my fairly weird, somewhat antagonistic GOTY 2011 list
By Animasta 23 Comments
I like video games! There were some good ones, some weird ones, etc. People are way too predictable though. Skyrim, top 3? bastion, top 5? PSH. I mean I have Skyrim on my list but FUCK YOU. My list is going to showcase some odd ones, some not so odd ones, and that's real cool. I also wrote most of this blog before but I was dumb and accidentally shut off my computer without saving it :( Also, you guys always put the game at #1 in the first spot, which is bad; you gotta have TENSION. so here's #10
10. Rock of Ages
This game is crazy! I really liked the premise, because I feel the boulder is a underused protagonist in video games; and smashing stuff is always fun. The reason it's on this list though, is not just because the game is fun (it is, in fact, mad fun), but because it's crazy. The art style is fantastic, even if the characters are a little shallow; the cutscenes are amazing though, though I am not sure if it's the fact that I knew most of the people from it or not. The music was good, but it was in fact the second game released to use the same damn movement from Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition! It was a little short, but it was also like 10 dollars so...
9. Dragon Age 2
Hah! I'm not sure if it's on this list because I bought it while it was 12 dollars or not, but I did enjoy it for what it was. I actually thought that the story was good, even the ending, and most of the characters were good; the elf chick wasn't great, but Varric was probably better than the entire cast of DA:O. I thought the gameplay was complicated enough, and while it was consolized, it was at least less than ME2. I mean, people who vilify this game and talk up DA:O are really overselling that game. so yeah. I am the worst PC gamer! MOVING ON
I also got this game for cheap! but man it was so fun, and the PC version was very well optimized so I was very pleasantly surprised by that fact. The story is... dumb, as is usually the case with sonic, but man is this game funnnnnnn. I haven't liked Sonic since adventure 2, but this is probably the best 3D sonic. I actually don't like classic sonic that much, too slow for my blood, but it's not like he's horrible to play as or anything. Modern sonic is so fast and so amazing, but you always feel in control when you play as him so its never an issue. There's also a large amount of diverse paths, and if you fall down to a lower path, you can still see the path above, taunting you! The remixes are great, the graphics are great, most of the boss battles are great; I still haven't beaten the final boss because he's a dick, but at this point I just replay rooftop run over and over again so whatever
7. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
This is probably the best game Bethesda's ever done, not that's really saying much. Still not the best Bethesda-style game though (New Vegas is still better in my opinion). The gameplay is at least not annoying, which is more than I can say for Oblivion, Morrowind, and the fact that there are way more dungeon types greatly pleases me. The voice acting, again much improved which isn't hard to do compared to Oblivion, but still. The story's kinda dumb, I don't really like the fact that when you finish a quest line you are the leader of that guild or whatever, but the quests are largely pretty fun. Music's mad overrated though.
6. Portal 2
Portal 2 is pretty good people, just saying! The characters are the best this year, no question about that. The story is also fantastic, some great plot twists, but that's not surprising coming from Valve. The puzzles are great, they ramp up very smartly and maybe it's too gradual, but some are still pretty hard. The only slights against the game I can think of is the fact that it's way short, and I can't get anyone to play coop with me, because the only friend that has it is too busy playing league of legends :(
No box art for this! This game is awesome. It reminds me of a more RPG version of Stalker, with a cyberpunk aesthetic and level based instead of truly open world (most of the levels are very very open though!) Gunplay is great, the upgrade system can be complicated, but once you get it down you realize how awesome it is. For example, leveling up cyber legs grants you the ability to jump 20-30 feet high. The story isn't really... comprehensible, but the ending is fucking amazing. the translation isn't great, but I think that adds to it's charm. Also, Cybervikings are pretty cool, and while I killed my mentor I am not his murderer.
4. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
This game proves that japanese games are STILL A THREAT. Not many people played it, I think, which is a shame since this game is fucking amazing. The gameplay & puzzles aren't illogical, but it's still pretty complicated. The music is pretty great as well, but the main star is the animation and graphics, which are the best on the DS; think I can say that! Also the story is great, as are all the characters. If it wasn't Cave Johnson, Missile would be the best character of the year, which is pretty good considering I pretty much hate dogs. Also the story has a happy ending, as well as a fantastic twist that I really didn't see coming. compared to all the other games on this list, you aren't really seeing any happy endings.
Man this game. It's pretty impressive that the craziest game this year is American, if you think about it. The story is great, but the set pieces are what make this game number 3, as it has the best missions out of any open world game ever. The characters are fun. I don't especially like ALL of the side stuff, but most of it is still pretty good. The gameplay is also very fluid and fast, which is the main problem I had with GTAIV. Character customization is also fantastic, and the different lines between the different voices is something I would like to see more people do (female voice 1 is best because she's in full Kaine mode)
2. Catherine
I almost feel like this is number 2 because of Erica, but fuck it, it's still deserving of the spot. I didn't expect to, but I really loved all the gameplay and I'm still working on babel! The graphics are amazing, as is the music. I loved the story the entire way through, and while some people might say they didn't like the ending because it got all SMT at the end, I thought that everyone dying had to be explained... The characters are all amazing, because they are pretty much all shitty people and also very real. Orlando is both great and a scumbag! Erica is incredible and I love Atlus for the way her story played out sooooooooo much, because you don't often see people like her played out like that (I don't want to spoil it, after all hahahaaaaaaaaaa) also the fact that SMT music was in the jukebox is a super great idea.
1. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
An amazing game, start to finish. The gameplay is hard to get into at first, but once you got it it's a super fluid combat system that is both very complex and very fun to engage in. The graphics are amazing, and not only that but also the art direction cannot be understated. The best part, however, is the story; a story of discovery, of racism, of drunken tattoos and rampant sex! The way the story splits off into two in the second chapter is inspired, and the fact that they're in entirely different areas is amazing. You can't understand all of it in one playthrough, even if you tried; if you go down this route and see Saskia, you won't know what happened to Glevissig and you also won't understand about Letho's companions and stuff. Lots of moral choices where I didn't exactly know what to do! Also this world is a shitty world, and I love it for that. Game probably won't be on the top 10 of the top 10 games the community played, but it's still the best game this year.
Most disappointing game:
Ok, so, this game is also crazy. and it's a perfectly decent playing game, which is better than I can say for the other games they've made, but it's not... deep. Pathologic and the Void, the other games they've made, really made me think about the way video games are played and other stuff like that, as well as the very intricate stories these games have. Cargo is just silly, and while there's a hint of that, it's less fun to the manufactured craziness of it. I loved the void, not because I loved the gameplay, but because it was just so fucking unique that you won't ever see a game like that for a while, if not ever. Cargo isn't as unique, I feel.
2011's 2010 Game of the year:
I loved this game back then, but the DLC is what DLC should be. They were all mad unique, and the overarching story they crafted was pretty incredible. They all had unique gameplay settings, all had fantastic weapons and armor (best armor is Joshua Graham's armor) and it filled in backstory about the Mojave wasteland. Also some pretty fantastic characters (Joshua Graham, Ulysses, the doctors of Big MT, Christine, Dean Domino...)
I thought this year was pretty good, all told. Next year I hope is even better, I'm already anticipating Crusader Kings 2, Metro: Last Light, SMT: Devil Survivor 2, SSX, FF13-2 maybe once it goes down to 30 dollars or something, Prey 2, Far Cry 3 maybe?
also I can't make my list not look dumb and formatted weirdly for some reason D:
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