It's been about 5 and a half years since I did my last Top 100 list. Due to my OCD and compulsion to constantly create lists in my head I think it's time for an all new Top 100.
My first thought was to reevaluate the old top 100, but fuck it, it's easier to pick 100 new games that I didn't have on the list last time. In the past 5 and a half years I've played more than I usually have, largely due to COVID. And in that time I've played a lot of new great games.
Plus, when I made the last list, I avoided adding multiple games from the same franchises. So I can dip back into the Dragon Quest pool and a few others.
Anyway stay tuned. Starting tomorrow we're doing this shit again.
My first thought was to reevaluate the old top 100, but fuck it, it's easier to pick 100 new games that I didn't have on the list last time. In the past 5 and a half years I've played more than I usually have, largely due to COVID. And in that time I've played a lot of new great games.
Plus, when I made the last list, I avoided adding multiple games from the same franchises. So I can dip back into the Dragon Quest pool and a few others.
Anyway stay tuned. Starting tomorrow we're doing this shit again.
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
I don't remember exactly how I discovered Kingdom of Loathing. I think a meth head buddy of mine pointed me in the direction of it. Given that the game is free and highly addictive, it certainly would make sense. At any rate, this utterly ridiculous game provided me with a lot of entertainment and was arguably the highlight of my work day.
If you're not familiar with it, and I suspect it aren't, Kingdom of Loathing was a browser-based RPG, that eventually grew to become a browser-based MMORPG (and even created some console spin-off titles). All the characters were stick figure images, and not well drawn ones either. And the game was basically one long string of puns and pop culture references. Oh yes, and the currency in the game is based on meat.
Players had a limited number of actions that they could make every day before they had to wait for their credits to replenish. In that way it's almost an early gatcha game, although they didn't implement a way for people to buy extra credits until many years later. At the time, it was just a way to keep server costs down. Of course you could replenish your actions by making a cocktail or eating chorizo. You have to cook the chorizo though, otherwise you get sick. If none of that really makes sense, well fuck it, very little in the game does. Again, that's why it was so fun to play.
At one time it had a community of over 120,000 players, with a very passionate community that hosted conventions, get togethers, and even had an in-game community-hosted radio station that still ran up until 2019. Now that the game is 20 years old, it's just about at the end of its lifespan, but it's still a pretty remarkable achievement that a game comprised of still images of stick figures and bad jokes lasted for so long and had such an impact.
When I finally discovered this game back in 2005, it was pretty much how I spent every morning at work. At least until I ran out of my adventure credits. In fact, to get around the limited daily adventure credits, I usually would play two characters at a time. So as soon as the first guy was done for the day, I'd move over to the next. For the record, this is also why I advocate for employees working from home. I know first hand how easy it is for employees to waste time, even at the office. Where you sit your ass doesn't change, if you're going to screw around, you are going to screw around.
I never heard of it before. Stick figures are cool, though. More games should use them.
Shovel Knight was not the first throwback/tribute to the 8-bit gaming era, but it raised the bar for all other games of that type to come. Plus, it was an excellent example of how Kickstarter can fund amazing ideas (provided the creator isn't an incompetent douchebag).
Yacht Club games created something special with Shovel Knight. It felt familiar and fresh all at the same time. Duck Tales, Mega Man, Wizards and Warriors, Castlevania and more were all in the DNA. They took all the best ideas from 8-bit action and adventure games and gave them a boost in power. So the action was smoother, images more detailed, and no slow down or screen flashing!!
For me Shovel Knight brought me right back to my basement when I was a kid right after renting a new game from Blockbuster. I didn't have a Nintendo Power to guide me, so everything was a glorious 8-bit surprise.
And as a nice bonus, the free Treasure Trove expansions featuring the other knights were a pleasant surprise. They didn't live up to the main quest in terms of quality, but they were a fun side quest all the same.
Shovel Knight. How does Yachtclub Games continue to update this game for free? It's like the No Man's Sky developer.
Sadly for Yachtclub, I think they have pigeonholed themselves as a developer by lingering on Shovel Knight for so long.
To it's merits, I don't think I finished Shovel Knight, but it sucked me in and I had fun with it, even without any nostalgia for NES platformers.
I think a lot of the expansions were actually part of the stretch goals from the initial Kickstarter campaign. Not that every developer follows through with their Kickstarter goals, but I believe that was a big part of the motivation. Plus it kept the game in a constant state of getting attention and getting sales. It did about 3 million copies, which I have to assume was mostly money right into their pockets.
At any rate, I think they pretty much handled Shovel Knight the way they wanted to. This was a group of veteran developers, and the money they made off of the game in merch probably set them up nicely.
I've never quite understood games that have lengthy titles like this. It doesn't do a better job of setting expectations for the game. Hell, in this case it doesn't even slightly touch on what's going on in the game. I suppose that's a discussion for another time. If nothing else, the title doesn't change the fact that Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is a very impressive experience. Maybe not the most fun game you'll ever play, but it's definitely still something I'd recommend trying out.
You play as a teenage boy who may or may not be the last person alive on earth. Up until recently you at least you had your grandfather, but with his death that happens just before the start of the game. He leaves you with one last direction. Go to a far-off tower that you can see from your home and see if there are any survivors there. Thus, your journey begins, along with a pretty decent emotional roller coaster. Far more so than you get in most video games.
The game really drives home a constant sense of loneliness. Your most constant companions are wild cats that you might run into while you explore broken down malls or run down hotels. You meet a few actual characters, although whether or not they are actually human is another question entirely. Case in point, your first friend is actually a handheld GPS system with a dying battery. And you'll be surprised just how much you get rocked when it's battery completely dies.
I'd be lying if I said the game was always fun to play. Combat is pretty boring, and the designers of this game directly inspired the team behind Breath of the wild, because you're constantly dealing with broken weapons. But all of that is just the necessary filler as you go from story point to story point. And the game story sadly falls apart towards the end when it veers more into what I can only describe is a more ridiculous anime type storyline. But at the very least, the story is wrapped up in an acceptable way, and you're not left trying to wonder what the hell happened.
I actually played this not long after the start of covid, so it was interesting timing and the theme of the story may have hit very close to home because of that. Still, I was very impressed with how well all the story telling pieces of the game came together. Well, I probably would not play this one again, I'm really glad that I did. This is definitely something that should be remade one of these days since its currently locked on the Wii with some rather unfortunate motion controls.
In 1991 there was a store that was kind of like Target called Ridgeway. I went in after school one day with my mom and they were having a killer sale on Nintendo games. A giant selection of seriously good games were all available for $20. I've been sitting on some lawn mowing money, so I picked up Castlevania 3 and the surprisingly good Rollergames.
A few days later I was playing with my friend Alan, and he insisted that since I got two new games, I should let him borrow Rollergames. Like a schmuck I said yes, and that was the last I ever saw of the game. Ellen was a lying piece of shit. If there was any silver lining to the story, it's the he didn't borrow Castlevania 3, which was ultimately the game that really made me appreciate how amazing the Castlevania series was.
I think we've all played the game, so I won't go into the details of it other than it was incredible to have this kind of gameplay with four very distinctly different characters (Even if alucard was next to useless). I played this game over and over and over, since after all I didn't have Rollergames to go back to. It's just as well though, because canceling a three had all sorts of depth. I learned which characters were right for each boss fight, and which paths had the best music. I even played with alucard specifically so I could gain access to some candles that were inaccessible by any other means until you had him available at the start in the new game mode.
This is definitely one of my treasured 8-bit classics. It's not aged well, sadly. Those Castlevania jumps are just fucking awful, and some of my more recent attempts to play at have ended in hand cramps and frustration. But, that doesn't change just how incredible this game was. Oh yes, and one more time, fuck you Alan. I want my god damn copy of Rollergames back.
Oh man, I have not thought of Fragile Dreams in a long time. I think I bought it because of you, but never got to playing it.
Did that development team go on to do anything like it again?
Not really. I had to do a little homework on the developer, but tri-Crescendo was typically more of a support studio. They worked on a lot of the Tales games and with Monolith. They had their hands in a lot of good games, but nothing like this. The one exception might be Eternal Sonata, which sounds pretty interesting, although I've never actually played it.