TerraEarth's Game of the Year.

[arkisdabomb]

So it's that time of the year again, where the game of the year is awarded. now admittedly, I didn't do a terrible amount of gaming this year, at least when it comes to games released this year. But I did play a few of the games from this year. But this isn't a poll, or trying to find out what the majority believes to be game of the year. It's merely your personal GoTY based on your own personal preferences and bias. So without ado, the Nominees for my Game of the Year is as follows:

Borderlands (Xbox 360). I love RPGs. I also love shooters. So when I first heard of Borderlands, I was excited. Now apparently, I only got a fraction of the excitement I could have gotten from the game, not having XBL at this time. But the single player alone was definately worth writing home about. 4 unique, but accessable, classes are given to you to choose from, and each one has a fair range of customization. While admittedly, the RPG elements of the game weren't quite as deep as games like it in the past, most recently being Mass Effect, but it is a nice suplement to the game that adds a nice twist on the FPS.

Dissidia:Final Fantasy (PSP) When I first heard of a Final Fantasy fighter, I was both excited and worried. I was excited to finally have, quite literally, a fantasy game since I was a child (pun intended). But on the other hand, I was worried that it wasn't going to be as great as I was expecting it to be. Well, I finally got my hands on a copy of the game. And I was blown away by how well it was executed. A very simple. yet fun, fighter with the deep RPG elements we've come to expect from Final Fantasy. The story was slightly generic, sometimes the voice acting came off as a bit flat, and most of the characters take one aspect of their personality from their games, and it ends up becoming their entire character. While not SquareEnix's best job in terms of Story, it is still engaging enough to keep you going to the very end.

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 (Xbox 360) Now it may or may not be a secret on here that I love wrestling. So you had to expect this to find it's way onto my list somewhere. Every year THQ and Jakks somehow find a way to outdo themselves from the year before, and this year was no exception. A new Create-a-Wrestler interface, making the clothing look more lifelike than ever before, an expanded Create-a-Finisher mode, something they introduced last year and was a resounding hit, and the return of the Road to Wrestlemania, which still feels like the drama you would expect to see on TV.

However, the winner for me this year is 100%, without a doubt:

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP) The game that started it all, Persona finally get's it's full American justice on the PSP. Relocalized, re-visualized, redone, but most of all, perfected. SMT:P is everything a remake should do done right. It's first release back on the PS1 was a sloppy endeavor at best. Horribly translated, half the content cut, and a blatent attempt to americanize a game obviously set in Japan, it was still enough to capture my heart as a young child playing it for the first time. Then a grew up. And discovered the internet. And found out just how much I had missed from this great game. some 10odd years later, it is released on PSP, keeping the original Japanese setting, adding new, fully voiced(in the NA release only I might add) cutscenes, and the inclusion of the alternate Snow Queen quest, which isn't so much a sidequest as it is an alternate route. I got to live my childhood once again, while indulging in that which I missed. As one of the reviews I read for the game stated: "The release feels like one big apology to the US audience." Well, I say apology accepted, and make Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, my personal Game of the Year.

[inferiare]

I'm hoping they re-release Persona 2, both of them (Innocent Sin and... that other one, with Hitler as the main boss.) That would be awesome.

As for me... uh, I don't really have any recent games that I've loved, all of mine are a bit older. Either way...

PS2: Ar tonelico II. Hands down. Despite the really terrible localization done by NISA (and I mean REALLY TERRIBLE), the story was amazing, the battle system was fun, and of course, THE MUSIC.

Xbox 360: Prototype. Because I like senseless violence. I suck at stealth and actual missions, but the game is really really fun.

I'll post more later when my brain isn't focused on OH GOD MY LEG IS IN PAIN D:

[SoulBlazerFan]

Mine would be Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2. Unfortunately, the re-re's over at G4 voted it worst game of the year. I'm assuming it's because they've played all fifty Dynasty Warriors games before. I haven't.

So, instead of basing a game's merrits on the game itself, instead of what came before it, they voted it the worst game of the year. I've only played one DW game before- the first Gundam. And damn, was I bored playing that. This time around, however, I'm flying through the game. What took me over a year to do in the first game (Shoot down 100,000 enemies total) I did in two weeks. There's not just action, but also some plotting- in order to do certain things, you must have a varying friendship level with different characters. There's so much to do, and yes, I'll admit the gameplay is quite repetitive- but when you see that marker pass a thousand kills, and you finish the level in under 5 minutes- it doesn't seem to matter anymore. The voice acting is great, and while there's no Japanese audio option like the first game- hearing the voices from the English dub of the animes is great. Well, with a few exceptions of course.

The cut scenes look awesome, leaps and bounds ahead of the last game. It's definitely a game made for fans.

2nd would have to be Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Though notoriously bugging, VERY SHORT (The main story finishes in under ten hours) and a half-functional online aspect, this game was great. Also for fans- having been a GB's fanboy since birth (I was in the womb when my mom went to see the movie- for the fifth time), this was practically a dream come true. Also, having the original cast back (Including the ever-elusive Bill Murray) was great. Awesome action, awesome story, awesome graphics- would've taken first place if the game was 100% completed before release. (Especially considering the game was delayed over nine months- and it seems very little was taken to fix the bugs in the game, such as walls disappearing, objectives online not enabling, and finally, matches that won't end because of glitches).

Other than that, Halo 3 ODST was pretty fun. Much of the same, but fun. The, what, three new Guitar Heroes this year were bad; Smash Hits, 5, and Van Halen. And that's about the extent of my gaming.

[psychokind]

I didn't play too many different games this year, but my personal favorite was NWN 2. or was it 2008?

[Dark_Gaia]

borderlands is wicked, just need xbox live 2 max fun

[chicken]

heh, borderlands yea kinda cool, indeed but i enjoyed DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS a lot more... i still do actually, its my second run through the game, trying to do things totally different this time (new class, new race, new chosen dialogue options, new ways of solving a quest, ... it figures)

also: the add-on to THE SIMS 3 was pretty awesome O_ô ..... and yes, i DO play sims from time to time...

and this year i was like "zomg why do i not own an XBOX?" first time i thought that when i first played DEAD OR ALIVE... holy shit that game rocked so much... and this time it was because they released ASSASSINS CREED 2 in the XBOX before they released the PC version

[EverPhoenix]

POKEMON PLATINUM!

[Dark_Gaia]

platinum ftw. wanna battle ep?

[EverPhoenix]

depends how good you are. i dont have that powerful a party (3 pokemon, lol) and non are EV'd or bred for awesome movesets. one is shiny though.



EDIT: if you want to battle fairly, check out shoddybattle. its a pokemon battle simulator. you build your party (EV, IV, moveset), and then it comes down to who is more skilled or lucky

[Jason Tandro]

So hard to pick... but personally it'd probably be Learn Geography for the Nintendo DS.

Instant "Greatest Hits" title.

[tay120n64]

BATMAN.



(okay, so that's not really all I have to say, but that's all I'm gonna say for now)

[chicken]

BATMAN.

aw, shit, i lost that one out >_<

i lol'd so hard after saving this guy from falling down into the poison-gas room and then BAM! slamming his head to the ground

... oh, uh, spoiler up there hehe