1428: …Of the Year

2013 is coming to a close, and with it, most people’s thoughts turn to the “best [x] of the year”. Gamers this year have a double-dip in the form of also being able to indulge in some “best of the generation” talk, even despite the fact that the PS3/360 generation is clearly far from over. (That said, I anticipate a quick death for the 360; the PS3, which is where all the Japanese developers are, is likely to cling on for a lot longer due to Japanese devs’ propensity to continue with old tech rather than immediately embrace the latest and greatest.)

Looking back on the year, it’s hard to pick out exactly what, if anything, was my absolute favouritest gaming experience I’ve had. Thinking about it, I have fond memories of pretty much everything I’ve played.

My feelings on Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory are well documented, for example, but I also had a lot of fun with Time and Eternity and Tales of Xillia. Final Fantasy XIV also proved to be an immensely pleasant surprise — and with a significant new content update coming tomorrow, I’m looking forward to seeing how that game’s going to continue developing over the coming year.

Then there’s smaller experiences that I’ve had, not all of which actually came out this year. Sweet Fuse, which I’m yet to clear all the paths on, was a particular highlight, as was Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, though the latter was left frustratingly unresolved with no word on if or when we’ll get an English version of the sequel. 999, too, was absolutely fantastic, and I’m currently really enjoying its sequel Virtue’s Last Reward, which is shaping up to be a real mind-bender.

And then there’s last minute entries like Bravely Default, which is looking rather marvellous so far. Really looking forward to spending lots of time with that — I’m going to be reviewing it for USgamer in February, but since the game came out over here in Europe well before the North American version, I have the rare opportunity to get a significant head start and play it well ahead of having to review it, rather than being obliged to rush through.

One thing I’ve been particularly conscious of this year, though, is that a great game is always a great game, regardless of how long ago it came out. There’s an immensely frustrating, irritating trend in today’s games industry to brand something a “success” or “failure” on nothing but its opening week — but taking just me as an example, I think there are maybe one or two things in the whole year that I’ve bought in launch week, the rest of which I’ve purchased down the road when they’re either significantly discounted, or when I know I’ve got time to play them. Does me buying a game well after release not “count” or something? Apparently not, at least in the eyes of the “analysts”. Grr. Fuck analysts.

Anyway, I’m getting a bit distracted by Andie having a video call on her phone in the other room — there’s no way of doing those quietly. As such, I’m going to sign off for now, and stick my head into a good video game for the remainder of the evening, I think.