SuikoX's end of the generation recap

[Himuro]

This past generation has, more or less, come to a close. I think it deserves it's own thread to reflect on it. Nintendo just recently stopped production on it's highly disappointing Gamecube, and Microsoft has stopped production on the original Xbox a year ago. Sony is still producing ps2 hardware, and it's still got plenty of life left - so much in fact, that it still regularly sells more than most of the next gen systems. Dreamcast, as we know, has stopped getting games regularly for about 6 years.

A lot has changed last generation: Long time hardware manufacturer Sega stepped out of the console arena. Xbox proved that you don't need to be popular in Japan in order to be a successful console, and Xbox showed this exceedingly well, besting the long time veteran company Nintendo on it's first attempt worldwide (including Japan sales). The industry has garnered a greater shift and emphasis on story telling, which is a part of the reason Dreamcast died in the first place: tastes have been evolving, and many left arcade style games in the dust.

On the other hand, more niche titles were released outside of Japan than ever before, and there was and is little reason at all to import (although that's not the case for Dreamcast).

Genres began to evolve. Funnily enough, despite this greater emphasis on story telling, the most story based genre - apart from adventure - role playing games, had little to no advancements in terms of story progress. Things remained the same: a group of heroes fight to save the world against evil, and only a few series attempted an alternative form of plot. However, the gameplay has evolved so much in this short amount of time, it's quite a miracle (probably due to the lack of a real numbered Final Fantasy being released for 5 years). 5 years ago, most console rpgs were quite "me too", and attempted to rip off the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest line as much as possible. Currently, almost every single notable rpg released in the past year has it's own quirk and identity that makes it unique.

Genres became diversified, and in many cases, it became relatively hard to distinguish genres from each other - it seemed as if every game had lifted something from another genre.

It was a fun 5-6 years, and hopefully this current gen lasts longer. For fun I'll make a list of my favorites and not-so-favorites from the previous gen. You can omit whatever you want.

Best game on [x] system:

Dreamcast Game of the Generation: Shenmue/Shenmue II
PS2 Game of the Generation: Grand Theft Auto III
Xbox Game of the Generation: Jet Set Radio Future
Gamecube Game of the Generation: Killer 7
Gameboy Advance Game of the Generation: Megaman Zero 2

RPG:

1. Dragon Quarter (ps2)
2. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (ps2)
3. Dragon Quest VIII (ps2)
4. Skies of Arcadia (dc)
5. Jade Empire/KotOR (xbox)

Strategy RPG:

1. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter (ps2)
2. Suikoden Tactics (ps2)
3. Sakura Taisen 3 (dc)
4. ?
5. ?

Action:

1. Devil May Cry 3 (ps2)
2. Devil May Cry (ps2)
3. Ninja Gaiden (xbox)
4. The Warriors (xbox)
5. Resident Evil 4 (gc)

Action Adventure:

1. Killer 7 (gc)
2. Zelda: Wind Waker (gc)
3. Yakuza (ps2)
4. Shadow of the Colossus (ps2)
5. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (ps2)

Hybrid:

1. Grand Theft Auto III (ps2)
2. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (ps2)
3. Grand Theft Auto Vice City (ps2)
4. ?
5. ?

Adventure:

1. Shenmue II (dc)
2. Shenmue (dc)
3. Psychonauts (xbox)
4. Indigo Prophecy (xbox)
5. Disaster Report (ps2)

Shooter (traditional, schmup, rail shooter):

1. Panzer Dragoon Orta (xbox)
2. Sky Gunner (ps2)
3. Rez (ps2, dc)
4. Ikuraga (dc)
5. Crimson Skies (xbox)

First Person Shooter:

1. Half Life 2 (xbox)
2. Chronicles of Riddick (xbox)
3. Oddworld Stranger's Wrath (xbox)
4. Far Cry Instincts (xbox)
5. ?

Puzzle:
1. Katamari Damacy (this is the only genre I could think of this would place in) (ps2)
2. Bombastic (ps2)
3. Chu Chu Rocket (dc)
4. Puzzle games that aren't damn blocks falling from the sky are rare.
5. ?

Music:

1. Gitaroo Man (ps2)
2. Rez (ps2)
3. Mad Maestro (ps2)
4. Beatmania IIDX (ps2)
5. ?

The lack of a high quality Parappa The Rapper/UmJammer Lammy sequel is really really sad.

Stealth:

1. Metal Gear Solid 3 (ps2)
2. Metal Gear Solid 2 (ps2)
3. ???
4. ??
5. ?

Platformer:

1. Jet Set Radio Future (xbox)
2. Psychonauts (xbox)
3. Super Mario Sunshine (gc)
4. Sly Cooper (ps2)
5. Ratchet and Clank 2: Up Your Arsenal (ps2)

Fighting:

1. Virtua Fighter 4: EVO (ps2)
2. Marvel vs Capcom 2 (dc, ps2)
3. Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate (Xbox, XBL ftw)
4. Guilty Gear X2 (ps2)
5. Project Justice (dc)

Sports:

1. SSX3 (ps2)
2. Virtua Tennis (dc)
3. NBA Street Vol. 2 (ps2)
4. Winning Eleven Seven (ps2)
5. ?

Racing:

1. Burnout Takedown
2. Burnout Revenge
3. Burnout 3
4. F-Zero GX (gc)
5. Forza (xbox)

Most unique games:

1. Shenmue/Shenmue II (dc)
2. Jet Set Radio (dc)
3. Sea Man (dc)
4. Killer 7 (gc)
5. Katamari Damacy (ps2)
6. Mr. Mosquito (ps2)
7. Doshin The Giant (gc)
8. Shadow of the Colossus (ps2)
9. Polaroid Pete (ps2)
10. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter

Tallied by Game element

Best Level Design: Milkman Conspiracy (Psychonauts)
Best Music: Shenmue/Shenmue II
Best Story: Silent Hill 2
Best Character Design: Psychonauts
Best Graphics (not technical): Shenmue/Shenmue II
Best Graphics (technical): Okami/Wind Waker/Jet Set Radio Future
Best Script: Psychonauts

Oddball awards

Most overrated game: Halo
Most underrated game: Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
Biggest dissapointment: Final Fantasy XII
Biggest surprise: Shenmue II, Dragon Quarter, Shin Megami Tensei series
Lamest dialogue: Shenmue/Shenmue II
Lamest Character: Cielo (Digital Devil Saga)

Best series

1. Shenmue
2. Shin Megami Tensei
3. Grand Theft Auto
4. Metal Gear Solid
5. Suikoden

Best overall system:

1. Playstation 2
2. Dreamcast (probably would have been better than ps2 if it didn't suffer an early death)
3. Xbox
4. Gamecube

Overall game of the generation:

Shenmue II (dc)
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She knows stuff.

[Scarlet Assassin]

Now what in the blue hell qualifies an overly violent, soulless piece of shit with bad controls like grand theft auto to be called best game on PS2. I am going to have to see your credentials before you start deeming games as the best of their kind.
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Chief of Beat-em-up Honeys Division, Devoted Protector of Lady Tifa Lockhart

[Tullaryx]

Under the Stealth category I'd add Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. In the music game category the lack of Guitar Hero and Frequency is disturbing. Harmonix pretty much made music/rhythm-based games work on the console. In the graphics - technical department I'd say Ninja Gaiden was the the top of the hill in this past generation. The game that pretty much pushed the technical envelope on the Xbox which most critics saw as the powerhouse of the systems in terms of graphical power.

Character design I'd say Panzer Dragoon Orta was as unique and differently beautiful as Okami and Jet Set Radio Future. One strategy-type title that I thought was quite underappreciated was Naval Ops: Warship Gunner that game had me hooked with the limitless amount of customization one could create with their battleship.
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[Himuro]

[Archy]

I second Tull, me thinks you missed Guitar Hero 1 & 2 on the music list. Sure, they pretty much played like the DDR, but hey, what is not great about shredding to some of the greatest rock anthems ever?
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[Aurelien]

[Cedric]

Hello. Excuse me folks, but this topic was already created. Any more lists can be created at the following link:

http://suikox.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21133

Thanks for the understanding.

-closed-
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