This year I have started a new award: Most Improved. This award goes to a game that manages to improve itself over its forerunner(s) in any given series. Obviously, a game coming from a long line of garbage is going to have an easier time improving than a series of highly-acclaimed titles, but I really think it's important to let developers know when they've had the ability and foresight to fix their own mistakes.
Honorable Mention: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon - Atlus - PlayStation 2Though not enough to place in the top, Devil Summoner 2 tweaks the formula to the demands of fans everywhere, producing a title that is definitely an improvement. Whether or not it is enough improvement to make the Devil Summoner franchise as relevant as some of Atlus' other series remains to be seen, but the effort is certainly there.
3rd: Star Ocean: The Last Hope - tri-Ace, Square Enix - Xbox 360Star Ocean 4 is really what Star Ocean 3 should have been. Though it still fails to live up to SO2 - maintained as still the best game in the series - SO4 proves that tri-Ace is humble enough to recognize fans' displeasure with SO3, and make the necessary corrections. Improved combat, related story, and a coherent ending really do go a long way. The loss of actual character recruitment and meaningful Private Actions, however, keep the game from acheiving its full potential.
2nd: Magna Carta II - Softmax, Namco Bandai - Xbox 360Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, Korean developer Softmax's first game to find its way out of Korea, had high-end graphics, a beautiful soundtrack, and an involving plot. It's downfall was its game-breakingly awful battle system, which managed to alienate nearly everyone but the most committed (and possibly masochistic) RPG fan.
Magna Carta II, though not exactly the second game in the series, has the same commitment to high production values that graced previous installments, but this time goes out of its way to provide a more accessible experience. The final result is a game that not only blows its predecessor out of the water, but also nearly single-handedly establishes the Magna Carta series as top tier franchise.
1st: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Capybara, Ubisoft - Nintendo DS
Quick, name the last installment of Might & Magic! No looking at GameFAQs for help!Don't worry about it if you don't know off the top of your head. Might & Magic, though perhaps among the oldest of Western RPG franchises, has fallen into relative obscurity, and certainly lost relevancy with the majority of gamers. Enter Clash of Heroes, an anime-ish puzzle-RPG for the DS, and a possible new direction for the series.
Clash of Heroes drops any pretense of being gritty, hardcore, or any of those other forgetfully common themes in modern gaming, and goes for charming, fun, and likeable instead. The result is a highly accessible, highly addictive title that not only drags the Might & Magic name out of the gutter, but also opens up the series to new fans everywhere. Though a rare sentiment from me, please accept the following, Ubisoft: "Good job!"
4 comments:
I dunno if you read comments but I have to massively disagree with Star Ocean 4.
It is easily one of the worst games I have ever played. From the dialogue to the story to the characters to the VAs.
Meracle and Sarah were absolutely horrible.
The dialogue was the worst offender. But most of tri-Ace's recent games have had shockingly bad dialogue. I swear it is like they have never heard 2 people have a conversation before.
Not to mention that the battle system felt like a huge backstep from SO3. At least in my opinion.
All SO4 ends up boiling down to is spamming a shoulder button. Especially if you play Reimi.
Ill agree SO2 is better. The SO1 remake is really good as well.
I think SO4 should of been the biggest disappointment though. Definately not a most improved.
Hi Judeas, thanks for your input.
I'll agree with you that SO4 didn't live up to all it could've been, but if it's one of the worst games you've ever played, you must have somehow skipped a lot of crap.
I gave SO4 3rd place for Most Improved because, as I said, I feel that it is far superior to SO3.
I'll concede that there is some annoying voice work going on, but it actually sticks very closely to its Japanese source, meaning the fault lies with the director's vision for the characters, and not so much the game itself. To be honest, I've put up with much worse voice acting in the past, and while there were some definitely awkward (and a few even ear-grating) moments, on the whole I found it entertaining, and certainly no worse than its predecessor.
As for the other elements you take issue with, I personally found them far more enjoyable and much more polished than SO3.
The fact that it still fails to live up to SO2 is indeed a disappointment, but it doesn't annul the fact that the game is, on the whole, quite well put-together.
Overall, I'm not sure what to say. I'm sorry you didn't like it. It was one of the high points in my 2009, even though, again, it's unfortunate it didn't fulfill its potential.
But then, few games do.
I dunno. I think I have played a fair ammount of RPGs. Certainly there have been some bad ones.
Id actually probably say the worst I have ever played was Unlimited Saga.
I dont know why exactally I felt so disappointed with SO4. I did love SO3 though. Even though it had its fair share of cringe worthy dialogue I at least liked some of the characters, Maria, Peppita, Cliff, Nel and Mirage mainly.
But I couldnt stand the entire cast of SO4. Especially Meracle and Sarah as I said.
Why does the fault lie with the director's vision? Im not totally sure what you mean by that.
I think the reason I was disappointed in SO4 was that I wasnt expecting it to be that good. I mean when I played Valkyrie Profile 2 and it had alot of the same problems with dialogue and story. Granted it still had awesome characters. But I think that even with my relatively low expectations, the fact that SO4 still managed to disappoint me is why I dont like it.
Granted it can still be somewhat fun to play. I did finish it after all.
As for the battle system I kinda think that SO3 had a bit more stategy to it. Things were being learnt about it for years after it came out. But I just feel there is no depth to SO4s battle system. Except maybe the blindsides.
Anyway thanks for your reply. Sorry about my rant. Lot of pent up anger at that game. lol In the end though it is your list, your allowed to make it however you want. :P
For me the best 2009 games have been...well two 2008 games. lol
Tales of Vesperia and Persona 4. Im in australia so they only got here this year.
i liked star ocean 4, sure it has it faults but honestly one of the worst games ever ?
lol man get a clue.
on that note, most improved by far is magna carta 2.
while nothing extraordinary, it's a great little rpg in it's own right.
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