Game Of The Year

[Spark Of Spirit]

What I've found really strange is that no board I visit seems to have made a GOTY thread. 2010 was a pretty sharp year for gaming and I'm kind of surprised that no one seems eager to list what they liked about it.

So how about this, list your top 3 choices for the following categories:

Best Soundtrack
Best Art Design
Best/Most Improved Sequel
Best New IP
Best Multiplatform Game
Best PC Exclusive
Best 360 Exclusive
Best PS3 Exclusive
Best Wii Exclusive
Best PSP Game
Best DS Game
Best Download Game

and finally

GOTY

Answer any or all of what you want. I'm eager to see what I might have missed or overlooked. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be honest I barely got to play ANY games from this year. I mean, I did get to try a lot of games thanks to my friend who gets a lot of them, but I didn't really get to fully play through too many of them. I mean, I beat Halo: Reach, and I'm pretty far into Alan Wake, but those are the only 2 games from this year that I own.

I suppose Bayonetta would probably be my game of the year. Its an amazing hack n' slash game, and hack n' slash is my favorite genre as far as 3D games go, so that automatically puts it above any potential competition for me, including ME2 (just for the record, though, I still feel that Ninja Gaiden Black is the best game ever made in the genre, by far). I wish I could play more of it.

Also, even though I never really care about the trivial awards for GOTY stuff, I do want to say that I would totally put up Alan Wake for having the best sound design of any game this year. Its simply amazing how well Remedy managed to pull off that aspect of the game.

[Daxdiv]

I'll try to fill this out to the best of my ability

Best Soundtrack

Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Red Dead Redemption


Best Art Design

Kirby's Epic Yarn
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Prof. Layton 3


Best/Most Improved Sequel

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Mass Effect 2
Dead Rising 2


Best New IP

Alan Wake
Monday Night Combat

Best Multiplatform Game

Red Dead Redemption
Mass Effect 2
Dead Rising 2


Best 360 Exclusive

Alan Wake
Halo Reach
Crackdown 2


Best Wii Exclusive

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Donkey Kong Country Returns


Best DS Game

Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver (This counts as one game.)
Dragon Quest IX
Prof. Layton 3

Best Download Game

Monday Night Combat
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Poker Night at the Inventory


GOTY

Red Dead Redemption
Mass Effect 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2

[Foggle]

Best Soundtrack
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Yakuza 3
Sonic Colors

Best Art Design
Shank
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise
Beat Hazard (PC version came out this year)

Best/Most Improved Sequel
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Mass Effect 2
Fallout: New Vegas

Best New IP
Bayonetta
Deadly Premonition (yes, I'm serious)
Vanquish

Best Multiplatform Game
Vanquish
Mass Effect 2
Bayonetta

Best PC Exclusive
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
StarCraft 2: Wings Of Liberty
VVVVVV

Best 360 Exclusive
Deadly Premonition (It was also on PS3, but only in Japan)
Alan Wake (I only played five minutes of it, but it was pretty cool)
Uh... Halo: Reach, I guess?

Best PS3 Exclusive
Yakuza 3
The Sly Collection (does that count?)
Erm... God Of War 3, maybe?

Best Wii Exclusive
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Sonic Colors

Best PSP Game
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Valkyria Chronicles 2
Ys 3: The Oath In Felghana

Best DS Game
I didn't even play any DS games this year...

Best Download Game
Borderlands: The Secret Armory Of General Knoxx (DLC counts, right?)
Super Meat Boy
Shank

GOTY
Mass Effect 2
Bayonetta
Donkey Kong Country Returns

EDIT: HOLY FUCK HOW COULD I FORGET THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS MINECRAFT?
EDIT AGAIN: Never mind, it launched in 2009.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I didn't actually buy many multiplatform games this year... Weird.

Best Soundtrack
Sonic Colors
Ys: The Oath In Felghana
Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Art Design
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Valkyria Chronicles II
Shank

Best/Most Improved Sequel
Sonic Colors
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Dead Rising 2

Best New IP
Deadly Premonition (Serious potential here)
Alan Wake (Both survival horror, huh? Hmmm...)

Best 360 Exclusive
Deadly Premonition
Alan Wake
... It was a light year for exclusives.

Best PS3 Exclusive
Yakuza 3 (Gotta get this one soon)
The Sly Collection (I'd count it just for filler)

Best Wii Exclusive
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom
Sonic Colors
Donkey Kong Country Returns

Best PSP Game
Ys SEVEN
Valkyria Chronicles II
Ys: The Oath In Felghana

Best DS Game
Mega Man Zero Collection (By a country mile)
Everything else I got on the DS were old and cheap games

Best Download Game
Raskulls
Monday Night Combat
X-Men Arcade

GOTY
I'm going to cheat and list 5 here since I couldn't chop 2 off:

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Deadly Premonition
Ys SEVEN
Sonic Colors
Ys: The Oath In Felghana

All 5 of those gave me a genuine thrill as I played through them. Even if there might be better games, these ones reminded me why I love gaming so much.

[gunswordfist]

Mass Effect 2 was the only game I played that's from last year so uh yeah, I vote for that.

[Foggle]

Let's get this party started again. Kind of early, but whatever.

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Sonic Generations -- GodDAMN, baby. No explanation necessary.

BEST GRAPHICS (POLYGONS 'N SHIT)
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings -- Try to max out that bitch and your computer will probably melt. Looks stunning, even on low.

BEST GRAPHICS (THE ARTSY VERSION)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution -- It can look kind of sterile at times, but the world feels real without the only colors in the game being brown, gray, and red.

BEST STORY
The Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings -- It's based on a series of books, what the fuck do you expect?

COOLEST CHARACTER
Shun Akiyama (Yakuza 4) -- I would love to meet this guy. Also, check out that suit. Awesome.

BEST DOWNLOAD-ONLY GAME
Serious Sam 3: BFE -- The most fun you can have shooting headless suicide bombers in the face. Probably the only fun you can have doing that, too. Unless you count the other Serious Sam games. Which didn't come out this year. So Sam 3 wins.

BEST DLC
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link -- It's almost like an actual expansion pack. What a shock.

BEST MOD
2027 -- It's kind of like two Deus Ex games were released in the same year. Except one of them is free and doesn't have voice acting.

BEST SEQUEL
*TIE!* The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim / The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings -- The previous games are nothing compared to these. NOTHING.

BEST CONSOLE GAME THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED ON PC GODDAMN IT
GoldenEye 007: Reloaded -- It's a really good FPS.

BEST PC GAME THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED ON CONSOLES GODDAMN IT
Hard Reset -- It's a really good FPS.

FUNNIEST GAME
Saints Row: The Third -- I'm a bloody commode.

THE "THANK GOD JAMES MCCAFFREY IS DOING THE MAIN CHARACTER'S VOICE AGAIN" AWARD
Max Payne 3 -- I was in a computer game. Funny as Hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of.

GAME OF THE YEAR
Deus Ex: Human Revolution -- I'm a sucker for stealth games and cyberpunk in general. But seriously, it's a nearly flawless experience, and stacks up well compared to the original, which is also a masterpiece.



WORST GRAPHICS (THE ARTSY VERSION)
Homefront -- Seriously, this game looks like shit. Like actual shit. Like something that came out of my ass. It's so shitty that I get a headache just looking at it.

WORST STORY (IN A STORY-FOCUSED GAME)
Homefront -- The backstory is retarded and improbable, the game is so short that nothing ever really comes to a head, and there's not even a proper conclusion.

WORST CHARACTER
The entire supporting cast (Sonic Generations) -- IT LOOKS LIKE A HOMING ATTACK! WATCH OUT FOR THAT HOMING ATTACK! BE CAREFUL, IT'S A HOMING ATTACK!

STUPIDEST DLC
*TIE!* Dead Rising 2: Off The Record - GameBreaker Pack / Saints Row: The Third - Invincible Pack -- Paying money for cheat codes is so 90's.

WORST SEQUEL
*TIE!* Dragon Age 2 / Duke Nukem Forever -- I had a good amount of fun with DNF, but it's undeniable that both games basically take a shit all over each of their respective legacies.

WORST COMPANY
Capcom -- It'd be quicker to list the things they did right this year than the things they did wrong.

LAMEST CASH-GRAB
Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 -- "Earthquakes rendered us unable to produce DLC. Please buy the same game you already bought earlier this year because we need more money to cancel Mega Man games."

THE "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE" AWARD
The Wii U -- Jesus, Nintendo, are you even trying? I'm sure Xbox 360 hardware in 2012 and a cumbersome-looking controller will go over real well with consumers.

WORST CONSOLE-TO-PC PORT
From Dust -- Oh my god the list of things wrong with this piece of shit

WORST PC-TO-CONSOLE PORT
lol just kidding no multiplatform developer uses the PC as the lead platform anymore

SHITTIEST ONLINE PASS
Battlefield 3 -- No one's going to buy this game for the single-player.

THE "GAMES FOR WINDOWS LIVE STILL EXISTS?" AWARD
Batman: Arkham City -- Bonus points because it also uses SecuROM and has activation limits!

VAPORWARE OF THE YEAR
Black Mesa: Source -- It's never coming out, guys, let's just accept it.

MOST BORING JOB THAT YOU PAY YOUR EMPLOYER TO WORK
World Of Warcraft -- Why do people enjoy this?

DUMBEST MOTION CONTROL THINGY
Kinect -- At least the Move has No More Heroes.

WORST GAME OF THE YEAR
Rise Of Nightmares -- Everything about this game is terrible. And it uses Kinect, so it's a fucking double flusher.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I still need to try out Zelda and Mario Kart to really put out an opinion, but for me it was all about handhelds.

And I'm hoping this E3 will sell the new consoles coming out, because so far it looks like I'm sticking with the handhelds.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I still need to try out Zelda and Mario Kart to really put out an opinion, but for me it was all about handhelds.

And I'm hoping this E3 will sell the new consoles coming out, because so far it looks like I'm sticking with the handhelds.

What about the Sonic Generations? I was sure that'd at least be among your top favorites from this year.

As for me, I'm behind the times as usual, so I mostly played games from previous years, whereas I have only played a few games from this year. Of those, I guess Arkham City would naturally be my top pick among those, and its certainly a good game, but its not really saying much since I have barely played anything from this year at all.

[Daxdiv]

Let's see I would probably call Pokémon Black and White my favorite RPGs this year since I have yet to play Skyrim. Mario and Sonic latest outings are a tough call for platformers. I thought that Gears 3 was decent enough. Catherine was fun, came for the story yet sticked around for the puzzles. Still need to play 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, especially since I figured out where my copy of the game was hiding all these months ago. Portal 2 was probably my favorite game this year as well, a game so nice I ended up buying it twice, once on the 360 and again on the PC. Still have to find a co-op partner for both versions.

EDIT: Oh yeah, kind of forgot about Binding of Isaac. I thought it was the best $5 I spent on Steam, so much replayability and pretty addicting when you want it to be.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Oh, Sonic Generations is definitely my console GOTY so far. The main competition there for me will be Kirby and Zelda (when I get to play it), but for me it was mostly about portables this year.

[Foggle]

For me it was all about how developers have finally started making their games more like 90's/early 00's PC classics again. Deus Ex 3, Serious Sam 3, Hard Reset, The Witcher 2, fuck yeah! Max Payne 3 and Thief 4 next year, fuck yeah!

Then, of course, you have Kirby's and Sonic's returns to grace, a new Legend of Zelda, a sandbox game carrying on the legacy of San Andreas (Saints Row 3), a legitimately good superhero game (Arkham City), the first official English release of my favorite Persona game (Innocent Sin), Bethesda's best release ever (Skyrim), the list goes on.

2011 was/is a great year for video games.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm willing to bet that, if I get it for Christmas, Sonic Generations will probably end up being my personal GOTY, even if I still haven't played that many games from this year.

[GaryPotter]

My biggest disappointment this year would definitely be Final Fantasy XIV. I've never played it, but wanted to try it. However, the planned PS3 release never happened. After basically saying nothing forever, SE now says that the PS3 version will likely be released this time next year alongside what they're calling 2.0. What's the point? SE completely failed the game's launch and after two years nobody will want to give it a second chance. This game was without a doubt the biggest mistake SE has ever made, bar none.

[Spark Of Spirit]

From what I've played, the year's best games are:

Sonic Generations
Kirby's Return To Dreamland
Super Mario 3D Land
Mario Kart 7
Shinobi 3DS

I also have enjoyed what little I've played of Skyward Sword, but it hasn't exactly wowed me... YET. Still, I don't see it topping the others for me.