Game of the Year 2012

I'm replaying through the games I got this year. There were so many awesome games released this year (even if a lot of them were sequels), but in the end, there can be only one Game of the Year.

With all that said, what do you think is this year's best game and why?

P.S. In case you are curious, these were my favorites of last year.

Best Overall Game: Deus Ex Human Revolution

Best Story and Writing: Deus Ex Human Revolution

Best Gameplay: Batman Arkham City

Best Visuals (Aesthetics and Graphics): Rayman Origins

Best Soundtrack: The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

Best Voice Acting: Batman Arkham City

edited 1st Dec '12 6:23:53 PM by sanfranman91

I got to say, not the most orthodox list of Game of the Year winners I've seen. Still, all of them are good games so I'm not complaining.

As for me, it's a hard choice. Ultimately though...

Best Overall Game: Borderlands 2

Best Story and Writing: A 3-way tie between Hitman: Absolution, Borderlands 2, and Asuras Wrath

Best Gameplay: Borderlands 2

Best Soundtrack: Darksiders II

Best Visuals: Halo 4

Best Voice Acting Asuras Wrath

edited 1st Dec '12 6:37:25 PM by jackedup85

Sadly, I bet a lot of the main awards will go to Mass Effect 3.

What a sad time we live in.

I actually didn't play many games that came out this year.

Best Overall Game: a tie between Asuras Wrath and Persona 4 Arena

Best Story and Writing: Asuras Wrath

Best Gameplay: Kid Icarus Uprising

Best Visuals (Asthetics and Graphics): Persona4: The Golden for Handhelds and Asuras Wrath for Consoles

Best Soundtrack: Asuras Wrath for consoles, Kid Icarus Uprising for Handhelds.

Best Acting: Asuras Wrath

Best Boss fights and Final Boss Fight: Asuras Wrath for Consoles, Kid Icarus Uprising for Handhelds.

edited 1st Dec '12 7:19:23 PM by Demongodofchaos2

Hold up, are rereleases fair game or not? I mostly played those.

Persona3: FES, which is an Updated Re Release, received a few Game of the Year rewards despite being one.....

edited 1st Dec '12 8:44:38 PM by Demongodofchaos2

...it did?

Yep. Game of the Year 2007.

Re-releases can count, provided they actually provide something new.

As for me, I've given it some thought and now, without further ado, here is my GOTY list.

Best Overall Game:

Journey: It's definitely one of the shorter games in length, but the beauty of interaction and the transforming landscapes really are like no other.

Best Story and Writing:

Spec Ops The Line: This year boasted many games that were well written and for that, I'll give honorable mentions to Asuras Wrath and Hitman: Absolution.

That said, the brutal deconstruction of the Modern Military Shooter (aka spunkgargleweewee) in Spec Ops is truly something else. The "White Phosphorus" moment was so intense and shocking, I actually find myself unable to play Call Of Duty or any other modern shooter after finishing Spec Ops (albeit after a week of taking a break from the game).

Best Gameplay:

Hitman: Absolution: I'm going to be killed by Dishonored fanboys for saying this. Everyone says it is a unique game that invites creativity. That statement can't be farther from the truth, as Dishonored not only blatantly rips off Bioshock and Thief, it also calls you out and punishes you if you do anything besides a Pacifist Stealth run. Absolution is also a stealth game, but unlike Dishonored, it actually rewards players for improvisation (such as triggering accidents or utilizing certain disguises). On top of that, the excellent cover and shooting mechanics come in handy when things go awry.

Best Visuals (Aesthetics and Graphics):

Journey: Sometimes colorful, artistic visuals can outdo even the most advanced, realistic graphics (I'm talking to you, Crytek). Rayman Origins proved this last year and Journey only reinforces this fact with its simple, yet jaw-droppingly gorgeous artwork.

Best Soundtrack:

A 3-way tie between Journey, Darksiders II, and Asuras Wrath: Nothing builds an atmosphere quite like a good OST and these games' soundtracks really drive home the beauty of these games.

Best Voice Acting:

Mass Effect 3: Haters are going to hate, especially with the original ending fiasco. That said, Jennifer Hale, Mark Meer, and every other member of the cast truly delivered a performance that really is above all comparison to other games. Hell, even Freddie Prinze Jr. turns in an excellent performance!

edited 2nd Dec '12 12:10:21 PM by sanfranman91

Hrmm...

Best Writing: Kid Icarus Uprising. The story isn't bad, but the writing is what really shines.

Best Gameplay: Tales Of Graces f...well, it came out this year in North America anyway. I'm mainly referring to the battle system here.

Best Visuals: ...I dunno. If I had to choose one, Kingdom Hearts 3 D, I guess.

Best Soundtrack: Would it be cheating to say Theatrhythm Final Fantasy?

edited 2nd Dec '12 12:08:06 PM by Beorc

That depends. Would you consider Guitar Hero or Rock Band qualifyible for the same position? If not, then yes it is cheating.

I wasn't particularly impressed by the games of this year.

Most of my time was spent playing the ones of last year. 2011 had many more memorable games than 2012 for me.

Best Fighter: Skull Girls, for trying something new and for valuing quality over quantity. Persona 4 was also good.

Best Role-playing Game: Deus Ex Human Revolution or Xenoblade Chronicles (wait, is that cheating? It was technically a 2010 game that only now got a release in the states), depending on what kind of rpg you prefer.

That's really all I can give. I just haven't played that many games of 2012. I'm interested in Spec Ops The Line.

edited 2nd Dec '12 1:46:06 PM by Scardoll

Favorites and Best of Whatever things are very hard for me. But I'll try.

Best Overall Game: Dishonored

Don't get me wrong, it has definite flaws, but it's still the closest thing to a Thief-like game without being a Thief game. I love it alone for that.

Best Story and Writing: Spec Ops: The Line

Do I really need to say something to that? It became (in)famous due to it's attempt to deconstruct modern military shooters and sparked many discussions whether it succeeded. I think it did. And... that's all I'll say about it.

Best Gameplay: Dishonored

To quote myself: "it's still the closest thing to a Thief-like game without being a Thief game". Blinking is a double-edged sword though. It's fun, but it's also kind of... unchallenging.

Best Visuals (Aesthetics and Graphics): Torchlight 2

I kinda really like it's style. I can't say what game had the best "realistic" graphics, since those don't catch my eye. I view "realistic" graphics more as purposeful than memorable.

Best Soundtrack: ...I really have no idea. No music was so memorable, that I remember it much.

Best Voice Acting: German version of Assassin's Creed 3.

Considering that German localizations are generally much inferior, it amazes me that AC consistently is very good in that regard. III is no exception and I like it's German VA quite much (although I kinda miss Ezio's voice).

I agree that 2011 had more memorable games.

edited 2nd Dec '12 2:27:32 PM by Nyarly

Okay, time for my list:

Best Overall Game:

I think I have to go with Xenoblade Chronicles. With some of the best RPG gameplay, Japanese or otherwise, a sprawling overworld, and really in-depth mechanics, this one has transcended the genre.

Runner Ups:

Borderlands 2, Kid Icarus Uprising, Spec Ops The Line, Call Of Duty Black Ops 2, Journey

Best Story and Writing:

I'm gonna have to go with Spec Ops The Line. Not since Metal Gear Solid 2 and Shadow Of The Colossus have I seen a game dare to challenge the very fundamentals of video games. This one dared, and it resulted in one of the most thought-provoking stories ever made in gaming.

Runner Ups:

Kid Icarus Uprising, Asuras Wrath, Borderlands 2

Best Music

For this category, I pick Kid Icarus Uprising. Probably the best soundtrack that Nintendo has made in years, it perfectly captures the tone and nature of the game, and incorporates so many different genres of music, it is unbelievable it works so well.

Runner Ups:

Asuras Wrath, Xenoblade Chronicles, Persona 4 Arena

edited 2nd Dec '12 4:30:55 PM by LDragon2

Game of the Year 2012 goes to Dark Souls.

Sure, it came out in 2011, but damn it that's a good game.

Dishonored and the Walking Dead are pretty cool. Aside from those two I haven't played much new stuff this year.

• Best Overall Game: Mass Effect 3 (with patch)
• Best Story and Writing: The Walking Dead
• Best Gameplay: Mark of the Ninja / Prototype 2
• Best Visuals: Fez
• Best Soundtrack: Fuck if I know
• Best Voice Acting: Mass Effect 3/ The Walking Dead

But man, this year was really not that good for games. These are desperate choices.

edited 2nd Dec '12 7:10:52 PM by Mullon

...Except they're not really the same at all? Guitar Hero/Rock Band are made up of a bunch of licensed songs that weren't from video games to begin with, and Theatrhythm is made up of music from a single series of video games.

They're both music-focused games that use a selection of songs from other sources, so it's not fair to compare them to other games. The category should be for the best original soundtrack.

Before I do, I need to think of how many games released this year I actually played...

Lessee... Mass Effect 3, Skullgirls, Dishonored, DMC HD Collection, Theatrhythm, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Spirit Camera, Resident Evil: Revelations, Silent Hill: Downpour, Lollipop Chainsaw, Tales of Graces, Tales of the Abyss 3D, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, and Ys: Origin...

So....

Game of the Year: Tales Of Graces

Best Story: Tales of the Abyss 3D (possibly cheating, due to it being a port of an already released game)

Best Horror Game: Silent Hill: Downpour

Best RPG: Mass Effect 3 (NOTE: Discounting Tales, since they already won something, and also discounting the ending, since up until I reached the Catalyst, my opinion of ME 3 was generally positive)

Best Indie Game: Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

Best Action Game: Dishonored

Most Addictive: Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy

Best Gameplay: Kingdom Hearts 3D

edited 2nd Dec '12 6:10:52 PM by LizardBite

• Best Overall Game: Far Cry 3
• Best Story and Writing: Silent Hill: Downpour
• Best Gameplay: Dishonored
• Best Visuals (Aesthetics and Graphics): The Darkness II
• Best Soundtrack: Max Payne 3
• Best Voice Acting: Hitman: Absolution

edited 5th Dec '12 11:28:03 PM by NULLcHiLD27

• Best Overall Game: Kid Icarus Uprising
• Best Story and Writing: Kid Icarus Uprising, Spec Ops The Line
• Best Gameplay: Kid Icarus Uprising
• Best Soundtrack: Kid Icarus Uprising
• Best Voice Acting: Kid Icarus Uprising
• Best Visuals: Kingdom Hearts 3D

Most Innovation: Inversion

Best Mechanics: Steel Battalion Heavy Armor

Best story: Just Dance 4

Runner up: Trope vs Women Kickstarter

Best visuals: MIB: Alien Crisis

Best game overall: Dirt Showdown

Best Overall Game: N/A
Best Story and Writing: Tales Of Graces F
Best Gameplay: Tales Of Graces F/Code Of Princess
Best Visuals: Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk 2
Best Soundtrack: They Bleed Pixels/Fairy Bloom Freesia
Best Voice Acting: Kid Icarus Uprising

*Flees from fanboy rage*

edited 3rd Dec '12 6:54:37 PM by burnpsy