Best of 2008: Editor’s Choice Top 5 – Phil

A lot of games came out this year.  A lot.  In fact, some have even said that 2008 was one of the best years in gaming history.  Every platform was subject to a slew of releases, some good and some not so good.  Suffice it to say, if you’re a gamer, you likely played and enjoyed 5 games over the course of this year.  As such, I’ll be bringing you my personal top five titles of this past year, in no particular order.  As there is no such thing as a “perfect game”, these are five titles that stuck with me despite their flaws, titles that I’m proud to have as part of my collection and have no problem recommending to any gamer I know.  Shall we begin?

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

It’s hard to have a top 5 list and not mention Hideo Kojima’s magnum opus.  Yes, the game had its flaws, with several cutscenes that you need a bucket of popcorn and a soda just to get through topping the list, but the amount of detail, love, and polish that went into MGS4 was, in my mind, second to none in 2008.  The game met every expectation I had in mind, and in some cases even exceeded them.  MGS4 was a success in my mind because, unlike several sequels this generation that made sweeping changes to their existing formulae simply to please a fanbase that may or may not have accepted them to begin with, it knew who its fans were and worked hard to please them first while still making necessary improvements to the gameplay.  As such, the game might not have appealed to more casual gamers or players less indoctrinated into the MGS universe, but if you’re a fan, well, there’s bound to be something to love in there for you.  I can only say that there were several moments in the game (some in cutscenes, some during gameplay), where I just had to pause the game, put my controller down on the table, and gawk at the screen for several seconds.  When a game does that, you know it’s good.

Metal Gear fans had a great start to their year, and I can only hope the game’s phenomenal success has finally allowed Kojima, and Solid Snake for that matter, the rest they deserve.  I’ll be waiting to see what Kojima has in store for us next, but as far as I’m concerned, the Metal Gear saga is over.  Now how about that Zone of the Enders 3…?

Lost Odyssey (XBOX 360)

Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker studio has had a rough life so far.  Their initial title, Blue Dragon, was a resounding success in Japan…for an XBOX 360 game.  In the United States, the game’s kid-friendly tone, classical battle system, and colorful presentation didn’t resonate with the 360′s largely post-adolescent userbase, causing the Final Fantasy creators quite a bit of stress.  Their second title, Archaic Sealed Heat for the Nintendo DS, utterly flopped at Japanese retail and has yet to even be released in the West.  Enter Lost Odyssey, Mistwalker’s second console title.  Set in a techno-magical world similar in tone to Sakaguchi’s own SNES classic Final Fantasy VI, Lost Odyssey was in every way an attempt to resurrect the classic RPG on modern consoles.  From the game’s twist-filled narrative to its 16 bit-inspired victory theme, the game reeked of RPGs from the bygone SNES and PS1 eras…and it was fantastic.

Lost Odyssey was one of the few examples of a narrative-driven RPG in the modern console era; instead of utilizing the “choice” structure so hallowed by Western RPGs, it provided a linear, but satisfying experience, including some of the most emotional scenes in recent memory.  The story, combined with Kiyoshi Shigematsu’s Thousand Years of Dreams, short stories revolving around the life of the game’s protagonist, was in my opinion its strongest suit.  While the game’s use of random battles, long and emotional cutscenes, combined with the slower, more tactical battle system may be a bit of a turn-off for today’s adrenaline-charged gamer crowd, for a nostalgia freak like myself it was like jumping back in time…but the past had much better graphics.  The initial concept trailer for Lost Odyssey, combined with the demo for Dead Rising was what originally sold me on a 360, and I was not disappointed.  While most other game writers would likely list Fable 2, Valkyria Chronicles, or Fallout 3 as their top RPG of 2008, it’s Lost Odyssey all the way for me.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

I’ve already talked about why I found Brawl so awesome in my previous Best of 2008 post, so I won’t go into too much detail here.  To make a long story short, Brawl’s frantic multiplayer action, wide array of unlockables, and seemingly infinite replay value all merged together like a giant gaming Voltron.  The Smash Bros. community has had endless debates over which title, Melee or Brawl, comes out on top, and I just have to wonder why even bother?  Both games are fantastic, and Brawl was easily one of the Wii’s best games, past or present.  Like Lost Odyssey before it, the promise of a new Smash Bros. was literally what sold me the Wii console, and while Brawl certainly has its flaws (you really had to give us ANOTHER Star Fox character and not Geno or Isaac?  Really, Sakurai?), it’s my Wii game of the year for 2008, and I still wonder to myself why Nintendo hasn’t seen the pure gold of making a Super Smash Bros. title on the DS.

Needless to say, if you have a Wii and don’t own Brawl yet, you deserve to be locked up and forced to watch reruns of Muppet Babies until your eyes melt.

No More Heroes (Wii)

Suda 51′s No More Heroes was easily the dark horse candidate for my top 5 this year, and with good reason, too.  Of all the games on this list, NMH was the most flawed of all.  Its technically solid but unremarkable graphics, combined with the featureless chore of an overworld map and with the repetitive “job” missions that the player had to slog through before getting to the “good stuff” were all very legitimate complaints, but somehow, despite it all, none of it really mattered.  As a walking satire of American life, Japanese animation cliches, and video games at large, No More Heroes managed to transcend its technical issues by just being damn fun to play.  The game’s motion controls were substantial but not intrusive, and in my opinion are some of, if not the best examples of how to use motion in an action game.  The soundtrack was immensely good, but could grow slightly repetitive by the end.  The game’s boss fights were challenging but beatable, and there is truly nothing better than decapitating 15 katana-wielding goons with a single swipe of a lightsaber.

As perhaps the sole bastion of “hardcore” and “adult” gaming on the Wii in 2008, No More Heroes draws a lot of comparisons in my mind to Clover Studios’ excellent brawler GOD HAND.  Both games thrived on violence so extreme it bordered on absurdity, both titles used a similar “behind the back” combat system, had soundtracks composed by the same person, and both went largely unnoticed and unrespected by the gaming press at large, with several publications giving them scathing reviews.  The cardinal difference between the two?  Only No More Heroes is getting a sequel, although it’s not due out until 2010.  Hopefully Platinum Games (the remnants of the late Clover) can pick up the slack with their Sin City-esque gorefest, MADWORLD.

LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

Last, but certainly not least, is Sony and Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet.  2008 was a big year for user-created content, with EA/Maxis’ Spore launching in September and LBP following the month after.  Both games were built on the promise that what the game shipped with was not even close to the true depth of their respective gameplay, and that they would rely on community involvement to grow and prosper.  Personally, I found Spore a little underwhelming after the initial “honeymoon period” wore off.  Although I appreciate it for what it is, I find LBP to be the best use of player created content since my old favorite Unreal Tournament, and bar none the best example in console history. LBP mixes developer-made content with player creativity in such a way that the most talented “Happy Gadders” (as narrator Stephen Fry refers to the game’s players) can create levels that even threw the design team for a loop.  There are few things more entertaining than jumping from level to level with a group of three other players and just messing around for a few hours.

While the game does have its flaws, most specifically the stiff learning curve related to the jumping controls, as well as the three-tier depth system’s sometimes-spotty results, the quality of the main campaign, the depth of the level creator, the shared levels available online (check out the levels by Geosautus for a real treat), and the constantly-evolving gameplay thanks to major expansion packs and patches help it overcome its issues and stand out as one of my best games of 2008.

Honorable Mention
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2)
Tales of Vesperia (360)
Bionic Commando ReArmed (multi)
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (multi)
Yakuza 2 (PS2)
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)

As stated before, there were a lot of games that came out in 2008.  There were a lot of good games that came out in 2008.  2009 is looking good too, but it’ll be interesting to see if it can stack up to 2008, especially now that the western release of Final Fantasy XIII has slid to 2010.  Here’s hoping!

This has been part 2 of One Last Continue’s multi-part Best of 2008 series.  Stay tuned for more top games from the staff, and OLC’s picks for the best games to keep an eye on for 2009!