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TheFakePsychic

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TFP's (perpetually unfinished!) games of the generation

These are in the order of "as I think of them", because I have a hard enough time with game of the year ordering. Instead, I'm going to list what I think the particular game excels the best at, and perhaps give a few runners-up, for the "category." So, without further ado.

List items

  • Reason: Choice

    Alpha Protocol is, far and away, The ABSOLUTE ONLY game where I ever felt that my decisions laid out the course for the progression of the game. I was never presented with a point where what I wanted to do was not something I could do. Prop that up with stellar characters, the best conversation system so far presented in a video game, and not great, but serviceable gameplay, and you have a surefire winner in my book.

    Runners-up: Nothing.

  • Reason: Atmosphere

    Remedy can weave a tale like few other developers can, and Alan Wake is no exception. Part of what really struck me is the sense of playing this perfectly normal person in an extraordinary situation. Alan Wake is a writer. He isn't some hardened, chiseled badass looking to raise hell. He just wants to find his wife and get out of the terrible situation he found himself in, and the oppressive nature of the forests of the northwest US come alive in that game in ways I never considered possible. Combine that with Petri Alanko's amazing score, Remedy's penchant for third-person shooting, and one of the few truly great endings in this entire generation, and you definitely have one of the best games this generation.

    Runners-up: A Boy and his Blob, L.A. Noire, LIMBO

  • Reason: Characters

    I had never played a Yakuza game before Yakuza 4. I'll be the first to admit that the intricate web of underground wheels and deals was not what I was expecting. The tale of intrigue and corruption never stops being any less compelling on account of the sheer depth and raw humanity of the characters. The plights of the four playable characters weave and intersect in ways that are never contrived, and just lead to creating a set of primary and secondary characters who simply come alive in the criminal underworld of Kamurocho. Plus, being an incredibly fun action game never hurts, either.

    Runners-up: Persona 4 Arena, Alpha Protocol, Grand Theft Auto IV

  • Category: Horizon-broadening (Also: Best Fighting Game)

    If you had told me in 2011 that a fighting game was going to be my #2 game of the year in 2012, I would have laughed in your face. I don't particularly find the appeal in fighting games, to be perfectly honest. I never have the patience to overcome the immense entry barrier for execution. However, with the smart systems put forward in Persona 4 Arena, Arc System Works and Atlus made a fighting game that I have played, if not nearly every day, than at least weekly, ever since release. That's impressive. Combine that with an intelligent continuation of what, to me, is unquestionably the best video game of all time, and you have shoe-in for as many awards that I can possibly think of to throw at it.

    Runners-up (Horizon broadening): Dota 2, Tekken Tag Tournament 2

    Runners-up (Fighting): Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tekken Tag Tournament 2

  • Reason: Multiplayer

    Very few things top the fun of getting any amount of people on a couch and playing Super Smash Brothers for a few hours. The roster in Brawl was expanded in interesting ways over the past entry, and while I will admit that it is a purely personal choice, but I do prefer the slower pace of Brawl over the breakneck speed of Melee. New interactivity in stages like WarioWare or Pictochat led to more improvisational fights, which is honestly my favorite thing about the series in general. The fun of fighting in Super Smash Bros. comes down to the raw improvisational abilities of everyone playing. From the stages, to the items, to the moves of the characters, no two games of Super Smash Bros. ever play out the same way. Which is why playing this game multiplayer is easily one of my favorite things.

    Runners-up: Monster Hunter Tri, Monaco: What's Yours is Mine, Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)

  • Reason: Driving

    Okay, I'm cheating a little bit here, because I HONESTLY cannot pick one racing game from Criterion that I enjoyed the most this generation. I love racing games, and Criterion is (or, I suppose was), the absolute upper echelon of racing fun for me. Starting with 2008's Burnout Paradise, an open world driving game that simply was a blast to drive around in. There was something to be found in every nook and cranny, driving was fine tuned in such a way that blasting around Paradise City at speeds beyond rationality felt like a completely natural extension of your controller. You wanted to go somewhere, and you went. Then, when Criterion was passed the reins of the Need for Speed series, they went on and created 2010's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, completely turning around the slump that Need for Speed had been in by applying that same, natural driving finesse to the concepts of a Hot Pursuit, the dichotomy between racer and cops. Finally, while the single player portion of 2012's Need for Speed: Most Wanted was a solid, if not mind-blowing continual refinement of Criterion's open world flair put forward in Burnout Paradise, the speedlist system and utter chaos of the multiplayer makes Most Wanted all worthwhile. Very few things reach the feeling of fun mixed with panic mixed with pride of winning races and events during a speedlist, what with the lack of a starting grid. Everyone drives to the starting location, the first checkpoint is placed, and a countdown begins. In that order. If you're facing the correct way along the path of the race, great! You get a headstart, and can drive while the countdown's still going before the race even officially starts. If not, Oops! Have to turn around! I mention chaos a lot when talking about Most Wanted, and that's because it's the most applicable term. The multiplayer is NONSENSE, in the best possible way. So while making this list, I was thinking to myself, "Do I pick the influence of Burnout Paradise, the single player of Hot Pursuit, or the multiplayer of Most Wanted?" So me, being the indecisive person that I am, chose all three. Cheating? Yes. Very. Do I care? No. All three are fantastic games, well worth your attention.

    Runners-up: Driver: San Francisco, Blur, Excitebots: Trick Racing, ModNation Racers

  • Reason: Joy

    I'll admit. I'm sort of a big child. The LittleBigPlanet series is one of my personal favorite things to come out of this generation, because I find it impossible not to smile while playing. The sequel improved just about everything tenfold, adding in new creation tools, new ways to play, new everything. There's something almost unexplainable about the way that LittleBigPlanet 2 made everything come together, with a childlike glee and wonderment at everything that goes on in the patchwork world.

    Runners-up: Kirby's Epic Yarn, A Boy and his Blob, Ratchet and Clank Future series, Rayman Origins

  • Reason: "Scale"

    Sure, Uncharted 2 may be the most popular of the series, and not without reason. Uncharted 2 is absolutely fantastic, start to finish. But there's just something about 3 that strikes me, every time I play it. And that's the sheer scale of the game. Although scale might not necessarily be the correct term, here. What I love about Uncharted 3 is its complete understanding of its own sense of gameplay and fiction on both a macro- and a micro- scale. The game feels just as comfortable in a huge, adrenaline-racing action setpiece, like the plane or the cruise ship sections, as it does in a quiet, character driven moment, such as the flashbacks to a younger Drake and Sully, or the small, intimate moments between Elena and Drake. That's something that I feel gets across much better in 3 than even in 2, the sense that this is a globe-trotting Indiana Jones-esque adventure, yes, but it's also about the effects this has on regular people.

    Runners-up: Yakuza 4, Resonance of Fate

  • Reason: Hideo Kojima-ocity

    Metal Gear Solid is one of those series that I always admired from afar, in terms of completely loving their stories and ideals, but never really being able to play them effectively on account of being absolutely terrible at stealth games. I could never quite keep up with the demand of the constant stealth, nor the combat in previous MGS games. But there's something about breaking up the monotony of the stealth into bite-sized missions, allowing for co-op, and the AMAZINGLY fun base-building that makes Peace Walker just fun to experience. The Cold War provides a perfect backdrop for this tale of nuclear deterrence, combined with probably my own personal favorite eccentric cast of characters in a Metal Gear Solid game, makes me return to Peace Walker every once in a while, just to experience it again.

    Runners-up: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

  • Reason: Striking Aesthetics

    The visual style of Blur is something that is incredibly striking. Although part of that may just be that I'm a sucker for lightpainting effects. But man, what effects they are. Developer Bizzare Creations made every weapon look devastating to the licensed cars used, only with a technique caused by lengthening the exposure time of a camera. It's the combination of the actual great look of the effects, combined with the developer's ingenuity, brought about by the demand of the car companies who refused to allow modifications to the cars to fire actual weapons, that secure Blur the spot as the most visually striking game this generation. Not to say that it isn't a fantastic racing game, as well.

    Runners-up: MadWorld, Kirby's Epic Yarn

  • Reason: Justified Mechanics

    Sure, you really could have just called this "Life on Mars: The Video Game," but that didn't stop it from being a really well made, clever open world driving game. The Shift mechanics played into the main story conceits incredibly well, and it all culminated in a super fun, super crazy, final boss. Enough said.

    Runners-up: Kirby's Epic Yarn

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Make_Me_Mad

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I wish I had thought to have a defined 'reason' on my Game of the Generation thing, but if I'm honest most of them would have been "it's really fun guys, honest". Also I should have listed more runner-ups. I forgot Anarchy Reigns!