Post by Cervantes on Dec 26, 2020 8:01:28 GMT
I'll copy stratogustav 's thread from last year! Here are my personal awards for things that I enjoyed in 2020:
Game: it goes to... Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PC)! The best game in the new trilogy has gorgeous visuals, interesting setting and story, lots of exploration and complex, creative puzzles, with ok combat and stealth mechanics. The runners-up for this award were: Resident Evil 2 (a timeless classic, but a bit too short and very linear in its second half) and Soul Reaver (great visuals and 60fps on the Dreamcast, impressive Metroid-like design in a 3d game, great story but with a slightly janky combat and clearly unfinished sections). I almost went with Soul Reaver, but its janky aspects made Shadow of the Tomb Raider look a little better in my memory.
Movie: Coherence (2013)! This is how you do a very low budget sci-fi: have a goddamned great, complex idea, write an intelligent and thought provoking script and then call some good actors. The entire movie is a bunch of people in a single house, and yet it is one of the most fascinating sci-fi movies I've seen recently. As I've watched too many movies this year, my runners-up include Primer (2004), Shin Gojira (2016), Parasite (2019), Following (1998), Lighthouse (2019) and Underwater (2020). I loved all of them, but Coherence is the only one that I watched twice in the same day just to fully understand what was happening and still want to watch it again (Primer gets close and Parasite deserves all the praise it got).
Animated movie: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2015)! This is Studio Ghibli at its best: a deeply sad story and hauntingly beautiful visuals done in that same style that made the game Okami famous.
Website: I wouldn't remain sane during the quarantine without this pub! There was a lot of activity over here, with new conversations popping up almost every day. Although I don't always comment on Balder 's weekly games, or centipede 's movies, or Armored Core Raven 's handheld wars, you can all be sure that I read all of them, plus the other threads by stratogustav , Spirit Bomb , cobretti and everyone else. Impressive work, dudes.
Webshow: great ones out there, but nothing tops how much work was done this year by Sega Lord X. The guy releases a new video every two or three days and every single one of them offers great content. He just released a new one:
I'll also give a shout out to TheGamingBritShow, KBash and Arcus, all great channels that I discovered thanks to videos about Ninja Gaiden (Arcus was also indicated by stratogustav last year, I'm greatly enjoying his relaxing speedruns).
Music: The Lonely Island has some funny music that I listened too much this year, I was just right now going through a playlist and JIZZ IN MY PANTS.
Best animated series: Attack on Titan! I was behind a couple seasons, then finally caught up this year. It's pretty much the only current anime series that holds a candle to the 80s/90s classics.
Best tv show: was it Mr Robot? Yes, it was! You know, a series that uses the classic Sega font in its title couldn't disappoint me.
Now, more games:
Best game that held up to its hype - Resident Evil 2 (PS1) all the way, baby! Talk about a true classic.
Best game in a genre that I haven't played much in the last ten years - Lost Odyssey (360) for turn-based RPGs. It's a bit flawed and very conventional, but I still got hooked to it enough to finish its lengthy story.
Best game in a series abandoned by Capcom/Sega/Konami: Mega Man Legends 2. It feels surprisingly modern in controls and design, too bad that we shouldn't have any hope for a sequel after all this time.
Best replayed classic that still holds up - Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES). Such a perfect experience!
Most boring/disappointing experience - I couldn't even finish Grand Theft Auto V (PC). It's mean spirited, has no soul (there is a very "written by committee" feeling to it), lacks all the fun that the previous games offered and has all around terrible characters and plot. It's my most hated game in a few years.
Best game despite its huge, obvious flaws - now is my chance to give an award to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (DC). It made quite an impression.
Strangest game: it's a toss up between Killer7 and D2... I'll choose Killer7 (PC), which I probably understood less than any other game in my life.
Best remake: Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PC)! It might also compete for best 2d visuals in a while, fascinating stuff.
Best multiplayer experience: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (PC). It's not as good as the previous game, but still a nice addition to the franchise. I never have many runners-up in this category.
Game: it goes to... Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PC)! The best game in the new trilogy has gorgeous visuals, interesting setting and story, lots of exploration and complex, creative puzzles, with ok combat and stealth mechanics. The runners-up for this award were: Resident Evil 2 (a timeless classic, but a bit too short and very linear in its second half) and Soul Reaver (great visuals and 60fps on the Dreamcast, impressive Metroid-like design in a 3d game, great story but with a slightly janky combat and clearly unfinished sections). I almost went with Soul Reaver, but its janky aspects made Shadow of the Tomb Raider look a little better in my memory.
Movie: Coherence (2013)! This is how you do a very low budget sci-fi: have a goddamned great, complex idea, write an intelligent and thought provoking script and then call some good actors. The entire movie is a bunch of people in a single house, and yet it is one of the most fascinating sci-fi movies I've seen recently. As I've watched too many movies this year, my runners-up include Primer (2004), Shin Gojira (2016), Parasite (2019), Following (1998), Lighthouse (2019) and Underwater (2020). I loved all of them, but Coherence is the only one that I watched twice in the same day just to fully understand what was happening and still want to watch it again (Primer gets close and Parasite deserves all the praise it got).
Animated movie: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2015)! This is Studio Ghibli at its best: a deeply sad story and hauntingly beautiful visuals done in that same style that made the game Okami famous.
Website: I wouldn't remain sane during the quarantine without this pub! There was a lot of activity over here, with new conversations popping up almost every day. Although I don't always comment on Balder 's weekly games, or centipede 's movies, or Armored Core Raven 's handheld wars, you can all be sure that I read all of them, plus the other threads by stratogustav , Spirit Bomb , cobretti and everyone else. Impressive work, dudes.
Webshow: great ones out there, but nothing tops how much work was done this year by Sega Lord X. The guy releases a new video every two or three days and every single one of them offers great content. He just released a new one:
I'll also give a shout out to TheGamingBritShow, KBash and Arcus, all great channels that I discovered thanks to videos about Ninja Gaiden (Arcus was also indicated by stratogustav last year, I'm greatly enjoying his relaxing speedruns).
Music: The Lonely Island has some funny music that I listened too much this year, I was just right now going through a playlist and JIZZ IN MY PANTS.
Best animated series: Attack on Titan! I was behind a couple seasons, then finally caught up this year. It's pretty much the only current anime series that holds a candle to the 80s/90s classics.
Best tv show: was it Mr Robot? Yes, it was! You know, a series that uses the classic Sega font in its title couldn't disappoint me.
Now, more games:
Best game that held up to its hype - Resident Evil 2 (PS1) all the way, baby! Talk about a true classic.
Best game in a genre that I haven't played much in the last ten years - Lost Odyssey (360) for turn-based RPGs. It's a bit flawed and very conventional, but I still got hooked to it enough to finish its lengthy story.
Best game in a series abandoned by Capcom/Sega/Konami: Mega Man Legends 2. It feels surprisingly modern in controls and design, too bad that we shouldn't have any hope for a sequel after all this time.
Best replayed classic that still holds up - Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES). Such a perfect experience!
Most boring/disappointing experience - I couldn't even finish Grand Theft Auto V (PC). It's mean spirited, has no soul (there is a very "written by committee" feeling to it), lacks all the fun that the previous games offered and has all around terrible characters and plot. It's my most hated game in a few years.
Best game despite its huge, obvious flaws - now is my chance to give an award to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (DC). It made quite an impression.
Strangest game: it's a toss up between Killer7 and D2... I'll choose Killer7 (PC), which I probably understood less than any other game in my life.
Best remake: Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PC)! It might also compete for best 2d visuals in a while, fascinating stuff.
Best multiplayer experience: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (PC). It's not as good as the previous game, but still a nice addition to the franchise. I never have many runners-up in this category.
