15 Years of Gaming, Part 9 (2003)

2003, much like 2002, was a transitory year. Aside from the PS2's continued dominance, not a whole lot happened. I finally got a system of my own in 2003, so I became more familiar with a lot of the games on this list from previous years, specifically the epic first player games (Final Fantasies and whatnot). The industry continued to grow incrementally, commercial interest began to rise in anticipation of the unholy shitstorm of awesome that was to be the Fall of 2004. Still, we're not talking about 2004 right now, we're talking about 03. Let's get started.



The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Release Date: March 24, 2003.
Platform: Gamecube
ESRB Rating: E
Developer/Publisher: Nintendo EAD/Nintendo
GameRankings: 95%
Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 9.1/10 (Great)

For some reason, the letter 'Z'  (the one after X and Y) is not appearing on the published posts. Because of this, I'll be trying my hardest NOT to use the title of this game series as much as I usually would.


The Wind Waker is another game unfairly labeled as being "childish." The only real basis for this is the cel-shaded graphics, which might have seemed gimmicky in 2003, but still stand up in 2011. This is a legitimately good looking game. But where the "childish" labels truly fall flat is in the setting, which is as dark and hopeless as any in this series' history.


Set in the aftermath of Ocarina of Time's "Adult Timeline," the setting of Wind Waker operates under the assumption that Ganondorf, as he is foretold to do, eventually breaks free of his imprisonment, and without a Link present, the gods are forced to flood Hyrule to keep him from attaining the ultimate power he seeks. Because of this, many of Wind Waker's locales are thought to be post-flood versions of the locales in Ocarina of Time, a somber game mechanic for such a seemingly bright game.

Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic
Release Date: July 17, 2003.
Platform: XBOX/PC
ESRB Rating: T
Developer/Publisher: BioWare/LucasArts
GameRankings: 94.25%
Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 9.6/10 (Legendary)

 
It's taken awhile, but finally we have a BioWare game on this little countdown (countup?). BioWare is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, game developers in the world. Based in Canada, they rose to fame primarily though the Baldur's Gate series, a group of fantasy games heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. Generally, they're known for their intelligent writing, deep characterizations and choice-based storylines.

This game, Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR for short), was the first of theirs I can remember playing, and it still remains both my favorite XBOX game and my favorite Star Wars game (both relatively important distinctions for someone who is as into Star Wars as I am). Set approximately 4,000 years before the original films, KotOR manages to be an original, unique Star Wars tale while still being easily identifiable as Star Wars, which is not an easy feat (see, every other SW game ever made). KotOR is a singularly unique game, and signals the start of what seems to be a lifelong affair between myself and BioWare's games, which I'll probably get into the next time we have a BW game on the countdown (2005!)

Soul Calibur II
Release Date: August 27, 2003.
Platform: All Non-PC
ESRB Rating: T
Developer/Publisher: Namco
GameRankings: 92.3%
Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 7.5/10 (Above Average)

I used the cover for the Gamecube version here.

I didn't play enough of either Soul Edge or the original Soul Calibur to warrant a spot on this merry countdown, but I liked them enough to interest me in SCII, which was, for a time, my "main" game. Anyone who knows me (in a gaming sense) knows that I'm not particularly keen on fighting games, at least not by myself. SCII was a different beast. One of the most balanced fighting games in recent memory, SCII was blessed with a particularly robust single-player mode, one that elevated it from simple fighting game fare into something special. I still retain fond memories of it to this day.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Release Date: September 17, 2003.
Platform: All Non-PC
ESRB Rating: T
Developer/Publisher: Raven Software/LucasArts
GameRankings: 81%
Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 7.0/10 (Solid)

The third and final part of the so-called "Jedi Knight" trilogy (hopefully there will be a fourth at some point), JA differs from the previous entries in that it does not star Kyle Katarn, at least not primarily. The player takes the role of Jaden Korr, a new recruit to Luke Skywalker's new Jedi Academy. Another significant difference between this game and the others is the non-linearity of JA. Instead of the usual mission-to-mission structure, JA breaks itself into sections, each one with multiple missions that can be completed in any order. These missions take the player to a plethora of Star Wars locations, both famous and obscure. All in all, Jedi Acadmy is a worthy, if slightly underrated addition to the trilogy and the Star Wars games as a whole.