Despite the fact that video games, online communities, sound design, theater, and the classical arts are what I spent four years studying at Parsons School of Design, rarely do I touch the subject on Megalongcat.  But having a best friend who is a “game critic” I’ve decided to make an end of the year gaming post encompassing everything about video gaming in my life this year.  I’ve grown up on video games.  From the NES to my Playstation 3, I’ve never spend any part of my life without a gaming system.  In 2008, despite the so called great games that came out, I barely felt the inclination to play any games at all unless I was completely bored.  This year however, I couldn’t resist the gaming fire in my soul that burned for a challenge, amazing plot, great dialogue, and all around good fun.  So in chronological order I present to you the list of video games I actually took the time to play in 2009.

Final Fantasy IX

-The game didn’t come out this year, a lot on my list didn’t.  But of all of the Final Fantasy games, starting from Final Fantasy 1, it’s the only one I find with replay value worth my time.  Great dialogue, character’s aren’t based on snippets of emotions pieced together in 8, 10, 12, and 13 (my issues with them will come at a later time).  All in all, it was a solid RPG worth the replay and I loved every minute of it.

Wipeout HD

-Ever played Jet Motto? If not you shouldn’t have ever deserved to own the original playstation.  Wipeout HD was a graphic rush that required just the right amount of reflexive skill that high paced racing video games should have.  It was a sweet blend of Kinetica, Bumper cars, and Grand Turismo all rolled up nicely into a 250mph blur.  The game also offered a great feature of taking HD screenshots at any point during a match. A feature I wish was offered in every game now.  It’s a simple game, but fun at it’s core and twenty bucks it was a steal.

Crimson Gem Saga

-Best dialogue I’ve seen in a JRPG in ages.  It’s funny, full of witty humour and amazing characters.  I wish more of my friends had listened to me when I talked about how great the game was.

Resident Evil 5

As an African American, I was told the game was racist.  As an African American, I’m also privy to the knowledge that most of the world is racist so why would I expect anything better from a video game.  Completely ignoring the racism comments from my friends about the game, I played it and loved it.  Co-Op games are hard to do.  So hard that every seems to be retarded when making them on PS3 and Xbox360.  RE5 was the first co-op of the year where me and my best friend could truly enjoy an experience where we had to help each other.  I pick some games solely for Co-op play, and this was one of them and well worth the money.

Uncharted 2

The hype about the game being the best thing since sliced bread this year was a complete lie, but that didn’t stop me from enjoy the gameplay.  Yes, the gameplay. The dialogue was alright, the graphics were great if you never took a lighting animation class and want to nitpick at the exposure levels on each character’s eyes.  But once you get past all the little mistakes, the game is completely solid as well as it’s multiplayer platform. The story makes sense, the gameplay matches the story as it unfolds, and it’s fun.

Tekken 6

Fighting games anyone?  Tekken 6, easily the worst Tekken since 4, is still a fun game no matter how you cut it.  The new characters actually have different move sets instead of simply being based off older character models and the fact that they incoporated air combos into the command list is a big step up from old Tekken games where you had to figure it out on your own

Borderlands

Best gaming intro if the year, as well as the best co-op experience (moreso than Resident evil 5).  The characters are hilarious, dialogue is great. Bad guy’s actually run when you shoot them because they don’t want to die.  The game is completely wonky in both gameplay and story which meshes well and doesn’t ever make you feel like there’s an awkward disconnect between playing the game and understanding the story.  It was, and still is a fun game with plenty of content.

Demon’s Souls

“It’s just God of War with different tactics” Is easily the worst way to describe the best gaming experience of the year.  Demon’s Souls is the only PS3 game this year that took gamers out of their Devil May Cry comfort zone and dragged them to the chopping block.   Its difficulty level forces a gamer to explore every possibility and playstyle imaginable to survive.  The game is not for the light of heart or mediocre gamers and that’s why I couldn’t resist playing it.