And so we come to the close of 2011. It’s been an exciting year filled with things like, well, this blog starting up, for one. I’ve also played quite a lot of games, of course. Here’s a look back at some of the things that have struck my fancy this year:
Laiyang JANUARY:
where can i buy Lyrica tablets Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was what I was playing at the beginning of the year. I’d never actually played a Phoenix Wright game before and I borrowed this one from my sisters, who are big fans. I regret to say that I didn’t finish the game because I got sidetracked by other things, but the first three-quarters or so were an enjoyable, if somewhat benign, romp. The whole gameplay premise was new and interesting and the fun characters kept you interested during parts that may have otherwise lagged. I did have to give the game back to my sisters after a while but I hope to finish it some day!
FEBRUARY:
February is when I started playing Civilization IV, which I had somehow never played before. Shameful, I know. Regardless, life would never be the same.
MARCH:
March was the month that Mister Adequate and I started this blog! I was also still playing a lot of Civ IV. I think this was also the month where Mister Adequate and I, both old World of Warcraft vets who had since quit, resubbed for a month to give it another whirl. There were a couple weeks of fun as we ran around as Tauren paladins, but those couple of weeks only lasted, well, a couple of weeks and then it was back to Civ.
APRIL:
I played a lot of games on-and-off throughout April, including Hearts of Iron 2 and X-Com: UFO Defense. There was, I think, still a lot of Civ going on.
MAY:
May was when I finally got around to playing SimCity 4. Considering that I grew up with SimCity, it’s pretty terrible that I didn’t actually get around to the fourth installment until now, but there you go.
JUNE:
Ah, June. The month that I finally sat down for a proper playthrough of Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and was immediately smitten. I don’t know if a game had ever captivated me quite the same way that SMAC did that month, and I feel safe telling you six months later that there will always be a special place for this game in my heart.
JULY:
This was the month that I finally let myself be consumed first by Minecraft and then by Terraria. I’d resisted for so long and finally could resist no longer, and I spent most of this month derping around with a mining pick. I haven’t played either game in a long while, but I won’t lie: they were nice to spend long, lazy summer nights with.
AUGUST:
In August I headed back to Civ IV, because I just can’t quit it. Many, many multiplayer shenanigans happened involving Mister Adequate and I, partially because we both love Civ and partially because we can’t seem to get any other games to work with multiplayer.
SEPTEMBER:
September was a busy month that involved me moving back to my home state and getting a new job. Still, there was enough time for a lot of old favorites, as well as enough time for Mister Adequate and I to discover that Sid Meier’s SimGolf is a thing.
OCTOBER:
In October I played all of Final Fantasy. The one with no numbers after it. It was definitely neat to look back at an older JRPG like that and see just how much the genre has changed (or stayed the same.) Mister Adequate and I also gave WoW another spin, which lasted all of about two weeks. Ah well!
NOVEMBER:
This was the month that I jumped right into Final Fantasy 2 and also fell in with a lot of other great games, such as Space Empires IV and The Binding of Isaac. Somehow, though, between all of this, I still managed to win NaNoWriMo. Oh, I published a book, too. Guess that’s worth a mention!
DECEMBER:
December has been a month of two things: Paradox games (Darkest Hour and Europa Universalis 3, specifically), and Skyrim. The Paradox games come as no shock to anyone, I’m sure, especially because I’ve played them before, but Skyrim really took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as engrossing as it is. Great way to round out the year, though!
How has your year been in games?
Hmmmm, WoW, WoW, and more WoW. Mostly.
Although, my hubs and I took a 6 week break from WoW over the spring so he could teach me how to use an Xbox360 controller. I got through Fable 2 all by myself (a great accomplishment for someone who poo-poo’ed console games for so many years). My character was a much loved, pie eating, real estate swindling, bloated Elvis character, but I <3 him.
We played together (read: one of us holding the controller while the other points frantically at the TV…"JUMP HERE! Dude, you're dead. Should have totally jumped up here."):
Alice: The Madness Returns
Dungeon Siege 3 co-op
Tomb Raider co-op
part of Kameo
I dipped my toes into Age of Conan and although I loved the graphics, especially the riding mount animations (they move like real horses, not some lopsided, waddling equine per WoW's concept) I just couldn't get into the story. Maybe I need to read the books and then I'd get better immersive effect.
We also both got hooked on Crayon Physics from the Humble Bundle (can you say flat out awesome concept?). So simple. So awesome.
I went back to Azeroth and he played a huge number of games in the next 5 months… Mass Effect 1 & 2, Assassin's Creed, Dark Siders, Mirror's Edge, Portal, Crysis, Majesty 2, Osmosis, and innumerable other Indie games from STEAM and Xbox:Live. There was a cool one he played about having the right blocks, but the name escapes me (hubs just yelled across the house that it's called Blocks that Matter).
He got super lucky and got both the beta keys for TRIBES: Ascend and Diabo 3 (this last one makes me super jealous). He's played through the demon hunter and monk beginnings and says it's spectacular. :)
I think that covers it……although I'm sure if I talk to him he'll give me a list of like 35 I've missed, LOL.
I’m glad you’re still enjoying WoW! :)
It’s not the game, it’s the people. My best buds are on there nightly, so it’s hard to just cold turkey! :)
A year that wasn’t…
When are you going to take Dwarf Fortress for a spin? (or have I missed something?)
Dorf Fort is definitely on my to-do list in the near future. The boyfriend has been poking me about it, as well!
This was the year I finally broke free of WoW, so that’s worth something! I discovered the wonders of hat simulation in TF2, stomped the bosses of Terraria, built crappy castles in Minecraft and had an absolutely awesome time blowing through Borderlands. Luckily none of these sucked up my time to WoW’s degree, or I would have had a completely disastrous fall semester. I played through Darwinia, Halo 1, and Halo 2 for the n-th time and tried my hand (and failed) at SC2 and Civ 4 for the n-th time.
Right now? Having my ass handed to me by Super Meat Boy.
Ah yes, dat Hat Sim.
I have Super Meat Boy but I haven’t properly dug into it yet. It’s definitely on my to-do list (alongside Dorf Fort and a million other games.)
This year, I stopped playing WoW. Played Deus Ex: Human Revolution (which I highly recommend) played Skyrim (of course). Played Super Mario kart Wii with my daughter. Team Fortress 2 despite not being that great at it. Also played Portal 2 which is a very close second to Skyrim for best PC game of the year to me. Also played some Fable 3 on PC. I sometimes play Super Street Fighter 4 on PC and wish I was better at it. Played Civ 5 and I like it.
Pike, could you be my Steam friend?
You certainly can be!
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pikestaff
My little Skyrim
I used to wonder what an RPG could be…
My little Skyrim
Until I took an arrow to the knee.
Er, sorry.
Happy new year to both Pike and Mr Adequate! And to everyone else, of course. Everyone else who hasn’t stopped reading due to the terrible joke, natch.