Last game you finished and your thoughts

Yep

That's good work ZJ - I understand Bayonetta's awesome, but Earthbound MUST BE PLAYED.

Oh, er

Guacamelee

Yeah, I liked it. I like Metroidvanias; I like visiting an area you've already been to and discovering you can now reach a new section you didn't know existed. I like all the references to in-jokes (and yes I translated the Fez-language myself ). What set it apart from Castlevania Lozmof was the fluidity. The super moves were very satisfying to pull off; I actually got better at the game, rather than repeatedly trying the same thing until a lucky result happened. I even postponed the last battle in order to go back and 100% it (which happens less and less today).

9/10

Guacamelee really has been a massive highlight in games this year for me (yeah yeah it was on other platforms first blah blah) as it was just an absolute joy to play & I can't wait to see what drinkbox studios cook up next.

I even recommended it on TRP as a truly great example of the genre. I'd love to see a longer sequel.

Bayonetta
Wii U, 2014, Platinum, Nintendo


I had this on PS3 but, on the advice of Kamiya himself, I waited until the Wii U release. As a fan of Platinum's other work; The Wonderful 101 was brilliant fun but bizarrely flawed, Vanquish had the slickest shooting in history but it was too short and had forgettable enemies, and Metal Gear Rising was an exciting attempt to explore that series' cyborg ninjas; I'd spent years being told Bayonetta was the cream of the crop. The best action game ever made, the definition of Platinum's output, Hideki Kamiya's magnum opus. So this game had a lot to live up to. I'd almost decided it was one of my favourite games before I'd even played it. So obviously, there was no way this game would live up to its hype. But then it did.

The game often gets picked up on for having a weak narrative, but I have to strongly disagree. Kamiya has a phenomenal eye for pacing (I've heard this is where the sequel falls down), and the game is very difficult to put down once you get into the groove. The characters are top as well; Enzo, Rodin, Luka et al were fabulous and then there's Bayonetta herself. I'll come to that later.
As for the overall plot, sure it was super weird but it was brilliant for it. I didn't find it especially hard to follow by the end and, having been raised by an atheist mother and immensely Catholic grandparents, I'd always found the whole concept of God, angels, judgement and so on absolutely terrifying. So seeing Bayonetta chop, shoot, punch and gyrate her way through bloody hordes of them was ace.

The gameplay is quality, though it does have a few of Wonderful 101's flaws. There are accessories and techniques which are essential to the game's dodge mechanics when you're as crap as me which are locked at the start and require purchasing. The difficulty curve was very similar to W101 as well; the game started fairly easy, then ramped up the difficulty too quickly for me, then I got my groove back. When I was in the zone, though, the combat sang.

It's ridiculous to think that this wasn't always a Nintendo game. Like Mario, this is a game built entirely around a character and that character's moveset. And what a character! A sarcastic, sexy, powerful witch with a love of dancing and a brilliant sense of humour. I absolutely loved her, so much so that after one level in the Peach costume I went back to Bayonetta in her usual kit.

The big question; is she a sexist character? Absolutely not. She's never powerless, never taken advantage of; yes, she's sexy, but on her terms and to her advantage. Is the game sexist? No, I don't think so. It has a good mix of male and female characters playing various roles. Is the game's cameraman sexist? Oh god yes. Even when Bayonetta's just standing and talking, the camera hangs right on her arse. It's a little crass, but overall the game does such a good job of her character that it's forgiveable.

Best action game ever made.
10/10
'Natch.

Glad to hear some praise for the story, I remember being a bit confused on my first run, but after hearing it being put down for years I was pleasantly surprised with it on my replay.

On Bayo on herself, someone compared her Beyonce.

Always time for more Guacamelee love from me; my game of the year so far. Entirely unrelatedly, I petitioned Matt Castle on Twitter for it to be the game he chose for TRP as well! Two admins, one mind.

I was very close to submitting Guac but after seeing you both did I'm glad I didn't now.

I'm curious if Balla does do a Game of The Year Category what he let's in, as Guacamelee wasn't a 2014 game but did come out on this year on Wii U etc as turbo but does open up things like Bayonetta in as well though.

I think STCE is different enough to count Guac as a separate game but Bayonetta is a straight up re-release though.

I still wouldn't count it as a 2014 game though, myself though.

I'm sure in Balla-land a game doesn't count as released until it hits a Nintendo console.

No worse than that has to be in the EU as well as remember Earthbound & the Wii U vote.

I don't get why you don't class it as a 2014 game though. If it was a PS4 vote, TLOU Remastered and Sleeping Dogs would count for this year and Guac is no different. It has a cheap upgrade on PS3 but it's very much its own game, with extra content only accessibly by buying STCE and it has its own trophy list. How is that not a 2014 release?

As that's a different question though if we were doing a PS4 first anniversary vote, it would be every game that's on the PS4 from Day One up till the 22nd of November be it TLoU, Flower, Destiny, so the best games available on that system .

But being Game of the Year 2014 be a NEW game for 2014, so not TLoU, Guac, Flower, Pokemon Omega Ruby, GTAV as there not NEW games there old games. Otherwise The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD is GOTY 2013, Ocarina of Time 3D 2011's etc and that's just stupid.

You wouldn't of given the Oscar to Titanic 3D when that came out again in Cinemas would you even though that might of been the best film that year.

I don't think I can talk about this without going into what I want to do for the awards, which I don't want to do yet.  Did the Golden Joysticks not include TLOUR, though?

Well no they didn't due to there weird time frame, so could be in there's next year but I know IGN, GT and Gamespot etc all said TLoU:R won't be included in GOTY talk as it's not a NEW game of 2014 even if it's the highest rated of the year.

Full disclosure: I would include Bayo and Guac, this is primarily a Nintendo forum. I was just taking the piss.

So the award would be the best game released on a Nintendo system in 2014.

Not sure it was down to time frame, Destiny made it but TWD didn't, madness!
Pretty sure OoT 3D did win some GOTYs...
Also Guac might as well be fresh, it has the same story and base combat but loads of different locations and moves. It's more like a new game with heavily reused assets.

No its like a remastered version and who ever gave OoT 3D GOTY are silly.

So I think we're going to have to agree to disagree as I will always see GOTY as a NEW game. Also we all know GOTY is between only two games this year and neither of them I've played yet.

Can't say I know what non-Bayonetta 2 game you're referring to but I think that some might have a bone to pick with you ignoring MK8 (not me though, 'netta all the way (until Dragon Age at least))

Dark Souls 2 is the only other one part for Bayo 2 which I hear is GOTY worthy. But there is lots of GOTY awards, so anything could be it but I only take the Game Developers Award Serious.

masofdas wrote:

So I think we're going to have to agree to disagree as I will always see GOTY as a NEW game. Also we all know GOTY is between only two games this year and neither of them I've played yet.

I'm not so sure if it's just two as there's a lot of great games out there.