And here we go, once again – the feature that no-one cares about! My 12 Games for Christmas! Where I countdown the 12 best games to purchase and play these holidays. This time, we're doing something a little different. We're going a little more ambitious – instead of 12, we're going 25 – 2010 was a hell of a year, you see.

If you're new to all this – there's just one rule about my list. Everything included here is stuff that I've played, and given substantial time into. This explains why things like Halo Reach (haven't played) or Fallout New Vegas (haven't played enough) won't be included. Certainly both are good games, and definitely deserving of the list...just I think it's a little presumptions to include things I haven't played, or haven't played enough of. With that being said – here we go!

Game #1 – Blazblue: Continuum Shift

Publisher: Aksys Games/Zen United

Developer: Arc System Works

Release: July 2010

2010 saw plenty of Blazblue for those who didn't import the original game (Calamity Trigger) last year. The original game finally got a release, and it wasn't much longer until the sequel was released...well, at least in America, anyway. Sure, we Europeans have to wait...but that doesn't matter if you're a PS3 owner. That being said, Continuum Shift has to easily be the best fighter of the year for me. I think what makes Contiuum Shift work is just how accommodating Arc System Works are to make the game to new players. I mean – the first option you select from is a tutorial mode, which actually goes out of its way to teach you how to play the game. There's also a bevy of options which allow players of all skill types to get into the game, and feel at least rather competitive.

All this is best exemplified in the story mode. Admittedly, the story is still a little convultued, and the flowchart system is annoying but it's what Arc do in terms of accommodation that's impressive. Each character now has three endings – a true ending (best ending), a bad ending, and a funny/joke ending. If you get the bad ending, you'll get an additional cutscene giving you a hint as to what to do when you run through the story again.

Didn't play the first game at all? No worries – the story mode kicks off with a prologue detailing the events of the prior game; and the “Teach Me, Miss Litchi” segments (cutscenes that explained elements of the Blazblue world) from the previous game are all present and unlocked from the start – in addition to new sequences you'll need to unlock. Suffice to say, I haven't played a story mode in a fighting game that's this good.

Then there's the game itself, which is still just fun. Everything's more balanced, the newer characters hold their own and work well, and pretty much all the core game modes have been improved and worked on. If you're willing to sink the time into learn the game and get into the world, Continuum Shift offers a tonne of content for you to go through, without feeling much like a “Super Street Fighter” type upgrade, but more of a sequel.

^ lol

I wish I could do a best of 2010 but I haven't played much of anything this year.

^ Darthhomer dares to be different. Screw traditional GOTY list rulez, I say!

Sweet, the list is already over!

This is going to be an epic endeavour.

darthhomer said:

I wish Blazblue was my GOTY. That's just game number one of the list. There's no order or anything - just 25 of the best games of the year, is all.


          Hell, I haven't even figured out what my favourite game of the year was!

It was probably SMG2 then.

gamingeek said:

aspro said:

I've only beaten four games that were released in 2010 (my scores in parens) , SMG2 (10), Deadly Premonition (9), Yakuza 3 (10), and No More Heroes 2 (8.5).  So I'll save you all the hassle of a blog and say that SMG2 is my GOTY for game released in 2010.

As to whether or not it's my GOTY I've beaten in 2010, it's up against the other games that I gave 10's to this year: Arkham Asylum, Oblivion, SimCity 3000, Infamous and Yakuza 3. FUCK.

With all the 10s you're giving out you're starting to sound like Famitsu.

Unfortunately I don't require advertising contracts before I give out high scores.

bugsonglass said:

This is kind of funny... I had completely forgotten I'd pre-ordered this game.  I rarely (if ever) pre-order anything but at one point a few months ago zavvi had the collector's edition available for pre-order for about £16.  I assumed it was a mistake and felt it was my duty to take advantage of it so I did (sure enough the price was soon back to £35).  Anyway, I'd completely forgotten until the other day when I got an email saying my order was dispatched.  Glad Homer thinks it's a great game, makes me pleased I got it

Same here! Though I hadn't forgotten about it. was nice to see the messag after a million of them saying thye game wasn't posted yet.

My guess is the price of a tractor.

After pointlessly waiting during IGN's top 25 lists (not that I care but just want to see their ludicrous choices), +1 to Homer for starting out with #1!

Anyway, since this is a personal list, cool choice for BlazBlue. I like the game a lot, but I was disappointed with the game's DLC rip-offs, like charging $7 for a character that you can't even play in the single player game!

That's the only problem I had with it. But the game itself is great.