overall I have kept a pretty open mind when approaching game purchasing since I got the game three days after I returned it... Christmas Day of last year. I realized that games of all types can be enjoyable in their own right, and that sticking to one genre is stupid for pretty much any gamer to do.
5) Banjo-Kazooie: One of my first N64 games, made me a platformer addict. first game I memorized all the way through.There really isn't much I can say that you all could make sense of, describing the charm that this game has is next to impossible. It's best people just play it, and see why.
Highlights:
Level design- Clever level design, item placement, and challenges. This game is a perfect example of how complex a level design could be. Multiple branching paths, all leading to different challenges and objectives. A colorful cast, with... a type of adult British humor that the average American kid wouldn't understand.
Music- Grant Kirkhope is an orchestral GENIUS.
His compositions brought the world to life, and fit with the theme so well.
Characters- Colorful, humorous, and likable.
They talking using grunts, burps, farts, and random noises. And although this is what the voice track consists of, the dialogue was too risky to actually have it be voice, which is another thing that draws me back.
Replayability- You like fetchquests? Collecting every item a game has to offer, just to gain a false sense of achievement? Trophy whores, rejoice! Banjo-Kazooie was full of things to do, next to impossible items to get that would make you feel like you accomplished something once the task was completed.
You had so many options and routes you could take to accomplish an objective, it was just fun and enjoyable.
6) Banjo-Tooie: Sequel to the above, introduced concepts in games I couldn't have imagined.Same reasons as Banjo-Kazooie, but Tooie took it to a whole other level.
This game was the first game I had played that introduced "world within worlds", each level had a way to access former, or future worlds. A secret in one level could be inaccessible until you reach a level later on, or a task in a current level could require you to have done something in one half way across the continent.
It was just awesome, as a kid it was just so cool that breaking a bunch of TNT in a mining area;
Glitter Gulch mine, could open up a flying Saucer ride in a future Amusement Park Based area
; WitchyWorld.
As a kid it blew my freaking mind. I mean before this I had been playing my NES, SNES, and Super Mario 64. But the original Banjo-Kazooie series;
excluding the third game for 360 Nuts & Bolts, it just... it was amazing, so simple a concept, but so fun... and addictive.
7) Age of Empires (1 and 2): Taught me how fun it is to be in control of EVERYTHING.Not allies with someone? Kill them
Another Civ expanding into your land? Destroy them
Building up an Empire and having total and complete control was enjoyable and something I had never done before my Dad introduced me to this game. Absolute control over an entire civilization, building up your forces and utterly dominating.
I guess... this game influenced me to be very controlling, and liking the position of being a leader. Which... caused the downfall of a forum I had been put in charge off, but I digress.
8) RollerCoaster Tycoon (1, 2 and 3): First sandbox game.I am very creative, I like to build, I was a lego addict until I found RCT. The games just let me do whatever, and all that freed was great.
If it wasn't for RollerCoaster Tycoon I never would have played Dark Cloud 2;
or cared for the georama aspect, and I never would have cared for Minecraft.
9) Kingdom Hearts II: Second Square Enix game, had previously played CoMThis is what made me a Kingdom Hearts fanboy, and what opened me to new concepts, ideas, and styles of game design. I thought it was really cool that Disney and Final Fantasy type characters could blend SO WELL.
Admittedly I am a Disney addict, my video library consists mostly of Disney classics... it is immense, and I used to watch at least two Disney movies a day. The nostalgia factor really hit it home with some of the worlds, the music, character, and just the overall feel of the story.
I was so intrigued by the keyblade and the story, that I ignored all other aspects my very first playthrough, I went without abilities and never changed out my keyblade, as I had no clue you could do so.
But once I got past that, I found there was something else to this series that just... stuck with me. I'd find myself humming the original songs made just for it, or quoting the characters out of the blue, sketching keyblades on a test at school. Just things that I was inspired to do.
It sparked my creativity, I didn't go a single day without drawing or trying to outguess the story, or as the case may be, series Director Tetsuya Nomura. I found it fun to think of the possible routes the series could take, the games made me think, and I had to play them all countless times to actually get the gist of what was going on in the story.
It was just an enjoyable experience all around.
The RPG I got after this was... Final Mix +, which was also my first ever import.
So Kingdom Hearts is why I import, it's also another source of my creativity.
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