General Game Awards 2008 thread

[Blace]

Persona 4's definitely in my top 5, but not my favorite of the year.

[Losfer]

...Wait.  Shining Force II was released on the Wii's VC.

...THEREFORE SHINING FORCE II IS THE GAME OF THE YEAR.

[Ramza]

...Wait.  Shining Force II was released on the Wii's VC.

...THEREFORE SHINING FORCE II IS THE GAME OF THE YEAR.

LOL.

There should definitely be separate lists of "direct ports re-released for VC/PSN/XBLA that kick ass."

And Shining Force II, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG would have to compete for top spot. Hell to the yes.

[TurnBasedDude]

Persona 4 is certainly full of so much win for me. This year, I spent a lot of time messing with my DS rather than a lot of current gen consoles.

[Eusis]

Well, Wired.com has updated with their top 10 games of 2008. It's a pretty good list, though number 1 is a surprise.

[Ramza]

Well, Wired.com has updated with their top 10 games of 2008. It's a pretty good list, though number 1 is a surprise.

I think they made the right choice for number 1. I have no idea where the hate for LBP comes from. I've played it thoroughly, and people who think it is a "problematic" platformer with bad mechanics, jump issues, whatever...imo they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. They're just bad at the game and struggle with the "3 layers" concept.

The game is awesome, no question.

[ShadowLaguna]

Not a very good list. LittleBigPlanet is awesome and all, but I don't think it's quite Number 1. Also, where's MGS4?

[Parn]

Metal Gear Solid 4 isn't on all that many lists, including not on my own, because in reality, the game itself is poorly designed.  Even when you start the game, you're subjected to poor design.  It takes way too long to even get to the point where you can finally move your character, and when you finally do, all you get to do is move around in a tiny enclosed space, and crawl under a truck.  Then you're subjected to yet more non-playable cutscenery.  When you finally get control again, you walk across the street, and it goes into cutscene mode again.

Terrible, terrible design.  Why even give the player control for such meaningless tasks?  Why not just continue the cutscenes that are unnecessarily lengthy and need some serious editing?  Then there's the whole 2 GB installation for every act, which doesn't even eliminate the load times.  My favorite section in the game, the motorcycle section in Act 3, is weakened by the fact that the sequence is split into "zones" where you're subjected to load screens as you make your way through the town.  Talk about killing immersion in the heat of the moment.  What the hell was the point of the installation?

Metal Gear Solid 4 may have had excellent production values for the cutscenes and what-not, but as a game, it suffers from terrible design choices, and even the gameplay is clunky.  Maybe I'm spoiled by Gears of War's simplistic yet effective control system for a 3rd person shooter, but I shouldn't have to run up right next to an object, press a button to duck, and then press another button to use it for cover.  In Gears of War, if I'm sprinting toward an object, I will automatically take cover once I make contact with it, and the game will make my character duck for me.  If I'm not sprinting and near an object, I can press the analogue stick in the direction of said object and press A, and I get the same effect.

Snake doesn't even move with a sense of urgency for someone in a war-torn environment, and it bugged me that there was no way to sprint... and there were lots of situations where it would have made a lot of sense.  Then there was that sequence where the game tried to be Tekken, and it controlled crappy too.  Ugh.

On a side note, Little Big Planet gets major props from me, as my avatar shows.

[Blace]

Yeah, MGS4 isn't on very many lists... it only got GOTY at Gamespot, was a nominee at Gametrailers, was in the top 10 on Gamespy, will most likely be GOTY at IGN (or GTA IV, they both got 10's), a nominee at Giantbomb, the list goes on...

It's definitely my GOTY.

[Parn]

Gaming sites are a dime a dozen.