Critical Miss: Top Five Games of 2012 #1

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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Sejborg said:
"Myeh"? Don't you mean "meh"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJGuSeidtew
There was a time before the Simpsons where people actually had different ways of saying essentially the same thing.

It was a scary time when memes were much harder to spread and people didn't just post "this" to express their opinions.
 

Erttheking

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Oct 5, 2011
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Thomas was alone...never heard of it...also the list...is gray trolling us?
 

search_rip

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Jan 6, 2009
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rhizhim said:
You may now disagree.
i disagree for the sole purpose of disagreeing to something!
ditto :p my first impression is "most heart-warming in-game romance was between a rectangle and a square" <--- myeeeeeeh, but I will try and play 'Thomas Was Alone' before further comments...
 

Inconspicuous Trenchcoat

Shinku Hadouken!
Nov 12, 2009
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Well, Thomas Was Alone is in my Top 5 of 2012 (I played it on Jan 1. 2013 though, so it didn't make my list in time), so I agree. It was a too easy puzzle game, but a great, lovely experience. Very charming, and evoked a gamut of emotions I didn't expect. The soundtrack is spot on too; after hearing and watching the game on YouTube for about 30 seconds, I felt compelled to play it and bought it on Steam and played it immediately. I liked the prologue too, other than the random villan shoehorned in for no reason. The scene in the comic broke my heart for a good little bit of time :)

I am partial to puzzle platformers and British narrators though, so I'm biased. The integration of the narrator in this game made it for me, much like the narrator made Bastion for a lot of people.
 

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
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Falsename said:
I don't care what you did or didn't like... You write (bad) comics. Just focus on them, not your likes and dislikes because your opinion is as varied and opinionated as anyone. Are you a reviewer legitimately?
Yes.

Sorry but these comics are pretty terrible. Wasn't there like a moment where some blonde guy was hanging the main character out a window or something then we just kind of.... moved on?

Retire, please.
No.

your opinion is as varied and opinionated as anyone.
Really.
 

octafish

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Apr 23, 2010
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You all realise that To The Moon came out in 2011, right? I guess not. I liked it too but you can't put it in a list for 2012.

Can't fault the choice really, I don't play a heap of games but Thomas Was Alone is one of the few that have stuck with me, and I dislike puzzle platformers.
 

TheYellowCellPhone

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Sep 26, 2009
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I have to agree. Got it over the Steam sale for $5. Felt ashamed that I skimped the developer out of another $5 because the game is just so pure.
 

major_chaos

Ruining videogames
Feb 3, 2011
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I'm gonna take that invitation to disagree and use it to disagree strongly. First as others have pointed out saying that Thomas Was Alone out writes every other game ignores To the Moon, and I would also add katawa-shoujo to the "excellently written games" list. Second I remember in his Dead Space review Yahtzee mocked the game for trying to make us feel something about it's protagonist, comparing it to trying to make us feel sorry for a lamp because it fell down. This about sums up why I don't care about Thomas Was Alone, it is almost literally trying to make you feel sorry for a lamp, and asking me to feel something about a bunch of squares running around on a white background is a good to make me feel absolutely nothing. Although I was complaining about TWD and Journey being overly common GOTY picks, at least I can understand why people chose them, even if I disagree, but with Thomas Was Alone I'm left absolutely baffled as to how anyone can enjoy the tedious gameplay, let alone actually feel any emotion towards its story. I guess some people are just really easily driven to emotion.
 

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
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Ignatz_Zwakh said:
Huh, no Hotline Miami. Kinda surprised. Mostly due to how everyone else falls all over it.
Hotline Miami was great, but it just didn't click with me. I think it was the constant strobing light effects and the heavy 80's EVERYWHERE aesthetic that put me off.
 

Scorched_Cascade

Innocence proves nothing
Sep 26, 2008
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octafish said:
You all realise that To The Moon came out in 2011, right? I guess not. I liked it too but you can't put it in a list for 2012.
In the post-comic wordsy bit Grey said

With the exception of Telltale's The Walking Dead and Christine Love's excellent Analogue: A Hate Story, nothing released in 2012 (or 2011, or 2010, for that matter) comes close to matching Thomas Was Alone's narrative punch
Which is what people are reacting too.

Also if you wanna cheat a bit, it didn't come out on steam till early September 2012 (even though it actually came out in 2011) so it's fully possible that people might have been playing it in 2012 as if it were a new game.
 

RA92

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Jan 1, 2011
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MetalMagpie said:
Bolt-206 said:
I'd probably be likely to disagree with the honourable mentions, 'cause I'm not sure how Skullgirls got there.
rhizhim said:
Honorable Mentions:
The War Z
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
I notice that "Mass Effect 3's Excellent Ending" is also on the honourable mentions list. Which makes me suspect there may be a fair amount of joking going on.

Jokes in a comic strip? Preposterous!
 

wAriot

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Jan 18, 2013
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major_chaos said:
I'm gonna take that invitation to disagree and use it to disagree strongly. First as others have pointed out saying that Thomas Was Alone out writes every other game ignores To the Moon, and I would also add katawa-shoujo to the "excellently written games" list. Second I remember in his Dead Space review Yahtzee mocked the game for trying to make us feel something about it's protagonist, comparing it to trying to make us feel sorry for a lamp because it fell down. This about sums up why I don't care about Thomas Was Alone, it is almost literally trying to make you feel sorry for a lamp, and asking me to feel something about a bunch of squares running around on a white background is a good to make me feel absolutely nothing. Although I was complaining about TWD and Journey being overly common GOTY picks, at least I can understand why people chose them, even if I disagree, but with Thomas Was Alone I'm left absolutely baffled as to how anyone can enjoy the tedious gameplay, let alone actually feel any emotion towards its story. I guess some people are just really easily driven to emotion.
First of all, it's "Top Five Games of 2012", not 2011, or whatever year KS was finished. Second, that is precisely the beauty of the game. It makes you feel something for RECTANGLES. There aren't too many games that can make that.

Now OT: I just had to create an account to congratulate you, Grey and Carter. This game was amazing from the first second and, for me at least, until the last one. I also had the same reactions with the other games:
Anderson's death was kinda scripted, Lee's didn't impact me as much as other parts of TWD, and I couldn't feel anything for Roland, because I was playing co-op and was trying to explain to someone (that didn't play BL1) that he was somewhat important.
 

major_chaos

Ruining videogames
Feb 3, 2011
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wAriot said:
As someone about 2 posts above me said, I was reacting to the part where grey says
With the exception of Telltale's The Walking Dead and Christine Love's excellent Analogue: A Hate Story, nothing released in 2012 (or 2011, or 2010, for that matter) comes close to matching Thomas Was Alone's narrative punch
I'm not saying KS should have been on the list, I'm disagreeing with the idea that TWA is some kind of unequaled masterpiece. Second the other point that I was making is that maybe some people could feel emotion for this game, I can't and the fact that others can confuses me to no end.
 

LavaLampBamboo

King of Okay
Jun 27, 2008
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Thomas was Alone was actually made by Mike Bithell, not Mark Bithell.

It was also very good, and you should play it =D
 

Darth_Payn

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Aug 5, 2009
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Well, that was unexpected. What is it about depressing games which make me want to drink myself comatose that make game critics sing their praises? It's like The Academy nominating the feel-bad hits of the year.
 

shadowslayer81

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May 9, 2011
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Yesssss thank you for this!
I'm not one for tears, but Thomas Was Alone easily pulled some out of me.

The music is beautiful, the narration is spot on, the visuals are surprisingly good for a bunch of blocks, and by god if any character in any major video game had half of the character development those blocks did it would be hailed as a second coming.

I still will replay that internet scene... ;_;