I think I have an evolving list out there that goes somewhere from top 10, to top 50. Bear in mind I have a large game collection (my backloggery: http://www.backloggery.com/chillin_chum , reports over 1000 games, though admittly I have an odd way of counting them, and I haven't necessarily played then all yet either, still, bigger then most people's collections.), and having more games equals a more dercerning attitude, but also finding just a lot of favorite's that can't compare to each other.
However, I'd rate most of my tope 10 as "6/5" because they went beyond being a good game, and gave me something to really remember them.by, sometimes emotionally.
But this october, I played a game that goes above even those, it stands on it's own for many singular honours, not other game does what it does. It's a 7/5 for me, although, it still has flaws, possibly serious ones, but they did not remove what I experienced.
The game is a free anime style rpgmaker game on steam, called Eternal Senia
Yeah.......that doesn't exactly sound special, does it?
I thought this too, when I saw it suggested on steam's front page, but being that I'd started to feel a little more curious in these anime-ish games out there, I thought it looked interesting, as I found the artwork used in the ad VERY striking.
(Huh, putting in the link embed it, sweet!! :D )
I mean....just look at those eyes! There's something so innocent.......yet, holding something deep and hidden within them, my sub-consciousn reconized this, though I have only gotten aware of it in retrospect, looking at the image now; and at least from my perspective, this promotional material is flawless in attracting eyes but comunicating what it's about, even if only on a deep level (as opposed to suggesting what the actual game is like, but oh well. you do see her wearing armour, which is very telling, at least.)
I still was going to ignore it, so it scrolled by, then I scrolled down....but wait a minute.
it said it was free to play.
I immediately went ahead and got to the store page, I found the gameplay trailer, and the user reviews extremely convincing, so I downloaded it and tried it.
And WOW.
You know what NotExplosive said about cave story?
Characters music, made by one person in thier spare time?
Yeah, that's exactly what my exerience with this game was like. When I saw that post......I had to say this.
In addition, sorry Tesselode, but undertale (or so it seems to me.), abuses it's determination theme by just saying "everything, or at least all these save points, fill you with determination!"
Eternal Senia, meanwhile, plays the determinator trope straight, then subverts it, then deconstructs it, then reconstructs it back together, and all within a short 3-5 hour time frame (it was 7 hours in my case, but I play games very, very slowly.)
......and it only uses that word in TWO instances, yet it has it as a central theme, "determined" and "determination" once each, that's it. It plays with that theme in a subtle......but extremely profound manner.
And it's a game that has filled me with more hope and encouragement then any other game that I've played in the past 15 years, or in other words, ever.
It's a game that has changed me, for the better, where I saw a hole in my heart become filled because of what I reconized from this game (no, the game didn't literally do that, it just helped me do that myself.), and the more I think about it, the more I reconize the themes I must have noticed sub-consciously.
It's my GOTY of 2015 and well.....ever, because not only is it a good game (with dare I say....FUN gameplay), but I also think it's an Important game, because it takes a look at humanity's nature, and it's struggles.
But if I had to describe it all simply, I can count on one hand how many games, nay, how many pieces of any fiction that have been able to make game,hed a tear.
Eternal Senia?
.........that game made me cry out, almost uncontrolably in excess of 3 times.
(Noteworthy: I'm a male, I am not usually sensitive, but that's because I sub-consciously blocked that and became stoic to avoid the emotional pain, this game along with a few things beforehand, unlocked the floodgates, and that's what has helped me feel better and happier then I ever had in years. I now fully except that emotional side of me, and, and yes tesselode and anyone else who knows in that discord group, this has everything to do with my recently discovered gender fluidity.)
But not only that, but thinking about it afterwards, listening to the music and remembering the scenes where it plays, even writting about it now still causes such a strong reaction from me that I usually shed a tear.....yes I seriously just about did just now. XP
And thus, as a result, amoungst other things, I wished Senia were a real sister of mine. Thus,she's my one and only onne-chan, which isn't that different from a waifu admittly, but she's a teen in-game, and I'm a 22 adult male.....so that would just be creepy otherwise. XP
And my discord avatar is from that steam picture/banner, with her face cropped out from it. XP (might use it here, maybe?)
Anyway, I could go on for hours and hours about this game, but it'd be better if you just tried it yourself. I SWEAR, you owe it to yourself to at least try it. Don't let this chance go to waste! Try it NAW!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/351640/
(Any feedback on how I worded this would be appreciated, I'd like to become a games critic of some sort one day, wether asas a hobby or job.)