2015 had games with incredible stories and narratives thanks to the well written, well animated, and when necessary, well voice acted characters. This list celebrates 5 of Best Casts of Characters gaming had to offer this year, voted by over 200 survey participants. So no complaints about the results allowed!
This list will also show the result of the single most memorable character from all of the games in the survey.
So without further ado, let's dive in and find out what casts of characters we will be remembering from this year!
The World is a big place. A big place, with lots to do and see. Video games are a big industry. A big industry with lots to play and… watch on YouTube/Twitch?
Combine these two facts and it becomes clear that you can’t play everything, or read about every game. Especially in a year like 2015. A year in which we saw amazing releases like The Witcher 3 and Undertale. And then Steam opened the flood gates and made everything even worse. Read more
2015 was a fantastic year for games, and quite a few excellent titles made it onto this list. These are the 5 games that stood out to me the most in order from Great to my pick for Game of the Year. There are however quite a few titles that I’m sure as just as great that came out this year and if you want to hear about the top 5 games I wish I played as well as some other Twinstiq contributor’s most memorable games of the year, check out our holiday special podcast here! Without further ado, let’s take a look at my Top 5 Games of 2015.
After the release of the first entry in 2008, which we covered last time, TaleWorlds continued listening to feedback from the community and in 2010 it was time for Mount & Blade: Warband, a sort of semi-sequel.
At a quick look, it didn’t offer many new features: Slightly fancier graphics, a new faction, some UI improvements. Peek deeper though, and you’ll find a first step towards a tutorial. A scripted mission, guiding you into this new world you are about to explore (without pulling any punches along the way, at least for people new to the series). A bit deeper even, and you’ll find a still lacking, but at least now existing political system, allowing you to build relationships with one of the many lords, kings and queens. And then finally the option to start your very own faction.
All of these changes and additions in Warband were certainly needed and the singleplayer experience was a much better one for it, but wait a second… why did I just deliberately name drop singleplayer, you might wonder.
Before we get started with this epic tale, let's set the mood a little, shall we? About 3 years ago during one of the big Black Friday sales, I was at a local Wal-mart with all the other crazy people in the world. It was around 5 A.M. and I was searching through their generous section of games and movies that was kept conveniently cordoned off until a specific time happened. As I was let in with a group of 15 people, I had five minutes to look through and find other deals that weren't listed within the ad.
My eyes searched through the racks that were rapidly losing stock, because people were out for deals. They saw a cheap price and were grabbing like crazy. It was then that I saw... it.
A DS game sitting on top of the racks that someone had picked up and sat back down. A big $5 sticker just on top of the name. I thought hell, for five bucks if I get an hour out of it, I've gotten my moneys worth, and I hadn't even looked at the name yet. My time ended and I left the area with a handful of TV shows, as well as a couple titles for my 360. After paying and walking out, I traveled home because this was the last stop on my journey through crazy.
Several hours later, after getting a bit of rest, I shuffled to my spoils of war and pulled out this DS game that had tickled my fancy. Tearing off the plastic wrap the title unfolded.
Courtesy of AwesomeCurry
Okay, so I bought Glory of Heracles. Now what the hell was it? An rpg? How about a fighting game? Excitedly I popped the game and this greated me:
A JRPG, this was the game I had picked up. I had been searching for something to entertain me, but was this going to knock my socks off, or was I just going to play the first 20 minutes of it and give up like I had with a few previous titles?
Video and Picture courtesy of IGN
When you gain control of the first character you go through the ever dreaded and mostly skipped training. The controls were easy enough. You set a front or back position and tap to attack. Of course as any good RPG continues through its story, you gain control of more and more characters. The front line position became more dedicated to melee and tank like characters, while the back holds your ranged.
Each character comes with their own little side story, though the main character, who you initially name, can not remember who he is or where he came from.
Various Artists
As the game continues, it draws you in, but not just by the story. Each character brings a new aspect to the battle as well. Soon you have to collect elements to be able to cast magic, and learn to rotate the battlefield to balance out what type of attackers you encounter. This game keeps you on your toes. Once in a while you have to solve puzzles to continue to newer zones.
Eventually you find out that you have been sent to foil an evil plot that will end the world. The titles like 'Glory of Heracles' would suggest, the game does include a bit of Greek Mythology, which is always a plus for me. (Bit of a History buff) I don't want to give away too much of the story line because if this article has given you any interest it's always better to discover it on your own.
I spent the better part of a week trying to push through to the end, because I had been craving a game such as this. My five dollar find actually turned out to be more than what I had hoped for. It took a total of about 28 hours on and off to complete the game from start to finish.
Overall it was entertaining. Not necessarily a must have, but enough to scratch an itch. For a first generation DS title, it most assuredly was a graphically stunning game.
Today Glory of Heracles still has a price tag of about $20 USD at most retailers, though you can grab a used copy off Amazon for about $4 USD. If you do ever see this game in a resale shop for under $10 I would grab it. Definitely will get your moneys worth.
When it comes to people who played any of the previous Mount & Blade versions, you can probably put most of them into one of two categories: Those that gave up on it after a couple of hours, maybe even multiple times, and those that completely lost themselves in it.
I was in the former one for many years, ever since discovering the beta for the very first entry.
The games, while somewhat deep and certainly complex in their nature, left too many gaps to fill in my mind. This is not a bad thing necessarily, but a couple of design decisions, like having traversable 3D cities & fiefdoms void of life and meaningful interaction, actively hampered my imagination to take lead. How can I role play, when all I see is a world that is as dynamic as glued together Lego bricks, filled with people whose only purpose in life is to stand in a corner or walk aimlessly around town?
Mount & Blade was a project full of passion. Passion that lead to ambition. Ambitions too large for ressourceless indie developers releasing their first game, especially in the year 2008. It was a project destined to fail ...but it never did.
The reasons for this are manifold. Armağan Yavuz and his wife Ipek took things slow, but they were persistent in their pursuit. The first prototypes were available to the public as early as 2004, when the game was still called WarRider and featured undead and necromancers. The re-brand to Mount & Blade then removed the magic elements and went for a more realistic approach in its setting, which still was based in a fictional world however. This, in turn, helped them bring out one of their outstanding features: the combat.
Developing a somewhat realistic sword and arrow based combat system that is fun when you are in a one on one situation is hard, but making it also work when there are 50 enemies and as many allies, had to be the designers biggest achievement. Sure, there were still AI problems, mostly when it came to siege warfare, but no other developer ever even came close to what TaleWorlds accomplished.
So the thing that drew in the customer was there, but without a marketing budget and still so early in development, much of its early success can be attributed to the aforementioned public availability as shareware. Sharing sites, CD's included in gaming magazines, LAN parties. As a hardcore PC gamer, you were bound to stumble upon the game at some point during its development. And for the hardcore it was.
Remember when I talked about glued together Lego Bricks? That wasn’t the only hurdle you had to jump on your way to enjoying Mount & Blade. While the basic combat principles were adequately explained, the game had much more to offer which wasn’t.
What’s up with all these stats? Where am I? Where should I go? How do I command my army? How do I get my own piece of land?
Internet message boards were “work” and with YouTube still very much in its infancy (remember: YouTube only started 2005 and it would take another two years until the phrase Let’s Play was even coined), there was no easy way to learn the ropes. Failing was something you would have to get used to. Failing was also something that had its consequences. There was no permadeath (unless you decided to mod it in), but getting knocked out in a fight and becoming a prisoner, especially in the early to early mid-game, could easily mean that you’ve just lost a huge chunk of progress. Armies aren’t cheap, so you are now probably stranded somewhere in enemy territory, without a soul by your side or a sack of gold to pay for company or goods to trade. You maybe even lost your horse, so prepare for a long and arduous journey back.
This weekend, I (along with countless others) will be watching the finals of the most prestigious tournament in tennis, Wimbledon. Truth be told, I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the sport over the years. Like so many things in life, I found tennis to be easy to learn and difficult to master (I'm still working on that last part). Frustrating as it can be, it is still a great sport that is fun to watch and play.Unfortunately, you need a partner to play tennis and those are not always readily available. That is why simulated tennis is sometimes just the better way to go. Fortunately, tennis games are not that difficult to find.
I've been playing tennis games on one system or another since I was 10 years old. In that time, they really haven't changed all that much except for the graphics. I enjoyed them when I was a kid and I still enjoy them today. Here are six of my favorites.
Like many others, I will be enjoying the close of the Masters Tournament this afternoon. I've long been a fan of both watching and playing the sport of golf, even though I'm not all that great at it myself. I've always found it to be a relaxing means of enjoying the outdoors while simultaneously scratching that innate competitive itch. It's also a great social activity that allows you to drink, take in some scenic splendor, and catch up with your friends, your brother, your dad, etc.
The only problems are that it's expensive, and that you need to have the right weather for it. That's why, sometimes, it's just a better option to simulate the experience. Although having drinks and buddies on hand is still encouraged.
I have a long history with golf games, going all the way back to the mid '80s when I frequently played NES Golf at my friend's house. The graphics, mechanics, and attention to detail have all improved by leaps and bounds since then. Though some features have surprisingly changed very little. I guess that's to be expected considering how little the game itself changes. I've played a lot of different virtual versions of the sport over the years. The following are my six favorites.
