Complaining about UC2? You'll probably hate it. I love 2 and 3 is just...ugh. If you do try it, definitely stick to easy, so you won't get hung up on one of the many badly designed combat encounters.
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NeoGAF Games of the Year 2011 Awards (Up: bunch of extra data, check it out!)
- Thread starter timetokill
- Start date
Complaining about UC2? You'll probably hate it. I love 2 and 3 is just...ugh. If you do try it, definitely stick to easy, so you won't get hung up on one of the many badly designed combat encounters.
nckillthegrimace
Member
You won't be satisfied running through it at all.
TerryLee81
Member
One of the best years in gaming.
So many awesome games.
So many awesome games.
Interfectum
Member
UC3 too high. Other than that, great list.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
I especially love the GAF GOTY awards because they give a clearer indication of GAF's general feelings towards a game than being in the OT. OT's seem to generally be dominated by a vocal group of critics (most likely a minority) or a vocal group of hardcore followers (most likely a minority). It's hard to get a good handle on the overall sentiment sometimes. I like the GOTY voting because all of that talking takes a back seat to honest rankings. Don't get me wrong, I love OT's, but there's something nice about the frankness of numbers.
backflip10019
Member
It seems strange that an 8 hour game cannot be GOTY to you, but whatever floats your boat.
I'm not saying that it was the length individually that put me off. Not to mention, a fair amount of the actual gameplay in Portal 2 was spent in frustration, trying to find the one little wall to shoot to progress the story. That sort of thing put me off.
Uno Venova
Banned
Nice list I guess, I didn't find Portal 2 so deserving of a top spot, it was funny for sure though.
I was very satisfied running through it on normal, then again, I'm a good Uncharted player. And I don't get so discouraged when I die a couple times.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
More Fun To Compute
Member
Only two categories I have a real interest in this year are strategy and download.
Frozen Synapse is very slick and deserves the recognition. I wish that Shogun 2 was as slick and polished as that but I voted for Shogun 2 over it because of the number of hours I have spent on it and the complexity.
Spacechem deserves to be seen as being better than Bastion, and it deserved to smash Portal 2 as a brain teaser, but it's just a shame that most people will never understand why.
Frozen Synapse is very slick and deserves the recognition. I wish that Shogun 2 was as slick and polished as that but I voted for Shogun 2 over it because of the number of hours I have spent on it and the complexity.
Spacechem deserves to be seen as being better than Bastion, and it deserved to smash Portal 2 as a brain teaser, but it's just a shame that most people will never understand why.
H_Prestige
Banned
Dark Souls is the highest quality game of 2011 and now we have the data to prove it.
LightOfTruth
Member
The genre awards are just so perfect. I know a lot of people will say DS>Skyrim but personally, I would have chosen the exact same games in all the categories myself.
As for Portal 2, I don't have a problem with it being GOTY.
As for Portal 2, I don't have a problem with it being GOTY.
Err...
Exterminieren
Banned
Considering it didn't actually come out in the main territory that this forum represents, it did spectacularly.
Has a game that wasn't released in America at the time ever done anywhere near that well in previous years?
The fact that Skyrim is the second highest quality game sort of undermines that metric.
I'm interested in the breakdown between categories. Very few people found a simulation game worthy of a top ten list this year, for example. On the other hand the Action, Adventure, and RPG genres stack up high on these lists. Is this indicative of a difference in quality between these genres, a difference in the shape of GAF's interests, or a feeling that certain genres of games belong on GOTY lists and others don't?*
I do have a little quibble with the categorization of a couple of games. Both Portal 2 and Ghost Trick marry strong storytelling with puzzle elements; one is listed as an adventure game, the other as a puzzle game. They ought to be in the same category which might make the Puzzle genre look a little less imbalanced between first and second place.
EDIT: What I mean by this is, voters may play the hell out of the newest iteration of their favorite sports franchise this year but not place it on the GOTY list because they perceive it lacks qualities a GOTY candidate should have: a story, technological innovation, new artwork, unique game mechanics, whatever. Thus games people like end up not being included for not conforming to the GOTY ideal in other ways.
I do have a little quibble with the categorization of a couple of games. Both Portal 2 and Ghost Trick marry strong storytelling with puzzle elements; one is listed as an adventure game, the other as a puzzle game. They ought to be in the same category which might make the Puzzle genre look a little less imbalanced between first and second place.
EDIT: What I mean by this is, voters may play the hell out of the newest iteration of their favorite sports franchise this year but not place it on the GOTY list because they perceive it lacks qualities a GOTY candidate should have: a story, technological innovation, new artwork, unique game mechanics, whatever. Thus games people like end up not being included for not conforming to the GOTY ideal in other ways.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Now that I compare my list with the actual GOTY list, well, most of my list consists of games that are either imports or are niche, so lol. My list won't be similar to the GOTY list at all.
The fight to get Tactics Ogre counted will be a fight to the death.
CecilRousso
Member
SpaceChem and Portal 2 should not be in the same category.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Love the list but its crazy that more people voted for Rayman Origins then the amount of people who actually bought the game
The_Darkest_Red
Member
I think that's more an issue with the name of the category than with what it represents. I think the metric has some merit to it.
More Fun To Compute
Member
Yeah, move Portal 2 to adventure and Gears to action. Makes more sense.
sixteen-bit
Member
Love the list but its crazy that more people voted for Rayman Origins then the amount of people who actually bought the game
I really doubt 50,001+ voted for RO.
Totally agree, it's interesting data that better represents fan enthusiasm that game quality.
Portal 2?
Personally, I disagree, but I'm not unhappy about it. Portal 2 was a fine game - easily in my top three. I would have chosen Zelda as my top pick, Portal 2 in second or maybe third behind Uncharted, but I respect the outcome of the vote.
Also, I agree with basically all of the Genre and platform awards.
Personally, I disagree, but I'm not unhappy about it. Portal 2 was a fine game - easily in my top three. I would have chosen Zelda as my top pick, Portal 2 in second or maybe third behind Uncharted, but I respect the outcome of the vote.
Also, I agree with basically all of the Genre and platform awards.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
It gets in your veins, man.Yes, that the dark souls fans are rabid as hell.
Great lists, and amazing effort and work by the organizers. What's terrific is that there are a number of games on this list that I have never heard of - some of which won their respective categories - so I feel like I have a lot of cool "hidden gem" games to look into and hopefully enjoy. Again, nice work!
Again, nice work!
I find it difficult to believe that Tactics Ogre wouldn't have made the Strategy top 5, given that the number 5 game only has 23 points. TO seemed to be on a number of ballots, mine included.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Yeah, there is a decent sized fan-base for the game here on GAF. It was number 4 on my list.
01. Portal 2 = 2055 points
02. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim = 1616 points
03. Deus Ex: Human Revolution = 1167 points
04. Dark Souls = 1163 points
05. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword = 1083 points
06. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception = 1046 points
07. Batman: Arkham City = 1017 points
08. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings = 635 points
09. Super Mario 3D Land = 580 points
10. Dead Space 2 = 496 points
11. Saints Row The Third = 485 points
12. Xenoblade Chronicles = 478 points
13. Gears of War 3 = 467 points
14. Bastion = 457 points
15. Battlefield 3 = 413 points
16. Rayman Origins = 330 points
17. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective = 322 points
18. InFamous 2 = 295 points
19. Catherine = 252 points
20. Mario Kart 7 = 236 points
Wow 4 points between Deus Ex and Dark Souls! Every vote counts. I had no idea Deus Ex was still so popular. It's a proud member of my backlog.
02. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim = 1616 points
03. Deus Ex: Human Revolution = 1167 points
04. Dark Souls = 1163 points
05. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword = 1083 points
06. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception = 1046 points
07. Batman: Arkham City = 1017 points
08. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings = 635 points
09. Super Mario 3D Land = 580 points
10. Dead Space 2 = 496 points
11. Saints Row The Third = 485 points
12. Xenoblade Chronicles = 478 points
13. Gears of War 3 = 467 points
14. Bastion = 457 points
15. Battlefield 3 = 413 points
16. Rayman Origins = 330 points
17. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective = 322 points
18. InFamous 2 = 295 points
19. Catherine = 252 points
20. Mario Kart 7 = 236 points
Wow 4 points between Deus Ex and Dark Souls! Every vote counts. I had no idea Deus Ex was still so popular. It's a proud member of my backlog
.EmCeeGramr
Member
GAF made a good list this year!?
then dracula's curse is truly broken
then dracula's curse is truly broken
HamPster PamPster
Member
The only game I'm surprised to see in the top 20 is InFamous 2. Not that I think its bad (haven't played it) but I didn't realize it was that well liked on here. I'll go ahead and say, even without playing I2, Infamous Festivel of Blood deserves that spot instead because its Infamous 2... but with flying!
Kind of a predictable Top 20 in my opinion. I was hoping I'd see something and think, wow I totally missed that one, but it looks like I'll need to dig into the genre lists and such to find that
Kind of a predictable Top 20 in my opinion. I was hoping I'd see something and think, wow I totally missed that one, but it looks like I'll need to dig into the genre lists and such to find that
Is it possible that Tactics Ogre was counted in the RPG category instead of the Strategy category?
That's my thought.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
I'm guessing it was excluded because of its remake status. Anyone who has played the game will argue that enough has been changed for it to be included but it's easy to see how that could be missed by someone who hasn't played it.
Hmm... that's a good point.
The "genre" categories all seem arbitrary to me honestly. How is Catherine is an adventure game as opposed to a puzzle game? Why is there a category for "FPS" in particular, but when it comes to "shooters" games like Gears are grouped with games like DoDonPachi? Why are "sports" games just a random mix of sports playing games, management games, and even a RPG? How is Child of Eden a "rhythm game" as opposed to a shooter? Etc. Who made all these decisions?
Why shouldn't remakes be counted? Why is OoT in the handheld list then? Any game which is released in 2011 should be eligible as long as someone is willing to vote for it. Any other sort of rule seems dumb and not transparent.