Best of the Rest: Scott's Picks of 2007
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Jan 1st 2008 at 3:30PM }
Vanillaware's side-scrolling action RPG caught me completely off guard when it came out, but I fell instantly in love with the game's style. Practically everything about Odin Sphere is unique: the circular levels; the gigantic, beautifully-drawn sprites; the bizarre food-crafting mechanics. Toss in a healthy amount of Norse mythology, and you've got one damn fine, under-appreciated game. Here's hoping Vanillaware's upcoming Wii title is up to snuff.
Even though it's the umpteen-millionth remake of classic puzzler Panel de Pon, Nintendo went for a little extra with the Nintendo DS title. Aside from being an incredibly addictive puzzle game, Planet Puzzle League takes remarkable advantage of the DS's local wireless and WiFi features. It's easily one of the most competitive titles on the DS, with no shortage of online opponents eager to hand you your ass on a plate.
Nevermind the two titles preceding this breakout RPG; Nevermind the legacy of Shin Megami Tensei; Judge Persona 3 solely on its own, with its original blend of randomly-generated dungeon crawling, fast-paced RPG action, and high school dating simulation. To top it all off, Persona 3 features one of the most twisted premises of the past year: high school students who must shoot themselves in the head to release their inner powers. How this title escaped controversy I have no idea.
Okay, first off, shut up. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl certainly weren't perfect, but they did introduce those adorable pocket monsters to the wide world of internet battling and trading. I bought the original Pokémon game way back in '96, and DP brought back all the excitement of collecting and training that started this damn phenomenon in the first place, while adding way more critters and the Craigslist-esque Global Trading Station. Room for improvement? Of course. Fingers crossed that the next title doesn't move at a snail's pace.
So maybe it's not technically a game, but Jam Sessions is still a fun little toy for musicians and wannabe musicians alike (I'm sadly in the latter category). It might lack the mainstream appeal of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and it might not be the most robust guitar simulator out there, but I still love being able to flip open my DS and play "Sweet Jane" at a moment's notice.
There are lots of games that I'm definitely guilty of having not played. The list includes Rock Band (PS3, Xbox 360), Portal (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), Halo 3 (Xbox 360), Pac-Man: CE (Xbox Live Arcade), Catan Live (Xbox Live Arcade), and many many more. Maybe 2008 will bring me a much-coveted 360, so I can finally be one of the "cool kids."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
copa @ Jan 1st 2008 3:37PM
Yikes. Kinda scary that you never played Rock Band, Portal, or Halo, but you still placed weighted votes on Game Of The Year.
Still, the top 10 list turned out pretty well.
SoulBlade @ Jan 1st 2008 3:46PM
That's an excellent observation.
finnith @ Jan 1st 2008 3:55PM
Pokemon is still great and all, but they haven't really changed the game at all in 11 years. Of course someone's gonna say that they of course aren't going to change the formula after being successful for so many years but they could have added something like environments in battle.
Brian @ Jan 1st 2008 4:37PM
Wow - no Rock Band? No Portal? No Halo?
Methinks you should be writing for the "fanboy" blogs.
Seriously, you're writing for a videogame blog and you don't have a 360? And you "covet" one? I'm not sure if you've been reading Joystiq or not, but you can get a 360 now. The shortages are not nearly so bad as originally reported (you know, 24 months ago).
Christopher Grant @ Jan 1st 2008 5:02PM
Or, perhaps, it's that Scott plays other types of video games that we don't play. Our employment requirements are not TOTAL CONSOLE OWNERSHIP, rather the ability to write well and have a powerful grasp of the space. I think one can be entirely capable of that without experiencing every single video game on the market, as evidenced by our very own Scott.
mr mobius @ Jan 1st 2008 7:24PM
Chris, I thought as a Joystiq blogger your job was to keep up to date with the gaming community and provide goming news to the internet in a coherent way. Scott seems to do this, as do most of Stiq, so I don't blame him for not having a 360. I'm surprised that the main bloggers don't get the main consoles as part of their employment by whoever employs you.
I don't know why anyone can complain about him not having played game x or game y because been so many games out this year, and no need to have played the 'top' games and then maybe someone miss out on a hidden gem because of time restrictions and only time for some games.
Dustin @ Jan 1st 2008 3:47PM
Wow, prepare yourself for all of the comments on your New Year's resolutions...
And - Please, play Portal.
Dustin @ Jan 1st 2008 3:51PM
Also, I'm glad Odin Sphere and Persona 3 are on your list... more people need to know about these games, so props for that!
SoulBlade @ Jan 1st 2008 3:48PM
I loved Odin Sphere, but I am unable to give it GotY kind of props. It suffered from severe slowdown - especially on that underworld boss - and quality must be present at all times for GotY.
LaughingTarget @ Jan 1st 2008 3:54PM
Persona 3 - The only game where a candy company turns into an arms dealer.
(joke, read the lettering on the side of the gun)
Mr Khan @ Jan 1st 2008 4:33PM
I loved Pearl too, and i thought i had outgrown Pokemon
It really brought everything back together for the franchise
CJC @ Jan 1st 2008 4:34PM
I loved Odin Sphere but the voice of that damned resteraunt pooka really pissed me off.
Alex W @ Jan 1st 2008 5:09PM
Persona Avoided controversy by being Japanese and Fairly underhyped.
capt_carl @ Jan 1st 2008 7:20PM
Fact. The game is so amazing that even if it did gather bad hype, it probably wouldn't matter.
Alex W @ Jan 1st 2008 7:30PM
Fact:
Agreed
2 - d @ Jan 1st 2008 5:43PM
Halo (All versions), Rock Band, Guitar Hero (All versions), Portal - I've never played any of these games either. I don't see what the big deal is. What's to enjoy?
Xbox 360 - I will never buy one. M$, stop creating new SKUs every five seconds and maybe I'll buy one. (but i still don't see the appeal of this console/there's only two games i like.)
Persona 3 and Odin Sphere, the two great games that no one purchased.
Steve @ Jan 1st 2008 6:10PM
Anyone who likes Odin Sphere didn't play it for more than 10 hours.
The game suffers slowdown to tragic levels, as in 1-2fps, literal slide show slowdown. No it's not common, but the fact that it does it consistently on a few occaisons is enough. The game should never have been published in that state.
However, forget the technical gaffs for a moment. The gamplay is unique - for the first character/10 hours. After that, you spend the next 50 hours doing more or less the same exact thing with the subsequent 5 characters that you did with the first character.
I loved the game for the first 10 hours as well, but 30 hours in, having experienced game crippling slowdown for the dozenth time, and having done nothing new or interesting for the past 20 hours, I had no desire to ever play the game again. First game in years I really regret purchasing.
Knoxximus @ Jan 1st 2008 6:24PM
Is true that the slowdown was greatly reduced when played on a PS3?
samfish @ Jan 1st 2008 6:56PM
I didn't think the slowdown was that bad. It never lasted more than maybe a second, at the most. Hardly anything I'd find game breaking.
Still, in this day and age, there's no reason for a sprite-based game to have slowdown. They could have definitely optimized it a lot more.
I think it got a bit repetitive towards the end, too (I have yet to beat the game, admittedly), but it's old-school beat-'em-up style mechanics made it so I didn't mind it at all.
vgxtremist @ Jan 1st 2008 6:50PM
Great list! Personally, my list would be similar, with lots of DS games (Pearl, Hotel Dusk, PWs, Sonic Adv) and some PS2 games (GGXXAC). I don't see any problem with not playing any of the 'of course' games.
samfish @ Jan 1st 2008 6:52PM
You, sir, have excellent taste in games.
Donald @ Jan 1st 2008 7:03PM
Nice screenshot on the Pokemon games, Scott. :P
Antonio @ Jan 1st 2008 8:42PM
Yes, finally Planet Puzzle League gets some recognition! However I have disagree about online. Last time I got on there opponents were sparse and the leaderboard implementation is incredibly stupid. If an online match had some kind of permanent effect on my rank, I'd like it a lot more.
Nesta @ Jan 1st 2008 9:44PM
Thankfully someone gave props to Persona 3. My game of the year personally. Rock on Sir.
Ghaleon @ Jan 2nd 2008 10:29AM
I was super hyped for Odin Sphere, but none of the reviews mentioned that it plays like crap (not even talking about slowdown). The control and combat are really slow and unresponsive. It's AMAZING to look at/listen to though.
I hope they look to Treasure's examples to figure out how to make their games PLAY great in addition to the look.
kftgr @ Jan 2nd 2008 6:32PM
@Scott:
Catan rocks much :)