At Nekomura Games we like to play lots of different games, regardless of the genre, shinsaku (new releases) or current top sellers – if it’s a good game and there’s some time to play it, chances are it’ll be played eventually, even if it’s a game from 10 or 15 years ago. Of course there is some personal taste involved so some genres are completely absent in our games library, but still – the list of games that we played the most in 2009 is pretty diverse.
Phoenix Wright
For those unfamiliar with the series, Phoenix Wright is a Visual Novel, and as with many VNs the whole game is basically played by selecting the right answer in the dialogue and using the inventory (there are lots of variations on the theme that keep the game fresh though). The game is presented in classic VN style – static background (that can be examined through a classic point and click interface) with a character sometimes appearing over it and a dialogue box – and that’s it in a nutshell.
Since we were working on a visual novel of our own, we re-played Phoenix Wright a lot this year, even the old ones we played years back. Capcom are generally a very big influence on our games but Phoenix Wright series is probably the one we spent most of our time on – Revived Turnabout, Justice for All, and Trials and Tribulations were all played extensively.
The game is sometimes reproached for its linearity, lack of choices and its rigidity (the funniest complaint from some review published on a big site was the absence of voice acting!) so the introduction of 3D parts and similar gimmicks was praised by lots of people; but we enjoy Phoenix Wright the most in it’s classic form, where it’s close to a “choose your own adventure” comic book. If anything, the series does have a somewhat irritating attitude towards youngsters (mainly by putting underage people in ridiculously high official state etc ranks) but then again, it does follow the logic of the whole project – Capcom know what they’re doing and who their target audience is. Too bad the newest installment seems to be going even further in this ridiculous direction.
The single most attractive aspect of Phoenix Wright is probably the art direction that binds everything together. The visual style and the dialogues are clear and articulate, lending themselves very well to the format and making the game a real pleasure to play. Same for interface – it’s very streamlined and has all the functions mapped in a very convenient way.
Megaman (Battle Network, Zero etc)
Surprisingly enough, here’s a Megaman game (several games in fact)! Actually it found itself in Nekomura games library through a combination of professional curiosity and a weird visit to Gamestop… Anyway, the thinking went along the lines of “it’d be interesting to see how the same IP presents itself on different formats and follow it through a few installments”. Not to mention it was very affordable – lots of excellent, professional games can be had for $3-6 secondhand. We never even contemplated playing anything from this IP before, but in the end we got around 5-10 Megaman games (on GBA, DS and Gamecube).
And what a surprise! The games are fantastically well done and a joy to study. We probably played Battle Network the most since it’s basically an RPG, not a platformer (thus closest to our taste – the style can be described as cute-cool) with a very interesting combat system based on cards and some real time elements, but other aspects of the game are also very enjoyable and well done – from humour to art. Basically the game is divided in “real” and “cool cyberspace” worlds, the latter being very classic dungeons complete with random encounters. As always with Capcom games there are lots of secrets to be uncovered and by the end the game gets harder and harder – probably in order to make players discuss tactics and tips. Unfortunately not one of our friends ever played this and reading the various FAQs is a bit pointless for a game like Battle Network so we’ll probably never find out all the secrets of the Underworld.
It was also very interesting to see how the RPG-resembling mechanics behaved in a platformer (Megaman Network Transmission on Gamecube) and compare it to older installations in the series (Megaman Anniversary edition on Gamecube). Megaman Zero was also very well done but being an action platformer it was probably the least interesting from a studying perspective.
Princess Maker 5
Most people only know of Princess Maker 2 since it was the only Princess Maker that ever got an English translation. That’s really unfortunate since Princess Maker 5 is probably the best game in the series (see review). We have been playing it for years, but this year it got some special attention – we’re making our own raising sim now so we try to study lots of games with those elements. The only problem with Princess Maker 5 is that it’s way too long – almost impossible to play unless you have plenty of free time.
Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode
(recently released in the West as Style Savvy – not sure whether they changed anything)
This game can seem somewhat braindead on the first glance (after all, all you do is combine clothes), but it’s surprisingly well designed, with lots of interesting game mechanisms going on in the background. The way fashion magazines are dynamically composed is a great idea for making lots of content out of a few assets and the system of combining different parameters when determining the “successful” pairing of clothes (or clothes and customer) is somewhat like the doubutsu no mori / Animal Crossing furniture system, only much more complex. A “must study” for any designer of content-rich games. The upbeat atmosphere is also very interesting – whenever the player gets presented with two dialogue options, characters find something nice to say about the player’s choice, no matter what it is. A very relaxing game that can be played in short segments of time.
Zeiva Inc (Imaginary Realm 1, Imaginary Realm 2, Other Age)
A nice discovery found in TimW’s freeware database (that he maintains by himself basically! The guy is a hero) Zeiva’s games were completely unknown to us despite being a few years old! A real surprise – some of their freeware flash games are better than many commercial games in the genre.
The games are pretty standard Visual Novels when it comes to execution, but the charm and atmosphere make them a memorable and fun experience (favourite moments include Goani’s joining Orem’s in the Human world and Dornick getting angry when Orem returns from the Zeiva kingdom’s Princess summoning). All of their games feature interesting characters with fun and witty dialogues. If you haven’t already, go and play them – games can be downloaded or played online for both PC and Mac!
Conclusion
Apparently the games we liked the most in 2009 were not from the previous year… Maybe next year we’ll try to catch up a bit 
