As we near the end of the year (some of you will already be in it by the time this post goes live), many gamers use their precious holiday vacation to reflect on the best titles they’ve played over the past 12 months and rush to complete a few last games before the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve. I, of course, have been doing that as well, but I’ve also become acutely aware of just how many games from 2012 I’ve yet to play. It’s downright overwhelming! As such, I decided to whittle them down to an apt 12 personal must-play games from 2012, along with whether or not I own my picks and how likely I am to play them in 2013. So, without further ado, here are 12 games from 2012 that I have yet to play:
Gravity Rush
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: High
Considering virtually everyone I know who’s played Gravity Rush has raved about it to the point of dubbing it a “must-play” for all PS Vita owners, it’s downright silly that I never got around to it in 2012. In fact, I didn’t even get around to purchasing it, but my PS+ account netted me a free copy just the other month that I’m not only extremely grateful for, but I’ve already gone so far as to download it and play the opening sequence. I fully intended to play it this past month, but unfortunately I just didn’t get around to it, so it’s definitely high on my list for next year!
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| I love the Kiki’s Delivery Service vibe of this image! |
Sine Mora
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: Medium
I don’t talk about them very often, but I’m actually pretty fond of shmups, with Einhander being among my favorite PSone games. Sine Mora wasn’t very high up on my “to-buy” list, but a recent Steam sale made me cave (darn those good deals!). I doubt I’ll ever beat it since I’m notoriously bad at shmups, but I’ll definitely give the first few levels a go sooner rather than later.
Crimson Shroud
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: High
I’ve never been one for table-top RPGs, which is what Crimson Shroud is said to pay homage to, but I really like the look of this third game from Level-5’s Guild01 package. Of course, I’m not one to pass up anything by Yasumi Matsuno (though I still haven’t played Tactics Ogre…) and I’ve also heard that this RPG can take less than 10 hours to complete if you don’t get screwed over like one Brad Gallaway when it comes to obtaining certain essential random drops, making it a more doable RPG excursion than, say, another Final Fantasy installment. I’m prepared to give this one a go soon, as I’ve already downloaded it onto my 3DS XL!
The Denpa Men: They Came by Wave
In possession: No
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: High
Given that one of my very favorite bloggers, The Gay Gamer, has praised this game inside and out and even named it as his favorite 3DS game of the year, there’s no way I can’t check it out! Luckily The Depna Men looks like it’ll be right up my alley, as it’s an RPG and a cute one, to boot!
Harvest Moon: A New Beginning
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: Sky high
I kid, but honestly, this is one of the games I was looking forward to the most in 2012, and it’s a near miracle that I haven’t gotten around to it! My mom was sweet enough to preorder me a copy for my birthday, so I even got the adorable plush yak, but I’ve yet to actually crack it open. I’ll chock that up to being a little too preoccupied with Style Savvy Trendsetters this month, but I can guarentee that as soon as I’ve exhausted that, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning will be next!
Persona 4 Golden
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: High
Can you believe I’ve never played Persona 4? Well, it’s time to remedy that and see what all the talk’s about. Part of me thinks it can’t be as good as everyone says, but how can I pass up a JRPG with dating sim elements? My lovely husband got me a copy of Persona 4 Golden, so there’s no way I can’t play it this year.
Xenoblade Chronicles
In possession: No
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: Low
I hate to say I probably won’t get to Xenoblade Chronicles in 2013, but I have to be honest! There’s just no way I’ll be able to get to everything on this list over the course of the year in addition to all of the new things coming out and trying to tick a few offenders off my ever-present backlog. But since it’s considered by many to be one of the best JRPGs of 2012, I have to keep it in mind for an eventual purchase and play.
Kid Icarus: Uprising
In possession: No
Likelihood I’ll play it 2013: Low
Now this is a funny one. I’ve never really been that interested in checking out Kid Icarus: Uprising, and the initial reviews weren’t exceptionally positive, but I’ve heard a lot from people who enjoyed it despite its flaws. Something about its sense of humor looks really fun, too! But again, I’ll be honest… Unless I receive this as a present somewhere down the line, I probably won’t ever get around to buying or playing it.
Binary Domain
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it this year: Low/Medium
I did something sneaky when it comes to this one: I tried to convince Shaun he’d like to play it and added it to his Amazon wishlist (with his permission, of course) so that he’d get it for Christmas! Now, before you go and say I’m a horrible person, I must remind you that I do suggest many games to Shaun, and he does usually end up liking them (Theatrhythm comes to mind as one I was particularly successful with). While I do personally want to play this, I may just end up watching him play through it and leave it at that.
Persona 4 Arena
In possession: No
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: Low
I certainly don’t feel very happy about the whole region-locking debacle that surrounds Persona 4 Arena, but there’s no denying that it’s a fighting game developed by the same people who made my favorite series of fighters, BlazBlue. If I did ever get Persona 4 Arena, it’d probably be after I got through Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable anyway, which very likely won’t be until at least the end of 2013. I guess I can scratch this one of my list! It does look gorgeous, though.
Elminage Original
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: High
Can you belive I won a copy of this harcore dungeon-crawler from The Gay Gamer? I certainly can’t, but I’m overjoyed that I did! As such, I’ll definitely need to play it and post my impressions, though I’m a tad wary considering it is a little notorious for a steep difficulty level and poor English translation. Regardless, I think it will be a really interesting experience.
The Last Story
In possession: Yes
Likelihood I’ll play it in 2013: Medium
Now here’s a game I totally didn’t expect to purchase anytime soon, even though I’ve heard many good things about it. Funnily enough, though, I caught it while it was going for only $8 on Amazon… and how could I pass that up?! Still, I’m on the fence about whether or not I shoud prioritize this one this year. I’m open to suggestions, so if you’ve played it, do try to convice me that it’s worth a shot!
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| I have no idea who this character is, but now I’m 90% more interested in The Last Story than I was before (yes, I’m very shallow) |
So, are there any games you missed from 2012 that you want to play? Do you see yourself playing them anytime soon? Looking at this list, I certainly have my work cut out for me!
Hey Anne, good to see you back in action and posting again :). Hope you had an amazing holiday!
Did you get many presents? Cos I know I sure did! I got that boxed set (Malaysian official) Studio Ghibli collection as I mentioned before… It looked authentic when it arrived, however Anne, this was surely not the case! See, I thought I’d snagged a good bargain here, because buying each film in the Ghibli collection individually would cost me near £200 I guess, or maybe more since the release of some of their later films. But anyhow, I sat down to embark on a magical Ghibli adventure, only to find that the video quality was a bit rubbish and that the subtitles would only pop up for a mere second at best and then disappear just as quick! I was well disappointed! But apart from that Anne, everything was great!
I shall very briefly run through some of the presents that I got…
So in the way of games I got: Folklore, Hitman Absolution and Eternal Sonata. Hitman is pretty good, I’ve only played about 10 minutes of Folklore and Eternal Sonata I haven’t touched at all yet!
The only other anime I got was Panda! Go Panda! Which, Anne, I enjoyed muchly! It was so so very cute, and if you haven’t seen it then I highly recommend it!
I also got chocolates etc. Which I have barely touched yet, but the best present of all has to be a long sleeved t given to me by my Mum with this design on it… (see the link below)
http://dpegb9ebondhq.cloudfront.net/product_photos/1090864/ghibli-no-face_original.png
Anne, since when did my Mum aquire such a cute and nerdy sense in fashion! I didn’t even ask for this, it was just something that she took upon herself to buy for me, but she made the right choice because I loves it!
Back to the post at present:
That’s a fine list of games right there, it’s just a shame that I don’t have any of them. There’s about four on that list that I really want to have a go of at least; these being Persona, Harvest Moon, Last Story and Xenoblade. I have heard good things about these games so I would love to play them!
Thanks for another great post, it’s good to have you back after your short absence young warlock!
Looks like a great list to me, Anne!
As for The ‘Denpa’ Men: I do hope you like it even half as much as I have so far. I know I’ve hyped it to the moon, but just remember that I’ve also said it’s not for everyone (unlike something like Pushmo). It’s a tough, turn-based RPG with very little story, so just know that going into it 🙂
I’m also planning to buy/play Crimson Shroud soon, by the way. I have NO experience with table-top RPGs, but I’m still interested in it because of Matsuno’s involvement and because I like how it looks.
I may pick up Kid Icarus: Uprising sometime this year, too, although I’m not at all certain about it at this point. I really like how it looks, and it’s gotten some great word of mouth (the guys at Tiny Cartridge just named it their fave game of 2012!), but I have a feeling the gameplay won’t be my kind of thing in the end. Still, I’m curious about it.
I’m also curious to hear your thoughts on Xenoblade–should you ever get around to playing it. I really liked what I played of it earlier this year, but I’ve had little interest in getting back to it since I walked away from it for some reason or other. I’m not even sure why I’m no longer interested in it, to tell you the truth. Maybe it’s just too daunting? Or maybe I’m no longer as interested in console RPGs as I used to me?
I’ve only just started playing Xenoblade Chronicles and it’s definitely something to play 🙂 .
Very approachable, doesn’t waste your time, wonderful wonderful.
Aren’t you bummed out that there is no female protagonist for P4g, like there was for p3p? Because instead of a female protagonist, we get some girl who is only an avatar for a new ps vita exclusive feature and a social link with a wannabe rapist (which was reportedly a fan requested feature because most of the fans could relate to him)?
The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles are the two games that make me really wish I had a Wii (well, okay, there are more, but those are the two from 2012 that stand out). I think another game from 2012 that I’d like to play is Journey but I haven’t a PS3 either! Maybe it’s time to start watching for some awesome sales. Looks like a fun sort of year for you! 🙂
I’ll put in a plug for Kid Icarus! I was skeptical, but at the last minute decided to buy it at release – everyone was talking about it and I didn’t want to miss out on the (potential) fun. I found the controls weren’t at all as irritating as some said, and the humour and dialogue was charming. It may not be my favourite 3DS game (I’m not sure what is), but I think it’s the best 3DS game I’ve played, for its audacity, charm, scope, attention to detail, online play, brilliant difficulty slider, and general creativity. From the first screen to the last, it’s obvious it was created by a team that truly loves videogames.
Augh, I’m going to have to play it, aren’t I??
That’s a really good point, I hadn’t even thought of that. I actually haven’t played Persona 3 in any form yet, but I did pick up P3P the other day. I wonder why they didn’t decide to go with a female protagonist again? Probably they deemed it not as popular with the hardcore crowd…
Augh, I’m going to have to play it, aren’t I?
I’ve certainly got a lot to play! 😉 The Wii has a lot of great games – I’m sure you could find one for cheap if you wanted! I only got mine last year and I love it.
I’d like to try Harvest moon as well, loved Harvest moon for the 64.
Hi Bryan! Sorry for the late reply – jet lag really did me a number when I came back from vacation!
I’m sure I’ll enjoy Denpa Men, but I am interested to see just how long I stick with it. I do have a tendency to get tired of RPG systems pretty quickly if there isn’t a story holding it all together, so I wonder if I’ll be able to stick with it as long as you did. We’ll see!
I still haven’t gotten around to Crimson Shroud, but I’ve been hearing some mixed opinions as of late… Sounds like it might get a bit frustrating if you don’t get one of the essential random drops? But since it’s not that long and the story is supposed to be good I still want to give it a shot.
And I hear you on Kid Icarus: Uprising’s gameplay. I don’t play many action games myself, so though the whole aesthetic of the game really appeals to me, I don’t know how long I could stick with that, either. It’s probably something I’ll pick up if I find it for a really great price, or a few years down the track.
Didn’t we have a discussion a while back about console RPGs being harder for us to get through these days? I definitely hear you on that one. Though Xenoblade looks great, I’m just being honest with the amount of 50+ hour RPGs I’ll actually get through in a year. Persona 4 Golden is definitely a must-play for me, but I’ve heard that one is quite the time sink, and I wonder if it’ll start to feel like a chore after a while. Again, maybe I’ll pick up Xenoblade in the future? If you ever start playing it again, let me know!
Ah, another Harvest Moon fan! I’ve never played the N64 version, but I love Tree of Tranquility on the Wii and the little bit I’ve played of Friends of Mineral Town. A New Beginning looks like it changes a number of things, but hopefully that’s for the better!
Ah, thanks for your thoughts on Kid Icarus, David! I definitely am drawn to it for the writing, so it’s great to hear that you enjoyed that aspect of it. I think you’ve definitely sold me on picking it up at some point 😉 By the way, did you use the stand when playing?
Oh no, I just wrote out a super long reply and it doesn’t look like it posted! I don’t know what happened! I’ll try to recreate it but I don’t think I’ll be able to go as in-depth as I did the first time:
Thanks for the link to the Animal Crossing movie! I actually have it on my computer but I haven’t watched it yet. It looks adorable!
That’s too bad about your Ghibli boxed set 🙁 Is there any way for you to return it, maybe?
I have to say, that tshirt design looks utterly ADORABLE! I’d totally wear something like that. I love how the artist had drawn all of the characters! Your mom certainly picked out a great gift!
As for me, I got a lot of great games for Christmas and my birthday (which is also in December), including Rune Factory Frontier! I definitely can’t wait to play that!
Oh, and I’ll definitely write about the games on this list as I play them. Hopefully having this post will give me a little motivation to try them all over the course of the year!
Finally, don’t ever be sorry for writing a “long” comment, Billy! I’m always happy to see you have lots of things to say 🙂 Keep it up!
No worries, Anne–as always!
Sorry to hear you were walloped by jet lag, by the way. Did you have a good time in the States, though?
Yes, it’ll be interesting to hear your thoughts on ‘Denpa’ Men and also how long you stick with it. I just hope you enjoy what time you do spend with it, really.
I’ve also heard mixed things about Crimson Shroud, but that doesn’t worry me much given its cost, etc.
I do think we recently chatted about having a hard time getting into console RPGs these days. As true as it is, it kind of saddens me, I have to admit. RPGs have always been my favorite genre, but these days I only seem to be able to play one or two a year. Oh, well.
I *will* start playing Xenoblade again, by the way, as I’m planning to join you in your quest to tackle one game from your (or my, I guess) backlog each month for the rest of the year.
Can’t wait to hear more about your plans for this challenge/quest, by the way!
Yus. I think you’d be surprised at how “LOOK! GO OUT AND DO STUFF AND BE FREE” it is so early on.
1. Anne, I know the feeling all too well! It’s slightly demotivating isn’t it!
2. I don’t know where to buy Animal Crossing the Movie on DVD, is it even available on disk?
3. They have agreed to refund on return so I’ve sent it back now!
4. Merry Birthday!… Christmas… Happy… Yeah!
5. It’s good to know that my comments spur motivation… So I will continue to motivate you as best I can… Hurry up you slow coach and write another post for me! *whips*
BIG NEWS: So I’ve been feeling really bad that I haven’t been keeping to my promises to get my blog out to you Anne. I was making a lot of effort but I am very poor at organising myself. I had a tonne of posts, each about topics that I have developed a particular interest in. However, that alone was not enough to motivate me. But now I have found the perfect platform for me to express myself and though it still requires much effort, the end result can be very satisfying if done correctly… So Anne, I have started vlogging! From the feedback I have received on my first video, as far as first vlogs go I have been told that mine is a little bit of alright!
I have some ideas for future vlogs and I have already thought of some ways to better myself. I do have some pretty interesting things to discuss so hopefully it will appeal to you!
If you could check me out it would be much appreciated.
Thankyou Anne, here’s a link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFU7piGNfMI
I’ve never even tried my stand, though I’ve heard some swear by it. However, I do find mild soreness of the hands keeps my play sessions shorter than they otherwise might be, which always makes me think I should give the stand a shot “…next time.”
I preordered Gravity Rush back then but I canceled my order because I found it a bit too expensive. But I will defenetly buy it someday.
Just preordered Persona 4 Golden! 😀
About Kid Icarus Uprising: I bought my boyfriend a blue 3DS XL two days ago plus Kid Icarus and both arrived today!
He’s playing it in this very moment xD
Seems like he likes it and is happy because he’s playing it for some hours now.
Persona 4 Arena: PREORDERED!
Oh I bought The Last Story last week but now that I own a Wii U it’s kinda hard to switch back to the bad Wii-graphics 🙁
But I guess I will play it soon, at the moment I’m playing Prof. Layton and the Miracle Mask which I received as a gift from Nintendo for the registration of my Pikachu 3DS XL.
First of all, you’re so lucky to have gotten Miracle Mask for free with that Nintendo of Europe promotion! I’m jealous! :p
Sounds like you have a lot of great games to play! It’s good to hear your boyfriend is enjoying Kid Icarus Uprising. The more I hear about it, the more I want to play it!
Yeah, it’s awful to lose a comment you’ve spent so much time writing! 🙁 But oh well, these things happen, eh?
The Animal Crossing film was never released in English, so you can’t buy it anywhere officially. Actually, I can’t even find a listing for a Japanese version anywhere, but you can definitely download it online, if you don’t mind that sort of thing.
And congrats on your first vlog! That’s very exciting! I’ve bookmarked it and will watch ASAP (just wanted to get this comment back to you so you wouldn’t think I’d forgotten about you or anything!). I’m glad you found a platform to express your thoughts that works for you. I’ll comment again after I’ve watched it, okay?
Oh, I had a great time in the states! I brought back quite the game haul with me 😉 I kid, of course that was a bonus but it was wonderful to see my family and have a bit of snow over the holidays! I definitely miss the cold weather… It’s much too hot here!
Glad to hear you plan on returning to Xenoblade! And I definitely plan to post about my 2013 “backlog challenge” very, very soon 🙂
Ah, I see! When I eventually pick it up I’ll be sure to try both ways 🙂
Yep, that is totally fine! Thankyou Anne!
Glad to hear you had a great time — and even enjoyed the cold and snow. I miss it myself, and I’m still in the States!
Anyway, I look forward to hearing more about your backlog challenge. I just published a blog post about mine today — and gave you credit for coming up with the great idea, of course 🙂
If it helps anything, The Last Story is a rather short game (compared to other RPGs) – it takes a mere twenty hours to complete the game. I only played an hour so far to see if I like it and even tho I suck at actioney stuff (as I mentioned before) the game is pretty fun and the characters & story are more on the mature side with some nice British voice acting.. Definitely one of the games I wanna go back to within the next year.. 🙂
I actually really enjoyed the British voice acting in Pandora’s Tower, so I’m pretty interested to hear similar voices in The Last Story! I know what you mean about action games… I’m not very good at them myself! But if the game’s good, I’ll try my best to power through it. I hope you manage to finish it sometime!