Unlike Two Worlds, the sequel was roundly praised for what it got right and for finally executing on the promises of the original, which was why I was excited to use this feature as an excuse to finally revisit a game series I sorta appreciated back when it was still bad. Just as Two Worlds was an answer to Oblivion, I'd like to think that Two Worlds II was getting out just ahead of Skyrim before it dominated the RPG discourse during the final months of 2011. I wasn't playing as many new games as a result - as you can see from the first of many "Games Beaten In " lists written for the site, which is spread across multiple platforms and release years - and Two Worlds II somehow passed me by. "Gandohar!!") and then promptly forgot about it, having switched focus to any number of new rentals hitting the 360 rack that month.īy late 2010 and early 2011, my access to the rental service had diminished considerably, with the venerable rental service itself soon to hit obsolence and dissolution. I struggled through its obstacles, both intentionally placed and incidentally wrought by its bugs, until I reached its noncommittal conclusive battle with its masked antagonist Gandohar ("Gandohar" is just an objectively fun supervillain name to say too. It had a much better loot system than Oblivion, its closest competitor at the time, and its world design ranged from medieval to oriental - you could be stabbing orcs in a dingy castle one moment, and then be transported to a picturesque city of pagodas and zen gardens right out of a wuxia epic. It was unapologetic in its earnestness a case of a team of developers biting off far more than they could evidently chew, but filled with ideas and ambitions that - though the delivery was off - was endearing in its audacity. One of the many so-so games I was introduced to in this way was Reality Pump's 2007 CRPG Two Worlds: a risible attempt to imitate an Elder Scrolls open-world RPG that was hampered by a litany of technical issues and terrible voice acting, though one that eventually worked its modest charms on me all the same. Frequently, I'd take chances on almost anything I hadn't completed yet, and particularly when it came to RPGs: my preferred genre, at least out of the ones readily available on the 360 (3D platformers and narrative-driven adventure games were, as you might recall, a little thin on the ground). Not in an interesting college-aged "taking baths with lots of people" type of experimentation, but in how I had essentially unlimited access to my local Blockbuster's video game rental service - in fact, I probably helped precipitate that institution's eventual collapse in some small way - but a limited selection to choose from. When I think back to my years with the Xbox 360, there was a lot of experimentation involved. Time from Release to Completion: Eight years, seven months, nine days.November: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)ĭecember: Tokyo Mirage Sessions: ♯FE (Wii U) September: Kaeru no tame ni Kane wa Naru (GB) I've put together a list derived from a mix of systems, genres, and vintages because it's starting to look like 2019 might be the first "lean" year for games in a spell (though time will tell whether that pans out to be true) and I figured this would be a fine opportunity to finally tick off a few items I've had on my various backlog lists/spreadsheets for longer than I'd care to admit.Īpril: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS) Welcome to the Bucketlog! It's going to be 2019's year-long blog series, focusing on games I've been meaning to play since forever.
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