I voted. It's here. I'll type out the short version.
1. Tthe Last Story: JRPGs have fallen out of favor, even with me, and I used to love them. This is the best one of the last ten years. Persona is fine but TLS innovates more in 25 hours than that entire franchise has in 200+.
2. Dragon's Dogma: Probably the best combat in an open world RPG I've ever played. The story, as detailed on the GOTY podcast, becomes cool toward the end, but that combat engine (and character customization) is really the triumph here.
3. Syndicate: Jeff got it all right. The gunplay feels amazing and the co-op is sublime, particularly if you have the mettle and friends to actually finish it on expert.
4. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy: I don't have a lot to say here - the music drew me to the game, the rhythm gameplay kept me playing for 60 hours. I'm hoping Square-Enix does the same with some of their other franchises/games. A Chrono Trigger/Cross themed game in this vein would be amazing.
5. Trials Evolution: Again, slick goddamn gameplay and I'm a gameplay-first guy. Inventive levels and a solid core mechanic go a long way.
6. New Super Mario Bros. U: Fuck the GB guys on this shit. This is the best 2D Mario game since SMW, because NSMB/2 and NSMB Wii were bullshit. This is the real stuff. Koopa Kids and shit.
7. The Walking Dead: Enough's been said about this, I don't need to specify. The narrative is oddly compelling because of strong characters, and the mechanics are just gamey enough to satisfy without being ever-present enough to fuck anything up.
8. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning: The combat was excellent, but the character building wasn't as rewarding as that of Dragon's Dogma. There's some great fantasy narrative in there, shame it seems it'll never realize its full potential.
9. Mass Effect 3: Featured the best gameplay of the series and some of the best moments. They flubbed the ending a little and for that BIOWARE IS BURNING or whatever, but I had as good a time as I ever have with ME games - good but not great.
10. Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack!: Damn cool little game. My new Vita is a little bit redeemed, I guess.
Most disappointing game of the year (since I missed out on that vote): The Witcher 2. A full year of hearing about how this game is amazing, and I could not get it finished and sold fast enough. They took characters I like in the novels and made them all dickholes, none of the gameplay systems actually work together to form a cohesive whole, and the world is too small in scope for any of the supposed depth to be impressive at all. I call bullshit on everyone.
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