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GAF Games of the Year 2012 - Voting Thread, now closed. Thanks for all the fish.
- Thread starter timetokill
- Start date
1. Journey ; This is an experience that shows more of what is possible in the 'video game' medium. It has a better story and a higher degree of expression than the majority of the industry without the use of any words. It also doesn't hurt that the music and visuals are gorgeous.
2. Xenoblade ; An expansive RPG with a great sense of adventure. Its battle mechanics are a great mix of old and new, and digging through what is possible is rewarding as certain characters become particularly useful. Xenoblade feels like an SNES RPG that took a few battle system cues from FFXII. In other words: it's excellent.
3. Persona 4 Golden ; An interesting mix of social sim and RPG. It's a murder mystery with a bright attitude and summons. Very addictive. I turned on my Vita and all of a sudden over 70 hours passed by.
4. Dragon's Dogma ; An open world RPG with an excellent action RPG battle system. Despite the fact that the world was a bit small, lacked enemy variety, and has a simple story, the strengths of Dragon's Dogma's battles sent this game rocketing up this list. Basically, inject Dragon's Dogma's battle system into Skyrim's expansive world and we have the makings of something truly great. I'm hoping a sequel expands upon Dragon's Dogma's potential.
5. Gravity Rush ; A very creative game with an excellent setting and art style. Flying around the large city environments was a joy. I only wish there was a little more variety in gameplay.
6. Little Big Planet PS Vita ; Little Big Planet, except better. With improved physics and clever use of the Vita's hardware. I've only scratched the surface of player-designed levels and I've come out of it thoroughly entertained. I was also very impressed by the level design in the main story.
7. Final Fantasy XIII-2 ; A fun romp through time with a fair amount of content. FFXIII's snappy battle system returns with minor improvements. This game would have been all the better if the DLC fights were in the game already, as they hold the majority of the game's difficulty (and classic Final Fantasy bosses).
8. Persona 4 Arena In a year filled with quite a few fighters, this game stood out to me as the best. Despite my failed attempt at getting into BlazBlue, I gave Ark System Works another shot and came out impressed. It has a relatively small roster of fighters, but they are all unique. This is a good example on how to make fighters accessible while retaining depth for experienced players.
9. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy ; A rhythm game much like the great Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents games but injected with Final Fantasy nostalgia. The light RPG elements also gave the game quite a bit of longevity, especially for completionists.
10. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; A fun arcadey-shooter with hilarious banter between characters. It's nice to see Kid Icarus revived on a modern handheld.
2011. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ; An excellent 3D Zelda with the best dungeon and combat gameplay yet. It is also a prime example for the potential of motion controls, that is if you're willing to try/adapt.
2. Xenoblade ; An expansive RPG with a great sense of adventure. Its battle mechanics are a great mix of old and new, and digging through what is possible is rewarding as certain characters become particularly useful. Xenoblade feels like an SNES RPG that took a few battle system cues from FFXII. In other words: it's excellent.
3. Persona 4 Golden ; An interesting mix of social sim and RPG. It's a murder mystery with a bright attitude and summons. Very addictive. I turned on my Vita and all of a sudden over 70 hours passed by.
4. Dragon's Dogma ; An open world RPG with an excellent action RPG battle system. Despite the fact that the world was a bit small, lacked enemy variety, and has a simple story, the strengths of Dragon's Dogma's battles sent this game rocketing up this list. Basically, inject Dragon's Dogma's battle system into Skyrim's expansive world and we have the makings of something truly great. I'm hoping a sequel expands upon Dragon's Dogma's potential.
5. Gravity Rush ; A very creative game with an excellent setting and art style. Flying around the large city environments was a joy. I only wish there was a little more variety in gameplay.
6. Little Big Planet PS Vita ; Little Big Planet, except better. With improved physics and clever use of the Vita's hardware. I've only scratched the surface of player-designed levels and I've come out of it thoroughly entertained. I was also very impressed by the level design in the main story.
7. Final Fantasy XIII-2 ; A fun romp through time with a fair amount of content. FFXIII's snappy battle system returns with minor improvements. This game would have been all the better if the DLC fights were in the game already, as they hold the majority of the game's difficulty (and classic Final Fantasy bosses).
8. Persona 4 Arena In a year filled with quite a few fighters, this game stood out to me as the best. Despite my failed attempt at getting into BlazBlue, I gave Ark System Works another shot and came out impressed. It has a relatively small roster of fighters, but they are all unique. This is a good example on how to make fighters accessible while retaining depth for experienced players.
9. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy ; A rhythm game much like the great Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents games but injected with Final Fantasy nostalgia. The light RPG elements also gave the game quite a bit of longevity, especially for completionists.
10. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; A fun arcadey-shooter with hilarious banter between characters. It's nice to see Kid Icarus revived on a modern handheld.
2011. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ; An excellent 3D Zelda with the best dungeon and combat gameplay yet. It is also a prime example for the potential of motion controls, that is if you're willing to try/adapt.
1.The Walking Dead ; A memorable, well written storyline .The Walking Dead is a spectrum of emotion that few other games dare to take on.
2.Sleeping Dogs
3.Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
4.Far Cry 3
5.Dust: An Elysian Tail
6.Forza Horizon
7.Dead or Alive 5
8.Need for Speed Most Wanted
9.Hotline Miami
2.Sleeping Dogs
3.Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
4.Far Cry 3
5.Dust: An Elysian Tail
6.Forza Horizon
7.Dead or Alive 5
8.Need for Speed Most Wanted
9.Hotline Miami
dancrane212
Member
1. Mass Effect 3; When the game came out I was knee-deep in schoolwork and couldn't dedicate any more than an hour or two every couple of days (if I was lucky) to sit down and play it. My months long play-though of ME3 was a great farewell tour to this universe and it's characters that I had invested 100+ hours in. Easily my game of the year.
2. Halo 4; While I had hoped 343 would have gone off in more unique direction for the game it's still one of the best I've played all year, few things can compare with a fantastic Halo game. Though something akin to a scan visor would have been nice, I really don't want to dig up a wiki to find out what certain concepts or characters are.
3. FTL; There was a week when a bunch of my friends and I were playing through the game. Telling and hearing stories of Solar Flares and last minutes saves was a highlight of the year.
4. Kid Icarus Uprising; Playing this game was like playing the best Saturday cartoon I'd never heard of before.
5. Spec Ops The Line; Stands out in a sea of run of the mill shooters, the tense lead up to the finale was great.
6. Xenoblade Chronicles; Made exploring in a JRPG fun and worthwhile.
7. The Last Story; Fun characters and a unique battle system.
8. Spelunky; Much like FTL it strikes a great balance between frustration and enjoyment. I still jump into this game pretty frequently even though I know I'll never each the bottom.
9. Walking Dead; Despite the discouraging technical problems I ran into I really enjoyed the first half of the game's season. Unfortunately once the game had shown it's hand in the third episode I felt it lost something, knowing that divergences in the plot would always be brought back together (usually within the next episode) started revealing too much of the game's seams.
10. Journey; While the game didn't click with me the same way Flower did it was still a memorable experience, the standout visuals are worth it alone.
2011 - Super Mario 3d Land
2. Halo 4; While I had hoped 343 would have gone off in more unique direction for the game it's still one of the best I've played all year, few things can compare with a fantastic Halo game. Though something akin to a scan visor would have been nice, I really don't want to dig up a wiki to find out what certain concepts or characters are.
3. FTL; There was a week when a bunch of my friends and I were playing through the game. Telling and hearing stories of Solar Flares and last minutes saves was a highlight of the year.
4. Kid Icarus Uprising; Playing this game was like playing the best Saturday cartoon I'd never heard of before.
5. Spec Ops The Line; Stands out in a sea of run of the mill shooters, the tense lead up to the finale was great.
6. Xenoblade Chronicles; Made exploring in a JRPG fun and worthwhile.
7. The Last Story; Fun characters and a unique battle system.
8. Spelunky; Much like FTL it strikes a great balance between frustration and enjoyment. I still jump into this game pretty frequently even though I know I'll never each the bottom.
9. Walking Dead; Despite the discouraging technical problems I ran into I really enjoyed the first half of the game's season. Unfortunately once the game had shown it's hand in the third episode I felt it lost something, knowing that divergences in the plot would always be brought back together (usually within the next episode) started revealing too much of the game's seams.
10. Journey; While the game didn't click with me the same way Flower did it was still a memorable experience, the standout visuals are worth it alone.
2011 - Super Mario 3d Land
GiantEnemyGoomba
Member
I'm not sure if Journey or The Walking Dead will get 1st, but I'm positive Kid Icarus will take 3rd. That's a pretty big surprise to me if it does, I didn't think it was well received here at all.
Fairly certain TWD and Journey will take the top two slots (mehhh), but I'd be content to see Kid Icarus at least make the Top Five.
Boy, I wasn't anticipating on participating in the voting this year but if everyone else can find a moment to spare than I should be able to as well. It's pretty damn hard to list only ten games when I've played close to fifty but not all were as stellar as the ones below.
10. The Last Story ; The game is ugly, gameplay isn't anything special or new, and the story is pretty basic but somewhere along the way I fell in love with The Last Story. The characters are where the game truly shines, and it takes a really good cast to make you overlook everything else wrong with the game.
9. Binary Domain ; Cheesy, over-the-top Japanese melodrama that was a blast to play! I loved that you could choose your squad and it had some interesting twists thrown your way.
8. Lollipop Chainsaw ; I didn't like what I played of Shadows of the Damned so I was hesitant to try Lollipop Chainsaw, but there's a certain charm to hearing 'Hey Mickey' and slashing zombies to pieces while rainbows form in the background.
7. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; I'm a lefty who loved KI:U. I feel like that should be enough but that doesn't cover nearly all the fantastic things this game had to offer. A beautifully composed soundtrack, great writing and humor, and an addicting multiplayer component. Sure, the controls do take some time to get used to, but once you find that sweet spot it's hard to deny that this game is a must own for every 3DS owner.
6. Final Fantasy XIII-2 ; I know I'm part of the problem for liking the Final Fantasy XIII saga so much, but how can I not? The gameplay mechanics are some of the best, and Noel was more tolerable than I was expecting. I loved the future versions of Academia and the game certainly wasn't a sore sight.
5. Zero's Escape: Virtues Last Reward ; As plenty of people have already stated, 999 was an exceptional game. So it's truly no surprise that VLR ended up on this list. I admit that I didn't like this cast as much as the previous entry but the thought provoking puzzles and intriguing story were enough for me to fall in love with this game. I would have placed it higher but I felt there were a few parts that dragged on for a bit too long.
4. Mass Effect 3 ; The ending doesn't bother me one bit, though that could be on account of me maxing out as much as possible so I could get the "good ending". I loved the return of familiar faces, and even felt that some of the tragic events only made me like the game even more.
3. Sleeping Dogs ; A game that wasn't even on my radar became something I was addicted to. Exploring Hong Kong at night by motorcycle was a blissful experience and I became so involved with the story and characters that I actually spent time doing side quests-which I rarely do. Wei is a likeable character, and you genuinely start to feel for his conflict.
2. The Witcher 2 ; I had been hearing so much about the Witcher universe that when the Witcher 2 released I rebought an Xbox to play. Wow! What a magical ride that was
The world is a joy to explore and Geralt is one of the best protagonist to grace a video game. I felt like the game also had something for everyone, between the combat, variety of quests, romance, and general ass kicking it was the perfect blend of RPG.
1. The Walking Dead ; I was LTTP on this, and played the entire game when it released on disc in December. I have no idea how people maintained their sanity while waiting for the episodes to release! Not only was the game a tear jerker but it features exceptional writing. The relationship between Lee and Clementine felt real, and you couldn't help but wish for the best outcome for them.
Honorable mentions;
x. Persona 4 Golden ; I love Persona. I especially love Persona 4. But I just wouldn't feel right placing this on my list when it's a port of a game I've already had in a top 10 before.
10. The Last Story ; The game is ugly, gameplay isn't anything special or new, and the story is pretty basic but somewhere along the way I fell in love with The Last Story. The characters are where the game truly shines, and it takes a really good cast to make you overlook everything else wrong with the game.
9. Binary Domain ; Cheesy, over-the-top Japanese melodrama that was a blast to play! I loved that you could choose your squad and it had some interesting twists thrown your way.
8. Lollipop Chainsaw ; I didn't like what I played of Shadows of the Damned so I was hesitant to try Lollipop Chainsaw, but there's a certain charm to hearing 'Hey Mickey' and slashing zombies to pieces while rainbows form in the background.
7. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; I'm a lefty who loved KI:U. I feel like that should be enough but that doesn't cover nearly all the fantastic things this game had to offer. A beautifully composed soundtrack, great writing and humor, and an addicting multiplayer component. Sure, the controls do take some time to get used to, but once you find that sweet spot it's hard to deny that this game is a must own for every 3DS owner.
6. Final Fantasy XIII-2 ; I know I'm part of the problem for liking the Final Fantasy XIII saga so much, but how can I not? The gameplay mechanics are some of the best, and Noel was more tolerable than I was expecting. I loved the future versions of Academia and the game certainly wasn't a sore sight.
5. Zero's Escape: Virtues Last Reward ; As plenty of people have already stated, 999 was an exceptional game. So it's truly no surprise that VLR ended up on this list. I admit that I didn't like this cast as much as the previous entry but the thought provoking puzzles and intriguing story were enough for me to fall in love with this game. I would have placed it higher but I felt there were a few parts that dragged on for a bit too long.
4. Mass Effect 3 ; The ending doesn't bother me one bit, though that could be on account of me maxing out as much as possible so I could get the "good ending". I loved the return of familiar faces, and even felt that some of the tragic events only made me like the game even more.
3. Sleeping Dogs ; A game that wasn't even on my radar became something I was addicted to. Exploring Hong Kong at night by motorcycle was a blissful experience and I became so involved with the story and characters that I actually spent time doing side quests-which I rarely do. Wei is a likeable character, and you genuinely start to feel for his conflict.
2. The Witcher 2 ; I had been hearing so much about the Witcher universe that when the Witcher 2 released I rebought an Xbox to play. Wow! What a magical ride that was
The world is a joy to explore and Geralt is one of the best protagonist to grace a video game. I felt like the game also had something for everyone, between the combat, variety of quests, romance, and general ass kicking it was the perfect blend of RPG. 1. The Walking Dead ; I was LTTP on this, and played the entire game when it released on disc in December. I have no idea how people maintained their sanity while waiting for the episodes to release! Not only was the game a tear jerker but it features exceptional writing. The relationship between Lee and Clementine felt real, and you couldn't help but wish for the best outcome for them.
Honorable mentions;
x. Persona 4 Golden ; I love Persona. I especially love Persona 4. But I just wouldn't feel right placing this on my list when it's a port of a game I've already had in a top 10 before.
We could probably get ten people for the ceremony.
lol
3rd and 5th. I wish I could be that optimistic.
I think it's gonna end up 11-15th.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Fixed.
grimshawish
Banned
If it wasn't for the game breaking camera then I'd agree. As it is a game supposedly focused on presentation just utterly fails and becomes actively painful to play and counter-intuitive for entire hours.
LOL, I'd be OK with this too, admittedly, but realistically, KIU might have a better shot!
I've been playing the game for well over 30 hours and I just don't get this kind of complaints. The bugs in the game happen so seldomly I'd call them entirely negligible.
TheDarkKnight774
Member
1) Journey. A short but rewarding and memorable gaming experience. It's short length, creative multiplayer, beautiful world and epic emotional beats made it the clear game of the year for me. It truly felt like a true journey and was rewarding from start to finish.
I just thought they were bad to the point of being unable to be learned by anyone. I'm honestly surprised anybody was able to get past it. Probably the worst controlling game I've played in a decade.
grimshawish
Banned
Well for me I dreaded certain UFOs. It wasn't a fun experience and just bad design where the roof would pop in and out and the characters wouldn't position properly.
When people start dying cause of the camera, theres an issue.
That was my experience anyway, and its a shame cause the game is great otherwise; I just can't progress now.
A good year again for me, even if I didn't play/finished as much games as I would have liked. DustForce, Spelunky, Far Cry 3, Xenoblade, Botanicula, Zero Escape, Hitman, Tokyo Jungle, I didn't forget about you guys, I just did not have enough time.
Before the top 10 I'd like to say thanks to all you guys for your lists, this thread was particularly interesting to read, and I can't wait for the results !
1. The Walking Dead ; I feel like Walking Dead is an important game. As much as I dislike David Cage’s works, I must admit he was on to something big with Heavy Rain’s overall structure. It wasn’t good because, unfortunately, he can’t admit he needs other people’s help to write his stories. I was waiting for some team to apply a good script to his formula, which in itself is like a modern take on classic adventure games, with much smoother pacing (or less interesting puzzles, your choice). I didn’t thought at all that Telltale, of all studios, would do it, but they did, and put all their experience in the adventure field to good use.
Walking Dead is important because it shows a good story can be a good game without complicated systems added to the script. Now don’t get me wrong, I do think it was a difficult achievement, but now that someone got it right, I think it’ll be easier to do it again, for Telltale of course, first and foremost, but for other devs too. This is a base and everybody will be able to work on it, trying to make it better. In this game, we basically have a good, classy way of telling a compelling story in an interactive manner. The player is always solicited, by the action sequences but also by the dialogs and choice making, so the "interactive" side is always justified.
I think a lot of people said they loved the characters, and yeah, it’s really rare to remember a video game cast that well after all is said and done. What helped is that they stayed with people a good part of the year. The first episode was released in april, the last in december, and even if slightly shorter breaks would’ve been perfect, I think it was the first game to, at least, get the episodic format right. Better yet, it gained strength from it.
Story implementation and episodic format : that’s two gigantic industry problems that a lot of great devs didn’t quite manage to solve over the last few years, and Walking Dead did it like it was obvious from the start. That’s why, for me, it deserves to be GOTY. And yeah, even if I didn’t spoke about it, I loved Lee and Clem, and haven’t quite got over the ending yet.
2. Fez ; It’s impossible not to be surprised by the contrast between Fez and its creator Phil Fish. I won’t enter the debate, I think everything has been said here on GAF, what amazes me is the dichotomy between the extreme (verbal) violence which surrounded Fez prior to its release and the love and tenderness you feel all around when you explore Gomez’ universe. That’s one of the gaming worlds I was the most happy to be into in this entire generation. There are hundreds of secrets, enigmas, hidden passages to discover, it’s non-violent exploration and discovery at its best. A very close second.
>>> Here's what I had to say on the soundtrack (with links)
3. Hotline Miami ; I’ve been following Cactus for quite a while, and what’s funny is that I wasn’t even aware he was the creator of this game when I first played it. I played it because I read people were enjoying it like crazy on GAF or Eurogamer. But soon, the Cactus trademark kicked in. This game is insane. It’s like a drug. It ingratiates itself with you, penetrating your muscles, your lungs, your brain. Soon, with the pulsating OST playing and the epileptic visuals, you enter a state of trance and you just can’t get enough, you must clean all these rooms in the cleanest, roughest way possible. What’s even better is that the game is fully aware of the effect it produces and makes fun of it.
>>> Here's what I had to say on the soundtrack (with links)
4. Journey ; A serene game, which is a lot about you and what you’re willing to see in it. Wonderful vistas, great pacing and, I’d argue, one of the best uses of cooperation in a video game to date. You’re learning from, teaching to, empathizing with total strangers and it feels completely natural and seamless.
5. Mass Effect 3 ; What can I say, I have a lot of respect for Bioware because they created a hero, a universe and characters I deeply cared about during 5 years. Maybe the direction the series went wasn’t totally what we were waiting for after the first episode, but overall, the Mass Effect trilogy is something unique (for now) in the gaming field, and I respect that. Even if – there’s an “even if” – it’s true that last chapter is probably a little bit inferior to the others, because of some plot points, because of the OST, because of some choices without the big consequences we waited for. Still, it’s a solid top 5 game for me this year.
6. Spec Ops : The Line ; Don’t want to spoil it for the guys who haven’t played it yet. What I can do is telling that I love when games make you think about what you’ve done in an intelligent way. It’s rare to have intelligent shooters, even rarer to have intelligent third person shooters. Everyone interested in video game storytelling and structure should play it.
7. Lone Survivor ; A deeply personal game made by one greatly talented individual (Jasper Byrne). It captures the horrific magic of the first Silent Hills, a psychological journey into the darkness of the human mind. It nails the atmosphere of a world collapsing and mixes an excellent, voluntarily vague story with extremely sophisticated systems of stats and inventory. Studios of dozens of people suffer to attain a quarter of this quality, which shows how important direction is in horror games.
8. The Fabulous Screech ; My traditional Jonas Kyratzes vote goes to a little game I played in the beginning of the year, which was developed as a gift for a fan. The Fabulous Screech takes place in the Book of Living Magic world, but really it’s a solid standalone game which is very short to finish. If you’re not waiting for a pacing a la Walking Dead, and if you don’t mind reading a little, I assure you it has the potential to make you all funny inside. It’s a simple, honest and touching reflection on life.
9. Minecraft 360 ; This game is a little bit like Fez : you explore a fantastic world with secrets in each corner. But here, the architect of the future civilization explorers will discover later is no other than yourself. A fantastic concept very well adapted to the console. 4 player coop is a blast and probably my best multiplayer experience of the year.
10. Asura’s Wrath ; Buuuh… Gggh… Ghhhhhhuuh… GHHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHH ! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH ! WAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH !!!
(Very) Honorable Mentions
x. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare ; It was my great last minute “nobody cares” dilemma : did Alan Wake last adventures belong in my top 10 ? I actually had a great time playing it, enjoyed the soundtrack and the refined gameplay. It just didn’t grab me as much as the original game, but still, it’s a quality title everyone should play. I hope Remedy get to make the Alan Wake 2 they want.
>>> Here's what I had to say on the soundtrack (with links)
x. Borderlands 2 ; Played it quite a bit but not enough to know if it has a place in my top 10. Love the humor, the characters, the design… Yup, could have been up there !
x. Dear Esther ; It’s a beautiful title, I like the poem-game concept some of you used. Would have loved to walk a little faster, the slow pace wasn’t a good idea for encouraging exploration, but overall it was a very nice experience, and a cool OST. It’s important games like these are made.
x. Dishonored ; I’m very glad this game was made, and it’s great. Unfortunately, haven’t finished it yet. But it could have claimed a place in my top 10.
x. FIFA 13 ; The solo carrier mode is so deep, it’s like a strategy game. Too bad the IA shows its limits after a few dozen matches. Still, had a blast playing it.
x. Katawa Shoujo ; Despite being made by 4Chan, it’s a surprisingly competent interactive novel with real emotional moments. Would have loved to play more than the two paths I played.
x. Sleeping Dogs ; GTA in Hong Kong with a cool martial arts system… What else ?
x. Thomas was Alone ; Loved the concept of adding narration to what would have been otherwise just another platform indie game. Mike Bithell even managed to develop interesting themes on IAs. Wasn’t so fond of the switching mechanic, a bit tedious in the last levels, but it was a very interesting experiment.
x. XCOM Enemy Unknown ; Basically word for word what I said for Dishonored.
For ref : 2009 vote / 2010 vote / 2011 vote
Before the top 10 I'd like to say thanks to all you guys for your lists, this thread was particularly interesting to read, and I can't wait for the results !
1. The Walking Dead ; I feel like Walking Dead is an important game. As much as I dislike David Cage’s works, I must admit he was on to something big with Heavy Rain’s overall structure. It wasn’t good because, unfortunately, he can’t admit he needs other people’s help to write his stories. I was waiting for some team to apply a good script to his formula, which in itself is like a modern take on classic adventure games, with much smoother pacing (or less interesting puzzles, your choice). I didn’t thought at all that Telltale, of all studios, would do it, but they did, and put all their experience in the adventure field to good use.
Walking Dead is important because it shows a good story can be a good game without complicated systems added to the script. Now don’t get me wrong, I do think it was a difficult achievement, but now that someone got it right, I think it’ll be easier to do it again, for Telltale of course, first and foremost, but for other devs too. This is a base and everybody will be able to work on it, trying to make it better. In this game, we basically have a good, classy way of telling a compelling story in an interactive manner. The player is always solicited, by the action sequences but also by the dialogs and choice making, so the "interactive" side is always justified.
I think a lot of people said they loved the characters, and yeah, it’s really rare to remember a video game cast that well after all is said and done. What helped is that they stayed with people a good part of the year. The first episode was released in april, the last in december, and even if slightly shorter breaks would’ve been perfect, I think it was the first game to, at least, get the episodic format right. Better yet, it gained strength from it.
Story implementation and episodic format : that’s two gigantic industry problems that a lot of great devs didn’t quite manage to solve over the last few years, and Walking Dead did it like it was obvious from the start. That’s why, for me, it deserves to be GOTY. And yeah, even if I didn’t spoke about it, I loved Lee and Clem, and haven’t quite got over the ending yet.
2. Fez ; It’s impossible not to be surprised by the contrast between Fez and its creator Phil Fish. I won’t enter the debate, I think everything has been said here on GAF, what amazes me is the dichotomy between the extreme (verbal) violence which surrounded Fez prior to its release and the love and tenderness you feel all around when you explore Gomez’ universe. That’s one of the gaming worlds I was the most happy to be into in this entire generation. There are hundreds of secrets, enigmas, hidden passages to discover, it’s non-violent exploration and discovery at its best. A very close second.
>>> Here's what I had to say on the soundtrack (with links)
3. Hotline Miami ; I’ve been following Cactus for quite a while, and what’s funny is that I wasn’t even aware he was the creator of this game when I first played it. I played it because I read people were enjoying it like crazy on GAF or Eurogamer. But soon, the Cactus trademark kicked in. This game is insane. It’s like a drug. It ingratiates itself with you, penetrating your muscles, your lungs, your brain. Soon, with the pulsating OST playing and the epileptic visuals, you enter a state of trance and you just can’t get enough, you must clean all these rooms in the cleanest, roughest way possible. What’s even better is that the game is fully aware of the effect it produces and makes fun of it.
>>> Here's what I had to say on the soundtrack (with links)
4. Journey ; A serene game, which is a lot about you and what you’re willing to see in it. Wonderful vistas, great pacing and, I’d argue, one of the best uses of cooperation in a video game to date. You’re learning from, teaching to, empathizing with total strangers and it feels completely natural and seamless.
5. Mass Effect 3 ; What can I say, I have a lot of respect for Bioware because they created a hero, a universe and characters I deeply cared about during 5 years. Maybe the direction the series went wasn’t totally what we were waiting for after the first episode, but overall, the Mass Effect trilogy is something unique (for now) in the gaming field, and I respect that. Even if – there’s an “even if” – it’s true that last chapter is probably a little bit inferior to the others, because of some plot points, because of the OST, because of some choices without the big consequences we waited for. Still, it’s a solid top 5 game for me this year.
6. Spec Ops : The Line ; Don’t want to spoil it for the guys who haven’t played it yet. What I can do is telling that I love when games make you think about what you’ve done in an intelligent way. It’s rare to have intelligent shooters, even rarer to have intelligent third person shooters. Everyone interested in video game storytelling and structure should play it.
7. Lone Survivor ; A deeply personal game made by one greatly talented individual (Jasper Byrne). It captures the horrific magic of the first Silent Hills, a psychological journey into the darkness of the human mind. It nails the atmosphere of a world collapsing and mixes an excellent, voluntarily vague story with extremely sophisticated systems of stats and inventory. Studios of dozens of people suffer to attain a quarter of this quality, which shows how important direction is in horror games.
8. The Fabulous Screech ; My traditional Jonas Kyratzes vote goes to a little game I played in the beginning of the year, which was developed as a gift for a fan. The Fabulous Screech takes place in the Book of Living Magic world, but really it’s a solid standalone game which is very short to finish. If you’re not waiting for a pacing a la Walking Dead, and if you don’t mind reading a little, I assure you it has the potential to make you all funny inside. It’s a simple, honest and touching reflection on life.
9. Minecraft 360 ; This game is a little bit like Fez : you explore a fantastic world with secrets in each corner. But here, the architect of the future civilization explorers will discover later is no other than yourself. A fantastic concept very well adapted to the console. 4 player coop is a blast and probably my best multiplayer experience of the year.
10. Asura’s Wrath ; Buuuh… Gggh… Ghhhhhhuuh… GHHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHH ! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH ! WAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH !!!
(Very) Honorable Mentions
x. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare ; It was my great last minute “nobody cares” dilemma : did Alan Wake last adventures belong in my top 10 ? I actually had a great time playing it, enjoyed the soundtrack and the refined gameplay. It just didn’t grab me as much as the original game, but still, it’s a quality title everyone should play. I hope Remedy get to make the Alan Wake 2 they want.
>>> Here's what I had to say on the soundtrack (with links)
x. Borderlands 2 ; Played it quite a bit but not enough to know if it has a place in my top 10. Love the humor, the characters, the design… Yup, could have been up there !
x. Dear Esther ; It’s a beautiful title, I like the poem-game concept some of you used. Would have loved to walk a little faster, the slow pace wasn’t a good idea for encouraging exploration, but overall it was a very nice experience, and a cool OST. It’s important games like these are made.
x. Dishonored ; I’m very glad this game was made, and it’s great. Unfortunately, haven’t finished it yet. But it could have claimed a place in my top 10.
x. FIFA 13 ; The solo carrier mode is so deep, it’s like a strategy game. Too bad the IA shows its limits after a few dozen matches. Still, had a blast playing it.
x. Katawa Shoujo ; Despite being made by 4Chan, it’s a surprisingly competent interactive novel with real emotional moments. Would have loved to play more than the two paths I played.
x. Sleeping Dogs ; GTA in Hong Kong with a cool martial arts system… What else ?
x. Thomas was Alone ; Loved the concept of adding narration to what would have been otherwise just another platform indie game. Mike Bithell even managed to develop interesting themes on IAs. Wasn’t so fond of the switching mechanic, a bit tedious in the last levels, but it was a very interesting experiment.
x. XCOM Enemy Unknown ; Basically word for word what I said for Dishonored.
For ref : 2009 vote / 2010 vote / 2011 vote
GhaleonQ
Member
As usual, for my “real list,” I do not include remakes and I only consider games that had 2012 as their release date in their country of origin. For those of you who think this is pretentious and awful, you’re right, so just scroll down to the “voting list,” where everything is nice, concise, and tidy. You’ll note that the voting list is different from my 2012 “official list” with 1 game localized this year added and 2 that will be localized next year removed. That’s to properly follow NeoGAF rules, which are more sensible than my awful, borderline compulsive habits.
Ten
Winning An Argument With A Bullet 2: Farewell, School Of Hopelessness/Super Danganronpa 2
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3522115&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 I’m delighted that this is the 2nd game in the series with an essentially live fan-translation-crowd playthrough for English-speaking audiences. Complete with video clips, screenshots, and music links (check Nert’s and my Soundtracks Of The Year topic for more!), you could experience this game as a webcomic. The sort of person who uses this to argue that Japanese graphic adventure games are not good games misunderstands how straight-on point-of-view shots capture the player’s attention, how necessary visual and audial cues to swinging the tone between dread and silliness, and how critical set timing is to making bear sex jokes land. This sort of person probably also reads Wikipedia summaries instead of actual books and you should not hear him out on any subject whatsoever.
Nine
Lightning 11 5: Chrono Stone/Inazuma Eleven Go 2: Chrono Stone
Remember when Level-5 was the next Square-Enix? Well, now the players transform into comic book characters to play soccer against dinosaurs and , so I guess that comparison’s done. But, hey, even when your opponents are coached by
, you’re still dealing with the basic Inazuma 11 gameplay setup. The combination of Pokemon, Captain Tsubasa, and Final Fantasy X is still 1 of the best executed game ideas of the past 10 years, and it’s going to take 10 different editions per entry or direct blasphemy against my religion to knock this out of my yearly top 15.
Eight
Pull-Crash/Crashmo
Humans are flown, or fall;
Humans can’t fly.
We’re down with the gravity-stemmers,
Rare, thick-boned, often basso.
Most animals above the tides are airborne.
Typically tuned keen, they
Throw the ground away with wire feet
And swoop rings round it.
Magpies, listening askance
For their food in and under lawn,
Strut so hair-trigger they almost
Dangle on earth, out of the air.
Nearly anything can make their
Tailcoats break into wings.
…Well, Les Murray, SUCK IT, because you won’t see Gravity Daze on this list. Mallo demonstrates that the joy of falling is as pleasurable as the joy of soaring.
Seven
Brawling Hoodlum 6: Tokyo Battle Royal/Kenka Bancho Bros.: Tokyo Battle Royale
This game scares me. I’m a staunch advocate for games-as-art, the notion that games are more than play or rulesets or mathematics or experimental psychology. This upends my argument. You like 1 dude kicking dudes? How about 2 dudes kicking dudes, and 1 is your buddy?! Did you have hundreds too many moves from which to choose in 5 and the spinoff? Double it! Oh, you think that there was too much to collect, customize, and explore last time? We’re giving you more, and you’ll like it! And I did.
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.
Five
Animal Forest: Jump Out/Animal Crossing: New Leaf
“Hey, GhaleonQ. It’s been awhile since we’ve talked. Like, really talked. Um, so I had a few rough years there at college. It’s a wild world out there, right? I got caught up in the big city, started wearing the same clothes every day, switched out my interesting taste in art for something trashier, and generally just got lazy. I even think I sent you the same Facebook letter 4 times in a week, which is really unexcusable. I guess I didn’t keep my eyes on what was important. Well, I’m back to my old self now. I have a new job, I trashed my bad influence friends for real people, and I’ve started being someone interesting in the world again. If you want to hang out, I’m up for it. Let me know. Best wishes, Animal Crossing. P.S.: as a peace offering, please accept this fly-ass umbrella. I designed it myself.”
Four
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy/Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
It’s not THAT hard to do Squaresoft-style role-playing games, even as we’ve watched Yoichi Wada’s brain seep out of his skull for the past 12 years. What I appreciate about Silicon Studio’s best work is that it challenges itself to do better. There’s an accessible story, but it goes 5pb-crazy instead of, “‘There is no hope. Not for L’cie.’ ‘There's you.’ ‘It’s my name, not who I am,’” crazy. There are Final Fantasy IX aesthetics that don’t settle for merely being Final Fantasy IX aesthetics, but something sleekly classic on their own. The battle and gameplay systems bypass the arcane to become something intelligent, strategic, and *gasp* fun. It’s really hard to make a video game this good.
Three
Iron Fist Tag Tournament 2/Tekken Tag Tournament 2
I am always, always in favor of throwing a bunch of stuff into a game for no reason. This is expressed most forcefully, for me, in fighting games. Unless your game is story-based, each game should have all of the characters and many more, huge caches of unlockable secrets, more modes than I can conceivably use without becoming a professional pretend martial artist, and stages, art, and music that convince me that you’re creating a game and not a set of hitbox equations. In other words, Capcom could leave the genre tomorrow and I wouldn’t care a whit. Namco gave me everything that I ever wanted and made it free. I really like Tekken since 5. I now adore Tekken and will buy everything they do from now on. Call that the sustainable method of game creation.
Two
Skull/Dokuro
I’ve kept the faith, Game Arts. Countless companies have been hollowed out, sold off, sold out, put under, misdirected, mismanaged, and screwed over in this past, forsaken generation. Many of the companies I love couldn’t clear the bar in the digital age, and I expect that trend to continue as even handhelds are proving not to be safe havens. The last time this happened, I immersed myself in the past and the unfamiliar, doing my homework to understand from where games came and what made them good. In 2012, when even blockbusters weren’t bulletproof and people misconstrued the indie world as “interesting” instead of merely “unique,” what was I supposed to do? It turned out that the answer was, “Do things that weren’t video games.” But then Dokuro came, and Game Arts said, “Thank you for buying 10 versions of Lunar. Here is a game that we made for you.” Its gameplay core captures the playful essence of Game Arts, but the gritty game design is the graft of Tecmo. Its twee chalk art knows exactly when to use color, but the tone of its story knows how to let the darkness seep in. Yasuhiro Kawasaki’s score suggests the delicacy of your character and his love, the spookiness of your surroundings, and, ultimately, the backbone that gives this fairytale its proper ending. I hold high standards for puzzle-platformers, and this surpassed my every expectation. As writers continue to herald Californian basement dwellers who made (get this) a monochromatic puzzle-platformer with an austere soundtrack and A VERY AMBITIOUS AND IMPORTANT STORY IF YOU GET THE SYMBOLISM LIKE WE DO, I will continue the refrain: “Mid-sized teams are the past and future of the video game industry.” And, hey, Game Arts is still alive, even thriving, which is the best evidence for my claim that there could be.
One
Virtua Fighter 5/Virtua Fighter 5
I’m not contrarian. I enjoy being idiosyncratic, but not for its own sake. So, when the greatest 3-d fighting game there is comes about in its ultimate form, I recall how it revivified and expanded my love for video games in the dark days of 2007. As I once again become bored with my favorite hobby’s direction, Virtua Fighter’s a sort of lodestar to me. It’s a universal constant. Its art, character design, and music will always be 1990s Sega cheesy, not actually cheesy. It will always be balanced, forward-thinking, exciting, and (though this is not its reputation) a fair teacher of its principles. It will always be the game of choice for the most clever and engaging high-level play. It will always be overstuffed with things to do. IT HAD BETTER ALWAYS HAVE MY BEAUTIFUL MONKEY CIRCUS GIRL. It doesn’t require explanation, because it doesn’t really need you or me. It will be, and when we realize or remember that it’s great, it will be there. It’s my favorite game of 2012.
1. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown ; It’s unconcerned with where games are going, which is to its ultimate credit.
2. Dokuro ; It’s made for me.
3. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ; It’s everything all at once.
4. Akai Katana ; It’s designed like a geyser, but with lasers.
5. Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; It’s by a better designer, artist, and writer than Shigeru Miyamoto.
6. Kenka Bancho Bros. ; It’s titled “Shock Of Children! Surrounded By Kicks” in a better universe than this one.
7. Crashmo ; It’s why I’ll always want to play video games.
8. Inazuma Eleven Go 2: Chrono Stone ; It’s cruising, for better or worse.
9. Super Danganronpa 2 ; It’s mah animez for people who call it “Japanese animation.”
10. Beyond The Labyrinth ; It’s a lovely antique.
Ten
Winning An Argument With A Bullet 2: Farewell, School Of Hopelessness/Super Danganronpa 2
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3522115&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 I’m delighted that this is the 2nd game in the series with an essentially live fan-translation-crowd playthrough for English-speaking audiences. Complete with video clips, screenshots, and music links (check Nert’s and my Soundtracks Of The Year topic for more!), you could experience this game as a webcomic. The sort of person who uses this to argue that Japanese graphic adventure games are not good games misunderstands how straight-on point-of-view shots capture the player’s attention, how necessary visual and audial cues to swinging the tone between dread and silliness, and how critical set timing is to making bear sex jokes land. This sort of person probably also reads Wikipedia summaries instead of actual books and you should not hear him out on any subject whatsoever.
Nine
Lightning 11 5: Chrono Stone/Inazuma Eleven Go 2: Chrono Stone
Remember when Level-5 was the next Square-Enix? Well, now the players transform into comic book characters to play soccer against dinosaurs and , so I guess that comparison’s done. But, hey, even when your opponents are coached by
famous figures of the Bakumatsu period
Eight
Pull-Crash/Crashmo
Humans are flown, or fall;
Humans can’t fly.
We’re down with the gravity-stemmers,
Rare, thick-boned, often basso.
Most animals above the tides are airborne.
Typically tuned keen, they
Throw the ground away with wire feet
And swoop rings round it.
Magpies, listening askance
For their food in and under lawn,
Strut so hair-trigger they almost
Dangle on earth, out of the air.
Nearly anything can make their
Tailcoats break into wings.
…Well, Les Murray, SUCK IT, because you won’t see Gravity Daze on this list. Mallo demonstrates that the joy of falling is as pleasurable as the joy of soaring.
Seven
Brawling Hoodlum 6: Tokyo Battle Royal/Kenka Bancho Bros.: Tokyo Battle Royale
This game scares me. I’m a staunch advocate for games-as-art, the notion that games are more than play or rulesets or mathematics or experimental psychology. This upends my argument. You like 1 dude kicking dudes? How about 2 dudes kicking dudes, and 1 is your buddy?! Did you have hundreds too many moves from which to choose in 5 and the spinoff? Double it! Oh, you think that there was too much to collect, customize, and explore last time? We’re giving you more, and you’ll like it! And I did.
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.
Five
Animal Forest: Jump Out/Animal Crossing: New Leaf
“Hey, GhaleonQ. It’s been awhile since we’ve talked. Like, really talked. Um, so I had a few rough years there at college. It’s a wild world out there, right? I got caught up in the big city, started wearing the same clothes every day, switched out my interesting taste in art for something trashier, and generally just got lazy. I even think I sent you the same Facebook letter 4 times in a week, which is really unexcusable. I guess I didn’t keep my eyes on what was important. Well, I’m back to my old self now. I have a new job, I trashed my bad influence friends for real people, and I’ve started being someone interesting in the world again. If you want to hang out, I’m up for it. Let me know. Best wishes, Animal Crossing. P.S.: as a peace offering, please accept this fly-ass umbrella. I designed it myself.”
Four
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy/Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
It’s not THAT hard to do Squaresoft-style role-playing games, even as we’ve watched Yoichi Wada’s brain seep out of his skull for the past 12 years. What I appreciate about Silicon Studio’s best work is that it challenges itself to do better. There’s an accessible story, but it goes 5pb-crazy instead of, “‘There is no hope. Not for L’cie.’ ‘There's you.’ ‘It’s my name, not who I am,’” crazy. There are Final Fantasy IX aesthetics that don’t settle for merely being Final Fantasy IX aesthetics, but something sleekly classic on their own. The battle and gameplay systems bypass the arcane to become something intelligent, strategic, and *gasp* fun. It’s really hard to make a video game this good.
Three
Iron Fist Tag Tournament 2/Tekken Tag Tournament 2
I am always, always in favor of throwing a bunch of stuff into a game for no reason. This is expressed most forcefully, for me, in fighting games. Unless your game is story-based, each game should have all of the characters and many more, huge caches of unlockable secrets, more modes than I can conceivably use without becoming a professional pretend martial artist, and stages, art, and music that convince me that you’re creating a game and not a set of hitbox equations. In other words, Capcom could leave the genre tomorrow and I wouldn’t care a whit. Namco gave me everything that I ever wanted and made it free. I really like Tekken since 5. I now adore Tekken and will buy everything they do from now on. Call that the sustainable method of game creation.
Two
Skull/Dokuro
I’ve kept the faith, Game Arts. Countless companies have been hollowed out, sold off, sold out, put under, misdirected, mismanaged, and screwed over in this past, forsaken generation. Many of the companies I love couldn’t clear the bar in the digital age, and I expect that trend to continue as even handhelds are proving not to be safe havens. The last time this happened, I immersed myself in the past and the unfamiliar, doing my homework to understand from where games came and what made them good. In 2012, when even blockbusters weren’t bulletproof and people misconstrued the indie world as “interesting” instead of merely “unique,” what was I supposed to do? It turned out that the answer was, “Do things that weren’t video games.” But then Dokuro came, and Game Arts said, “Thank you for buying 10 versions of Lunar. Here is a game that we made for you.” Its gameplay core captures the playful essence of Game Arts, but the gritty game design is the graft of Tecmo. Its twee chalk art knows exactly when to use color, but the tone of its story knows how to let the darkness seep in. Yasuhiro Kawasaki’s score suggests the delicacy of your character and his love, the spookiness of your surroundings, and, ultimately, the backbone that gives this fairytale its proper ending. I hold high standards for puzzle-platformers, and this surpassed my every expectation. As writers continue to herald Californian basement dwellers who made (get this) a monochromatic puzzle-platformer with an austere soundtrack and A VERY AMBITIOUS AND IMPORTANT STORY IF YOU GET THE SYMBOLISM LIKE WE DO, I will continue the refrain: “Mid-sized teams are the past and future of the video game industry.” And, hey, Game Arts is still alive, even thriving, which is the best evidence for my claim that there could be.
One
Virtua Fighter 5/Virtua Fighter 5
I’m not contrarian. I enjoy being idiosyncratic, but not for its own sake. So, when the greatest 3-d fighting game there is comes about in its ultimate form, I recall how it revivified and expanded my love for video games in the dark days of 2007. As I once again become bored with my favorite hobby’s direction, Virtua Fighter’s a sort of lodestar to me. It’s a universal constant. Its art, character design, and music will always be 1990s Sega cheesy, not actually cheesy. It will always be balanced, forward-thinking, exciting, and (though this is not its reputation) a fair teacher of its principles. It will always be the game of choice for the most clever and engaging high-level play. It will always be overstuffed with things to do. IT HAD BETTER ALWAYS HAVE MY BEAUTIFUL MONKEY CIRCUS GIRL. It doesn’t require explanation, because it doesn’t really need you or me. It will be, and when we realize or remember that it’s great, it will be there. It’s my favorite game of 2012.
1. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown ; It’s unconcerned with where games are going, which is to its ultimate credit.
2. Dokuro ; It’s made for me.
3. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ; It’s everything all at once.
4. Akai Katana ; It’s designed like a geyser, but with lasers.
5. Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; It’s by a better designer, artist, and writer than Shigeru Miyamoto.
6. Kenka Bancho Bros. ; It’s titled “Shock Of Children! Surrounded By Kicks” in a better universe than this one.
7. Crashmo ; It’s why I’ll always want to play video games.
8. Inazuma Eleven Go 2: Chrono Stone ; It’s cruising, for better or worse.
9. Super Danganronpa 2 ; It’s mah animez for people who call it “Japanese animation.”
10. Beyond The Labyrinth ; It’s a lovely antique.
1. Kid Icarus Uprising ; PC high sensitivity FPS aiming in a TPS. Didn't know it before KI but THIS is the way I like my TPS. That combined with no plodding movement of cover filled interactions makes this my favorites TPS set up. From there, its just as everyone else has said about that game. A class act through and through.
2. New Super Mario Bros. 2 ; Coin Rush is the best reason to replay through a platformer period. Better than speed runs through Sonic or Super Meat Boy, better than high scores, better than anything else I can think of. Takes the multiple tiered level design of Mario (which surprising isn't shared by any of the new school platfomers) and makes it shine. Gold Flowers turn enemy clusters into chain possibilities ala Every Extend Extra. Balancing the need for more coins vs staying alive with 1-life given is a good enough reason to play through the levels even without going for max score. Secret locations for 1-up and Star Coins become essential. And to cap it all off, the tension you feel when going for that last x2 multiplier by ending the levels at the top of the flag pole is a perfect way to finish off a level run.
3. Nintendo Land ;
4. Spelunky ;
5. Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; Rather than an adventure in a Mario inspired world like previous Paper Mario RPGs, SS is an adventure that feels like it could spring up from any traditional 2d Mario game. Remember Yoshi's House at the beginning of Mario World? How within the vocabulary of level titles designed to promote platforming they managed to portray a simple notion that things can make their homes in the level nodes on the overworld. SS feels like a more fleshed out version of that. Not only do character's dwellings appear after a click of a node on a map but bosses, set pieces, and story bits do as well. People wishing for more "story" in their Mario games should look to SS for what a 2d Mario with story could be.
6. Space Team ;
2. New Super Mario Bros. 2 ; Coin Rush is the best reason to replay through a platformer period. Better than speed runs through Sonic or Super Meat Boy, better than high scores, better than anything else I can think of. Takes the multiple tiered level design of Mario (which surprising isn't shared by any of the new school platfomers) and makes it shine. Gold Flowers turn enemy clusters into chain possibilities ala Every Extend Extra. Balancing the need for more coins vs staying alive with 1-life given is a good enough reason to play through the levels even without going for max score. Secret locations for 1-up and Star Coins become essential. And to cap it all off, the tension you feel when going for that last x2 multiplier by ending the levels at the top of the flag pole is a perfect way to finish off a level run.
3. Nintendo Land ;
4. Spelunky ;
5. Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; Rather than an adventure in a Mario inspired world like previous Paper Mario RPGs, SS is an adventure that feels like it could spring up from any traditional 2d Mario game. Remember Yoshi's House at the beginning of Mario World? How within the vocabulary of level titles designed to promote platforming they managed to portray a simple notion that things can make their homes in the level nodes on the overworld. SS feels like a more fleshed out version of that. Not only do character's dwellings appear after a click of a node on a map but bosses, set pieces, and story bits do as well. People wishing for more "story" in their Mario games should look to SS for what a 2d Mario with story could be.
6. Space Team ;
1. Final Fantasy XIII-2 ; This one surprised me, I wasn't expecting much, yet felt obligated to give this a shot. Definitely enjoyed the crap out of this one.
2. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward ; Best mind-fuck story super enjoyable/challenging puzzles. Can't wait for part 3 of this series.
3. Resident Evil 6 ; Played this co-op, definitely a lot better than what I was expecting.
4. Assassin's Creed III ; Last AssCreed I played was the 1st one, and came back to number 3. Probably missing a chunk of references and storyline, but still enjoyed going through the game and the plethora of side stuff to do. Multi-player also wasn't bad. Completely forgot they introduced multiplayer to Assassin's Creed.
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops II ; Need that dose of FPS.
6. Halo 4 ; Also pretty good, loving the variety of multiplayer modes.
7. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown ; Love using Lion in this.
8. Guild Wars 2 ; Got up to level 30ish then pretty much everyone I was playing with dropped the game. Still pretty damn enjoyable.
9. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy ; Such a cute game, and ridiculous nostalgia rush when going through all the different songs of my favorite series.
10. Max Anarchy ; Japanese Imported. Great campaign, still haven't completed it. Multiplayer's a blast too.
2. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward ; Best mind-fuck story super enjoyable/challenging puzzles. Can't wait for part 3 of this series.
3. Resident Evil 6 ; Played this co-op, definitely a lot better than what I was expecting.
4. Assassin's Creed III ; Last AssCreed I played was the 1st one, and came back to number 3. Probably missing a chunk of references and storyline, but still enjoyed going through the game and the plethora of side stuff to do. Multi-player also wasn't bad. Completely forgot they introduced multiplayer to Assassin's Creed.
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops II ; Need that dose of FPS.
6. Halo 4 ; Also pretty good, loving the variety of multiplayer modes.
7. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown ; Love using Lion in this.
8. Guild Wars 2 ; Got up to level 30ish then pretty much everyone I was playing with dropped the game. Still pretty damn enjoyable.
9. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy ; Such a cute game, and ridiculous nostalgia rush when going through all the different songs of my favorite series.
10. Max Anarchy ; Japanese Imported. Great campaign, still haven't completed it. Multiplayer's a blast too.
cr_blah_blah
Member
1. Forza Horizon ; Best racing game I've ever played. That's about it.
2. Trials Evolution
3. FTL
4. FIFA 13
5. Chivalry
6. Borderlands 2
7. Walking Dead
8. Max Payne 3
9. Halo 4
10. Diablo 3
2011. Rayman Origins
2. Trials Evolution
3. FTL
4. FIFA 13
5. Chivalry
6. Borderlands 2
7. Walking Dead
8. Max Payne 3
9. Halo 4
10. Diablo 3
2011. Rayman Origins
Remachinate
Member
1. Dishonored; I freely admit this isnt the best stealth game of the year, nor is it the most well-written. But what puts this game at the top of my list is how all of the elements, however flawed, come together to make an immersive experience that was unmatched in 2012. Dunwall is so well-realized as a place that I wanted to explore every inch of the levels, and the Blink power alone makes navigating space feel so good. There were several ways the game could have been improved, but as a player who sees a lot of value in being able to inhabit an engaging world, I have to give this game #1 on my list.
2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown; I never played the original XCOM, but Im a sucker for grid-layout turn-based strategy games. What makes XCOM such a well-executed entry in this genre is how well it encourages deep investment in the overarching campaign rather than merely moving from mission to mission for the next challenge. The combination of constant tense situations where you risk the soldiers youve curated, and the need to constantly manage your level of strength (technology, solider level) relative to the aliens keeps you engaged all the way through.
3. The Walking Dead; A fantastic step forward in the writing of games. People who criticize the gameplay dont realize that the choices *are* the gameplay. The game challenges you not with what barely passes for point-and-click puzzles, but confronting the decisions youd actually make in the scenarios presented and how that reflects on the person you are. My primary gripe is how nihilistic the story is; none of the characters ever get a chance at actual happiness or even contentment; even at the end
In spite of that, though, the impact the narrative makes is substantial.
4. Mark of the Ninja; Now this is the best stealth game of the year. All of the elements of the game act cohesively to provide the type of tight gameplay youd expect from playing a stalking, unseen ninja. Some of the eyeroll-inducing cutscenes undermine tonal shift of the ending, and the teleportation power breaks the new game plus, but otherwise a very well-executed game.
5. Spec Ops: The Line; Another fantastic example of writing in games. If the philosophical novel had a video game analogue, this game would fall into that category, and its a category I could use more of. The main reason Spec Ops is rated below The Walking Dead is because while the latter had little gameplay outside of the choices you make, the former has tedious gameplay that, while reinforcing the themes explored, makes progression tedious at times.
6. FTL; There's a lot of design space to explore in Roguelikes, and this is a great realization of a strategy spaceship simulator within the genre. With minimal graphics, the game is surprisingly immersive and is able to be both tense and calming. I also love how each ship completely changes the strategy of how you approach engagements and which upgrades to prioritize.
7. Spelunky; Another excellent Roguelike, that is able to keep playthroughs fresh even after hundreds of attempts. The main reason this loses out to FTL is how often easily you can immediately die regardless of how well you've been doing, an unfortunate relic of old-school Roguelike design.
8. Fez; What a fantastic peaceful aesthetic experience and hardcore puzzler all at once. The game can be as challenging as you want it to be, and fully explores the rotating mechanic.
9. Hotline Miami; I wasn't as blown away by the gameplay as some, but the way it integrates the frantic violence with similarly frenetic visuals and music can be almost trance-inducing. The thematic exploration of violence and the primacy of mechanics in a game don't hurt either.
10. Stealth Bastard; This game hasn't gotten nearly enough GAF-love. It's a subversion of stealth mechanics for puzzle platforming rather than infiltration that make for a surprisingly engaging game.
2011. The Binding of Isaac; This is the best Roguelike I've ever played, and it's claimed hundreds of hours of my life. I only discovered it in 2012, and while Wrath of the Lamb would otherwise claim a high spot on my 2012 list, the game's gotten more love this year in the LTTP vote, so I'll recognize it there.
2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown; I never played the original XCOM, but Im a sucker for grid-layout turn-based strategy games. What makes XCOM such a well-executed entry in this genre is how well it encourages deep investment in the overarching campaign rather than merely moving from mission to mission for the next challenge. The combination of constant tense situations where you risk the soldiers youve curated, and the need to constantly manage your level of strength (technology, solider level) relative to the aliens keeps you engaged all the way through.
3. The Walking Dead; A fantastic step forward in the writing of games. People who criticize the gameplay dont realize that the choices *are* the gameplay. The game challenges you not with what barely passes for point-and-click puzzles, but confronting the decisions youd actually make in the scenarios presented and how that reflects on the person you are. My primary gripe is how nihilistic the story is; none of the characters ever get a chance at actual happiness or even contentment; even at the end
there's no happy ending for Clementine; despite Lee's sacrifice her safety is not assured.
4. Mark of the Ninja; Now this is the best stealth game of the year. All of the elements of the game act cohesively to provide the type of tight gameplay youd expect from playing a stalking, unseen ninja. Some of the eyeroll-inducing cutscenes undermine tonal shift of the ending, and the teleportation power breaks the new game plus, but otherwise a very well-executed game.
5. Spec Ops: The Line; Another fantastic example of writing in games. If the philosophical novel had a video game analogue, this game would fall into that category, and its a category I could use more of. The main reason Spec Ops is rated below The Walking Dead is because while the latter had little gameplay outside of the choices you make, the former has tedious gameplay that, while reinforcing the themes explored, makes progression tedious at times.
6. FTL; There's a lot of design space to explore in Roguelikes, and this is a great realization of a strategy spaceship simulator within the genre. With minimal graphics, the game is surprisingly immersive and is able to be both tense and calming. I also love how each ship completely changes the strategy of how you approach engagements and which upgrades to prioritize.
7. Spelunky; Another excellent Roguelike, that is able to keep playthroughs fresh even after hundreds of attempts. The main reason this loses out to FTL is how often easily you can immediately die regardless of how well you've been doing, an unfortunate relic of old-school Roguelike design.
8. Fez; What a fantastic peaceful aesthetic experience and hardcore puzzler all at once. The game can be as challenging as you want it to be, and fully explores the rotating mechanic.
9. Hotline Miami; I wasn't as blown away by the gameplay as some, but the way it integrates the frantic violence with similarly frenetic visuals and music can be almost trance-inducing. The thematic exploration of violence and the primacy of mechanics in a game don't hurt either.
10. Stealth Bastard; This game hasn't gotten nearly enough GAF-love. It's a subversion of stealth mechanics for puzzle platforming rather than infiltration that make for a surprisingly engaging game.
2011. The Binding of Isaac; This is the best Roguelike I've ever played, and it's claimed hundreds of hours of my life. I only discovered it in 2012, and while Wrath of the Lamb would otherwise claim a high spot on my 2012 list, the game's gotten more love this year in the LTTP vote, so I'll recognize it there.
Looking at the list of this year's games makes me realize that I didn't play that many games this year.
1. Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; It had a few quirks or missing things from previous entries in the series but its my favorite game this year.
2. Gravity Rush ; I didn't know what to expect going into this game as i knew next to nothing about it, but I loved every minute of it.
3. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
4. Journey
5. Alan Wake's American Nightmare ; One of my favorite new IP's from this gen, I hope its not the last game.
6. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (360)
7. The Unfinished Swan
8. Uncharted: Golden Abyss
9. Mass Effect 3
10. New Super Mario Bros. 2
2011 Game. Super Mario 3D Land
1. Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; It had a few quirks or missing things from previous entries in the series but its my favorite game this year.
2. Gravity Rush ; I didn't know what to expect going into this game as i knew next to nothing about it, but I loved every minute of it.
3. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
4. Journey
5. Alan Wake's American Nightmare ; One of my favorite new IP's from this gen, I hope its not the last game.
6. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (360)
7. The Unfinished Swan
8. Uncharted: Golden Abyss
9. Mass Effect 3
10. New Super Mario Bros. 2
2011 Game. Super Mario 3D Land
1) Journey: Just an absolutely sublime experience... I think I love everything about this game. It looks absolutely beautiful, tells a simple story in a clever and effective way and has produced one of my most listened to soundtracks of the year. Journey controls like a dream too, gliding and sliding being particularly exceptional parts of the game. Going back to it feels like going home, in a way. I know what's going to happen when I progress through the game but it's the act of being in this world with a new companion to guide through the experience that's the most enjoyable aspect of the game. I have a feeling this may be my most replayed game by the time I'm done with it (or until the servers get switched off.... which, now that I think about it, will be a very sad day.)
2) The Walking Dead: I've never been a massive adventure game fan but TWD latches on to that very particular part of the brain that doesn't turn away from a train crash or a house fire or similarly devastating event. I thought about stopping after the first episode, which was okay but didn't seem like anything special but episode 2 instantly drew me back in and episode 5 was about as perfect an end to the season as I was hoping for. The only thing that hampered my experience with the game was the abysmal performance during the first few episodes on PS3.
3) Virtue's Last Reward: 999 is probably my favourite game on the DS, so if you were to tell me that its sequel would more than match the mind-boggliness and logic trickery of the last game's true ending, I'd say you were crazy... and then probably ally with you anyway because I'm a hopeless optimist. VLR advances the concepts introduced at the end of the last game and weaves them into the gameplay in some really smart ways. The puzzles are generally better too, although still not exactly complicated or much fun. Still, I can't wait to see what kind of crazy twist upon twist Uchikoshi concocts for the next game.
4) Spaceteam: Man... Spaceteam! My only regret playing Spaceteam is that I haven't introduced nearly enough people to Spaceteam already. SPACETEAM!
5) XCOM: Enemy Unknown: The reason why I didn't have this list up earlier is that I've been trying to find a place for XCOM on this list. I haven't played that much of it yet but I've played just enough to know that I'm going to have a blast with the rest of it. Everything about the game just feels right; for someone who doesn't play many strategy games it's hard to describe but it feels easy to grasp the core mechanics while still maintaining a challenge and a learning curve as the missions continue.
6) Sound Shapes: Sound Shapes provided a truly refreshing 2D indie platforming experience, which I really didn't think possible given the sheer volume of such games released over the past few years. For a game that touted the 'Play, Create, Share' moniker so often, the quality and presentation of the single player levels left a much more lasting impression on me than those of the LBP, and that's not even considering the outstanding music and soundtrack aspects of the game.
7) FTL: FTL is more addictive than it has any right to be. I'm not sure whether I'll ever finish the game even on easy but that doesn't stop coming back and giving it just one more go. This game on the Vita or 3DS with local co-op would be my idea of portable gaming heaven.
8) Dear Esther: Another walking simulator, yes, but I have a soft spot for games that are set in wooded or forest-y environments, and as such remind me of my home town. I just wish I had a PC capable enough to do the amazing lighting and texture work in Dear Esther justice.
9) Alan Wake's American Nightmare: Any return to the Alan Wake universe is a welcome one in my book. And while I'm not a fan of the structure of this piece of DLC, I still had a very fun time delving into the murky underworld of Alan Wake's alter ego. The FMV in American Nightmare is very well done and lends a lot more personality to the game than the botox-poisoned faces of the original did. The game also meant another stellar Poets of the Fall track, which is never a bad thing.
10) The Unfinished Swan: I'm also a sucker for quirky little experimental games and this has 'experiment' written all over it. The game mechanics kind of come out of nowhere and often have little relevance to the plot, but for as disconnected as they feel, you certainly can't call them unoriginal or not daring. The minimalist style is very appealing and some of the vistas early on in the game are gorgeous. It ends in a very pleasing way too.
Honorable mentions: 2/3rds of Mass Effect 3, Proteus (which really needs more love. I need to upgrade my decade old PC so I can play more of this ASAP)
2) The Walking Dead: I've never been a massive adventure game fan but TWD latches on to that very particular part of the brain that doesn't turn away from a train crash or a house fire or similarly devastating event. I thought about stopping after the first episode, which was okay but didn't seem like anything special but episode 2 instantly drew me back in and episode 5 was about as perfect an end to the season as I was hoping for. The only thing that hampered my experience with the game was the abysmal performance during the first few episodes on PS3.
3) Virtue's Last Reward: 999 is probably my favourite game on the DS, so if you were to tell me that its sequel would more than match the mind-boggliness and logic trickery of the last game's true ending, I'd say you were crazy... and then probably ally with you anyway because I'm a hopeless optimist. VLR advances the concepts introduced at the end of the last game and weaves them into the gameplay in some really smart ways. The puzzles are generally better too, although still not exactly complicated or much fun. Still, I can't wait to see what kind of crazy twist upon twist Uchikoshi concocts for the next game.
4) Spaceteam: Man... Spaceteam! My only regret playing Spaceteam is that I haven't introduced nearly enough people to Spaceteam already. SPACETEAM!
5) XCOM: Enemy Unknown: The reason why I didn't have this list up earlier is that I've been trying to find a place for XCOM on this list. I haven't played that much of it yet but I've played just enough to know that I'm going to have a blast with the rest of it. Everything about the game just feels right; for someone who doesn't play many strategy games it's hard to describe but it feels easy to grasp the core mechanics while still maintaining a challenge and a learning curve as the missions continue.
6) Sound Shapes: Sound Shapes provided a truly refreshing 2D indie platforming experience, which I really didn't think possible given the sheer volume of such games released over the past few years. For a game that touted the 'Play, Create, Share' moniker so often, the quality and presentation of the single player levels left a much more lasting impression on me than those of the LBP, and that's not even considering the outstanding music and soundtrack aspects of the game.
7) FTL: FTL is more addictive than it has any right to be. I'm not sure whether I'll ever finish the game even on easy but that doesn't stop coming back and giving it just one more go. This game on the Vita or 3DS with local co-op would be my idea of portable gaming heaven.
8) Dear Esther: Another walking simulator, yes, but I have a soft spot for games that are set in wooded or forest-y environments, and as such remind me of my home town. I just wish I had a PC capable enough to do the amazing lighting and texture work in Dear Esther justice.
9) Alan Wake's American Nightmare: Any return to the Alan Wake universe is a welcome one in my book. And while I'm not a fan of the structure of this piece of DLC, I still had a very fun time delving into the murky underworld of Alan Wake's alter ego. The FMV in American Nightmare is very well done and lends a lot more personality to the game than the botox-poisoned faces of the original did. The game also meant another stellar Poets of the Fall track, which is never a bad thing.
10) The Unfinished Swan: I'm also a sucker for quirky little experimental games and this has 'experiment' written all over it. The game mechanics kind of come out of nowhere and often have little relevance to the plot, but for as disconnected as they feel, you certainly can't call them unoriginal or not daring. The minimalist style is very appealing and some of the vistas early on in the game are gorgeous. It ends in a very pleasing way too.
Honorable mentions: 2/3rds of Mass Effect 3, Proteus (which really needs more love. I need to upgrade my decade old PC so I can play more of this ASAP)
BruiserBear
Banned
1. Trials Evolution ; At the end of the day, this was the game that gave me the greatest joy this year. I liked Trials HD a lot, but this game took it to a whole other level of awesome. Chasing a better time with less faults will never get old on some of these tracks. I spent hours pursuing the "Flawless Victory" achievement, and it was an incredible feeling to finally unlock it.
2. Joe Danger 2 - The Movie ; Some people will talk about how the Joe Danger games are similar to the Trials games. I have no idea what those people are talking about. Joe Danger reminds me of Super Mario Bros, with a little bit of Sonic the hedgehog, with a little bit of Excitebike. It's basically pure retro twitch gameplay joy, and I love the visual style.
3. Need for Speed - Most Wanted ; I've loved every Criterion racing game since Burnout 2, and this game continued that trend. The races were incredibly intense, and the graphics kind of blew me away playing it on the 7 year old Xbox hardware. It had a few design issues, but at the end of the day they weren't enough to keep me from loving this game.
4. New Super Mario Bros U ; Initially I wasn't that excited about yet another 2D Mario game with the same art style, when this was announced at E3. I kind of shrugged my shoulders at it's existence. However, I read reviews, read people's impressions on GAF, and eventually I decided to give it a shot with my impulse purchase of the Wii U. I'm glad I did that, because this is the best 2D Mario since the 16 bit days.
5. Call of Duty - Black Ops 2 ; It's pretty much the same thing it's been for years now, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't still have it's hooks in me. I've only played an hour of the campaign so far, but I pretty much buy this game for the multiplayer. I liked some the tweaks Treyarch made this year, but my interest has mostly waned already. Still, I played the shit out of it for a solid 6 weeks after I bought it. I got my money's worth and then some.
6. Zuma's Revenge ; I guess this was released years ago on PC, but this year it finally came to XBLA, and boy is it fun. I finished the "Story Mode" in a matter of hours, but it was incredibly entertaining while it lasted. I can still return and enjoy going for high scores as well, and the leaderboards are well implemented. I don't judge any game by it's length, but rather by it's fun/entertainment factor.
7. Hot Shots Golf - World Invitational ; Similar story to Call of Duty here. Same old shit, same old fun. The formula still works, and this is one of the highlights of the Vita for me. The online tourneys offer great competition and really extend the replay value.
8. Virtua Tennis 4 ; Another highlight of the Vita launch, this game truly looks like a console game in the palm of your hands. It's quite a sight to see it running flawlessly and looking this good. So much arcade fun, and the career kept me entertained til the end.
9. Halo 4 ; From a graphical perspective this was a showpiece for the old 360 hardware. From a gameplay perspective I found it quite entertaining, and I enjoyed the gunplay more than I have any previous entry in the franchise. From a story perspective I think it was a major disappointment. It starts off so well, and then the story just kind of sputters about for hours, until the ending, which was cool but would have been much better if those middle hours had been handled better. Still, it was a fun ride.
10. Journey ; I'm not one to normally be drawn to "artsy" games, but I've got to give this game credit where it's due. This is a masterfully executed experience. A memorable journey that I might never forget.
x. Uncharted Golden Abyss ; This game would have likely been in my top 10 if it weren't for the annoying ass touch screen bullshit the developer forced into the game. When are devs going to learn that forcing people to use every feature the new console offers, just because, is stupid. If it doesn't make the game better, don't use it.
x. Little Big Planet Vita ; This is a great piece of high quality work on the Vita, but again, it's hurt by the touch bullshit being shoved in. Especially the rear touch bullshit.
x. Nintendoland ; The plaza and menu music is AMAZING (hello new ring tone). Some of the games are pretty good too.
2. Joe Danger 2 - The Movie ; Some people will talk about how the Joe Danger games are similar to the Trials games. I have no idea what those people are talking about. Joe Danger reminds me of Super Mario Bros, with a little bit of Sonic the hedgehog, with a little bit of Excitebike. It's basically pure retro twitch gameplay joy, and I love the visual style.
3. Need for Speed - Most Wanted ; I've loved every Criterion racing game since Burnout 2, and this game continued that trend. The races were incredibly intense, and the graphics kind of blew me away playing it on the 7 year old Xbox hardware. It had a few design issues, but at the end of the day they weren't enough to keep me from loving this game.
4. New Super Mario Bros U ; Initially I wasn't that excited about yet another 2D Mario game with the same art style, when this was announced at E3. I kind of shrugged my shoulders at it's existence. However, I read reviews, read people's impressions on GAF, and eventually I decided to give it a shot with my impulse purchase of the Wii U. I'm glad I did that, because this is the best 2D Mario since the 16 bit days.
5. Call of Duty - Black Ops 2 ; It's pretty much the same thing it's been for years now, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't still have it's hooks in me. I've only played an hour of the campaign so far, but I pretty much buy this game for the multiplayer. I liked some the tweaks Treyarch made this year, but my interest has mostly waned already. Still, I played the shit out of it for a solid 6 weeks after I bought it. I got my money's worth and then some.
6. Zuma's Revenge ; I guess this was released years ago on PC, but this year it finally came to XBLA, and boy is it fun. I finished the "Story Mode" in a matter of hours, but it was incredibly entertaining while it lasted. I can still return and enjoy going for high scores as well, and the leaderboards are well implemented. I don't judge any game by it's length, but rather by it's fun/entertainment factor.
7. Hot Shots Golf - World Invitational ; Similar story to Call of Duty here. Same old shit, same old fun. The formula still works, and this is one of the highlights of the Vita for me. The online tourneys offer great competition and really extend the replay value.
8. Virtua Tennis 4 ; Another highlight of the Vita launch, this game truly looks like a console game in the palm of your hands. It's quite a sight to see it running flawlessly and looking this good. So much arcade fun, and the career kept me entertained til the end.
9. Halo 4 ; From a graphical perspective this was a showpiece for the old 360 hardware. From a gameplay perspective I found it quite entertaining, and I enjoyed the gunplay more than I have any previous entry in the franchise. From a story perspective I think it was a major disappointment. It starts off so well, and then the story just kind of sputters about for hours, until the ending, which was cool but would have been much better if those middle hours had been handled better. Still, it was a fun ride.
10. Journey ; I'm not one to normally be drawn to "artsy" games, but I've got to give this game credit where it's due. This is a masterfully executed experience. A memorable journey that I might never forget.
x. Uncharted Golden Abyss ; This game would have likely been in my top 10 if it weren't for the annoying ass touch screen bullshit the developer forced into the game. When are devs going to learn that forcing people to use every feature the new console offers, just because, is stupid. If it doesn't make the game better, don't use it.
x. Little Big Planet Vita ; This is a great piece of high quality work on the Vita, but again, it's hurt by the touch bullshit being shoved in. Especially the rear touch bullshit.
x. Nintendoland ; The plaza and menu music is AMAZING (hello new ring tone). Some of the games are pretty good too.
Even if 2012 was a weak year from an AAA standpoint, I feel like it was still full of interesting games although you had to look to portable or indies and DLC games as well. :] It's not such a bad thing either imo...
1. Xcom: Enemy Unknown ; Tactic/Strategy games were favorite of mine in the 90's, and it's great to see an AAA one in 2012. It might not be as good as the original, although I can't judge that since I never played it. Don't really care since I played the 2012 version and it's great. It's not a consensus type of goty for sure, but I wanna put it as my #1 to encourage this type of game more than anything else. We simply need more game like this and I'm gonna encourage it by any mean.
2. Mark of the Ninja ; Talk about a game which flew under the radar, even if it got nominated for some GOTY awards on some gaming site. The best 2D stealth game possibly ever made, with a decent length despite being a DLC game. Klei definitively have the potential for greatness despite the growing pain demonstrated in the Shank series. I love the tools and the outcome which are possible to each situation such as one guard killing the other in the confusion or the numerous stealth kill depending on your position. I also need to praise the stellar controls (almost flawless).
3. Fez ; An artsy game which get rid of some gaming conventions (no enemies or danger of dying in a game which seemingly look like a platformer was probably a turn off for many), but with interesting mechanics and puzzles imo. A much better game than Journey imo and also full of charms with an unique soundtrack and visual style. Some of the puzzles are brilliant and the game is quite literate which is surprising. Phil Fish might be a prick, but I don't give a shit since he's also extremely talented.
4. Xenoblade Chronicles ; With a Wii U, I was finally able to play this game to see what the hype was all about. While I don't think it's the savior of jrpg, I definitively feel it's a very good jrpg. The gameplay mechanics are further refined from FF XII, but I feel like it's a given given that the latter is 6-7 years old now. I enjoy the fact that it does get away from some trope such as the typical elemental magic of your standard jrpg (fire, ice, lighting, etc) and the world building is great. In fact, it's a technical tour de force given the hardware it was created on. On the other hand, it simply isn't the huge step forward that it was praised to be given the huge amount of bland and boring mmo like subquests or the story which is rather standard compared to Persona 4 for example (which is the better jrpg and more progressive imo).
5. Sleeping Dogs ; I loved and still love the melee system of this game, which is usually frustrating in one way or another in most sandbox games. Both the fighting and the shooting is more interesting than usual in a sandbox game, which I hope help to inspire Rockstar which are focusing on the stories much more than the mechanics. The more I play and the more I like it so I bumped it up on my list. Even bought some DLC and I hope the developers can be given more money to push further and improve upon the concept of SD to make more interesting sandbox games with unique setting such as Hong Kong. Kudos also for striking a good balance between the insanity of Saint Row or the seriousness of GTA IV/Red Dead. It just know how to be a fun game while maintaining a serious tone. I would of been perfectly fine with GTA IV if it were like SD.
6. The Walking Dead ; I truly enjoyed the story and characters, especially nice to see a great written child character in a videogame. It doesn't change the fact that the game almost play itself, even if it's nowhere near as bad as most mechanic purists make it out to be. Jurassic Park was much closer to being a non game than the Walking Dead ever will be (in Jurassic Park, you can't even control the character). Telltales need to improve on several front and the numerous technical mistakes should not be disregarded when we talk of a GOTY award (Skyrim almost won last year despite the PS3 fiasco, but The Walking Dead is a small budget game with minimal gameplay and it's full of glitches and bugs still).
7. Dishonored ; Doesn't live up to the hype, but it's the Deus Ex: Human revolution of 2012. Arkane Studios need to refine and further polish the concept and they will truly have a winner on their hands, especially if they can properly balance the crazy power we can use in the game. I must priase the visual and art design and even how fresh the universe feel compared to most western made game.
8. Mass Effect 3 ; Sloppy execution aside, I think it's still better than most AAA game which were also disappointment. I still enjoy the universe and the gameplay was the most refined of the 3 games. The multiplayer was better than it had every right to be (it didn't bomb as predicted either an there's still people playing). Most of the DLC is mandatory and quite decent, although it's a shame since it should of been included in the retail version.
9. Halo 4 ; It might not be fresh, but I'll take another Halo over the typical military shooter. It's a solid beginning for 343i and I'm already wondering how they will push the franchise forward on new tech, both graphic and gameplay wise.
10. Journey ; I was moved by what Thatgamecompany accomplished (and I applaud the lack of most gaming conventions), but it just can't stand up to more complete game on my list. The initial experience is unforgettable, but the game definitively lose impact on repeated sessions since the gameplay is too paperthin. It's definitively the step in the right direction for artistic game imo, but I cannot reward the lack of meat on the bone.
Honorable mention:
Spec ops: The line ; For trying to do something with the cliche military shooter setting. The gameplay was nothing special, but the story was far above and beyond what the audience for these type of game could ever expect.
New Super Mario U ; Possibly the best of the "New" super mario bros. game, but still disappointing to see such a shameful recycling of the music and art style. XD It definitively knock down the impact of the first Mario game in HD.
2011. Bulletstorm ; The game is crazy over the top, but I love the gameplay. In fact, the lasso and the sliding mechanics which definitively add to the shooting is probably the biggest step forward for modern FPS and it will probably be ignored just as much as what Vanquish did for TPS. It's crazy that both this and Vanquish bombed, when they both add mechanics to make the "gunplay" so much more interesting than anything else out there. Kudos for also being just a plain fun shooter in the tradition of the Duke Nukem of old instead of the modern "realistic" ans serious FPS.
I simply didn't find the time to play Borderlands 2, FTL, Hotline Miami, Farcry 3, Spelunky, Crusader Kings 2 or Zero escape. :s One of them will probably be my 2012 pick next year.
1. Xcom: Enemy Unknown ; Tactic/Strategy games were favorite of mine in the 90's, and it's great to see an AAA one in 2012. It might not be as good as the original, although I can't judge that since I never played it. Don't really care since I played the 2012 version and it's great.
It's not a consensus type of goty for sure, but I wanna put it as my #1 to encourage this type of game more than anything else. We simply need more game like this and I'm gonna encourage it by any mean. 2. Mark of the Ninja ; Talk about a game which flew under the radar, even if it got nominated for some GOTY awards on some gaming site. The best 2D stealth game possibly ever made, with a decent length despite being a DLC game. Klei definitively have the potential for greatness despite the growing pain demonstrated in the Shank series. I love the tools and the outcome which are possible to each situation such as one guard killing the other in the confusion or the numerous stealth kill depending on your position. I also need to praise the stellar controls (almost flawless).
3. Fez ; An artsy game which get rid of some gaming conventions (no enemies or danger of dying in a game which seemingly look like a platformer was probably a turn off for many), but with interesting mechanics and puzzles imo. A much better game than Journey imo and also full of charms with an unique soundtrack and visual style. Some of the puzzles are brilliant and the game is quite literate which is surprising. Phil Fish might be a prick, but I don't give a shit since he's also extremely talented.
4. Xenoblade Chronicles ; With a Wii U, I was finally able to play this game to see what the hype was all about. While I don't think it's the savior of jrpg, I definitively feel it's a very good jrpg. The gameplay mechanics are further refined from FF XII, but I feel like it's a given given that the latter is 6-7 years old now.
I enjoy the fact that it does get away from some trope such as the typical elemental magic of your standard jrpg (fire, ice, lighting, etc) and the world building is great. In fact, it's a technical tour de force given the hardware it was created on. On the other hand, it simply isn't the huge step forward that it was praised to be given the huge amount of bland and boring mmo like subquests or the story which is rather standard compared to Persona 4 for example (which is the better jrpg and more progressive imo). 5. Sleeping Dogs ; I loved and still love the melee system of this game, which is usually frustrating in one way or another in most sandbox games. Both the fighting and the shooting is more interesting than usual in a sandbox game, which I hope help to inspire Rockstar which are focusing on the stories much more than the mechanics.
The more I play and the more I like it so I bumped it up on my list. Even bought some DLC and I hope the developers can be given more money to push further and improve upon the concept of SD to make more interesting sandbox games with unique setting such as Hong Kong. Kudos also for striking a good balance between the insanity of Saint Row or the seriousness of GTA IV/Red Dead. It just know how to be a fun game while maintaining a serious tone. I would of been perfectly fine with GTA IV if it were like SD. 6. The Walking Dead ; I truly enjoyed the story and characters, especially nice to see a great written child character in a videogame. It doesn't change the fact that the game almost play itself, even if it's nowhere near as bad as most mechanic purists make it out to be. Jurassic Park was much closer to being a non game than the Walking Dead ever will be (in Jurassic Park, you can't even control the character). Telltales need to improve on several front and the numerous technical mistakes should not be disregarded when we talk of a GOTY award (Skyrim almost won last year despite the PS3 fiasco, but The Walking Dead is a small budget game with minimal gameplay and it's full of glitches and bugs still).
7. Dishonored ; Doesn't live up to the hype, but it's the Deus Ex: Human revolution of 2012. Arkane Studios need to refine and further polish the concept and they will truly have a winner on their hands, especially if they can properly balance the crazy power we can use in the game. I must priase the visual and art design and even how fresh the universe feel compared to most western made game.
8. Mass Effect 3 ; Sloppy execution aside, I think it's still better than most AAA game which were also disappointment. I still enjoy the universe and the gameplay was the most refined of the 3 games. The multiplayer was better than it had every right to be (it didn't bomb as predicted either an there's still people playing). Most of the DLC is mandatory and quite decent, although it's a shame since it should of been included in the retail version.
9. Halo 4 ; It might not be fresh, but I'll take another Halo over the typical military shooter. It's a solid beginning for 343i and I'm already wondering how they will push the franchise forward on new tech, both graphic and gameplay wise.
10. Journey ; I was moved by what Thatgamecompany accomplished (and I applaud the lack of most gaming conventions), but it just can't stand up to more complete game on my list. The initial experience is unforgettable, but the game definitively lose impact on repeated sessions since the gameplay is too paperthin. It's definitively the step in the right direction for artistic game imo, but I cannot reward the lack of meat on the bone.
Honorable mention:
Spec ops: The line ; For trying to do something with the cliche military shooter setting. The gameplay was nothing special, but the story was far above and beyond what the audience for these type of game could ever expect.
New Super Mario U ; Possibly the best of the "New" super mario bros. game, but still disappointing to see such a shameful recycling of the music and art style. XD It definitively knock down the impact of the first Mario game in HD.
2011. Bulletstorm ; The game is crazy over the top, but I love the gameplay. In fact, the lasso and the sliding mechanics which definitively add to the shooting is probably the biggest step forward for modern FPS and it will probably be ignored just as much as what Vanquish did for TPS. It's crazy that both this and Vanquish bombed, when they both add mechanics to make the "gunplay" so much more interesting than anything else out there. Kudos for also being just a plain fun shooter in the tradition of the Duke Nukem of old instead of the modern "realistic" ans serious FPS.
I simply didn't find the time to play Borderlands 2, FTL, Hotline Miami, Farcry 3, Spelunky, Crusader Kings 2 or Zero escape. :s One of them will probably be my 2012 pick next year.
I didn't play much this year, so my list will be short. Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to playing The Walking Dead yet.
1. Halo 4 - Great campaign, excellent multiplayer. I'm always surprised when I see the "343 ruined the franchise" posts. I thought it was amazing.
2. Mass Effect 3 - Another one where I'm surprised at the outrage. I didn't dislike the ending, or anything else for that matter. It was a really well put together game. I had a lot of fun with it, silly running animations aside.
3. Assassin's Creed III - Glitchy, terrible menus, and a boring lead. But man, I had a ton of fun playing it.
4. Minecraft (XBLA) - I don't even really "play" it. I just use it like video Lego. And I love it.
5. Borderlands 2 - It was fun co-oping with my wife.
I don't feel like anything else that I played deserves to be on my list, so I'll leave it at 6.
1. Halo 4 - Great campaign, excellent multiplayer. I'm always surprised when I see the "343 ruined the franchise" posts. I thought it was amazing.
2. Mass Effect 3 - Another one where I'm surprised at the outrage. I didn't dislike the ending, or anything else for that matter. It was a really well put together game. I had a lot of fun with it, silly running animations aside.
3. Assassin's Creed III - Glitchy, terrible menus, and a boring lead. But man, I had a ton of fun playing it.
4. Minecraft (XBLA) - I don't even really "play" it. I just use it like video Lego. And I love it.
5. Borderlands 2 - It was fun co-oping with my wife.
I don't feel like anything else that I played deserves to be on my list, so I'll leave it at 6.
Agent White
Member
1. Mark of the Ninja ; this game. it's just so well put together. the gameplay is extremely satisfying, all the information you need is clearly presented, and there's always a reason to come back to a level. even though i haven't put in as much time as i would've liked before posting, you can see the games brilliance from early on. all others creating in the stealth genre should be taking notes.
2. Sleeping Dogs ; what a treat. this is the last game i bought last year, and the first game i beat this year. it wasn't even something that i was planning on playing until i went back and watched some of the giant bomb videos. great gameplay,great story, and great characters. knew when to be serious, and when to just be wacky fun. finished it in a couple of days. something i almost never do. i need more story dlc.
3. Borderlands 2 ; gets the award for the game i've spent the most time playing this year. looks beautiful and is fun as hell. now give me more legendaries!
4. FTL ; it's pick up and play nature makes it very difficult not to play this game.
5. XCOM ; this is my first time playing an xcom game. to sum up my thoughts on it: i love this game. i hate this game.
6. Tokyo Jungle ; i can't believe this game exists, but i'm glad it does. i also can't believe how good it is.
7. Journey ; there's no way i've ever pushed an analog stick harder.
8. Dishonored ; i was looking forward to this all year for that nonlethal stealth playthrough. i may not have fully succeeded, but it definitely delivered.
9. Far Cry 3 ; i had everything i wanted, and all the fun i wanted on the first island.
10. Binary Domain ; haven't put much time into this, but what i've played is very promising. i was at the rainy scene with the snipers early on and a family member was watching me play on thanksgiving. they moved to the edge of their seat, and said "look at the graphics, damn this is hot".
2011. The Binding of Issac ; i didn't really get into this until recently, and damn it is so addicting. the amount of weird/fun combinations you can get are endless. can't wait for rebirth.
x. Hotline Miami
x. Double Dragon Neon
x. Super Hexagon
x. Velocity
x. Sound Shapes
x. Mutant Blobs Attack
2. Sleeping Dogs ; what a treat. this is the last game i bought last year, and the first game i beat this year. it wasn't even something that i was planning on playing until i went back and watched some of the giant bomb videos. great gameplay,great story, and great characters. knew when to be serious, and when to just be wacky fun. finished it in a couple of days. something i almost never do. i need more story dlc.
3. Borderlands 2 ; gets the award for the game i've spent the most time playing this year. looks beautiful and is fun as hell. now give me more legendaries!
4. FTL ; it's pick up and play nature makes it very difficult not to play this game.
5. XCOM ; this is my first time playing an xcom game. to sum up my thoughts on it: i love this game. i hate this game.
6. Tokyo Jungle ; i can't believe this game exists, but i'm glad it does. i also can't believe how good it is.
7. Journey ; there's no way i've ever pushed an analog stick harder.
8. Dishonored ; i was looking forward to this all year for that nonlethal stealth playthrough. i may not have fully succeeded, but it definitely delivered.
9. Far Cry 3 ; i had everything i wanted, and all the fun i wanted on the first island.
10. Binary Domain ; haven't put much time into this, but what i've played is very promising. i was at the rainy scene with the snipers early on and a family member was watching me play on thanksgiving. they moved to the edge of their seat, and said "look at the graphics, damn this is hot".
2011. The Binding of Issac ; i didn't really get into this until recently, and damn it is so addicting. the amount of weird/fun combinations you can get are endless. can't wait for rebirth.
x. Hotline Miami
x. Double Dragon Neon
x. Super Hexagon
x. Velocity
x. Sound Shapes
x. Mutant Blobs Attack
1. Katawa Shoujo ; No other game left an impact on me like Katawa Shoujo
2. Sleeping Dogs ; Everything about this game is awesome.
3. The Walking Dead ; Great story with great characters
4. Diablo 3 ; Had a blast playing with my girlfriend in co-op. Few games provide this much fun for us.
5. Tribes: Ascend ; Great f2p fast paced fps
6. FTL: Faster Than Light ; Nothing will make you feel like a Star Trek captain more.
7. Kingdoms of Amalur ; Great ARPG with great style.
8. Planetside 2 ; Lots of players with guns? Sign me up!
9. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare ; As somebody who played the mod and loves first person combat this is great.
10.Stacking ; Fun little game with great style and some humor to boot.
2011. Assassin's Creed: Revelations ; I had a blast with Revelations.
2. Sleeping Dogs ; Everything about this game is awesome.
3. The Walking Dead ; Great story with great characters
4. Diablo 3 ; Had a blast playing with my girlfriend in co-op. Few games provide this much fun for us.
5. Tribes: Ascend ; Great f2p fast paced fps
6. FTL: Faster Than Light ; Nothing will make you feel like a Star Trek captain more.
7. Kingdoms of Amalur ; Great ARPG with great style.
8. Planetside 2 ; Lots of players with guns? Sign me up!
9. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare ; As somebody who played the mod and loves first person combat this is great.
10.Stacking ; Fun little game with great style and some humor to boot.
2011. Assassin's Creed: Revelations ; I had a blast with Revelations.
timetokill
Banned
~two and a half hours remain
1. XCOM: Enemy Unknown: Amazing first impressions, going in completely blind to the genre and franchise as a whole, it felt awesome to create your own narrative around each soldier and each mission, and I really felt as attached to some of my soldiers as I did with other stand-out characters this year.
2. The Walking Dead: Brilliantly executed game with a well constructed narrative and illusion of choice for the player - every episode improved upon itself as it reached the natural climax of the game and though it was half-expected, it still hit hard.
3. Sleeping Dogs: An open world game set in Hong Kong with an emphasis on melee combat? I'm always a sucker for good open world games, and good games with melee combat - so combining those two with an Asian element was probably the perfect storm to get me to buy this game. Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic game that refines the melee combat that we see from the Batman series and it feels amazing. With a surprisingly deep and emotional story, Sleeping Dogs manages to weave together many elements that are usually handled poorly in an open world game and construct something magical.
4. Journey: An amazing experience that features an extremely well implemented co-op, it was truly mesmerizing to sit through and play the entire game in one sitting.
5. Borderlands 2: Having sunk countless hours into Borderlands 1 sans DLC, I was very prepared to jump into Borderlands 2. While a lot of the game remains the same, the changes to the gun play and the variance in enemies as well as the new skills really helped to revitalize the series as a whole.
2. The Walking Dead: Brilliantly executed game with a well constructed narrative and illusion of choice for the player - every episode improved upon itself as it reached the natural climax of the game and though it was half-expected, it still hit hard.
3. Sleeping Dogs: An open world game set in Hong Kong with an emphasis on melee combat? I'm always a sucker for good open world games, and good games with melee combat - so combining those two with an Asian element was probably the perfect storm to get me to buy this game. Sleeping Dogs is a fantastic game that refines the melee combat that we see from the Batman series and it feels amazing. With a surprisingly deep and emotional story, Sleeping Dogs manages to weave together many elements that are usually handled poorly in an open world game and construct something magical.
4. Journey: An amazing experience that features an extremely well implemented co-op, it was truly mesmerizing to sit through and play the entire game in one sitting.
5. Borderlands 2: Having sunk countless hours into Borderlands 1 sans DLC, I was very prepared to jump into Borderlands 2. While a lot of the game remains the same, the changes to the gun play and the variance in enemies as well as the new skills really helped to revitalize the series as a whole.
Riposte
Member
Thread's still open eh?
Thanks for posting GQ. Big on fighting games this year? Wouldn't have expected it.
Damn, you go in hard with number 6. I can agree with the fact Intelligent Systems needs no guidance. They've always been my favorite Nintendo devs. Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are kind of like the "smartest" of the Nintendo IPs.
However, I like to think Miyamoto is the guy responsible for the 2D Mario games for having any modicum of difficulty. Not sure where I picked that up.
Thanks for posting GQ. Big on fighting games this year? Wouldn't have expected it.
Damn, you go in hard with number 6. I can agree with the fact Intelligent Systems needs no guidance. They've always been my favorite Nintendo devs. Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are kind of like the "smartest" of the Nintendo IPs.
However, I like to think Miyamoto is the guy responsible for the 2D Mario games for having any modicum of difficulty. Not sure where I picked that up.
IamMattFox
Member
1. Forza Horizon ; My favorite game is also possibly my biggest surprise of the year. I have probably spent half the time I’ve played this game randomly cruising around the countryside enjoying the scenery. I was constantly unlocking new races and challenges as I went along, but the cars controlled so well that I often just felt like taking a leisurely afternoon drive down the highway in my Lamborghini at 200 MPH. Add the distinctly crafted Colorado location, integrated leaderboard challenges with your Live friends, a fantastic day/night cycle, a fitting soundtrack, and a bit of personality with the Horizon festival on top of the fantastic core mechanics, and you have one heck of a great game on your hands. If you like racing games and haven’t played this one yet, you’re missing out.
2. Hotline Miami ; I think this video of hyper-caffeinated Fry perfectly captures the feeling you get when you perfectly complete a floor in Hotline Miami. If you’ve played the game, you probably know what I’m getting at. There’s something extremely satisfying about charging into a building unarmed and then taking out twenty armed guards. And, of course, there’s the soundtrack. And yeah, a bit of Hotline Miami praise isn’t complete without mentioning its soundtrack. The music in this game elevates it to a level of smooth rarely seen in video games.
3. Halo 4 ; Wait, 343 actually got me to kind of care about the previously-vapid Cortana and Master Chief for the first time ever? Huh. Maybe I should rethink my top surprise of the year. The more personal story is a nice addition to the ever strong Halo formula. The forerunner enemies were a nice change of pace, the campaign was took me through varied environments and seemed to offer more of a challenge with ammo scarcity, and the robust multiplayer mode all kept me hooked for more hours than I care to admit.
4. FIFA 13 ; I’m an American who has probably seen less than five complete soccer games in his life, but the FIFA series makes me feel like I can still kind of consider myself a soccer fan. Executing a perfect lob pass up the field that results in a breakaway goal feels almost as good as perfectly clearing out a floor in Hotline Miami. There’s also so much crammed in this game that it’s almost overwhelming. Ultimate teams, skill challenges, online leagues, online seasons, virtual pro, and even more I’m forgetting, I’m sure. Oh, and whoever’s in charge of picking the music tracks for the FIFA games deserves a raise. This game deservedly the best selling sports game of the year.
5. FTL: Faster Than Light ; That “’No idea what I’m doing’ dog => space commander => fiery explosion of death” picture was actually what got me interested in FTL, and it’s as accurate a description of the game as you’re likely to get. I’m kind of an impatient gamer, so I’m not sure I’ll ever get out of that “I have no idea what I’m doing” phase, but fuck it. I’m going to eventually brute force my way through space while conquering those space slugs, mantis men, and rock dudes in an effort to become supreme ruler of the galaxy. After all, that is what the game is all about, right? Hm. Seems my O2 room’s been on fire the entire time I’ve been typing this description. Oh god…
6. Trials Evolution ; One moment you’re soaring through the air with the greatest of ease, and the next moment you’re stuck behind a milk crate you just can’t seem to wheelie over. Yeah, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Trials games, but I really only hate out of love. This is yet another game overflowing with content. The new level creator allows for all different manner of imaginative tracks, and there’s a well fleshed out online multiplayer mode, but my favorite part of the game is still chasing the ghosts of my friends on those fiendishly hard tracks. I’ll never catch you, ReticentRhino.
7. Dust: An Elysian Tail ; I was one of those dumb kids who never bought Super Metroid for his SNES. Buying Dust is my way of attempting to make amends for that. And man, I’m glad I’m making amends. Dust is a really well put together game. Knowing it comes from one person makes playing it even more of a special thing. I was turned off by the character designs at first, but I got over that extremely quickly once things started rolling. Thinking about the game while writing this makes me realize I really need to go finish Dust, you guys.
8. Asura’s Wrath ; Holy shit! I just
and
and
and
and
and now I’m
and that dude has
and oh man, now I get to
! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 ; Along with Halo 4, this game presents another surprisingly well done campaign for a first person shooter. They didn't get me to care about Woods or Mason or anything crazy like that, but it was a better effort than any Call of Duty since the first Modern Warfare. Developer people, stick to these smaller personal stories maybe? They seem to suit you well. Naturally, the real allure of this game was the multiplayer. Every year I think that the formula will wear thin, but there’s still enough there to keep me entertained.
10. Borderlands 2 ; I really need to play more of this game, but I’ve enjoyed the experience so far. I’m probably enjoying it more since I didn’t really play much of the first Borderlands. Running around the world collecting guns and shooting stuff is a simple enough premise, but it works. I did find myself treating this as a podcast game after a bit because the humor came off as kind of forced. But yeah, running through the world shooting things while listening to the Giant Bombcast or something similar provides a pretty enjoyable time.
x. The Walking Dead ; You probably would have made my list had Telltale fixed the illusion-breaking save bug before I played you in November. Instead, you've made it likely that I'll never again buy a Telltale game.
x. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; You probably would have made my list had I started playing you earlier than three days ago. Best kart racer ever? Probably.
x. SSX ; You probably would have made my list were it not for the stupid pits you have strewn throughout your maps.
x. Diablo 3 ; You probably would have made the list with a better story or something. You actually provided many hours of fun with internet friends! Probably helps that you were my first Diablo game, but I enjoyed our time together.
x. Assassin's Creed 3 ; You probably should have never been created.
2011. Dark Souls ; I was going to put Rayman Origins here, but I went back and was proud to see I had it at #3 on my 2011 list. So Dark Souls is getting it since I think I'm starting to learn to love it. Still early on, but the signs are there.
I still really want to play X-Com and Sleepy Dogs.
2. Hotline Miami ; I think this video of hyper-caffeinated Fry perfectly captures the feeling you get when you perfectly complete a floor in Hotline Miami. If you’ve played the game, you probably know what I’m getting at. There’s something extremely satisfying about charging into a building unarmed and then taking out twenty armed guards. And, of course, there’s the soundtrack. And yeah, a bit of Hotline Miami praise isn’t complete without mentioning its soundtrack. The music in this game elevates it to a level of smooth rarely seen in video games.
3. Halo 4 ; Wait, 343 actually got me to kind of care about the previously-vapid Cortana and Master Chief for the first time ever? Huh. Maybe I should rethink my top surprise of the year. The more personal story is a nice addition to the ever strong Halo formula. The forerunner enemies were a nice change of pace, the campaign was took me through varied environments and seemed to offer more of a challenge with ammo scarcity, and the robust multiplayer mode all kept me hooked for more hours than I care to admit.
4. FIFA 13 ; I’m an American who has probably seen less than five complete soccer games in his life, but the FIFA series makes me feel like I can still kind of consider myself a soccer fan. Executing a perfect lob pass up the field that results in a breakaway goal feels almost as good as perfectly clearing out a floor in Hotline Miami. There’s also so much crammed in this game that it’s almost overwhelming. Ultimate teams, skill challenges, online leagues, online seasons, virtual pro, and even more I’m forgetting, I’m sure. Oh, and whoever’s in charge of picking the music tracks for the FIFA games deserves a raise. This game deservedly the best selling sports game of the year.
5. FTL: Faster Than Light ; That “’No idea what I’m doing’ dog => space commander => fiery explosion of death” picture was actually what got me interested in FTL, and it’s as accurate a description of the game as you’re likely to get. I’m kind of an impatient gamer, so I’m not sure I’ll ever get out of that “I have no idea what I’m doing” phase, but fuck it. I’m going to eventually brute force my way through space while conquering those space slugs, mantis men, and rock dudes in an effort to become supreme ruler of the galaxy. After all, that is what the game is all about, right? Hm. Seems my O2 room’s been on fire the entire time I’ve been typing this description. Oh god…
6. Trials Evolution ; One moment you’re soaring through the air with the greatest of ease, and the next moment you’re stuck behind a milk crate you just can’t seem to wheelie over. Yeah, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Trials games, but I really only hate out of love. This is yet another game overflowing with content. The new level creator allows for all different manner of imaginative tracks, and there’s a well fleshed out online multiplayer mode, but my favorite part of the game is still chasing the ghosts of my friends on those fiendishly hard tracks. I’ll never catch you, ReticentRhino.
7. Dust: An Elysian Tail ; I was one of those dumb kids who never bought Super Metroid for his SNES. Buying Dust is my way of attempting to make amends for that. And man, I’m glad I’m making amends. Dust is a really well put together game. Knowing it comes from one person makes playing it even more of a special thing. I was turned off by the character designs at first, but I got over that extremely quickly once things started rolling. Thinking about the game while writing this makes me realize I really need to go finish Dust, you guys.
8. Asura’s Wrath ; Holy shit! I just
grew six arms
punched that guy into space
caught his giant space finger with my six arms
now I’m in a western with no arms
now I’m on the moon with that one piece of classical music playing in the background
in a hot tub with my old master and those women are busty
the coolest visor just about ever
play as the fucking awesome visor guy
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 ; Along with Halo 4, this game presents another surprisingly well done campaign for a first person shooter. They didn't get me to care about Woods or Mason or anything crazy like that, but it was a better effort than any Call of Duty since the first Modern Warfare. Developer people, stick to these smaller personal stories maybe? They seem to suit you well. Naturally, the real allure of this game was the multiplayer. Every year I think that the formula will wear thin, but there’s still enough there to keep me entertained.
10. Borderlands 2 ; I really need to play more of this game, but I’ve enjoyed the experience so far. I’m probably enjoying it more since I didn’t really play much of the first Borderlands. Running around the world collecting guns and shooting stuff is a simple enough premise, but it works. I did find myself treating this as a podcast game after a bit because the humor came off as kind of forced. But yeah, running through the world shooting things while listening to the Giant Bombcast or something similar provides a pretty enjoyable time.
x. The Walking Dead ; You probably would have made my list had Telltale fixed the illusion-breaking save bug before I played you in November. Instead, you've made it likely that I'll never again buy a Telltale game.
x. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; You probably would have made my list had I started playing you earlier than three days ago. Best kart racer ever? Probably.
x. SSX ; You probably would have made my list were it not for the stupid pits you have strewn throughout your maps.
x. Diablo 3 ; You probably would have made the list with a better story or something. You actually provided many hours of fun with internet friends! Probably helps that you were my first Diablo game, but I enjoyed our time together.
x. Assassin's Creed 3 ; You probably should have never been created.
2011. Dark Souls ; I was going to put Rayman Origins here, but I went back and was proud to see I had it at #3 on my 2011 list. So Dark Souls is getting it since I think I'm starting to learn to love it. Still early on, but the signs are there.
I still really want to play X-Com and Sleepy Dogs.
1. Kid Icarus Uprising ; Easily my favorite game of the year. Great single player, characters and writing, multiplayer is nuts, lots of weapons with addicting weapon fusion, lots of content, great OST, so good! I wasnt exactly sure what to expect and was a little hesitant to buy it, but that went away quickly. Now I can't say enough good things about it. I really need to hop back online more often!
2. Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition ; didnt get around to DS in 2011 on 360 so I held out for the PC version (thanks Durante!). I love it and cant wait to play it some more.
3. Resident Evil Revelations ; This is my favorite RE since 4. Campaign, Raid Mode, graphics were all great fun.
4. Xenoblade Chronicles ; This has been all around great so far, glad it was finally released everywhere.
5. Paper Mario Sticker Star ; I thought this was a great adventure and thought the sticker gameplay worked out good. You can get stuck at times with some more trial and error moments to get past but its easily worth it. Writing great as always! Its not in the exact vein of TTYD but it didnt need to be.
6. Dust An Elysian Tail ; I love these style of games. Looks and plays great.
7. Hotline Miami ; Addicting quick gameplay and cool soundtrack.
8. Soul Calibur 5 ; I like the way 5 plays over 4 as SC2 was my favorite in the series. Missing extra stuff but the core is great.
9. Pokemon White 2 ; I put too much time in this not to put it on my list. A good sequel with an ample amount of new content over BW1. Pokemon World Tournament is a great addition. Lots of nice conveniences added (join ave, etc). That Neo Team Plasma battle theme.
10. Binary Domain ; Solid 3rd person shooter I really enjoyed. Would have gone by unnoticed if it wasnt for gaf. I feel like plugging Vanquish now, wish it would get a sequel.
2011. Saints Row The Third ; Of the games I didnt list last year, I'd say this is the one. Im about 2/3 the way through currently. Im not big fan of open world games but SR3 is so crazy paired with fun missions and co-op Im glad I didnt miss it. Bulletstorm is close second. Played this on PC this year after I finally built a gaming PC. Over the top fun, great mechanics, but I never gave the multiplayer a shot.
Games I didnt get to play yet from 2012 NSMBU (no wii u), Dragons Dogma (maybe a PC version will come out), RE6(will try on PC despite mixed sentiment), Rhythm Heaven Fever, Crashmo(still have to finish the last set on Pushmo!), Xcom.
2. Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition ; didnt get around to DS in 2011 on 360 so I held out for the PC version (thanks Durante!). I love it and cant wait to play it some more.
3. Resident Evil Revelations ; This is my favorite RE since 4. Campaign, Raid Mode, graphics were all great fun.
4. Xenoblade Chronicles ; This has been all around great so far, glad it was finally released everywhere.
5. Paper Mario Sticker Star ; I thought this was a great adventure and thought the sticker gameplay worked out good. You can get stuck at times with some more trial and error moments to get past but its easily worth it. Writing great as always! Its not in the exact vein of TTYD but it didnt need to be.
6. Dust An Elysian Tail ; I love these style of games. Looks and plays great.
7. Hotline Miami ; Addicting quick gameplay and cool soundtrack.
8. Soul Calibur 5 ; I like the way 5 plays over 4 as SC2 was my favorite in the series. Missing extra stuff but the core is great.
9. Pokemon White 2 ; I put too much time in this not to put it on my list. A good sequel with an ample amount of new content over BW1. Pokemon World Tournament is a great addition. Lots of nice conveniences added (join ave, etc). That Neo Team Plasma battle theme.
10. Binary Domain ; Solid 3rd person shooter I really enjoyed. Would have gone by unnoticed if it wasnt for gaf. I feel like plugging Vanquish now, wish it would get a sequel.
2011. Saints Row The Third ; Of the games I didnt list last year, I'd say this is the one. Im about 2/3 the way through currently. Im not big fan of open world games but SR3 is so crazy paired with fun missions and co-op Im glad I didnt miss it. Bulletstorm is close second. Played this on PC this year after I finally built a gaming PC. Over the top fun, great mechanics, but I never gave the multiplayer a shot.
Games I didnt get to play yet from 2012 NSMBU (no wii u), Dragons Dogma (maybe a PC version will come out), RE6(will try on PC despite mixed sentiment), Rhythm Heaven Fever, Crashmo(still have to finish the last set on Pushmo!), Xcom.
GhaleonQ
Member
Very intriguing lists, all. A year without blockbuster favorites have made the lists more interesting than usual, and the writing and formatting stepped up even more from where it usually is.
As I wrote, thanks to you, too!
Most of my favorite 2-d are dead, so it just so happened that probably my #1 and #2 3-d of all-time showed up at the same moment. The value-content ratio just cemented their objective quality, in my book.
Indeed. I approve of Miyamoto as coach and I'm truly, deeply excited for Pikmin 3 (where I admit I was initially wrong and Miyamoto right), but, yeah, that wasn't hyperbole. I'm surprised that I'm still worked up about it.
As I wrote, thanks to you, too!
Most of my favorite 2-d are dead, so it just so happened that probably my #1 and #2 3-d of all-time showed up at the same moment. The value-content ratio just cemented their objective quality, in my book.
Indeed. I approve of Miyamoto as coach and I'm truly, deeply excited for Pikmin 3 (where I admit I was initially wrong and Miyamoto right), but, yeah, that wasn't hyperbole. I'm surprised that I'm still worked up about it.
GhaleonQ
Member
I predict my 1st banning of 2013 will be there. EXCITE.
FearMyWrench
Member
1. Nintendo Land ; After the presentation at E3, this is the last game I ever expected to find at the top of my list... But yet, it's here. I really don't know what else to say besides that I had a LOT of fun with it, both multiplayer and singleplayer. The amount of depth some of the games have is downright ridiculous too.
2. Guild Wars 2 ; The best MMO I've played in a long time. Sure it's not super revolutionary or anything, but it does a great job at perfecting what WoW did before.
3. New Super Mario Bros. U ; Just an excellent platformer. Level design was fantastic and the revival of the World Map with all the secret exits is great. I enjoyed the new Challenge Mode as well, it really adds a lot of replayable content. Graphics upgrade to 720p with the fancy shadows is appreciated too.
4. Kid Icarus: Uprising ; Not a whole lot to say, it's just really fun. Tons of content too. Keep up the good work Sakurai. Controls are also not that bad if you're using the stand IMO.
5. Torchlight 2 ;
2011. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D ; I finally got around to playing this after all these years. Spoiler: It's not quite as amazing as people say. I blame nostalgia.
I realize now how few games released in 2012 that I played last year...
1. Mass Effect 3; Not as good as 2, still the most fun I had with a game this year.
2. Far Cry 3; I haven't been this absorbed in a world since Fallout 3.
3. Dishonored; I'm short on words tonight, but I loved playing through this.
4. Syndicate; One of the funnest shooter campaigns this generation. Mechanics are great, AI & encounters are well designed, and the co-op is a lot of fun.
5. Uncharted: Golden Abyss; First game I played on Vita, and it exceeded my expectations. Seeing a game this beautiful and refined at launch is incredible. Showed what the Vita is capable of. Just wish more people were interested.
6. Asura's Wrath; All the bombcast talk convinced me to give this a go. Loved DBZ growing up.
7. Gravity Rush; Absolutely splendid.
8. Journey; Nothing like it.
9. The Walking Dead; Anxious to see if season 2 can match it.
10. Dead or Alive 5; My first DOA experience. Got it on a whim Black Friday and have really enjoyed it.
2. Far Cry 3; I haven't been this absorbed in a world since Fallout 3.
3. Dishonored; I'm short on words tonight, but I loved playing through this.
4. Syndicate; One of the funnest shooter campaigns this generation. Mechanics are great, AI & encounters are well designed, and the co-op is a lot of fun.
5. Uncharted: Golden Abyss; First game I played on Vita, and it exceeded my expectations. Seeing a game this beautiful and refined at launch is incredible. Showed what the Vita is capable of. Just wish more people were interested.
6. Asura's Wrath; All the bombcast talk convinced me to give this a go. Loved DBZ growing up.
7. Gravity Rush; Absolutely splendid.
8. Journey; Nothing like it.
9. The Walking Dead; Anxious to see if season 2 can match it.
10. Dead or Alive 5; My first DOA experience. Got it on a whim Black Friday and have really enjoyed it.
Riposte
Member
Judging from our pleasant conversations, I'm always confused when I see you banned. Do you turn into a werewolf when there's a full moon or something? Actually, it is probably best not to drudge that up since it might cause drama with mods (or lycanthrope hunters).
Solution: Don't care. Even if Resident Evil 6, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Skullgirls, Crusader Kings II, and Kid Icarus: Uprising rounded up the top 5... I still would not care. I think don't think good taste is decided democratically.
Arlecchino
Member
Play both of them and enjoy the top two games of the year?
bunbun777
Member
1. Persona 4 Golden ; First time playing Persona 4 and what a great time it was. Enjoyed the relationships and wonderful music the most.
2. Magic the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 ; 21 decks counting the dlc with the addition of individual land tapping and promo cards this year. Planeschase mode can be quite fun.
3. Far Cry 3 ; Playing this one right now. Reminds me a bit of Skyrim. Great scenery and fun weapons. A bit shallow but all in all an exciting experience.
4. Resident Evil 6 ; I had large expectations going into this and though somewhat disappointed with the story, still enjoyed the game quite a bit. I am a fan of the series and enjoy the ride even when it seems to be not up to the quality I imagine it could be.
5. Hot Shots Golf World Invitational ; The first game purchased with the vita. Very solid game with a great difficulty curve while still remaining cheerful and easy to pick up. Online mode was always fun.
6. Virtue's Last Reward ; A quick whirl of drama and puzzles, this had me engaged throughout the whole experience.
2. Magic the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 ; 21 decks counting the dlc with the addition of individual land tapping and promo cards this year. Planeschase mode can be quite fun.
3. Far Cry 3 ; Playing this one right now. Reminds me a bit of Skyrim. Great scenery and fun weapons. A bit shallow but all in all an exciting experience.
4. Resident Evil 6 ; I had large expectations going into this and though somewhat disappointed with the story, still enjoyed the game quite a bit. I am a fan of the series and enjoy the ride even when it seems to be not up to the quality I imagine it could be.
5. Hot Shots Golf World Invitational ; The first game purchased with the vita. Very solid game with a great difficulty curve while still remaining cheerful and easy to pick up. Online mode was always fun.
6. Virtue's Last Reward ; A quick whirl of drama and puzzles, this had me engaged throughout the whole experience.
LOL, so are you beating the drum of "more like Pikmin 2," too?
Eh, I accepted long before my infamous "non-games" thread that those two would win #1 and #2.
So the real GOTY starts at #3, ohohoho!
If 2 posts become the trend, we'll just make 3!
Your method of using one paragraph seems like a good way to balance it out...I might have to try something similar in the future. I actually have a lot of games I wanted to put in Honorable Mention but I don't like just listing names without expanding upon it and I would likely have eclipsed 48,000 characters.
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