| Title | The best games of 2012 (so far!) |
| Author | Tom Chick |
| Posted in | Features |
| When | July 3, 2012 |
As the staff of Quarter to Three goes home for the long holiday weekend, we'll leave you with a touch of our own fireworks in the form of an annual half-year list..
Read the full articleLego Batman 2 strikes me as the antithesis of good game design. If it is for kids, is it breeding a generation of kleptomaniacs?
There may be a typo in your eighth entry, but don't fix it. SSX is indeed wonderfully "no subtle."
I wish I could be as enamored with Mass Effect 3's RPG fundamentals as you, but the weapon customization and upgrade systems quickly became tedious. 10 levels of upgrades for guns and attachments, labeled "I-X", that each bump stats by an infinitesimal amount. I blame the freemium component of the co-op mode for this. It feels like Bioware just ported the design work back into the campaign. I still want to replay it for the class variety and set pieces.
If Lego Batman 2 is wrong I don't want to be right. Hey, you gonna finish that sandwich?
Surprised to not see Dragon's Dogma on this list...
Upon re-reading the ME3 entry, it sounds like you're merely satisfied with the RPG systems. Sorry for the misrepresentation. I still think they're lousy.
Diablo 3's Auction House did more damage to the game than any of its other mistakes. Jamie Madigan posted a great article on Gamasutra recently that explains why so many of us hate that damn AH.
http://gamasutra.com/view/news...
Briefly, because the AH is by far the most effective source of gear, but it's also the most predictable. And for many of us, the unpredictability of what will drop next drives the addiction. I'd ignore the AH, but it uses the same currency as every other store in the game. I shouldn't have to ignore it. It's not my job to pick and choose which tools I avoid to create an optimal experience.
Wargame is a great pick, and just in time for Steam sale to bolster the community.
Two thoughts on two games you mentioned:
1. Don't worry about the "mark" level of your Mass Effect equipment. It's a bad system, but fortunately it's not an important system. The incremental improvements are so small that they're not worth thinking about. If you have a particularly favorite gun (in single player), max out its mark level and don't give it another thought.
2. I wouldn't be able to play Diablo 3 without the auction house. I'm currently playing on "hell" difficulty as a demon hunter. Without the auction house, I wouldn't have the equipment necessary to progress, and I CERTAINLY do not wish to grind for equipment drops or gamble my gold away on the blacksmith.
Plus, the auction house is a fun way to interact with other players. You can compete with each other during bidding wars, and you can help each other out by buying and selling cheap.
I don't understand how you can keep SIns:Rebellion off the list for being an "iteration of an earlier game", but go on to include 4 direct sequels. And any "best of" list for 2012 that doesn't even reference Crusader Kings 2 is fundamentally flawed.
I like how you put Mass Effect 3 in there as a joke, to see if we were paying attention.
One of these days I'm going to turn you around on Citizen Kane.
Mass Effect, ending aside, was an excellent game. And since Tom likes the ending for some reason, all the more so for him.
Sins: Rebellion is technically an add-on and not a full game.
Fair enough. But what of CK 2?
Crusader Kings II is a fine game. But there were ten games I liked better.
It is a rather odd representation of superheroes. "Don't worry, citizens of Gotham, we're here to save you! But only after we smash every single piece of furniture, every car, every shrub, every tree..."
I tease, of course.
We all know Tom has terrible taste in games, but he's very good at writing about them, so we put up with it. ;)
What recent game is Warlock a derivative of?
How can I get my hands on Xenoblade Chronicles? Is it for sale anywhere in North America?
Throw me in the nut house with Tom. I liked the ME3 ending, with only one problem that actually made me throw my hands up in frustration. But the Extended Cut clarifications have turned my "It was decent" into a "This is a good ending to this story". I have only seen one ending as reading about "palette swap" endings gave me no desire to immediately reboot the game to see the other two.
Yeah, I had to special order mine to avoid using Gamestop.