Between this, 'The Walking Dead' and 'Spec Ops: The Line' I'm starting to think that 2012 will be remembered in gaming circles as the year that the medium definitively began to 'grow up' and embrace storytelling as a core tenant, not just something to string quests or explosive set-pieces together. I wouldn't dream of spoiling the story which is the whole raison d'etre for this work, suffice to say that if it was a licensed property it'd probably be 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: The Game'. Like so many other people I was emotionally gut-punched by this story to the point where even seeing the box art or listening to the music brings back bittersweet memories of the experience. The fact that something which is not voice acted, looks like a Megadrive era JRPG and clocks in at about 6 hours of play can have such an effect is nothing short of phenomenal. To be fair, yes; the 'interactivity' is minimal and seems designed more to keep players 'invested' in their sense of control of the characters than anything else; no-one is going to get an adrenaline rush from this one. That said I will say I was not once board or felt as if the game was wasting my time. Yes, the dialogue is of the 'click through' variety, but crucially it's *well* written (for an example of the same style done badly see any Japanese dating 'sim' ever). Oh, and even if you don't buy the game, buy the soundtrack. In a world where all was fair, this one should be getting a 'Soundtrack for Visual Media' Grammy.
Holds up amazingly well after all these years, one of the few strategy games of it's type to really sell a compelling 'story' and create a universe that was far grander than the sum of it's parts (or the parts of a thousand generic space operas). Sid doesn't really deserve to have his name in the title seeing as Brian Reynolds was responsible for the design, and his background in moral philosophy really shines through, accompanying events with some amazingly incisive quotations (both classic and original). This is one of the few 'works' of anything that has genuinely challenged several of my long-held moral beliefs enough to make me re-evaluate the wider world and my place in it. Come for the strategy game, stay for the amazing experience. This one really does deserve all the acclaim it's showered with.
