Best Games of 2005?

[schild]

So, before we at f13.net unveil our "best of/worst of/huh wtf who funded this?" list, we'd like to hear what everyone's favorite games of 2005 were. It was a pretty big year despite what the New York Times said and easily better than 2004. So, give us the what and the why because everyone likes summaries. Right? Right.

[stray]

I haven't played many games this year actually, but I'll give it a go...

God of War

Resident Evil 4

Ninja Gaiden Black

I haven't finished RE4 (PS2) yet, but I'd say God of War is the better game so far. It's just a matter of genre/pace preference, I suppose. God of War is classic beat 'em up action, which I prefer, while RE is more cerebral and horror based. Both are great though.

Ninja Gaiden Black is still basically Ninja Gaiden, so I'm not sure if it should mentioned here. Either way, enough has been said about it. It's the best game on the X-Box to say the least.

Psychonauts

This one made me sick (physically) in one of the end levels and I had to give up....But I still think it's great. It's not like one of the classic Tim Schaefer adventure games of old, but his humor and art design are still the same, and it all shines through in a genre he's never written for before. Lucky for him, I like platformers and beat em up's too.


Civilization 4

...Kind of a no brainer.

The Movies

Even a hardened gamer would admit that Lionhead has great ideas. The difference with this one though is that it actually works. The gimmick sets it apart and makes it a breath of fresh air as well. If you like movie history and/or the technical aspects of filmmaking on some level, then there's fun to be had here. If you just want the "game" part of it though (which is fun in and of itself), then I'd suggest to hold off until it's price drops a bit.

Battlefield 2

Great game -- shitty grind (not to mention a very demanding engine and very large population of shitty people to play with). And now that the grind has been adjusted, I'm not sure that I care about that either. The expansion makes me lose even more interest, just like expansions did with BF1942.

That being said, Battlefield 2 matches are still the best FPS experiences one is going to get these days. Nothing competes with it. Everytime I shed aside my dislikes and launch BF2, I'm reminded just how addicting and it can be.

[ahoythematey]

Rebelstar: Tactical Command
Nothing more needs to be said than "Mostly X-Com in portable format".

Day of Defeat: Source
The least reasonable of my choices, probably, because I am pretty much a DoD whore and rarely go a day without playing either version.

Resident Evil 4
Yeah, right, like this wouldn't make the list.

Empire Earth 2
Learning curve can be a supreme pain in the ass, but it's probably the most satisfying RTS game I've played since Starcraft.

My opinions are mostly useless.

[Triforcer]

Crono Trigger.

[stray]

Did a new Chrono Trigger come out or something? I'm confused.

[Signe]

I think he's just living in the past, poor old sod.  I feel sad for him.   

[Velorath]

I guess out of games that haven't been mentioned yet:

Shadow of the Colossus

Stubbs the Zombie

Destroy all Humans

Not really because they're all just such great games (they have their faults), but they've all got pretty original concepts.

[Miasma]

I don't know if you're going by category but Dragon Quest 8 was a great console style RPG, I have to think way back to Xenogears and earlier Final Fantasy to remember an RPG which I enjoyed so much.

Battlefield 2 was a huge amount of fun while it lasted, not that I think anything affiliated with EA will be getting any nods here  .

I have a terrible memory, I'm sure there were more games I actually enjoyed than that, damn.  Did Grand Theft Auto: SA come out this year or last?

[stray]

Did Grand Theft Auto: SA come out this year or last?

Last year. Else I would have mentioned it ;).

It came out on the PC this year though..

[Yegolev]

There are things I have not played so I can't comment on them, such as Rebelstar.  Sounds like my kind of thing but it hasn't come up in the list yet.  Ninja Gaiden Black doesn't count in my mind; even though it is undeniably awesome, it is still a re-release.

God of War.  Great production values, great controls, fun combat, and most importantly it showed everyone else how to do fixed-camera.

Resident Evil 4 might as well have just now invented the survival-horror genre as far as I am concerned.

Pirates! really gave me a reason to turn on the Xbox... was that 2005?

I am glad that there was a demo for Dungeon Lords.  So, so glad.

Most of the other things that I have been playing that deserve a comment are not from 2005.

[schild]

Pirates! really gave me a reason to turn on the Xbox... was that 2005?

Pirates! was given best remake in 2004 to the PC version. The xbox version was a tad...late.

[Sky]

GTA:SA for the PC. Wins my GotY easily. Fun game, supports hd and my wireless pad easily, no hacks needed. Girlfriend loves the humor and soundtrack.

BF2 was great...but the bunnyhoppers and smacktards brought it down to basically unplayable for me.

Civ4 is great...but very difficult to play without the bottom UI. Sure, it's just the 1280x720 resolution I have to play in, but it hurts, baby. The utter lack of support knocks it out of GotY.

I think Santa is bringing me RE4, I might earn my heathen label from what I've seen of the game so far. More on that next year!

wtf who funded this?

OMGWTFSOEWHOREBITCH!

 

edit: Ugh, I just nominated 3 sequels. Sad.

[Nija]

God of War for ps2.

Summary? Well, for starters it humiliates every other ps2 game. It runs better, loads faster, looks better, and plays better than everything else on the system. The good story and great action is just the frosting.

A distant 2nd place would be Space Rangers 2 for PC. Summary would take too long, but I have more fun with it than I do with Civ4, and they are pretty similar games. Check it out if you've never heard of it.

[schild]

A distant 2nd place would be Space Rangers 2 for PC. Summary would take too long, but I have more fun with it than I do with Civ4, and they are pretty similar games. Check it out if you've never heard of it.

Star Force. And just like last year, anything with Star Force is disqualified.

[Kail]

My overall favorite game this year has probably been Gunstar Super Heroes.

Basically, the perfect way to do a sequel.  Take the original game, axe what didn't work but KEEP WHAT DID, add some new variations on that theme to the gameplay.  Improve the graphics and update the controls. 

The game's real short, but I still ended up playing it over and over.  Tricky to master, but not frustrating.  Plenty of action, guys exploding all over the place, machineguns and general chaos.  I love it.

Aside from that...

God of War I thought was pretty fun.

Guild Wars I liked.  Not having to pay a monthly fee is real, real nice.

SW: Battlefront II I also had a lot of fun with, even though it would have been priced as an expansion pack in any sane world.

Edit:  Ooh, forgot one:  Legend of Zelda:  The Minish Cap came out back in January.  Excellent game.

[Triforcer]

I think he's just living in the past, poor old sod.  I feel sad for him.   

I've been irritable, gaming-wise, ever since I figured out my laptop (with un-upgradeable integrated card) can't handle BF2.  Thus all BF joy enrages me.

[voodoolily]

RE4 came out in 2004, didn't it? I could swear it was a christmas gift last year. For someone or another.

Shadow of the Colossus
We  Katamari
Psychonauts
Dragon Quest VIII

and I'll go ahead and give a wussup to Minish Cap, but I don't necessarily think it was The Best.

I also think that if the game was only released for one system in 2005 (but had actually been released on other systems earlier) then it shouldn't count. I'm looking at you, GTA:SA and Fable.

[Big Gulp]

Civ4 is great...but very difficult to play without the bottom UI. Sure, it's just the 1280x720 resolution I have to play in, but it hurts, baby. The utter lack of support knocks it out of GotY.

Sky, brother?  Cut it the fuck out, thanks.

Every single post you make now revolves around whether or not a particular game works on widescreen HDTV.  At first it was cute, now it's fucking old.  I love ya man, but please, just let it go.

[Nija]

Civ4 is great...but very difficult to play without the bottom UI. Sure, it's just the 1280x720 resolution I have to play in, but it hurts, baby. The utter lack of support knocks it out of GotY.

Can't you edit the .ini and set it to windowed mode?

my docs\my games\civ4\civilizationiv.ini

[El Gallo]

Civ 4 is the best video game ever made.

[Merusk]

Civ 4 is the best video game ever made.

You will get people disagreeing with you loud and long on this one.  I, however, will not be one of them.

[Strazos]

Sky, I'm not even sure which resolution you expect the game to play in if you do widescreen....

[StGabe]

Indigo Prophecy.

[schild]

Indigo Prophecy.

This is probably the first and last time I'll ever agree with StGabe. The rest of you fuckers should be smacking yourself for not playing the shit out of that title.

[voodoolily]

Sorry, I was too busy having sex with my boyfriend.

[Shockeye]

Sorry, I was too busy having sex with my boyfriend.

Back then he was the husboyfriend, I think. Unless we're talking about two different people. That would be awkward.

[schild]

Sorry, I was too busy having sex with my boyfriend.

If your boyfriend isn't Lucas Kane, you were playing the wrong game.

[Strazos]

I have no idea wtf any of you are babbling about.

[voodoolily]

I still prefer "husboyfriend" to "fiance", but it doesn't quite roll off the tongue as nicely.

[Shockeye]

I have no idea wtf any of you are babbling about.

This is an example of a post you shouldn't make. It adds nothing to any discussion and we'd all be better off without having read it. May God have mercy on your soul.

[Strazos]

I have no idea wtf any of you are babbling about.

This is an example of a post you shouldn't make. It adds nothing to any discussion and we'd all be better off without having read it. May God have mercy on your soul.

I don't need any mercy from your God. If you weren't so weak, you would not need him either.

[NiX]

Strazoplaz! They're talking about Indigo Prophecy. It has SEX. That's all you need to know.

[schild]

I have no idea wtf any of you are babbling about.

This is an example of a post you shouldn't make. It adds nothing to any discussion and we'd all be better off without having read it. May God have mercy on your soul.

I don't need any mercy from your God. If you weren't so weak, you would not need him either.

I see we're batting 1000 today.

[Fabricated]

Civ is for old people.

FPS:
F.E.A.R. - Brutal system demands and shitty multiplayer, but the single player experience was just awesome. We need more horror FPS titles. Especially more Ringu/DarkWater/etc type ones.

Call of Duty 2 - Basically a much prettier version of the previous one, which is the best WWII FPS ever made. The multiplayer alone is worth the money. Iron sights for the win.

Battlefield 2 - EA and game-wrecking patches and a shitty server browser = Me not playing it, despite it being nice looking and actually quite fun (when it ran).


Action:

Resident Evil 4 - Duh.

God of War - Also duh. This one came out of nowhere and surprised the hell out of me. It looked like another mediocre action title and basically ended up out Devil May Crying Devil may Cry.

Devil May Cry 3 - Was this 2005? Best in the series, even if it wasn't quite as good as God of War. Best bad dialogue ever.


RPG:

Dragon Quest 8 - I just picked it up late last week. Extremely good. Game of the year material for sure. Oh yeah, the FF12 demo makes me think FF12 is going to suck.

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

[voodoolily]

Geez, why is everyone saying that FFXII is gonna suck? The characters look awesome (so do the monsters) and I personally like being able to see monsters from a distance and having the choice of engaging in battle or continuing on my way to whatever I was doing. It's why Paper Mario was so good for me (among other reasons). I can't wait for it. So nyah nyah nayh on you.