Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
I reviewed Etrian Odyssey earlier in the year and I have to say, I completely lost myself in it. Between the awesome exploration, the excellent battle system and everything in between this game has it all for a JRPG. I said it before and I’ll say it again: Etrian Odyssey is like virtual crack cocaine, load it up and you’ll lose a week of your life.
Rogue Legacy
Initially I wasn’t too keen on the difficulty spikes that Rogue Legacy has to offer, but there was some little magic spark in the game that kept me persevering until I completed it 100%. The smoothness of the gameplay, the pacing of the game, the silliness of the traits and the awesome soundtrack it all comes together to make a magical experience.
Civilization 5: Brave New World
It may not be a full game in it’s own right, but Civilization V: Brave New World adds and changes so much that, to me, it deserves to be considered a game in it’s own right. Whole new ways to play the game were opened up, diplomacy and culture became so much more relevant and the end game content feels almost completely changed for the better. Brave New World simply has to be one of the best expansion packs released in recent years.
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes
Fallen Enchantress was a decent strategy game in it’s own right. But the standalone legendary heroes expansion improved on it and made it a truly great turn based strategy game of this year. The unique ability to edit your ground troops by changing their weapons, armour and traits means you can have entirely unique armies at your disposal every time you load a new game. The great variety of races (which are boosted by expansion packs) and massive amount of choices you have in every detail of this game only serve to boost it’s brilliance.