Xbox - I’m close to finishing Riddick, fantastic ride. My bro is getting xbox w/live so I’ll be getting live and will start looking for some good co-op until halo2 arrives. Doom 3 perhaps?
PC - the JOPS demo is pretty neat, but it doesn’t run all that well on my system. Anyone know if the full game runs better?
Already released in 2004:
Can’t say I’ve really played anything that’s grabbed me on PS2 or GCN this year. In fact, I’ve been playing Amplitude on the PS2 and that’s about all the use it’s gotten lately.
Coming this year:
I’m on the fence with GTA SA – I’ve had more fun with the PC versions, and might wait for that.
According to my EA Bio, I’ve also logged in nearly 10 days of play with 4 games in the past 12 months (224 hours of NCAA, Madden, Tiger and MVP). I’m scared to think how much more I might put in if the Xbox Live integration is really well done. :)
PC
Thief Deadly Shadows : Hopefully ATI will fix the shadows graphics bug soon in their Catalyst drivers.
Joint Operations : Pure unadulterated fun.
I am also looking forward to playing Port Royale 2, STALKER, and Pacific Fighters.
A big meh
Battlefield Vietnam : I can’t really pin down what I don’t like about this game. Maybe the stuttery servers, the choppy graphics, the fact you can’t use cover or camouflage in grass. Or maybe the fact that Joint Ops is just so much better.
BFV was cool to begin with but the maps are starting to wear thin. The music - which is great - is starting to wear off and can’t make up for the questionable gameplay.
Getting back into a game of Desert Combat is still as fun as it ever was though.
Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller Painkiller
Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)
World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International (PS2)
–Dave
Only ONE nintendo game, Dave?
It’s been a horrendous year for the Gamecube.
In no particular order (I’m not listing future titles, because games shouldn’t be pre-judged):
Chronicles of Riddick
Full Spectrum Warrior
Thief III
Splinter Cell: PT
Ninja Gaiden
I almost submitted this with PC titles until I re-read the original post: console only. Otherwise, Painkiller, Far Cry and Unreal Tournament 2004 would’ve made the list.
He said this year and the only ones I’ve really played a lot of other than Pokémon Colosseum are Zelda: Four Swords and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. I’ve played a lot of GBA stuff but most of it is from before Christmas. Same goes for the GC for that matter. I got caught up on some games.
Anyway, Colosseum is great but it’s not “must have”. Twin Snakes is similarly great fun but not a game people must own.
Tales of Symphonia, out tomorrow, would probably go on the list.
You guys always try to peg me as this guy that only plays Nintendo games and it’s just not true. I just got done playing Painkiller. I played FFXI all day yesterday when I was able to play. Except for a few minutes of Phantasy Star III on GBA that is. I played my PBEM turn of Civ III Conquests tonight. Watched my wife play Culdcept yesterday. Beat my son in Sega GT (Dreamcast) earlier tonight…
I like what Nintendo does. They make some of the best games in the world and deserve everyone’s respect at the least but I don’t play Nintendo games exclusively.
–Dave
Is La Pucelle $5 already? Woah. Anyway, I haven’t played it as it’s not out here yet. Disgaea only made it here a little less than a month ago. Note: I haven’t taken advantage of those prices, because they’re not offered in my country, but anybody who can should.[/quote]
Oh, no, not at all - but the original question was “must have titles”, not must have bargain bin finds. Surely La Pucelle qualifies as a must have?[/quote]
HOW THE FUCK SHOULD I KNOW? I HAVEN’T PLAYED YOUR STUPID FRENCH NUN GAME.
Haven’t had much time for gaming this year, but anyone who’s even remotely into platform game should give Chronic Logic’s Gish a try. I truly enjoyed that one.
As for upcoming titles, The Fall (geez, what a surprise :P ), Burnout 3, Pro Evolution Soccer 4/Winning Eleven 8
I played the demo of Gish, and it is damn great. Maybe I’ll shell out for the full version.
I can see it now…“Hey Dad, thanks for kicking my ass…AGAIN!” Isn’t there a law about letting your kids win? Maybe an amendment or something… :wink:
I can see it now…“Hey Dad, thanks for kicking my ass…AGAIN!” Isn’t there a law about letting your kids win?[/quote]
I think what Dave meant was:
“I FINALLY beat my son in Sega GT earlier tonight, after a humiliating string of dozens of losses.”
;)
Dave, you say Tales of Symphonia is on the list. Someone once suggested to me that I get the GC Skies of Arcadia remake. I did so and found all of the things that I couldn’t stand about JRPGs staring me in the face. Is Tales of Symphonia any better, or would that be a game that I’d return in four days in utter disgust?
Anybody play the recent Codename Panzers demo? I like it alot… its alot like Desert Combat vs Afrika Korps but with much smoother control. Yeh, its another WW2 rts… but it plays very well… even better than the recent Soldiers WW2 game, imo.
etc
Culdcept rocks. I love that game. Can I count it for this year? Because that’s when I started playing it.
My picks would be (all platforms)…
Currently playing:
Thief 3 (PC)
Painkiller (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)
City of Heroes (PC)
Chronicles of Riddick (Xbox)
(I’m still catching up on old PS2 games, since I just bought the system this year, so none of my current favorites on that platform were released in '04)
Upcoming:
Rome: Total War (PC)
Jade Empire (Xbox)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
DOOM 3 (PC)
City of Villains (PC)
Vampire: Bloodlines (PC)
Well, I don’t mean to answer for Dave, but I’ve played through Tales of Symphonia when it released over here. What is it you don’t like about JRPGs and didn’t like about Skies of Arcadia? Arcadia’s flaws, to me, were that its battle system was pretty basic and moved too slowly, so that it got annoying quite a few times without actually adding to development of the characters or having fun with the game and that incredibly irritating area where you have to travel to Ixa’taka. Also, the beginning few hours of the game were really slow for a lot of people, before the games picked up and offered you things like actual challenge, discoveries and ship battles, not to mention the characters.
I seem to remember you saying Skies was ludricrous though. So if it has something to do with the peppy, cherry attitude that was permeating the game, or the illustration of the characters and their animation, or the Saturday-morning-cartoon villain scenes, or the complete artistic license they took in the word “fantasy” then Tales of Symphonia is probably not much better. Tales, however, does focus less on the main plot and far, far more on the characters. This is good, because ever since Tales of Destiny (the second game in the series) the developers realized they couldn’t pen a good plot without dipping heavily in the ink of cliches, so they started evolving more and more gameplay elements into character interaction. While its arguable that they could tried harder to challenge themselves in this game’s plot, I do think they succeeded in creating marvelous character interaction. Especially since most of it is optional. You can start character skits in certain places, or on the world map, or all side-quest-like, and your answers, similar to Planescape: Torment have an affect on character development and a smaller affect on battle synchronicity (which helps them combo better together). Still, the characters, as charming as they can be, do come from every fantasy and anime cliche you can think of. (I know a lot of people think anime permeates JRPGs, but its really only a small subset of games. I definitely wouldn’t define Skies as anime-inspired for instance.) And I’m not sure how the voice acting turned out. There are a lot of Japanese RPGs that whose identity and construction have precious little to do with anime, but Tales is not one of them. Just a warning, though, you really don’t play a game like this if you’re expecting excellence on every front, a kind of tie between good (for a game, at least) story and good gameplay. For instance, I think the vast majority of Japanese players were attracted to it for the characters, its more orthodox values and the battle system.
If it was the random battles, Tales doesn’t have random battles. If it was the battle system, Tales’ battle system is superlative and appreciably deep–its also very, very fast. Think of Baldur’s Gate meets Street Fighter and you’ll have a good idea. Also if you have any friends who like this type of game, its multiplayer in battles as well (up to four players). If it was the linearity, Tales is just as linear, and both games have around the same amount of diversions, sidequests and optional content. If it was the abstraction, I’m afraid Tales isn’t even as concrete in its portrayal of the world as Skies and prefers a more symbolic/cartoonish portrayal of the world.
I must add that I find Tales’ cooking system absolutely hysterical, but maybe that’s just me.
Last year in Japan, Tales of Symphonia won many awards (even some GOTY) and was ranked one of the most satisfying sequels of the year. It was a great success for Namco on all fronts. There hasn’t been much debate that it was a good RPG, its just a question of what you’re looking for in an RPG, I suppose. On the other hand, Skies has its fans (including me) and among genre aficionados is generally considered the first classic next-gen RPG, but a lot of people didn’t like it, and the critical reception was mixed.
Hope that helps.
-Kitsune
Holy crap, how could I forget about that one? Absolutely on my must-have list. Rome’s a game I’m willing to upgrade my machine for.