The 10th Hour 01.02.09: The Top 25 Games of 2008 (Part 1)

Posted by Derek Robbins on 01.02.2009

The year 2008 was a great year for gaming, but which games were the very best? 411's Derek Robbins ranks his top 25 games of the year 2008 in the latest edition of the 10th Hour...

Hello and welcome to the 10th hour! We have a lot to get to this week, so let's get this thing started.

-I finally got around to playing Sonic Unleashed for the Wii. I heard some really bad things about the 360/PS3 version and I have to say…if they play anything like the Wii version, the game isn't that bad. A matter of fact, Sonic Unleashed for the wii may be my favorite 3D Sonic game of all time. The day-time levels are fun, the night levels are very reliant on platforming and don't suffer the slowdown I hear is prevalent in other versions, and there is no hub world. It's a definite step in the right direction, and it has me believing that, at least on the Wii, Sonic can be saved. You may be hearing shit about Sonic Unleashed, but until you play the Wii version don't let your bias cloud your opinion. It's actually worth a play. The first time I've been able to say that about a 3D Sonic in a while.

-I am pretty pissed off about the Cubs trading Mark DeRosa. At first I thought we were getting pitchers necessary to trade for Jake Peavy, but apparently Kevin Towers said the negotiations have not started again. I know this is to free up room for the oft-injured Milton Bradley but come on, guys! DeRosa has played like a beast as a Cub and deserves all the praise he gets from the fans. He's been better than Soriano ever since we signed him. It's a shame he had to leave so soon. The only way I will accept this is if it leads to a Bradley/Peavy pickup or a Bradley/Lowe pickup. Otherwise…this doesn't really make our team better.

-Boy, 10th hour writing day fell on Christmas day and New Years day. Oy. Well luckily, New Years is just a hangover day and Christmas is a family holiday. So I was able to make this writing date, aren't you lucky? I don't plan on skipping many more weeks, December was simply a very, very weird month for me. Finals + Christmas don't mix well I guess.



Top-25 games of the year

Everyone is doing one of these, so I figure I would bring us the second annual 10th Hour games of the year! I need to shoot out a disclaimer before I get started: This is not 411's over-all game of the year awards, but my own. They do no reflect what the site as a whole thinks So before you think 411 has horrible taste, just remember that the horrible opinion belongs to me.

So before I unveil the list, here are a couple of rules. First: Console Games Only. So if you're looking for PC games, you'll have to look elsewhere. The 10th Hour is primarily a console column, so that's where I stick with. Sorry. Also, No ports or remakes. There were some really great ports this year, such as Kirby Super Star Ultra and Chrono Trigger DS, but neither are eligible for this list. I don't know where they would have placed, but I know Chrono Trigger at least would have been high. This also prevents Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix from making an appearance. Which is a shame, because I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Finally, I need to have played the game. I'm not sure what that hurts this year, but I guess fans of Farcry 2 get left out of the loop. Such a shame.

Also, sadly, games that aren't OFFICIALLY released in America aren't eligible either. So no Dissidia, no Tatsunoko v. Capcom, and SADLY no Mother 3 fan translation. (That would have ranked in the top-5, I guarantee you that)

So, now that this is out of the way, let's go! There are five more entries this year, so until we get to entry 20 the descriptions for why they are on the list are fairly short. This is so the column isn't ludicrously long. Alright, enough of this. Start!

25-) NHL '09 (Multi-platform) - The sports genre isn't one that gets a lot of love from the 10th hour, or really this site in general. I think our perception is that sports games are almost always the same, no matter what year. Well, I can't say whether this game is the same as '08 or not (I never played), but I can say that it's damn impressive and probably the best NHL game that I've ever played. Probably the coolest thing that they add to the experience is the NHL 94 controls. It makes it easy to pick up and learn for people who haven't played and also provides a nice nostalgia rush. If you combine this with excellent online play, you have a real winner. Even if you don't enjoy the sport of hockey, NHL 09 is a great game to play. The best sports game of the year.



24-) Rockband 2 (Multi-platform) - The sequel to the smash-hit Rockband was a pretty sure thing to make this list. I may disagree with them releasing a new game every year and also releasing about a hundred thousand dollars worth of DLC, but it doesn't change the fact that Rockband 2 offers a sensational out-of-the-box experience with a pretty darn great soundtrack. I mean, who doesn't enjoy getting around buddies and singing: "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOA, LIVING ON A PRAYER?" They even decided to add in an online battle of the bands mode, which is great because an online versus mode was one of the few things Guitar Hero 3 did better than Rock Band. If you enjoy hosting parties for your non-gamer friends, Rockband 2 is about a must-own. Everybody loves the cohesive band unit, and until Rockband 3 hits at some point this is probably the best cooperative rhythm game on the market.



23-) Resistance 2 (PS3) - Resistance was originally the game that magazines were hyping up as THE must-own at the PS3 launch. There was a problem with that though: the original Resistance really wasn't that good. Sure you could have fun with the game, but you can really have fun with any shooter on the market. Luckily for everyone who wanted to play a good shooter on the PS3, Resistance 2 was a pretty nice step-up from the original Resistance. Probably my favorite new addition to the game is that, unlike most shooters, the co-op mode covers a storyline that isn't identical to the one you go through in single-player mode. The storyline runs parallel of what's happening in the single player campaign. I really wish more games did this, because it gives you incentive to play the story mode as both a single person and a group of people. I mean, playing a story with two-to-eight people is just a blast. The online mode also offers up to an INSANE 60 players at a time. So if you're looking for some truly insane action over the Playstation Network, Resistance 2 may very well be your best bet. In my opinion, one of the best improvements from a sequel over an original in a good long while. Well done on this one, guys.



22-) Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts (X-Box 360) - Did you hear a collective groan sometime earlier this year? That was the sound of Banjo-Kazooie fans learning that one of their favorite franchises would not be receiving a third installment similar to what they were already used to. No, Banjo 3 took a different approach and everyone, including myself who is a long-time Banjo guy, was a little skeptical. The game launched at a budget price, and to my great surprise was actually a worthy edition to the franchise. As much as I hate to admit it, I admire RARE for not simply rehashing Banjo-Kazooie like their fans wanted, but actually making something different. You know if it was Activision, we'd be playing the same stinking game again. Nuts and Bolts, if you didn't know, is a game that takes place primarily inside of vehicles. You create your own vehicles, using over 1,600 different parts, and tackle various objectives. Depending on which vehicle you use (air, ground, etc), the difficulty level will be different, so if you want to have a harder experience than normal, you could try something like that. They also lobbed in some online options, such as races (obvious, since you know, there ARE vehicles in the game), and various battle-like modes. It may not be the best Banjo game to ever be released, but at least it is worthy of the title Banjo, something many people weren't sure of when it was first announced.



21-) Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) - I was a huge fan of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and was probably the only person in the world who preferred the story and progression of that title over the original Final Fantasy Tactics. FF Tactics A2 takes place in the same world, and it continues the same more kid-friendly atmosphere that FF Tactics Advance started. Unfortunately, there is no real depth to the story like with what you can find in A1, but that doesn't change one simple fact: the gameplay is still awesome. You take control of several different jobs, several of which are specific to the races you choose, a difference from the original Final Fantasy Tactics, and proceed in turn based combat on an isometric field. It doesn't necessarily innovate, but it gives you dozens of hours of gameplay on a portable, and in an age where some CONSOLE titles are only a couple of hours long, that really helps things out. I guess I'm also a sucker for the cast of Final Fantasy XII, so the fact that the story has a small-bit of tie-in to it really increases my appreciation of it. As a tactical gamer, 2008 was one of the best in a long time. The fact that this is only 21 on my list, considering the fact that I played the shit out of this game, should go to show you how good of a gaming year 2008 was, especially when compared to 2007.



20-) Soul Calibur 4 (multi-platform) - Finally, we're at the top-20. So we can get a little longer with the descriptions now. Soul Calibur 4 is the fifth installment in what is becoming a fairly legendary 3D fighting franchise. It may not feature the finesse and skill that Virtua Fighter 5 requires, but if you're looking for quick weapons-based combat fun, you really can't go wrong. Soul Calibur 4 changes a few things in comparison to SC III. The primary single player mode is now a game where you battle up various floors of a tower. There are conditions that need to be met to win prizes, but if you wish to just battle up-and-down the floor you can do that too. This mode may not be as good as the Weapon's Master Mode of Soul Calibur 2, but compared to that generic RTS stuff we got in Soul Calibur 3, it's a nice change.

Of course, there is one thing that SC 4 took from 3 that I really enjoyed, and that would be the create-a-fighter mode. Gone are the unique fighting styles, some of which were pretty broken, in place is the ability to just dress up anyone you want in pre-set fighting style. So you can make some muscle-bound loser fight like Talim or have a petite little girl take on the fighting style of Astaroth. Now, the return of the create-a-fighter mode is a good thing, but it doesn't really add anything special to the game. I mean, sure, customizing your armor with stats is nice, but some people really don't want that stat junk in their fighting games. Just ask Drew. He hates that shit.

No, the best thing is taking these fighters and going online with them. In a lot of games, you have the option to make your own characters, but you never really get the chance to show other people your creativity. Well, now you can do just that. Of course, most every single create-a-fighter character you see is pretty garbage, but that's good for mocking at least! Online in a fighting game is pretty much an essential component these days, but remember when they were a frustrating experience? Remember when you could launch a hadouken, leave the room, eat a sandwich, and return just in time to see it land? Well, you could never tell those days existed from playing Soul Calibur 4. While some matches are inevitably laggy, for the most part the game plays damn smooth online and I can really appreciate that. Sure, most of that smooth online is wasted on a horde of Killik and Cervantes, but at least the option is there!

Soul Calibur 4 may not be the most in depth fighter of all time, but if you want the awesome arcadey style of Soul Calibur for this generation, SC 4 is the best way to go. Throw in on-line play and you have a real winner.



19-) Mario Kart Wii - Mario Kart is sort of a franchise that you either love or hate. It's one of the few racing titles out there where skill isn't the only thing that you need. Some minor amounts of luck might be needed as well. Sure, usually the best racer will come out on top, but every once in a while the underdog will win…and that really helps a lot of people who normally wouldn't stick with the game, well, stick to it. If you've played Mario Kart DS, this game is a lot like that, except on Nintendo's Wii. It ported with a racing wheel that nobody really uses.

It makes this list for one reason, and one reason alone: The wifi play. When Super Smash Brothers Brawl came out, a lot of our faith in the Nintendo online service was totally destroyed. Brawl was, and still is, an insanely laggy experience that plays nothing like the offline counterpart. It's a sad thing when LAG is the trend, and the rare exception is when you run into a smooth running match. That is horrible. LUCKILY, Nintendo doesn't give that kind of weird treatment to all of their major titles. To say Mario Kart Wii plays smooth is an understatement.

Hop onto the network right now and tell me if you see any lag. Here's a hint: you won't. For goodness sakes, on opening day for the game, EVERY game I played was smooth. I was racing around online as if I was playing a local game. If a WII game can do stuff like that, it really gives me faith for what the console can do online. Perhaps, we won't always need to have our hands held while playing Nintendo games. Perhaps the server one day can be upgraded from joke status. If all Nintendo online games played like Mario Kart Wii does, I guarantee you the system would be held in higher regard by me.

I also really like that there is a ranking mode in this game. They didn't put one in Brawl, but they put one in this? They put one in Strikers and they didn't put one in Brawl? Weird. Whatever case, they have it…and it's pretty cool to see how high your ranking can get. Generally speaking, people between 4000 and 6500 are pretty average, people 0-3999 are pretty average, and people 6,500 and up are great racers. I only say that because my ranking was like 9,000 something and it helps me feel better.

Mario Kart Wii has the best online on Nintendo's system and deserves to be recognized for it. It may not have a million game modes, but for simple fun you cannot do any better. It's a shame that after this game came out, my interest in Wii first party titles just died.



18-) Megaman 9 (Multi-Platform) Sorry Vince! Megaman 9 is a nice little love-letter to long-time fans of the franchise. It's no secret that Megaman hasn't been quite himself in recent years. He may not be in the same dire straights as Sonic the Hedgehog, but compared to his NES/SNES/PS1 days, the blue bomber really couldn't measure up. So what does Capcom do to appeal to their long-time fans? Not much, just release a new Megaman game in the style of Megaman 2 and 3. Everything you could expect from an old-school megaman game, and almost everyone ate it right up.

I mean, look, it's a perfect nostalgia trip. The bosses, the levels, the music, the basic story – you know, as opposed to the super serious Megaman X -, the ability to put in stupid glitches that everyone hated, (which you should keep off, some things are better off dead) everything was nice and old-school. The game as was is easily worth the 9.99 you would pay for it, just for the trip down memory lane alone. Good platforming, good shooting, just good everything.

Unfortunately, there was more to this game than meets the eye. Capcom decided that they should release an assload of lame DLC that probably could have been included with the game. These features encompassed things like an endless mode, a ranking mode, the ability to play as Protoman, and harder difficulty levels. You also got the displeasure of paying for various themes if you played on a non-Wii system. Yeah, this game DOES play like an NES game and a lot of these features wouldn't be seen on that system, but you need to remember that we are playing on next-gen consoles and those features would have been greatly appreciated. As a whole, I feel I pushed the title a little farther back than I normally would have, thanks mainly to this whole DLC issue.

Really though, if you're looking for a trip down memory lane, an experience that'll make you feel like that little kid in the basement wasting his life away playing old Nintendo games, you really can't get better than Megaman 9. There will always be detractors of this sort of game, saying that it's just the game industry looking back and not looking forward, but sometimes it's fun to look back. There is room for the retro movement, and I see nothing wrong with it. Past-meets-present. Doesn't get better than that. Now bring on Sonic the Hedgehog 4!



17-) Patapon (PSP) - This game had a few things working against it when going into consideration for most GOTY awards out there. It was released very early in the year, and was also released for a system that many people relentlessly bash on. I was one of those people, but I also hold a fond appreciation for this type of game. It may have some of the most annoying sound in video game history, but as a portable experience it was one of the most fun and unique that I have played all year long. Rhythm games seem to innovate a lot, and very rarely do you see them get a ton of credit.

What you do in Patapon is control an army of villagers consisting of six different types of units, but can be summed up in three different categories: cavalry, ranged troops, and infantry. You control your army by beating combos on a talking drum. If you keep the rhythm going well, you will do better and vice-versa. As Penny-Arcade famously mentioned, a lot of the sound from this game will drive you to kill, but the fact that the game is so fun will make you tolerate that annoying sound. If a game is good enough to allow you to sit through that PON-PON-PATAPON junk, you know you have a winner.

Patapon was one of the most unique games of last year, and it already has a sequel released in Japan. I'm not too familiar with the sales of this game over here in the states, but I hope they were well enough to release the sequel over here as well. It is something that American PSP owners, a very starved group who only survive due to the prevalence of custom firmware, could use. The gaming market is starved for creative, new intelligent properties and Patapon filled that role quite nicely this year. Rhythm gamers were not let down with this unique title, and I assure you that you won't be either.



16-) Fable 2 (X-Box 360) - The original Fable was one of the most disappointing games of all time. Peter Molyneux pretty much promised the whole moon and ended up delivering something like half-a-crater. With Fable 2, he was a little more mellow, but he was still going quite over the top. His crazy claims of greatness weren't quite up to where he said the game would be, but if you kept your expectations in check, Fable 2 was a pretty damn fun game. It may play very similarly to the original Fable, but the combat was NOT what was wrong with the original game. So if you enjoyed the gameplay, you'll once again enjoy this game.

Probably the thing I enjoyed most about Fable 2 is the fact that you just have more options. You can get married to members of either gender, you can have various numbers of children, you can get sexually transmitted diseases, you can participate in group sex, you can get and choose a job, you can choose (once again) whether you are good or evil, you can gamble your money away, hell, you can even buy any bit of property that you can set your feet in. Really…you have a lot of options. While the over-whelming number of things that you can customize might be a bit daunting, once you settle in you can come to appreciate it.

I suppose the main reason that the game is not higher is the fact that, despite all of the things that you can do, despite all that you can customize, there are just too many annoying things in the game to account for. The only way to make money is by working. You don't get money by killing stuff, the tradition, but by working. The story is once again very generic and very plain, the game is too easy, your characters online are't YOUR CHARACTERS and once you finish the main quest, there really isn't a huge incentive to play through the game again. The main storyline is still pretty short, but…I suppose you get from Fable 2 what you put into it. If you really want the game to last you a long while, you can have it to do so…but to be honest, I don't think it's quite good enough to put that kind of investment into.

Fable 2 is a very, very fun game that is totally worth your money. If you want a long playing experience from it, you can very well get that if you want it. It's all about what you put into it. I could see someone putting this game higher on their list if they wanted to. Just on my list, it's stuck at this spot.



15-) Professor Layton and the Curious Village - When I began compiling this list, I almost totally forgot about this title. For whatever reason, it feels like it's been out for forever, but it did indeed come out this year. When I first heard about it I was a tad jaded, mostly because it looked like a game that would primarily be for children…but in reality, it's the sort of game anybody can enjoy. You know how mini-game collections are all the rage today? Well, this game is KIND of like that, except that instead of mini-games, you have a collection of riddles. The professor has some sort of fetish for riddles, and the towns people happen to have a lot of problems that can only be solved through said riddles, and it is your job to do several of them to help you solve a murder.

The brilliant thing about Professor Layton is that it includes all kinds of riddles. There are things on there that you first heard when you were real young, and there are also things on there that require some insane amounts of thinking to figure out. Riddles such as the matchstick one asking you to depict a dog that got run over require some serious thought. One of the most memorable riddles to me is this one where they give you the mating habits of gerbils and ask you how many you would have after x-amount of time. APPARENTLY you only bought one, but when you're presented with such a riddle, you don't think of that. You try to wrack your brain, plug in several equations, trying to figure out how many damn gerbils you have. You eventually remember: "Hey, I only bought one! Gerbils aren't Asexual!" and realize the answer is "1". It's those kind of experiences that make Professor Layton a memorable time.

I suppose it also helps that the world is totally charming. The story is decent enough – it's a tale of murder, if I remember correctly. It has been a while since I played through it – and the characters are charming and memorable. It feels like a cute little world that I really wanted to be a part of. It also helps that the cutscenes are really cute and help suck you into the world. It may have the APPEARANCE of a child's game, but it's just so much more than that. There was a magazine that mentioned how "only virgins and shut-ins" have heard of this game, and if that's so…it's really such a shame. Professor Layton was one of the most refreshing experiences I had this year.

There are over 120 puzzles for you to figure out in this game, and let me tell you: you'll want to figure them all out. It's such a rewarding experience, I can't possibly recommend this game highly enough.



14-) Prince of Persia 2008 (multi-platform) - The Sands of Time trilogy is probably one of the best gaming trilogies to ever exist. Sure, the second two games may have a far inferior story and turn the prince into an utterly unlikable dude, but from a gameplay standpoint, those games were all very top notch. Usually in these "GOTY" things, an exclusive title will win the overall GOTY. The year Sands of Time came out, it was winning those awards from all over the place.

So it's easy to say that the 2008 Prince of Persia had a lot to live up to. I'm not sure how many people out there have actually PLAYED the Sands of Time, but it's not exactly the hardest game out there. It's easy, and if you die it's your own damn fault. PoP 2008 is pretty much the same way, except you don't die so apparently people deem it as "too easy". Yeah, I guess so. I don't know why dieing is such a big deal to people, I mean, if you fall down a pit, you do go back a decent way some times, as if to penalize you. Maybe those of you whining were expecting something different?

PoP 2008, as mentioned, specializes in platforming. It does it amazingly well and features some really fun level interaction. It also allows you to choose which order you play the levels in, which is something that you don't see much in platforming games due to the need to have them in a natural order thanks to learned skills. I love interacting with stages, the platforming genre is one of my favorites, and I think PoP 2008 does a damn fine job in that department.

Sadly, it doesn't quite live up to Sands of Time in the combat category. PoP 2008 relies on pure 1-on-1 style combat whereas Sands of Time was more free roaming and allowed you to use the levels and such to help you fight. You could have some truly memorable battles in that game. In this one, I don't know, it just feels less special. The game slows down and allows you to counter moves even. Everything just feels so choreographed. The combat is not bad by any means, but this game's combat is more similar to the old Prince of Persia games, which in my opinion is a huge step back.

PoP 2008 is a great platforming title and, while many consider it to be a let-down, I think that it's pretty hard not to at least have some fun with it. It's a great use of 10 hours, at the very least.



13-) Dead Space (multiplatform) - 2008 marked a pretty huge shift in opinion from me on EA. In 2007 and years past, I would bash continually on EA for rehashing games year after year and never releasing a single new IP. They were, essentially, what Activision is today. EA in 2008, thanks partly to a new CEO, was totally different. While they did release their yearly sports titles, they also released some new intellectual properties to get the gaming world talking. While its other high-profile new IP, Mirror's Edge, kind of fell flat on its face, the other one – Dead Space – was critically acclaimed. For good reason, too: It's awesome.

If you're looking for a simplified version of how this game plays, think "Resident Evil in Space". That would imply that it's over-the-shoulder action that features scary elements – but isn't necessarily scary – and throws all of that together and puts it into outer-space. Look, if you've played RE 4 before, you know very well the game is a fun one. A lot of the detractors of the game got onto it because it WASN'T a Resident Evil that played like a Resident Evil, but something else entirely. So, in my opinion, for fans of the older RE games, Dead Space may be more for you than RE 4 was. It's a different property and plays very similarly.

I also quite enjoy the fact that Isaac Clarke – named after science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke – is an engineer and not an actual soldier. Usually for a game like this, you control a soldier who is proficient in a variety of weapons, but Isaac isn't like that. He's just an engineer guy. He uses improvised, un-convential weapons based off of torches, mining tools, plasma cutters and the like. I mean, look, he'll still play like a warrior, but it's neat that they have little touches like that as opposed to Isaac just using every variety of gun out there.

Throw all of this together with a story that is heavily similar to the classic Science Fiction film Solaris and you have a real winner. Dead Space is one of the best Intellectual Properties that EA has released in years. If you want to see more things like that from EA, I think you should buy that game. I want to see a Dead Space 2, I want to see EA becoming more of a power player for original ideas, so I want you to buy this game! Do it…or elllllse.



12-) Little Big Planet - I think this is the sort of game that you either love or hate. I'm really, really not sure where all the hatred for this title is coming from. Is it because it was supposed to be this PS3 savior? Is it because it promised to tie the bonds between casual gamers and hardcore gamers, for reals this time? I honestly can't tell you what the deal is, but I can say that I love the game and I think it's one of the most original playing of this year.

How you play the game is fairly simple. It's a side-scrolling platformer with basic controls. You press the X-Button to jump and the R1 button to grab onto things. You have items to interact with – such as a jetpack – to give you a little more to do, and you also have a unique physics engine…but for the most part what you can do is very basic. You won't be learning a ton of new moves as you play through the game, you just have to creatively use what you have. Some people use that creativity better than others. It really makes for an interesting gameplay experience.

Of course, my opinion on this one isn't exactly constant either. I do believe I listed it as one of the top-10 games of this generation at one point, and yet it doesn't even reach the top-10 games of this year (does this say anything about how good this year was?). The thing with LBP, like Fable 2, is that you get from it what you put into it. The game offers you a whole lot of customization options to take advantage of. You can make stages crawling with creativity, you can make stages (that will get removed) based on classic places in video games, you can customize your sackboy to make him unique. If you're willing to tinker with the create functions of this game, you're going to love it.

On the other hand, if you don't want to mess with those things…you probably won't have as much fun. While it is cool to play other people's levels – giving you an infinite amount of levels to play – more often than not you'll find yourself doing the same sorts of things over and over again. While having different backdrops gives the illusion of different levels, often times a lot of these just play so similarly. Every once in a while you'll come across an absolutely brilliant level that plays like something a game designer would make (the single player levels that come with the game, for instance, are fabulous). There aren't a lot out there, but they do exist and when you find one it's rewarding. Sadly, tinkering with the levels that aren't those can be an exercise in tedium.

LBP isn't, and never was going to be, a game that can sell a system. It's just too different. If you enjoy creating things and interacting with a really cool physics system (that has a great soundtrack, which I shockingly haven't commented on yet), this game is definitely for you. If you don't want to mess with those sorts of things though, the experience will be a very short one for you. More so than any game on this list, the more you put into this title, the more you get out of it. Some say it's over-hyped. I don't think that's really true. It's just a good game.



11-) The World Ends With You (DS) - Square Enix makes games that don't have the words "Final" or "Fantasy" or "Dragon" and "Quest" in the title. Is this a surprise to you? It shouldn't be. The company had a few games this year that didn't fall under those labels, and one of those was the very unique playing TWEWY. To say this game came out of nowhere would be an absolute under-statement. The first time I even heard of it was based off of some Deviant Art competition. I mean, I really had no idea what to expect. What I got was a portable masterpiece that I really won't be forgetting anytime soon.

What you do in the game is control two characters across two screens. The character on the bottom screen, Neku, is the one you take primary control of. You get to choose how he fights based on pins. You can equip a few to you at a time, and basically speaking they are your abilities. One allows you to fling cars at people, another allows you to set things on fire, so…Neku doesn't control the same for everyone. It's an RPG that actually requires you play differently than normal! That's amazing! On the top screen you control Neku's partner. Generally, you just press the d-pad to take in a direction. If you execute combos effectively you can do team attacks. It's intriguing.

The combat being unique is one thing, but the real shining point is the story. Very, very seldom in video games will you find a plot that not only combines good writing but also good character development. Like, I love Final Fantasy X. It's one of my favorite games ever, but does Tidus really evolve as a character throughout the game? Is end-game Tidus different than the start-of-the-game Tidus? Not at all. Neku has a very radical shift in character from beginning to end. At the start, he is a near insufferable character. He is a total loner, he is an emo, generally speaking he is just a huge pain in the ass. As the story advances, you can grow to appreciate him more. He learns the value of friendship, he realizes he's not alone in the world. He goes from a loser character that would be universally hated to someone, in my opinion anyhow, that is easy to relate to. That is NOT easy.

TWEWY is an IP I'd love to see expanded upon. It was cool, stylish, had great music, and was everything I could really ask for from Square Enix. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least try this one out.



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