So 2008 was a pretty great year for gamers. We got stuff like Everyday Shooter (in Europe), Lost Odyssey, Braid, World of Goo, Metal Gear Solid 4... Man, the list is endless. And I thought this year would suck ass. I'm glad I was proven wrong.
Anyway, time to flog this dead horse some more.

10. Kirby Super Star Ultra



Oh lord. I've been waiting for an update to this game ever since I sifted curiously through a bargain bin in 1998 and found the original version of this gem. Thankfully, they haven't messed with much and it's still as fun to play as it was all those years ago. They've added some pretty nifty 3D FMV's and some minigames (as well as some new modes, which are fun but not really notable), and overall, I would say this is the definitive version, despite the lack of precision SNES control.

9. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix



I'm not gonna lie; I'm terrible at this game. I never was good at SFII, and (apparently) never will be. But I still love it. UDON did an amazing job with the graphics, redrawing all the models from scratch to fit the HD upgrade and they look fantastic. OCRemix were picked to take of the soundtrack and the remixed themes of Ryu, Ken, and the rest sound great. I personally like Akuma's stage. Of note is the new dip switch menu, which allows you to alter minor things that may or may not affect gameplay (it won't be of interest to beginners), like certain invincibility frames and things of that nature. I hope Backbone are contracted to tackle Street Fighter III: Third Strike HD Remix, as I would completely rape at that.

8. Braid



Ah, Braid. How you taunted us with your indie art fag pretence and made us drool with your delicious painted visuals. How were we to ever know that there'd be a top quality game under all those layers of superciliousness? There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Most people's opinions tend to revolve around the notion that if you don't like Braid, you're not worth knowing. And I've got to agree.

7. World of Goo



A lot of people are gonna hate me for ranking this above Braid, but I genuinely feel that they're on the same level. I couldn't rank them as one since they're radically different games and I had just a bit more fun with WoG. To an uninitiated, World of Goo seems like a strange concept; you drag a bunch of goo balls into increasingly intricate structures to get to the exit. Which makes it all the more amazing that it works so well, and is immensely fun to fuck around with.

6. Metal Gear Solid 4



The game that receives consistently high praise, even from our resident cynic Anthony Burch. The game that raised the bar so ridiculously high for graphics that only Crysis manages to match it. The game that has possibly the most convoluted, most ridiculously complex story in any current medium. All this, and it works completely in the game's favour. The only criticism that reviewers seem to have is with the horrifically lengthy cutscenes, in which the characters tend to reiterate far too much, but we're fine with that as it's a story/character that most of us grew up with and need to see it through to it's conclusion. Shockingly, (I've played it through again recently for the first time since I've beaten it) it doesn't get frustrating knowing what's going to happen and sitting through (literally) hours of drivel. How Kojima managed to pull that off I'll never know, but hats off to the man; he clearly knows how to please his audience.

5. Chrono Trigger DS



SPOILER ALERT
Do I really need to elaborate?
Mention CT to any SNES-er and they'll go off on a tirade about how 16-bit was the golden age of gaming and how CT revolutionized the genre in terms of what a developer could really do with a story. Chrono Trigger incorporated numerous innovations for its time that included:
Activities you did (or didn't) do in the past having a significant effect on the environment when you skip forward to the future;
13 different endings, which was practically unheard of for a game at that time (later expanded upon with games such as Star Ocean 2, with 80+ endings), and this port actually includes a new ending that directly ties CT in with it's sequel, Chrono Cross;
A unique battle system in which you could combine characters techniques into more powerful, flashier moves which (awesomely) utilized Mode 7;
and a lot of other stuff that I can't recall right now. But basically, if you've got a DS, you owe it to yourself to get this game. Plus it's got a pretty great new translation, though Frog doesn't talk in his stereotypical medieval knight dialect anymore. :(

4. Castle Crashers



Fun.
An alien concept to most multinational/evil games companies these days. As Yahtzee puts it, "you could be forgiven for thinking that fun is optional in today's games" (if I recall that quote correctly). As most of us unfortunately know, developers often sacrifice fun in the quest for uber realism (see: GTAIV, Mirror's Edge, CoD:WaW) so it's up to companies like The Behemoth to inject pure, unadulterated doses of the stuff directly into our hardened, dry veins. Castle Crashers is an absolute blast to play, easily one of the best co-op games ever made and contender for best downloadable game ever. It's got tons of crap for your 1200 points. In fact, the only thing I ever hear people whining about is the cost (the three Dtoid podcasts discussed this before; Podtoid thoroughly), which is bullshit as I've spent more time on CC than I have almost every other big name 60 quid game that's come out in the last year. But anyway, to sum the game up for people who mightn't know, it's basically Golden Axe mixed with Alien Hominid. And it's amazing. Go buy it right now if you haven't; you'll thank me later.

3. Soulcalibur (XBLA)



Soulcalibur is the best 3D fighter ever made. (With the possible exception of Rival Schools 2)
Many of you will disagree; some of you may even suggest (wrongly) that the sequels are better. While I dislike relying on popular opinion to get my point across, just look at the scores. They don't lie, son. And it's still a real kick in the balls to play today, as it's still extremely precise even when compared to it's recent 4th instalment. I'm not sure what it is that makes it great; the amazing graphics (for it's time)? The 60fps precision gameplay? The wealth of uniquely styled characters (not counting the clones)? I dunno. But I know one thing for sure, that I (and many others) hold it close to my heart as the first fighter I ever truly mastered.

2. Lost Odyssey



Once again, I'm not gonna lie; this game made me cry. Not just once, but several times. I don't want this to come across as douchebaggish, but I've never cried over a vidya gaem before this. People who've played it know what I'm talking about. This game is incredible. It's mechanics are rigidly adherent to the classic RPG formula of turn based combat with only a miniscule twist (the ring system), but it works solidly. There are two reasons why you need to play this game; the main story, and the Thousand Years of Dreams sequences which tell you more about Kaim, your main character. Literally, the first one I watched made me tear up; it was that emotionally engaging. They were (IIRC) penned by someone unrelated to Mistwalker, but that man deserves some sort of award for truly outstanding writing. Though the main story sounds formulaic on paper, in action it's a sight to behold.
In short, the best story driven game of the year. Even surpassing MGS4's incoherent babble.

1. No More Heroes



You had to have seen this coming. I LOVE this game, so much so that it's quite high in my top games of all time. Everything about this game screams auteur; the retro (i.e. not as good as it could've been) graphical style, the repetitive yet still strangely addictive gameplay, the gaming satire... Ugh. Words cannot express how much I adore this game, so imagine if you will a young pasty faced lad hugging Suda51 til his bodyguards come tear me, er... I mean, "him" away from him. Yeah, then you'll start to understand just how freakin' awesome NMH is. It's sequel (Desperate Struggle) and the inevitable new Zelda are the only reasons I'm keeping my Wii. Oh and not-homebrew emus.

I'm not sure if this has been posted already, but:



The only things I liked about XII were Gabranth, Basch, Balthier, Fran and some of the locations. I thought everything else (battle system, story, that stupid license board system in which you ended up with 6 of the same characters with not a single unique thing about them, Vaan) was total bullshit. Now if they put Vaan in as the Dissidia Hero representative, shit WILL hit the fan. Not only was he the most boring character in the game, but he was even whinier than X's Tidus, and that takes some balls.

Luckily, if shit does hit the fan and Vaan is included, he'll be balanced out somewhat by the overbearing awesomeness of Gabranth (or Noah, if you'd rather).

...intending to buy God of War: Chains of Olympus. Waddled over to the (unusually miniscule) PSP section, and there it was. 30 big ones, brand new. "Still pretty pricey" I thought, considering it came out nine months ago. Strolled to the used section. Had to look around a bit before I found it. Then... you'll never guess what...

30 bucks used.
My immediate reaction was


When I pointed it out to the guys working the counter, they said it was definitely a mistake, but there was nothing they could do about it since the computer rang it up for 30 as well. Even they were like "WTF?". Now I know this happens in other retailers too (most notably Gamestop), but it's got to stop. Seriously. However, I managed to find a new copy in Smyth's for €20 and I was evidently pleased.

And another thing, what the balls is up with retailers having sales on games that were released mere weeks ago? GAME had Mirror's Edge for €34.99, reduced from €59.99. I know it isn't very good (having bought it on launch and brought it back 2 days later), but it really mustn't be selling that well for it to warrant such a dramatic drop. Other games that similar situations have stricken: Unreal Tournament III, Gears 2, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3. But the difference is, those games have sold well.

I don't understand the economics of the video games industry, and it's making me inadvertently butthurt.

So there's a story over on Kotaku about some dude suing MS due to his 360 scratching 3 of his games. He's looking for $50,000. The games were Rock Band, RB2 and GTAIV.

Come on, is this really serious? He claims that "the Xbox 360 was not of merchantable quality or safe or fit for its intended use, because it was unfit for the ordinary purposes for which it was used, because the Xbox 360 cannot play any discs during normal use without permanently damaging those discs."

But how are we to know that's true? He probably toppled it by accident during a particularly heated session of "You Really Got Me". And, as we all know, you're not supposed to move your 360 while you're playing something.

Can this dude really get 50 grand outta this? If so, couldn't we all? I mean, my 360 has scratched to bits my BioShock and Assassin's Creed, but I'm not complaining.

Ok, well maybe about BioShock...

1. It's Devil May Cry mixed with Dynasty Warriors, with tits.
The protagonist, Ayumi, is a sexy, barely-legal (I'm assuming) smartmouth bitch, just like Dante. The gameplay seems similar too, which (if you're not affiliated with DMC) is pretty much DW taken to the next level in terms of complexity and stylishness.



2. Ayumi is hotter than Bayonetta.
So everyone knows by now that Bayonetta is almost literally DMC beaten with the oestrogen stick (it's developed by the same guy, Hideki Kamiya), but you know what? Fuck her. X-Blades is coming first, and Ayumi doesn't have a creepy motherly accent like Bayonetta. They may end up being extremely similar games, (in fact, Bayonetta will most likely have much better gameplay due to it's exponentially higher production budget) but I'd still take an anime chick over a freaky bitch with shotguns in her shoes.
Plus, Cel-Shading >>>>>>>>>> Realism. (See Prince of Persia.)

3. It's being made by some random Russian dudes, but published by SouthPeak. Apparently it's also based on an anime.
SouthPeak, as you may know, have never published a good game (except maybe Scurge:Hive and Ninjatown, as I've heard good stuff about those). After the complete and utter funrape that was Two Worlds, I'm looking forward to this and Edge of Twilight (a Steampunk hack and slasher) to turn their fortunes around. As you may also know, anime is awesome.



4. Ayumi is bringin' back the Gunblade.
Remember Final Fantasy VIII? Remember how the most awesome thing about that entire game was (besides Laguna) the Gunblade? Remember how, at the time, you thought "Damn. This is the most kickass weapon ever invented. Why don't more games have this?". And remember your bitter disappointment that no games since then (possible exception of Soulcalibur as Cervantes uses a kind of pistol sword) have utilized the excellence and practicality of the Gunblade? Well, guess what? IT'S BACK, BABY! And it's bringing it's proportionally-challenged friend along for the ride.
Goddamn it, if Dtoid score this game lower than a 7, I'll know they're all sexist.

(I'll be honest, I only wrote this so I could verbally masturbate the Gunblade. Yes, it's that awesome.)

A musical based on Phoenix Wright sounds awesome, doesn't it?

Damn straight it does. But..... an all-female cast?



Now it's officially passed into the realms of WTF. Someone needs to 34 this nao.