Game of the Year 2012: Jeff's Top 10

I have to admit, I absolutely love the diversity in all of the staff picks for this year. Brad's number one put me into a bit of a stupid internet huff, but after seeing more of these, I realize that that it's more about making titles shine.

Who cares if everyone doesn't agree with you. Sticking to your guns and championing the games you want to champion is the journalistic mentality that led me to Giant Bomb, and I already know I will be staying for another year.

Great job to everyone involved, and congrats to the myriad of games congratulated thusfar.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

Looks like Jeff is going to be a negative nancy then about the walking dead for the GoTY podcast but then again I remember him saying that he didn't finish it yet.

I'm just glad that Jeff can represent people like me that didn't like Walking Dead. Well, it seems like he liked it, but he didn't love it, so I guess that's the best I'm going to get, but that's plenty.

@mancopter said:

I have to admit, I absolutely love the diversity in all of the staff picks for this year. Brad's number one put me into a bit of a stupid internet huff, but after seeing more of these, I realize that that it's more about making titles shine.

Who cares if everyone doesn't agree with you. Sticking to your guns and championing the games you want to champion is the journalistic mentality that led me to Giant Bomb, and I already know I will be staying for another year.

Great job to everyone involved, and congrats to the myriad of games congratulated thusfar.

Well said kind sir

I spy Drew! :D!

Yeah, I'd say it's a bad year if FC3 is featuring so high up in GOTY lists. I really saw nothing of note in that game/franchise.

Aside from that, I think Jeff managed to get a nice and varied list, most other lists feature all the same games this year. Kinda disappointing.

Great list Jeff.

Its a really bad year for AAA games but was a great year for smaller games. That said, seeing FC3 in so many lists is kinda dissapointing. Its a fun game, but the best parts are like a worse Just Cause 2, and the story parts are terrible, also theres a lot of really bad gameplay decisions in it (though that is common in Ubisoft Montreal joints)

A surprise appearance by P4 Golden!

The overall game of the year Podcast is gonna be a blood bath which I guess isn't that surprising.

Laughed my ass off at the Forza footage being just donuts.

This, to me, actually means something. Giant Bomb should ditch their official list. It doesn't mean anything to me, because it's made out of compromises from a pool of 4 people.

@TranceQuina said:

Laughed my ass off at the Forza footage being just donuts.

That was like, half the quick look.

@GasparNolasco said:

Yeah, I'd say it's a bad year if FC3 is featuring so high up in GOTY lists. I really saw nothing of note in that game/franchise.

It's this year's Saints Row the Third. It hones the open-world shooter mechanics into a well-tuned instrument and, while the story doesn't always work, it contains some very high points. I completely understand the praise.

Jeff should play Persona 4 Golden. It won't take another 100 hours because there's no more rerolling for skills during fusion. That's 40 hours off and you get to go on new adventures with Brosuke and Kanji! New dungeon was cool as well.

Kind of surprised Borderlands 2 wasn't anywhere on the list. Since it was just BL1, but better in all ways. Oh well, still a really good list.

@whatisdelicious said:

@Colourful_Hippie said:

Looks like Jeff is going to be a negative nancy then about the walking dead for the GoTY podcast but then again I remember him saying that he didn't finish it yet.

I'm just glad that Jeff can represent people like me that didn't like Walking Dead. Well, it seems like he liked it, but he didn't love it, so I guess that's the best I'm going to get, but that's plenty.

I had a really good time with The Walking Dead and I think it deserves to be lauded, but I do really understand Jeff's reaction to it, because it's a game of high highs and low lows. The highs are high in a way that no other game has really had before, but the lows are still there and they're not just technical problems like with XCOM.

That's my prediction: I think The Walking Dead is going to make a strong showing during the GotY deliberations, but I really think XCOM takes it. Go back to the podcasts put out around that game's release and listen to them talking about it. I don't remember the group getting that excited about a game since... well, a long time ago.

It's too bad Europe hasn't gotten a chance to play Persona 4 Arena because it's pretty high on my list. I've also seen some of the new scenes in Golden and they're pretty good. I was actually laughing out loud during their beach trip.

I just finished my first and probably last playthrough of Super Metroid. It was great. 9hr 51 min with a 66% items collected.

@DazzHardy said:

I CALL SHENANIGANS! This is only a top 9, Persona 4 Arena is not a game that was released in 2012! *Not a bitter European Persona fan*

Well I hope this was sarcastic.

@mancopter said:

I have to admit, I absolutely love the diversity in all of the staff picks for this year. Brad's number one put me into a bit of a stupid internet huff, but after seeing more of these, I realize that that it's more about making titles shine.

Who cares if everyone doesn't agree with you. Sticking to your guns and championing the games you want to champion is the journalistic mentality that led me to Giant Bomb, and I already know I will be staying for another year.

Great job to everyone involved, and congrats to the myriad of games congratulated thusfar.

Well said kind sir

@whatisdelicious said:

I'm pretty surprised I haven't heard anything about Need For Speed: Most Wanted. Not even in the best-looking category. Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

The fact that the entire single player portion of the game seems completely skippable speaks volumes. I hope Criteron gets to do a proper Burnout again after this, even if their stock goes down a bit in EA.

I´m just gonna say it: There´s nothing wrong with liking both Walking Dead and Far Cry 3. Both have legitimate reasons for being awesome. But I really feel like this year showed me that more than a few people out there enjoy games for the story and only for the story.

And that´s kinda sad.

@bvilleneuve said:

@GasparNolasco said:

Yeah, I'd say it's a bad year if FC3 is featuring so high up in GOTY lists. I really saw nothing of note in that game/franchise.

It's this year's Saints Row the Third. It hones the open-world shooter mechanics into a well-tuned instrument and, while the story doesn't always work, it contains some very high points. I completely understand the praise.

While I agree with that, I'd say FC3 lacks the Saints Row creativity. And let's face it, Far Cry only has one good character, while SR3rd character work was, for the most part, the only reason I kept playing it.

Then again, I really don't think SR3rd deserved GOTY last year anyway. It had high points, but we had Portal, Skyrim and Dark Souls in 2011...

"Sorry, Europe.", indeed.

Wow. Didn't see that number one coming. And of course, 1a warmed the cockles of my heart.

Spectacular list, Jeff! You had me guessing what you'd pick next all the way through the video.

I guess I need to play Forza Horizon, huh? Will pick it up later this week. :)

Rhythm Heaven Fever, and 2 Persona games. Hell yeah Jeff.

I honestly thought Syndicate came out in the middle of last year, since I got it months ago for like 5 dollars. I would also love it if the PC version wasn't so boned.

What a twist!

1a: awww :)

Gotta love Jeff. I always thought he hated JRPGs but apparently Persona 4 grew on him a lot over the course of the ER? I didn't watch the whole thing but I'm confused by this...

Great list anyway. I'd really like to have been a part of the whole Fez-on-the-internet thing, but I kinda got that from Dark Souls. It's a wonderful thing and I hope 2013 holds plenty of that in store.

My heart got warm hearing Jeff talking about P4G. I'm pathetic.

OH! Collusion!

My heart literally skipped a beat when Persona 4 Golden came up. Jeff's the best.

The fact that Jeff's list is the only one that has P4G out of all the lists that have been posted so far (that includes guests lists) disappoints me mightily.

awesome Persona cameo

Man, what a bummer. A European with no Xbox, P4A and Fez were two games I was really excited for but never got to play. Didn't play Syndicate either since I heard the PC port was not that good.

Gerstmann always be ziggin' when you expect him to be zaggin'.

Good on him.

Really, no Borderlands 2? I expected it to be overlooked by everyone else, but definitely not Jeff, even if he didn't like it as much as the first. Actually, I'm surprised it wasn't on Drew's list either since he loved the first one. Nice list, though I will never understand his love for Syndicate.

Jeff, you gotta play through Golden. I've watched the Endurance Run multiple times and it was easily worth the extra time. I'm still amazed how well everything they changed turned out. Shuffle Time is way better, it's easier to stay topped off with SP in dungeons, they make a bigger effort to make you feel like the girl you choose is actually your girlfriend, they nickname Kanji, (Moronji) in the new cutscenes, fusion is pain free, the new dungeon takes a new angle to make it challenging. And, to top it all of, Tanaka's Amazing Commodities now airs on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday so you never miss it!

"Sorry, Europe."

Don't remind me, Jeff.

@OneKillWonder_ said:

Really, no Borderlands 2? I expected it to be overlooked by everyone else, but definitely not Jeff, even if he didn't like it as much as the first. Actually, I'm surprised it wasn't on Drew's list either since he loved the first one. Nice list, though I will never understand his love for Syndicate.

Just watch the quicklook. Jeff said it was more of the same but hoped for more so in a way it was a disappointment for him.

Gerstmann delivers.

Someone besides me had Pinball Arcade listed! Hurrah!

Kinda surprised to not see Borderlands 2 on Jeff's list.

man- i really want to play syndicate. i'm all for another cyberpunk romp (they're few and far between these days), so i'm sure i'd love it. but i've drawn a line in the sand with origin. i understand that might be silly/stupid, but i'd rather put my money where my mouth is when complaining about platform exclusives. if it came to steam, i'd happily pay full retail price.

That was beautiful what he did for Persona 4: Golden. Really brought a smile to my face. :)

i cant believe borderlands 2 did no stick to jeff .. is just so awesome ... how can anyone no think handsome jack as NPC or bad guy of the year

I agree with Jeff on putting Far Cry 3 at the top much in the same way I put Saints Row the Third as number one last year. It's a great, fun game to play through where you want to do everything, and when you are done you want to start it all over again. Of course, unlike last year with Saints Row where I only had one copy (I have since bought it on Steam and am about halfway through only playing it when visiting family), I bought my roommate the PS3 version so I can dig into the game again at some point.

As to the final game of the year, maybe Brad can strong arm his way through to a Mass Effect 3 win. Although I will accept an XCOM win as well.

@Crolk: Jeff has made it perfectly clear that he didn't really think much of Handsome Jack.

I actually got a little misty watching Jeff talk about Persona 4.