The Best of 2011: Game Review Extravaganza!

...and lo and behold, the year is now 2012. Something I realised a little too late, while correcting the date on a cheque. It’s a new year which also means time for that which has gone by to be remembered – a time for me to regale you with stories of that which is now past.

So, lads and ladies, let’s talk about the games of 2011, the year of high-anticipation that never really took off until the second half. The games of 2011, a gathering of sequels, re-boots and some understated gems. These games of 2011, that promised and eternal bliss of fun and joy making millions of fans “squee!” in profuse delight.

Let’s take a look at some of these games - the best of 2011.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

And it finally released in 2011... a game with more than a decade of legacy driving the expectations of fans against fears of the bastardisation of emergent gaming. Eidos Montreal have a humongous tower to scale - resurrecting two, arguably, short lived franchises considered the best ever - Deus Ex and Thief.

I mentioned in a review of the game that comparing Human Revolution with the original Deus Ex is like listening to Alice in Chains post Layne Staley. It’s not perfect but it's the closest thing we’ll get to the original and let’s appreciate it because it’s the best we can get.

...and I take another sip of chicory. 

  

Anime’s Impact on Modern Entertainment

Looking at the headline, I can’t help but marvel at the oxymoron overshadowing this piece. 

It’s not simply because "modern" entertainment is a forever changing reality. 

Forget what new terrible reality shows TV will cough up next - what I refer to exists especially within the confines of anime. 

Do you break out your imagination and create a macabre yet emotionally murderous cult classic like Elfen Lied? Do you cater to your built-in audience of adult-rated graphic novel games? The cute 'moe girls' from static screens of the past (see Clannad, Kanon, etc) can do all the work. Would you turn a long running manga series into an anime and provide fans their weekly dose of debates on which medium fits the property better like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach and more? The questions are as endless as they are insignificant - because as far as Japanese media outlets are concerned, anime is a dying industry.

(click to enlarge)

However, anime as a culture, an idea never really created a huge impact at first. It didn’t suddenly decide that it would crash into the Earth from out of nowhere and kill everyone because, Bruce Willis be damned, Japan had had enough. Rather, several small servings arrived in various countries and corners of the global entertainment scene. It wasn’t a sudden and immediate change, as much as it was a small yet rapidly expanding influence. A lot of us around the world had our first real taste of anime with Akira Toriyama’s iconic Dragon Ball Z, brought to English-speaking audiences by FUNimation in the 90's. Despite the almost universal effect it had on creating new anime fans, people weren’t jumping on the bandwagon en masse. The animated Pokemon series became extremely popular as well. Compared to the success of the video games, however, it simply pales in terms of success. However, they’re contributions paid a humongous part in cultivating a base of loyal anime fanatics (maybe a little too loyal to Pikachu).