The original Dark Souls might be the best game I’ve ever played. Dark Souls 2 does everything it can to match the feelings I had playing its predecessor, and while it’s not exactly the same, I think I like it just as much. I can’t say that Dark Souls 2 is the “better” game, but I had a hell of a lot of fun spending 100 hours with it in 2014. (more…)
It feels like we’ve been able to say this a lot lately, but this was a great year for game music. Since Hotline Miami 2 didn’t make it’s way out the door, everyone else had to step up their game and make up for it. My favorite game music tends to be upbeat and catchy, so when you’re favorite orchestral scores aren’t mentioned here, you’ll know why.
The first track you’re introduced to in Danganronpa sets the tone for what’s to come. Vying for Soundtrack of the Forever, Danganronpa uses music like a central character in its stories. The intro song, appropriately titled “DANGANRONPA” hooks you in with a catchy beat, and fades in and out of wistful vocals before the tune ends. That intro beat, wind up, and release in the first 20 seconds strikes all the right musical places, and lands the track a solid spot among the year’s finest. It’s tough to pick just one song from the series though, so go listen to this, this, and this before moving on, your ears are worth it.
While the main theme “Tomorrow is Mine” isn’t as catchy or memorably as the original game’s “Fly Me To The Moon”, the re-imagining of “Moon River” brings back that personality in style. Poppy renditions of 1960’s classics seem to find a good home in the chaotic world of Bayonetta, and “Moon River” sits easily as favorite track from either game. Singer Keely Bumford‘s vocals overflow with Bayonetta‘s pep and sass, and the beat provides the rhythm of the chaos unfolding onscreen. If Bayonetta 3 ever gets made, I hope they can find a way to outdo themselves once again.
Propeller Man’s stage is the best level in Shovel Knight, largely because of this song. The entire Shovel Knight soundtrack is among the best video games have seen in years, but this one song along with the stage it’s on made me respect Shovel Knight even more than I already did. After bouncing through the sky on a ship flying past the setting sun, all while listening to this song, I knew Shovel Knight was a classic. The song hits every note of the upbeat Mega Man music formula, but goes beyond simple rocking beats while communicating a range of emotions in a span of less than two minutes. Shovel Knight‘s composer, Jake Kaufman, is a musical genius, deserving the top spot in 2014’s year of great tunes.
An impressive song in another of the year’s great soundtracks. I’ve probably heard it a few hundred times in the past year, and still enjoy it every time. Other than the title theme, this is the song I think of when remembering Hearthstone.
Returning to Majula is the beginning and end of every new adventure in Dark Souls 2. Majula is your home. You’ll come back here again and again, and you’ll miss it when you’re gone. It’s the one place where you’re almost entirely safe from harm, and this track lulls you into bliss before your next inevitable, dark journey. The simple chimes are some of the only welcoming sounds you’ll hear in this overwhelmingly unwelcoming world.
It’s finally here! The end of the year is upon us, and so is award season. At the end of each year, I, as do many others, enjoy taking a look back at the previous months and giving the top-performers their due. Each year at HippoChippies, ten games are awarded in traditional “Game of the Year” fashion, but this year we have some surprises! Along with our top ten, we’re also dolling out awards in some new categories for the site, but ones you’ll hopefully enjoy reading as much as I have putting them together. The top ten will still be rolling out, but will be peppered in with the rest of the year’s recognition. We’re starting off today with 2014’s Best Use of Music.
“Best Use of Music” is a different award than “Best Song.” For the purposes of this award, I’m defining “Use of Music” as a song being used well for a specific purpose, rather than just being a well-made or catchy track. These songs are still good, but there’s a separate “Best Song” award for a reason. These tracks were used in a time and place to establish a mood or evoke a feeling in the player, and were dropped at just the right time to do so. Let’s get started.
Yeeeaahhh…weekly.
It’s almost time for Game of the Year season, and HippoChippies will be having more awards than ever before. I’ve been planning some big things that will be happening soon, so if you like seeing the greatest achievements in the industry rewarded with heaps of praise, stick around. And, as usual, the normal posts about weird indie games and other nonsense will be popping up. So if you hate GotY stuff, there’s still content planned for you. (more…)
Games still keep coming fast, and the next few weeks will continue to be just as busy with Assassin’s Creed, Dragon Age, Far Cry 4, and too much more to remember. I’ve been picking favorites out of the bunch of new releases, and still always coming back to Hearthstone and Fantasy Life. I’ve actually finished some games for once, which is a relief when you’re trying to get hands on with everything.
Yeah, so this one’s a little late. With the amount of games releasing lately, it’s hard to find the time to play everything that’s on my plate, and fairly judge them comparatively in these “best of” posts. The plus side of this taking so long is, well, there’s a ton of awesome games out right now. Between April and May, I’ve had just as much to play as almost any other time this year. There have been some incredibly surprising games that came essentially from out of nowhere, and ended up taking up a ton of my time. And of course there’s still Hearthstone, which I think I’ve played almost every day for the last few months, but I digress.
Take everything you love about Mega Man, make it a whole lot weirder, and you’ll have Mibibli’s Quest. The tight platforming through varied stages rivals anything we’ve seen in the genre in the last few years, and the huge amount creativity carries you through a dozen or more hours of excellence. I love the original Mega Man games, and this comes almost as close as MegaMan Unlimited to bringing back that feel, and then adds its own madness on top.
Everything is picking up steam, and we’re finally starting to see some of the real players behind this story. Scene after scene, I was being bombarded with action, character development, and more twists and turns. After the excellent reveal of the second episode, this episode starts and barely ever lets up. By the last hour, I was literally on the edge of my seat, awaiting the next choice I was going to be forced into. I love this series so far, and the relationships between each character feel realer than ever in this one; I can’t wait to see how they grow after this.
In what feels like a mix between BADLAND and Donkey Kong Country Returns, the newest Trials game is the best in the series I’ve played yet. Each level is brilliantly designed around setpieces, and has the pacing to make you want to binge the whole thing in one sitting. The level designs are varied throughout, and there’s always a punchline at the end, whether you’re abducted by aliens out of nowhere or a giant sand monster drags you to its depths. The creativity on display here is matched by few other frantic platformers, and it’s a shame that the last couple hours shed the high speed races for slower, physics based puzzles that the series (for some reason) seems to pride itself on. It’s a blast for those first several hours though, and I’d gladly play through them again.
In case you missed the first time I talked this game up, it’s a beautiful, brief experience that builds a better world and characters in an hour than many games do in twenty.
Hearthstone makes one of these lists again because it’s on iPad now, and I’m still playing it every day since like five months ago. Help.
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