Okay, here it is. My personal Top 10 games. Note that this list isn't necessarily in what I believe to be an "order of quality" but rather what I personally enjoyed the most. That's not to say that any of the games here are bad (far from it), but that the order might be different were this a list ordered by a "review score" (if I wrote game reviews).
I wrote a long and elaborate feature with more awards over at my blog here. Go check it out!
269 hours. That's how long I've spent with Borderlands 2 since its launch in September. Admittedly nearly half of that was in the first week, where I was completely free and with not much else to be doing, having cleared myself some time to get my hands on it. But even since then I've continued to plug away at this fantastic title.
The original Borderlands is one of my absolute favourite games - and the followup did not disappoint. In fact, Gearbox constructed a finely tuned sequel, honing the best parts of the original Borderlands experience while simultaneously making key improvements where issues existed. I've written more about why I loved Borderlands 2 so much in my full Game of the Year 2012 feature.
For now, I'll just say that Borderlands 2 is a fantastic sequel, and it’s my favourite game of 2012.
A delicate balance between frantic and relaxing, FTL encompassed that punishing, one-more-turn gameplay that kept me hooked to The Binding of Isaac last year. The number of items in FTL may be a little fewer, but the way you have to use them is far more complex. Moment-to-moment, FTL is best described as an exercise in decision making and opportunity cost.
Should I upgrade power for another weapon, or hire another crew member? Should I target their shields and take a hit, or their weapons and risk not getting through? Should I explore this planet and risk my crew's lives, or leave it alone and miss out on potential rewards? Should I repair the engines so I can warp out of this fight, or the oxygen system so my crew don't all suffocate?
Every decision is important, and you feel the effects of every one almost instantly. And if you fuck up? No matter, you've learned something. After all, there's probably time for one more turn, right?
It's not just about the violence. But in a way, it's kind of all about the violence.
Okay, it's also about the satisfying impact of combat; the punishing repercussions of missing that swing; the thumping, grimy, techno beats of the soundtrack; the sheer unabated joy of a room cleared with ruthless precision. Minutes spent planing and honing a strategy which must then be executed in mere seconds without flaw.
Story beats were competently done if a touch forgettable at times but the gorgeous open-world is the star. Climbing towers and admiring the vistas; infiltrating enemy bases to disable the alarm before silently eliminating every guard one by one; hunting bear armed only with a 20-round sub-machine gun; scrambling across lakes you were sure were empty only to be snatched by the crocodile you were so certain was a rock. Exploring Rook Island is one of the most immersive experiences I've had this year, and a simply gorgeous one at that.
Making a direct sequel to a Pokémon game is crazy, but so is the amount of new features in Black/White Version 2. I was admittedly sceptical going in, because the main draw for me to each new Pokémon release is exploring a new world, meeting the new critters, and training them up to become the Very Best.
But Black/White Version 2 won me over in style. Where the previous incarnation had begun to introduce some significant new gameplay features, Version 2 brings a whole heap of advancements in terms of storytelling, exploration, and gameplay. Playing it, you understand just how much they were able to pack in by working with a world that had already been designed (and even then, it felt fresh and different enough so as not to feel completely re-used).
Stealth reinvented, and how. I loved the artstyle and world they created, even if the story didn't quite manage to pull it off at the end. Dunwall and its rag-tag mix of inhabitants provided a fantastic setting for a game which uses clever mechanics to make a stealth title which feels challenging without being trial-and-error. Every part of the world feels lovingly crafted, and exploring the buildings, back alleys, rooftops, sewers, and gardens of Dunwall is a truly special experience.
Not as technically sound as Tekken Tag 2, but the way the Tekken characters have been recreated in the Street Fighter style - feeling totally in place and yet still distinctly like Tekken characters - is a fantastic achievement.
I loved the idea of the gems, but in practice they were poorly implemented, which was a shame. It also felt like it didn't really sit well as a competitive title for the high-ranking players (although I personally really loved watching them play it), but for the casual fighters like myself, what Street Fighter X Tekken brought to the table was a bagful of fun.
An incredibly solid fighting game, and a myriad of customization options to boot. The best online fighting game for me this year. Tekken has had its ups and downs in recent time, but between this and Tekken 6 I'm comfortable saying that it's back on form. Now if they could only implement a story mode akin to that offered by rivals from last year Mortal Kombat (something they started to get a hint of in Tekken 6) this could well find its way back above Super Street Fighter IV as my brawler of choice. Although personally 1v1 is still the format I prefer for my fighters.
Punishing. Devastating. But always completely fair, and that's why I kept on coming back. Because every time I died, it was my fault. And Spelunky made sure that I knew it.
On the surface, Spelunky feels pretty simple - get to the end, collect as much treasure as possible along the way. Many people won't make it that far, even with the shortcut system in place. But for those who do, you're still far from having seen everything Spelunky has to offer. Without spoiling too much, it all starts when you pick up that key in the mines...
Beautiful artstyle, satisfying combat, and still the only game of its genre to truly grab my attention. They took the best parts of Torchlight and gave us the multiplayer version we've been waiting for, and it's fantastic.
