Well, I know what My GOTY is… SKYRIM. Wait, I think that was taken. Alright.
Arbee here talking about her Game of the Year. I’m not a person who plays next-gen console games, but I did dabble on this particular game on a few visits to a gaming cafe after I graduated. Then I went home and returned to my dull computer with a really sad graphics driver playing MMORPGS like no tomorrow. But here is my talk about my Game of the Year because it was so dang artsy and a yet a religious game that never shoved anything down my throat! It’s a first~!
It’s El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.
Why this game? After the cut.
EL SHA-WAHT?
Not to be confused with the local religious movement, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is the only religious-themed game that I ever liked (Yes, Dante’s Inferno was not a great game for me). Based loosely on the Book of Enoch, it follows the story of a human priest in mystical armor and denim pants named Enoch who is sent to Earth to capture 7 Fallen Angels called the Grigori who reside in a large tower built by them and their followers, all before the council orders a huge tidal wave to wipe out all of humanity. Enoch is not alone in the quest, however, for he has the guide of the Four Archangels disguised as swans, and the time-travelling archangel Lucifel with his magic cellphone from the future which he uses to talk directly to God.
But trust me; the game is real great despite the odd summary I made for it.
[singlepic id=4352 w=390 h=221 float=center]Playing against these guys above me remind me of my days playing Earthbound. Trippy, yet still awesome.
While the graphics are not overly realistic, El Shaddai makes it up with a strange, surreal, abstract universe that gives off a taste of something otherworldly and yet an atmosphere so calming and interesting. It’s no sandbox-type game, but the worlds feature a sense of curiosity and wonder on what the ideals and fantasies of the fallen angels look like. My favorite “ideal world†was the one made by Watcher Azazel, which was a futuristic advanced civilization paralleling to Tron’s universe. Plus, Enoch being a cool guy that did not look at the explosion was a bonus.
The gameplay is part action-adventure, and part platform. The fighting part of the game is composed of rhythmic button mashing using the lightsaber chainsaw Arch, the tonfa-shield Veil, and the projectile flying daggers Gale. While the gameplay only composes of only the rhythmic button-mashing, the purification system where your weapon gradually weakens from the evil “taint” yet you can purify your weapon by the use of a button, and the weakness-strength system that looks a tad bit like a rock-paper-scissors ideal, these things do work in the game since the thing is concentrated more on the graphics, the atmosphere, the plot, and the music; like the entire game is pretty much an interactive visual storybook.
[singlepic id=4353 w=390 h=221 float=center]In other words: Artsy. Very Very Artsy.
WHY THE GAME IS THE GAME OF THE YEAR?
I chose this as “Game of the Year†because the graphics are amazing and stunning, the storytelling is told by the worlds, the music and the visuals, the Nephilims are adorable and demented moeblobs, and I enjoy Jason Isaacs’ English Voice role as Lucifel.
And finally, I chose this game is because for me  it is of one of the many games that show the idea that video games… can be art. Plus it’s interesting to see a Japanese company can create their own vision of the Judeo-Christian mythology.
So with that, Happy New Year! I’ll go find more MMOS to play with now that I have a good graphics driver on 2012.
