Now to business, like I said earlier in the month, I've taken any free time I had to replaying (or starting) all the games I loved throughout the year. Now that I mostly have, I'm ready to give out nominations to what I believe will be Never Unplaying's Game of the Year. It starts with 20 Nominations and I'll pick them off one by one until only a winner remains. And here they are from order of release:
No More Heroes (Wii) – An extremely fun and brutal action from the guys behind the sleeper hit Killer 7. It’s funny, pretty and completely unique.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo DS) - Superb production values for a DS game mixed with excellent brainteasers make this one of the best handheld game all year.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Nintendo DS) – The fourth part of the cleverly written point and click suspense series. Apollo continues it with a brand new cast several years later.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) – The highest anticipated Wii game launches with a robust balanced roster, the best visuals on the console and thousands of hours of fun.
Okami (Wii) – The Wii port of my runner up of Game of the Year 2006. This time for the Wii, the console that Okami felt natural in the first place.
The World Ends With You (Nintendo DS) – Jupiter’s next DS hit after Picross DS: last year’s GotY. Located in Shibuya, it focuses on Japanese pop culture. Mix some unique and fun battle mechanics that uses all the DS’s functionality, this is a mega hit DS game.
Metal Gear Solid 4 (PlayStation 3) – With extraordinary graphics, art, sound and story, MGS4 ties up the hundreds of loose ends of the convoluted story that won the hearts of millions.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (Nintendo DS) – The return to Ivalice brings back tried and true gameplay to the sequel of the addicting 2003 Game Boy Advance hit.
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (Xbox 360) – Addicting. CivRev is a surprise hit that takes a beloved PC series and modifies it enough to make a stellar console game. The play style is like a western tactical RPG.
Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360) – What makes a stellar RPG? Characters to fall in love with mixed with a little bit of an awesome story of course! Add the dependable Tales battle system and the answer’s simple: it’s a fantastic RPG. It’s pretty too.
Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii) – Every 2-D action game needs to adopt this art style. Wario has some fluid sprite animation that’s been unseen in games before it. Console 2-D platformers are a rarity nowadays and it’s something that needs to be resurrected.
Disgaea DS (Nintendo DS) – My 2003’s GotY arrived on the DS and didn’t come alone. Etna’s second storyline from the PSP version tagged along with extra playable characters. The best version of a personal favorite.
Fable 2 (Xbox 360) – What the first Fable should have been. A world thick with life and beauty, and all the options are open. Just remember that some choices aren’t as easy as others.
Valkyria Chronicles (PlayStation 3) – Gorgeous watercolor visual style is nice to look at while playing this enjoyable tactical RPG. The alternate World War 2 story is a nice change of pace (In RPG’s, not games in general. Like FPS’s).
Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) – The second Gears of War expands from the original with an engrossing campaign worthy of replaying and Horde Mode. The beauty of fighting waves in Horde Mode.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii) – The sequel to the 2004 GotY returns players to the land they loved in 2004 with a new storyline a few years later.
Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) – Possibly the best co-op shooter out there. There are only four short campaigns, but what’s great is that it plays different every time. The one-of-a-kind versus is a great touch too.
Chrono Trigger (Nintendo DS) – It’s one of the best 16-bit games. It’s one of the best RPG’s in existence. It’s now on the Nintendo DS.
Prince of Persia (Xbox 360) – Take the acrobatics of the series and make your own path out of it. Great step up on gameplay from the Sands of Time trilogy with a new sarcastic Prince wrapped in a wonderful art style.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PlayStation 2) – The PS2 is going out with style. The Shin Megami games aren’t my thing, but Persona 4’s story made me a believer in the series.
One day at a time you’ll see a game drop from the list and in the end, you’ll see our lone Game of the Year. This is a difficult year, a lot of great games came out, but not one had the power to be a total winner. It has been difficult choosing.
Also the predictions of 2009 will be shown next week.
PS. Thank goodness I beat Tales of Vesperia last night because 2008 isn't the only thing that ended on December 31st. For the record, my next Xbox 360 will be my 6th.
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