Shin Megami Tensei IV

[Stark]

Pushed myself over into Chaos with the latest decision point. I don't think there was a neutral option.

You have to decide whether you go on a mission to Kill Yuriko (go with Jonathan) or Talk to Lilith (go with Walter). I chose to go with Walter.

Game is excellent for sure, I've found my desire to do sidequests lacking lately though, I think I'm gonna focus on the main story for right now.

[ZenErik]

Pushed myself over into Chaos with the latest decision point. I don't think there was a neutral option.

You have to decide whether you go on a mission to Kill Yuriko (go with Jonathan) or Talk to Lilith (go with Walter). I chose to go with Walter.

Game is excellent for sure, I've found my desire to do sidequests lacking lately though, I think I'm gonna focus on the main story for right now.

You can still probably get back to neutral or even law if you desire. But it's your call. Jonathan is pretty unlikable so I can see why not many folks would go law.

[Stark]

Jonathan is pretty unlikable so I can see why not many folks would go law.

So true, so true.

[dsheinem]

obviously a lot can happen in the next four months, but SMT IV is certainly a strong contender for my GOTY 2013.

Before dsh asks "what else have you played this year?" Let me just say that The Last of Us isn't even on my list of "stuff I'm kind of interested to play before the year's over."

Am I right in thinking the only other 2013 game you've played is Aliens: Colonial Marines?

[noiseredux]

obviously a lot can happen in the next four months, but SMT IV is certainly a strong contender for my GOTY 2013.

Before dsh asks "what else have you played this year?" Let me just say that The Last of Us isn't even on my list of "stuff I'm kind of interested to play before the year's over."

Am I right in thinking the only other 2013 game you've played is Aliens: Colonial Marines?

Aliens Colonial Marines
Anarchy Reigns
DoDonPachi SDOJ
Dragon's Crown
Minecraft 360*
Ni No Kuni
Project X Zone
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Sturmwind
Vampire Resurrection


(*obviously Minecraft existed before 2013, but I didn't play it until it got a physical release this year)

[dsheinem]

I meant "finished" by "played," but fair enough. You've played almost none of the normal contenders, though...

Why no interest in The Last of Us? It's a great zombie game, you like zombies.

[Menegrothx]

Fire Emblem Awakening is one I'd def like to pick up, but I won't bother until I'm done w/ SMT IV as I know I won't touch it until.

It's nothing special tbh. Shadowrun Returns has a much better story and interesting characters and the character customization is light years ahead of FE:A. Fire Emblem has more content and is better in logistical tactics at the moment, but I think the custom campaigns might to some extent fix that issue with SR (hundreds of hours of free content and harder campaigns, but it still wont add a bond/social link system to the game). Assuming Disgaea 5 and/or Wasteland 2 will be released this year, those will most likely end up being the best tactics RPGs of 2013 from gameplay POV.

Doesn't mean it's not worth picking up though, just not a GOTY contender.

[noiseredux]

I wouldn't say that I "like" zombies as much as I "can like" zombies. (I tried Dead Island over the weekend, which certainly had a lot of praise and thought it was terrible). I don't know, something like Walking Dead was really interesting to me because it was more like a P&C adventure game. I'm just not a huge huge fan of 3rd person action games, so it has to be something that grabs me. Nothing about TLOU grabs me.

And as far as 3rd person action titles go, I'm looking forward to Beyond: Two Souls.

Besides TLOU, I genuinely don't even know what you'd consider "normal contenders," but I can say that looking at years past, my favorite games never really tend to be "normal contenders," they tend to be the more niche titles that I gravitate towards.

My favorite game of 2012 was Journey (and although it got critical acclaim, I don't know if you'd call that a normal contender?).

My favorite game of 2011 was Catherine (same as above).

[MrPopo]

Fire Emblem Awakening is one I'd def like to pick up, but I won't bother until I'm done w/ SMT IV as I know I won't touch it until.

It's nothing special tbh. Shadowrun Returns has a much better story and interesting characters and the character customization is light years ahead of FE:A. Fire Emblem has more content and is better in logistical tactics at the moment, but I think the custom campaigns might to some extent fix that issue with SR (hundreds of hours of free content and harder campaigns, but it still wont add a bond/social link system to the game). Assuming Disgaea 5 and/or Wasteland 2 will be released this year, those will most likely end up being the best tactics RPGs of 2013 from gameplay POV.

Doesn't mean it's not worth picking up though, just not a GOTY contender.

I wouldn't expect a strategy RPG to have nearly as many character customization options as a straight RPG.

[dsheinem]

I'm just not a huge huge fan of 3rd person action games, so it has to be something that grabs me. Nothing about TLOU grabs me.

I thought RE4 was one of your all time favorite games, which is a mix of 3rd person action and zombies. TLOU would fit that basic description, but it also does so much more with the genre...

And as far as 3rd person action titles go, I'm looking forward to Beyond: Two Souls.

Let me know if it actually has "action" or just "actions".

Besides TLOU, I genuinely don't even know what you'd consider "normal contenders,"

Bioshock Infinite gets talked about as a GOTY. Late year releases generally tend to be the biggest contenders.

but I can say that looking at years past, my favorite games never really tend to be "normal contenders," they tend to be the more niche titles that I gravitate towards.

My favorite game of 2012 was Journey (and although it got critical acclaim, I don't know if you'd call that a normal contender?).

My favorite game of 2011 was Catherine (same as above).

Yeah, yeah, you're so non-mainstream