I understand (and can even respect) the argument that TWD and Journey are 'not game like.' But they have their basis in video games -- you do control actions on the screen through your input, you can die in TWD and
you really screw up your scarf in Journey. You just as well die after that flying thing spots you.
True, it's not as involved as other games, but I think there's enough room for different types of games.
1. The Walking Dead ; This game made me feel things that no other game this year (or longer?) managed to. The writing is top notch I've never been so invested in a game with so little gameplay. The characters are just that engaging. I truly felt sad at the end of this game, something that rarely happens for me with games.
2. Dishonored ; I'm a sucker for Deus Ex style games and this one was no different. The powers are great (Blink in particular is amazing). I loved sneaking around the levels exploring every nook and cranny. The music and art are fantastic. The only weak point for me is the story, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.
3. Assassin's Creed 3 ; Sure this game had it's flaws, bu that didn't stop it from being the best the Assasin's Creed series has offered to date. They improved pretty much every facet of the gameplay all while creating an entirely new setting and character. I can't wait to see what they do in the future with this new base to build off of.
4. Sleeping Dogs ; The best "GTA clone" of the generation for me. Story was very interesting and well executed, focusing on the melee combat was brilliant. Graphics were great (even on console). Not very many bad things to say about this game. It's insane that it almost never made it out.
5. Hitman: Absolution ; It's not blood money. Once you get that notion out of your head, Absolution is a great game. Chasing after Silent Assassin, trying to get through levels completely undetected while assassinating multiple targets is still thrilling..
6. Mark of the Ninja ; Flawless controls, great art style and gameplay. I don't think you could make a better 2D stealth game.
7. The Darkness 2 ; They nailed the gameplay in this game. Quad-wielding felt so natrual, it really felt like I had 4 hands at my disposal. The psychological aspects of the story were done very well also. It really is a shame that this game has sort of gotten pushed to the side lines this year.
8. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare ; The best first person melee system I've ever seen. 1 on 1 duels in this game capture the feeling of sword fighting better than any other game. I really, really hope that people steal these ideas in the future. An elder scrolls game with this melee combat would be heaven.
9. Silent Hill: Downpour ; I love Silent Hill, and Downpour is the first glimpse of hope for the series in a long time. It's not a great game, but it manages to feel like a real survival horror game, the kind that don't really exist anymore. While at the same time, managing to feel just modern enough to not be frustrating. It had poor performance which was a shame, because it made people overlook this game more than it deserved.
10. Max Payne 3 ; Max Payne 3 was my first experience with the Max Payne series. It inspired me to go back and try the older games. In comparison, the cutscenes are extremely overbearing and the change of setting is detrimental. But the core gameplay. The act of shooting bullets through dudes and dodging stylishly in slow motion is excellent. It's the best feeling third person shooting I've experienced all year.
x. X-Com: Enemy Unknown ; Unfortunately I didn't play as much Xcom this year as I would have liked. I really enjoyed what I played of it, but I just haven't gotten back to it yet to fairly compare it to these other games.
x. Borderlands 2 ; Super fun co-op.
2011. The Witcher 2 ; Hot damn was this game good. Graphics were incredible, the combat system was interesting and it's just a good old fashioned RPG. I loved pretty much every aspect of it. If this game had come out this year it would be high on my list.
1. Tera Online; The most fun I've had gameplay-wise in an online game.
2. The Secret World; Loved the atmosphere but the game play wasn't as fun as Tera.
3. Guild Wars 2; Great game but it just didn't click too well.
This year has been pretty disappointing. Games that I thought I would like fell flat like Dishonoured, Borderlands 2, Sleeping Dogs, Binary Domain, Lollipop Chainsaw, Diablo 3 to name a few.
There were also games that I didn't buy or did but didn't get to play them because of lack of time like Far Cry 3, Xcom, Journey, FTL, Chivalry. These might have been listed if I actually had time.
People should get it out of their systems now. If it was ever in my system then I got it out months ago. If people are still holding on to some kind of hope, then we are going to get a repeat of Fox News on election night.
Six
Super Seal Mario/Paper Mario: Sticker Star
If Satoru Iwata was more like Hiroshi Yamauchi, Shigeru Miyamoto would be drawing Shenmue 3 on graph paper with Yu Suzuki right now. It’s not that Miyamoto’s changes were self-apparently bad or that I don’t respect his past work because I ask what he’s done for me lately. I’ll probably even cry when he dies. It’s that the level of hubris and ignorance he must have to mess with Nintendo’s best team, Intelligent Systems, 1 of their best franchises, Mario role-playing games, and the greatest game designer who’s ever lived, Taro Kudo, means that he doesn’t recognize a sure thing FOR ME when he sees it. I didn’t hate Wii Music because he created a stupid thing for stupid people. I hated it because I knew it would lead someday to this. This is still a really brilliant, innovative graphic adventure-role-playing game, though, and that genre combination will always win me over. It’s merely sad that the 1st emotion this game sparks in me is resentment. Paper Mario should always bring joy and nothing but it.
This is almost to the point what I thought while playing Sticker Star. It's not necessarily the RPG I wanted. It's more of an adventure game with RPG elements, and if you dig that and didn't expect what I'd expected, then you'd probably like it a lot and accept it for what it is. I don't like it. I don't like what happened to it. I think it would've been fine without Miyamoto's input because IntSys can do so much better, especially since they're so good with coming up with a lot of ... intelligent systems (ohohoho) and mechanics while keeping everything relatively balanced.
Mmm. I still can't help but to feel a little disappointed.
People should get it out of their systems now. If it was ever in my system then I got it out months ago. If people are still holding on to some kind of hope, then we are going to get a repeat of Fox News on election night.
the walking dead is going to win and that is somehow worse than mass effect 2 from 2010, the year of bayonetta, super meat boy, and super mario galaxy 2.
oh and miyamoto's interference with paper mario made it a thousand times better than it would have been if super paper mario was a relatively miyamoto-less game to go from.
the walking dead is going to win and that is somehow worse than mass effect 2 from 2010, the year of bayonetta, super meat boy, and super mario galaxy 2.
I understand (and can even respect) the argument that TWD and Journey are 'not game like.' But they have their basis in video games -- you do control actions on the screen through your input, you can die in TWD and
you really screw up your scarf in Journey. You just as well die after that flying thing spots you.
True, it's not as involved as other games, but I think there's enough room for different types of games.
Prepare yourself for a messy thread. I generally agree or atleast really understand why the goty itself was chosen for gaf, but this year is the first it seems to be radically different from my tastes for once. Generally don't care for the actual rankings anyway, I just want to see that list that finds the user with the most similar taste.
1. Mass Effect 3 ; Aside from the ending, most fun I've had playing through a game this year.
2. Walking Dead ; Best story this year
3. Diablo 3 ; A little rough at launch, but had a lot of fun
4. Borderlands 2 ; Fixes everything from the original game
5. Forza Horizon ; Probably the biggest surprise for me this year.
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 ; Better multiplayer than last years.
7. FTL: Faster Than Light ; Another surprise and certainly unique game
8. Spec Ops: The Line ; Fun shooter with an interesting story telling mechanic
9. Trials Evolution ; A great, challenging game that's not overly frustrating
10. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes ; Had fun playing with all of the different characters
x. Need For Speed: Most Wanted ;
"how could game X be game of the year when game y is a much better game why can't gaf like what i like!" Or alternatively, "how could game z win goty when it isn't even a game???"
I don't know if I should sit and wait in suspense.
oh and miyamoto's interference with paper mario made it a thousand times better than it would have been if super paper mario was a relatively miyamoto-less game to go from.
It's amazing how I can agree with you when it comes to platformers, and then when it comes to RPGs I couldn't disagree more outside of stuff like Infinite Space, lol. It's just something I've come to notice after a while.
Guess There is still time! Note I did not play a lot of the games this year so this of course like all other lists is a personal list of what I have played.
1. Gravity Rush - Love the world, the characters (yes even beyond Kat), the music, exploration, and even though it was oft criticized I thoroughly enjoyed the combat. Sometimes a game clicks with you on a certain level and Gravity Rush certainly did with me. Awesome game, and can't wait for the follow up.
2. Persona 4 Golden - Never played a Persona game so perhaps that has made this experience all the more special, but I can't put this game down. The amount of things to do in the game is mind boggling and the entire game oozes style and substance. This game sets very high standards for a sequel on all fronts. Seriously even the menu and UI designers for this game deserve recognition and set a standard for other games to follow.
3. Journey - An experience not like any other. Beautiful game, that connects with the user on an emotional level without ever saying a word, and the online interactivity added to this rather than subtract.
4. Xenoblade - I am still in awe at the scale of this game. Wish more games would encourage such a level of exploration.
5. Sound Shapes - I love platformers and music, so this was destined to be in my top 10. Level Creator deserves props for being easy to use and allowing users to create music in the process.
6. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - It is not on the same level as the console Uncharted in nearly every facet, however, it is a landmark handheld game that shows these types of games are possible on handhelds. What it does do well is encourage exploration and the gyro aim needs to be in every Vita shooter.
7. Little Big Planet Vita - Charming story mode, great use of the Vita's feature, and the user content coming out of this game is amongst the best in the series. Game that keeps on giving.
8. Mutant Blob Attacks - One part 2D platformer, one part Katamari, one part Blob parody = equals awesome game that is cheaper than almost every game on people's top 10 lists.
9. Playstation All Stars Battle Royale - Rough presentation aside, there are 20 very unique characters each with their own moveset and challenges and strategies. Online netcode is amongst the best for the majority it connects for, and lays the foundation for stellar sequel that supposedly is already in the works.
10. Velocity - The little guys deserve praise as well, and FutureLab's output this year has been phenomenal. However, Velocity is without a doubt their best work yet. Warping around the field to dodge and navigate each level is fun twist on the Shump genre.
1. Journey; After thinking long and hard about it, my No. 1 game has to go to Journey. Above all else, and this is importnant, Journey is the first multiplayer game I've ever played in which I've felt empathy. It's a basic human emotion, but until Journey its been nonexistent in mp games. If there's a masters degree in game design this is That Game Company's theisis, and luminaries in game development should be taking notes. Journey represents what is only possible through this medium. There's no voice acting, no over the top cutscenes - just pure gameplay. I have been playing videogames ever since I could pick up a joystick, which would have been 33 years ago. I've felt emotions, I've felt moved, I've even even cried occassionaly in those three decades of playing games, but Journey is the first time that I've felt I've actually connected with another human being in the digital space. It's gaming what gaming can be at its purest. When I started playing it I had no idea what I should be doing. Quickly I got my bearings. By the end of the game I felt like an older brother protecting another avatar. And the emotions are told through gameplay. There is no other medium where this would work. I experienced bonding, fear, loss and - ultimately - redemption. Journey, at its heart, is a spiritual experience. That is why Journey is my GOTY.
2. The Walking Dead; Whereas Journey tells its story through gameplay, The Walking Dead is all about story. The reason TWD is so high up on my list that it embraces the medium and shows that games can be a medium for thought provoking, emotional stories, but the interactivity enhances that by 100 percent. The Walking Dead is not a game you feel good about experiencing. Schindler's List was an amazing movie, but made you want to cuddle up in a fetal position for weeks after you watched it. That's what the Walking Dead was like for me, except for Clementine. She was the one ray of hope that kept me playing. The only reason it's not my No. 1 game is because there's technical issues abound in the PS3 retail release and the fact that save bug hasn't been adressed in the PC verison is a crime.
3. Dear Esther; Unlike Journey, there's no gameplay except walking. Unlike The Walking Dead, the story is ambiguous. That didn't stop Dear Esther from being one of my favorite games of this year. Again, Dear Esther is something that is only possible in this medium. This is the only game I played this year that I nearly shed a tear playing and sat dumbstruck after the credits played.
4. Sleeping Dogs; Just pure, dumb fun. The first open world GTA-style game where I actively avoided guns. From a pure gameplay perspective, this game kept me coming back again and again.
5. Mass Effect 3; Blasphemy! My opinion is no longer valid! Despite the shitty ending, the third entry in this series was great to me. Fan service abound and satisfying ends to story arcs developed since ME1. It's just a shame the game takes a nose dive once you land on Earth.
6. Halo 4; Wow, I must have shitty taste. Kidding. I will get into this later, but the campaign in Halo 4 is the first Halo game that made actual fucking sense and was fun. The mp is fun too, but not as fun as Reach.
7. Dishonored; Perhaps the biggest waste of hired voice actor talent, least utilized interesting setting and most unsatisfying pay-off/story of the year, but the game is damn fun.
8. Spec Ops: The Line; Like the Walking Dead, it's a triumph in story telling. Much like the Walking Dead, anytime you have to pick up a gun and shoot someone it's the least compelling part of the game. It's a once-in-a-life-time expericene marred by the very gameplay and tropes it's trying to lambast. The discomfort the game goes for is held back the cliche TPS/boring Gears of War game play that makes up a good chunk of the game.
9. Mark of The Ninja; The first 2-D ninja game where I've actually felt like a ninja. Sure I loved Shinobi, Shadow Dancer and Ninja Gaiden back in the day, but I wasn't actually playing a ninja-like game. Just awesomely tight gameplay and just fun gameplay despite it being a stealth game.
10. Black Ops II; What the fuck is this doing on here? Much like Halo 4, Black Ops II's campaign is actually better than the multiplayer. It's the first CoD game that I actually wanted to replay the campaign in. It's the first CoD that actually lives up to the cheesey Michael Bay moniker in both missions and characters. Menendez is actually a great villian and the story that is told is actually pretty good. The campaign in Black Ops II makes MW3 look like a straight to DVD release starring Dolph Lundren. Menendez is the first villian in the modern CoD timeline that is scary, believable and yet sympathetic at the same time.
i already foamed at the mouth a bit in the walking dead spoilers thread, so it's mostly out of my system. it's still a really really really bad game though. like really.
"how could game X be game of the year when game y is a much better game why can't gaf like what i like!" Or alternatively, "how could game z win goty when it isn't even a game???"
I don't know if I should sit and wait in suspense.
LOL, for reals. I don't think TWD or Journey deserve GOTY but I won't be surprised if they take the top spots. A cursory glance through this thread makes that much clear.
i already foamed at the mouth a bit in the walking dead spoilers thread, so it's mostly out of my system. it's still a really really really bad game though. like really.
god i wanted to put Okami HD on here, but that feels like cheating...likewise with Dark Souls, that was my game of 2011, after Yakuza 4
1) Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward- I'd wanted to finish this one before the deadline, but i'm on the last ending now, and in a weird year of disappointments, where interesting stuff like TWD and Journey can rise, this fits for my # 1.
Stumps was prolly right about 999's puzzles, but what VLR's doing with game theory is awesome
2) Hotline Miami - i was holiday gifted this by GAF-hop's own ShinobiFist, and installed quickly because it's tiny, so why not? Figured i'd try it a bit to improve my steam backlog figures, then toss it in the right section (queue, whenever etc)...8 hours later, i was still at it. game totally blindsided me, and i loved it.
3) Binary Domain - this one tragically sold like ass & came out early enough in the year to get slept on around now, but it's fantastic and i totally double-dipped when it hit steam.
4) NintendoLand - Another one i expected very little of, and ended up digging more than Wii Sports. some of the games (particularly Luigi's) are great for multi, but there's a ton of single player content i'm still getting through. I absolutely didn't expect to play this more than Mario.
5) Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy - I think this is # 2 in my activity log, just got bored grinding for the last few guys because fuck them. it's more fun than an FF game has been for a while now.
6) New Super Mario Bros U - I didn't care for the DS one, Wii one was only fun for me on multi, and the 3DS one wasn't bad but was honestly a letdown after 3D land, so i also didn't think much of this going in, but the level design is solid (and challenging at times!), so while still not really loving the art style or music, it's a great 2D Mario and i haven't had one of those in a while.
7) Journey - I'dve prolly rated this higher if i didn't sleep on it the first month it was out, several friends went on about the magic of it day 1 when no one knew how anything worked. it was still a fun ride that i intend to take again sometime soon, and aesthetically/conceptually really interesting.
8) Kid Icarus Uprising - I wanted to rate this higher - it's fun, it looks & sounds great, and like any Sakurai project, it's packed to the brim with content - but spending just over half the game on foot hurts the overall effort. it's still a 3DS must-play though.
9) Rhythm Heaven Fever - I love crazy rhythm games.
10) Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed - okay honestly this should be higher, i just suck at racing games and its not letting me unlock everything just by playing it, like the last sonic game did...cmon man! i'm never gonna get the dwarf like this
also removing Ryo drops you a few pegs Sega, take note
11) Double Dragon Neon - I didn't get that far in co-op yet, but i liked what i played!
here are the games i didn't yet play but will likely rate higher when we do 2012 again in like 2019:
Sleeping Dogs, Xenoblade, Walking Dead, Fez, Tokyo Jungle, Sound Shapes, Gravity Rush, Paper Mario SS, Mark of the Ninja, Lolipop Chainsaw, Last Story, Max Payne 3, Scribblenauts, SH Downpour (...)
the walking dead is going to win and that is somehow worse than mass effect 2 from 2010, the year of bayonetta, super meat boy, and super mario galaxy 2.
1. Dishonored ; This represents what I'd like to see more often from first person games rather than just being linear corridor shooters, or even linear open field shooters. Exploration, special abilities, multiple paths to take, it's really a shame Bioshock couldn't have had the impact Call of Duty did.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles ; One of the best JRPGs to hit consoles in years, and finally a great iteration on the formula FFXII established. We got plenty that took on FFX's formula on the PS2, but this came too late to have that kind of imapct and JRPGs practically evaporated from consoles afterwards.
3. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward ; I really just love the crazy damn stories.
4. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; Fantastic shooting action, the unique difficulty system encourages players to push themselves to the limit rather than err on being easy, and the writing was fantastic albeit in a very dorky way.
5. Dragon's Dogma ; Open world action RPG with really good combat, if they could iron out some of the issues or reach some sort of compromise (IE put in options to travel faster or warp to a destination at a fee rather than a Bethesda-esque fast travel) we could have one of the most amazing RPGs in a long time. Hopefully DD2 manages this.
6. XCOM: Enemy Unknown ; I'd been wanting to actually get into X-Com for years, I had even been given the original two games as a gift back when they were relatively new titles. This game finally started to break the ice, and once I read up on what to keep in mind for the originals I'm going to try again.
7. Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time ; A great take on real time strategy combat in the framework of a traditional RPG and an intriguing story, I'd have marked higher if I actually completed it.
8. Spec Ops: The Line ; The counterpoint to the modern shooter.
9. Mass Effect 3 ; Frankly, it's still a really good game, disappointing as it was even beyond the ending itself.
10. The Walking Dead ; A fantastic example of pushing what a game can do with a narrative, while actually telling a good story. May have marked higher if it weren't for the stupid ass bugs.
x. Journey ; I'm not as all over artistic type games like some people are, but I still appreciate playing them, and I really liked the way this handled multiplayer.
x. Binary Domain ; Cyberpunk-ish Japanese Shooter that while not amazing actually is really enjoyable on a mechnical level, and has a fairly good story too. I would've put it up in my top 10 if I didn't decide to throw Growlanser there anyway despite not finishing it yet.
x. Uncharted: Golden Abyss ; I think I liked this a bit more than Uncharted 3, and at any rate it's a really good game to launch with.
x. Hotline Miami ; Wild action that'll fly by in a hazy blur, but it was a really frustrating game at times especially with that stupid stealth mission, so I wouldn't put it in a top ten.
2011. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception ; I don't remember getting around to tackling much of what 2011 had that I didn't get to that year, only this and MW3. I actually had enough dumb fun with MW3, but a good Uncharted will easily take the cake, if I'm going for a more linear, cinematic shooter-type game Uncharted's infinitely more appealing.
the walking dead is going to win and that is somehow worse than mass effect 2 from 2010, the year of bayonetta, super meat boy, and super mario galaxy 2.
It's amazing how I can agree with you when it comes to platformers, and then when it comes to RPGs I couldn't disagree more outside of stuff like Infinite Space, lol. It's just something I've come to notice after a while.
i like rpgs. paper mario: sticker star is more of an action-adventure game with some very light rpg elements. the closest thing like it is probably okami. i like what it does.
super paper mario is an action-rpg with some bad level design and long periods of nothing but just dialogue. it's disappointing because the 2d/3d idea is fantastic, and it would have been great if that was the focus, but it gets sidelined.
i liked paper mario 64 and really enjoyed the thousand-year door. other rpgs i like tend to be rewarding in that the exploration aspect is pretty cool. terranigma, skies of arcadia, final fantasy xii, xenoblade, and dragon quest viii are examples of those. other games are just fun to play because of their battle system, like valkyria chronicles, valkyrie profile ii, and grandia ii.
LOL, for reals. I don't think TWD or Journey deserve GOTY but I won't be surprised if they take the top spots. A cursory glance through this thread makes that much clear.
something that surprised me was that i actually did enjoy journey. the level design and the challenge isn't much to speak of, but there are some simple design choices that make it a pretty unique game, and even at $15, i was glad to have spent 90 minutes with it.
something that surprised me was that i actually did enjoy journey. the level design and the challenge isn't much to speak of, but there are some simple design choices that make it a pretty unique game, and even at $15, i was glad to have spent 90 minutes with it.
10) Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed - okay honestly this should be higher, i just suck at racing games and its not letting me unlock everything just by playing it, like the last sonic game did...cmon man! i'm never gonna get the dwarf like this
also removing Ryo drops you a few pegs Sega, take note
No harm in it if people explain where they're coming from. It's perfectly reasonable to not see much merit in games that are shallow mechanically taking the top prize for an interactive medium.
it's only a spoiler if you didn't know he's not in there, and had hoped it was secretly otherwise (;_
and i know! im gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and say transformed was done too early to get kazzy-chan in there, but yeah, he's the most obvious pick this side of Space Harrier guy and the Outrun car.
1. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy; Friends, do you remember noble developer iNiS? Long ago, in the first part of the 21st Century, they crafted some of the finest rhythm games on the planet: Gitaroo Man, Ouendan, Elite Beat Agents, and Ouendan 2. This was a golden era after the vile influence of dance mats had subsided and before the plastic instruments crowed our living rooms and flooded our landfills. Alas, all things must end; iNiS was eventually imprisoned in karaoke game hell for all eternity by J.Allard himself. But not all hope is lost! Just as all that is righteous faded from this earth, so too did the people's desire to clumsily emulate the Max Rebo Band on tragic imitation instruments crafted by false gods. In this power void arose a new king: those Project Diva games. And it was...okay, I guess, if you like that vocaloid thing. But after that, indieszero made, at the behest of noted laughingstock Square-Enix, a wonderful rhythm game with one of the worst names imaginable. Aside from having fantastic rhythm keeping mechanics that have you "feeling" the music like in iNiS's classics, it evokes long dormant memories and emotions about Final Fantasy without ever feeling like it's pandering. It celebrates 25 years effortlessly, inviting you to play just one more song. indieszero has crafted a masterful game that simultaneously reveres a lineage of timeless classics while creating its own equally compelling experience.
2. Kid Icarus: Uprising; Drawing short breaths, I clutch my throbbing wrist. Unimaginable pain claws its way up my arm; blood gushes out in great, unending spurts, turning my body the color of a dying sun. I gaze at my palms, shaking. In each one I find carved a perfectly round hole. Carved is a misnomer; it's as if the flesh never existed. I peer into the twin voids and see the face of madness. Something cracks. As I lose my last vestiges of humanity, I feel a single word escape my gnarled throat: Sakurai.
3. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward; Like its predecessor, 999, VLR cleverly incorporates the structure of the game itself into the narrative. It's the rare story that simply would not work at all in a non-interactive medium, and it doesn't hurt that it's actually fairly interesting. VLR isn't like one of those fancy art games with "messages" and "something to say about the human condition" that are actually just boring trash. Instead, awesome mindfuck shit happens. The sharp localization helps bolster the story by lending the characters fantastic voices; in particular, Zero III, the villainous rabbit overseeing the sinister events of the game, steals the show.
4. The Walking Dead; In 2010, hack fraud video game auteur/flim-flam man David Cage and his cohorts at Quantic Dream tricked consumers into purchasing Heavy Rain, a video game about four hapless individuals trapped in terrible writing hell. The "gameplay" involves "interacting" with "people," by which I mean you do a QTE and fall into the uncanny valley. Thrilling scenarios include being a shitty father, having asthma, wearing sunglasses, and snuff film. It received universal praise from reviewers because, watch out Hollywood, games are serious now. Last year, Telltale Games also made a game about interacting with people, but it succeeded where Heavy Rain failed by simple virtue of the fact that the good people at Telltale actually have talent.
5. Persona 4: Golden; Hey guess, what? Persona 4 is still good. I hate the new character, but all of the other additions are pretty cool. Being able to just pick what Persona you want to make instead of clicking in and out of fusions is a #gamechanger.
6. Asura's Wrath;
You punch god in the face, but it costs extra.
7. Sleeping Dogs; If you would have told me that I would list what is essentially a True Crime game among my favorites for any year, yet alone one as robust as 2012, then, well, I wouldn't have believed you. But here we are. Sleeping Dogs proves that you can craft a big, detailed city full of vivid artificial life and still have a fun game where you do cool stuff. I knew I'd love Sleeping Dogs game when I discovered that the button you use to perform Vin Diesel-esque carjacks also violently shoves open the car door, which can then be used to comically mow down pedestrians. Classic Wei Shen.
8. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance; It's Birth By Sleep's excellent battle system but all of the ancillary systems are stupid. Hurray. The story goes even further off the deep end by adding time travel. Now that's amazing. The Tron Legacy world is pretty fucking cool, too.
9. Resident Evil: Revelations; In a year filled with Resident Evil games, this is the only good one. Quite the accomplishment. Is this pity, or do I actually like the game? Yes.
10. Paper Mario: Sticker Star; No partners is pretty disappointing, but the sticker battle system is devilishly addicting. I'd love to see it in a more traditional Paper Mario game with all of the other accouterments.
x. Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!; The music in this game is pretty good, and it's a decent approximation of Zelda II for kids/Adventure Time fans/the tragically uncoordinated. It's a shame that every line isn't voice acted because it really takes away from the game.
x. Final Fantasy XIII-2; Laugh at me. Laugh at the sad clown, but, my friend, let me tell you, if the improvement made between that dumbfuck Lighting game and FFXIII-2 is the same as the improvement made between FFXIII and FFXIII-2, then alert Polygon because we've found the Citizen Kane of games. The only thing wrong with this game is being related to Final Fantasy XIII. Everything else is great: it's open, the battle system is fun, the new characters are...okay, the old characters are...tolerable, the dialogue is...nonsense, the story--Shit.
x. Persona 4 Arena; I don't even like fighting games, but I bought this one because it has Chie. Well played, Atlus. To downplay my absurd devotion to a fictional character, I'll now lie and say that I bought it because of the deep yet accessible mechanics, the robust story mode, and the thrill of instant killing someone with a galactic punt or whatever move those other, lesser characters have. Seriously, the music cue makes it the best thing ever.
x. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed; Finally, a kart racer with a competent single player mode. Sure, the character roster is terrible nonsense, but the actual part where you play is rad even if you have girl monkey, red nights, nascar lady, or amy fucking rose in the driver's seat.
x. Tales of Graces f; The combat system is amazing, but everything else is typical Talestalestales terrible. You like traitors? How about racism? Amnesia? You got it. Does this one have bland, anime-stereotype characters, too? Hell yes.
x. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (360); Unfortunately, I didn't finish this game, so I couldn't put it on my list. It seems really cool, though.
2011. To the Moon; To the Moon would probably be better as a short film, but I can't really begrudge the writer from using video games as his canvas because then I'd have to get indignant at a whole bunch of other games, too. I can, however, hold the abysmal movement controls and bizarrely out of place flip-tile puzzles against him. Some of the writing, most notably the forced humor, also detracts from the game. The constant references to pop-culture like Animorphs and Dragon Ball Z transforms what could have been a timeless story of regret and melancholy into a minor retrocity. The story is instantly dated and the target audience is made bare: here's to you, child of the nineties. Despite the author's sabotage, To the Moon largely succeeds based on the strength of its premise and by structuring the game around emotions/experiences that will resonate with nearly any player. Certain themes are handled so well in the game that my crack about the nineties cannot possibly be accurate; To the Moon so perfectly encapsulates the bittersweet regret that comes with living a long life that the author must either be himself an old man or a great talent. I've seen To the Moon called sappy, and I think that's a bit unfair. Yes, it's an emotional game, but it never uses emotion to trick the player into feeling hollow sentimentality. Instead, it's forever in service of the game's message, its comment on the human condition, if you will. Also, I'm going to add that this game reminds me a lot of Nier; both have their bad parts, but, if you want to drown in a pervasive melancholy, then play away.
My actual GOTY is Nier, but, alas, that came out in 2010. I wish I had played it earlier.
Since Majora's Mask kicked off the end-of-world comparisons, I'm really surprised that there have not been more Final Fantasy XIV .gifs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhaHhE8R8GY
I close my eyes. Tell us, why must we suffer?
Release your hands, for your will drags us under.
My legs grow tired. Tell us, where must we wander?
How can we carry on if redemption's beyond us?
Don't tell me that's not about The Walking Dead! Now, to think of a way to include U.F.O.: A Day In The Life.
No harm in it if people explain where they're coming from. It's perfectly reasonable to not see much merit in games that are shallow mechanically taking the top prize for an interactive medium.
Now now, I'm sure we got plenty of time to ridicule narrow views of what video games are in the actual results thread. Save some of that fire for later!
*has Akai Katana and TWD in top 5 and sees no reason why they can't co-exist*
I don't think anyone's saying this stuff is the death knell of the industry, but I can only speak for myself, in which case I welcome their variety, and personally love many such titles (remember this?). The issue was just whether they deserve an award for something representing the best of something defined by its interactive qualities. Not sure why anyone ever got their panties in a wad over it.
1. Dishonored ; One of the best games the Xbox and PS3 has to offer, amazing powers, sooo many different options to do things, great combat. Just a very well balanced and fun game.
2. Borderlands 2 ; Enjoyed the first one a lot and me and friends played the heck out of this one too, added to experience so well.
3. Sleeping Dogs ; I was really surprised I liked this a lot, I'm usually not the biggest fan of games like grand theft auto, but for some reason I took to this game.
4. Halo 4 ; Two weeks ago this would've been number two, but since then none of friends play, I was really expecting to play this more than reach. Hopefully better customs game will come out so my friends come back to it.
5. NBA 2K13 ; Huge fan of NBA, obviously the best NBA game right now, not much improvement from '11 but its still great.
6. The Walking Dead ; Awesome characters awesome story, hope we can get more games like this, that really show off a medium that hasn't been explored yet in level of story-telling.
7. Kid Icarus Uprising ; Took me awhile to get use to the control layout, but after I got over that hump, it was superb
8. SSX ; Straight fun, not as good as Tricky, but probably the second best in the series.
9. Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations ; Single player was a huge let down, but you cant beat that local multiplayer and graphics.
10. Pokemon Conquest ; Very interesting game, pretty fun it's a good warm up to new fire emblem and pokemon coming out soon.
x. Assassin Creed 3 ; Terrible terrible single player and story, almost ruined the entire series for me, but once you beat the single player, and just do side missions and free roam about, the game shows its true potential.
