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There were a lot of great console games I enjoyed in 2012. The PlayStation 3 had two of my favorites in Journey and The Unfinished Swan. As far as traditional console games go, I quite enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII-2. On the PC side, I had some fun with Diablo III. To my surprise, my favorite game of the year wasn’t for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or a handheld console. It was for the iPad. I’m talking about Final Fantasy Dimensions.
I loved almost everything about Final Fantasy Dimensions. In many ways, it’s the spiritual successor to Final Fantasy V. It’s an old-school JRPG that’s centered around the awesome FF job system, which I’m a total mark for. The graphics aren’t impressive, but they’re certainly nostalgic. The soundtrack is highly enjoyable. The writing is fun. Between the job system and “fusion abilities,” the gameplay is very deep. As a fan of old-school JRPGs, Dimensions has it all.
The only thing I didn’t like about the game is that the random battles could be a bit much, but that didn’t stop me from spending more than 70 hours playing the game. It was a delightful experience that reminded me of everything I love about classic JRPGs.
Now it’s your turn! What was your favorite game of the year?
This year it was League of Legends. I have put so many hours, and sadly money playing dolly dress up, that I do not think I could seriously put anything above it for 2012. Had it not been for LoL dragging me into 1 and 2am nights, losing a whole saturday playing, or getting me to see that Competitive Pro Gaming (eSports is so stupid. to be taken seriously change the name) can be fun to watch, i would have chosen the Walking Dead series by Telltale Games. I had a lot of fun playing and as mentioned earlier a lot of fun watching the streamed tournaments leading up to the Season 2 World Finals where a team won 1 million as Season 2 champs.
It’s free to play, definitely isn’t pay to win, and the community can be harsh but I’ve never played a better multiplayer game. Give it a try.
I’ve actually feel that telltale’s the walking dead game is best of the year. The QTE and the amount of time you have to make a decision are among some of the best gameplay that add to already stressful situation, of dealing with zombies.
I can see that. The decision making in the game is really powerful — very unique and well done.
It doesnt help to have someone watching you play and getting all stressed out too.
I think Mass Effect 3 is my winner. I got in a lot of trouble for playing that game when others wanted to do things lol. The original ending was a complete wtf, but the extended cut actually fixed that up for me. It gave me an ending to the story that fit my characters story and surprised me at the same time. My Shepard was a shepherd at the end and I am glad Bioware handled the ending controversy the way they did.