What are the most polished games (This generation)

Time to give credit where due, what are the most polished and refined games to fill up the shelves this generation?

We have all seen the bizarre bugs that defy sanity itself, The incomplete character/car rosters that make you feel like you just bought a 40$ Teaser instead of a complete product and games that put can suddenly decide to kill your gamesave at a whim

So here are my personal nominations for the most polished games so far.

Rayman Origins:

Besides a super smooth difficulty curve and polished graphics. This game has a certain flow and rhythm to it that i cant put in words. I can only imagine the creators spent hours replaying the same levels to make any sure every enemy, platform or lum is right where it should be.

Bayonetta:

Large selection of enemies, environments, weapons and Like Ryan said in the review: "I have a feeling that the developers made exactly the game they wanted to" There is just so much content in this package. Even after finishing and replaying on a higher difficulty you will be surprised by more content in the form of wholly new attacks and enemy mix-ups unseen on the regular modes

Star Craft II:

I can honestly say i have never played such a well balanced competitive multiplayer game. This single handedly redefined my expectations of online multiplayer

Honorable Mentions:

Sly Cooper Trilogy, Journey

Dead Space 2, Portal 2 and Uncharted 2 are examples of games that I find incredibly polished. Can't really pin point flaws on those.

I'd say Uncharted 2 is probably the most polished. It's hard to find any faults within that game.

Dead Space 2, period. It sets out to do what it wants to do perfectly and with a level of exactness that no other games this generation have come even close.

What's polished even mean nowadays? Just sounds like industry mobo jumbo for a game that is well made or what? I guess Portal 2 comes to mind.

Uncharted 2,3

GTA IV

Dead Space 1 and 2

Bastion

Portal 2, Half Life 2, TF2

Super Meat Boy

Batman AA

Vanquish has pretty flawless gameplay, pacing and visuals!

Ever Uncharted 2 I think it drags a bit on Tibet, when you're going after Schafer.

Give me your definition of polished and then I'll answer you.

From a mechanics and controls standpoint I'd say God of War 3 (on hard difficulty, the challenge and the controls were perfect). I also felt that the controls on Socom Confrontation were pretty good. Odd one and not so good game overall, I know, but everything from moving to shooting in that game felt great somehow.

I would disagree on Uncharted 2 though, some intended set-pieces were odd and if you didn't play as intended you would die in an odd way...

*insert Polish game here*

Portal 2, Gears of War 3, BioShock 2, Beatles Rock Band, Batman Arkham City, Super Street Fighter 4...

@EXTRASHINY said:

Dead Space 2, period. It sets out to do what it wants to do perfectly and with a level of exactness that no other games this generation have come even close.

Always a big fan of giving shoutouts to my favorite new IP. I also think it did everything right for a sequel.

Bayonetta,Uncharted 2, Just Cause 2.

Forza 4 comes to mind.

Portal, Uncharted 2, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, (to be honest, most nintendo games aren't very buggy and have good music and a decent style.) Bayonetta and Vanquish are the bench mark for great action games. I just wish that Sam's mouth would move when he talks during gameplay. Journey is also really well made, but the first person i met got stuck in a wall.

I'm slowly discovering that the answer to most threads on this site is Bioshock.

Bayonetta, Vanquish, ehh, Dantes Inferno?

I have no idea what can be defined as polished.

Portal and Portal 2 where incredibly polished. By the end you were so used to the concepts that you could wrap your head around puzzles that would seem impossible at the beginning.

Another example is Plants vs Zombies. Up until the final boss, it seems like they calculated every stage for you to have the right amount of challenge and fully use the skills you have at that point. The only reason it doesn't work on the final boss is because its too random.

The Modern Warfare series. Say what you want about Infinity Ward, but these games are rich with detail, and buttery smooth.

Alan Wake, Dead Space 2, Portal 2.

It's usually a game that took more than the standard 18 month development cycle.

There are exception though.

Bejeweled 3.

Team Fortress 2 has been continually polished over the course of five years. Its perfect.

Resident Evil 5, Gears of War 3, Dead Space 2.  Not a really big fan of them but they're staggeringly well made.

to be honest, most nintendo games aren't very buggy

I know I am going to be flamed, but Fallout new vegas with all patches and DLC's is possibly one of the best video game expierences you could ever have. Sure it isn't the MOST polished in terms of bugs. But in terms of quality content and writing. It is easily the best IMO.

Although Dead Space 2 is INCREDIBLE in terms of polish, story, story design, pacing, and gameplay.

@LordAndrew: I don't get it. Didn't it say tool assisted in the beginning?

Go all the way back through the whole series, I don't think any games are more polished than the Final Fantasy games. Technically speaking, FFXIII was perfect. It's amazing considering the kind of graphics it's pushing out.

@LordAndrew: I don't get it. Didn't it say tool assisted in the beginning?

Deadly Premonition

Dead Space 2 is a great answer.

No one has said ME2 though? Really? It's a fantastic game, start to finish. So well paced and put together. How is it not the definition of polish?

Although the game didn't really do much for me, Starcraft II was super, super polished.

To me it would be god of war 3 and ME2 and 3

Also, the Witcher 2.

That's a really funny joke guys. Think about it. And if you still don't get it...

industry mobo jumbo for a game that is well made .

@Phatmac said:

What's polished even mean nowadays? Just sounds like industry mobo jumbo for a game that is well made or what? I guess Portal 2 comes to mind.

The discs are more shiny.

Portal 2, Uncharted 2, Dead Space 2, Gears of War 2, Mass Effect 2, Crysis 2...

...are we noticing a pattern here?

The Modern Warfare series ( single player) , Uncharted 2, Portal and Portal 2.

Gotta go with the COD games. Certainly not the best games, but I can't think of ever having a notable bug, sluggishness, etc.

Well, Starcraft 2, ME2, Dead Space 2, MW2(sp), all the Halo games, Space Marine, Lost Odyssey(nary a glitch or even the tiniest bug for me, and a huge game!)all come to mind. Missing some no doubt.

@Humanity said:

@EXTRASHINY said:

Dead Space 2, period. It sets out to do what it wants to do perfectly and with a level of exactness that no other games this generation have come even close.

Always a big fan of giving shoutouts to my favorite new IP. I also think it did everything right for a sequel.

The ending parts when you reach the Government sector were terrible when it delved into arena combat, though. I remember I would just use stasis and make liberal use of checkpoints to try and dash my way through those sections.

Not saying Dead Space 2 isn't a brilliantly crafted piece of software, but that final segment... it pulls a lot of wind from beneath it's wings.

@BrockNRolla said:

Also, the Witcher 2.

That's a really funny joke guys. Think about it. And if you still don't get it...

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Polish_flag_with_coat_of_arms.jpg

Jokes aside, the Witcher 2 is really well made game.

Super Meat Boy and Bastion come to mind.

Dead Space 2 was the first that came to mind 
 
Others include Portal 2, Super Meat Boy, SC2

@Abyssfull said:

@Humanity said:

@EXTRASHINY said:

Dead Space 2, period. It sets out to do what it wants to do perfectly and with a level of exactness that no other games this generation have come even close.

Always a big fan of giving shoutouts to my favorite new IP. I also think it did everything right for a sequel.

The ending parts when you reach the Government sector were terrible when it delved into arena combat, though. I remember I would just use stasis and make liberal use of checkpoints to try and dash my way through those sections.

Not saying Dead Space 2 isn't a brilliantly crafted piece of software, but that final segment... it pulls a lot of wind from beneath it's wings.

Well... you are technically going into the eye of the storm at that part. However that storm just happens to be made of giant undead monsters of death. Kinda understandable from a story and a gameplay position on why it is like it is.

a "polished" game would be one that doesn't require fixing with patches and updates.

THEY DONT MAKE THEM ANYMORE

@JusticeJanitor said:

@BrockNRolla said:

Also, the Witcher 2.

That's a really funny joke guys. Think about it. And if you still don't get it...

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Polish_flag_with_coat_of_arms.jpg

Jokes aside, the Witcher 2 is really well made game.

I haven't played it. Looking forward to the port.

I thought Gears of War 3 was pretty polished.

Burnout Paradise feels like it is exactly the game that the developers intended to make, so I think that qualifies.

The PC version of Super Meat Boy was so amazingly bad at launch.  Couldn't redefine controls, support for only one kind of controller, and was just plain incomplete (missing files for 2 boss fights).  
 
I don't think it's that hard to make up a definition for polished.  No noticeable bugs or glitches, to start.  No backtracking or wandering without strong justification (i.e. NOT Skyward Sword).  Balanced gameplay, not too hard or easy.
 
Portal 2, Bastion, Arkham Asylum, Super Mario Galaxy definitely.
 
Mass Effect 2 is pretty polished, but the sacrifices it made (completely cutting some of the cool ME1 powers like Sabotage rather than rebalancing them) and the lame overall story (Oh, Shepard died but we brought him back with dark necroscience.  Or introducing a whole new villain and giving them a vague tie to the real villains, like they're some sort of Saturday morning cartoon villain of the week) bring it down.

Portal 2, Super Meat Boy, Plants Vs. Zombies, Uncharted 2, Dead Space 2.

Though Uncharted has some moments in the set pieces where it can go a bit odd, I still think it's so damn polished in comparison with most games that it deserves a mention. Likewise, I didn't care for the end of Dead Space 2 where the regenerating monsters kept appearing to the point where I basically ran through the last chapter in order to avoid wasting my time and ammo fighting them, but the rest of the game is incredible.

The others are there because they feel super-refined to do exactly what they aim to, I can't having any complaints about any of them.