FAKE RONJAN!!Let's talk game of the year(s)!
2015 is almost in the books so it's time to reflect! Rather than just looking at this year, though, I thought it might be fun to go back in time and see which games were my favorite, and how that compared against the critical consensus. A lot has happened in the past 10 years!
2006
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GameCube, Wii)
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360, PC)
RJ's favorite
Elite Beat Agents (DS)
People have problems in their everyday lives. Thank goodness that there's a team of secret agents who use their singing and dancing talents to save the day! It's an amazing premise, and it comes through in one of the most charming games I've ever played. I laughed, I cried (once), I got amped up, and I bought a lot of music after I finished playing.
The game was a sales miss for Nintendo, which is extremely unfortunate. I played through it end-to-end again recently and it holds up. Plus it has one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasure songs:
2007
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
BioShock (Xbox 360, PC)
The Orange Box (Xbox 360, PC)
RJ's favorite
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
There's not much to say about this one. It released to universal acclaim, is recognized as one of the greatest games in history, and is my favorite 3D platformer that I've ever played. It has a perfect blend of newness and nostalgia, it fundamentally changes how we view 3D space, and ultimately is a blissful gaming experience.
And oh, how I love that music:
2008
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, Xbox 360)
LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
RJ's favorite
LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
This was the first time I'd played a game that was fundamentally built around user-generated content. While the toolkit was ultimately too complicated for me to successfully create anything, the community created some amazing experiences that persist to this day in the sequels.
I could criticize the game's overly floaty physics, but I think that the overall sharing environment that LittleBigPlanet created overcomes that mechanical flaw. This is also another game in which the music is incredible. Here's my favorite track from the game, one that accompanied a stunning safari romp through Africa:
2009
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)
Street Fighter IV (PS3, Xbox 360)
RJ's favorite
Punch-Out!! (Wii)
As much as I loved Uncharted 2 (despite its over-reliance on the shooting gameplay), Punch-Out!! was the game I had been waiting on for years. It's really the perfect remake of an 8-bit classic in every way. It takes these larger than life figures and gives them voices, catch-phrases, and even more outrageous personalities. Perhaps my favorite part? That every single opposing fighter now has a remixed version of the original fight theme.
Here's a nice clip featuring my favorite villain in the game, Don Flamenco (including his amazing musical remix):
2010
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360, PC)
Red Dead Redemption (PS3, Xbox 360)
RJ's favorite
Heavy Rain (PS3)
Out of the gate, I have to say that this game has some serious problems. There are major plot holes, there's a ham-fisted romance, and the recorded dialogue is clearly performed by non-Americans who are trying their best at American accents. Plus, "press X to Jason".
That said, no game had ever made me feel what my controlled character is feeling as well as Heavy Rain does, even in a situation where you're a father who's trying to save his son by passing a series of Saw-like trials. At one stage you have to cut off your own finger in exchange for a clue. My heart was pounding in real life as I searched the room in-game for the instruments to accomplish this. It is, to this day, the most intense video game sequence I've ever played.
Now, with all of that said, this video making fun of the game makes me laugh out loud every time:
2011
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Batman: Arkham City (PS3, Xbox 360)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
Portal 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
RJ's favorite
Uncharted 3 (PS3)
I loved continuing the adventures of Nathan Drake, particularly in how this story delved more into his origins and forced him to evaluate his ambitions against his friends and family. While the gameplay doesn't quite approach the heights of Uncharted 2's train sequence or Tibetan village walk, Nate's character is tested more and his arc truly develops.
I have some serious issues with the amount of violence in this series, and I think it'd be both more enjoyable and more congruous if the kill count were reduced by 80%. But moments like this make the filler worth it:
2012
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Mass Effect 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
The Walking Dead (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
Journey (PS3)
RJ's favorite
The Walking Dead (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
What a revelation! 2012 was a transition year for big budget gaming, as developers ramped up for the forthcoming releases of the PS4 and Xbox One. As a result, Telltale's The Walking Dead made waves by telling a smaller scale story, pulling back on combat filler, and introducing a timed choice mechanic that continues to be their trademark to this day. I love seeing how my choices played out differently vs. friends and the broader community.
I've enjoyed Telltale's follow-up work, such as Game of Thrones and especially The Wolf Among Us, but season 1 of The Walking Dead remains my favorite adventure game that I have ever played. And this is all without having ever seen the show!
No clips to share here - try the game out yourself! It's available on ... everything (including phones).
2013
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Grand Theft Auto V (PS3, Xbox 360)
The Last of Us (PS3)
BioShock Infinite (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
RJ's favorite
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
I have a bold proclamation: this is the best Zelda game Nintendo has ever made. It re-invigorates the series with a new mechanic that allows for traversal along walls, a new free-form exploration format that allows for dungeons to be attempted in any order, and a new item shop approach that adds flexibility to the typical Zelda formula.
A Link Between Worlds also has the most epic remix of the original Zelda theme, with a majestic introduction that plays the first time you acquire the Master Sword:
2014
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Wii U)
Dark Souls II (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
Bayonetta 2 (Wii U)
RJ's favorite
Valiant Hearts (PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, PC)
I wrote about this one last year, and it still sticks with me to this day. Between this, Child of Light, and Rayman Legends, the UBIart games were the stars of 2014 in my mind. I hope we see more.
I love this compilation clip that one of the game's creators posted of the game's ending (SPOILERS, duh):
2015
Critical hits (Metacritic link)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Bloodborne (PS4)
RJ's favorite
Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
I really love Life is Strange. It improves on the formula of past favorites like Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead by subverting the "make your choice fast" mechanic and building the entire story around the friendship of Max and Chloe. It's a beautiful game and a beautiful experience that I'm going to remember.
Then I look at my Super Mario Maker stats. 10 levels created. 2,414 levels played. 84 hours and 10 minutes of play time. This is a game in reality that I literally dreamed about as a child, and I can't put it down. The community continues to find new ways to make Mario fun, inventive, hilarious, challenging, and even poignant. I'll be playing this one for years.
Here's my favorite level to date:
And now we're caught up on the past 10 years. Game on!
-rj