Slow Reviews Games: A NinSheetMusic Column

[Olimar12345]

*reads review topic*
*reads last game reviewed*
*notices it also gets half of the awards*
*makes a joke about it*

Gets flamed.



You obviously have some unhealthy fixation on me, as this isn't the first time you've gone off on me like this. Might I suggest we move this conversation to PM's before the Mods get here?

[Dude]

Hmm....I wonder why he got banned....

Yeah, it's a mystery.

[SlowPokemon]

Game Review: Little Inferno
System: iOS (also for Android, PC, Mac, and Wii U)
ESRB: T (Crude Humor, Drug Reference)

    At the beginning of Little Inferno, the player is faced with his own brand-new Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace, a small face design at the back and a bleak wall surrounding it. A small inventory for items holds a set of terms and conditions for the fireplace. A letter from the head of the company that produced the fireplace urges the player to read the terms and conditions carefully; however, the terms and conditions cannot be read. And so the player instead puts them in the fireplace and sets them ablaze, the papers crackling pleasantly and casting a rosy glow. A strange and clever introduction to set the tone for the unconventional experience to follow.

    If you enjoyed the oddly satisfying experience of watching the papers burn, you're in luck. The "gameplay" consists entirely of ordering items from catalogues and setting them on fire to keep warm. In Little Inferno's universe, it has been snowing for ever so long and Earth is getting increasingly freezing. What else is there to do but burn anything and everything in an attempt to stay warm? And yes, everything burns--toy rabbits, cans of soda, television sets, alarm clocks, sunglasses... the list goes on and on. Each item has a unique reaction to being engulfed by flames, and here is where Little Inferno starts to strike a chord with the player. Some items, such as wooden spoons, burn exactly how they would be expected to, but other items such as marshmallows or ears of corn have interesting and funny reactions. Some of the items, though, such as the "Eager Bunny Plushie" or "Toy Leprechaun," have cutesy names yet appear absolutely grotesque. The player never feels totally comfortable with the game thanks to effects like the sound of children screaming when a toy school bus is burned. Something is off about this entire thing, and some players will find it intriguing while others will find it too strange or creepy for their tastes.

    To progress the story, the player needs to find "combos," which are made by burning two or three specific items at the same time. The only hint given is the combo's name itself, which is sometimes helpful and sometimes not so much. For instance, the first combo is simply called "Bike Pirate," and requires you to burn the bike and the pirate simultaneously. Simple, right? Another one is "Springtime," requiring you to burn flower seeds and an alarm clock. This makes up the majority of the gameplay--figuring out the "puzzles" at your leisure to unlock the next catalogue and order more items to burn.

    Despite the seemingly sandbox nature of Little Inferno, there is actually a definite plot which progresses as the catalogues are unlocked. The main character never directly contacts any other characters, but receives letters from a few characters that explain their situations. At first, letters from a young girl named Sugar Plumps might seem trivial or annoying, but as more is revealed about her and she forms a relationship with the main character, it's hard not to grow fond of her. Reports from the Weather Man, who floats above the city in a hot air balloon, are a fairly frequent occurrence. The aforementioned head of Tomorrow Corporation, a woman known only as Miss Nancy, writes occasionally to gush and simper over how taken the player is with her product. By the time the story starts throwing curveballs, you'll be so engrossed that you won't be able to put the game down. It all leads to an ending sequence that will leave even the most cynical players in awe.

    It will only take you about three or four hours to finish the story, and I can't guarantee that you'll feel motivated to find all the combos or even play the story again. I can, however, guarantee that you will be left with a strange feeling when the credits have rolled. I played through the game twice, and it was only the second time that I was able to recognize the feeling as pensiveness. Little Inferno is that rare game that can make you think without being preachy--all while being entertaining and addictive.

    "Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace was designed to not matter," Sugar Plumps theorizes a while into the game. And many would be inclined to agree with that assertion when looking at the surface. However, Little Inferno was made for the players who are willing to look at things carefully, to delve into them rather than accept them at face value. This game has a point to make. Whether you heed it is entirely up to you, but there's no denying the power this little game has. No one who enjoys unconventional video games should pass this hidden gem up, and it's helpfully spread across several platforms--if you can read this review, you can play this game. Go ahead and pay the $10 (or $5 on mobile platforms); you won't get an experience like this anywhere else.
Graphics: 10/10
The game's cartoonish art style is highly reminiscent of Tim Burton's early films, creepy and charming. Fire and burning objects are animated with the utmost skill, creating a distinctive and entrancing aesthetic.

Sound: 9.0/10
Various objects make amusing, disturbing, or otherwise entertaining noises when burned. The soundtrack, available free on the developers' website, covers a lot of ground, using silly themes in places while keeping a dramatic, awe-inspiring main theme for use in various places. The only complaint is that, as expected of a production this size, the soundtrack is quite limited.

Gameplay: 7.0/10
An interactive fireplace may not sound like much fun, but it's surprisingly addictive and the bizarre reactions some items have to being burned prevent the game from becoming too mundane.

Plot: 8.0/10
Don't expect it to be too complex, but the story is entertaining and intriguing. The game establishes its characters very well but leaves its most exciting developments for the end, making the pacing a bit slow throughout.

Overall: 8.0/10

You'll like: The unconventional charm that Little Inferno exudes.
You'll dislike: The occasionally tedious gameplay.
You'll love: Sugar Plumps. What a cutie!

[SlowPokemon]

Game Review: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
System: PlayStation Vita
ESRB: M (Blood, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes)

Have you ever wondered what might happen if fifteen high school students were trapped in a school with their lives dictated by a psychotic teddy bear? Maybe you've pondered what it's like to choose between killing a fellow student or having all of them learn your darkest, most embarrassing secret? Or perhaps you've wanted to become best friends with a famous pop idol or baseball player? (Hey, not everything has to be dark.) Welcome to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the deformed love child of Ace Attorney and Virtue's Last Reward. You're in for one hell of a time.

Danganronpa begins quite charmingly, with a catchy title theme and an introduction by the completely adorkable protagonist, Makoto Naegi. He has been selected to attend the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy, you see, which is reserved for high school students who are elite, or "ultimate," in their fields. And it doesn't really matter what your field is, as long as you're the best in it--the well-designed characters range from "ultimate fashionista" and "ultimate swimming pro" to the more cryptic "ultimate gambler" and "ultimate fanfic creator." Makoto himself is attending as the "ultimate lucky student," having been chosen by a lottery among thousands of other students.

Makoto's luck runs out fairly quickly, though, as he walks inside Hope's Peak Academy and immediately faints. He wakes up in an abandoned classroom with iron plates over the windows and, after leaving the classroom, discovers that his fourteen classmates have suffered the same fate. Right around the time they decide it's some bizarre orientation procedure, a voice comes over the loudspeaker and calls them to the gym--and here's where things really get weird. In the gym, the students find a small teddy bear, designed so that half of it is white and cutesy and the other half is black and decidedly, um, evil-looking. Any feeling of surprise turns to shock when the bear begins talking and identifies himself as their headmaster Monokuma, and any feeling of nervousness turns to dread when he announces that they're trapped in Hope's Peak Academy for life. There is a way to get out, though, as he casually mentions: murder. If a student can commit a murder without being found out by the rest of the class, that one student can graduate and leave the school. And Monokuma heavily encourages this process. "You can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!" he cheerfully suggests. Have I mentioned Monokuma's voice sounds like a children's cartoon mascot? Yeah.

There are six chapters in Danganronpa, each split into two phases. In the first phase, "daily life," Makoto can hang out with any student of the player's choosing for a few days, highly reminiscent of the social links in Atlus's Persona series. However, things don't really heat up until a body is found, at which point the game enters "deadly life." This is where things switch over to Ace Attorney mode, with the player (as Makoto) investigating the crime scene and other key areas for evidence (here called "truth bullets"). After all necessary truth bullets have been obtained, the class trial begins, with all of the students standing around in a circle and presenting arguments as to who the killer was and Monokuma presiding over them as judge. Finding contradictions in another student's argument plays out exactly like one of Phoenix Wright's cross-examinations, with a more fast-paced twist: the evidence are called truth bullets because you literally have to fire them into the contradictory section of an argument. It's pretty clear these sections are heavily inspired by Ace Attorney, and the game almost pays homage to that other series every time Makoto points out a contradiction and triumphantly shouts "No, that's wrong!" in true "objection" style.

None of the murders are incredibly difficult to solve, but these cases are as involved and as emotionally moving as Phoenix Wright's best. The game constantly subverted my expectations and didn't pull any punches when it came to killing off characters, and then revealing more details about those characters to completely change the light in which I viewed them. As the bodies begin piling up and more details on the students' situation are revealed, it's hard not to get completely engrossed in the mystery and intrigue, and here is where Danganronpa finds its similarity to that other Spike Chunsoft title, Virtue's Last Reward: its knack for weaving a compelling, and often wrenching, narrative. The scenario and writing here is incredibly high in quality, thanks in no small part to a wonderful localization. No matter how slow-paced the plot becomes, you won't even notice when the game is constantly bombarding you with entertaining dialogue and plot details. And the story only gets better as the game progresses--the ending in particular is fantastic and includes a great sequel hook--which is nice, because Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is set to make its international debut next month.

All of this is severely Japanese, of course. The characters have a distinctly anime style to their design--although the art style is a little more jagged and dark than typical anime--and the plot grows more insane and convoluted by the minute, in true Japanese visual novel style. But the presentation of this material is so polished and unique that it feels very fresh. There are odd little visual touches such as blood being colored hot pink, or objects and characters being portrayed as 2D cutouts in a 3D environment, that make Danganronpa a quirky little beast all its own. It's visually arresting, but in a "wow, I've never seen anything like this before" sort of way.

And the audio is fabulous. The North American version of the game includes the option to listen to either the English or Japanese dialogue, and I must say that both versions are very well done. The Japanese cast is rather star-studded, so that's to be expected, but even the English cast does a great job with the characters its provided, with very few exceptions. I noticed that both casts give the same overall impression of each character, so it really doesn't matter which one you choose. Meanwhile, the music is all electronic, with very few acoustic instruments, and gives the game that futuristic, trippy sort of feel it needs--especially during the trials, which are scored with throbbing trance music. The main theme, "Trigger Happy Havoc," is rowdy and catchy, and gives the game an upbeat little spark that it really needs to avoid becoming too depressing or creepy. Two other themes worth mentioning are "Beautiful Death," a moody and atmospheric piece characterized by mysterious suspended 2nd chords that is heard frequently throughout the adventure, and "Mr. Monokuma's Lesson," a quirky theme for the bear that includes squeaky brass and hilariously odd synthetic male vocals. These three pieces really give an idea of what the game is about.

"Trigger Happy Havoc"

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"Beautiful Death"

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"Mr. Monokuma's Lesson"

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Danganronpa is a big contender for my favorite game of the year, even six months after playing it, and it's perfect for fans of visual novels such as Virtue's Last Reward and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Heck, even if you bought a Vita to play Persona 4 Golden, you might as well pick this one up as well. The only way I see someone having a major problem with this game is if they aren't into games with a heavy emphasis on story and text. With an entire post-game mode and lots of extra content to unlock, it'll keep you busy for a while even after the roughly 25-hour adventure. And it's pretty much a guarantee that you'll want to go back for seconds of the story. Just take a chance on this one and enjoy it while it lasts--and then join me in counting down the minutes until the sequel is released.
Graphics: 8.5/10
The hand-drawn character portraits look beautiful on the Vita's HD screen, and the odd self-proclaimed "2.5-D" effect is disarming and unique.

Sound: 9.0/10
The voice casts are great, while the music is atmospheric and effective, even if not all of it holds merit outside the game.

Gameplay: 10/10
The game controls great, and though it plays like a text adventure, there's enough interactivity to avoid becoming detached from the story.

Plot: 9.0/10
Completely immersive, mysterious, and exciting, the story can also be relentlessly disturbing at times--which doesn't make it any less compelling.

Overall: 9.0/10

You'll like: The eccentric, surprising, and often murderous cast of characters.
You'll dislike: The game's tendency to be a little too easy and occasionally a little too predictable.
You'll love: Monokuma, who is easily the most unique and frightening antagonist I've encountered in a long time.

[SlowPokemon]

Game Review: The Starship Damrey
System: Nintendo 3DS
ESRB: T (Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes)

"This game contains no tutorials or explanations. Part of the experience is to discover things yourself."

This disclaimer of sorts is the first thing that the player sees upon starting up The Starship Damrey, a Nintendo eShop-exclusive software released by Level-5 as part of its Guild-02 series. It's a hook, something to grab your attention. And it works. Initially only being considered for purchase due to my love of other Level-5 games and a penchant for adventure games, the idea of a totally blind experience with no tutorials or hand-holding made my interest in the title skyrocket, and it immediately jumped to the top of my priority list of games to play.

At the start of the game, the player's character wakes up in a tight, coffin-like pod aboard the titular starship. The AI assistance program of the ship, SAM, notes that "you may be suffering from amnesia due to the cold sleep," meaning that, conveniently, even the main character cannot fill the player in on the details. This opening sequence is quite honestly the title's highlight in terms of cleverness and gameplay. You won't get anywhere without tapping around the capsule and attempting to deduce what's necessary to advance the story, and the feeling that's evoked is comparable to walking around in a pitch-black room, hoping to find a door and praying you won't trip or fall. After completing a series of actions, you'll find yourself remotely controlling an AR series robot designed for the starship, navigating the ship's many corridors and rooms to search for a way to free you from your cold sleep pod. The majority of the game is spent controlling this robot from your pod and making it interact with objects to complete simple puzzles typical of the adventure game genre, all in the hopes of progressing and unraveling the mystery.

Oh, yeah--there's a mystery. It won't be long before you realize that the majority of the crew is dead, and the biggest hook that keeps the game moving is the player's curiosity as to what exactly happened that resulted in the ship becoming the crew's tomb. It's a great story, I've got to admit, and one that's worth playing to the end for. The game amps up the player's interest by accomplishing what few other games do--a real sense of fear and dread. The robot's flashlight, you see, only illuminates a few steps ahead, meaning that most of the time you're unable to see what's just around the corner. This allows the game to set up multiple jump scares, which are great fun and will truly make you jump. Although The Starship Damrey is first and foremost an adventure game, it doesn't shy away from playing things similarly to a survival horror game, and it's when the game is most chilling that it's most successful. That's not to say it's entirely creepy, though--a few instances of deadpan humor and one simply hilarious cutscene that nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey provide great comic relief without detracting from the overall feel of the story.

As good as the high points of this game are, there are also quite a few issues that must be addressed. The most constant annoyance of this game is the controls. Your robot can only function in 90-degree angles, which does give it a certain charming vibe, but also makes it downright frustrating to maneuver sometimes. It might be able to be overlooked, if not for the annoying whirring sound your robot makes. Don't think you'll be able to get out of hearing that one, either: a second disclaimer at the start of the game advises players to keep volume up at all times, since aural effects are integral to truly experiencing the game. And I grudgingly have to agree with that; even though there is practically no music score in the entire game, sound effects play a key role in setting the atmosphere. A sudden piercing swell of strings arrives a split second before something suddenly appears on screen. Occasionally, you'll hear an ominous clank from far away--but not too far away. And, most importantly to the gameplay, there are 20 "space leeches" scattered throughout the ship, which must be exterminated. They're extremely difficult to spot, given their placement on ceilings or out-of-the-way corners, but when you approach one it emits a loud clicking sound.

The puzzles, too, are largely disappointing. The fact that your robot can only hold one item at a time, which can't be put down until it's been used, means that solving a "puzzle" entails roaming around until you discover the correct thing with which to use the object in hand. It's sometimes a tedious process that occasionally regresses into a pixel hunt, and I think the game could have made it a little smoother of an experience without giving up its ban on tutorials.

Last but not least, this game lasted me a total of roughly three hours from start to finish. Yeah, that's incredibly short. Don't get me wrong, this length is actually perfect for the type of experience that The Starship Damrey wants to deliver--something like a short sci-fi/horror story that you can finish in one sitting. However, this means that it's MSRP of $7.99 is a few dollars too pricey for this reviewer to really recommend buying it. I was lucky enough to catch it at $4.99 while the entire Guild series was on sale, and if you can get it at a discounted price, I would totally recommend it. It's best experienced in the dark with headphones, when you've got a few hours to kill and a craving for creepy, sci-fi-themed fun.
Graphics: 7.0/10
You won't see anything here that's better than anything else on the 3DS, but the graphics are serviceable and create a nice spooky atmosphere.

Sound: 6.0/10
When music is present, it's excellent, but with only three tracks or so there's not much to go on. Sound effects add to the experience.

Gameplay: 5.5/10
Controlling the robot for about two and a half hours of gameplay doesn't become tedious, but it's not all that revolutionary, either. The puzzles aren't that inspired and sometimes suffer from convoluted "adventure game" logic. No one's going to be playing this game for the control experience.

Plot: 8.5/10
With a gripping mystery to bring to light, a fascinating environment to explore, and a truly clever twist ending, the story is worth experiencing for fans of sci-fi or horror, even if it's occasionally a slog to reach the end. Extra content is available after completion of the game to fill in the gaps of the narrative, and you get a short story that reveals more background information if your Nintendo 3DS system has save data from any of the Guild-01 titles, Liberation Maiden, Aero Porter, or Crimson Shroud.

Overall: 6.0/10

You'll like: The Starship Damrey's creepy atmosphere and simple but chilling narrative.
You'll dislike: The frustrating controls and slow pacing.
You'll love: That twist ending I mentioned earlier. I gotta hand it to the writers--I didn't see that coming.

[K-NiGhT]

Slow I must say, I love your reviews. They're very well written and I can always tell how much effort and love you put into them. I believe you have a future in reviewing. Keep up the good work :3

[Sebastian]

Agreed! Excellent Work!
You take requests?

[SlowPokemon]

Wow! Thanks, that actually means the world to me that people actually read them. I just write what I care about and that motivates me to write more efficiently I think.

And mariolegofan, you can always make a request, but I can't guarantee I'll review it. I have several titles backed up that I already intend to review. Still, it can't hurt to request something.

[Waddle Bro]

I also read these fantastic reviews but you've been talking about games that I have no experience on so I have kind of nothing to say.

[SlowPokemon]

Yeahhh it's hard to strike a balance between writing about games that I want to write about and writing about games that other people want to read about. I figure that if nothing else, writing about more obscure games puts their names on peoples' radars, even if they don't read the review.

[Yugi]

Slow review Persona 4 so that more people wilk buy it.

[mikey]

SlowPokemon's Best of 3DS Games 2013

Best Multiplayer

Spoiler

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y
While I wasn't totally satisfied with the sixth generation of Pokémon games, no one can deny that they brought new life to the series. The games represent the most polished experience a Pokémon fan could ask for, and this becomes especially obvious in the games' multiplayer features thanks to the ingenious Player Search System, or PSS. Want to trade Pokémon with a buddy who's online? Just tap a button on the bottom screen. Don't have the Pokémon you want to trade with you? Just trade it straight from your PC Box. Have the urge to battle, but none of your friends are online? Tap the icon of any "Passersby"—people who are playing the game online from anywhere in the world—and challenge them to a battle. It's a truly fantastic experience, especially as a longtime Pokémon fan who did all his childhood trading at the Pokémon Center.

Honorable mention: Animal Crossing: New Leaf

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Best Graphics

Spoiler

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Best use of 3D

Spoiler

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies
Ace Attorney's leap into 3D was beautifully realized, with lively animated 3D models that pop naturally from their backgrounds. The addition of 2D animated cutscenes converted into 3D also made for a really immersive experience.

Honorable mention: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, HarmoKnight, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

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Best Sound

Spoiler

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
The sequel to the popular cult game of 2001, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon features a brilliantly spooky array of sound design. Everything from the creepy soundtrack to the charming way Luigi hums along to it is designed to make the player smile, shiver, and everything in between. Charles Martinet did a particularly fantastic job with Luigi's voice.

Honorable mention: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, HarmoKnight

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Best Music

Spoiler

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies
Say what you will about Pokémon X and Y, but the new Ace Attorney game has the best music in a game I've heard in a long time. The CD album has 69 tracks, and there isn't a single weak one among them. With the 3DS potential to work with, Capcom wisely ditched the nostalgic beeps of previous entries in the series and went full-out orchestral, making Phoenix's objections that much more intense, the quirky characters that much more amusing, and the sad moments truly heartbreaking.

Honorable mention: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

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Best Story

Spoiler

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies
Even for a story-based game, Dual Destinies goes above and beyond what's expected. Three of Dual Destinies' five cases link together to form an intricate, complex story, while the other two function as standalone episodes, no less rewarding. The dialogue is incredibly well-written, the characters' names groan-inducingly punny, and the story dramatic, complicated, and over-the-top. What all that adds up to is a clever and highly entertaining experience.

Honorable mention: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale

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Best 3DS Game

Spoiler

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies
That's right, Dual Destinies was my favorite 3DS game of the year. It might be a bit too personal of a choice for some of you, but rest assured that I don't know anyone who wouldn't enjoy Dual Destinies if they gave it the chance. It's the best Ace Attorney title out there in terms of what kind of experience you're going to get, and manages to be excellent for both newcomers and veterans. Throw in the best DLC I've ever encountered (an entire case!) and you have what I consider to be the best 3DS experience of 2013.

Honorable mention: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y

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I think you and I have different definitions of Multiplayer lol

[SlowPokemon]

SlowPokemon's Best of Video Games 2014

BEST MULTIPLAYER

Spoiler

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
The new Smash brings with it the same addictive play that its predecessors gave, updated for new characters and tweaked to perfection in a way that's just simple enough for newcomers to enjoy, but complex enough that competitive players can perfect their game over months and years to come. The fun of the multiplayer stems not only from this exciting competition aspect, but from the 50(!) or so characters on the roster, each distinctive and quirky and with their own unique moveset. It's the joy of seeing Luigi's awkwardly graceful backflips dodge an exploding canister from the Duck Hunt duo so that it hits Rosalina's Luma head-on instead while they're all avoiding hazards at the Kalos Pokémon League that gives Smash its zany and lovable atmosphere. Truly the best iteration of this game--possibly any fighting game--to date.

Honorable mention: Mario Kart 8, Pokémon Omega Ruby & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

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BEST GRAPHICS

Spoiler

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BEST USE OF 3D (NINTENDO 3DS)

Spoiler

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
Is there any game on the 3DS as pretty as the Professor Layton titles? I don't think so. What were once lushly illustrated still scenes on the Nintendo DS have now become beautifully realized 3D dioramas, with small animations and lovely backdrop objects hiding Hint Coins and Puzzles. The 3D effect is best suited to this sort of interactive picture book layout, where it breathes life into the scenery and immerses the player in its universe.

Honorable mention: Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

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BEST SOUND DESIGN

Spoiler

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
In a game where story is everything, it makes sense that a talented group of people should create outstanding sound design to set the mood appropriately and give players a heightened sense of what's going on with the story. And the Danganronpa series does that expertly, with music ranging from unabashedly silly ("Mr. Monokuma's Lesson") to pure horror soundtrack ("Despair Syndrome (1)") to somewhere in between ("Homicide"). In addition to the stellar soundtrack, the international releases of the games offer the choice to listen to the original Japanese cast, which is rather star-studded, or a brand-new English dub, also full of big names in the anime industry. What makes Goodbye Despair edge out Trigger Happy Havoc? Simple, really--though both games do an equally good job with sound design, Goodbye Despair simply has more of it. A few more characters to hear than the original (about twenty compared to sixteen or so), brand new tracks in addition to remastered old ones (nearly the entire soundtrack of the first game reappears in updated form), and more variety in the voicework (there's a bit less double duty among the cast, with only a few wizards like Wendee Lee voicing more than one character).

Honorable mention: Pokémon Omega Ruby & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

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BEST MUSIC

Spoiler

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Professor Layton's signature sound is mysterious, sweeping, and accordion-laden. Phoenix Wright's is bombastic, in-your-face, and intense. How do Tomohito Nishiura (longtime composer for the professor) and Yasumasa Kitagawa (Ace Attorney newcomer hired by Capcom to compose for this game) go about writing music for a game starring both as the protagonists? Amusingly, the answer is "why not both?" The investigation segments, led by Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, are filled with subtle nuances and a rich, lovely flavor ("Labyrinthia," "The Hidden Garden") while the trial portions have a wildly powerful sound that gets blood pumping through the player's veins ("Courtroom Magic," "Cornered - Spell-breaker -"), each keeping true to its respective series' musical style and even rearranging plenty of existing music. The true genius, however, comes when the two styles mix--and they mix marvelously. When accordions take over the cross-examination theme, for example ("Mass-Inquisition - Allegro -"), it's difficult not to grin from ear to ear in sheer enjoyment of the styles blending. The true winners here, however, are the "Opening Theme," in which Ace Attorney's consistently pounding "Objection" rhythm on brass underlies strings performing a variation on Layton's theme; and "Ending Theme," which goes back and forth in a battle between the two series' music, arranging many iconic themes and truly giving a sense of the "vs" in the title. With a truly excellent soundtrack spanning 93(!) tracks for a 30-hour adventure, it would be wrong not to give this score its dues.

Honorable mention: Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Pokémon Omega Ruby & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

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BEST STORY

Spoiler

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc & Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Desair
This year, PlayStation Vita owners were gifted with two wacky, insane visual novels from Spike Chunsoft (the company behind the genius Zero Escape series): Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and its sequel Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. It keeps the horrific killings and twisted murderous experiments of that other, arguably darker series, but adds a stylistic nuance and a fair bit of Japanese anime hyperactivity to make for an exhilarating, shocking, and, when it comes to the gist of things, downright fucked up experience. The humorous dialogue does little to dispel the unease and discomfort offered by the sickening murders on display here. With excellently designed characters (including a unique cast of fifteen or so students in each game, as well as a "headmaster" named Monokuma who happens to be a toy bear), murder trials so zany that even Phoenix Wright would blanch, and an insane overarching mystery to solve over two games, it would be wrong to give this award to anything else. As for why both games are together, well, it's very difficult to pick between them, especially since they essentially tell two halves of one story. I could list the first, but the second one expands on it so well that it's almost criminal to not acknowledge it. I could list the second, but there's no way to appreciate it without having played the first. They have a symbiotic relationship, and I can't deny either of them its rightful place as winner.

Honorable mention: Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

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BEST REMAKE

Spoiler

Pokémon Omega Ruby & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
I played several excellent remakes this year, but there really is no competition against the latest duo of Pokémon games, which are remakes of 2002's Pokémon Ruby & Pokémon Sapphire. Not only have 335 Pokémon been created since Game Freak's original journey into Hoenn, series updates such as a Physical/Special move split and the addition of the Fairy-Type (which affects many of Hoenn's Pokémon such as Gardevoir and Mawile) render the original Game Boy Advance Pokémon games incredibly outdated. Game Freak could have simply remade these games frame for frame and they would be excellent works; however, several changes to the games' stories (such as entire new personalities for the previously rather bland Team Magama and Team Aqua, and a post-game adventure called the "Delta Episode") among other additions make these the best pair of remakes I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. As someone who holds the original Pokémon Ruby as my first gaming love, I was touched, excited, and ultimately satisfied that Hoenn got the attention and care it deserves.

Honorable mention: Hatoful Boyfriend, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

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BEST GAME OF 2014

Spoiler

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc & Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
If you read my rant about this pair of games in the "best story" section, this really should be no surprise. While games such as Pokémon Omega Ruby & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, and Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney won my heart by catering to my adoration of characters I've known for years, the Danganronpa series gave me a totally new, unique experience in my favorite form of video game: the visual novel. When it wasn't making me laugh out loud at the silly dialogue or ripping my heart out by finding my favorite character guilty of murder, it was getting me to think about the state of games in general. It's not above telling you to go buy your own copy of the game if you happen to be playing a friend's, taking shots at Professor Layton and Pokémon for appealing to the masses, or showing complete distaste for the gaming community's favorite argument of whether a visual novel is a real game (all of which happen in the delightfully snarky Goodbye Despair), and I think that's brilliant. It takes a special kind of game to get you to feel uncomfortable in a way that you want to keep feeling uncomfortable, and Danganronpa is that game.

Honorable mention: Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

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[Maelstrom]

Man, I want to play those Danganronpa games, but I don't have a Vita. 

[SlowPokemon]

If you're interested in playing Vita games, you might consider a PlayStation TV console. It plays most existing Vita games and it's about half the price of a Vita, but you will need a TV and a controller.