Top 7 Games of 2011 (Chad’s Picks)
If you listen to the podcast you’ll know that my taste in games can beĂ‚Â considered unusual at best (and if you don’t listen to the podcastĂ‚Â then fuck you. Can I say fuck you? I said fuck you). I put a highĂ‚Â priority on weirdness, cleverness, and I tend to value new or riskyĂ‚Â ideas more favorably than what could perhaps be considered more solidĂ‚Â execution. This list is, therefore, not my list of the best, or mostĂ‚Â technically sound, or most important games of the year. Instead it isĂ‚Â a collection of the ones I enjoyed the most, which thus will make themĂ‚Â by default the best overall, since my opinion is the only one thatĂ‚Â matters*. Also this list is in reverse order, because I like to remindĂ‚Â you that, in life, things can (and almost incontrovertibly will) getĂ‚Â worse. Also, Dark Souls should be on this list but I haven’t gottenĂ‚Â around to playing enough of it yet sooo…yeah.
*This may in fact be a blatant lie. Further investigation required.
1)Ă‚Â Catherine – Surprise, surprise, my Game of the Year for 2011 isĂ‚Â Catherine, the block-pushing soap opera from Atlus. One part puzzleĂ‚Â game, one part visual novel, this has been my most anticipated gameĂ‚Â since it was announced. No superpowers, no good vs evil, world atĂ‚Â stake storyline. Instead, you play as a dude. He makes games. He hangsĂ‚Â out with his friends in a bar. I could go on forever about the meritsĂ‚Â of this game, but I’ll keep it brief here. Suffice it to say theĂ‚Â writing is great, quite possibly one of the most mature storylinesĂ‚Â I’ve seen in a video game, dealing with real issues that the mainĂ‚Â character, Vincent, experiences in his day to day life. It’s rare thatĂ‚Â a game comes along which causes you to question your own values andĂ‚Â think about just how you’d react to a situation. Gameplay wise, yes,Ă‚Â it’s pretty damn difficult. I don’t know about you, though, but I playĂ‚Â puzzle games to be challenged, and it was nice to play a game for onceĂ‚Â that forced me to think so hard. In all, this is very close to being aĂ‚Â perfect game to me. It has the style, it has the engaging gameplay,Ă‚Â and it has the sense of player agency that I really appreciate in games.
2)Ă‚Â Portal 2 – I love clever things. It’s part of the reason I love beingĂ‚Â in my own head so much. Its cleverness was most of the reason I lovedĂ‚Â Portal so much, and its successor capitalizes on that to an evenĂ‚Â greater degree. While I love both of my top 2 games this year due toĂ‚Â their writing, Portal 2’s praise comes for its dialogue specifically.Ă‚Â The story is relative simple, but where the game truly shines is theĂ‚Â dialogue, which is interesting considering there is rarely more than aĂ‚Â single speaker in any given situation. Of course, great writing canĂ‚Â still only work if it has the appropriate delivery, and luckily theĂ‚Â acting is spot on. The game also manages to balance old and newĂ‚Â mechanics wonderfully, so that every second felt both new and yetĂ‚Â comfortably nostalgic at the same time. The puzzles weren’t asĂ‚Â difficult as I would have liked, but still very solid.
3) Skyrim – As a huge fan of Oblivion, it’s only natural that I wouldĂ‚Â place Skyrim somewhere on this list. As far as game time is concerned,Ă‚Â Skyrim represents the most time I’ve spent on any game not calledĂ‚Â Starcraft 2 in the last year and a half. It shows a marked improvementĂ‚Â on the things that Oblivion did well, with additions such as dualĂ‚Â wielding and shouts adding to the gameplay in meaningful ways. LikeĂ‚Â any Bethesda game, it has shown its fair share of bugs. I haveĂ‚Â personally managed to avoid every single one, for which I considerĂ‚Â myself quite lucky. Additionally, the various mods available and theĂ‚Â upcoming release of a more comprehensive set of mod tools ensure thatĂ‚Â I will be playing Skyrim for theĂ‚Â foreseeableĂ‚Â future.
4) Shadows of the Damned – This was a game that I held absolutely noĂ‚Â anticipation for. Knowing that Suda 51 was involved had piqued myĂ‚Â interest, but my dislike for survival horror games made my apathyĂ‚Â palpable where this game was concerned. The Giant Bomb Quick Look,Ă‚Â however, forced me to reconsider that position, and it’s a good thingĂ‚Â it did. This game is not by any means innovative, or even particularlyĂ‚Â good, but it is damn FUN. It’s got all of the Suda craziness thatĂ‚Â we’ve come to know and love, and is by far the most playable of hisĂ‚Â titles. That said, there’s nothing special about the shooting and,Ă‚Â though the weapons get more and more ridiculous, the combat can oftenĂ‚Â descend into monotony. Despite that, it’s an entertaining road movieĂ‚Â which is worth seeing even with the mediocre shooting.
5) Uncharted 3 – Had you asked me at this time last year, I’d have beenĂ‚Â pretty confident that Uncharted 3 would be in my top 3, yet here it isĂ‚Â barely making the top 5. it’s got everything you’d expect out of anĂ‚Â Uncharted game, with very little new. Unlike Portal 2, which kept theĂ‚Â core of the first intact while expanding on what made it great,Ă‚Â Uncharted 3 hits all the same notes as the second. Both the gameplayĂ‚Â and story hit so many of the same beats that it’s hard to place thisĂ‚Â game any higher. Don’t get me wrong, it does what it does extremelyĂ‚Â well and is still a fantastic game, but it’s disappointing that theyĂ‚Â didn’t go out of their way to expand on the formula that we were shownĂ‚Â in Uncharted 2.
6) Marvel vs Capcom 3 – Despite the blatant exploitation of consumersĂ‚Â that is Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, it’s wrong to let that mar theĂ‚Â reputation of the original MvC3. It takes the formula of StreetĂ‚Â Fighter and turns up the speed, as well as the crazy. Like Portal 2,Ă‚Â this game represented a risk in that its predecessor was extremelyĂ‚Â beloved, and like Portal it both lived up to and surpassed theĂ‚Â expectations of fans. It perfectly toes the line between theĂ‚Â competitive and the casual, providing depth for those who seek itĂ‚Â while still allowing casuals to simply hit buttons and watch coolĂ‚Â stuff happen.
7) Sonic Generations – Since the Genesis days I’ve been a proud SegaĂ‚Â Soldier and lover of all things Sonic. Hell, I even bought Shadow theĂ‚Â Hedgehog and actually liked it.That said, no one can deny thatĂ‚Â virtually every 3D offering in the Sonic series has been trash atĂ‚Â best. Generations picks up on the good ideas we saw in Sonic ColorsĂ‚Â and knocks them out of the park. This is the Sonic game you’ve beenĂ‚Â waiting for…if you’ve even been waiting for a Sonic game. Which IĂ‚Â presume most of you haven’t been doing. It features 2D gameplay thatĂ‚Â actually works (you’d better be taking notes, Sonic 4), and 3DĂ‚Â gameplay that finally captures the sense of speed that’s been missingĂ‚Â in previous iterations.
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[…] You knew it was going to be on here somewhere, didn’t you? Much like Chad, I was a huge fan of Oblivion, and although I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to sink into […]
[…] 2.) SkyrimĂ‚Â – You knew it was going to be on here somewhere, didn’t you? Much likeĂ‚Â Chad, I was a huge fan of Oblivion, and although I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to sink into […]