PALGN users game of the year

[Bronze]

Hard list to make.

5. Child of Eden

Purely for the incredible euphoric feeling at the end of the Evolution archive. Never felt that before in any game. It took me completely by surprise.

4. Uncharted 3

Because it's genuinely exciting. When running away from the thugs as young Nate or through collapsing ancient ruins in the desert toward the end, my heart was pounding, I was literally on the edge of my seat, and on more than one occasion I found myself giggling like a schoolgirl at my narrow escapes.

3. Super Mario 3D Land

Been a long time since a game held my attention so strongly that I finished it in a single sitting. I'm not a big fan of Mario's recent outings, to be honest. I thought NSMB on both DS and Wii was deathly dull (even with friends). The Galaxy games felt more like minigame compilations for the most part (amazing games, but not in the spirit of SM64, which I adore). And then SM3DL comes along, and completely blows me away. It's just plain fun.

2. Dark Souls

It's a breath of fresh air for me. An uncompromisingly brutal game where progress is measured in footsteps since your last death. I decided to attack Dark Souls as a purely melee character, and it was quite honestly the hardest thing I've ever done in any game. The satisfaction that game gave me was proportional to the immense difficulty. And that's why it's one of the best games I've played this year. No other game has ever felt so damn rewarding.

1.5 Skyrim

Because dragons. =3

1. Xenoblade Chronicles

Freakin' amazing. This game is up there with my all-time favourites. The world, the story, the characters, and hell... even the voice acting was fantastic. The game's concept is the epitome of epic. The environments in that world are so large, and so fully realised that you'll lose yourself in hours of exploration. It's like they took the best parts of Monster Hunter and mashed it together with the most thoughtful, accessible, and fun RPG battle system ever devised. So damn good. Can't recommend it enough.

Biggest Disappointment - Zelda: Skyward Sword

I really wanted to like this. I mean, it's Zelda! It's getting great review scores! But... Assets, bosses, and areas recycled over and over and over to artificially lengthen the game, lethargic pacing, mindlessly easy dungeons, and some seriously goddamn frustrating motion controls ruined this for me. The goddess trials are easily the worst addition to the Zelda franchise since the main dungeon in Phantom Hourglass. I found the game to be entirely forgettable from start to finish, with no endearing elements at all. Disappointing is an understatement.
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[Gamesta]

[Benza]

Psst
pretty sure Jarrod is taking the piss.
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[Gamesta]

[Frozencry]

Jarrod's serious. I saw him last night, shirtless, touching his gun.

In modern warfare 3.
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[jprockbelly]

[Nietzsche]

This thread got derailed pretty quickly.

[Karai Pantsu]

Got trolled, will cry.

After having played some of SM3DL I am pretty happy keeping that as my number 2.

Revised list though, as I'm a jerque and forgot something important and sexy:

1. Skyrim <3 <3 <3

2. Super Mario 3D Land <3 <3

3. Portal 2 <3 (seriously how did I ferget this guys, GUYS SERIOUSLY)

4. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

5. Your face. Saints Row the Third actually, but it's pretty much the gaming equivalent of a 'yo momma/your FACE' comeback.
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[sobriquet835]

Ok, Here's my Top 5.

5 Okamiden.

Ok, so it was pretty much just a remix of Okami. Still, this game was my favourite DS game of the year, so it deserves a top 5 spot, ahead of Ghost Trick.

4 Catherine.

Wow. What can I say about this game? It's brilliant! Fantastic level design, and a great concept. Some of the puzzles contained within are absolutely nuts, and really just about break your mind. The satisfied feeling when you solve a puzzle here is immense. Also, the story ain't bad either. Can't wait for Persona 5!

3 Uncharted 3.

Naughty dog did just enough here to keep it feeling relatively fresh. It wasn't as good as Uncharted 2, but then, did anyone really expect it to be? Still had pretty much all the good elements from the second game, while the refinements to Melee and the ability to throw back grenades were welcome. Also, those set pieces

2 All indications point to Skyrim.

Okay, so I've only been playing this for about 3 days, but I've already pumped in about 10 hours. Absolutely sucked in. The biggest reason it won't be number 1 is because of the high number of bugs/glitches I've encountered. Still, the world Bethesda have created is absolutely stunning, possibly the best virtual world ever created.

1 Portal 2.

Just insane. This is among my top 5 games of all time now. The puzzles are excellent, the script is incredible, the whole concept is brilliant. I find it hard to find a fault with this game at all.

Other games that came close includes Saints Row 3, Beat Hazard Ultra, Limbo (which was released on PSN this year, so I couldn't personally access the game until this year) and Ghost Trick.

[chickenplucka]

Off the top of my head and in no particular order...

This year I've been lucky enough to play a whole stack of games, looking over my XBox Live and from memory I can conclude that I have purchased:

3DS
Zelda 3ds
Super Mario 3d Land

PS3
Infamous 2
Uncharted 3*

WWE 12*
Assassins Creed Revelations*
Modern Warfare 3*
Batman Arkham City*
Driver San Francisco*
FIFA 12
The Gunstringer
007: Bloodstone
WWE All Stars*
LA Noire*
EA Sports Active 2
Magic the Gathering 2012
Deadliest Warrior 2
Shadows of the Damned*
Child of Eden
Duke Nukem Forever
Rock Band 3
AFL Live
Tiger Woods: The Masters*
Full House Poker
Portal 2*
Costume Quest*
Stacking*
Comic Jumper
Dragon Age 2
NFS Hot Pursuit*
Beyond Good and Evil HD
Bulletstorm*
Halo Reach
(* implies I have played the game to 'completion')

Based on this list I look back with the fondest memories of the following 5 games:

Assassin's Creed Revelations
Driver San Francisco
WWE All Stars
LA Noire
Uncharted 3
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[dloiscute]

5. Child of Eden. Faptastic music/experience.

4. Dead Space 2. Everything I wanted and more from a Dead Space game. Hope they call it quits soon and end on a high note.

3. Yakuza 4. Dat ending.

2. Deus Ex-HR. I never asked for this, but it ended up exceeding expectations.

1. Tekken Hybrid. Top shelf stuff. Dorya!


Dark Souls and AC Revelations are yet to be played which could presumably be on this list, and Batman Arkham City is only halfway done.
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☑Tekken

[Stoneroth]

Updated list:

1. Dark Souls

2. Catherine

3. Yakuza 4

[Jarrod]

[FalconDude]

1. Skyrim
Huge fan of the Elder Scrolls games. Its also my favourite game genre by far. This game is blowing me away. I thought Oblivion was good because I played it for 50hrs. I'm nearly 50hrs in on Skyrim and I am just warming up.

2. Deus Ex HR
Very nice graphics and variety of gameplay styles. It was far from perfect but still had a great time playing it.

3. BF3
Didn't expect too much before release. Didnt like BFBC2 at all on 360. The frame rate was pretty poor. But this game suprised me. The frame rate is pretty good. Lots of variety due to the vehicles, planes and helicopters. Graphics are not the best on console but still pretty good. The sound is amazing. The gameplay is very much to my liking. I was a COD fan before this game but playing CQ and Rush is alot more fun compared to what I'm used to.

4 Dead Space 2
Awesome game. Beautiful graphics on console and quite scary at times. The options of gameplay style with all the different weapons was great also. Only downside was that it is pretty short.

Its a bit early to put a 5th game because there are a few games like MW3 that I haven't played yet.
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Trade Games Here

[Cyph]

Oh snap I forgot about Yakuza 4!!!!

[Pilot]

Xenoblade was the best thing I played this year. It was also the only over hyped/praised game that actually lived up to expectations. I still have Dark Souls and Skyward Sword to play though
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[Esposch]

Deus Ex: HR without a doubt. It was utterly engrossing: somethign that can't be said about most games.
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[StorminNorman]

[GooberMan]

As much as we all love a weeaboo circlejerk, the western translation of Yakuza 4 was released this year. Same deal with Xenoblade. Hence, they both count as this is an Australian site.
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[Island_Wolf]

I only have played these this year games (and Ico which I would've placed as 3rd)...

3. LA Noire
Last game release in 2011 that is third. Just because I haven't played other games of 2011 that this won't be worth of being mentioned. They tried bringing in the that lie detecting gameplay. Can't say I enjoyed driving on the road where the AI things its okay to crash into a stationary police car... try doing that in real life.

2. Uncharted 3
It was a good game, can't say it left the impression that Uncharted 1 and 2 did though. Thought it was a bit dragging in some part but it still have a good story. Some of the enemies (heavily armoured) I fill some shootout deliberately made it hard to past in one go to just extend the game completion time.

1. Portal 2
A nice sequel to a game and has good humour. Humour in games is always a plus. Found a bit dragging in the middle but I enjoyed camping at the turret test area just to listen to what the broken turret has to say.
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[Gamesta]

[Soap of Death]

Xenoblade's my GOTY. Great story, characters, soundtrack and battle system. They did a lot right with this game and should be very proud of what they accomplished despite the fact that they won't receive the monetary success I feel they deserve for it. Couldn't recommend this game enough if you have a Wii.

I still need to start playing Dark Souls and I'd also like to make more progress into Skyrim, AC: Revelations and Shadows of the Damned. At this point in time, my five would be:

1) Xenoblade

2) Deus Ex: Human Revolution

3) Saints Row: The Third

4) Batman: Arkham City

5) Yakuza 4
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[Luketheman5]

Games I have played this year

PS3
Mass Effect 2
Dead Space 2/Dead Space Extraction
Killzone 3
Crysis 2
Yakuza 4
Portal 2
LA Noire
Catherine
Batman: Arkham City
Uncharted 3
Battlefield 3
Skyrim
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Spider-man Edge of Time


DS
Pokemon White
Okamiden
Ghost Trick

PC
Dragon Age 2
Back to the Future
Fable 3
Sonic Generations
NCIS

Wii
Xenoblade
Skyward Sword
Kirby's Return to Dreamland


I really enjoyed pretty much all of these games, except for NCIS, but I have the fondest memories of (In no order)

Uncharted 3
Skyward Sword
Skyrim
Battlefield 3
Arkham City

Honourable Mentions to
Catherine
Ghost Trick
LA Noire
Sonic Generations
Yakuza 4
Portal 2
The end sequence of Revelations

hell.....maybe it would just be easier to put down games I disliked

(in which case, NCIS, Kirby and Pokemon White are the only ones I couldn't finish)
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Now playing: Binary Domain
Now Replaying: Mass Effect 2

[A13x]

1. Skyrim
This game gives me what I want. Exploration, a crap-tonne of quests to choose from, a plethora of different play styles and has a certain mysticism about it that keeps me wanting more. Bethesda have made the world feel much more involving by improving the character design and animation, and the persistence based levelling both rewards players for the way that they play, and shapes vastly different characters based on the choices made.
The only things hurting the experience for me are the graphics and the slow progression leaving me with a feeling that I will never finish the game to a point I am comfortable with, much like the previous TES and Fallout titles. Overall though, a fantastic game, and it reaches the heights of excellence set by Fallout New Vegas, albeit in different ways.

2. Battlefield 3
I have not played more than half an hour of single player. Every one of those thirty-two minutes were spent thinking of how much more fun I would be having in multiplayer. I would not be content until I reached the maximum (proper) rank, something I never managed to achieve in all the time I spent in Battlefield 2. After 70 hours I managed this feat, and wow, what an amazing game.
With all the carnage going on at any one time, it's easy to be left in awe, beautiful scenery, jaw dropping effects and huge open environments make this game a sight for sore eyes. The gameplay betters it, with a large variety of vehicles, weapons and objectives, and rewards for everything, monitored in realtime and saved to Battlelog, it is a hugely enjoyable game. Easily the best Multiplayer title yet.

3. Super Mario 3D Land
I'm a sucker for a good platformer, this one takes the cake. Without going silly, it retains the charm of classics in the series, dogs on a few worthwhile and appropriate power ups, a splash of bubbly character and humour, and serves it in bite size chunks, easy to digest and hard to master. The stereoscopic 3d feels natural and non-invasive, and I'm particularly fond of some of the puzzles that use it, the game on the whole just makes me happy to play.

4. Minecraft
A survival horror game like no other. Now survival mode was a fun introduction to the game, I still remember watching a video about how to play, thought it looked nifty, and I bought a copy, reenacting what I had seen, carving a little hole in a wall by a lake to stay safe through the first night, then beginning a ritual of exploring outside during the day, and digging a staircase downward at night, then after a little while discovering twisting caverns that spiralled on for what felt like forever below the surface. I used the rock to build a tower, which turned into a bridge to a mountain, which turned into a castle. Then the place ended up being the foundation for the server I hosted, which as a result of a bunch of creative PALGNers ended up being home to a towering city, a stretching highway that tunnelled deep underwater to a bubble city, an epic power station in a cave that powered the surrounding area's light system, pyramids, temples, giant trees, the list goes on and on. It was enjoyable watching as new blocks and content was introduced, and how it affected people's creations. We were left with 2 different worlds, packed with awesome structures and tunnels. Massively enjoyed the time spent in this, especially multiplayer.

5. Dead Island
Now you can't polish a turd, and Dead Island wasn't polished, but I couldn't call it a turd either, as it was sheer fun. Sure it's packed with fetch quests, but the Borderlands style treasures, an open world that unlocks more and more areas, a passable story and online cahoots made it a hell of a lot of fun. Any first person game that has a keyboard button for kicking is a win in my books.

Worth Mentioning:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution; Great design and fun, lacks replayability
Crysis 2; Pretty but marred by some of the design choices
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars; Loads of content, collecting and fan service, eventual boredom
Forza 4; The best racer I've ever played, excellent, but I don't like the genre enough for it to make my list
Batman Arkham City; currently playing, good but not enough time with it
Skyward Sword; Only played the first hour, looks very promising, but need more time to determine quality
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<3

[seyismyname]

I guess I'm the odd one out...

...as much as I have purchased soo many games this year, the best game in my opinion was Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3.

Boy that game sucked soo much time out of my life and I'm still nowhere near completing all the achievement yet. I'm quietly waiting for the One Piece version and am keeping my fingers cross that DWG4 is on the cards and will come out in the following year...I need my fix bad...
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"It's easy to lose but tough to keep winning" Terry Bogard KOF 2001