• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

One year later, GOTY 2010 (2010 games you've played in 2011)

Still Bad Company 2. It might not have been the BEST game of the year, but I had the most fun playing it with friends.
 
Phonomezer said:
DLC for ME2 was fantastic, apart from the last one they released which was about an hour long and fairly uneventful.

i dont think i could do a replay of the game, but i'll make myself finish the dlc at least just before 3 comes out.
 
The games I haven't played last year, I still didn't play this year. And looking over my list right now I feel comfortable with it. Maybe move one game up and another down but overall my opinion remains unchanged.
 
I don't really have a list beyond number one. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is still the king of 2010 in my eyes. There was so much that was done right in that game. If there was a dull moment, it must have not been bad enough for me to remember.
 
Red Dead Redemption, without a doubt. With that followed by Nier, Bayonetta, and ME2.
 
still Galaxy 2 by a country mile. and even more so than before since i can't even remember no.2, it's so far ahead of the others it's not even funny.
 
DennisK4 said:
Divinity 2 is criminally overlooked on GAF but how dare you downgrade Two Worlds II?!
I was knee deep in it during the voting and the later half the game kinda soured me on it just a bit.

My big choice this year is between The Witcher 2 and Drakensang: River of Time. I can't make up my mind on which one is RPG of the year (Already assuming some of the Skyrim scaling will annoy me and knock it down a few pegs)

DangerStepp said:
Was TWII that good?! I don't remember how we felt about it on GAF.
It is good, but it's not for everyone. It has that sort of bland fantasy setting similar to Oblivion.
 
BadWolf said:
To all those posting Mass Effect 2, would someone who hasn't played the first enjoy it? Is there like a recap or something of the first one in the sequel?
The PS3 demo has the recap. I suppose you have to be invested in part 1 to see anything there. But judge for yourself.
 
Weak year all around in my opinion.

New Vegas, Dragon Quest IX, Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta and RDR are all great games but nothing is really sticking with me.
 
1) Mass Effect 2: I've probably played this through about 3 separate times now. I love it, still playing it on and off right now. Since it has stuck with me I'd say it's my GOTY.

2) Red Dead Redemption: Was a great first play through, but messing around got boring for me after a while. Still, it's by far the best western game I've ever played and has a great single player story.

3) Nier: Love the games story, love the world and the characters, but not all that keen on the combat. Probably give this my best voice acting award though.

4) COD: Black Ops: Was surprised how much I enjoyed this, stupid popcorn plot was well executed and it managed to have a lot of the interesting scenarios / wow moments COD is known for. Still think it's the weakest compared to MW1 & 2, and didn't like the multi. But single player was quite good.

5) God of War 3: Amazing graphics and a solid entry in the series. The weapons felt too similar, and I HATED the ending. But it was very fun to play through the one time and I have little interest to return to it.

6) Blood Stone: Fun action shooter with a lot of Bond moments. Lots of boring hallway shooting and little variation in the base mechanics bring this one down. But it's a solid Bond game that does make you feel like 007.

7) Starcraft 2: Campaign was very fun to play through, though I didn't like the story. I liked some of the custom maps in multi but never really got into the competitive vs like I did in Brood War. Decided after a while to just drop it, not sure if I'll bother with the sequels.

Games I played in 2010 but didn't release in 2010:
Dragon Age Origins
League of Legends
Demon's Souls

All three of these would probably be above everything I played that actually released in 2010.

2010 Games I own but haven't played enough to form final opinion on:
Vanquish
Bayonetta
Darksiders
Dead Rising 2
Enslaved
Resonance of Fate
FF13
Heavy Rain
 
The only thing I regret about my list last year is that I didn't give Death Smiles 2 the credit it deserves. It's one of those games that gave me a weak first impression, but the more I played, the more I liked it because the scoring system is so good (and a huge improvement over the original game). Definitely one of Cave's most underrated games.
 
God of War 3 is still number 1.
Second being Red Dead Redemption.
Third being Bayonetta
 
Ceebs said:
It is good, but it's not for everyone. It has that sort of bland fantasy setting similar to Oblivion.
I put 170 hours into Oblivion; it's anything but bland to me. Maybe I need to look into this at a later time--kind of a lost cause now with Skyrim releasing shortly.
 
I had a quick glance at metacritic to refresh my memory and looking back things don't seem that great. Sure, I've spent 200+ hours on Mass Effect but I don't consider them that good, just very entertaining. Red Dead Redemption is just to bloated, Undead Nightmare was alot better. I didn't end up hooked on StarCraft 2 like I predicted and I still haven't finished God of War III. So, my pick for GOTY 2010 still stands...

Sid Meier's Civilization V
 
1. Fallout: New Vegas
2. Minecraft
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
4. F1 2010
5. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
6. Alpha Protocol
7. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
8. Just Cause 2
9. Mass Effect 2
10. Gran Turismo 5

I'd probably put GT5 over ME2 now, other than that I'm still happy with my list.

I should probably play more console games.
 
tim.mbp 2010 GOTY said:
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; I haven't played too many 2010 releases, but this stands above everything I've played.

2. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future ; Wraps up the trilogy in Layton's usual combination of absurdity and melodrama.

Still would be the same two for me. I only listed one GOTY for each platform I own.
 
1) Mass Effect 2
2) Super Mario Galaxy 2 (although better than ME2 technically, I preferred SMG1, so it felt less exciting than ME2 to me)
3) Bayonetta
4) Red Dead Redemption
5) Castlevania Lords of Shadow

I guess that would (still) be it.

Re: ME2/RDR debate. I thought almost all of ME2's missions were interesting and memorable, and most tried to do something differently, whereas RDR had a good beginning and ending, and fifteen hours of filler padding inbetween.
 
While Super Mario Galaxy 2 is easily my choice for GOTY 2010, I can't help but appreciate games like Wii Party and Picross 3D that I can play now and still have fun with them. Wii Party (which I didn't play at all until 2011) because it's a party game that my friends continually enjoy, and Picross 3D because I can always just pick up and play it whenever, since it has so many puzzles and I don't even think I'll ever finish it.
 
Wow, I still have a bunch of games here from 2010 that I still haven't played :/ 2010 was a huge WoW year for me so I didn't get much time to play anything else really. I have RDR, FFXIII, GoW3, Heavy Rain, ME2 and Castlevania all basically untouched.
 
God Of War 3 was my favorite game last year. The production levels, epic scale and attention to detail, is still unmatched on consoles imo.

Bayonetta is second. I really liked the action, and the controls. The only thing that i did not like was the auto save function. If i left a level midway, even though it says saving, i have to restart the whole chapter if i shut off my PS3.

The sly collection was very good. I never played Sly games before, and i liked them. Only the first 2 games.

I should buy RDR at some point.
 
Don't remember what all I played last year, but the Ys Oath in Felghana would probably be second only to Mario Galaxy 2. Should have gotten into the series sooner.
 
I didn't vote, because I hardly played 2010 titles. If i had to vote now, my picks would be:

Lara Croft: Guardian of Light
This was a blast to play in co-op, one of the most fun experiences I had this year. Almost perfect game: The combat is fun, the puzzles are really, really great and there is incentive to explore to find extras and do challenges.

Mount and Blade: Warband
Looks crappy and has no story or presentation, but lots of fun. Fighting in battles is great and using the experience and loot to further upgrade yourself and your men for bigger battles is very addicting. However I feel that it gets less enjoyable later in the game. Managing large forces feels tedious, the large battles go on forever, where your survival becomes a lot more important and I feel that you can't really command your forces well from a distance.

Halo Reach
I love the Halo gameplay, my favourite (console) FPS. No crappy flood levels and the return of Elites elevate it above 3 (Which I also deeply enjoyed). I didnt like that a lot of scenarios were basically repeating the same one: defend this spot against a few waves of dropships.
 
The one game I had the pleasure of playing this year that I feel is the game that got the least attention and truly deserves it is Castlevania Lords of Shadow.

This game, more than any other last year, is now at #3 on my list of top 5, where previously due to not having played it was nowhere in sight.

GAF you need to play this game.
 
My original list:
1. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes ; Fantastic mix of strategy and puzzle elements, wrapped up in a nice little story.
2. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver ; Pokemon at its best. I still carry my pokewalker around wherever I go.
3. Tomena Sanner ; Silly multiplayer fun for only $5.
4. Aura-Aura Climber ; Starts slow but really opens up after a few levels. great value.
5. Spotto! ; Simple but charming and fun.
6. Photo Dojo ; The fighting system isn't very good, but making the characters is hilarious.
7. Pop Island: Paperfield ; Frantic fun for up to 8 players at only $2, what a steal.
8. HoopWorld ; a poor man's NBA Jam that's surprisingly fun.
Those were the only 2010 games I had played, and the only other 2010 games that I've bought since then are Super Scribblenauts, Zenonia, Muscle March and Red Steel 2.

New list would be:

1. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Still an amazing battle system. It's a shame that I haven't been able to play against others (DS version, so no online) but I've actually played through the story mode 3 times simply because it's so enjoyable.
2. Pokemon HeartGold/Soulsiver - I've put over 100 hours into it and I still carry my pokewalker around whenever I leave the house, even though I haven't played the game in several months. Still a great game though.
3. Super Scribblenauts - I never played the original, so it was all fresh for me. There are quite a few uninteresting levels, but just messing around on the title screen is so much fun, and it's a great game to show off to friends.
4. Aura-Aura Climber - Best 200 point DSiWare game. Great pick up and play title with a perfect difficulty.
5. Tomena Sanner - Still a nice little multiplayer game, but it loses it's charm when played too often.
6. Red Steel 2 - Lovely motionplus controls and pretty nice visuals, but the mission structure is pretty boring and there are just too many loading doors.
7. Pop Island: Paperfield - Still a cute capture the flag racer, but getting 8 people with a DS in the same room for some multiplayer isn't exactly easy.
8. Zenonia - Not a bad little rpg for it's price, but nothing special either. The translation is horribly bad, but it looks nice.
9. Spotto! - cute little game, but I've hardly touched it after playing through it once.
10. Photo Dojo - the best part of the game is creating new characters, but I never take the time to do so.
 
Olorin said:
1. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Still an amazing battle system. It's a shame that I haven't been able to play against others (DS version, so no online) but I've actually played through the story mode 3 times simply because it's so enjoyable.
I just finished this game last weekend and i really enjoy it. I thought it came out in 2011, that´s why i have not put it in my list.
 
Beam said:
I just finished this game last weekend and i really enjoy it. I thought it came out in 2011, that´s why i have not put it in my list.
The DS version was last year I think.
 
Beam said:
I just finished this game last weekend and i really enjoy it. I thought it came out in 2011, that´s why i have not put it in my list.
2010 in Europe and 2009 in North America for the DS version. All other versions came out in 2011.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Halo Reach.

I just started playing New Vegas, so we'll see about that. It's stunning so far.

And I didn't like ME2 or RDR. I only played them for about two hours each, but that was enough. The movement and combat felt wrong for both of them, and made them unplayable for me.
 
I actually thought about this the other day. Glad to see this thread pop up.

My original post, and my list, as it was, shortened:

1. Bayonetta
2. Vanquish
3. Super Street Fighter 4
4. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
5. Limbo
6. Civilization 5
7. Guwange
8. Alpha Protocol
9. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 – Chaos Rising
10. Metro 2033

I'm sad to say I missed a handful of super important games, and there are still a few others, like 999 and Divinity II, that I need to get around to. Someday! I would indeed change my list and it'd look something like ...

1. Bayonetta
2. Vanquish
3. Fallout: New Vegas
4. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
5. Stalker: Call of Pripyat
6. Just Cause 2
7. Civilization 5
8. Alpha Protocol
9. Mafia II
10. Guwange

For starters I completed removed SSFIV as SSFIVAE on PC is my preferred version of Street Fighter IV now, and that came out a few months ago. Secondly, I only purchased New Vegas this year, otherwise its brilliance would have been well represented on my list. I think it's possibly my favorite RPG now. I dunno, but that shit sure was addictive, and I'm awfully picky about RPGs these days. Thirdly, Call of Pripyat and Just Cause 2. I think the former is the best PC-only shooter in eons and the latter is some of the most fun I've had playing a sandbox game since Vice City; since I suck, I only played them this year. Lastly, Mafia II. I completely wrote that off. I'm not sure what it was about the demo I played, but it did absolutely nothing for me. I think I thought it seemed less like the first and more of a straight cover-based third-person shooter. It actually did get a bit too Rambo-y at times for its own good, but I loved the game, all in all. Riding around in the cold night to Ritchie Valens' "Donna" was just really atmospheric, engrossing. Never mind that I painted my car pink and had a vulgar license plate.

Anyway, 2010 was an amazing year for games, there was just so much for me to play, and I didn't get to try everything that I wanted to. I still stand by Bayonetta being my favorite game though. Wasn't just the best thing I played last year either, I haven't ever had that much fun playing something before. God-tier action gaming. I also still stand by Guwange, even though most Cave fans seem iffy on it, not to mention I was the only one who voted for it. I give no fucks.
 
It hasn't really changed. All in all it was a triump of Japanese gaming with games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, Super Mario Galaxy 2, KH: BBS, Gran Turismo 5, MGS: PW etc., imho very few western games were on their level or at all close to their quality.

1. Bayonetta / Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Fallout: New Vegas

Best from the East, best from the West. I won't even start trying to put these three in order.

2. Vanquish

I'm simply not the biggest fan of 3rd person shooters, which is probably the only reason why this isn't up there with Bayonetta etc. Vanquish IS the best of its genre, though, there's really no competition. Gears of Uncharted who?

3. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Starts a bit slow, but once you get some of those better skills/abilities, it's non-stop, explosive action.

4. Donkey Kong Country Returns

As I didn't mind the waggle-roll, this is up there as my favourite DKC with DKC2.

5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

A great portable MGS, don't really know what else to say.

6. Darksiders

I liked this a lot more than the past three Zelda games I've played (Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks). People whine that it's just a copycat of different games, but I don't understand those complaints. There's enough personality there to make it a game of its own.

7. Ys: Oath in Felghana

So far, this is my favorite Ys game. Just all around fun, fast-paced & challenging action RPG.

8. No More Heroes 2

Improvement over the first in just about every meaningful way.

9. Just Cause 2

I wasn't at all interested in the first Just Cause. That's why Just Cause 2 was such a positive surprise. So fun, even if the main story isn't at all interesting (I haven't even finished it yet, just played around the island, trying to cause as much destruction as possible)

10. Nier

Kind of a hard job to place this. As an overall experience, it was one of the best of 2010 for me, but as far as gameplay goes, there are perhaps some games that would be better justified on a Top 10 2010 list... Anyways, a very different kind of game in every way and one of the most depressing gameworlds & stories in a long while.


The gap between 1st and 2nd in 2010 just reminds me how lame 2010 was overall; I couldn't even find 10 games to vote in.
That either shows how lacking your knowledge is of the games of 2010 and thus you didn't play many games like Vanquish, Bayonetta & SMG2, you only own a single platform or that your gaming tastes suck/are very limited. If you know of the existence of said games and own the platforms required to play them, then I'd have to go with the last option
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Lot of great games in 2010, my GotY is still SMG2, but I think Donkey Kong Country Returns should be mentioned.

Absolutely agreed. SMG2 wins in the end, but DKCR is my most played game from that year and comes in a very, very close second.
 
Famassu said:
That either shows how lacking your knowledge is of the games of 2010 and thus you didn't play many games like Vanquish, Bayonetta & SMG2, you only own a single platform or that your gaming tastes suck/are very limited. If you know of the existence of said games and own the platforms required to play them, then I'd have to go with the last option

I do have very particular tastes in gaming. I've no idea why you would be concerned with that in the slightest, though.
 
i thought 2010 was a bit shit, at least, for myself. it seemed to be the year of the 'good not great' game; like the type of games that are either time-killers while you wait for 2011 games or games that you cant even bring yourself to buy now that theyre $20-30 on amazon. on the plus side, it did wonders for my backlog as i resigned myself to skipping it nearly altogether and going straight to 2011, which has a ton of stuff i want to play. looking at the release list for this year, its pretty apparent last year was an odd one out for most major dev studios.
 
01. Red Dead Redemption - This was my #1 at the end of the year last year, and that has not changed. The campaign was amazing. The free roam improved a lot over GTA IV's free play mode. The free co-op missions pack was great. I got up to level 50 doing gang hideout missions with more than 10 other people. Undead Nightmare was the best "Zombie Game" of the generation, and one of the best uses of DLC. Awesome game all around.

02. Fallout New Vegas - I didn't play this until July. It took everything I liked about Fallout 3 and added a lot more. The faction system was great (although it could break the NCR quest line), the story was more interesting, and the
cannibal
hotel was hilarious. Since patch #4 was released around the time I started playing, I didn't have too many problems, and only lost about 30 minutes worth of progress once. I am planning on playing it in Hardcore mode in January, siding with NCR the whole way through. Amazing game if the lack of QA didn't ruin it for you along the way.

03. Heavy Rain - I had played Indigo Prophecy twice before this game came out, so I knew exactly what to expect in terms of Gameplay. The voice acting didn't sound American, but everything else (other than a somewhat overly long tutorial at the start) was ace. The first and only game to capture the atmosphere of a movie like "Seven." The number of ways in which things could branch out for an ending was impressive too. Along with the fact that "game over" wasn't even a possibility.

04. Yakuza 3 - The story was not as good as Yakuza 2, but having a whole new city to explore on top of seeing Kamurocho the way it was meant to look was great. A fun 20 hour campaign, and a shitload of side quests, minigames, and arena fighting. This franchise gained a lot by the jump in hardware capabilities.

05. Halo Reach - Excellent campaign with no flood, Elites as the primary combat enemies, and only one instance of recycled level geometry. It finally got the "invasion" feeling right that Halo 2 and ODST did not. Firefight was improved over ODST, although still had lag problems last time I played it. Multiplayer was really sped up with the armor abilities, but I wish the Invasion mode had panned out better.

06. God of War III - Maybe still the most gorgeous looking console game, and very fun to boot. The sense of scale was unrivaled, and it was a fitting end to the Kratos storyline. I would still rank God of War II as the best in the series though.

07. MGS Peace Walker - Enjoyed what I played, but I am waiting for "transfarring" to the console version to finish it. Might move up after I do.

08. Darksiders - A better Zelda than Twilight Princess

Played Mass Effect 2 but was not impressed.
 
Last year's post: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25057267&postcount=816 (With reasons for each vote there, edited them out for the quote below)
Me in last year's voting thread said:
1. Europa Universalis 3: Divine Wind
2. The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom
3. Mass Effect 2
4. Mount & Blade: Warband
5. F1 2010
6. Alpha Protocol
7. Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi
8. Mafia 2
9. Football Manager 2011
10. Just Cause 2
A new top 10 would be this:
1. Europa Universalis 3: Divine Wind - Still the same reasons
2. The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom - Still the same reasons
3. Mount & Blade: Warband - I went back to it this year and enjoyed myself even more, been playing it with a newer version of the Floris Mod Pack that makes the game even better. I feel that M&B: Warband like few other games gives you that feeling of starting from next to nothing to rising to a position of power.
4. Mass Effect 2 - Last year's opinion still stands, still agree with it fully.
5. Assassin's Creed II - I'm not sure if I'd already played this when I typed up the list last year, but I really can't understand why I didn't include it. I played it (I think replayed, but not sure) just before playing the PC version of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood this year, and while it's certainly not a game with very much substance, it's a very polished and enjoyable experience. It all looks nice, it's well paced, it controls well, the story is hilarious. A very enjoyable gaming experience all-round.
6. Alpha Protocol - Same as last year
7. F1 2010 - Same as last year
8. Victoria 2 - Didn't appear in last year's list, and for a very good reason. It just simply wasn't finished. Now that it's been properly patched though it's a very enjoyable grand strategy game. I really like developing the country economically. I will say however that it's far from perfect yet. It needs an add-on to give it some extra depth.
9. Football Manager 2011 - Same as last year
10. Mafia II - Same as last year

I also played Red Dead Redemption this year, but I haven't finished it yet, and I don't like it enough so far to include it in the list anyway.
 
Wallach said:
I do have very particular tastes in gaming. I've no idea why you would be concerned with that in the slightest, though.
This is a forum, people discuss about stuff in places like this. You said something I strongly disagree with. 2010 isn't a lame year for gaming no matter how you put it.
 
Just so you guys know, this year for the GOTY voting, I'm going to be adding an entry called the "LTTP" vote, which allows you to vote for one game from 2010 that you played this year/didn't vote for last year. Should be interesting to see what games people missed out on but would've voted for had they played it.
 
My GOTY last year was Mass Effect 2, which I still really enjoy after having played through it again. But, if I go by what game I played well into this year, it would probably be a toss up between Civilization 5 and NBA 2K11.
 
Famassu said:
This is a forum, people discuss about stuff in places like this. You said something I strongly disagree with. 2010 isn't a lame year for gaming no matter how you put it.

"Your taste sucks" is a really interesting opinion, thanks. I'll write it down for future consideration.

It was a pretty lame year overall for me, it's not really debatable. Glad you had a great time in 2010.
 
Red Dead Redemption is the best sandbox game ever. It blows all the GTAs out of the water. Mainly because the setting the perfect for the type of game where you can go where you want and do what you want.

So

1. RDR
2. ME2
 
Wallach said:
"Your taste sucks" is a really interesting opinion, thanks. I'll write it down for future consideration.

It was a pretty lame year overall for me, it's not really debatable. Glad you had a great time in 2010.

Fuck you and shut the fuck up! You had an AWESOME time in 2010! Don't tell me your opinion, I know your opinion better than you >:(
 
Top Bottom