We’re onto my favorite games of 2011. Which games make it to the next round for games of the decade?

If you haven’t seen my 2010 list, catch up here, first!

My 2011 ranking is as follows (List Link):

2011:

1. Mortal Kombat
2. Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection
3. Dark Souls
4. Bulletstorm
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
6. L.A. Noire
7. Catherine
8. Madden NFL 12
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
10. Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

Wow, what another great year for games! I didn’t realize how many significant games came out in 2011. Seems like it will be a theme for looking back over these years.

Games that stand out for me include:

Mortal Kombat

Street Fighter IV reignited a love for fighting games a few years earlier, so I had to try the new Mortal Kombat. MK delivered; A fighting game with an actual story mode and not some 20 second cut-scene after taking down the final boss of arcade mode? I didn’t know I needed this until Mortal Kombat.

Yes, Mortal Kombat is over-the-top: wacky, gory, violent. That’s all I really should have to say. This game was my game of the year for 2011. The fighting is great, the story mode is great. Hell, I even bought this on Vita.

Final Fantasy IV:The Complete Collection

This PSP collection was the first time I ever played Final Fantasy IV. I wish they released more of the NES and SNES Final Fantasy games in this format. I loved the graphics.

I played and beat this all while on summer vacation, playing long sessions each night. It didn’t seem to stick with me like other Final Fantasy games, but I enjoyed it enough to finish it, which is a rarity for me these days.

Dark Souls

Dark. Mother-Fucking. Souls.

I had dove into Demon’s Souls late, as it was PS3 Greatest Hits game when I finally bought it. I dabbled a bit (the game was creepy and hard), but when I heard that the spiritual successor would be one huge open world, instead of levels, I knew I needed to play it.

While this is definitely one of my favorite games of the 20-10’s, I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I never actually made it to the final boss. I’ve got to have 200+ across Xbox 360 and PC (original and Remastered), but that doesn’t take away from my love for this game.

Catherine

Okay, Catherine is a weird game. It’s part puzzle-game, part adventure/interactive story. I remember really enjoying it. I actually grabbed the Full Body version for PS4. Maybe it’s just because I was really into anime at the time (I still love anime, just haven’t watched much recently).

Honorable Mentions:

These are games from my 2011 list that will not make my Decade or All -Time Favorite’s list, but still deserve some notoriety.

Bulletstorm – I remember having a good time with this game. It being decently funny and a blast to play; Full Clip edition could be something to grab when on sale. I’ve always enjoyed single player, FPS games.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – I got sucked into Skyrim for hours then reached a point where I couldn’t figure out where to go to advance the story (something about elders in a mountain rings a bell?).

Thanksgiving of 2011, I literally played this all day and that memory has stuck with me over the years. I continue this tradition (sometimes) by playing a few hours of Skyrim on Thanksgiving.

I know Skyrim might be some people’s favorite game of all time, but these Bethesda open world games just never blew me away, the way I thought they would.

On To Round 2:

Dark Souls

Mortal Kombat

Current List of The Decade:

Dark Souls

Final Fantasy XIII

Heavy Rain

Mass Effect 2

Mortal Kombat

My games from 2012 will be up next!

Do you have any fond memories from any of these games from 2011?

Original post taken from my blog, Current Kick - please stop by!