2010′s special awards: Biggest disappointments, surprises, and more!

By Andrew “WorldDude” Passafiume

I’m still putting some finishing touches on my top ten favorite games of 2010, so in the meantime here’s a few special categories I decided to create for games this year I think deserve recognition for both good and bad reasons. Included at the end is a special list I devised for one of my favorite aspects of any video game: the music.

Biggest disappointment:

Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy, as we knew and loved it, is gone for good. It ended with the announcement of Final Fantasy XI and the proposition of a main game in the series being an MMO, and here we are now just passed a year that had two main series Final Fantasy titles released in a single year. Final Fantasy XII is one of my favorites in the series, but it’s not a Final Fantasy game, at least not by my standards. It changes so much about the series that if you didn’t know it was called Final Fantasy, you would never be able to tell.

The same can be said of Final Fantasy XIII, a game that is even more polarizing than XII was. This game had a lot going for it, but a lot of it was executed so poorly. The overall story seemed interesting, but the game had such bad pacing that it was hard to continue caring. The character motivations made no sense, and although some characters did have development (Hope, for example), I still found it hard to care.

The gameplay is good, but the battle system really never grabbed me in the same way XII’s did. It’s a solid RPG, but one that definitely is not deserving of the Final Fantasy name. While some may consider this game a success, I simply cannot look past the myriad of problems that bring this great looking RPG down to nothing but an average final product.

Runner-up: 3D Dot Game Heroes

Biggest surprise:

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom

This is a game that I expected absolutely nothing from, but turned out to be a really charming, albeit flawed adventure game that has some serious ICO and Legend of Zelda vibes. For those unfamiliar with this game, Majin follows a young man seeking out the help of an ancient creature know as the Majin to help destroy the evil that has plagued their world. It’s a simple plot, but these two characters are so endearing and it’s not long before you begin to truly care about them.

The gameplay is fairly standard, sure, but it’s far from bad. The combat is simple, but the puzzles are generally enjoyable and the world itself is a blast to explore. The game was launched at $40 and it’s even cheaper now, so I feel like this is a real gem that everyone deserves to check out, even those on the fence about it.

Runners-up: The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces and Nier

Worst game of 2010

Clash of the Titans

I only had the misfortune of playing this game because I was reviewing it for Snackbar Games, but I really think this is one of the worst movie licensed games ever made. I know there are a lot of bad movie licensed games, but many of them, while still terrible, are leagues better than this awful piece of shit. You really couldn’t do much worse. For those who want to know what makes this game so bad (if you couldn’t figure that out), check out my review.

The sad thing? This game was developed by the same team that did Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom. Funny that!

Runner-up: Dead Space Ignition

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So now, let’s talk about music. I could do more categories, but I decided to just include one more for something special. I love music, and video game music is getting better and better with each passing year. Here are my five favorite original soundtracks of 2010!

Honorable mention: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

5) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

Anamanaguchi is a group I was completely unfamiliar with until this soundtrack, but they really made something special here. Scott Pilgrim, as a series, is all about the music. And with the game being such a huge retro throwback, you needed some retro sounding music. This definitely avoids being your typical chiptunes style music you hear in a lot of retro-style games and sounds like an actual rock album. It’s really amazing what people can pull off these days, and I definitely can’t wait to hear more from these guys.

4) Alan Wake

Sure, this should be disqualified due to including some licensed tracks, but I can’t help but love the original stuff. I feel like Petri Alanko’s work for the original songs are not only as haunting as the game itself, they tell a story all their own. You could listen to the soundtrack without any knowledge of the game and get a sense of what to expect from the game’s best moments. When a soundtrack alone can tell a story like this so well, it’s hard to ignore it.

3) Nier

Nier is a game that completely surprised me (as mentioned above). While I still haven’t played through the entire game yet, what I have played shows me a very well made game telling one hell of a story. The best part? The soundtrack is appropriately epic and a masterpiece that really puts it above most JRPG scores. You know how good a soundtrack is when you’ve listened to it several times and still have yet to even finish the game its from.

2) Red Dead Redemption

I’m going to go in-depth with this one very soon, but this is one hell of a soundtrack. It provides the best kind of music you would expect from a Western, including plenty of very Morricone-esque songs that really capture the feeling of the genre. Usually when I think of a Rockstar soundtrack, I think of the perfect mix of licensed tracks, but this one definitely stands out on its own.

1) Kirby’s Epic Yarn

I never saw this one coming, but Kirby’s Epic Yarn surpasses any and all expectations I had for it, especially in the music department. Kirby has some pretty classic music, but nothing is as good as this. Some may say that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the best Nintendo soundtrack of the year, but I still stand by Kirby. Lots of piano-focused songs that really set the mood for every level you’re in and add so much to this game. Simply put, without the music, Kirby’s Epic Yarn would just be yet another Nintendo platformer.