Duration: 1:59:48

43 views

1

And here we are, my traditional end-of year list. A bit late, once again. About twenty years late. It takes me time to get to the games. (Well, that's my claim, all of these games on the list this year are ones I actually did play back closer to release.) I thought I'd have a hard time this year, but honestly 2003 was a pretty good year in gaming overall. There's a few smaller games on this list that I enjoyed and have been wanting to stream but haven't been able to get them working. That is one issue, 2003 is in that bad bubble of PC games where they're 16-bit Windows games that just don't work anymore. A tragedy. But some of them are still good, and worth mentioning.

And as usual, I wanted to highlight one game that came out this year. And we get Mega Man X Dive Offline. It's not the most amazing game, but the fact that it exists is notable. It's a gatcha game, and it has all the flaws of a gatcha game. In fact, it's a gatcha game that wasn't making the owners enough money anymore, so they shut it down. However, unlike nearly every other gatcha game that's been through that cycle, Capcom wanted to preserve the game for the fans. And so they made this, retooled for offline play. Is it great? No. The play style doesn't really work and it has all the flaws of a gatcha game still. Lots of currencies, lots of things to level up, no loot boxes at least - everything's static on where to get it. Lots of grinding. But, it has been rebalanced to make things much easier to collect. And you're able to buy it once and play forever. The game still exists! And for that, it definitely needed some more eyes on it. Here's hoping more companies do the same. Or put a little more work into the games to make them really worth keeping offline.

And as a bonus, YouTube gets this one in a "timely" manner!

And as usual, here's the list for those who don't want to hear my off-the-cuff rambling:

10: Harbinger
9: Final Fantasy XI
8: Puzzle Pirates
7: Need for Speed: Underground
6: Trackmania
5: Command & Conquer: Generals
4: Sim City 4
3: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2: Call of Duty

Honorable Mentions:
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire (A real step up in the games, at the time)
EVE Online (Spreadsheet simulator, it will never have a competitor becuase those who like this style already have this game.)

1: Postal 2 -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/the_nametag

Humble Bundle Partner reference links:
General link:
https://www.humblebundle.com/?partner=nametag&charity=8443
Mega Man X Dive Offline:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/mega-man-x-dive-offline?partner=nametag&charity=8443