Adventure/Explore

A small group organized by @PNWJournos was invited to the Fuelcell Games studios for a sneak peek at upcoming DLC for one of the 2011's best titles, Xbox Live Arcade's Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

During the "Females on Female Characters" panel at PAX East 2011, Susan Arendt argued briefly in support of Tripitaka (Trip), a character from Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. This appreciation seemed bizarre to me, so the moment stuck in my mind. Enslaved was a gorgeous game with phenomenal voice acting, decently expressive gameplay, and very bad writing, of which I thought Trip was a prime example.

Awful and Awesome in Equal Measure

HIGH Many of the boss fight "conclusions" are jaw-droppers.

LOW The absolutely wretched signposting in the confusing free-roam levels.

WTF Minukelsus is... a supreme bad-ass?!?

Insane? No... it's Genius

HIGH The variety (and quality) in puzzle design.

LOW Having 100% map completion while still missing three Artifacts.

WTF the Shield power-up feels woefully underused.

Experience has Taught Me to Investigate Anything That Glows

HIGH Seeing Sonic swim. It's about freakin' time.

LOW "Hey Tails, you just missed the B.B.B.E. The Best! Boss! Beating! Ever!" *cringe*

WTF Why is Sonic's mouth on the side of his face?

This Room Looks Familiar

HIGH Ripping through Rapunzel with Maar's Lance.

LOW Finding out I lose auto-save data when I turn off my console.

WTF Climbing a ladder and climbing vines is the same animation.

Needs to Go Back in the Oven

HIGH Dying on a boss near the end of the game, causing me to actually wake up and focus..

LOW Encountering a defect in the evolution system that blocked my progress and caused me to give up on it.

WTF Seriously, if you max out the xp on a form, you can no longer unlock any forms that branch from it? What sense does that make?!

Bipolar

HIGH Fantastic art direction and a horrifically surreal tone.

LOW Breaking "crates" and tracking down meaningless collectibles? So '90s.

WTF Are players really supposed to be able to hear the hidden snouts oinking?

A Diamond in the Really, Really, Really Rough

HIGH The easy, nonsexual relationship between the two main characters.

LOW Why is everything so damned unpolished?

WTF The randomness of how the game saves progress is hair-pulling.

They're Only in it for the Gold

HIGH Setting up a combo attack with my partner that obliterates crowds of enemies.

LOW The Battle Charge + Enrage bug rendering Caddoc unable to attack until I reload.

WTF Deleting my clear file re-locks the unlockable content even though the Achievement shows I've already beaten the game?