Game Review 2011

[Cube]

We've done it for music and films, and we're a gaming forum.

 

Here's what I've played that was released this year.

 

1. Dead Space 2. Less survival horror, more action. Made the same mistakes that Resident Evil 5 did. Nowhere near as atmospheric as the first, and not as fun as Extraction. Pass.

 

2. Test Drive Unlimited 2. The controls were much less arcadey than I expected, so it really wasn't my kind of racing game. I wanted something more fast-paced like Burnout Paradise or Hot Pursuit. Not Sure.

 

3. Stacking. A glorious little game. Unique concept, great art style and quite funny. Buy.

 

4. Back to the Future: The Game. Good plot and great voice acting. The game itself was very wonky and far from finished. Telltale's worst work to date. Try...with caution.

 

5. Killzone 3. Haven't done much of it, but what I did I enjoyed. I rented it and sent it back so I could by the game - then got distracted by other games.

 

6. Homefront. Generic shooter with unlikable characters, poor plot and awful shooting. Avoid.

 

7. Crysis 2. Very enjoyable for a while, but the gameplay gets very tiresome before the end of the game. Give it a blast.

 

8. Nintendogs + Cats. The cats weren't really fleshed out at all, which was disappointing. Enjoyable for a while, but ended up neglected soon. Still for dog lovers.

 

9. Pilotwings Resort. It was good fun, but felt like a tech demo. A decent amount of missions but seriously let down by only having one level, which has been used in other games. Fun, but needs more content.

 

10. Super Monkey Ball 3D. The gameplay was actually spot-on. What let this down was the level design, which was way too easy. The final world is quite decent - if that was the second world and it continued from there it would be a good game. Serious level issues.

 

11. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D. Due to the darkness of the game, it is only playable in certain lighting conditions. Even so, this is either a poor port or Chaos Theory has aged badly. Avoid.

 

12. Portal 2. Wonderful puzzles, brilliant gameplay, the script and voice acting are both pure genius. I expected it to be good, just not this good. Must Have.

 

13. SOCOM 4. A rather average game with some terrible, terrible voice acting (the original American voice acting was decent, but the re-recorded it all for over here). The music is some of the best in any video game. Just get the soundtrack.

 

14. Brink. Hahahahahahahahahaha. Dreadful multiplayer. It was horribly laggy and the brilliant solution in the first patch to solve it was to...half the number of players in any game. The single-player was just the multiplayer maps played from both sides with bots. One thing I didn't realise was that it automatically starts the next level after so long. I had a phone call at the end of one level, came back and my bots had completed the next level. Must avoid.

 

15. L.A. Noire. So much promise, such a poor result. Dead city, the faces were downright creepy and out of place with the rest of the game, the gameplay was boring and the plot had no emotion or interest. The game pretty much goes "you know the character you're playing? Well, he's a complete tool."Avoid.

 

16. Child of Eden. I got this for £5. It's an extremely unique shooter with some brilliant levels and graphics, although there aren't too many levels. For a cheap game, though, it's brilliant. If you see it cheap, buy.

 

17. Duke Nukem Forever. Still has some aspects from when it was started from 10 years ago. Seriously outdated. Must Avoid.

 

18. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. While, for me, it's far from the best Zelda, it's still a brilliant game. The updated graphics are all it needed to still feel modern. Must buy.

 

19. Limbo. Great art style. For me, that was about it. The first few levels were great, but I lost interest before the game was over. Worth a try.

 

20. Star Fox 64 3D. Was brilliant on the N64, still is. The updated graphics were much better than I had hoped for and the music is brilliant. Voice acting sounds wrong, but still fantastic. Must buy.

 

21. Gears of War 3. Co-op with four people is very enjoyable. The multiplayer was enjoyable to start, but is too rage-inducing due to the seeming randomness of it. I couldn't even play the multiplayer after trying the one in Uncharted 3. Good Campaign.

 

22. The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection. Shadow of the Colossus is a great game, even though it feels a bit empty at times. Still, very atmospheric and a unique experience. I didn't like Ico. Get if if you haven't played SotC.

 

23. Sonic Generations. I got the collectors edition, which should show how excited I was for it. I wasn't disappointed. Wonderful music, great levels, and the gameplay was spot-on for both classic and modern Sonic. A tad short on content, though. A must have for any Sonic fan.

 

24. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. A very interesting plot, gameplay was spot on (I had no problem aiming at all) and must be a perfection of the formula - melee combat felt very satisfying. Lots of brilliant set pieces and the graphics and animation are outstanding. Game of the Year.

 

25. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I wasn't sure after hating Oblivion, but liking Fallout 3 (New Vegas not so much). I was given a wonderfully rich world with lots of interesting characters and locations, a few interesting main quests - neither side seems evil - and way too many side quests (in a good way). Must buy.

 

26. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. My favourite Zelda so far. The controls worked really well, the story was interesting and the locations were great. The bird flying felt great but seemed a bit pointless. I absolutely loved the desert area and the timestones. Must buy.

 

27. Mario Kart 7. Best Mario Kart so far. The gliding and underwater sections should be in all games from now on. The majority of new levels are brilliant too. Online is very good, too. Must buy.

 

28. Pullblox. A great little platformer. Plenty of levels and great tool for user created levels - the QR scanning for it works well. Must buy.

 

29. Mighty Switch Force. The 3D works really well in this. Toggling platforms is great and I love the puzzle aspects of it. The only problem is that it's a bit short. Must buy.

 

30. Star Wars: The Old Republic. It's like KoToR in gameplay and has eight different storylines to play through. There's some grinding needed to progress, unfortunately, and the superscription fee is a bit of a bother for players like me, unless they add plenty of new content. Good for fans of KoToR.

[ReZourceman]

Excellent post. I need to actually think about what I've bought this year before approaching with my own run down.

 

Actually I did a video recently. Maybe I'll just post that.

 

[Retro_Link]

The camera angle, couldn't help but think of... :p

 

 

 

I think there are more 2012 3DS games than you give it credit for... Resident Evil Revelations, Kid Icarus, MGS3 3D, Bit Trip Saga, Nano Assault, Rhythm Theif, NightSky, Colours 3D...

And then as the year goes on: Luigi's Mansion 2, Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, Mario Tennis 3D, Bravely Default, Monster Hunter 4.

 

 

I've played SO FEW 2011 games this year it's unreal, I spent the beginning of the year catching up with 2010, Goldeneye 007, Sonic Colours, SMG2, DCKR etc...

 

Pilotwings Resort - Fantastic game, lovely visuals, and has a lot more gameplay and length to it than people seem to give it credit for. Offers a real challenge if you want to complete it 100% and feels very rewarding when you do! Like many Nintendo games, it could have done with some even more unlockables, or DLC (lol). Especially for under £15 or whatever you can get it for now, it's a definate Must Buy!

 

Ocarina of Time 3D - Just beautiful in every way, the perfect remake and a great showcase for the 3DS! It was a joy to play the game again and in a different way! Must Buy!

 

 

2012 is the year I get my PS3 ON!

Edited January 2, 2012 by Retro_Link

[Jimbob]

@Retro_Link. The empire pledges to exterminate them all!!

 

Nice idea. In no particular order

 

L.A Noire

 

This game had the promise to be awesome, it started off well but it soon became stale and repetitive. To the point that the driving was that boring, i let my partner do it all. - Worth a shot

 

Gears of War 3

 

3rd in the series. Multiplayer is fantastic, story is a great end to the franchise. - Recommended

 

Batman: Arkham City

 

Loved it, great story and awesome line-up of characters. Pity some should have been used a little more, but still a great game. - Must Buy

 

Assassins Creed: Revelations

 

3rd and hopefully the final in the Ezio series. An improvement over Brotherhood. Multiplayer is better, pity the maps are smaller than before. - Recommended

 

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 

Do i really need to go into detail, awesome title - Must Buy

 

Forza Motorsport 4

 

4th in the series, this time with added "Top Gear". Which includes the TG Test track, various events including "Bowling". All TG events voiced over by the man himself, Clarkson. Overall this is a better game than the 3rd, more choice of tracks and cars. - Recommended

 

WWE 12

 

A brand new, built from the ground up title from THQ. New controls which work when it suits the game, graphics which look the same as previous, if a little worse. It seems whatever THQ say, take it with a pinch of salt. - Worth a rent

 

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

 

An excellent title, great story and one of the best Zelda titles i've played - Must Buy

[Magnus]

Finally a thread like this that I can actually post in.

 

1. Fable III - I'm really getting tired of the Fable series. It was kind of cute the first time, but now I just feel like I'm playing an RPG for five-year-olds. Lame

 

2. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - The first good spin-off in the series and my favorite or second favorite Kingdom Hearts game. Recommended for fans

 

3. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - Fantastic game from the creator of Phoenix Wright. Likable characters and a great plot with plenty of twists and turns. PLAY IT PLAY IT PLAY IT

 

4. Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - It has its moments, but it's disappointing overall and is nowhere near as good as the previous Oddworld games. Play Abe's Exoddus instead

 

5. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - Worth importing for its awesome story with a mind-blowing twist and people dying gruesomely. No but seriously, it's pretty awesome. Pretty awesome

 

6. Ever 17: The Out of Infinity - Written by the same person as the excellent 999. Has a great plot, but it starts out extreeemely slow and you have to play through the game four times (but from two different perspectives, at least) to see the true ending. Worth it in the end, though. For the patient

 

7. Mother 3 - Smaller in scope than Earthbound, but a lovely little game with a surprisingly strong and twisted plot. I never did get on with the musical battle system, though. Very good

 

8. Crusader of Centy - This was just boring. Boring

 

9. Dragon Age II - Some good moments buried under a mountain of reused locations. Not as good as the first game. A resounding meh

 

10. Jade Empire - The Asian setting looks great. I would have preferred it if there had been more actual role-playing, but the game is still pretty good overall, even if it wasn't BioWare at their strongest. Pretty good

 

11. Portal 2 - Just as good as the first game. Will hopefully get to check out the co-op with Peeps soon. As good as the first Portal

 

12. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters - Decent, but not as good as the main games. Still better than Deadlocked, though. For fans of the series only

 

13. Secret Agent Clank - The same as above. More focused on minigames, which makes it feel a bit scattered, but it's decent overall. Decent

 

14. L.A. Noire - I'm still not sure of how I feel about this game. The gameplay could have been better as could the story, but there were some pretty cool moments too, I guess. ???

 

15. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - Super difficult and unforgiving, but once you get into the groove, it's surprisingly addictive. For the hardcore

 

16. Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty - As hard as the most difficult levels in the original game, but just as fun except for That One Level. Takes place in more varied locations, too. For the even more hardcore

 

17. Commandos 2: Men of Courage - Introduces so many improvements/changes that it almost feels like a brand new series. I hated it at first, but eventually I got used to it and now I consider it the best game in the series. Awesome in every way

 

18. inFAMOUS 2 - Disappointing in the way that it's more Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood to Assassin's Creed 2 than Assassin's Creed 2 to Assassin's Creed, but still a good game. Slightly better than the first one

 

19. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - The gameplay isn't the best, with its no-death platforming and button-mashing combat, but it's decent enough to make it worth going through to experience a game with really well-written characters and gorgeous vistas. The DLC is also worth checking out. Weak gameplay, great characters

 

20. Commandos 3: Destination Berlin Removes most of the stealth in favor of uncontrollable action. Was cobbled together to meet a deadline and was very obviously not finished when it was released. Trash

 

21. Daxter Better than Jak 2 and 3, though gets a little bit repetitive. Above average

 

22. Silent Hill: Origins - Plays like every other Silent Hill game, but it had been long enough since I'd played a game in the series for me to want exactly that. Silent Hill by the numbers

 

23. Radiant Historia - My favorite RPG of 2011. Ten years from now, when you're all talking about how much better The Elder Scrolls VII is than Skyrim, I will tell you how you missed out on a little-known timeless classic. RPG of the Year

 

24. Catherine - A good story with awful gameplay. Worth playing for the story, but the gameplay really gets in the way. Needed less gameplay

 

25. Willow (Arcade) - I don't usually play arcade games, but this plays just like an old platformer. Has amazing graphics considering when it was released. Pretty difficult, but that's not really an issue. Surprisingly good

 

26. Opoona - An awesome world with decent gameplay and a pretty terrible story. Definitely worth experiencing for the detailed world it presents, but don't expect to be blown away by the gameplay or story. Worth playing if you can find it cheap

 

27. Nier - Has a fantastic story once it gets going and it's worth playing through the (short) New Game+ just to get the full experience. The gameplay kind of lets it down, as does the obviously low budget, but it's still a game I'd recommend. Fantastic story

 

28. Xenoblade Chronicles - Sort of came out of nowhere, and then I ended up playing it for just over 150 hours. Really addictive and easily the best RPG on the Wii (not that there's much competition). You've all played this already

 

29. Deadly Premonition - Probably the weirdest game I played in 2011. Has a very intriguing Twin Peaks vibe and a town filled with quirky characters. Similarly to Twin Peaks, the plot kind of falls apart towards the end. The gameplay is terrible, but fortunately you spend more time interacting with the townspeople than shooting monsters. For fans of games that offer something unique

 

30. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 50-hour RPG on the PSP that plays very traditionally. Has a very well-written plot with good characters and is definitely worth playing. Needs more sales for the publisher to be able to afford translating the sequel, so feel free to buy more than one copy. Great traditional RPG

 

31. Batman: Arkham City - Feels a lot less focused than the first game and the plot is surprisingly badly written. Still manages to be a good game thanks to the gameplay. Play it with lowered expectations

 

32. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Much better than I was initially expecting. Plays much closer to the first game than the sequel. Let down slightly by the horrid boss fights, but those are easy to look past when the rest of the game is so great. Classic Deus Ex

 

33. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Disappointing plot with the characters we all know and love by now, and some absolutely amazing set pieces. Recommended

 

34. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - No comment necessary. Zelda

 

35. Corpse Party Fairly well-written downloadable PSP game about teenagers getting horribly slaughtered by ghosts. Can get annoying sometimes (why can't I skip text/why do I have to do things in just the right order/why won't they shut up?), but the plot makes up for most of it. Fun if you like gore

 

36. Super Mario 3D Land - The best handheld Super Mario game by a large margin. I'm still annoyed that they make you play through the entire game twice, though. But I forgive them

 

37. Stacking - The world is interesting - as is the idea behind the gameplay - but it's too basic and simple to be much fun. You can go back and try different solutions, but I just didn't see the point. Okay, but not much more than that

 

38. Where is my Heart? - A charming puzzle-platformer where you control three monsters as they try to collect floating hearts and exit the level. Kind of confusing and difficult and I got through the game more by luck than actually thinking about the puzzles. Charming, but the gameplay is merely okay

 

39. Bucky O'Hare - Starts out promising, but the character-switching mechanic is rarely needed and the game is JUST TOO HARD. You'd be hard-pressed to get through the game without abusing save states, and that's despite the game always letting you start over at the last checkpoint no matter how many times you die. Move past it and heal

 

40. To the Moon - Okay, so graphically it's pretty ugly, but if you can look past that you'll find a well-written and surprisingly touching story about the life of a man and the woman he loved. For the people who cry when they watch romantic comedies

 

Looks like it's been a pretty good year overall.

[Oxigen_Waste]

Jesus... get over yourselves. oO (this coming from me, of all people, lol)

[Grazza]

Forgive me if I don't fully understand the format of this thread, but this is what I played:

 

Shantae: Risky's Revenge - When I heard about this early in 2011, little did I realise it would be the best game I'd play all year. Gorgeous graphics, music, gameplay and controls... it's one of those rare examples of a game where everything comes together perfectly. Outstanding

 

Pilotwings Resort - Fired up this as my first 3DS game, got a trip round Wuhu Island with some funky music. The challenges are difficult, whereas the Free Flight mode is relaxing, as you glide round the volcano and smaller islands. Still the best technical showcase for the 3DS

 

Ridge Racer 3D - It might be better than I think, but with the limited time I put in, I personally wasn't keen on the controls, courses or gameplay. For keen racing fans

 

Super Street Fighter IV 3D - Great artwork and visual style, but SF's already-complex moveset is made even more complicated. For the hardcore

 

Dead or Alive Dimensions - Fantastic graphics and a manageable "rock, paper, scissors" battle system. The best fighter on 3DS

 

Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - Better than the original in many ways. Crisper, smoother, with good shading and a Link that finally looks like he was meant to. The visual choices are all perfectly-judged. 2011's best Zelda

 

Xenoblade Chronicles - There's much to admire about this, but I'm afraid I just couldn't get into it. Has merit if you can be bothered with it

 

Super Mario 3D Land - Great fun while it lasts, with no serious drawbacks. Some of the best power-ups for ages. It's a blast

 

Tales of the Abyss - Appealing in some ways, but the visuals of this PS2 port suffer from the 3DS' low-resolution screen. Still not sure about this one

 

Zelda: Skyward Sword - Gets the series back on track in a few ways, but is overall the worst 3D Zelda. Has its moments

 

Mighty Switch Force - As high quality as Shantae, albeit with gameplay less suited to me. If 3DS Ware continues like this, we're in for a treat. Good stuff

[jayseven]

It's quite sad to see the lack of green-rated games that people are playing. Doesn't it bother you that the majority of your games played are games you'd not recommend to a friend?

[Magnus]

It's quite sad to see the lack of green-rated games that people are playing. Doesn't it bother you that the majority of your games played are games you'd not recommend to a friend?

Whoever's played the most games when they die wins.

[Grazza]

I didn't know what the rules were, @jayseven. I enjoyed a lot of the orange games but didn't think they deserved to be in the green tier. But no, it doesn't bother me that I thought a lot were orange. I'm happy with a handful of good games per year.

[jayseven]

No, that's fair enough. I had a look at my 360 account online and there's maybe 20 games (I'll recheck if it becomes important) that I've played in 2011. Of these, there were 5ish essential! games, and maybe 5-10 "obv. very good games", but there were still games I didn't play much at all - either due to not owning them (Portal 2) or... just not clicking with it (Wet...) -- the games may be shite, but still I think the balance is that the games are good.

 

I buy all my games 2nd hand, so I can usually wait and act upon the reactions of others before I pounce -- or I buy a game that most would give an orange light to but only when the game is exceptionally cheap -- sub £10, usually. But for people who spend RRP on games when they come out, I just wonder if they feel it's worth it?

[Cube]

It's quite sad to see the lack of green-rated games that people are playing. Doesn't it bother you that the majority of your games played are games you'd not recommend to a friend?

 

That's why I rent most of them. The orange ones (for me) are ones I've enjoyed but aren't worth a buy.

[jayseven]

I've not gotten into renting games - I think that I'd be a lot more up to date if I did. My habit of purchasing games 2nd hand hasn't saved me from distastrous games at all, I just think that it's well worth avoiding the new games immediately and awaiting the general reception rather than forking out a lump sum that is essentially based on promotion and/or nostalgia.

 

Again, to reiterate, I've certainly wasted money on aged and rubbish games, but I find salvation in the fact that I'm onply paying £10ish for a game rather than £35+.

[gaggle64]

Haven't played a huge amount released this year, but here's what I have covered by hook or by crook -

 

LA Noire - A total delight that deservedly captured the publics attention, great design and a mesmerizing use of the facial technology that really made you feel part of the story. Superb use of setting and performances throughout. A bold step forward

 

Portal 2 - Another Valve stunner, breathtakingly gorgeous all over with fiendish puzzles and a story as humorous as it is utterly, bleakly nihilistic. Incredible sound design. A breathtaking sequel to the world-beating original

 

Dirt 3 - Codemasters stay at the top of their game with a beautifully rendered and incredibly enjoyable rally game - easy to pick up, tough to master and rarely less then thrilling. Recommended for everyone

 

Ace Combat: Assualt Horizon - delivered everything it promised and more with a maniacally bombastic campaign mode that finally divorced the franchise totally from the stodgy mechanics of previous iterations. The campaign was perhaps short and needed more variety but made it with it's great dogfighting mechanics and non-stop action. What surprised was a superb, fresh multiplayer mode that deserves more recognition. Top Gun fans rejoice

 

Battlefield 3 - The campaign was an admirable attempt for something more nuanced but ultimately disappointed with little to stand-out. The multiplayer is as involving and entertaining as ever, providing more crazy & epic moments per game then other online game I've ever played. For multiplayer aficionados only - but they're in for a real treat.

 

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Astonishingly beautiful, incredible soundtrack, impeccably designed dungeons and motion controls that actually work and make a difference to the game play. Among the best in the series, bringing with it that hypnotic "just five more minutes" effect that marks out the truly great games. Nintendo at their very best

 

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - An unprecedented technical accomplishment that holds magnificently even on dated console hardware. It's looks fantastic. It sounds fantastic. It's quests are without exception engaging, interesting and superbly produced. You could spend a full year in it's vast, varied, open world and not find everything. This game is an accomplishment that may not be equaled for years to come. Biblical

Edited January 3, 2012 by gaggle64

[Jonnas]

If I rented games (I don't think that's even an option, in Portugal), I'd probably take more chances with certain games, waste more time of my life playing/rushing through different games, but then not actually keeping anything because I don't want to waste more money buying it.

So, I'll keep buying games whenever cheap and selling those I don't want to keep (still need to sell Disgaea)

 

Anyway, this is "games you played this year" thread, right? Not necessarily only games that were released in 2011.

It was an odd year for me as a friend lent me his PS2 in September an has yet to reclaim it, so I took a break from Wii games to play that (mostly having fun with Tekken 5 and Dragonball, but still). The other side of the year was spent replaying games, revisiting classics and whatnot (Pokémon TCG, Pokémon Pinball and Rise of Nations dominated my schedule this year), but I was still able to play 10+ new games so... go me!

 

1. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - Great writing and even better music, though it is much easier than it should be. Also, despite being a side-story for the main series, it was clearly made with AA fans in mind, first and foremost. Great if you're an AA fan, not bad if you're a newbie.

 

2. Another Code: Two Memories - A gem from the DS's early life, this game's puzzles are actually very clever, and the story is fairly engaging and well told. However, there are a few noticeable flaws in the point&click gameplay, and the game is very short. Neat, as long as you realise what you're getting.

 

3. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - AAI and the mafia game prompted me to finally buy this one. Some great ideas in there (Perceive and that device from the 3rd case) enhance the investigation side of things, but the plot prevents this from standing as its own game. Worthwhile, if you're an AA fan, but newbies should receive some pointers before playing.

4. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - Gameplay-wise, it's brilliant. Every gameplay element from PoR was refined to near-perfection, the difficulty is demanding and your available army changes every other chapter. Music is fantastic, and the plot is a thing of beauty (also filling the blanks left by PoR). The main flaw here is the lack of support conversations, I can see why they got rid of them, but it's still a bit of a bummer. Still, an excellent entry in the FE series (newbies, play PoR first).

 

5. Gargoyle's Quest - Funny story behind this one, I disliked this game as a kid because I couldn't read english properly, and the sound effects annoyed me. This year, I decided to finally give it another chance.

I understand this Platformer/RPG hybrid was innovative for its time, and did plenty of things right, namely good level design and fun gameplay. I feel like it had potential for more, but that's why sequels were released. Good music, though. Nifty game, but its age shows.

 

6. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - Hey, a game actually released this year A game that defies genre, its good writing, characterisation, music and charm is on par with the Ace Attorney series. Also, lovely fluid animations. The unique gameplay is fun to mess with when you have the chance, though I feel more freedom in this aspect would've been nice. The plot is its main strength, though, it is very engaging and the excellent plot twists can be genuinely surprising. Do what Magnus says and play it.

 

7. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn - Oddly addicting, though it managed to do some things worse than its predecessors, namely it is disappointingly easy in battle (except when difficulty spikes suddenly occur), the music is "meh" and there are points of no return (I mean, come on, Golden Sun is an adventure game at heart!). Despite this, what it does well really hits all the right spots. Battles are even more varied and better than before, the encyclopedia mechanic is genuinely useful, exploration is still rewarded, the writing is still amusing and light-hearted while managing to gel gameplay and story seamlessly (though it is also as wordy and redundant as always), summons are even more impressive and Sveta is awesome on multiple levels. Generally good game that seriously needs a sequel.

 

8. Little King's Story - Actual surprise (and actual game) of the year. It's a shame that Cing went bankrupt, you can see the love that was put into this game. The gameplay is basically a souped-up Pikmin (though a few improvements could be made with the way you control your units) with a big world to explore, multiple side-quests to complete, and an excellent variety of bosses (in both creativity and difficulty). The silly and simplistic plot and presentation really make this game what it is, though, from your quirky ministers to the even quirkier foreign Kings. Greatly recommended to open-minded gamers with some time on their hands.

 

9. Portal 2 - While the first game was an unique, self-contained experience, this is more of a traditional game. Brilliantly written plot, and as atmospheric as the first one, and it contains fantastic new "toys" to use in puzzles. If there's any flaw, is that the puzzles were more challenging in the original, though user-generated content should take care of that. And then there's the Co-op mode, that sounds very promising. Equal to, or better than, the original.

 

10. Shadow of the Colossus - Finally had a chance to play this properly, start to finish. Excellent, though I wish I could defeat the Colossi in any order, though. Simply sublime in its simplicity.

 

11. Viewtiful Joe - Ok, fine, I'm not technically done with this game yet, but I'm close! It's incredibly fun, yet deep. It is exactly what side-scrolling beat'em ups should strive to be. However, some puzzles are so unintuitive, they interrupt the flow of the game somewhat, though this shouldn't be an issue in later playthroughs. Overall, it's a viewtifully amazing game.