Now that our official awards are up, I'd like to know what you all personally chose as your game of the year.

2011 brought both a remake of my favorite game ever, Ocarina of Time, and a whole new Zelda game. Naturally, I assumed that my 2011 GotY would be something with "The Legend of Zelda" in the title.

Then I played Portal 2.


During the development of this game, I think someone at Valve said, "Hey, let's make a game for Secret_Tunnel." I loved the original Portal- its puzzles made me feel really smart (unlike puzzles in games like Ico, which make me feel really dumb). Shooting portals to get around might be one of the most fun things I've ever done in a game. Not to mention, it had great writing. Portal was genuinely funny. I love is when something appears to be one thing, but by the end it's something else entirely. Portal NAILED this.

Portal 2, by some miracle, improved on the original in every way possible. All the clever humor that used to be confined to GLaDOS was now expressed through several characters. Some people might poo-poo on the scripted sequences, but to me, they were some of the best parts. They don't feel scripted, partly because the characters are so lifelike. Portal 2 is the closest I've ever felt to playing a movie; the key word in that sentence is playing. Even when you're not doing anything, you still feel involved. The final ten minutes of the game are a roller-coaster ride of absurdity and emotions. Not only is Portal 2 my game of the year, it's also my second-favorite game of all time.

What is your 2011 Game of the Year?

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Yea, for me it's gotta be Portal 2 as well. I haven't finished Zelda or Super Mario 3D Land's postgame content, but then again I haven't played much of Portal 2's co-op yet either.

For me, there are two games that I sunk a LOT of time into last year, and I believe they are both fantastic games with lots to do. They are:

Pokémon Black/White

This is seriously one of the biggest and most content-rich games I've ever played. There's a fairly large world to explore, nearly 500 creatures to find, capture and train. Lots of sidequests and extra events, and there are even interesting characters to meet along the adventure. Not only that, but the game also messes a bit with the formula and pacing, so while this entry still feel familiar enough for fans, it gives reason to play for those that perhaps got tired of the series a generation or two ago. Throw in a bunch of post-game content, online events and free DLC, and yeah. This game definitely get the nod from me for GOTY 2011. It's fantastic.

Runner Up: Mario Kart 7. I've already sunk a lot of time into this game, but I know I'm going to be playing this throughout the generation. Maybe longer. This is (so far) the best entry in the series. I love the course designs, the new items, customizing your kart... and the online features outclass any previous entry's efforts by far. Great game, marred only by a curious lack of a 'Mission Mode' (which was in Mario Kart DS) and Maka Wuhu cheaters. Even still, great game is great.

@nacthenud

SUPER Street Fighter IV originally came out in 2010. However, SUPER Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and SUPER Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition both came out in 2011. So... it *kinda* counts?

Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Hmmm, across all platforms, eh?

Probably LittleBigPlanet 2. I have sunk a lot of time into the story and community levels. There are a lot of gems in terms of user-created levels in there. Heck, there's a Muppets DLC pack coming out Thursday that I'm going to buy.

I haven't even played any 2011 game this year other than OOT 3D which is a 1998 game and LOZ: SS which is a 2006 game. Of the games I did play in 2011, looks like I liked Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP) best, followed by equal 9.5 ratings of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and Metroid Prime Trilogy.

Skyward Sword is a 2006 game?! Motion Plus didn't even exist back then.

@gencid
Skyward Sword is a 2006 game...? Explain yourself!

JINX.

@Zero
@anon_mastermind

Skyward Sword had no reason to be out in 2011. It basically plays and feels the way that a 2006 Zelda game on Wii should have played and felt. In other words, it is 5 years too late, 1:1 motion plus or not. Now that I finished SS, I posted my full opinion on SS and WM+ in its official thread here.

@gencid

I can't find the thread where we already discussed this, but your argument is nonsensical. Skyward Sword could not have existed without learning from the development of Wii Sports Resort, which could not have existed without learning form the development of Wii Sports. It's called progress, you can't just skip it.

@Jargon

Than it is a VERY SLOW progress. The whole WM+ potential was wasted because WM+ and this game didn't come out at or near Wii's launch. I also don't think WM+ helps the franchise in the long run. I found the controls to be lacking in both speed and accuracy. You could replace WM+ with plain ol' waggling and the game wouldn't have been any more or less fun for me. I posted my full SS impressions on the Skyward Sword's official thread. The link I added on my previous post seems to work for me.

@gencid

Yea I'm not going in that thread because I haven't finished the game.

If you don't like how the game turned out, that's fine, but saying it's a 2006 game is lame.

@gencid

I'll (somewhat) agree with you on speed, but accuracy was spot-on in my experience. If it was off, just hit down on the control pad to re-center. Swordplay worked remarkably well for me too.

Still haven't finished the game in its entirety yet, but I haven't had one issue with the controls that wasn't my fault (hitting the wrong button when trying to use an item mostly).

@Jargon

I said that the game is a 2006 game for the following reasons:

1. Shock value. Sorry about that.
2. WM+ wasn't particularly better than a combination of plain old, WM, IR, and button presses for me.
3. Some of the design decisions made me pull my hair out (namely, slow moving unskippable test, treasure collection notification text and cut scene, spoiled puzzles by Fi, forced hand holding sequences, etc.)

I realize that my opinion may not be a popular one and that is OK. I truly loved the game for what it was, but I cannot put it either above or below TP at this point. All I can say at the moment is that I liked the game more than Wind Waker but less than the N64 classics.

@ludist210

You are probably right, but the super slow WM+ response probably meant that by the time WM+ was processing my first motion, I was on my third. Bokoblins and some of the boss battles at times felt like pure waggling.

@gencid

Yea, I figured it was for shock value.

Those design decisions annoy me too, but those problems have been around in Zelda games for a lot longer than 2006. At this point, I think the game needs to go to a new developer or at least have some consultants who can tell them how stupid those choices are.

Across all platforms?

My GotY for 2011 is "20 dollars worth of tokens at Pinballz". That's my primary gaming experience from last year.

Monster Hunter Tri


yes, I know it came out in 2010 -- Thats how awesome it is.

I dunno Gencid, using your logic I can define pretty much every game in 2011 as antiquated. Not much pushes any envelopes worth speaking of.

Every 3D Zelda has been a 1998 game.

...

except Majora's Mask.

I've played a lot of games, beat even less of them, but overall I think Batman Arkham City wins it out for me. That's the one game where I just started it and finished it and never felt like it was going down hill. Really, really enjoyed it.

Second would be The Old Republic. I love the shit out of this game, though it's a MMO and I haven't beaten it (durr).

Skyward Sword would be next. I really enjoyed it, despite being pretty flawed. I'm on the last boss, but even if they made the game linear as shit I still had a lot of fun with it.