Alex's Top Ten Games of 2021

...And here we are again. Whatever may have gone on in your past year, rest assured that as always, I have played some video games, and at least ten are worth rambling about! Let's get straight into it.

Alex's Top 10 Games of 2017

The year 2017 has come and gone, and as has become tradition, I will ramble here for a little while on my personal top 10 video games that I played in the calendar year.

Ys II - "What's All Ys, Then?"

Japanese role-playing games - or JRPGs to their friends - are perhaps one of the most inaccessible genres to the uninitiated. The most common crime they commit is enforced grinding, as players have to circle a patch of tall grass or forest or "world map", fighting the same creatures over and over until characters in their party are sufficiently levelled up to take on a boss. Then there's the minute-to-minute tedium of the gameplay, which even in the more complex JRPGs often boils down to selecting "attack" from a menu every time. And of course there's the time investment, which can stretch to 50, 100, even 200 hours or more - this becomes a more crucial metric the more your age and the size of your Steam library goes up.

Behind these off-putting elements - some of which it could be argued are central to the experience of playing a JRPG - there can be a lot of value, depending on the quality of the game in question. Persona 4 Golden is my personal Best Game Ever, and I could ramble on for quite some time about a fair few Final Fantasy's. It makes me feel a bit sad that the above issues could (very reasonably) put someone off ever delving into the genre.

If there was ever an entry-point, a catalyst for more interest in games that many find so impenetrable, I believe it is Ys Chronicles. This Steam bundle contains the first two games of a long-running series that has seen endless rereleases, remakes and enhanced reimaginings. I finished them in a total of 18 hours. There are no random encounters. The combat is real-time and could not be played while sleeping. Grinding is almost entirely unnecessary. What's more, Ys and Ys II are exceptional games and they do far more than just stand the test of time. They're easily some of the best 2D games I've ever played, and I want to let you know why you should check them out.

05 Losing my Dragon-ginity

"Guuu-uuuys, wait uuup!"

With some trepidation, I walk down to the main gates of Whiterun, where Irileth is delivering a rousing speech to the assembled town guard.  And while it does a little to steady my nerves, I am very much aware that the largest enemy I’ve faced so far is an overfed arachnid.  I'm glad I bumped up my healing prowess.  The Whiterun guards march out boldly and I tag along behind on Allie, “protecting the rear of the column”.  

04 Whitewun and Weligious Wondewings

The weather is against me the next morning, as I leave the Sleeping Giant Inn after a much-needed rest and find that a blizzard has descended.  But the Jarl must (finally, after much distraction and dilly-dallying) be warned of the dragon menace!  Through the dense snowstorm, I spot four figures plodding on ahead of me: three Imperial soldiers escorting a captive Stormcloak rebel.  The loyalist asks that I help him overpower his guards.  Erm, no.  Instead, I zap a mangy wolf who snuck up behind me and sprint off down the road.

"WOOF WOOF" *ZZZZZAP* "WHINE WHINE"

Browzings: Speed Warp and Elements

Idle games have proven to be pretty divisive here at BFVG, what with the recent controversy surrounding a certain game which may or may not involve clicking on or near baked goods. Nonetheless, today's first entry will boldly go where I've gone twice before (with candybox and A Dark Room): it's Speed Warp!

Eagle-eyed Twitpeeps will have noticed this game being retweeted by aniwey, the creator of candybox, a few days ago. Speed Warp is, as dev Tom Medley notes, heavily inspired by candybox, with parts of the game borrowing chunks from the former.

03 The Douche and the Dungeon

As I leave Alvor’s forge, with pockets full of nothing but cold, hard coin from selling the contents of Rigel's treasure-room, I bump into a handsome chap called Sven strolling the main (only) street in Riverwood.  Now Pyppi’s no tramp, but she definitely likes what she sees, so we strike up a conversation.  Alas, he has feelings for another: Camilla, the sister of Lucan the trader.  And any lingering flames of attraction towards Sven are swiftly doused in icy water when he makes some rather snide comments regarding the elf Faendal – his rival for Camilla’s attention.  Exsqueeze me?  Never one to let a fellow Mer be subjected to racism, casual or otherwise, I promptly rat out snakey Sven to Camilla, who thanks me, and asks that I inform Faendal also.  He is overjoyed, rewards me with a little gold, and even offers to accompany me on my travels.  Why not?  Even a mighty mage such as Pyppi Långstøchin needs company on the long, lonesome road.  I accept his proposition, on a trial-basis for now.  If he proves his worth, and remembers who’s in charge, we’ll draw up a permanent contract. 

The Love Triangle

The Final Frontier: Fake Space, Part 3: A Lunar Date

Cue orchestral music.

The alarms blared incessantly, terminal lights flashed over and over, and behind Bill Kerman's head he swore he heard a panel of the command pod's outer hull make a deep, sonorous creak. Either the ship was pulling apart at the seams or he was hearing things.  The latter would be excusable, seeing as the pod was spinning like a top - although tops normally just spin in place around one central point, whereas Bill's ship was twirling in three dimensions, like a ballerina break-dancing for dear life.  As the surface of the Mün approached faster and faster, Bill Kerman  remembered his astro-lessons, not so very long ago...

Browzings: The Republia Times

If you enjoyed the growing sense of unease and tough moral choices offered by Papers, Please, try The Republia Times, a browser game set in a similarly oppressive dictatorship by the same designer, Lucas Pope.

The game sees you taking the role of an editor at the state-controlled newspaper, The Republia Times. At the start of the game, you're informed that your family has been taken to live "under the protection of the government", which, at the start of the game, does not have the support of the people. It's your job to ensure that the newspaper captures the loyalty of the nation.

Oh My Godus: Beta Edition

As a big fan of Peter Molyneux's previous work (the Fable and Black and White series in particular), I was excited to see that Godus (the recent Kickstarter project by new studio 22cans) had made an appearance on Steam. So excited, in fact, that I fell over myself in my haste to download the beta version of the game and spend a few hours getting to grips with the fledgling god-sim in order to report back to those of you who (wisely?) choose to wait for the finished product.

02 We need to talk about Rigel

After a good night's sleep, I visit the Riverwood Trader to offload the assorted goodies I have collected so far on my eventful journey from Helgen.  The proprietor, Lucan, and his sister are having an argument, so I stand awkwardly in the corner, clearing my throat to let them know they have a customer.  It backfires, as Lucan asks if I would be able to lend a hand in retrieving his stolen Golden Claw.  I promise I will, but I’ve got tastier fish to fry at present.  And I’m not talking about the unrefrigerated salmon meat that I picked up from some fisherman’s rack and crammed into my pockets.

01 A Magical Beginning

Home Sweet Home

The game begins on what is basically Tamriel’s worst road trip, with a nervy horsethief, Rolaf aka Captain Exposition, and Ulfric Stormcloak – the leader of a nationalist rebel cause bent on kicking the meddling Empire out of Skyrim - bound and gagged.  We reach the Imperial outpost of Helgen, where the executioner’s block lies waiting for these criminal scum.  And myself, who was obviously just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The wagon (finally) rumbles to a stop in the courtyard and our names are called one-by-one.  Apparently I’m not on the guest-list.

Dresses, Crotch shots and “FemShep”

I previously mentioned Femshep in one of my earlier blog posts, and today I’d like to visit her a little more thoroughly.

Firstly, the moniker, “FemShep” is a portmanteau (I do like that word) of “Female” and “Shepard” – which, right before we’ve gone into any character description, brings me to my first point.  If she existed in real life, there would be no need to identify her by her gender.  She is a woman, her name is Shepard.  I wouldn’t expect people to come up to me and say “hey, FemJess, how’s it going?” Just as much as I wouldn’t go up to somebody else and say “hi ManBob, how you doing today?”.  You see my point, yes?  And yet, the gaming community at large still sees the need to identify her by her gender.

Having said all of this, the entire reason the term “FemShep” has arisen is because nearly all of BioWare’s (the game developer) advertising drives for all three of the games have featured ManShep.

'Don't Starve' Cheat Sheet

For those who don't know, Don't Starve is a basically a top-down Minecraft-esque survival game, set in a Tim Burton-inspired world.  Its charming appearance hides a surprisingly deep gameplay experience, with all sorts of items to craft, monsters to fight and a huge (randomly-generated) world to explore.  If you've heard about this game and are still on the fence, I strongly recommend you pick it up.  For those who are already on board, I decided to write a basic guide and provide some tips and suggestions for any new players.  Some of the stuff mentioned here could be considered spoilers, especially if you're the type of person who really values emergent gameplay.  However, I found myself increasingly indulging in this excellent wiki, and thought it would useful to have some of the more crucial information kept in one place.  I should emphasise that my strategies are not the only way of playing Don't Starve, and I don't doubt others have found equally useful alternatives.  I'd certainly recommend experimenting freely to find the best way of surviving, but these pointers should give you a hand.

The Final Frontier: Fake Space, Part 2: Orbital Boogaloo

[If you haven't read the first part of "The Final Frontier: Fake Space", this probably won't make much sense.]

Jebediah Kerman just couldn't stay awake.  He tried to keep his head up, but his eyelids felt like they were made of lead.  He couldn't help it; he allowed himself a yawn, hoping it would go unnoticed.

"Mr Kerman!" Jebediah's focus snapped to the angry Professor as he thwacked his cane against the desk.  "Finding my lecture about space a tad boring, are we?  You could do with paying attention more than most.  Your last three Ballistic High Jumps have been pathetic, barely touching 20 kilometres.  Shape up soon or you're off the Program!"  He paused, exasperated.  "That's enough for today.  Class dismissed."

Browzings: A Dark Room and candybox - or: Text-based games are basically work, right?

If, like me, you find yourself at work with a few minutes to spare (or hours of downtime, in some cases), you might have considered playing games in-browser. There are sometimes significant chunks of my day where I'm waiting for stuff to happen, and while some people might consider this freeing, other, less optimistic people would (rightly) surmise that it soon gets really bloody boring. After reading every news, magazine and blog article on the entire internet, I started playing Facebook Apps and games on Kongregate, but quickly realised that no-one catching me unawares could fail to notice that I wasn't compiling a report and that I was, in fact, piloting a miniature spacetank or madly blasting rainbow-coloured bubbles out of a cannon.

Some people might have stopped attempting to play games at work after this somewhat troubling revelation. "I'm getting paid to be here; maybe I should stop dicking around and make myself useful?" I imagine them asking themselves, their little hearts plagued with doubt. You know what I call these chumps? Quitters. Anything is possible with a little imagination. With a bit of digging around, I came across some neat, text-based adventure games that seemed to fit the bill: I could play them without it being obvious that I was doing so, and I could leave them running while doing other stuff if necessary. (Disclaimer: I don't advocate booting these up if you're a firefighter or heart surgeon, obvs. If, however, the alternative is staring at the clock and contemplating the futility of life, I say: go nuts! Because a watched clock never ticks.)

Lost Childhood: Baldurs Gate

When I look back at my childhood there are certain games that stand out. Certain bosses or puzzles that would infuriate and entertain. Some of these games you would tackle on your own. Other games would be even more fun when played with friends.

In this series of blogs I plan to take a look back at those games that I never got chance to play when they were released. I will play through the first hour or so then share my experience giving an honest account of what happens and my opinion on the game itself.

One game that I have fond memories of playing is Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance on the PlayStation 2. I would go round my brother in laws house at weekends and together we would slowly make our way through the campaign in co-op mode. It played like most RPG’s do now. You are in control of a single character as you slash, shoot and cast deadly spells against anything and everything that comes your way. However the original Baldurs Gate for PC was a very different game so I thought that would be a good place to start.

As soon as the game launches you are thrust into a stunning opening cinematic. One that demonstrates exactly what late 90s PCs were capable of.