Decade of My GOTYs

This has been blowing up on twitter, so I figured I'd bring it to the forum as well. It's simple, list your game of the year from each year between 2011-2021. It's fun looking back at past games I have played. Spoilers. I've played a lot of really great games over the years and I'm sure I'm not the only one. You may even notice a pattern of my taste. I'll start it off...

• 2011: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• 2012: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
• 2013: The Last of Us
• 2014: Titanfall
• 2015: Bloodborne
• 2016: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
• 2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• 2018: God of War
• 2019: Resident Evil 2
• 2020: Astro's Playroom
• 2021: Metroid Dread

This will be tough because it's going to force me to actually just go with release date versus when i experienced the game. I believe a game of the year is what i played that year because the ultimate question is what was i doing in 2021. But im not that kind of message board poster so i will play along. Will edit later. Showing support now.

@sometingbanuble: I appreciate the support! Looking forward to your list.

I did my own GOTY list since 2013 of games that I completed that came out that same year, so I can share those. 2011 and 2012 is tricky, I am sure Dark Souls would be my 2011 but I didn't complete it until next year when it came out on PC.

Some of these games I might have a different opinion on now and some of my GOTY lists could change if I judged the games today, but these are my GOTYs when I did them back then.

• 2013: Gone Home
• 2014: Dark Souls 2
• 2015: Bloodborne
• 2016: The Witness
• 2017: Hollow Knight
• 2018: Bards Tale 4: Barrows Deep
• 2019: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• 2020: The Last of Us Part 2
• 2021: Subnautica: Below Zero

@nordom: All great choices. I really enjoyed The Witness as well. Gone Home was special when it came out too. I have not heard of Bards Tale 4, which is exactly why I started this thread. Always great to find something I would have never found!

Sure would be nice to have a cheat sheet. I guess it's nice that I usually don't make it to to 10 contemporary games each year so it's easy to tell what stands out.

2011: Hard because many of the best games this year, I didn't play that year...or still haven't played! If I kept it to my experience, I'd have likely said NBA 2K12 in the moment. In retrospect, I'd say Batman: Arkham City.

2012: Again, I'd have probably said NBA 2K13 if you asked me at the time. In retrospect, I'd say Journey.

2013: The Last of Us

2014: Shadow of Mordor at the time...still feels...fine...I might go inFamous: Second Son in my memory's eye, though. What a year!

2015: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, though the magnetism of retroactively picking The Witcher 3 or Bloodborne is quite strong

2016: In reality, this was the year I did a lot of my Witcher'n, but I get to say DOOM here which feels right given the state of these boards this past week, lol

2017: Horizon: Zero Dawn

2018: This year is impossible...trying to remember...I think I broke it down God of War, Red Dead Redemption II then Spider-Man at the time in a kind of 1A 1B 1C scenario. I might give Red Dead the edge now...

2019: Control

2020: The Last of Us Part II

2021: Kena: Bridge of Spirits...Psychonauts 2...Kena: Bridge of Spirits...Psychonauts 2...Kena: Br...

@colonel_pockets: Thanks:-)

Bards Tale 4 is definitely the most controversial of them all. It is not going to be for everyone it just clicked really well with my taste.

Vinny did a quicklook of it on this site and didn't like it that much :-), so it is hard to recommend cold. But if you like 1st person party based dungeon crawler/rpg it is a really good one imo.

That being said, my number 3 that year was Pillars of Eternity 2 which I have played much more of later on, expecially when they introduced turnbased combat. So that game might very well be number 1 if I made the list today.

Ah, just 2 years after everyone did their 2010s decade list, here we go again:

2011: the Elder Scroll V Skyrim, retroactively changed into Dead Space 2 on a later date

2012: Dishonored

2013: Grand Theft Auto V, retroactively changed into Tomb Raider on a later date

2014: South Park the Stick of Truth, retroactively changed into Transistor on a later date

2015: Ori and the Blind Forest, retroactively changed into Metal Gear Solid V the Phantom Pain on a later date

2016: DOOM

2017: NieR Automata

2018: Hitman 2

2019: Fire Emblem Three Houses

2020: Hades

2021: Hitman 3

I'm a "contrarian, but not that contrarian" like this.

• 2011: The Witcher 2
• 2012: Mass Effect 3
• 2013: The Last of Us
• 2014: Destiny
• 2015: The Witcher 3
• 2016: Planet Coaster
• 2017: Persona 5
• 2018: Marvel's Spider-Man
• 2019: Control
• 2020: The Last of Us Part II
• 2021: Valheim

An interesting way to look at my top games of the past 10 years, but by no means would this be my actual top 10. There are like 6 or 7 other games from 2017 alone that would top most other years if they released then instead. When I made my games of the generation list last year, 7 of the top 8 games on it came out in 2017, the only one that didn't was the number 1 game (The Witcher 3).

2011- dead space 2

2012 - borderlands 2

2013- last of us

2014 - just dance 2015

2015 - Life is strange

2016 - pokemon go

2017 - pubg

2018 - far cry 5

2019 - star wars jedi fallen order

2020 - last of us 2

2021- guardians of the galaxy

**apparently i love world building, soundtracks, books, movies, and supporting content. Life is strange seems to be the only unique IP that really has no outside influence. Can't remember if the soundtrack was composed of pop music or if it was made up stuff.

I've only kept track starting in 2014 of my GOTY lists and have yet to decide for 2021.

2014 - Wolfenstein: The New Order

2015 - Yakuza 5

2016 - Overwatch

2017 - Nier: Automata

2018 - The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

2019 - Control

2020 - Haven

• 2011: At the time I said Skyrim but retrospectively it might be Bastion.
• 2012: Then, it was clearly XCOM. FTL is so, so good however.
• 2013: Tomb Raider blew my mind back then, but Papers, Please stuck with me more.
• 2014: I gave it to Abyss Odyssey and I stand by that. Transistor is a good fucking game though.
• 2015: Pillars of Eternity is excellent. Years later I learned that Witcher 3 (Hearts of Stone!) is also a good game.
• 2016: DOOM is a hell of a game. With all the added content XCOM 2 might be even better.
• 2017: I love HeatSignature, but that year also gave us Pyre, Hellblade and D:OS 2 (coop!).
• 2018: Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire improves on everything but the story. WH40k Mechanicus is pretty dope though, I mean listen to this shit!
• 2019: It's Disco Elysium, one of the best - if not THE BEST - games ever made. PlagueTale and Outer Worlds / Wilds aren't too shabby either.
• 2020: Hades is fantastic and clearly GOTY material. In its (mostly) fixed state I lean towards Wasteland 3 though.
• 2021: Naturally, our winner is Disco Elysium: Final Cut. Tainted Grail and Chernobylite (use Russian VO, seriously) have also impressed me.

The amount of quality games you have to cut from these silly lists, even while cheating, hurts. It HURTS man.

• 2011: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (sry Witcher 2)
• 2012: Dark Souls Prepare To Die Edition
• 2013: Dota 2
• 2014: The Wolf Among Us ( Sorry Dark Souls 2, i need to get away from the D's.)
• 2015: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (sry Witcher 3)
• 2016: Hyper Light Drifter
• 2017: Yakuza 0 (Sry The Sexy Brutale, Hollow Knight & Pyre)
• 2018: Return of the Obra Dinn
• 2019: Resident Evil 2
• 2020: Final Fantasy 7 Remake
• 2021: Football Manager 2022

@nordom: Good to know. Thank you for posting!

@onemanarmyy: I LOVED The Wolf Among Us. Are you excited at all for part 2? MGS V has incredible gameplay, I just wish the story wasn't a bunch of nonsense (I realize I am saying this about a Metal Gear game).

@baal_sagoth: You are really selling me on Disco Elysium. May need to pick it up during the after christmas sales. Always interesting to look back though. I retroactively changed 2015 and 2017 for me. Witcher 3 -> Bloodborne and Wolfenstein II -> Breath of the Wild (I just bought a switch).

@brian_: How good was Wolfenstein right? I remember being completely surprised by that when it released. I have yet to play Nier and people keep telling me to play it.

@sometingbanuble: Haha nothing wrong that! I still have yet to play Jedi Fallen Order and am intrigued by Guardians of the Galaxy. I have also played more pokemon go than I care to admit.

@ll_exile_ll: Interesting. I always look back to 2016 as the year with a ton of great candidates like DOOM, Uncharted 4, Inside, Dishonored 2 and Hitman.

@infantpipoc:Really hard to argue with any of these choices. I definitely enjoyed all of the games listed here.

I thought it'd be interesting to look through my lists on this site and see both what I picked as my GotY and which game I had the most fond memories of today.

2010: GotY - Mass Effect 2; Most Fond Memories - Mass Effect 2

2011: GotY - Skyrim; Most Fond Memories - Batman Arkham City

2012: GotY - XCOM; Most Fond Memories - FTL

2013: GotY - Tomb Raider; Most Fond Memories - Gone Home

2014: GotY - Shadow of Mordor; Most Fond Memories - South Park Stick of Truth

2015: GotY - MGS V; Most Fond Memories - Quiplash

2016: GotY - FF XV; Most Fond Memories - The Turing Test

2017: GotY - Horizon Zero Dawn; Most Fond Memories - banger of a year with too many to choose from (Wolfenstein II, Golf Story, Mario v Rabbids, Neir Automata, PUBG, Breath of the Wild, Tacoma... wow)

2018: GotY - Marvel's Spider Man; Most Fond Memories - Return of the Obra Dinn

2019: GotY - The Outer Worlds; Most Fond Memories - Outer Wilds

2020: GotY - FF VII Remake; Most Fond Memories - Yakuza Like a Dragon

• 2011 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
• 2012 Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
• 2013 Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 (this year was surprisingly dead)
• 2014 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
• 2015 Yakuza 5
• 2016 The Last Guardian
• 2017 Gravity Rush 2 and The Silver Case I cannot pick between these
• 2018 The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
• 2019 AI: The Somnium Files
• 2020 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
• 2021... TBD, I liked a lot of games but nothing is the obvious frontrunner

I didn't have any of these recorded before 2017 but I didn't play tons of new games back then so it wasn't too hard to pull them. This has only made me realize how messed up time feels now, stuff that came out in 2016 I kept being like, didn't this just come out a couple years ago?

@snaketelegraph: Definitely get that. It's crazy that some of these games are a decade old now. I remember being on this site raving about some of them or just listening to Jeff and the crew talk about them on the bombcast. Time flies.

@remixrunixlp:Ooooo I good idea on the fond memories. I have fond memories for a number of games, Arkham City is most certainly one of them!

2017 was definitly a banger of a year...

@colonel_pockets

Yeah i'll look forward to a new Wolf Among Us, although i wonder what a Telltale game in 2021 looks like. We haven't seen one of these games in years, the studio died and now it's a large questionmark for me what to expect. Luckily the strengths of Wolf Among Us is the setting, the characters, lore and story. It doesn't need to be revolutionary in the gameplay department for it to be enjoyable. and it sounds like Adhoc studio's mostly features previous Telltale employees, so they'll probably have a solid foundation of what made that game good.

As for MGS, that's probably my favorite game series so i'll always find something in the story to enjoy. In MGS5, the actual story was probably too slight, especially if you didn't care about the nittygritty of the Wolbachia virus, but at the same time i did greatly enjoy the themes that Kojima played with in that one. The idea of being a coversong, The power of a common language, 'You're no dogs, you're wolves!', Moby Dick, Lord of the flies. That's the kind of stuff i appreciated.

As others have said, I tend to mentally keep track of games in the context of when I played them rather than when they originally released, but a quick sort through the spreadsheet I keep has enabled me to put together the following list:

• 2011 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - I remember getting this at launch and being super-bummed about not being able to play it because I only had an SDTV and the fonts were too small to read on it. I spent my Christmas money on a 19" HDTV and threw myself into it in January, writing daily journal entries about my gameplay exploits for my blog on this here very website. To say I was immersed would be an understatement.
• 2012 - Telltale's The Walking Dead - I've played The Walking Dead twice and both playthroughs were among the most important gaming experiences in my adult life. My first playthrough in 2013 left a lasting impression thanks to the quality of its writing and characters. My second playthrough in 2017 was the first video game I ever played in the company of my fiancée. "Keep that hair short" is the only acceptable final dialogue choice.
• 2013 - Pokémon Y - I grew up on Red and Blue, but fell off the series when it migrated to the GBA and I moved up into secondary school. Sixth gen dragged me back in in a big way - I completed the National Pokédex, got into breeding, IV training and competitive battling. The fact a lot of my friends also got sucked back into the franchise at the same time helped too. To date, this is the only game I have knowingly put over 1,000 hours into.
• 2014 - Halo: The Master Chief Collection - I'm not a big Halo guy, and this predominantly gets on here due to there being very slim pickings in terms of 2014 releases I've actually played. However, I will forever associate this game with playing the series' campaigns in co-op with my buddy Duncan, bringing us together digitally when we were physically separated by hundreds of miles.
• 2015 - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - Similar to Skyrim, I associate this game with the acquisition of a new TV (I upgraded from my aforementioned 19" screen to a 40" behemoth, and MGSV was the first game I ever played on it). It was also one of my first experiences with emergent, systemic gameplay in an open world title, making it exceptionally memorable.
• 2016 - DOOM - Equal parts throwback and innovator, the 2016 DOOM reboot is potentially the best first-person shooter campaign I've ever played. The relentless action, the puzzle-like ebb and flow of its combat, the slick aesthetics, the commendable self-awareness in its characterisation of the DOOM Marine, it all combines into a product that far exceeds the sum of its parts.
• 2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - I had a really hard time picking between this and Horizon Zero Dawn, but BotW just edges it out by being my first game on the Nintendo Switch. I spent the first five weeks of 2018 playing this and nothing else, taking advantage of the console's handheld mode to sneak in game time even when the TV was in use. MGSV was my first systemic open-world game, but this is without a doubt the best I've played to date.
• 2018 - Spyro Reignited Trilogy - I was definitely a Spyro kid growing up. Everyone in the family home loved the little purple dragon, even my mum would play for hours and lose herself in those first three PS1 games. The N. Sane Trilogy is a more polished product, but the Reignited Trilogy hit me right in whatever the nostalgic equivalent of the solar plexus is. Ripto's Rage is the best game of the three, by the way.
• 2019 - Kingdom Hearts III - I don't think Kingdom Hearts III was ever going to live up to the lofty ideal I'd imagined, but it got pretty darn close in a lot of ways. It's not as warm and fuzzy as the first game, and it's not quite as tight and fun to play as the second, but after over a decade of spin-offs and interquels, it definitely earned the number at the end of its title.
• 2020 - Final Fantasy VII Remake - Final Fantasy VII Remake's plot disappears up itself towards the end in a way that I would probably deeply admire if I didn't revere the source material so much. Thankfully the characters are so well written and faithful to their 1997 counterparts, and the hybrid battle system is so much fun, that in retrospect the issues I had with the story seem easy to forgive.
• 2021 - Oddworld: Soulstorm - This is actually the only 2021 release I've played this year. I've been an Oddworld fan for over twenty years and Abe's Exoddus was probably my favourite game in the series (it's a close-fought thing between it and Stranger's Wrath), but I absolutely adored this reimagining of Abe's second outing. The new gameplay additions feel like a natural fit, and aesthetically it's the best the series has ever been.

Keeping a diary of my gaming and picking favourites finally pays off. Some years I've even picked a separate indie GOTY. Don't remember what my picks would've been in 2011 and 2012. Admittedly way too many of these won more or less by default because, turns out, I play very few games the year they come out.

• 2013 BioShock Infinite / Gone Home
• 2014 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
• 2015 Splatoon / Downwell
• 2016 Mafia III / Firewatch
• 2017 Prey / Tacoma
• 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2
• 2019 Control / Wilmot's Warehouse
• 2020 Dreams
• 2021 Psychonauts 2, unless Deathloop really blows me away in its final hours, which I doubt

There's no way I'll remember games by the year they came out, so instead I'm going to look at the Giant Bomb top ten list for each year and pick my favorite.

2011: Portal 2

2012: XCOM: Enemy Unknown

2013: Bioshock Infinite

2014: Shadow of Mordor

2015: Undertale

2016: Stardew Valley (WOW what a list! They're all a close second)

2017: Player Unknown's Battlegrounds

2018: Into the Breach

2019: Control

2020: Factorio

2021: Psychonauts 2

Sometimes you forget how much good shit came out in the past decade. Made it really hard to pick.

2011 - Portal 2

- Honorable Mention

• Binding of Issac
• Batman Arkham City

2012 - Dishonored

- Honorable Mentions

• The Walking Dead
• Hotline Miami
• Max Payne 3

2013 - Last of Us

- Honorable Mentions

• GTAV

2014 - Wolfenstein: The New Order

- Honorable Mentions

• Alien Isolation
• The Evil WIthin

2015 - Bloodborne

- Honorable Mention

• MGSV

2016 - Titanfall 2

- Honorable Mentions

• Darkest Dungeon
• Hitman
• Inside

2017 - Prey

- Honorable Mentions (This was a fantastic year)

• • Wolfenstein: The New Colossus
  • Hollow Knight
  • Nier: Automata
  • Breath of the Wild

2018 - Return of the Obra Dinn

- Honorable Mentions

• Celeste
• Tetris Effect
• Into the Breach
• God of War
• Hitman

2019 - Control

- Honorable Mentions

• A Plague Tale: Innocence
• Sekiro
• Hypnospace Outlaw
• Devil May Cry 5

2020 - Doom Eternal

- Honorable Mentions

• Hades
• Animal Crossing
• Noita

2021 - Psychonauts 2

- Honorable Mentions

• RE:Village
• Hitman 3
• Death's Door

• 2011: Skyrim - Probably the last game I put over 100 hours into.
• 2012: Mass Effect 3
• 2013: Saints Row IV
• 2014: Far Cry 4 / Shadow of Mordor
• 2015: Bloodborne
• 2016: The Witness
• 2017: Nioh
• 2018: Tetris Effect
• 2019: Resident Evil 2
• 2020: eFootball PES 2021 Season Update (despite the name, an actual full retail release)
• 2021: Hitman 3

I've kept my list to games I played during that calendar year. The last couple of years have been a bit of a famine in terms of staying current with GoTY tier titles. I've picked up Nioh 2 today and finished Doom Eternal a few days back.

@shindig: I really need to give Tetris Effect a try. I LOVE Tetris, but can't get over the hump of the price tag. Just need to pull the trigger. Thanks for sharing!

@luissrod: Great to see the Doom Eternal love! That game is hard as hell, but so so good. Once you figure out the rules in place, it is a blast.

@besetment: I think Portal 2 might the closest thing to a perfect game on your list. So so good.

@vulpius: I really wanted to love Prey, but I ran into a game breaking bug where I literally couldn't advance. What a shame.

@danielkempster: Great list. DOOM rules.

@onemanarmyy:Nice! I really hope Wolf 2 is great. The style of part 1 was so good. I admittedly have only played 4, V and rising, so I don't have that connection to MGS. I do wish they would put out something on ps5, but that seems unlikely at this point.

2011: Skyrim

2012: Diablo 3

2013: Pokemon X

2014: Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze

2015: Star Wars Battlefront

2016: Pokemon Sun/Pokemon Go

2017: Zelda Breath of the Wild

2018: Forza Horizon 4

2019: Borderlands 3/Crackdown 3

2020: Spiritfarer/Pokemon Cloud Tundra and Isle of Armour dlc

2021: Probably going to be Halo Infinite or Bowsers Fury

@colonel_pockets: Wish that I could say the same. My "contrarian, but not that contrarian" thing mostly came from what I did not list. The From Soft stuff is something I can admire from afar, and I honestly cannot see what you all like about Naughty Dog stuff.

@tp0p: Big Pokemon guy I see. Are you excited for Arceus in Janurary?

@infantpipoc:Haha all good. That's why we make these lists. Everyone has their own taste. I really do love Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us. It feels like a more, for lack of a better term, "grown up". Uncharted 3 is silly in a bad way, while 4 and The Last of Us feel like lessons were learned to make the relationships between characters more important. Plus I think it is their best version of melding of gameplay and story. I will say 4 only works if you care about previous Uncharted games. If you don't care, you will not enjoy it.

@colonel_pockets: Love Disco to bits. I'm a massive Planescape: Torment fan, in case that puts that love into context for you. Know what you're going into. It's pretty much all dialoge and highly interactive storytelling. No longer involving heavy reading in Final cut since it's all voice acted. Beautifully broken but human protagonist and one of my favorite sidekicks ever in Kim Kitsuragi. Fantastic setting loosely based on the French Revolution. Excellent "factions" with communist, facist, capitalist and staus quo / moralist viewpoints.
Unique skills that manifest as "voices in your head" which is such a brilliant idea.

Tetris Effect is also excellent by the way.

Oh this is fun.

• 2011: Skyrim
• 2012: XCOM: Enemy Unknown (in retrospect, Crusader Kings II)
• 2013: The Stanley Parable
• 2014: Jazzpunk
• 2015: Fallout 4 (in retrospect, Until Dawn)
• 2016: Hitman (in retrospect, Dishonored 2)
• 2017: Assassin's Creed Origins (in retrospect, Prey)
• 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2
• 2019: Control
• 2020: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
• 2021: Deathloop or Inscryption (haven't quite decided yet)

Speaking as someone with Deathloop as my likely GOTY and without spoiling anything...it won't. It's a very strange feeling to both consider a game my probable favorite of the year and also be very disappointed in it.

2011: Yakuza 4

2012: Mass Effect 3

2013: The Last of Us

2014: Mario Kart 8

2015: Until Dawn

2016: Dishonored 2

2017: Hollow Knight

2018: Hitman 2

2019: The Outer Wilds

2020: Hades

2021: Hitman 3

@youeightit: Until Dawn was fantastic. I really really enjoyed it. I wonder if they're every going to make something else in that style again.

@banefirelord:I loved Control, except for the map. That map was awful and I kept getting lost. Did you have similar issues?

I mean they've been making games that I would call "in that style" for the last few years with the Dark Pictures games, but though I've liked them they haven't really reached the heights of Until Dawn. And honestly, in some ways I don't know if they can pull it off again because there was nothing quite exactly like Until Dawn at the time but that's not the case anymore.

@colonel_pockets: I played it at launch on Xbox and had a bug for my entire playthrough where the map didn’t even pop up for upwards of 30 seconds when I opened the screen. Testament to how good the rest of the game was that this was somehow tolerable!

I didn't want to do this when it hit Twitter, because it sounded like a lot of work for maybe two likes. I'll bump a GB thread and do an hour or two of research for that though.

For multiple reasons, I'm going to go with how I feel now, as opposed to back then. For instance, 2015 was Rocket League with a bullet, but given how Psyonix have since super murdered that game for maximized profits, even just recommending it today feels sleazy.

If anything, I've also played a lot more games that I missed originally, so one or two have since overridden those slots.

• 2011: SPACE MARINE
• 2012: Sleeping Dogs
• 2013: Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
• 2014: Endless Legend
• 2015: Cities Skylines
• 2016: Stardew Valley
• 2017: Monster Hunter Stories
• 2018: Radical Heights
• 2019: Dota Underlords
• 2020: Genshin Impact
• 2021: Fantasy Life Online

@daavpuke: Radical Heights. Cool choice. I was trying to finish up school and could not afford a ps4 and internet at the time. A game that also piqued my interest but i wasn't in the PS4 ecosystem was Drawn to Death. Games like those are the primary reason i go Day-1/Preorder Stuff because if you blink the game might be gone.

I don't have Twitter, so I'll take your word that this is A Thing. But this is pretty easy for me to do, I have a decade worth of documentation on this site in the form of my GOTY lists from every year! (except for 2011, I don't know why - I have a list for 2010 though!)

• 2012: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
• 2013: Bioshock Infinite
• 2014: Bayonetta 2
• 2015: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• 2016: The Witness
• 2017: Nier: Automata
• 2018: God of War
• 2019: Baba is You
• 2020: Desperadoes 3
• 2021: not 100% sure yet...either Fuga: Melodies of Steel or Psychonauts 2, those are my 2 favorites ATM

This was actually a fun trip down memory lane. And honestly, I would still totally back all these choices...except for Bioshock Infinite, I think that one hasn't aged all that well in retrospect. I had The Last of Us at #2 and Fire Emblem: Awakening at #3 that year, I think either of those I would say is a better game.

2011 Catherine

2012 Hotline Miami

2013 Gone Home

2014 Alien Isolation

2015 MGSV

2016 The Witness

2017 Gravity Rush 2

2018 God of War

2019 Death Stranding

2020 Spiritfarer

2021 No More Heroes 3

I haven't made lists since 2011, nor is my memory great, so some of these are semi-snap decisions, but-

2011 - Portal 2 (One of the first games I bought on my own dime and I did not regret a single penny)

2012 - Dishonored

2013 - FFXIV: A Realm Reborn (Few games have a world so casually inviting and homely as this, the best FF game.)

2014 - Tales from the Borderlands

2015 - Undertale (Undertale feels like such a distinct moment in time for everyone I know, a definite GotD contender)

2016 - Hitman (Though it's a close call with like three other games)

2017 - Night in the Woods

2018 - Tetris Effect (If Undertale isn't my GotD, Tetris Effect might just be. It's hard to quite describe what I felt my first play-through of this game, and its a feeling that still lingers with every subsequent play-through.)

2019 - Shovel Knight: King of Cards

2020 - Umurangi Generation

2021 - Currently leaning towards Deltarune Chapter 2

@sometingbanuble: Thank you. It was a really rad 3 to 4 months, but alas..

2011: Batman: Arkham City

2012: The Walking Dead

2013: Bioshock Infinite

2014: Shadow of Mordor

2015: MGSV

2016: Final Fantsy XV

2017: Zelda BotW

2018: Red Dead Redemption 2

2019: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

2020: Cyberpunk 2077

I definitely had to go back and look in my personal site lists to remember most of this shit, and then look up what games came out in a given year after I stopped doing those lists. Kinda weird to think about how long ago these were.

2011: Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Not a perfect game, but still one of the most memorable visual styles and game worlds I can remember playing in.

2012: Max Payne 3 - I would kill for a remaster of this. One of the best third person shooters of all time. It also got me through a very tough time in my life.

2013: The Last of Us - Probably in my top 10 of all time, as well

2014: Wolfenstein: The New Order

2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

2016: Titanfall 2

2017: Resident Evil 7

2018: God of War - Looking through the biggest games that came out that year, I just realized I didn't play that many of them. Funnily enough, although I really loved GoW overall, I was still disappointed with parts of it. So I guess it would have to be that by default. Either that or BLOPS 4 for Blackout.

2019: Borderlands 3...or the RE2 Remake.

2020: Last of Us Part 2 - Possibly could've been Half-Life Alyx if I had played more.

2021: Tormented Souls - I think I could only just barely scrape together a top 10 if I wanted to. There just wasn't a whole lot this year that interested me. Even a lot of the games I did play and enjoy didn't exactly set my world on fire. Back 4 Blood, Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, RE: Village, Returnal, Outriders, and It Takes Two are among my favorites. My actual GOTY is the indie survival horror throwback, Tormented Souls. If you like old school survival horror games with tank controls, camera angles, and puzzles galore, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.

@killem_dafoe: Human Revolution was fantastic. It's too bad they shelved Deus Ex for the immediate future. A really great game and world to immerse in.

@wmoyer83: I think you are the first person to list Cyberpunk on here. What made it your favorite game of 2020?

@franzlska: I'm gonna need to pull the trigger on Tetris Effect one of these days. I know I'm going to love it.

@uranaltruce: I replayed Hotline Miami last year. There is still nothing quite like it. What a great game.

@beard_of_zeus: I really need to play Psychonauts 2. Everyone has been raving about it. I replayed Bioshock Infinite last year and still found it very enjoyable. Still happy with my original choice of The Last of Us though.

@daavpuke:Appreciate you putting in the research. This might be the most unique list on this thread!

OK, I'll play:

2011: Dark Souls
2012: XCOM Enemy Unknown
2013: Zelda A Link Between Worlds
2014: Shadow of Mordor
2015: Axiom Verge
2016: DOOM
2017: Zelda Breath of the Wild
2018: Into the Breach
2019: Fire Emblem Three Houses
2020: Hades
2021: Unsighted

Doom must have been phenomenal for a shooter to make your list. Feelings on doom eternal?

2011: Super Mario 3D Land

2012: The Unfinished Swan

2013: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

2014: Bayonetta 2

2015: Metal Gear Solid V

2016: The Last Guardian

2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2018: Spider-Man

2019: Control

2020: Final Fantasy VII Remake

2021: Death Loop *SMT V is real fucking good

2011: Dark Soul's

2012: Journey

2013: Last of Us

2014: Hearthstone

2015: Bloodborne

2016: Uncharted 4

2017: Nier: Automata

2018: God of War

2019: Apex Legends

2020: Last of Us 2

2021: I really haven't played a lot of new games, but if I had to make a choice it would be Hitman 3.

2011 - Skyrim

2012 - Fez

2013 - The Last of Us

2014 - South Park: The Stick of Truth

2015 - The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt

2016 - Hitman

2017 - Super Mario Odyssey

2018 - Red Dead Redemption 2

2019 - Outer Wilds

2020 - Astro's Playroom

2021 - Still a decent amount that I need to play, but so far probably Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

2011: Dark Souls

2012: Dark Souls : Prepare to DIe

2013: Dragon's Crown

2014: Dark Souls 2

2015: Bloodborne

2016: Doom / Dark Souls 3

2017: NieR Automata

2018: Monster Hunter World

2019: Control / Sekiro

2020: Demon's Souls remake / Astro's Playroom

@rich666: I see you are a From fan haha. Don't worry friend, Elden Ring is almost here.

@lordv: Great to see some Astro's Playroom love!

@dragon_puncher: I have played an ungodly amount of hours of hearthstone over the years. I literally get in a game every single game for dailys. I don't really view it as a game and more of just part of my day if that makes sense.

@brandonj98: The Last Guardian is a game I will never forget. What a unique game that clicked with me. It seems to be a polarizing game because of the hype, but I'm glad I played it.

@sometingbanuble: Doom Eternal rules. You have to play by the specific rules they give you. If you try to play it like the 2016 reboot, you will be disappointed.

@majormitch:I fee like I missed the boat on Shadow of Mordor. It never clicked with me.