I can has Blog?

Hello all! TheRedCometXIII here with my first ever blog! I've been looking for a way to express my opinion on video games and the industry as a whole for quite a while now and I feel this is the best place for me to do that. I plan on doing opinion pieces and full-on game reviews here of both new games and classics I've held close to my heart for years.

Since I don't want this to be just an introductory piece I'll let you guys know how I think games this year are stacking up to win my Game of the Year award with my 2012 GOTY Power Rankings. I've been doing this on my personal facebook page for the past month or so and it's something that I've liked doing. Every couple weeks or so I fiddle with the order of games depending on how I'm feeling about them on that particular day, so let's take a look at my latest rankings.

1. Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut


Like many others, I was disappointed with the original ending to Shepard's quest of galactic piece, but unlike others I felt like I could live with the ending. Also unlike others, I actually really like the Extended Cut endings. They're not perfect by any means, but are much better than what we originally got. If these had been the endings the game shipped with I don't think there would have been nearly as much controversy as there was. ME3 originally started 5th in my rankings so it's made quite a jump since the EC DLC has been released.

2. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown


I was a big fan of VF5's initial release and was stoked when I heard there was going to be a re-release with new characters, tweaks and character customization options for just $15 bucks... Too bad that DOESN'T include the option to use character customization. In a heinous move, SEGA decided to milk the game for all it's worth by splitting up the custom character parts into individual character packs at $5 a pop or one of two character packs for $15 a piece. Despite that though, the game itself is so kickass I can't help but praise it. The more I play it the more I'm convinced it's the best pure fighting game of this console generation, even if this version of the game is a little more bare bones than previous releases (the Quest mode from VF4: EVO and VF5 has been removed entirely) and it's been chopped up into "DLC" pieces by SEGA, I can't help but recognize the gameplay as top notch. VF5FS started my rankings in 4th but after spending a lot of time with it has jumped up to its current spot.

3. FEZ


I had heard some people talking about FEZ but had not clue what it was. At first I thought it was like an iPhone game or something until I saw in on the XBL Marketplace. I downloaded the trial and was instantly hooked. The graphics, music and unique world rotating gameplay had me singing its praises. However, with the release of a patch for the game, it's possible the game can erase your save file. MS has since pulled the patch which will allow new players to purchase the game and give it a try, however those who already downloaded it will either have to wait for the patch to be patched or hope that a system cache clearing will fix the problem. I myself did download the patch and am now waiting for the game to be re-patched so I don't lose my save. I'd rather not restart halfway through the game. Fez started out very strong, topping my first ranking but has back slid due to the fact that it's now broken and have had time to play other games.

4. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier


I was a huge fan of Call of Duty 4 and have been waiting for an online shooter to top it after being disappointed by every CoD since and jumping ship to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3. Ghost Recon doesn't quite do it but it's trying hard. Since MW2 I've been looking for a shooter that's different. Something that isn't just TDM and constant killstreaks clouding the skies. Ghost Recon is a nice breath of fresh air with it's totally team based game modes and (mostly) stealth based singleplayer that constantly introduces new mechanics and gizmos in order to keep itself fresh, and it features the best weapon customization in a shooter I've ever seen for both SP and MP. FS is currently suffering from "FEZ syndrome" though as we speak. A patch was released on July 6th and since then the game has not worked nearly as well for myself and from what I hear on this here internet it's much of the same for others. For me personally, none of my MP classes were able to retain XP until just a couple hours ago, meaning I've been stuck at whatever levels all my classes were at before the 6th until today. Others reported multiple audio glitches, not being able to connect to MP at all, loading screen freezes and glitched missions in the singleplayer campaign. Hopefully these issues can be resolved, some of which I've heard still existed pre-patch which is inexcusable in my book, but the game is good enough for me not to totally denounce it. GRFS started out second on my rankings so it's slipped back quite a bit.


5. Skullgirls


I was really amped for Skullgirls when I first heard about it almost a year or so ago, but I have to say it's not quite what I thought it would be. The combat and story mode aren't quite what I was expecting, however the music actually impressed me the most. I need more time to really play it seeing as I haven't picked it up since about the second week of it's release. Skullgirls has basically been stagnant since my first rankings, hovering in the 5 and 6 slots.

6. Lollipop Chainsaw


Lollipop Chainsaw is basically the same as Skullgirls in that I was very excited for it, but it ultimately came up short in impressing me. A very short story mode supplemented by score attack mode and some rather bland collectables just wasn't enough to give the game a really good review to my peers. I do like the fact that it does actually feature collectables that aren't spread over miles of open world along with the unlockable costumes that Grasshopper Manufacture could have easily hocked to us as DLC (a crime even Arkham City is guilty of) but overall it's just not the whole package that I thought it would be. LP started out in 3rd but has slipped back to last now.

Well, that's it for my first blog. I hope everyone liked it. Tune in next time for whatever it is I write about next!