2012 Game of the Year Nominations Thread

Dear Esther is ineligible under the rules:

1. Dark Souls -- because duh.
2. Guild Wars 2
3. Mass Effect 3 -- Bought it for the single-player, was pretty disappointed, but the multiplayer saved it and then some.

My fabulous list of equally fabulous games:

1 . Space farmer farer - It's in its alpha, but come on! best space pew pew pew action of FOREVER!
2. Xcom: That one lady who couldn't decide on her accent - Was she French? British? German? All I know was that shooting aliens was damn fun.
3. Aeons knife wielding simulator 2k: OMG KNIFES ARE OP Edition GW2 - Furtopia with more racial warfare and better graphics.
4. ME3 - Because my guns aren't quite calibrated enough

If you have Walking Dead but aren't voting for it because it's on your backlog pile, just fucking play it already. It's like a total of twelve hours long. You can get a pretty decent impression by finishing the first three hour chapter. It's a fantastic game. Do yourself the goddam favor.

Except I'm not knocking out Dark Souls or Xenoblade for this years' awards. I've asked for input, but at this point both are eligible. Dear Esther is also eligible since it was commercially released this year.

In the same respect, Kat voting for Star Farer (I think that's what Kat means by "Space Farer") is thrown out since it's still an alpha. Gnomoria isn't eligible this year either.

But not in Los Angeles county, California, so it should be in. Thanks again, Academy Awards eligibility criteria!

I can respect leaving out alphas, and I think that's a good balance for eligibility. GRIMOIRE 2012.

I have it, but I can't be bothered to finish it. It was fine across the first couple of chapters but the writing and characterization (let alone the setting, based on the even more limited comic) aren't strong enough for me to feel like I'm missing much. I don't regret playing it, and I definitely understand why people who like Walking Dead generally and/or choose your own adventure games specifically would like it, but it's definitely not in the running for GOTY for me.

1. Drox Operative - It'll be done soon, so it counts right? One of the most amazing games I've played in years.
2. Dragon's Dogma - Such an amazing game that, even only a few hours into, I'm having a total blast.
3. Torchlight II - Likely one of the best ARPGs I've ever played.

1. Crusader Kings II
2. Hotline Miami
3. The Walking Dead

Sez you.

FTFY

>_>

1 Hotline Miami
2 Dishonored
3 Dunno. CoE3? Grimrock? Borderlands 2?

1. XCOM
2. Mark of the Ninja
3. Fez

Something old made new. Something new reinventing an old genre. Something new made to look old.

What I've learned from this thread: I'll need to play Walking Dead & Mark of the Ninja apparently.

1. Dishonored
2. XCOM
3. Mass Effect 3

Dark Souls is better than all of those but I'm on PS3 so I can't really count it. Also already voted for it last year.

I have Xenoblade & Dragon's Dogma but haven't played them yet.

1. DayZ
Not because I love it or anything, but because of the effect it had as one of those game changing PC mods. We may not see an industry shift because of it but it may have changed the way we talk about our gaming experiences and our expectations for immersion.

2. Kerbal Space Program

I need to play more games.

1. Ascension: Storm of Souls
2. Mass Effect 3
3. Assassin's Creed 3

*ahem*

1. Ascension: Storm of Souls
2. Civilization V. Gods & Kings
3. Borderlands 2

I don't feel like I've played enough new games this year. But I'll nominate the games I did play and enjoy:

1. King's Bounty: Warrior of the North
2. Torchlight 2 (what Diablo 3 should have been)
3. Fallen London (I think this came out a previous year, but they update it, and it was the game I played the most this year)


Games I haven't played but will probably be great: Dishonored, X-Com, Borderlands2

All on pc

1. Dark souls
2. Xcom
3. Darksiders 2

I'm thinking if I end up playing any of FTL, borderlands 2 or far cry 3 the number 3 pick is looking shaky.

1. FTL
2.
Dikemebe Mutomo's 4.5 weeks to save the world


3. Eador: Genesis

Which ones?

Walking Dead and Mark of the Ninja or Xenoblade Chronicles and Dragon's Dogma?

Yes.

Mark of the Ninja is fantastic. I kind of petered out on Dragon's Dogma before finishing it. I need to get back to it at some point.

This was an incredible year for games.

1) The Walking Dead
2) Mass Effect 3
3) XCom

1. Mass Effect 3
2. The Walking Dead
3. Katawa Shoujo

This year it's all about the NPCs!

The Mass Effect 3 ending was dire, but that didn't stop the other 35 hours from being some of the best gaming I've experienced. It topped the second game for me because there it was purely about Shepard and whichever crew member he was with at that moment, in this instalment though it felt like a family.

I'm still sad that it's over.

The Walking Dead was an incredibly well-told story and great character piece. Plenty of complaints, but overwhelmed by the sheer awesome of what Telltale accomplished. One of the best endings in gaming, ignoring the rubbish post-credits nonsense.

Katawa Shoujo, for all its problems, was a well told tale of coping with change and teenage love complete with a great set of characters. I was sad when it ended and for me that makes it special.

1. XCOM
2. FTL
3. I'm holding this spot for the iPad-only Battle of the Bulge, which I expect will be holy shit good. If it's not, then Dishonored.

Nailing down just three is so difficult for me. :(

1. Mass Effect 3
2. XCOM
3. Borderlands 2

ME3 was a funny one for me. My first playthrough was utterly miserable because I knew this was The End and my badass femshep was going to be hanging up her N7 duds, one way or another. Fortunately these games are immensely replayable and subsequent playthroughs were much more enjoyable (yes, I spend way too much time playing Mass Effect).

1. The Walking Dead

2. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

3. Sonic the Hedgehog 4

I had a hard time thinking of games that were released this year, so I just chose stuff that I KNEW was from this year to populate the list.
Honorable Mentions: Pokemon B/W2 , FTL, XCOM

1. Dark Souls (even though I'm terrible and am stuck at S&O)
2. The Walking Dead
3. Sleeping Dogs

Honorable Mentions: Dishonored, XCOM, Legend of Grimrock, Hotline Miami, Borderlands 2, Crusader Kings 2, Wargame: European Escalation, FTL

Games I haven't played enough of yet, but could be contenders: Far Cry 3, ZombiU, Mark of the Ninja

1. Dishonored
2. Mass Effect 3
3. Sleeping Dogs

1.) Dragon's Dogma -- because B list games are always the best, plus the Beholder fight is one of the best boss battles of all time. Hydra ain't bad either. Add in several unexplained systems that result in your character being unintentionally gay and/or banging a 14 year old girl and you have GOTY.

2.) Dishonored -- Arkane rocks. Dunwall is the best setting of the year and is up there when it comes to gaming in general.

3.) Torchlight 2 -- I loved Borderlands 2, but Torchlight is a better ARPG.

I reserve the right to edit in case Far Cry 3 turns out to be amazing.

Honorable Mentions:

Borderlands 2 - Hard to pick between this and Torchlight 2.
Assassin's Creed 3: Boat Battles - Just the boat battles.

idk what else, probably forgetting a ton of PC/indie stuff.

Just started messing with Dragon's Dogma. It has potential but coming from Dark Souls the combat feels super sloppy.