DanielBrown said:
Seriously? It's listed as 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim', so you might want to skim while looking for a 'T' or 'E' instead of a 'S'. Also, 'Ctrl+F' works wonders.
Favorite Game of 2011 Survey!
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Seriously? It's listed as 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim', so you might want to skim while looking for a 'T' or 'E' instead of a 'S'. Also, 'Ctrl+F' works wonders.
I have to go for Bastion. I actually haven't played most of the titles on this list. This year apparently went to indie games for me, as Bastion, Binding of Isaac, and Terraria were the only three games of that entire list that I played. Of those three, I've only been able to keep attention to one of those, which was Bastion.
EDIT: Whoops, I didn't notice Portal 2 was on there. Oh well. Vote still goes for Bastion, as that's still the only game I've fully enjoyed out of them.
EDIT: Whoops, I didn't notice Portal 2 was on there. Oh well. Vote still goes for Bastion, as that's still the only game I've fully enjoyed out of them.
L.A. Noire. Great modernization of the point-and-click-adventure genre, gorgeous graphics, fantastic voice-acting and some great stories.
Looking over the list, it is the only game (of the, admittedly few, ones I played) to which I really want a sequel.
Edit: Also, as at least one other mentioned: Really strong crop for 2011, so many games I have enjoyed or want to get around to enjoying. So, I can't quite decide if it's good or bad that 2012 seems a bit mediocre in comparison. GTAV is really the only game I'm excited about. Oh well.
Looking over the list, it is the only game (of the, admittedly few, ones I played) to which I really want a sequel.
Edit: Also, as at least one other mentioned: Really strong crop for 2011, so many games I have enjoyed or want to get around to enjoying. So, I can't quite decide if it's good or bad that 2012 seems a bit mediocre in comparison. GTAV is really the only game I'm excited about. Oh well.
Binding of Isaac is game of the year for me, hands down.
I've enjoyed many of the games on that list, but not a single one thrilled me and got me to lose track of time the way Binding of Isaac could. I could lose track of time in several other games, but often I would come out of it feeling as though I had sloughed my way up a mountain, whereas the Binding of Isaac would be more like snowboarding down said mountain. Yes, I can lose myself in doing either, but I know which I would prefer.
Skyrim might be a contender as my game of the year except for all the CTD that game has given me. The only silver lining I can find from these CTD are that there is no error prompt, so I smoothly transition to surfing the internet or playing a different game (read as: one that does not crash).
Heck of a silver lining for Bethesda. This is why I have stayed away from New Vegas, and have kicked myself for getting Skyrim at launch.
I've enjoyed many of the games on that list, but not a single one thrilled me and got me to lose track of time the way Binding of Isaac could. I could lose track of time in several other games, but often I would come out of it feeling as though I had sloughed my way up a mountain, whereas the Binding of Isaac would be more like snowboarding down said mountain. Yes, I can lose myself in doing either, but I know which I would prefer.
Skyrim might be a contender as my game of the year except for all the CTD that game has given me. The only silver lining I can find from these CTD are that there is no error prompt, so I smoothly transition to surfing the internet or playing a different game (read as: one that does not crash).
Heck of a silver lining for Bethesda. This is why I have stayed away from New Vegas, and have kicked myself for getting Skyrim at launch.
Deus Ex - Regardless of the fact that it was part of an existing IP, it still felt "new". It filled a niche that has been long vacant (shooter RPG) and unlike other sequels out this year, it doesn't feel like a rehash of old material. It is the only release so far this year I loved enough to play through not twice, but four times and barring the ending, I would nearly call it flawless.
I....I don't know. I haven't played a game on the list that made me go "YESSSSSSS. THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER! IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE TODAY!"
I voted for Pokemon Black/White, which for some reason was left of this list. I don't understand.
I picked Dark Souls although it had many flaws.
Playing through Blighttown with me and my 2 best online friends was an experience that few games can rival, and it really took me back to our old L4D tourney days. Knowing that you only get 1 life, and everything in the place was trying it's best to kill you was crazy. Working together we managed to get from the entrance ladder to the bossfight, that's using only the 5 starting flasks and no bonfires.
I mean sure the COOP is brokenly bad in that it takes forever to get friends to join, and you can't use bonfires with companions, but in a way that made the entire experience an adrenaline rush. Knowing that every person was just seconds away from death. Stumbling around in the poison mists trying to find the correct path and refusing to be the guy who dies and lets his friends down. I can happily say that we made it to the bossight together, and while not everyone made it out alive by god we did what few others could do.
When I play other RPG games, or really almost any game, the difficulty is adjusted by multiplying the AI's HP and damage by a number. In Dark Souls there is no difficulty slider, because difficulty is set by good AI and intelligent traps/puzzles. Not many other games can say that.
Playing through Blighttown with me and my 2 best online friends was an experience that few games can rival, and it really took me back to our old L4D tourney days. Knowing that you only get 1 life, and everything in the place was trying it's best to kill you was crazy. Working together we managed to get from the entrance ladder to the bossfight, that's using only the 5 starting flasks and no bonfires.
I mean sure the COOP is brokenly bad in that it takes forever to get friends to join, and you can't use bonfires with companions, but in a way that made the entire experience an adrenaline rush. Knowing that every person was just seconds away from death. Stumbling around in the poison mists trying to find the correct path and refusing to be the guy who dies and lets his friends down. I can happily say that we made it to the bossight together, and while not everyone made it out alive by god we did what few others could do.
When I play other RPG games, or really almost any game, the difficulty is adjusted by multiplying the AI's HP and damage by a number. In Dark Souls there is no difficulty slider, because difficulty is set by good AI and intelligent traps/puzzles. Not many other games can say that.
I had to go with Bastion because it had more of a soul than Deus Ex, those being two of the few games I played to completion this year.
I actually forgot about Portal 2 coming in 2011, but the third quarter of the game just felt like a tedious grind of pixel hunting the strangely fortuitous bit of portal wall placement. As much as I dearly love Portal 2's ending sequence, it's not quite game of the year for me.
Skyrim is a lot of good things, but it's also very repetitive and I'm not sure if I'll play it to 'completion' as I might hope for. It's also not quite as deft at having the various factions interact with you as I would wish. And buggy.
I actually forgot about Portal 2 coming in 2011, but the third quarter of the game just felt like a tedious grind of pixel hunting the strangely fortuitous bit of portal wall placement. As much as I dearly love Portal 2's ending sequence, it's not quite game of the year for me.
Skyrim is a lot of good things, but it's also very repetitive and I'm not sure if I'll play it to 'completion' as I might hope for. It's also not quite as deft at having the various factions interact with you as I would wish. And buggy.
The Witcher 2.
It had badly balanced bosses, a difficulty curve like a brick wall that melted away as you leveled up; but that story.... The acting. The fact that the impact of choices you made were more substantial than any other RPG game ever. That the characters actually made me care about them.
The last time I cared about characters in a game was Baldur's Gate 2; a game principally told through large blocks of text or Prince of Persia; a linear climbing puzzel.
It's a real shame that they could balance this game so the initial hour didn't evicerate the player. Or the first boss couldn't be made to not feel like a random chance generator set to 99% chance of failure. Or that once you learned alchemy:bombs, throwing:knives and the long-lasting shield-sign you might as well press the win game button were it not for the story. Or that the collection of monsters wasn't more varied.
But it wins for me. It wins because it had heart. It hooked me into it's universe with believable (In universe) situations and sympathetic characters. Which is something that Skyrim, for all its freedom, and Deus Ex, for all its polish, fail to achieve.
It had badly balanced bosses, a difficulty curve like a brick wall that melted away as you leveled up; but that story.... The acting. The fact that the impact of choices you made were more substantial than any other RPG game ever. That the characters actually made me care about them.
The last time I cared about characters in a game was Baldur's Gate 2; a game principally told through large blocks of text or Prince of Persia; a linear climbing puzzel.
It's a real shame that they could balance this game so the initial hour didn't evicerate the player. Or the first boss couldn't be made to not feel like a random chance generator set to 99% chance of failure. Or that once you learned alchemy:bombs, throwing:knives and the long-lasting shield-sign you might as well press the win game button were it not for the story. Or that the collection of monsters wasn't more varied.
But it wins for me. It wins because it had heart. It hooked me into it's universe with believable (In universe) situations and sympathetic characters. Which is something that Skyrim, for all its freedom, and Deus Ex, for all its polish, fail to achieve.
I voted Skyward Sword. It's just so close to Twiligth Princess-perfection.
I kinda wished I could've thrown a vote for Bastion too, though. A game has never been more engaging.
I kinda wished I could've thrown a vote for Bastion too, though. A game has never been more engaging.
I know everyone is going to choose Skyrim. It is going to be game of the year all over the place. I chose Saints Row 3 because, sure, you can play Skyrim forever (literally). But the pure fun of Saints Row captivated me more than any game. And isn't that what we play for? The enjoyment?
When people ask me, "Hey what are you doing after school?" I can now respond, "Oh, you know, wacking people with giant purple dildo dress in a gimp suit. Then I think a good skydive is in order. Naked of course. Then I think I'll head on over to zombie island and make zombies explode with giant fists. After that, probably some homework."
Also, I'm pretty sure none of the police officers in Saints Row 3 took any form of arrow shaped projectiles to the knee.
When people ask me, "Hey what are you doing after school?" I can now respond, "Oh, you know, wacking people with giant purple dildo dress in a gimp suit. Then I think a good skydive is in order. Naked of course. Then I think I'll head on over to zombie island and make zombies explode with giant fists. After that, probably some homework."
Also, I'm pretty sure none of the police officers in Saints Row 3 took any form of arrow shaped projectiles to the knee.