This year, even more so than others, I’ve valued novelty. I get tired of seeing the same things, shooting the same guns, casting the same magic spells cast at the same goblins. Like many of my favorite games of 2015, I’ve never seen anything quite like The Beginner’s Guide. Part autobiography, part short-fiction story, Davey Wreden’s follow-up to The Stanley Parable shows that he’s not ready to rest on his laurels.
Her Story manages to be something wholly original and incredibly accessible all at once. No, nobody’s ever made a game quite like this, but almost anyone can pick it up and understand it within minutes…and be totally hooked.
So we’re close enough to the end of the year…how about some of that dumb listy goodness? I’ve echoed the fact that I think making Top 10 lists or whatever is dumb, almost as often as I’ve said how much fun I have making them. Quantifying things against each other is a waste of time blah blah blah, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying doing it, and having a nice snapshot to look back on as the year as a whole. As always, I could totally fall in love with something not in my Top 10 years down the line, or regret the placement of some of these within minutes of making the decisions. That’s all part of the game, baby. People change, opinions sway back and forth, and nobody stays in the same mindset forever. Like…I used to say Zelda: Wind Waker was my favorite game of all time. Is it now? Probably not! Maybe! Who knows? Who cares?
Your finger hovers over the screen, the ball continues rounding the inside of the circle. Top spike, don’t click. Another top spike, don’t click. Phew, there’s a bunch of these in a row, the next one has to be in inside spike. 7, 8, 9, (tap)… “SHIT.” It was just another top spike. I’m way too twitchy sometimes.
Remember that game where you put your hands over someone else’s hands, and you have to move out of the way before they slap yours? This is like that, but probably more detrimental to your psyche in the long run.
You’re a crow who runs a hotel. Get it?
END OF POST.
Nah…just kidding. There’s quite a bit to say about this cute little thing.
Every year for me, there’s a handful of games that I fall in looooove with. Just a few that I can’t stop talking and thinking about, that stay with me all year long, and probably well into the next. Where were those this year?
Now, hear me out. I really enjoyed a lot of games this year. My first run through Bloodborne was almost pure bliss. Those first few matches of Splatoon? Just, wow. My entire playthrough of Until Dawn? I couldn’t stop talking about it for like a week or two. But then I stopped. What happened?
hippochippies 