Toomanywires

The Best & Worst of:  2024 /  2023   /  2022   /  2021  /  2020  /  2019  /   2018  /  2017  /  2016  /  2015  /  2014  /  2013  /  2012  /  2011  /  2010 Are we sure it's been a year? It feels like I was writing my 2024 wrap-up just a few months ago. Gushing about Infinite Wealth, six months ago tops. Maybe eight? I may have lost the ability to accurately gauge the passage of time, but I know we certainly got twelve-month's worth of games this year. Good games, too. We even got a new console. Definitely twelve months, even if it felt a bit like eight. Maybe nine? 2024-me couldn't have predicted the games we'd end up discussing most this year. Surprise indies, rebounding AAA franchises, high profile re-releases, and even RPGs! The game of the year darling was widely compared to Lost Odyssey and Final Fantasy XIII, and it wasn't meant as an insu...

When I was my daughter's age, I got a Mega Drive for Christmas.  This Christmas, she'll be getting a Switch 2. The GEO app said they had it in stock. At least one Switch 2 behind the counter at a local store, available last weekend without the need to reserve or enter a lottery that I'd be bound to lose. A rare thing, and only a twenty-minute drive away. I took a moment to consider whether I wanted a Switch 2. I hadn't planned to get one this year, but given that console prices go up nowadays, not down, waiting made little sense. I thought about my daughter, who'd be delighted to have one before the big Switch 2 exclusives drop, including new Splatoon and that Pokemon game that looks like Animal Crossing.  Good reasons to buy one, but it was the season that clinched it. The chance to put a console under the Christmas tree was too good to pass up, so I jumped in the car and prepared to massively exceed my festive budget. The journey was straight forward, but parking ...

1. Lumines - Arise a Contrarian I like Lumines.  Electronic Symphony is my favourite, and it lived in my Vita for years on end, and I put countless hours into the PSP originals, as well as the recent-ish remaster. However, I've struggled to click with Lumines Arise. In that respect, I seem to be in the distinct minority. My social media feeds have been full of gushing praise, from Lumines-heads and via Tetris Effect-converts alike.  By no means did I dislike Arise, it's just that it never got its claws into me, not how I hoped it would. I wasn't seeing falling blocks when I closed my eyes nor fighting off the urge to have one more go at silly hours. I was essentially done with it within a week or so, and that bugged me. So I decided to think really hard - really, really hard - and get to the bottom of why we didn't gel. And I think I got it. In Arise, the total marriage between the core gameplay and music is a hindrance to my enjoyment of Lumines. When defining that enj...