Underrated GOTY

[theevilgenius60]

Definitely Dragons Dogma(ok, enough d's). It was a fun, battle centered RPG with no story to speak of, and I loved every second of it, especially at night. I never realized how scary a longbow with war arrows could be until I saw the pool cues in my character's quiver. After watching my brother struggle against the dragon as a sword/shield fighter(I believe that was the job title), I was glad I played ranger. It took a bit to get used to and then to get the most out of the pawn system, but it was great finding that great squad after suffering around with loud pawns who suck at their jobs. my only real complains were the story(lack thereof) and the unshutupable pawns. But, it wasn't on the list, so Borderlands 2 is my pick.

 

[BrotherRool]

My vote would go for To The Moon. Most beautiful story I've ever played. for day afterwards I was thinking about the game and it only get better the more I thought. I can still gain pleasure just from thinking about it

Katawa Shoujo.

If you've played it, you understand. If not, well, it's the only game this year to make me cry, so that's worth something at least.

I was tempted to put in for Persona 4, but since it's a re-release that kinda works with it when other games only got one shot. So Spec Ops it was, I guess.

I've said it elsewhere, but if we are going to include visual novels, my vote would go to Analogue: A Hate Story.

I suppose I should try to sell it:

Unlike other visual novels, Analogue: A Hate Story is not about dating schoolgirls or collecting nudes. It's not about fluttering hearts, single glistening tears, or any of that other crap that is often mistaken for romantic literature. It's not even a "game" that gives you one arbitrary choice per hour, and then expects you to sit through gradually scrolling text.

It's a solid story about a dead vessel drifting through space. The player takes on the role of a hacker/detective who is trying to find out what the hell happened. They must rediscover a barbaric ancient culture, deal with the threat of nuclear annihilation, and become the sole representative for future mankind. Further more, you actually get to do stuff - you get to make choices, you get to "hack" (in the Hollywood sense), and you're expected to interact with all sorts of stuff.

Basically, Analogue is what happens when you expect more from a visual novel, instead of letting it resort to the dubious writing and design conventions that stagnate the genre. It's a visual novel for people who don't like visual novels.

I played both after getting Analogue in the Humble Bundle. Katawa Shoujo introduced me to VNs, and after playing/reading some of varying genres I would say I'm a fan or sorts. It's very close between them; Analogue had an interesting plot and more interactivity, but never that much emotional depth to keep myself invested in what the characters were going through. Katawa Shoujo had the better dialogue, which added greatly to the immersion.

If you can count VNs, Katawa Shoujo gets my vote, if not then Spec Ops: The Line would be my choice.

I missed that one Just downloaded Katara Shoujo though and now I'm very excited about playing it

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Dragon's Dogma
Tales of Graces f

I don't know if any of those three are on the list, as I've never seen it(or know how to find it). But if they aren't, they should be.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

I honestly hold Prototype 2 in very high regard. Even though I pick Mass Effect 3 as my personal GOTY.
I played Prototype 2 all the way through twice consecutively once I got it and even went through it again later on hard and insane (i normally never touch anything higher than normal).

It's not a smart game, but it's done almost everything I wanted Prototype 1 to do (namely get gorier, and let me feel like a little god all the way through, through I'm disappointed they didn't go with a new location).

It was so very sad when they didn't sell enough copies I did my part and pre-ordered + bought on Day 1 so I have the right to complain that people did not give this game the attention it deserved.

EDIT: I believe Prototype 2 deserved at least a mention for being what a sequel should be by expanding on everything. The skills, the stakes, the story, the characters, the gameplay, everything was just improved upon. Not too many sequels do that (like the Halo series, which adds some things but takes out others to compensate).

 

[Susan Arendt]

As long as they don't give ME3 the GotY because IT DOESN'T DESERVE IT!!!!!

I don't mind what they pick. Or is picked.

You realize that the "they" in this equation is YOU, right? This is a community vote.

I'm so gonna get flamed for this: Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Ok, do you actually think that was the best game released this year, or is it just your favorite? Because we do differentiate between the two here. We'll be celebrating our favorite games of the year all next week.