Games then? I've played loads of those. To talk about them all would take up too much space even in the infinity of the interweb. Plus there's that thought buzzing around my head which says you can't compare games to each other....
Splatoon is one of my favourites this year. Batman Arkham Knight is another. And then there's Journey. Aaah Journey. Is any of them an outright winner? It's really not fair to compare. Splatoon plants me in an arena with three other random people Nintendo’s servers find and asks us to team up and win a match. You've 3 minutes to do so and pride is the end goal. It's similar to one of these 'sports,' i hear people do, outside and away from the comfort of their sofa.
Batman has missions and a story. Roughly twenty hours of escalating battles
and a story that twists and turns until its eventual end. Pitting that against
Splatoon is like making a top 5 film list and sticking the FA Cup final in
there. Even comparing Batman to a film seems nonsensical. The Dark Knight
didn't last 20 hours long. It's more like TV, like Game of Thrones. You have
chapters. It builds slow, sets its rules and creates its world. Then everyone
either gets naked or eaten by a dragon. Or maybe not.
Then there's Journey. Journey was a game that lasted me a mere two hours.
It's probably the shortest game I’ve ever played but then it’s also one of the
best. My love for it can fill up another blog post but that timeframe is why
it's here now. How do I compare a two hour experience to a 20 hour one? Or a
game in which I keep playing 3 minute matches? In 2 hours you can be almost
flawless and you have to be. There's less room for error. Every good TV show
has quiet episodes or weak parts. An average episode can be forgiven because
you know its part of a greater whole. An average 45 minutes in a film is going
to lead to an average film...There are average parts in Batman (blooming tank missions) and there were times Splatoon nearly cost me the price of a new controller and a window. Both games however gave me far more than two hours of entertainment and for that reason I can't say Journey is the better game. It's like saying Mad Max was better than Mad Men or Manchester United’s 38 league games. It's like saying that one Taylor Swift song was better than a weekend at Glastonbury (although Shake It Off is a modern pop marvel)
To sum up then... I have played some brilliant games this year. When I flew into the light in Journey, when that character was in your head during Batman, when I won matches in Splatoon by the closest of scores, that goal in Rocket League, that death in Valiant Hearts, that time I fell in love with Thomas and his fellow rectangles, when I climbed a mountain in Far Cry and glided off the top or when I kicked the arse of Bowser with princess Peach.
How do you compare that lot? And to be honest, where’s the fun in doing so? I've some games to be playing. Happy new year
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