As I’ve grown older I’ve slowly realized that I have lived through some amazing times, both historically and in my second favorite hobby. When 2007 was passing me by I had no idea that I was bearing witness to one of the best video game years in history. This list had originally began as a Top 5 list, but as I scoured the list of games released that year I realized 5 just wasn’t enough, heck I don’t think seven is enough but it kind of Feng-Shui’s with the title. I have omitted several games that I love, and even a couple from my favorite franchise. I felt that these seven had the most impact on the gaming industry and what it has become today.
7. Eternal Sonata – September 17 – Xbox 360
I have always had a hard time getting far in JRPG’s and Eternal Sonata is definitely one of those. Try as I may and try as I might I just couldn’t beat the first boss of the game, of course my buddies laughed at me but one day I will get farther in this game. I wandered around the city for hours before dying at the hands of the first boss over and over. I loved the look of the game, the musical charm and the unique fact that the game was taking place in Chopin’s head as he slowly passed away. The premise is very morbid and sad, but don’t let that stray you away from the game it really is a masterpiece. Seeing as this was one of the better JRPG’s on the Xbox 360, that helped the game gain some notoriety which still didn’t amount to sales. If you have a 360 and haven’t given this game a shot, you should, you will not regret it.
6. God of War 2 – March 13 – PlayStation 2
Hack and slash has never been my forte, I’ve always been bad at them because I would never take the time to learn the combos and search for the chests to power myself up. God of War 2 was Sony Santa Monica’s swan song for the PlayStation 2 and they did not pull any punches. When I purchased this title I hadn’t yet seen what HD gaming looked like, but what I did know is that Kratos’ second adventure was a gorgeous one. I had heard that HD graphics were the next big thing, but what Sony Santa Monica did with the PlayStation 2’s power was unbelievable. The first boss fight alone brought my parents into the room just to see how amazing the game looked, on my tubed television nonetheless. This was also the entry in the series that solidified Kratos’ ability to become a stable franchise, hopefully soon we will have God of War 4 for our PlayStation 4’s and reveling in how beautiful a game can be again.
5. Guitar Hero 2 – April 3 – Xbox 360
Peripheral games were a blast ten years ago. Bars would have competitions, restaurants would have specific Guitar Hero nights and my buddies and I had Guitar Hero parties. After work I would run over to my friends house and we would jam out for a majority of the night. The series was doing great until Activision decided to oversaturate the market by releasing several entries of the series every year. Soon I had gotten bombed out on the series too, it was hard to keep up with them and Rock Band. As quickly as the hype began, the hype also fizzled. Activision and EA attempted a resurgence last year with new versions of these great franchises, but sadly it looks like the year of the peripheral game was in 2007 and it will forever be a memory now.
4. Halo 3 – September 25 – Xbox 360
In 2007 the only co-op I ever played was couch co-op, but Halo 3 and Xbox Live changed everything for me. This was the first and only time I ever purchased a game just to play the multi-player. My buddies had all joined the fight and I decided that I needed to help them, I remember spending countless hours in Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag with friends. I miss those times, most of those friends now have different lives and really don’t play as much anymore. I remember one Halo party in particular where we had to 360’s set up and four of us played on two televisions while destroying our foes and drinking Mountain Dew late into the night. Can I have one more night like that please?
3. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 – August 13 – PlayStation 2
I am one of those people who is obsessed with the Persona series, yet I can never seem to finish one of the games. I get a huge chunk through then I stop, as if I don’t want the experience to end. Persona 3 was my first foray into tis unique and unforgiving JRPG and I’m very glad that I listened to my friend’s advice. I also like to stir the pot a bit when people are outraged or offended by something. Many folks were abhorred when they learned that teenagers were placing a gun to their temple to unleash their Persona in battle. Even though the game specifically states that it isn’t a real weapon and is about as dangerous as a lighter shaped as a gun. This outrage, of course, made me more inclined to buy the game just like it did with Manhunt 2 (which oddly enough came out for the PSP this year as well). The Persona games are thankfully here to stay and I can’t wait to get my hands on Persona 5 and enter The Velvet Room.
2. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – November 19 – PlayStation 3
Nolan North was an unknown until Nathan Drake hit the PlayStation 3, and he isn’t even the best part of the game. Uncharted did what no game had done before, created an action movie that others watch as you played. My father would make sure he was home as I played this title and the following titles so that he would know what was going on. He would also like to laugh at me when I died, and he helped me look for the shiny treasures. I know that Lara Croft came before, but Naughty Dog stole her gig and put it in HD. Naughty Dog made Drake’s mass murdering fun, gave him two great sidekicks and had some ingenious puzzles to solve. Lightening struck for Naughty Dog on the PlayStation 3 and I look forward to them continuing Last of Us in the near future.
1. Mass Effect – November 20 – Xbox 360
In the early 2000’s Bioware become one of my favorite developers when they released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. While I was sad that Mass Effect wasn’t a third installment in their Star Wars game I was excited to see what they would do in their own world. Needless to say, I was not let down. I loved this world that we were suddenly thrust into and having to actually chose a response that would have a lasting impression farther along in the game, and later in the series. I’m still blown away that I had to make a life and death situation that perma-deathed one of my squad mates. The voice-acting was also top notch with Keith David taking on the role of Captain Anderson and Lance Henrikson as Admiral Hackett. Even the non big named voice actors did a great job, a few of them making a name for themselves because of the success of this game. I hope that Andromeda has the magic that this original entry had, but I’m not holding my breath, Bioware really hit it out of the park ten years ago.
I know that I missed several titles in this list, 2007 was just so amazing. What titles do you think should be in this list? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter at @SuperJerry13.
[…] all three of them and pretty early into the life of these consoles too! You probably already read Jerry’s list and we may have a couple in common for our favorites of 2007 but there’s definitely some […]
Just got flashbacks with The Simpsons game.
Uuuuugh, what a boring pile of crap that was >_>
Other than that, a great list