Let's see the lists. What games did you play this year, and make sure you indicate whether you finished it or not! :) These don't have to be games that released this year; just games you played. Heck, it could be Tetris.

Here's mine; the bolded ones are complete:

PS1:

Final Fantasy Tactics (I basically play it once a year, anyway...playing it now, in fact)
Twisted Metal 2 (just because)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (play it at least once a year, just like FFT)
Final Fantasy VII (because it's the best RPG ever)

PS2:

Amplitude (I play this frequently to keep my reflexes honed)
Gitaroo-Man (see above)
God of War II
Kingdom Hearts II
Final Fantasy XII (started in 2006, finished earlier this year)
Hot Shots Golf: Fore! (loved playing this online)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (lotsa fun just driving around listening to my '80s music)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (great game, just wasn't my thing)
GrimGrimoire (see above)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (still like this game...not sure why)

Xbox 360:

Gears of War
Halo 3
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Mass Effect (I've tried like hell to get into it, but I just can't)
Bioshock

PS3:

Assassin's Creed
Warhawk
The Darkness
Folklore
Heavenly Sword
Resistance: Fall of Man (still play it online with friends)
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (not very good, it's on the trade-in list)

Not a bad list. Lots of great games, and I thoroughly enjoyed most all of them. And of course, I still have to catch up on The Orange Box, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Unreal Tournament 3...a few of which I hope to get for Christmas. :)

Man, you guys are late on SotC. ;) Very awesome game; it'd be on my list if I hadn't played last year.

Here's mine-

1. Final Fantasy XII: Not sure if I can count this one as I started it in late '06 but didn't end until February of '07. While I'm still not the biggest fan of the story, it got a LOT better at the end, and the game as a whole is possibly the best FF ever. It's hardly my favorite in the series, but there's a damn good reason I put 130 hours into this one. It's fun, engaging, and it has some of the best voice acting I've ever heard. I just had to beat Yiazmat and everything else, so it took a while. Heh.

2. God of War II: Not sure why I'm not seeing this on more people's lists, but it's in the running for Game of the Year, IMO. Yeah, I know about Mass Effect and Halo 3 and all that, but I don't care. GoWII was about as close as you can get to action perfection, even if it was on a last-gen platform. I think it's tied with the original and FFX as being my favorite game on the PS2, and considering that console's library, that's saying a lot. Can't wait for GoWIII on the PS3!

3. Gears of War: I didn't play it until finishing FFXII, so it definitely counts. The best game on the 360, IMO, and one I enjoyed playing from start to finish. I didn't think I'd like this third-person ****as much as FPS, but I was dead flat wrong. Epic did such an amazing job, I wanted to play it again immediately after finishing it. It's one of those games that everyone just has to play, regardless of personal gaming preferences.

4. Assassin's Creed: I know it's repetitive and I know it's a touch too easy, but I don't care. I could scale View Points, save citizens, pickpocket, eavesdrop, and interrogate all damn day long and never get tired of it. I love flying across rooftops like a fleet-footed God, easily dispatching guards with my hidden blade and just being a bad-ass in general. The game does a lot of things we haven't really seen before, and while Ubisoft didn't get the entire formula correct, it's still a giant step in the right direction for this new generation.

5. Warhawk: Maybe a strange choice, but I love this game. It did have some technical problems at the beginning, but those are all ironed out now, and it's basically the only game I play online on a frequent basis. It's just SO much fun and SO intense. The best part is that it's accessible without being easy, which means just about anyone can get into this one. I normally despise any flying games, but I find myself in the air 90% of the time in Warhawk, and while it can be frustrating, I've gotten pretty damn good at it. Entertaining as hell.

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

I don't really have time to get into this, but let's just say I can name more than a few JRPGs you've never played that vastly eclipse most WRPGs in regards to story. For the record, no storytelling in video games greatly impresses me, but there are some I enjoy and appreciate. When you start talking about games like Morrowind or Oblivion that have a terribly paced story with virtually no character development (the games are designed for freedom, and that's that), it confuses me, and others. You have admitted your experience with current-gen and even last-gen JRPGs is slim to none, so I wonder why you think harping on FF VII is going to matter when you haven't played a single FF - or any other JRPG - beyond it...lest we forget, this is a thread about ALL FFs.

Do you really think you can contribute when you haven't bothered to play one in over a decade? How exactly does that work? On top of this, I really doubt you'll find many who would agree with you that something like Oblivion has a great story, and no offense, but you must not know what character development is; you keep talking about it like you understand it, but I don't think you do. You're mistaking it for something else, I believe.

I'm sorry, but I'm too busy to really get into a long-winded debate. I've said my piece with as much civility as I can, and I maintain that continually trying to make a JRPG/WRPG comparison when relevant experience ends over two generations ago is...well, bizarre.

smerlus

ummm i'm going to say this as basic as possible but who cares what you can list? what does that have to do with final fantasy stories being goofy and often times unplausible? Your first paragraph is full of what you usually post...personal attacks, biasand excuses. welcome back Fathoms

Ready forme to dismiss your second paragraph?Isuggest you actually READ my posts and point out to me where I said Oblivion's story is great.... nevermind i'll save you time and tell you that you can't point it out because i never typed it.

I can talk about the6 of the Final Fantasy stories because i've played through 6 of the Final Fantasy games. I didn't know there was a limit on how many games you had to play in a series before you can talk about it... well i could understand that point if the series had something to do with continuation but that's not the case here... sorry there goes that whole excuse out of the window.

Furthermoreif the ones I haven't played, because I've got bored of the series, vastly improved on the story telling...why isn't anyone mentioning them? not a single person has said "the title is wrong because FFIX, FFX, FFX-2, orFFXII has good stories" and you know why? probably because they dont. So why should I have to subject myself to more teenage-angsty tripe other than to say "hey look Fathoms can i finally talk about final fantasy games? I've played them all now do i get a decoder ring too?."

I love how ironic your posts are in here... the first one you made ADMITS you have to add speculation and guesswork to the story to have it make sense... you open up saying the stories are inferior to stories in movies and books... but when i say the same thing, you attack me and tell me how crazy i am... can you explain to me how that works, i mean if you have the time and all.

And i'll even save you more time and tell you that you don't have to ever mention to mewhat you think of western RPG's, I'd have better luck getting anunbias response if i asked a blind man if my clothes matched.

Nothing written there is worth responding to, as I expected from the start. If you can't figure out why not having played a FF or any other JRPG in 10 years makes your entire argument broken by default (yeah, all FF stories have been identical since VII), than there's no talking to you. I offered my opinion and merely questioned your expertise on the matter, which you didn't even bother to deny. In no way was there a single personal attack, and in no way did I offend you.

There's a reason why nobody in this entire thread is willing to agree with you. I leave it to you to discover why.

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

This is not an antagonistic question in any way - I want Skylock to know that - but it's relevant and I think it's something that needs to be cleared up.

In order for someone to speak as if he has knowledge of a subject, that person needs to have experience in the subject. smerlus, if you would be so kind, please confirm something for everyone: at one point, you were asked to list out the JRPGs you've played, and if I recall correctly, I believe one came after the PS1 days and there were a few handheld ones. Now, is that inaccurate? You continually provide examples of very, very recent WRPGs and only seem capable of talking about age-old JRPGs...the contrast is obvious and doesn't make much sense.

Also, I think we're all waiting to see your evidence as to why FF stories are "weak." As far as I can tell, you haven't exhibited any real knowledge of ANY FF story...and again, have you played one since FF VII? I believe these are all valid and legitimate requests, and I am not insulting anyone in any way. But obviously, smerlus wants to make a point, which I have no problem with, provided he can prove he has the necessary background to speak intelligently about this topic.

smerlus

I want to get one thing straight first... i have no problem with you. if you wanted to add me to your friends list i'd easily accept, comment on your blog, whatever... i dont go holding grudges from post to post... it's just not my style

I totally agree with your second paragraph this is the reason i haven't mentioned games like FFIX, FFX and FFXII and stick to the ones i actually know about. Furthermore I don't even see hardly anyone mention anything good about IX, or XII in these threads so I assume they're just as absurd.

as for your final paragraph, it really doesn't make sense. there's a bunch of other people in this topic that have beenbringing up plot specific points and parts of the game and not only do i recognize those specific parts I also coment on them and compare them to different games, movies... If I dont know what i'm talking about and have no experience with these games, you have to admit that i'm a world class BS'er.

but that's not the case... when asked to show character depth in Cloud, Aeris, Barett,people just list off a bunch of cliche's and i'm supposed to think these are great characters? Sephiroth goes from white to black in the blink of an eye just to serve as an ass kicking bad guy.... efective, yes reasonable not in the likely. No one could even explain why the time/space sorceress in XIII wanted to destroy the world they said "oh it's just a love story with her thrown in". you admit yourself that you have to add speculation to some of the stories for them to make sense and even went on to say they aren't as good as books or good movies.

so where is the disagrement coming from? I haven't listed a single Western RPG and said simply "Here's an RPG that has a better story than anything Final Fantasy offers" and if you notice, I wont stick up for stories in NWN, Morrowind or anything else because i know they have their weak parts.

people said that there's no character development in Morrowind but that's a joke. Whenever you've given the ability to make your own character up from thousands of options and then play through a game with a thousand moral choices...the only reason that character is weak is because you made him weak (or you dont like the game enough to invest time in it)

then i said I liked the side stories in Oblivion, I thought they were something rarely seen in video games but again I never said that they were good. Even when I mentioned NWN 2 winning awards for the story, I dont see it as the story that was the key but how life like and crazy the party members were in it.

in that game you have a dwarf that likes to fight a lot....just like every other dwarf is portrayed in every movie with dwarves in them... the only difference is this dwarf got his ass beat by monks and wanted to become a monk so he can kick other people's asses just as good. what he may or may be too ignorant to realize is that there's more to being a monk than kicking asses with your bare hands... and it's up to you as the player character to gain influence with him and either talk him into choosing a more righteous path or continue being the same ignorant dwarf... and that's just one character that is interesting because he has the ability to change, the possibility is there and it slowly unfolds before you. it's not told to you in cutscenes, you dont find out about it in flashbacks and it doesn't happen in an instant.... it happens through interaction and storytelling.

It seems i'm the only person in here that can tell the difference between something i like and something being a good story. I'm not saying you have to hate final fantasies, I'm not telling everyone to forget about JRPG's and rush out and buy Mass Effect and The Witcher....but i'm saying that the stories are far fetched and the characters are a bunch of archtypes that rarely waiver. that's a boring, cliche, black and white look at life and the endless amount ofpossibilities that people actually are.

I don't really have time to get into this, but let's just say I can name more than a few JRPGs you've never played that vastly eclipse most WRPGs in regards to story. For the record, no storytelling in video games greatly impresses me, but there are some I enjoy and appreciate. When you start talking about games like Morrowind or Oblivion that have a terribly paced story with virtually no character development (the games are designed for freedom, and that's that), it confuses me, and others. You have admitted your experience with current-gen and even last-gen JRPGs is slim to none, so I wonder why you think harping on FF VII is going to matter when you haven't played a single FF - or any other JRPG - beyond it...lest we forget, this is a thread about ALL FFs.

Do you really think you can contribute when you haven't bothered to play one in over a decade? How exactly does that work? On top of this, I really doubt you'll find many who would agree with you that something like Oblivion has a great story, and no offense, but you must not know what character development is; you keep talking about it like you understand it, but I don't think you do. You're mistaking it for something else, I believe.

I'm sorry, but I'm too busy to really get into a long-winded debate. I've said my piece with as much civility as I can, and I maintain that continually trying to make a JRPG/WRPG comparison when relevant experience ends over two generations ago is...well, bizarre.

This is not an antagonistic question in any way - I want Skylock to know that - but it's relevant and I think it's something that needs to be cleared up.

In order for someone to speak as if he has knowledge of a subject, that person needs to have experience in the subject. smerlus, if you would be so kind, please confirm something for everyone: at one point, you were asked to list out the JRPGs you've played, and if I recall correctly, I believe one came after the PS1 days and there were a few handheld ones. Now, is that inaccurate? You continually provide examples of very, very recent WRPGs and only seem capable of talking about age-old JRPGs...the contrast is obvious and doesn't make much sense.

Also, I think we're all waiting to see your evidence as to why FF stories are "weak." As far as I can tell, you haven't exhibited any real knowledge of ANY FF story...and again, have you played one since FF VII? I believe these are all valid and legitimate requests, and I am not insulting anyone in any way. But obviously, smerlus wants to make a point, which I have no problem with, provided he can prove he has the necessary background to speak intelligently about this topic.

Wait...we're allowing "poll" topics now?

Anyway, here are mine-

1. Final Fantasy Tactics
2. Super Mario Bros. (or Super Mario All-Stars, if that can count)
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
4. Super Mario Kart
5. Final Fantasy VII

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

But I seriously doubt a site as huge as GameSpot has a significant problem with advance review copies..

Skylock00

Oh good. That makes me feel a little better. We're not the only ones who get shafted every now and then.:P

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

I don't agree with him - you're right in that it's a fairly ridiculous stance - but there's something I'd like to add.

Like I just said, I wouldn't say GameSpot reviewers are being "paid off" because it really doesn't make much sense, not from any standpoint. However, there may be an indirect influence. For example, when I get a review copy well in advance for a game, I finid myself appreciating the effort the publisher took to send it to us ahead of time, and I often have to catch myself before I head into the review with a slightly slanted outlook. GameSpot employees deal with industry people all the time, and there are business relationships there. Maybe if they receive a game where a relationship isn't so solid, the reviewer - almost subconsciously - will go into the review with a pre-set negative outlook. And the reverse might be true for great business relationships. I know Ubisoft basically ignores us and won't send us review copies (no idea why), and when reviewing Assassin's Creed, I almost wanted to drop the game below a 9 because I don't like how that publisher does business. Of course, that'd be a stupid thing to do, but I'm human.

The GameSpot reviewers are human, too; with their own preferences and industry relationships as well. To say no outside factors ever influence a score of theirs is just being naive, IMO, but I would never say they were "paid off." That's just silly.

Skylock00

Those things could have possible subconscious influences on a reviewer one way or another, and it could be unintentional, but it's at least more plausible of a stance than to claim that editors are being paid off by publishers.

Yeah, exactly. We may not be as big as GameSpot, but I know that nobody at PSXE in the history of that site has ever been approached with a bribe to give a game a certain review. I also know several other major critics in the industry - including Aaron Thomas; I took his job as E.I.C. at PSXE when he left for GameSpot - and I've never heard of this happening before. It just doesn't serve any real purpose and is counter-productive in the long run.

However, as we established, there are outside influences. They're unavoidable. The only backlash I've experienced over game review scores is publishers being more reluctant to send review copies when we slam their previous titles. So maybe it may be in some site's best interests to give a game a higher score, just because there may be the chance the publisher continues to send those early review copies. But I seriously doubt a site as huge as GameSpot has a significant problem with advance review copies, and as far as actual pay, being passed from publisher to source for a high score? I've never heard of it.