PixlBit

     I was just going through my database of games I listed from last year and decided to apply my new rating system to them. I call it my "desire-to-play" column. I give each game a one to five star rating and then focus my attention on only the five star games until I play them all. I'm getting to the end of buying all my most desired games of 2013 so far, so I need another list for when I'm done with this year.

     Here's my five star list of 2012 games in order of newest to oldest.

Crimson Shroud [3DS eShop]: I bought and played this recently. It's a game developed by Yatsumi Matsuno at Level-5. Matsuno-san directed Vagrant Story, Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre, and Final Fantasy Tactics just to name a few. How could I resist not checking this game out with such a person behind it? Well, I didn't like it much. It's a traditional RPG where you mainly manage your stats and equipment while moving around a dungeon map fighting badies in turn-based style. That sounds awesome doesn't it, but it was a little boring to me since you spend most of your time staring at the menus instead of cool graphics. I loved the animated dice rolls though. What beautiful D20s!

Far Cry 3 [X360]: Don't own and haven't played. I'm about to play the Blood Dragon game connected to this however.

Midway Arcade Origins [X360]: Own and played it. I discovered some cool new old games like Xybots and got as far as I could in collecting achievements in all the games.

Halo 4 [X360]: Own and played about half of it before I lost interest. I'll go back and finish it sometime soon though.

Assassin's Creed III [X360]: I was so excited by the ship battle gameplay footage from E3 that year and all the East Coast of America locations. I still have to pick this up.

Serious Sam 3 HD [XBLA]: Always loved Serious Sam with its run-and-gun gameplay and tons of humor. This was the first truly new Serious Sam since 2005's Serious Sam II! I was so excited, that I forgot to play it. Strange isn't it? I'll get to it though, for sure.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown [X360]: This is my most desired game of 2012. Firaxis, makers of the Civilization games, turn-based strategy, how can this go wrong? It can't. That's why I'm literally going crazy not playing this yet. Thankfully I have Shadow Wars on 3DS to keep me company for the time being.

Nights into Dreams [XBLA]: I was really excited to play this and the included Christmas Nights but I ultimately didn't enjoy the controls for this. The game has some great ideas though and I'll give it another shot this Christmas.

New Little King's Story [PSV]: Loved this RTS on Wii which I acquired recently. The re-imagining for PS Vita has me chomping at the bit to play it again. I just need a Vita.

Borderlands 2 [X360]: I played a lot of the first Borderlands last year trying to catch up. I still have the last DLC for it to finish before I tackle B2. Ah, I can't wait.

A World of Keflings, Pinball FX2 and Pinball Arcade DLC [XBLA]: I played all the DLC for these three XBLA games. All are excellent fun for a short bit of gaming whenever you're in the mood for world building or pinball. Why is Pinball Arcade on XBLA starved for DLC lately? PSN gets everything and I want to play Central Park. I guess I'll have to buy it on PS3 as well.

Risen 2 [X360]: Bought it on day-one and loved the pirate theme, the islands, the sailing ships, but the combat system was hard to master and I ended up frustrated with it. Ah, what could have been if these German developers would've just eased up a little bit on the difficulty. I ended up trading the game in.

Mars Rover Landing [Kinect]: This was a free game for the Kinect. I'm an astronomy fan, so it was natural for me to get excited over it. I still don't have a Kinect device though. 

Dungeon Twister [PSN]: A fantasy board game converted to the digital space. It got mixed reviews but I still am excited to try it out.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor [Kinect]: The trailers got me so pumped but I was skeptical of the Kinect functionality. My worry was well founded because reviewers like IGN's Ryan McCaffrey said the game was almost unplayable. I think I still need to pick it up just for the experience, good or bad.

Pikmin 2 [Wii]: I used to have this nature RTS on GameCube but sold it. I was so happy to have it again. One of my favorite series on Nintendo systems.

Dragon's Dogma [X360]: Bought day-one and liked it up unto a point. A lot of these open world RPG games overwelm me with options and I end up quitting. The action kept me going longer than normal, but I ended up trading it in.

Minecraft Xbox 360 Version: I was very skeptical of this game due to its simple graphics, but once I tried out the demo, I was hooked and didn't stop playing 'til I got every achievement.

Witcher 2 [X360]: I still need to get this and play it.

Ridge Racer Unbounded [X360]: Makers of the FlatOut series did this. I was a fan of certain aspects of the FlatOut series and really wanted to check this out. It's probably dirt cheap right now.

Sumioni Demon Arts [PSV]: Another reason for me to have a Vita. This is a beautiful game full of Japanese ink wash painting and 2D hack 'n' slash gameplay very like Muramasa: Rebirth.

Mass Effect 3 [X360]: I finished the first Mass Effect recently. I own 2 and 3 now, I just need the time to do play them.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 [DS]: Played it, loved it, got beaten up by its difficulty and traded it. As usuall, I regret not still owning it. I want to play it again.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning [X360]: I played the demo. it's action oriented open world RPG gameplay had me very interested. Additionally, I was always curious of what ex-Phily baseball player Curt Shilling's game company would produce. He was a huge Everquest fan and wanted his game to be what he thought would be an improvement on it. This was the beginning of the end of his company sad to say and he never got to build the MMORPG of his dreams.

   I'm hoping to own and then play all these games and then come up with a 2011 list and catch up on all I missed that year as well.