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1. Microsoft's shock Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 E3 announcement
We expected many things from Microsoft's E3 2008 conference, with a new motion controller and something new from Bungie top of the list, but we got neither. With a focus on already announced games due for release in 08 the conference ran smoothly, but didn't wow anyone with breathtaking announcements. MS wheeled out Square president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, who proceeded to gush about his company's three-pronged love in with the 360 (Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant and Star Ocean), and Duffy even took to the stage to deliver an embarrassing rendition of that song she's got on Lips (the Americans in the audience wondered who she was). All seemed lost, but then MS pulled a rather massive rabbit out of the hat right at the last possible moment. Just as things were wrapping up Wada walked back on stage and blew us all away with a trailer for Final Fantasy XIII. The game was announced for Xbox 360 in Europe and North America, and it would ship on the same day as the PS3 version. Cue gasps from the crowd, internet meltdown and some frantic live blogging. Easily 2008's top video game moment.
Agree? Disagree? What were your top moments of 2008? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Oddly, my number 5 was Too Human - fighting GRNDL-1 for the first time was a really special boss-fight, not to mention GARM, and not forgetting the use of jet engines as percussion in the soundtrack on the way there. Oh, and loot. 200 hours worth of loot-fest. Awesome stuff if you love your loot as much as I do.
Fable II scrapes in at number 4 because of two things, firstly the open ending that allowed you to play forever (albeit there wasn't really enough variety of content there to keep me occupied for long) but more importantly the game's ability to impersonate an MMO via the use of allowing other players online to be represented by orbs, that was such a welcome surprise and a typical example of why Peter Molyneux is frequently referred to as 'genius'. Amongst other things no doubt.
Fallout 3's V.A.T.S.-inspired shennanigans comes 3rd. In open world RPGs you really do need a feature that never gets old and V.A.T.S. worked perfectly in that role, even after 3 playthroughs. Also worth noting was that although I was initially put off by the level 20 cap, the way they allowed you to continue developing skills via skillbooks regardless of your level was a great workaround and rewarded thorough exploration with the ability to seriously overpower your character if you noted down where they all were during your first few games.
My number 2 is your number 1, yes it was a great coup for Microsoft and I loved the way they handled the announcement along the lines of "Oh, nearly forgot, we've got this title coming too...". FFXIII no less. Will I buy it? Definitely. Will I enjoy it? It'll be my umpteenth Final Fantasy, there's a serious danger of things getting old fast, so I have reservations. Certainly qualifies as a spine-tingler for my RPG backbone though but most of all (this'll sound fanboyish but who cares) it reaffirmed that when I based my decision on which next-gen console to get solely on which would have the best RPG line-up I made the correct choice.
My number 1 took me by surprise. It knocked my favourite all-time RPGs down a notch and became my most played game in 2008 and my favourite game of all-time. It's like I made a list of everything I could ever want in an RPG, sent it to Square Enix, and they sent me The Last Remnant in return. I'll be spending New Year's Eve tackling one of the toughest boss-fights ever designed (beating The Fallen in 10 turns was nothing compared to what comes later) after I've spent a few more hours upgrading my weapons and skills.
Not kidding, I have 14 sheets of lined A4 here with details on Formations, map sketches, mining points, Guild Quest notes, Main Quest notes, weapon upgrades and breakdowns, class progression, things to do, places to visit, people to recruit... haven't had a game that made me want to keep track of so much stuff for years. It's a game that's so good it didn't just tingle my spine, it shattered it and turned me into a gibbering pile of jelly, so easily my number 1 moment of 2008.
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