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Blog a Day #28

Hello everyone, how are you? Like last year, I wanted to end it on a high note and post my Game of the Year stuff as my last BaD post. I will post a Game of the Year per platform, not an overall 1 single game because there were a bunch of great games I played last year, and would be hard to choose just 1.

Well here are my Games of the Year per platform...

Smaller images have links to bigger ones.

Xbox 360:

Alan Wake: I always wanted to try this game but unfortunately I never got around to it. I just kept putting it off until last year when they announced that the game was being taken down off digital stores. I managed to get it digitally and decided to see why many like the game. I played and was really surprised at how good it is. I have never played a psychological horror game before but was really surprised at the concept of it. It's a really fun game and I would love to see a sequel some day.

PS2:

Persona 3 FES: The very first Persona game I tried last year thanks to a friend. You and a group of high school students set out to explore the mysterious Tartarus, a tower that appears during the Dark Hour, which is a time of the day that only few people are aware of. All while balancing your high school life. The game is pretty dark with plenty of plot twists in the story and the last parts of the game are just amazing. I don't think I've ever been thrown in a loop with the plot since Xenoblade Chronicles. It had been a while since I played such a story heavy game. It's also pretty challenging as well, it had been a while since I played something like that too. Some of the boss fights gave me quite the adrenaline rush. The gameplay is really fun and music in this game is fantastic, it really matches with what they were going for in the game and it's definitely my favorite of the 3 Persona games I've played. I definitely love the supernatural element of the game. Out of all the Persona games that I've played, this one is my favorite.

Vita:

Persona 4: Golden and Disgaea 4:

I went straight into P4G after finishing P3. I guess I was still feeling up to playing the next game as soon as possible. You and a bunch of high school students investigate the mystery behind some murders and kidnappings all while exploring a mysterious world inside the tv. The game isn't as dark as the previous game but that isn't a bad thing. I like how it feels like a big mystery as well as some really clever twists. You can figure quite a number of things out if you pay attention and that's one of the things I like about it. The gameplay is the same as in P3 but there are some new tweaks as well. The characters themselves are the stars of the game. They are really well written and it feels like any of them could be your friends. I love P3 more, but P4G is a really great game as well.

Disgaea 4 was also a recommendation. The game is about Valvatorez, a former tyrant who is now a Prinny instructor in the Netherworld. Valvatorez then decides to lead a rebellion against the goverment, which planned to eradicate all the Prinnies, only to find out there's more going on. The game is pretty political but it's hard to sometimes take it seriously with all the absurdity going on. The characters are really well written too and while there are serious moments, there are a lot of hilarious moments as well. The gameplay is addictive, and it could take a while to get used to it if you're not familiar with the games but it's fun. The game also has a ton of content as well. You'll basically be playing it for a very long time. 

PS3

 P4AU/ Sleeping Dogs/ NFS Rivals/ Just Cause 2:

P4AU can be called as my way of getting back into more traditional 2D fighting games. The game isn't too hard to learn, but it is satisfying to master. All the combos you can pull off are really amazing. I also love how they managed to intergrate the Personas into the game, they feel like another playable character, or rather a character assist like in other fighting games. Arc System Works really did a good job here.

Sleeping Dogs was such a fun game. There's a lot to do besides the main story, like doing side quests, races, and more. The combat is really fun and it reminds me a lot of the Arkham games. The gunplay is really good too. It feels like a GTA game but it is its own thing. This is definitely one of my favorite open world games.

I had already played Rivals a while back but I finished it last year. It's a really great racing game as it combines the gameplay of Hot Pursuit, the open world of Most Wanted (2012) and the graphics of The Run into one big game. I have been thinking of getting it again on PS4.

Just Cause 2 was such a fun surprise. The story is cheesy like any action movie, but the real star here is the gameplay. Most importantly, the grappling hook mechanic. I like how well it is intergrated into the gameplay and you can experiment with it to do so many crazy things. It's so fun just going all out with it and I was amazed at all the things you can do. Would definitely love to see that in another game.

PS4

Batman Arkham Knight and Persona 5:

Arkham Knight has always been the game I wanted to get a PS4 for because I love the Arkham games. Now that I've played it I can say that it was such a great game and a great conclusion to the Arkham games. There are some parts that could have been better but I really had fun with it. I would definitely love to see Rocksteady make a Batman Beyond game eventually.

Persona 5 was the very last game I tried last year since it was a Christmas present. You and a group of high school students set out to change the hearts of adults as the titular Phantom Thieves. I love all the new tweaks they made to the formula as well as the stealth gameplay they added. It's simple but it works really well with theme of the game and intergrates itself well with the gameplay. The music is fantastic and love it more than P4G's. One thing I love about these games is how different they are from each other despite still having the same core gameplay. They have their own unique style.

Switch

Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey:

Breath of the Wild is the very first 2017 release I played last year but it was definitely long overdue. It's such an amazing game and it was everything I wanted. I had never been this excited for a console Zelda game since Twilight Princess. I like how it just drops you in the open world map and you can just do whatever you want to do from there. You can proceed through the story or you can just go and explore. One of the things I love about the exploration is that it feels like when you discover something in Fallout 3. Like you would just be doing your own thing but you suddenly see this new area and you just want to head over there and see what it is. There are some thing I would of loved like better dungeons, but it's a fantastic game.

Odyssey was my most anticipated game next to BotW ever since I saw that first trailer. I have never been more excited for a Mario game since Galaxy 1 and 2, so it's been a while since I got that excited. The Kingdoms are pretty big and love the new hat mechanic. You go into a level and you can use it in various ways along with Mario's already established moveset. The result is really great with all the things you can do. There's also quite a number of references to older games as well which is like a tribute to all of the previous games. I definitely think it is just a celebration of the series as a whole. I don't think Odyssey is as good as the Galaxy games, but I would love  a sequel to Odyssey where they just go all out crazy like they did in Galaxy 2.

And those are my most favorite games I played last year and with this, Blog a Day comes to a close. This might also be the very last BaD post too. I wanna thank everyone who participated this year as well to everyone who took the time to read. This is my 5th year doing this, so hope I can continue to do these for as long as I can. Thanks for reading and here's to another year!