Best of 2012

2012 was a pretty busy year for me. The first third of the year I was finishing my second year of University, which involved a hell of a lot of work and took up most of my time to play games. The second third of the year I was on placement/working from home to save money for my final year. Then the final third was the start of my third and final year of university which requires so much work it is insane. That said I still made time somewhere to play some fantastic games.

First off, some 2011 game that I felt I should leave off the list that I played this year were:

• Saint Row: The Third - I got this game in the Christmas sale of 2011 and played it as soon as I had time. I don't think I have had more fun per hour with any game this year at least. The over the top, balls to the wall nature of this game led to me having fun every single second I was playing it.
• Bastion - I played this right after finishing Saints Row and completed it within 24 hours of starting it. That's not to say the game is short, it's fairly long for how much I payed for it. I was so intrigued by the world of Bastion and wanted to learn everything I could learn about it, as quick as possible. Along with that the combat is so perfect and precise, it is just a joy to play.
• The Witcher 2 - Over the summer I went through a few games I had been meaning to catch up on, and both of The Witcher games ended taking up a lot of that time. The world of the Witcher is dense and even though I feel like the game taught me so much about the world it takes place in, it still managed to make me feel like I have barely scratched the surface. It achieves this through fantastic characters, great voice acting and a story line that starts off unbelievably strong.

There are a couple of honorable mention from this year including Borderlands 2. This sequal in certain ways felt just as good as borderlands 1 did, which I have sunk days worth of play time into. In other ways though Borderlands 2 was disappointing to me. There are many small reasons that add up over time, but the main one for me was the difficulty. I do not know why the game for me was so challenging for me, because there are plenty of people out there who will even argue that the game becomes too easy. That was not the case for me though. By the last third of the game I would be killed almost instantaneously by every enemy which just felt cheap, not challenging. I beat the final level of the game with two different characters in exactly the same way. I found a group of enemy's, instantly got placed into last stand, hope I manage to kill one to get back up so I can be instantly put into last stand again, until I die and go back and try again. This was the only way I could beat the level and it was endlessly frustrating and put me off the game eventually, but by that point I had put 69 hours into it so I know the magic is still in there somewhere.

The other honorable mention is World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. I have played WoW pretty much since it's release to now. There have been times when I have been playing it constantly and times where I have barely touched it. But it would always rope me back in somehow, whether it was a new patch, new expansion, or my friends were doing something cool that I wanted to join. But by the time Mists release date was announced, WoW had finally started souring on me and the grind that WoW provides just stopped being fun to me. I bought the new expansion and I still had fun exploring the new continent and new dungeons and leveling up my Death Knight to new heights. But when it came to the end game grind of running dungeons multiple times a day and this expansions baffling obsession with throwing obscene amounts of dailies at the player and making that the only real way to progress, I just was not interested anymore. I have now cancelled my subscription, which makes me kind of sad in a way. But my time in the world of Azeroth will never be forgot.

Finally before I get to my list I have a few massive omissions that I just have not got round to playing yet, which will likely be mentions on next years list. These include XCOM, Halo 4, Hitman: Absolution, FTL, Torchlight 2 and finally I need a lot more time so I can finally get into Dota 2 properly.

After all that rambling I finally manage to find my way back to the point! Here are my favorite games of 2012:

List items

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  1. Persona 4 Golden

  Persona 4 is one of my favorite games ever made. The style of Japanese RPG, mixed with a murder mystery story that only a ragtag group of teenagers can solve was an instant hit with me back when I originally played that game. Now this new version of the game perfectly recreated on a portable device that I can take anywhere is exactly what I wanted. On top of that the new addition so far seem to be fantastic and I haven't even got to the end where the majority of the new content is. I have so many games to play and work to do and this game just keeps taking my attention away from all of it.

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  2. The Walking Dead

  The Walking Dead is an unbelievably fantastic tale woven across five episodes. I don't need to explain why this game is fantastic as the Giant Bomb staff themselves have explained it enough. But I played this game with my Girlfriend, with her controlling the entire thing. We both got so into the story being told in The Walking Dead. We would be rooting for certain characters and despising certain others. We also would get upset at each other because clearly if you made the other choice this situation would not be so messed up (It would). In the final moments this game was genuinely touching and that speaks to how fantastic the writing has been for the entire series.

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  3. Mass Effect 3

  Mass Effect 3. One of the most divisive games of 2012. But to me, the journey not only Mass Effect 3, but the entire series, has taken me on has been nothing short of epic. While the final moments of the game were not really different depending on the character I had built that never really bothered me. For me it was about the journey. And what a journey it was.

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  4. Diablo III

  Diablo 3 is not quite the same as Diablo 2, which is fine. It is it's own game and a fantastic one at that. The talent/skill system that the game has is possibly my favorite implementation of that type of system ever. It lead to creativity in the builds that I was constructing as using to fight my way through the hordes of demons in my path. Then after I had gotten my Witch Doctor to level 60, co op with one of my best friend kept me coming back. We had hours of laughter as we used our barbarians to leap into a group of demons and then used whirlwind to obliterate them all. Also Diablo is a lady...

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  5. Spelunky

  Spelunky is game that grabbed hold of me, and didn't let me go. Even after I would spend 20+ minutes on a single run where I reached the final boss, only to be hit by a spider jumping in from off screen knocking me under the final boss who then crushes me, I would still immediately start up a new run. I know I will never complete this game completely, but I have my one achievement of beating the game in under 8 minutes which I can feel proud of.

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  6. Fez

  Fez is one of those games where you have to be there. I'm sure if someone was to play it now it would still be a fantastic game, but being there at the time everyone was figuring it out together was truly magical. What other game this year required you to write down the notes of a crazy person to find out what really lies beneath.

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  7. Hotline Miami

  As soon as I heard the first song start playing in the hotline miami quick look, I knew it was a game I needed to get. The music made me buy the game, but the fast paced gameplay made me keep playing. This game is unrelenting in it's speed you have no time to relax and think about what you are doing. To think about why you picked up that frying pan and poured the boiling water over that man's face. The music supports this with loud bass and quick beats that never stop. Hotline Miami made a lasting impression on me that I am not going to forget very quickly.

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  8. Asura's Wrath

  Who knew you could make a game in 2012 where the best moments are quick time events? Certainly not me. Luckily for me, I got this game as a gift so paying extra to see the real conclusion was not hard to do. This was especially true after playing through chapter 4, where the game has gotten so crazy that you literally have no idea how it could top itself in the next chapter. Then it does. Every single time.

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  9. Assassin's Creed III

  While for most, Assassin Creed 3 was disappointing. What I saw was a new world to run around in, a combat system that makes you feel insanely powerful as you drive your tomahawk into Templar's skulls and an even further improved traversal system which led to me almost never making a mistake when moving around the environment. I enjoyed my time in this new setting with a new assassin so much I very nearly got 100% sync on all missions and side missions. Running through trees collecting feathers was so much fun to me that I can't wait to go back.

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  10. Rayman Origins

  This summer I went on a work placement in the North of England. This meant I had a month without my PC or any of my consoles, just my iPad. This lead to me buying a Vita for while I was there and getting Rayman: Origins which I missed in 2011. I played it every single night while I was there and had so much fun collecting every last lum, beating every time trial and finally beating the Land of the Dead.