The 5 Best Video Games of 2012 – Slant Magazine

Let’s set the scene, shall we? Eleven forty-five p.m., November 17, 2012. High in energy, fresh out of a Holy Motors screening, I joined my comrades in jest, partnering with the inconsiderate a-holes strutting by the midnight Wii U release lines, pointing and laughing at the wide-eyed masses clamoring for their dosage of pre-ordered digital drugs. It was a symbolic, suitable conclusion to a mediocre calendar year in gaming, one that produced a scattering of very good games, but only a couple of legit masterpieces. Much like 2011, it was a year of expected sequels https://ipnuippnupati.id/ and companies feeding off of the never-ending urge of gamers to quench their thirst for supreme nostalgia. Over half of the titles on our list are continuations or reboots of well-known franchises; hell, there’s even a sequel to a sequel, and there would have been another such follow-up had fellow Slant contributors to this poll become as Poké-obsessed as myself.

1. Persona 4 Arena

That the curiously unheralded partnership of Atlus and Arc System Works managed to produce the best fighting game of the year is all the more praiseworthy given the fact that the well-publicized Street Fighter X Tekken spent the majority of 2012 maintaining such a remarkably tight grapple on the lofty accolade. Yet, in the end, Persona 4 Arena, with its unique visual style, scaled learning curve, and intuitive control scheme edges out Capcom’s still-formidable blockbuster brawler by a fair margin. By taking the already vastly celebrated property of Atlus’s Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and, through an utmost attention to detail and a thoroughly innovative spin on the popular 2D-throwdown genre, Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue) translates one of the past decade’s most important JRPGs into a perpetually rewarding fighter that not only faithfully retains the eccentric spirit of the source material, but quickly establishes a singular attitude all its own.

2. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

After the disastrous Michael Bay films and the dull, derivative Transformers: War for Cybertron, the first miracle bestowed by Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is that it leads one to actually care about the Transformers franchise, and further, to care about its typically inhuman, two-dimensional robot characters. This is an action game with stakes, in which we see the end of the world from multiple sympathetic characters fighting to stop an apocalypse. The gameplay is varied and thrilling, with clever levels designed to take advantage of the unique talents gifted to the characters. Forgetting the much-hyped, basically awful Grimlock chapter, the game is consistently exciting and concludes intelligently, linking to nearly every incarnation of the franchise. A smart and exhilarating action-adventure, Fall of Cybertron has something for everyone, not just fans.

3. New Super Mario Bros. U

The Super Mario Bros. series manages to tweak just enough of its classic platforming tropes every year to remain innovative. Now Nintendo introduces the Wii U’s tablet-like gamepad controller for an unforgettable couch co-op experience, and in the process perfects Mario’s blend of cartoony fun for new players and tricky platforming for longtime fans. New Super Mario Bros. U will transform you into a grinning kid again with its Super Mario Bros. 3-esque gameplay. Also, new power-ups for Mario, Baby Yoshis, and the ability to play as Mii characters add a fresh veneer to an old hat. The Mushroom Kingdom’s colorful worlds are meant for an HD screen. Welcome to this generation, Mario.

4. Twisted Metal

David Jaffe’s return to his pre-God of War success, the 2012 Twisted Metal reboot built on the existing franchise with a strong story component and the same hilariously over-the-top arcade-style vehicular combat that made the series successful in the PSX and PS2 era. Taking a cue from Saw and its genre ilk, Twisted Metal features some of the most ghastly and reprehensible full-motion video ever seen in a video game, married comfortably to its over-the-top gameplay in which serial killers take to ridiculously modified vehicular death traps to kill and maim each other. Even the difficulty is extreme, making some parts of the compelling and vomit-inducing narrative a chore, but ultimately a rewarding one. Twisted Metal is a thrilling celebration of immature excess with intelligence and a sardonic sense of humor. It’s bloody awesome. Aston

5. Gravity Rush

The sensation of realistic human flight, sans any sort of motorized transport vehicle or giant airborne organism, is captured brilliantly in SCE Japan’s Gravity Rush, a game that uses the power and freedom of aerial navigation as a metaphor for decrypting its heroine’s own mysterious past. Kat is surely in the running for Best New Protagonist of the Year, her subjectively shaded characterization covertly drawing the player in deeply with each passing storyline development. With its coolly interactive comic-book transition sequences, touchy yet intricate manipulation physics, and unexampled graphical approach, Gravity Rush was the first game to truly make the PlayStation Vita stand out among its peers. In all honestly, though, the only systematic rival opposing Sony’s current-gen handheld is the 3DS, and if the Vita had released one or two more titles at or above the quality level of this diamond in the rough, Nintendo would likely be shaking in their aggregate boots. Bring on the sequel, please.