Your Personal Game of the Year

[Dango]

So far I'd say it's a tie between DE:HR and Total War: Shogun 2.

 

[Usagi-Zakura]

Minecraft (I know it has existed since 2010, but its release date is 2011 since it has only been in beta up until this point.)
Also Portal 2

 

[Dethenger]

Catherine was my personal favourite, but I don't know. I haven't played Gears of War 3, Portal 2, or Dark Souls, despite my efforts. Even so, Catherine was an excellent game.

 

[Spineyguy]

Please can we stop glorifying the big franchises, they don't change anything from game-to-game, so they don't improve, let the stand-alone titles have the spotlight, just for a minute, it's what they deserve.

...did you seriously just say that Portal 2 was no different from Portal 1?

After reading through my comment several times, I have failed to find that line anywhere.

What I do recall stating is that Valve can be expected to produce good games and thus the fact that Portal 2 was excellent comes as no surprise.

I believe I also wrote that sequels and franchise games should not get Game of the year, this is because they already have a pedigree which stand-alone titles lack, as well as a fanbase and an inflated budget. Portal 2 was sufficiently different from Portal 1 to be considered a game in its own right, but it was not a stand-alone title.

You said that Portal 2 didn't count as GotY, the rest of your post implying that this was because it was a big franchise, and then you went on to say that big franchises don't change anything from game to game. You can understand the confusion, hopefully.

And no, I don't agree with that. I judge a game based on the game, not its history.

Portal can be considered exempt from the 'big franchises' remark, chiefly because it isn't big, they are short, fun, simple games without pressure. I have no problem with people enjoying games that are part of franchises, nor do I have a major problem with the production of sequels and a continuous storyline that runs for multiple games.

What I do have a problem with is developers who simply produce the same game over and over again because they know that people will buy it because of what's in the title. At this point, Activision could publish Call of Duty: Adventures of Fluffles McPinkman in Implied Homosexuality Land and people would still pay £40 it and call it Game of the Century. The Gears of War team are guilty of this, if they had introduced major new mechanics into the concept I would say they weren't, but at best they've designed a new gun or two and done a graphical update.

Anyway, I can see that this could turn into a rant, suffice to say that I whole heartedly believe that Game of the year should not go sequels and franchises. That includes Portal 2 which, though it remains a sequel, was not simply a re-release of its predecessor, as I at no point said.

However, I would argue that producing a successful stand-alone game is harder than producing a sequel to an already successful one, especially if you're trying to do something original (But honestly, who does that any more?). Sequels in this day-and-age can just be re-skins of older games (Please note that I'm not saying they all are.) That doesn't mean they aren't fun, or that they shouldn't be bought on principle, it simply means that they aren't original.

 

[zuro64]

Even thought it havent come out yet, Battlefield 3 will be mine! I have been waiting so long for this game
Portal 2 was fantastic, end of story(would be no.1 if not for BF3)
Deus Ex: HR is great so far(havent finished yet)
Crysis 2 looked good but lacked a bit on the gameplay
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood(PC) was great as AC usally is but nothing really new there

Modern Warfare 3 I think it wont be anything we havent seen before, but enjoyable
Assassin's Creed: Revelations I'm looking forward to this one to see how they close the Ezio story
Batman: Arkham City will be among the top one's i think

 

[Seriin]

I came into the thread about to say either Catherine or Pokemon B/W, until I saw the OP. I forgot Ghost Trick was released this year, somehow it feels like it was longer. Then again, it was an early January release so that is probably why. I enjoyed that game a lot, good music, engaging story and fun gameplay.

This may easily change over the rest of the year with new releases or me playing stuff that has been released so far.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

So far is Witcher 2 for me.

Coming in second is Deus Ex Human Revolution.That's about it.

 

[MagnetoHydroDynamics]

Bastion... That's about it.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

My top three are inFamous 2, Deus Ex; Human Revolution & Rise of Nightmares. Gears 3 is a close fourth.

But not everything's out yet. Soooo....XD

 

[bluesession]

So far...
Bastion and Portal 2

But i'm really looking forward to Batman AC and Skyrim

(Oh and I dont think it will be the "Game of the Year" but still I really want to see what ends up being the Old Republic, I mean: will it be another wow clone or a good mmorpg on in own merit?)

 

[Sonic Doctor]

From what I played out of this year: Dragon Age 2. For me it was a big improvement over DA:Origins, just for the fact that the gameplay felt more involved and fun compared to DA:O. That helped me to actually want to get through the whole game. Still haven't beat DA:O.

 

[Avalanche91]

From the games I've played.....I was kinda disappointed with Deus Ex, Mass Effect is delayed till next year, and I rarely play games like Gears of War or Call of Duty.

Portal 2 was hilarious and awesome, if a bit short, so I'm giving my GotY award pre-emptivly to Batman Arkham City.

 

[godofallu]

Gears of War 3 by a landslide.

But what can I say, i'm a sucker for single player + coop + versus + bonus mode games. Especially when I can sink a dozen hours into any of the parts.

 

[kebab4you]

Nope this is where I put my foot down, I'm fed up with these threads, the year isn't over, ergo your game of the year is not yet the game of the year T.T"[footnote]If people were to word it in another way that´s logical this wouldn't get on my nerves, like:"Best game so far of the year"[/footnote] so let's be logical, my game of the year for 2010 is Civilization 5.

 

[Kris015]

My guesses: Dark Souls, Skyrim, Portal 2 (Garanteed). Haven't tried Deus Ex.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

Either Portal 2 or The Witcher 2. That is, until Skyrim comes out.

 

[PixelKing]

Space Marine for me.

Now before anyone flames me with 'how could you forget Portal 2, Deus Ex and gears of war?' let me clarify.

Valve make good games, that's what they do, that's what we expect from them, deus ex was going to be loved whether it was good or bad, and it wasn't ever going to be bad given its progeny, and Gears 3 already had such a formulaic edge to it that there was no-way it could have been worse than its predecessors.

but Space Marine was unexpected, it came out of nowhere and really surprised everyone. I was all geared up to say 'meh, Gears clone' and put it away, but I did not think for a second that it would be as good as it is. The campaign has a good difficulty curve, it's a decent length, the story is well-written and interesting, the soundtrack is phenomenal and the visuals were good quality as well, add to that the surprisingly solid multiplayer and you have a real contender.

Please can we stop glorifying the big franchises, they don't change anything from game-to-game, so they don't improve, let the stand-alone titles have the spotlight, just for a minute, it's what they deserve.

Pretty well said there.
OT: MineCraft, its released this year isn't it?

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, so far the only game that's kept me interested enough to really finish it in the same week as I started playing is Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Portal 2 notwithstanding, because I finished it in the same day as I started playing it). Crysis 2 comes in a close second, and I can count Mass Effect 2 again because it came out for PS3 this year, buahahaha! If I can't count ME2 based on the fact that it was first released last year, then 3rd place is a tie between Portal 2 and Alice: Madness Returns.

However, for upcoming titles the spot may be stolen by the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (I don't care if all three games in it have been released before, it's a re-release of MGS2: Substance, MGS3: Subsistence, and MGS: Peace Walker all for the PS3 for $50, apparently with the ability to transfer your game to the handheld console (Vita for MGS2/3, PSP for Peace Walker) and continue on there at any time. That's awesome), Batman: Arkham City, or a surprise upset from Sonic Generations (not likely, but I can always hope)!

EDIT: Oh, Dark Souls could become a contender once I get my hands on it, as well.