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[Refreshment.01]

1. Black Mesa Source ; Prove that great level and set piece design can carry a game no matter how old is, best FPS this year an its 14 year old greybeard.

2. New Super Mario Bros. U; feel kind of dirty inside to go with this. Between the feel of an expansion pack with super old assets to the indeniable explotation of the franchise. With a single player mode that seems to get worthwhile after some hours in. Why? Challenges. Pure joyful gameplay like few games can achieve.

3. Xcom; A role model on how to revive and old classic. For the most part it satisfy both veterans and newcomers alike.

4. Orcs Must Die 2; ones of the most adicting Tower Defense games gets even better.

5. Xenoblade Chronicles; Your thoughts on Game D.

6. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition; This RPG doesn't suck a dwarf's cock, intead it plows the majority of other so called mature ones. A well driven narrative, interesting dialogues and some choices await those who delve into this adventure. It's a better game than the first one yet not as much interesting.

7. Alan Wake; A well crafted game, pure and simply this could be considered a role model of what a good game is. Nothing extraordinary or original but so well executed.

8. Game G ; Your thoughts on Game G.

9. Game H ; Your thoughts on Game H.

10. Spec Ops: The Line ; I' ve planned an honorable mention for this but it made the list since i did not play many games this year. Nothing extraordinay gameplay wise but it's a valient effort because it tries to elicit some thoughts about what the player consumes, his responsabilities and role in the videogame medium.

x. ; Your thoughts on Honorable Mention Game K.
x. Game L ; Your thoughts on Honorable Mention Game L.

 

[Boogiepop]

1. Kid Icarus: Uprising; Easily the best game I've played all year. Amazingly fun and chock full of both content and character. The gameplay is amazing, including the "controversial" controls, which seem to get crapped upon primarily for being different. Personally I picked up on things by the end of the first chapter and found a responsive control scheme perfectly matched to the crazy action, and I couldn't imagine having cleared through the 9.0 difficulty stuff without it. (And I'm a lefty without a CCP, so yeah.)

2. New Super Mario Bros. U; This is another interesting one to me, as I wasn't expecting all that much after 2, which I found satisfactory but not immensely satisfying. However, digging into the game and exploring the map, digging for every last star coin, and then on top of that struggling through the awesome Challenge Mode has proven this to be probably my favorite 2D Mario of all time.

3. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed; This one really caught me off guard. Picked it up on a whim at WiiU launch, mostly because it was cheap. And then it turned out to be probably my favorite multiplayer game of the year. So much fun, even with the weird errors that have popped up every once in a while and the insane difficulty in unlocking things. Definitely hope to see the series continue further, if at all possible.

4. Paper Mario: Sticker Star; While this game wasn't quite what I wanted from the series, it really impressed me how well the game pulled off what it was trying to do. It's an entirely different type of RPG, but it all works out, and keeps plenty of the Mario RPG humor and beautiful art design intact. There's definitely some rough edges to be smoothed out, but it's still an amazing, and amazingly unique, game.

5. Nintendo Land; Once again, a game I wasn't certain of, but one that really pulled through and turned out to be an awesome experience. An absolute blast in multiplayer.

6. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy; Cool little rhythm game with plenty of charm and style. I still don't feel the mechanics were quite right (a lot of stuff was way too easy, and some of the hard things were hard for the wrong reasons), but it's impossible to hate on a game this charming and packed full of nostalgic content.

7. Pokemon Black & White 2; Nice little second version to the originals, with plenty of neat ideas. First time I've completed the pokedex since the originals, so it must've been doing something right.

8. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask; The fresh graphics did a surprising amount of good for the series, and were far more beautiful than I expected. A very nice little game.

9. Mario Party 9; I was worried about the changes they made to the series, but it works well and is a nice refreshing take on things.

10. New Super Mario Bros. 2; It was definitely lacking in freshness, but the level design was still fantastic and still managed to do some cool things with old parts.

2011. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword; Absolutely fantastic game, even with a few missteps here and there. Probably the best use of motion controls on the system, and proof that they can really add to the experience. The swordfighting was fantastic and a great substitute for the old Zelda style combat. Also, the game had probably the best swimming controls I've ever seen in a game, and I will never understand the people who hate on it. Mostly, though, the charming cast and fantastic, creative dungeons really won me over.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I barely played anything this year :/

1. Jak and Daxter Collection; Great HD-ization of some of my favorite PS2 games. I had a lot of fun revisiting this one.
2. SSX
3. Rochard; A fun little puzzle game that is surprisingly replayable.
4. Quantum Conundrum
5. Starhawk

 

[To Far Away Times]

1. Kid Icarus: Uprising; I've never seen a game so happy to exist and so effortlessly charming. KI:U is a Sakurai game through and through, and he has earned his place in the pantheon of legendary game designers.
2. Akai Katana; I wish it were more challenging, but the Slash mode has one of my favorite scoring systems in a shmup. No one visualizes scoring like Cave.
3. Persona 4 Arena; Arc System Works may have finally broken the barrier for beginners to get into combo heavy fighting games.
4. Resident Evil Revelations; A great blend of old and new, much better than RE6.
5. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy; A surprise hit that is incredibly addictive.
6. Soul Calibur V; Soul Calibur gets a fresh facelift. It feels "new" again, but dumb things happen when you add super meters to 3D fighting games.
7. Dance Central 3; More Dance Central goodness. You can always import your old Dance Central games too and build up a huge set list.
8. Dead or Alive 5 ; The most mechanically sound DOA yet, but I can't help but feel that Itagaki's flair for presentation is sorely missing.
9. DoDonPachi Maximum; Perhaps the best shmup you'll ever play on your telephone. Everything is balanced around touch controls and although I don't like it as much as Cave's arcade releases, it's perfect for mobile gaming.
10. Vitrua Fighter 5: Final Showdown; Solid game, but I hardly played it.

 

[Yes Boss!]

1. Journey; Perfect game that I'll play once or twice a year. That ending, unbelievable.
2. Dodonpachi Maximum: The pinnacle of iOS Cave gaming. Rivals their arcade boards.
3. Nintendoland; A love letter to everything Nintendo. Crash Course, like Wario Twisted and Tilt n' Tumble mixed.
4. Paper Mario Sticker Star; Best Paper Mario, brilliant use of 3D to help the aesthetics.
5. Rhythm Heaven Fever; So brutally tough and the first real sequel to the GBA original.

Mushihimesama HD would have been in there if it was countable :-(

 

[Brashnir]

took a couple long gaming breaks this year, and haven't played much in the last few months. hopefully I'll get time to knock out a couple more titles before the window is up so I can make a reasonable top 10.

 

[KSai]

1. Dragon's Dogma; Flying into free!
2. Resident Evil: Revelations; Parker is a bro.
3. Max Payne 3; Passos is a bro.
4. Journey; That snowstorm had me worried, but everything after was glee.
5. Persona 4 Arena; WANT SOME?! Kanji Tatsumi to the rescue.

This year had some pretty disappointing games. I can't even fill up my list.

 

[P90]

1. Persona 4 Golden; the now definitive re-make version of the one of the best games of all time. The game that has now surpassed LoZ: OoT as favorite game of all time.

Spoiler

New Chie VA is crap and almost ruins the character.

. The only reason that this is not number 1 on more people's posts is because it is on the Vita.

 

[A Human Becoming]

1. and only: P4G, the now definitive re-make version of the one of the best games of all time. The game that has now surpassed LoZ: OoT as favorite game of all time.

Spoiler

New Chie VA is crap and almost ruins the character.

.

The only reason that this is not number 1 on more peoples posts is because it is on the Vita.

You need to format this correctly. Read the OP.

1. Persona 4 Golden ; I am not even done with this game(25+ hours) and its already the best game I have played this year and the best JRPG I have played in almost 8 years. I find it ironic that a re-release of a PS2 game on a next gen handheld is more ambitious and redefining than any JRPG that has been released on the new consoles. I adore this game though. The characters, school, dialogue, and battle systems are exceptional.

Yes my GOTY is a PS2 game.

2. Dishonored ; What a breath of fresh air this game was. As most have already said the powers were great fun to mess around with but its been a long time since a developer has constructed a world I am so completely interested in. I rarely go out of my way to read journals, audio logs and lore of a game but I was borderline obsessed with discovering any new detail about a character or event in Dunwall.

3. Far Cry 3 ; Far Cry 3 is by no means perfect but when everything comes together just right it is some of the most fun I have had in a open world game. I also think it has the best stealth melee system of all time. Looking for opportunities to chain your combos together was deeply rewarding. Excellent characters and voice acting rounded out a really great game.

4. Halo 4 ; Best looking game on 360 by far. It was great to see the art of the Halo universe on a engine that could finally do it justice. Unfortunately I think its the weakest campaign of the series from a gameplay perspective. The story was okay, though I love the dynamics between Chief and Cortana. The MP is where this game shines. I haven't been so engrossed in Halo's MP since 3 and that is the most important thing 343 got right.

5. Journey ; What a beautiful surprise this game was. Its the kind of thing you almost wish you could forget and experience again and again.

6. X-COM ; A wonderful take on the classic.

Edit it like that.

 

[P90]

You need to format this correctly. Read the OP.

Edit it like that.

Thx.

 

[hatchx]

1. Kid Icarus Uprising ; Without a doubt, the highest quality handheld game of all time. Long, meaty single player, tons to unlock, online multiplayer, great music, great story and V/O, and unique controls!

2. Journey ; An experience that should not be missed. Breathtaking and beautifully enigmatic.

3. ZombiU ; I havn't even beat it yet, but I really, really like it. The gameplay feels fresh.

4. Nintendo Land ; Something totally fresh, great 4-5 player multiplayer, and I've only scratched the surface.



......


Wow it has been a pathetic year for me and new games. I think those four, outside of NSMB2 (which I won't count), that came out this year and I played.

I missed RE6, Borderlands 2, Dishonoured, AC3, and Hitman:Absolution in hopes for getting them a bit cheaper next year. I did end up catching up on Red Dead Redemption, Ace Attorney, and Mirror's Edge this year, all of which I really liked!

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

1. Kid Icarus Uprising ; Without a doubt, the highest quality handheld game of all time. Long, meaty single player, tons to unlock, online multiplayer, great music, great story and V/O, and unique controls!

2. Journey ; An experience that should not be missed. Breathtaking and beautifully enigmatic.

3. ZombiU ; I havn't even beat it yet, but I really, really like it. The gameplay feels fresh.

4. Nintendo Land ; Something totally fresh, great 4-5 player multiplayer, and I've only scratched the surface.



......


Wow it has been a pathetic year for me and new games. I think those four, outside of NSMB2 (which I won't count), that came out this year and I played.

I missed RE6, Borderlands 2, Dishonoured, AC3, and Hitman:Absolution in hopes for getting them a bit cheaper next year. I did end up catching up on Red Dead Redemption, Ace Attorney, and Mirror's Edge this year, all of which I really liked!

Get on some Dishonored Hatchx!

Go fix your post!

Oh man sorry about that. You would think I would have the hang of this by now.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Ah shoot wrong thread ;(

Go fix your post!

 

[baekshi]

1. Journey ; Amazing art, music, and the adventure.
2. Gravity Rush ; Great use of comic, and gameplay.
3. LittleBigPlanet Vita ; Another awesome LBP, never gets boring. Also has a nice touch use of the screan.
4. Resident Evil 6 ; It has a great Mercs mode, and boring campaign.
5. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ; Great fighting game.
6. Persona 4 Golden ; Thanks you Atlus.
7. Playstation All Stars
8. Final Fantasy XIII-2 ; Thanks Square
9. Uncharted Golden Abyss
10. Lolipop Chainsaw

 

[dwebo]

1. Far Cry 3 ; Best sex scene of 2012.
2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown ; Best jetpack snipers of 2012.
3. The Walking Dead ; Best visual novel of 2012.
4. Journey ; Best multiplayer of 2012.
5. Sleeping Dogs ; Best karaoke of 2012.
6. Binary Domain ; Best robots of 2012.
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 ; Best story of 2012.
8. Dishonored ; Best noses of 2012.
9. Diablo 3 ; Best RMAH of 2012.

 

[Clairvoyance]

1. Resident Evil 6: A polarizing game for sure, but count me on the "love it" side. It isn't perfect by any means, but I still find myself liking it a lot. The controls are great, and there's plenty of content packed into it. It helps the I played the whole time with a friend too.

2. Soul Calibur 5: After two disappointing Soul Calibur titles in a row, I found myself enjoying Soul Calibur again. Lacks the single-player content SC is known for, as well as character style omissions; but the return to a faster paced style of fighting was very welcomed.

3. Silent Hill: Downpour Not as good as Silent Hill 1-3, but definitely an actual attempt at creating a good Silent Hill (unlike Homecoming). Technical problems and bad enemy design are the two pretty big flaws, but the overall story and atmosphere are well done. The sidequests in particular are great supplements to the story and atmosphere of Silent Hill.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles

5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

6. Resident Evil: Revelations

7. Kid Icarus: Uprising

 

[NullPointer]

GAF Games of the Year 2012 ; Read the OP, your post is probably formatted wrong.

 

[A Human Becoming]

GAF Games of the Year 2012 ; Read the OP, your post is probably formatted wrong.

That would be quite the suitable title at this point.

I helped out previous years getting in contact with people who don't follow the format. I guess I will again.

 

[Cheesemeister]

1. Black Mesa Source ; Prove that great level and set piece design can carry a game no matter how old is, best FPS this year an its 14 year old greybeard.
2. Xcom; A role model on how to revive and old classic. For the most part it satisfy both veterans and newcomers alike.
3. Orcs Must Die 2; ones of the most adicting Tower Defense games gets even better.
4. Xenoblade Chronicles; Your thoughts on Game D.
5. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition; Your thoughts on Game E.
6. Game F ; Your thoughts on Game F.
7. Game G ; Your thoughts on Game G.
8. Game H ; Your thoughts on Game H.
9. Game I ; Your thoughts on Game I.
10. Spec Ops: The Line ; I' ve planned an honorable mention for this but it made the list since i did not play many games this year. Nothing extraordinay gameplay wise but it's a valient effort because it tries to elicit some thoughts about what the player consumes, his responsabilities and role in the videogame medium.
x. ; Your thoughts on Honorable Mention Game K.
x. Game L ; Your thoughts on Honorable Mention Game L.

Gaps in rankings are not allowed.

 

[AniHawk]

Gaps in rankings are not allowed.

you are a crueler king than i ever was.

 

[timetokill]

That would be quite the suitable title at this point.

I helped out previous years getting in contact with people who don't follow the format. I guess I will again.

I've been sending out PMs one page at a time letting people know. It's good that people are being helpful though.

 

[hatchx]

Get on some Dishonored Hatchx!

Yeah?

It looked similar to Bioshock which I abhorred. I probably let the negative GAF impressions get to me, I'll definitely pick up in the new year.

 

[AniHawk]

Yeah?

It looked similar to Bioshock which I abhorred. I probably let the negative GAF impressions get to me, I'll definitely pick up in the new year.

bioshock sucked. i mean, it suuuuuuuuuuucked. dishonored's pretty all right. it actually has stuff like level design, and multiple ways to approach a problem. it does fall into the 'this game has a good ending and a bad ending' trap others do, but the rest of the game is pretty good.

 

[Snuggles]

Gaps in rankings are not allowed.

pretty sure that's meant to be a WIP

 

[ClivePwned]

1. Borderlands 2 ; Loved almost every minute of this game- apart from the bland dance music.
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II ; Most balanced CoD multi since CoD2
3. Halo 4 ; I Liked it a lot but it was released too close to CoD for me to fully enjoy it
4. Dishonored ; Best new IP in years.
5. New Super Mario Bros U ; favourite Mario 2D since SNES
6. Max Payne 3 ; Liked it, it tried hard to be edgy, losing the charm of Remedy's games.
7. Quantum Conundrum ; Decent attempt at a portal-esque game. Rough and bland but fun
8. Mass Effect 3 ; Liked it, probably too polished and occasionally soulless. Didn't hate the pre-DLC ending I got
9. New Super Mario Bros 2 ; Easiest Mario in years but that probably allowed me to bast through it and enjoy it.
10. Tom Clancy Future Soldier ; I found this to be a fun single player with pointless cutscenes.
x. Sleeping Dogs ; Bought it and Barley Played it. Will play a bit more one day. Maybe.
x. Diablo III ; I really shouldn't buy games from Blizzard. I really don't enjoy them.
2011. Mario 3D Land ; Played this mostly this year and liked it. I'd rather Nintendo dumped the gold raccoon suit and just got rid of the concept of lives.

 

[Cheesemeister]

pretty sure that's meant to be a WIP

You wouldn't believe how many "WIP" ballots are forgotten and unrevised.

 

[Fracas]

1. Borderlands 2 ; The most fun I have ever had in a co-op game. I can't gush over this game enough. The over-the-top action, the variety of objectives and missions, and the loot. Literally every problem I had with the first game was eliminated in Borderlands 2. This should be the industry standard on how you do sequels.
2. Assassin's Creed III ; The best entry in the series since Assassin's Creed II. Ubisoft did a fantastic job with the new setting and protagonist. The game itself is quite large as well, offering a wealth of environments and side missions. I definitely had franchise fatigue after Revelations, but ACIII pulled me right back in.
3. Dishonored ; Great new IP. Interesting setting, and a refreshing shake-up of the traditional stealth genre. Every replay is different from the last, since you have so many tools and ways to accomplish your objectives.
4. The Walking Dead ; I've never been into adventure games, but I'm a huge fan of the TV series. This is some of the best writing in the industry. One of the few games that I felt emotionally invested in.
5. Mass Effect 3 ; The beginning and ending were pretty rough, but the middle of this game goes toe to toe with the other games in the series. Just more, awesome Mass Effect.
6. Pokemon Black and White 2 ; Is there such a thing as a bad Pokemon game?
7. Final Fantasy XIII-2
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops II ; I can't believe I'm saying this, but Treyarch made a great campaign. Easily the since best 4. Add in the incredible attention to the competitive community with skill rankings, video editing, free live streaming and youtube uploading, and this is the first CoD that feels fresh.
9. Spec Ops: The Line
10. Syndicate
x. Counter Strike: GO

2011. Bastion

 

[ViewtifulJC]

7. Halo 4

monsty pls

 

[Busaiku]

Would Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition qualify?
Yeah, it was mostly a ROM dump, but there was new content in the form of the new challenges.

 

[Fracas]

monsty pls

I had to fill out the top 10 lol. Also not counting the abomination that is MP.

This has been kind of a shitty year for gaming though hasn't it

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I had to fill out the top 10 lol. Also not counting the abomination that is MP.

This has been kind of a shitty year for gaming though hasn't it

My top 3 includes a visual novel and a 2-hour walking experience that strips away most of the elements and complexity that make video games, well, VIDEO GAMES

Take that for what you will

 

[Grakl]

1. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; never had problems with the controls. Amazing game in every way.
2. Asura's Wrath ; style!
3. Receiver
4. Spelunky
5. Awesomenauts
6. Ace of Spades
7. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
8. Botanicula

2011. Bulletstorm

 

[Kritz]

1. Journey ; It was an emotional, fundamentally pure gaming experience. Who gives a shit if it doesn't have traditional gameplay. It was still the best game of the year.
2. The Walking Dead ; FUCK, GODDAMN
3. Hotline Miami ; In stark contrast to Journey, Hotline Miami presents pure gameplay challenge in a package of amazing visuals, music and violence.
4. Sleeping Dogs
5. Halo 4
6. Max Payne 3
7. Dishonored
8. The Darkness II
9. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
10. Thirty Flights of Loving
x. DayZ ; Should DayZ have been allowed, it would have been my 4th slot. I'm kind of disappointed that it isn't, although understand why. Reason being that DayZ hit its prime as a mod, and much like Minecraft, likely won't hold the same value to me when the game is officially released. It's unfortunate to the games, even though it does nobody any good to see that a game used to be amazing.
x. Binary Domain
x. Thirty Flights of Loving
x. Super Hexagon
x. Planetside 2
x. Fez
x. FTL: Faster Than Light
x. Dear Esther
x. Spec Ops: The Line

 

[HolyCheck]

1. Diablo III ; Went in with a rush with Ausgaf, heaps of social fun. most people stopped but I picked it up again after a few months when all the patches had happened and put in another 20 or 30 hours excellent fun. a great sequel
2. Mass Effect 3 ; Everything I wanted.
3. Nintendo Land ; bloody donkey kong... so good
4. ZombiU ; Fractured my wrist so can no longer play this but I enjoyed so damn much what I did play.

 

[Meatvillain]

1. The Walking Dead Gets my #1 spot for affecting me more than any other piece of media in recent memory. Fantastic characters, great story and I really enjoyed the game's structure. I also really appreciated little touches when playing with a controller like the ability to fire a gun using the right trigger (without the game being obvious that that's an option). Telltale really blew me away.

2. Journey On release I downloaded and played through this game while waiting for my copy of Mass Effect 3 to arrive. Little did I know that I was about to experience one of the most beautiful games I'd ever played and one of the most enjoyable of the year. I wasn't expecting Journey to be a strong GOTY contender, I was just expecting a neat "arty" game along the lines of thatgamecompany's previous work. Jenova Chen and co. knocked it out of the park, though, and blew away all of my expectations.

3. Borderlands 2 Gearbox took, Borderlands, a game that felt like it just barely came together into something special and improved upon and polished on the experience in just about every area. Borderlands 2 is basically a perfect sequel and makes good on all of the potential and awesomeness of its predecessor. I've spent over 150 hours with Borderlands 2 since release and can't wait to play it some more when the next lot of DLC rolls around. The game is just a huge load of fun with friends.

4. Mark of the Ninja Another big surprise. Mark of the Ninja is probably the best stealth game I've ever played. The sense of control and the amount of information about your surroundings and actions provided is fantastic and delivered in some quite innovative ways. Loved just about everything about it and I hope Klei make another, perhaps with even larger levels with multiple, intercrossing paths through them.

5. Mass Effect 3 Not only am I one of those awful people who really enjoyed Mass Effect 3, I'm one of those even worse people who enjoyed the ending (oh and I'm one of the EVEN WORSE people who chose the Synthesis ending, yup, you can pretty much disregard anything else I say at this point, right? I'm a horrible person). That's not to say that it was without flaw, but I still found enough there to like and enough emotional payoff (even moreso with the extended cut) in the ending that it ultimately didn't bother me. Mass Effect is a series with much greater potential than it has ever delivered upon, but I can't help but love what we wound up with anyway. I thought the game had a lot of great character moments throughout and better combat, typically better mission design and better RPG elements than ME2 did. Multiplayer was also a really nice surprise for a feature I really didn't want to see in the game - it was great that it turned out so well.

6. Assassin's Creed 3 What's that? You're still reading? You still don't hate me yet? Well okay, but I should warn you, I also really liked Assassin's Creed 3. The story missions were definitely too rigid in structure and were terrible at informing you what would invoke a "desynch", which could cause frustration, but I still really enjoyed the core gameplay, the frontier, side missions, naval missions and Connor and his story. I find it hard to go back to previous AC games now as they just feel really clunky. I also really liked the way Assassin's Creed 3 mostly treated the conflict between the Assassins and Templars as one with many more shades of grey and the way this contrasted with Connor's own naivete and black & white sense of justice. Also loved the opening slow burn and everything to do with Haytham.

7. Hotline Miami Goddamn, what a game! What a game-ass game! Awesome soundtrack, really awesome sense of style and visual flair and that gameplay, punishing, addictive and incredibly fun. Really really awesome game.

8. ZombiU The best WiiU launch game. Love the implementation of the gamepad and the fact that the game actually manages to make zombies scary again! Just a really well designed game that I hope gets a sequel. I'm so glad ZombiU didn't turn out to be another Red Steel.

9. Dishonored Really enjoyed the world and stealth gameplay (though it was a little hard to get into after being spoilt by the way Mark of the Ninja handles stealth). Really awesome level design, it's nice that this and last year's Deus Ex Human Revolution show that games like this have their place and are commercially viable.

10. New Super Mario Bros. U Nintendo finally make good on New Super Mario Bros. I never really enjoyed any of the previous NSMB entries, but NSMBU was extremely enjoyable with a generally solid difficulty level and excellent level design. The game also looks gorgeous in HD. In fact, NSMBU looks so good that it overcomes NSMB's tired aesthetic - I legitimatley love the look of the game.

Honorable Mention - Kid Icarus Uprising Just got knocked out of my top 10 by NSMBU. The core gameplay itself is really cool (in spite of the fact that I did find the control scheme to be pretty uncomfortable) and the story/characters are fucking great and full of surprises.

Honorable Mention - Persona 4 The Golden (I'm in Australia, so I imported a copy) Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that this is essentially a game I'd already played before last year, and one released 5 years ago on PS2, P4G would be really high in my top 10. Heck, the only reason I'm even considering those factors is just because I want don't want to eliminate anything from my top 10. I just now finished P4G, and man, what an incredible game full of delightful characters and a really awesome story with a really well-constructed mystery at its core. The formula Atlus first cooked up with Persona 3 is just brilliant, and it's even better in P4G. Truly an instant classic. Can't wait to see what's next for the series.

 

[boingball]

1. Journey ; Pure perfection. Don't know how make this a better game (and yes, for me this is a game)
2. The Walking Dead ; Another superb game. Brilliant story, great ending. If it would have been technical a little bit more polished it might have knocked off Journey
3. Sleeping Dogs ; The best retail game, did not expect too much of it but it turned out great
4. Tokyo Jungle ; Digital stores a distribution have a lot of negative sides, but this game is an example why digital distribution is great. Would never have come to the west as a retail game.
5. The Unfinished Swan ; Another digital only gem.
6. Gravity Rush ; Nice new IP on the Vita. Hopefully a sequel will come.
7. Ratchet & Clank HD ; R&C and GTA are my favorite PS2 games. Unfortunately Rockstar will not put out an HD collection, but Sony did. Enjoyed every moment of my (platinum) replays
8. Okami HD ; One of the best games ever now looking better than ever.
9. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational ; The best Hot Shots game.
10. WRC 3 ; The first rally game I enjoyed this generation. Surprisingly good, though not perfect. But mouch more fun than many of the other racers. I can race in this game! Most race games forget that this is what it is about.
2011. Trails in the Sky ; Finished this PSP Gem only in the beginning of the year and would have put it in my 2011 Top 10 had I finished it earlier.

I expect Walking Dead to win. Journey might have a chance if it would have been available on more platforms, but being PS3 only it wont have a chance. Too few ppl played it.

Not a year for the big AAA titles. But a great game for "smaller" titles and I hope the accolades both Journey and Walking Dead are collecting are opening the door for more titles in that vain and not the endless barrage of shooter.

Notable absences:
SSX : High expectation. EA tried to steer the boat around but there are still some baffling design decisions in the game. The original SSX and SSX Tricky were such great games (a HD collection of those would have been a much much better idea)
ME3 : Had not expected fatigue to settle in so fast for this. I am not so much angry at the ending but that I cannot 100% the single player game without playing MP.
AC III : I enjoyed the Ezio games very much, great settings and great game. AC III has still a great game somewhere below it, but the setting is so boring (why not go for the French Revolution in Paris, a much more interesting city in the 18th century...) and the missions are not much better either.

 

[metalslimer]

Besides the big releases like ME3 and AC3 I've been pretty out of the gaming loop this year. This thread is a great place for me to catch up. It also hurts that I don't own a Wii U, or Vita yet but now I really want to play Persona 4 Golden even though I beat it twice on PS2. I have to say though even when I was lurking this has always been one of my favorite threads to read through as I think it's one of the few threads where there is a huge amount of criticism of people's tastes.

 

[gurudyne]

1. Spec Ops: The Line ; Pushes video games as a medium for storytelling forward. That they managed to include the marketing for the game in their overall metaplot still boggles my mind. GOTY.
2. Faster Than Light ; Incredibly fun and addictive roguelike in space. That really says it all.
3. Journey ; Yet another game that pushes video games forward as an artistic medium. Achingly beautiful on top of that and understated to give it a timeless charm.

2011. Deus Ex: Human Revolution ; Didn't play this game until last April and while I spent more hours in Skyrim and can recall Cave Johnson's words more clearly than anyone in this game's, my time with DEHR is far more memorable overall. It touched me like games so rarely do and makes me remember the full joy and optimism I feel for this medium yet occasionally forget when reading gaming news or playing lesser games. Great characters, great world, fun story and fun gameplay mixed with art direction as intriguing as it is horrifying and you get the no-contest winner for GOTY 2011.

 

[Blue Ninja]

1. The Walking Dead ; I only started playing this during the last week of December, as a break from studying. But damn, what a break. Sure, it's got a lot of cutscenes, sure, it doesn't have very deep gameplay, but it's the first game (and yes, I call it a game) that's really made me feel for its characters. It's got some glaring technical issues, but those didn't diminish the fun I was having while furthering the story along. One of the most powerful endings I've seen this year.

2. Mass Effect 3 ; Yeah, it gets a lot of hate. And yeah, some of it for good reason. But of all the games I played this year, Mass Effect 3 still remains one of the best. It does an admirable job at tying up all the loose threads created over the course of Mass Effect 1 and 2, and it does it with gameplay deeper than its predecessor. It's clearly a victim of EA rushing it to market, and its ending did come out of the left field, but, to me, the journey is more important than the destination. That's why Mass Effect 3 is still my number 2. I just hope Casey Hudson and Mac Walters are never allowed to write for anything ever again.

3. Dishonored ; A new IP, and it's a good one. It confidently presents an entirely new universe without feeling the need to explain everything in a fifteen-minute cutscene first. It's got some of the best stealth gameplay of the last years and it requires you to think. If you fire a sleep dart at a guard standing on top of the stairs, you can be damned sure he'll tumble down, break his neck and die anyway. That you can complete it without actually killing anyone is just the cherry on the cake.

4. Assassin's Creed 3 ; This game was supposed to be my Game of the Year. Everything I'd seen had wowed me and hyped me, and I was fully prepared for this game to swoop in and steal the crown. Unfortunately, it got stuck on a wall somewhere and hovered in place for fifteen minutes while The Walking Dead, Mass Effect and Dishonored took the top honors instead. Assassin's Creed 3 is by no means a bad game, but it is a game that, like Mass Effect 3, suffers from being rushed to the market. The amount of bugs in this game puts even Bethesda's previous efforts to shame. The story is a mess and Connor is as bland a protagonist as they come, but fuck, the game's still a lot of fun. The improved combat system takes some getting used to, but it feels a lot better than it did in the previous iterations. Unfortunately, a lot of frustration comes paired with all the fun, which is why I had to place it outside the top 3.

5. Halo 4 ; I am a Halo fan. I have pretty much every book, bought every Limited Edition since Halo 3, and have the Halo soundtracks stored on my phone for easy listening. I got soured on Reach and wasn't expecting much from Halo 4, which is why placing it on this list is surprising even to me. I've long debated just dropping it. Why? Every thing it does right is marred by a caveat somewhere or other. The campaign looks great? Sure, but they got rid of Campaign Theater. The weapons are powerful? Yeah, but after getting one-shotted fifty times by a Boltshot you'll just give up entirely. The music is good? Yes, but 343's audio team didn't bother implementing it. I could go on. They got rid of the inconsistent elements found in Reach? Yup, but then they added flinching, boltshots and random weapon drops. Halo 4's multiplayer is only good when playing crazy gametypes with friends. For everything else, it's a wasted effort. Basically, Halo 4's campaign is the only reason I'm putting this game on this list. It's an admirable effort by 343 to capture the Halo feel, a feat in which they succeeded. Unfortunately for them, they didn't improve upon Bungie's work, but they still have two more games to get it right, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. And a place on this list.

I didn't play a lot of games this year, and most of the games I ended up looking forward to ended up being underwhelming, if not completely disappointing. I hope 2013 fares better in that regard.

 

[dk_]

1. ZombiU; By far the most compelling game for me concerning atmosphere, mechanics and functionality (provided by the Wii U Gamepad). Some elements they adopted from the Souls games are implemented quite well and add to the experience. No other game this year fascinated me to that extent and only the fact that it could be over too quick prevented me from playing this gem in one sitting.

2. The Walking Dead
3. Far Cry 3
4. Diablo 3
5. Forza Horizon
6. Sleeping Dogs
7. FTL
8. Sniper Elite V2
9. Spelunky
10. Dishonored

Runner Ups:

New Super Mario Bros. U
Xcom
Trials Evolution
Journey
Trine 2
Scribblenauts Unlimited
FIFA 13
Journey
FEZ

 

[Haunted]

Dikembe Mutombo Saves the World is eligible, right?

Definitely one of the top 3 games this year as far as writing is concerned.

 

[Rebel Leader]

3. Xenoblade Chronicles ; Wow. GAF was right. This is the best JRPG I have played since the glory days of Squaresoft on the SNES and PS1, and it might be the best one overall that I've ever played. An RPG of this scope is all too rare a thing these days, and Xenoblade offers the player and absolute embarrassment of content. While the sidequests are mostly boring fetch-quests, every other facet of this game's design is tailored to iron out the long-remaining quirks of JRPG gameplay. The combat is fast and engaging, exploration is encouraged by rewarding the player with XP, the penalty for death is minimal, the writing and voice acting is well above average for this sort of game, and the game's world atop two warring titans is without a doubt one of the most well-realized in game history. This game is just phenomenal, but the end-game difficulty spike keeps me from giving it top honors this year.

Be about level 78-80 and the ending should be difficult but not much

 

[McHuj]

1. Sleeping Dogs ; Normally, I don't like these types of open world game. But unlike many games it had me hooked from the get go. The story was decent, the characters were cool, the arcade driving was great, the combat could have be tighter. But overall it's the most fun I've had with a 2012 game.

x. XCOM ; Haven't played more then 4-5 hours yet, but good so far.
x. Alan Wake ; Love Alan Wake. I liked the story and combat, loved the FVM use. Can't wait for more.

2011. Dark Souls; The reason I haven't played more new games this year. Just about the only game I have played from 02/2012 to 10/2012. Only game I have ever pursued and gotten 1000/1000 achievements. Bought it twice as well (Xbox and PC). It's my game of the generation as well.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

1. Mass Effect 3 ; What can I say. I am a ME nut. I hate the ending. I love the rest of the game. MP was surprisingly fun. So there goes my nr.1 despite the obvious flaws that the game had.

2. Halo 4 ; I'm not a big Halo fan. I played Halo 1-3 and skipped all the spin-offs. I enjoyed Halo 4 more than it's predecessors. Gorgeous Graphics and fun gameplay.

x. Hitman: Absolution ; Good but no GOTY material and a bit of a let down compared to previous installments.

x. FIFA 13 ; good but more of the same

2011. Batman: Arkham City

 

[mujun]

1. Dishonored ; Best thing about this for me was the atmosphere. Gameplay was also excellent, most I have ever enjoyed a stealth game. Did a 2nd run through guns blazing (sword swinging?) and enjoyed it almost as much.

2. Mass Effect 3 ; I must admit I struggled with where to put this on my list. All the talk about the game has skewed my own opinion of the game. I had to recall exactly how I described my feelings about it to a mate to be able to finally decide where to put it. Also loved the multi which I didn't expect going in. Ending was sloppy but didn't sour me very much at all on the long hours I spent with the game.

3. Far Cry 3 ; Loved the setting, gunplay, freedom and even the over the top action movie plot. Enjoyed every minute I spent with the game (can't say that for many open world games).

4. Sleeping Dogs ; The combat system in this game made it something special. I preferred it to the system in Batman which is high praise. Interesting and unique setting and the story had a very mature feel and was well done for an open world game.

5. Sniper Elite V2 ; Another stealth game that I enjoyed. The bulk of the fun I had with this game came from the fun that comes with the sniping (and the slow-mo camera when you score a hit) and the great level design.

6. Forza Horizon ; I raced pretty much every race in this game even though there were a shit tonne of them, something I can't say for the more content heavy racing games. Loved every minute of it, too. Amazing feel to the racing, handling and visually. Awesome setting, too, a big part of the charm for me.

7. Borderlands 2 ; Spent a long time with the game and had a blast with it. I will say that in hindsight I don't think that I enjoyed it as much as the first game despite it being better in pretty much every way. Not sure why.

8. Risen 2 ; I really enjoyed this. It is definitely a bit dumbed down when compared to the first game but I like the sense of humor, the tropical setting and the emphasis on fun.

9. I am Alive ; This game did a great job of catching the atmosphere of a post apocalyptic world. I think it really comes off as gritty and depressing which I love. I like the mix of gameplay, too. Especially considering it's a downloadable game. The combat which plays out more like a puzzle is especially cool.

10. Kingdom Rush ; I love tower defense and this is pretty much the best TD game on iOS. Great graphics and really well balanced gameplay which means it's hard but not enough to frustrate. I really enjoyed figuring out what I needed to do to finish a level.

 

[archnemesis]

Top 10:

1. Legend of Grimrock ; One of my favorite games as a kid was Dungeon Master (1987) and getting the opportunity to play a modern real-time dungeon crawler in the same style was both unexpected and amazing.

2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown ; I still prefer the original game, but I'm glad they decided to make something new and innovative instead of just updating the graphics.

3. Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland ; Although it's not as good as Atelier Totori, it is still the most fun I've had on consoles this year. Unlike most Japanese role-playing games this one is really open-ended and you get to choose how you want to spend your time between hunting monsters and cooking up potions.

4. The Unfinished Swan ; Sure, it might be short and bit pricey, but it still did "beautiful, artsy and emotional" better than any other interactive experience this year.

5. The Walking Dead ; Great story and characters even though the game parts were rather weak.

6. Resonance ; I've been playing through most of Wadjet Eye's adventure games this year and everyone who's interested in the genre should definitely check this one out.

7. Mass Effect 3 ; The shooting mechanics might be a bit better, but most other parts of it was a disappointment. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it though.

8. Binary Domain ; A really solid third-person shooter with a likable cast.

9. Botanicula ; I didn't like the overall structure of the game, but the puzzles, art and music were all top notch.

10. WipEout 2048 ; The Vita might not have any system sellers, but many of the launch titles are really good games that are thoroughly enjoyable. The framerate in this isn't perfect and the load times are way too long, but otherwise it was almost as good as the PS3 WipEout games.

Honorable mentions:
X. Everybody’s Golf ; It got ridiculously difficult towards the end, but before that I was golf at its finest.
X. Journey ; Another short artsy game that I really liked even though it's not as excellent as Flower.
X. Krater ; I absolutely hated most of the writing in it and many of the mechanics in it could need an overhaul. Despite that I enjoyed it more than both Diablo III and Torchlight II which is quite impressive.
X. Miami Hotline ; The story never went anywhere interesting, but at least I enjoyed murdering people. That's the important part, right?
X. Tokyo Jungle ; Janky as hell and still incredibly fun.

I might replace some entries with these once I get around to play them:
• FTL: Faster than Light
• Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

 

[Corto]

Dikembe Mutombo Saves the World is eligible, right?

Definitely one of the top 3 games this year as far as writing is concerned.

For friendship!

*This post sponsored by Old Spice, BELIEVE IN YOUR SMELLF

**not for internal use.

 

[GorillaJu]

1. Dragon's Dogma; brilliant open world game with classic video game nuances and excellent combat.

2. Dishonored

3. Journey

4. Gravity Rush

 

[Chaos]

1. Journey ; An amazing Journey accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles ; Great rpg with amazing visuals for the Wii and a fun battle system.

 

[Haunted]

This year was a tough one. Most notable trends for me personally included the rise of the indie/downloadable and the missteps of many AAA titles, as well as Japan basically not being a factor at all in my deliberations (1 game out of 20… and it’s a port from a 2011 game).

The top 4 stand apart from all other games this year. Removed from my usual critical analysis, they’re simply the games that just grabbed me and never let go until the last second… and beyond. These are games I obsessed over in my spare time, thinking about strategies and reflecting on the decisions I’ve made, making me watch Let’s Plays to see the reaction of other people. Every entry on this list is worth playing, but those four stand above the rest in my personal list.

1. Spelunky ; The game I came back to the most this year. Every time is different, every time is fun. Lots of secrets, a great blend of skill, strategy and flexibility and a challenging but fair difficulty. I'll probably sink another 100 hundred hours into the eventual PC release, it's just that good.

2. The Walking Dead ; The game with the best writing this year. Telltale has created some of the most memorable and believable game characters this generation – or maybe ever - with the main duo of Lee and Clementine. Feeling an actual emotional connection to characters that you did not create yourself is a rarity - and a real achievement in games writing.

3. FTL: Faster Than Light ; A tough spaceship simulator that’s best summed up with this picture. You’ll feel overwhelmed, desperate, desolate as you drift in space… yet that’s just enhancing the connection to your trusty crew and soon enough you’ll feel like a proper space captain bellowing commands across the bridge... before it all goes to hell in the blink of an eye. As a sci-fi fan, FTL captures these feelings much better than any of the big budget competition.

4. Dark Souls: Durante Edition ; Shame on you, From. You had a fantastically beautiful game in there hidden all along, but it took a random hero programmer in fellow GAFer Durante to unearth it and make it available to the world. With the technical limitations of the console versions and the initial pitiful PC port swept aside, this game's art finally, truly, shines.

5. Journey ; Jenova Chen and thatgamecompany do it again. No tutorials, no words, no extra fat, just a beautiful audiovisual… journey through an evocative landscape. The videogame equivalent of a good poem.

6. Hotline Miami ; This game is cool. The poster child for Less Talk, More Rock. Sports the greatest soundtrack of the year, with many songs still in my regular playlist. Also prompted some of the best review writing this year, because really, you feel you have to live up to something special when talking and writing about this one.

7. ZombiU ; Biggest surprise of the year. Completely blindsided me after dismissing this as the next Red Steel for so long. An ambitious, bold and confident survival horror game with tension and scares, we haven’t seen one this good in years outside of Frictional. Great use of the second screen as well - even with the usual issues of a launch game, this is clearly one of the strongest titles this year.

8. Mark of the Ninja ; The best stealth game ever made? In 2D, probably. Tight controls, on-point mechanics, a variety of valid approaches, fluid animation, flawless execution.

9. Xcom ; This is how you update a classic. Faithful in spirit, but modernised in all the right spots. Not quite as sadistic as the original, but with all of its complexities intact. The new balance suits me just fine, thoroughly enjoyable to play.

10. The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb ; The original made me a McMillen fanboy last year, and the expansion just cemented that. One big, frustrating design failure was acknowledged and fixed, so all is right now.



And because the gaming industry is more diverse and more productive than ever (despite all the hemming and hawing I do on here for the direction we’re headed into in certain segments), here are ten more noteworthy games from this year, some of which were on my Top 10 list at one point or another, while others just did one thing outstandingly well or are otherwise memorable.


X. Far Cry 3 ; Some of the most solid open world gameplay this generation (first person), feels less ambitious compared to 2, great villain, after his removal the story falls completely flat.

X. Spec Ops: The Line ; Fantastic writing and a bold experiment - even if it’s "just" an adaptation from other media, they tried to make a subversive big budget title and succeeded.

X. Trials Evolution ; "One more run" design perfected, somehow keeps you coming back for more.

X. Dear Esther ; If Journey’s a poem, this one’s a short story. It’s a nice read.

X. Sleeping Dogs ; Some of the most solid open world gameplay this generation (third person). Could’ve been one of the better Kung-Fu stories since Shenmue, but it couldn’t shake its safer True Crime cop-game roots.

X. Sniper Elite V2 ; And the questionable award for "most satisfying headshots in gaming" goes to...

X. Diablo III ; I could talk all day about Blizzard’s failures here, but if you can keep me entertained for 100 hours before I start bitching, you must've done something right.

X. Dikembe Mutombo Saves the World ; Takes home most humorous writing of the year. A game of the moment, will be outdated and appear just weird in a couple months, but I don't care. For friendship!

X. Halo 4 ; Successfully designed to be very close to the original, which automatically makes it the best Halo since, well, Combat Evolved.

X. The Room ; a mobile game on my list? Yes. A well-produced, interesting one-room puzzler with thick atmosphere that takes full advantage of the ipad's capabilities.