Definitely doing this this year too! Last year was my first year participating and I went a little bit overboard with 134 games beaten (a lot of fighting games boosted that number haha).
I'm rating the games based on my personal thoughts only, so a game may be rated higher than a game that is technically better if I liked it more.
Last Year :
https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg149108.html#msg1491081. Red Dead Redemption [20/20]
- Xbox 360 -+- Incredible graphics. This game was so ahead of it's time! The weather is so realistic done, all the lighting effects, the sun, the storms... This game definitely has the prettiest and most realistic sky I've ever seen in a video game! The horses are also stunningly animated! To this day I still think this is one of the most stunning game made thanks to it's attention to details and realistic atmosphere.
- Amazing characters. John Marston is a really charismatic protagonist, he's a bad man turned hero who you can't help but love! The "main missions" characters are also all really interesting, a good mix between funny (West Dickens, Seth...) and serious characters (Luisa, Landon...). Even the strangers are pretty memorable which is pretty rare usually! I also love how all the female characters are strong women who don't need a man to handle their business (I guess except Luisa but her situation was different, plus she still proved herself as a really brave character.).
- A great story, while not the most original, all the diverse missions and charismatic characters make it really interesting!
- Good side missions, I completed 18 out of the 19 strangers missions (fuck the 5 beavers) and I definitely recommended doing them because they're very interesting, well written and some of them are pretty hilarious!
- Incredible voice acting! Rockstar is known for quality voice acting and this game is no exception! Even the least important characters have a great voice over!
- A lot of activities! I loved playing roll the dice and doing nightwatch jobs! There also a huge amount of non scripted scenes that can happen anywhere on the map, I think after about 22 hours of playing I had about 150 unscripted scenes.
- A breath taking open world! Every part of the map is just so stunning! It's divided into 3 main part, the first being the typical Cowboy setting with ranchs and more average quality type of locations, the second being Mexico, and the third being the more evolved and modern part of the world, consisting of Blackwater, Martson's farm and a lot of mountains full of snow!
- An amazing soundtrack. Each region has different background musics depending on where you are. It adds a lot to the immersion and makes you truly feel like you're in the game!
-- The only negative point of the game is that there aren't more missions with Harold Macdougal, other than that I consider the game to be perfect!
2. The Technomancer [17/20]
- Xbox One - +- A nice story with a few good plot twists! A lot of side quests too, and while I haven't done a lot of them (focused mostly on the main quests), the ones I did were pretty interesting.
- An early 2000 late 90's RPG game vibe that I really liked, the monotone voices added something unique to the game, kinda like the bad English does in Shenmue.
- Really pretty environnements, especially the Slums and Noctis! A lot of attention to details! The characters looked pretty good too, epsecially Zacariah (or at least the one I made lol).
- A cool fighting system, I know it's been criticized but I personally really enjoyed it!
- An overall really good quality game, especially knowing that it was made by a pretty small team (16 people I think), a nice hidden gem to have.
-- A pretty basic "create a character" system, you can only choose a face, hair and eye color. No face tuning, facial hair, height or even the possibility to play as a female character. There is a lot a choice between skin colors tho which was pretty cool.
- Characters lack some depth, I feel like they had great ideas for each of them but most of them ended up being pretty basic. Dandolo and Scott were my favorite, but I think I mostly liked Dandolo because he was a less interesting Dorian from Dragon Age Inquisition lol.
- The ennemies are fuckin strong, it shouldn't take me 20 hit to kill them and only 4 hit for them to kill me (not talking about bosses).
3. Street Fighter Ex 3 [16/20]
- Playstation 2 -+- A really good roster, only missing Allen but other than that it's probably the best from the 3 games.
- Good gameplay that has been polished a lot since the second game. The animations are more fluid and detailed.
- Really good music, probably my favorite thing about the EX games!
- A lot of hidden characters!
-- While it's the best roster from the 3 games, I think it's definitely thanks to Arika's character! I wish they would've added some Street Fighter characters from the Alpha serie and the third game.
- Graphically a bit behind when you compare it to Tekken Tag 1, Dead or Alive 2 or Virtua Fighter 4 (games that came out around the same time). Especially the stages, which could've been a lot more unique and interesting.
4. The King of Fighters 98' [19/20]
- Arcade - +- An amazing roster with a lot of added characters! I'm so happy they finally brought back the American team! Takuma and Rugal are also amazing additions!
- Great gameplay with more fluid animations.
- Cool stages, while not my favorites, I definitely loved the Train Yard and Japanese night street ones!
- Good music, KOF always delivers when it comes to soundtrack imo.
-- Not necessarily a big difference when it comes to graphics compared to the previous games.
5. Hidden Agenda [18/20]
- Playstation 4 -+- Stunning graphics, the details on the characters are really impressive. The game is made of cut scenes only but it still remains beautiful to look at!
- A great story, with a few good plot twists!
- Great characters, especially Felicity and Becky!
- A lot of suspense, I kept waiting for someone to be attacked or betrayed or whatever XD
- Choices that really feel like they matter! It makes me want to play the game again to see all the endings, even tho i'm ok with the one I got (none of the good people died, but Becky is suspected).
-- Plot twists that you can see from miles away! I knew who the killer was the second as I saw him and the bottles/drugging was way to obvious.
- Why the app? Like it's totally useless and doesn't add anything that couldn't have been added to the game! A controller would've been way less messy to use.
- A bit to short, I finished the game in about 1h30 and the ending felt really rushed, so a good 3-4 hours would've made the game a lot better imo.
6. NBA Playgrounds [18/20]
- Xbox One - +- Fun graphics, the players look hilarious tbh, and I thought the courts looked pretty cool!
- A great roster of player, they even included some of the Seattle Supersonics! I'm glad they included legends too and not only the current players.
- Fun gameplay, it's pretty easy to get used to and each player feels different while playing (I mean obviously lol).
- Cool way to unlock players, it reminded me of when I used to collect cards in school and it honestly just makes the game more fun to play!
-- AI can be a bit to overpowered, it's almost impossible to steal a ball.
- Blocking and stealing is really hard, it's either I didn't get something or i'm just shit at the game lol.
7. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered [20/20]
- Playstation 4 -+- Stunning graphics! The PS3 version was already ahead of it's time but this Remastered version truly changed the whole game! Probably my favorite remaster with Gears of War 1!
- A really interesting story! I love everything that's about treasure hunting, and while the theme can get boring they managed to make a really captivating adventure story. The dialogues are funny and the connection between the characters is what makes this game so good.
- Amazing characters! I mean Nathan Drake is probably the most iconic character of the seventh generation, he's funny, lovable, charismatic... he basically has everything a perfect hero needs! But he's not the only one, Elena is also an amazing love interest for Nathan, she's funny, brave and can hold her own very well. Also Sully, he might not have been as present in this game as he is in the later one but his humor still left a big impact on the game!
- Great gameplay! Naughty Dog excel when it comes to gameplay! The platforming part of the game are by far the best imo.
-/
8. Mass Effect Andromeda [20/20]
- Xbox One -+- Amazing characters! Being a big fan of the Mass Effect trilogy and having heard how ass this game was, I was honestly pretty scared of starting, but the characters are honestly the best thing about this game! Comparing them to the ones from the MA trilogy is stupid because they're completely different type of characters, the trilogy had professionals and mostly adults with a lot of experience, here most of the characters are young and new which is imo what made this crew really great. I didn't want something similar to the previous crew because nothing will ever top that, so giving us something different, more fresh and young was the best option imo. I loved everyone but my favorite was by far Jaal, he was the most interesting and well thought character from the game, and his romance was really adorable. Ryder is also an excellent protagonist, completely different from Shepard who was a professional and serious soldier, here we have a young inexperienced guy who tries to fill the place his dad left. Ryder is really funny and while totally new to everything still managed to make things work.
- A lot of interesting missions! The main quest was really enjoyable but I definitely recommend doing the side quests too, especially the loyalty ones. I completed all the loyalty missions, all the Heleus assignments (except one that I just didn't one to do because I was about to finish the game lol) and some tasks (pretty boring tho). Heleus assignments are great to find out more about the different planets and the overall context of the game!
- The Angara race! Such a cool addition to the mass effect universe! It was a really smart move to add a totally new race imo!
- Some stunning environnements! The Nexus, Aya, Voeld and that floating planet that I can't remember the name of look absolutely stunning!
- You can finally jump XD! Small detail but I always wondered why Shepard couldn't jump lol.
- SPOILER! A great ending where no one dies lol, Mass Effect 3's ending left me in tears no knowing what would happen after the end so having a "perfect ending" for Andromeda was totally cool with me lol.
-- Some graphical inequalities. The game overall is really pretty however some details really throw of the whole thing. My biggest issue was the lighting on the characters face, especially humans, my Ryder could look absolutely bomb one minute and trash af the next minute. My second biggest issue was the draw distance of the freaking plants, might not seem like a big thing but when plants pop out of fine air in a huge ass desert it's kinda weird lol.
9. Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare [20/20]
- Playstation 3 -+- Very different atmosphere from the main game's! It's mostly nighttime during the whole game, and the new weather and skies really make the game look totally different!
- Great missions with the main and some secondary characters! West Dickens got the most missions which i'm not mad about at all cause he's by far the funniest character imo!
- The badass nun and the plot twist at the end! I was screaming when John came back lol.
- The new horses, I saw a horse with flames or some weird shit around him but I didn't catch him because I liked my current horse but I did get and Undead horse when my previous one died which was pretty funny and unexpected!
-- They killed off Macdougal before he even got a mission I was so mad lol.
10. NBA 2K18 [20/20]
- Xbox One - +- A HUGE roster, the best from any 2K with the addition of all the all-time teams! The main reason why I like 2K is because I can play with the past player so this new addition was my favorite part of the game!
- The game is really immersive, the attention to details to make everything look like a real game is really impressive!
- The addition of the neighborhood in MyCareer. Yes it's ass, but it's a huge step toward making sports game more than just sports games! I wish it was better made but I still appreciate the effort to make something completely new! I also liked the park, not the best from any 2K but it's nice.
- Great gameplay. It's really realistic and the animations are stunning!
- A lot of different modes, you honestly can't get bored playing this game because there is just so many things to do.
-- You have to pay for everything! It's IMPOSSIBLE to not pay real money if you want to have fun online. It's way to hard to grind your myplayer up to a decent player. Also paying for the haircuts? fuck outta here with that bullshit.
- The annoying ass cutscenes! I appreciate the effort to make the game more alive with the inclusions of characters but they all look like parodies and honestly sound dumb af. I only liked Bryan and he's the one you see the least. Having to go through all these UNSKIPPABLE cutscenes before playing a game, going to your mycourt, going to the fuckin barber... is a pain in the ass.
- Graphically, while stunning, it's not really a big change compared to last year.
- The trash ass character customization. I mean at least there is one, but what happened to the old one? I was mad that 2k17 reused 16's character creation well fuck that if it's to give us one that is worse I'd rather have the old one back.
11. The King of Fighters 99' [20/20]
- Arcade -+- Beautiful graphics! For the first time I truly saw a big difference between this game and the previous one! The stages are so much more alive with all the weather effects and the animation are way more fluid!
- Better gameplay. Gameplay has also been improved with the inclusion of striker characters.
- Cool new characters. While this isn't my favorite roster, I do like most of the new fighters.
-- A lot of teams missing and some big names like Geese aren't there.
12. Ultra Street Fighter IV [20/20]
- Playstation 3 -+- Stunning graphics! A perfect mix of 2D and 3D. The fighters looks amazing and so do the stages.
- One of the best roster. While a few characters I love are missing, I think this is one of the best mix of fighters. Also in this Ultra version you have Poison and Hugo who are two of my all time favorite Capcom characters.
- Good gameplay. Definitely easier to pick up than the previous ones imo. The animations are fluid and the overall game is just really fun to play with.
-- Should've been the first game and not an "updated" version since there it's only 5 characters and a few stages added. Could've been just DLCs for the first game.
13. Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition [17/20]
- Playstation 1 -+ - Detailed characters, a lot of PS1 fighting games have their fighters looking like a piece of cube but this game has some surprisingly good looking characters! Stages are ass tho.
- Fast gameplay, it truly feels like Fatal Fury game, contrary to the EX game from Street Fighter that felt like a totally different game serie.
- Good music!
-- A bit hard to get into, there is a weird 1 second difference between the moment you touch a button and when the animation starts.
- As I said, the stages are pretty boring and uninspiring.
14. Assassin's Creed [20/20]
- Playstation 3 -+- Stunning graphics! Even today the game still hold ups well. The attention to details is mind blowing tbh. The cities are also full of pedestrians, making them feel truly alive. The animations are also really well made and super precise, like Altair is really holding on to something when he's climbing and actually puts his hands where there is something.
- Revolutionary gameplay! Playing this after having played some of the later game made me realize how much the gameplay has been improved but still, this is the first game, the one that started the whole yamakazi running on the house gameplay still and it's just as fun. Altair is definitely the slowest assassin tho lol.
- A good story, while it might take a while to get into it, the ending is amazing (not the actual non existent ending tho lol).
- Good music and voice acting.
-- The hordes of enemies trying to kill every 3 seconds is EXTREMELY annoying. The missions aren't that hard but the fucking guard make them sometime impossible to complete. You'll spend more time running of the guard or killing them than actually doing the missions.
- The missions are really repetitive since you basically have to do the same thing over and over again 9 times.
- Some lagging which is understandable with all the pedestrians however the freezing is really annoying, at first I thought it was my game because I bought it used but I red online that it's the actual game's fault and not the disc. It's really annoying since you have to start the game again.
- A pretty boring Altair, Desmond is much more interesting even tho he appears a lot less.
- No subtitles, which made it sometime hard to follow the story, especially for me who plays during night and who often relies on subtitles to follow dialogues since I don't always hear them clearly.
15. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered [20/20]
- Playstation 4 - +- Stunning graphics! This game was already beautiful on PS3 but this remaster version just make it even better. All the details and lighting effect make the game really special.
- Amazing story! The first game had a really fun story but this is another level good. The action is so intense in this game, Nathan climbing the train is one of my favorite game beginning ever! Plus all the betrayal and love story make the story even more fun.
- The characters. Uncharted's biggest asset is definitely it's characters! Nathan, Sully and Elena are amazing and the addition of Chloe made the crew even better!
- Amazing voice acting! The uncharted serie has one of the best voice acting I've seen in video games tbh.
- Great gameplay! I'm glad they added more climbing this time biggest it's definitely the funnest part of the game imo.
- Amazing music!
-/
