Talk:Our 2011 Faves

Derpiko's 2011 faves
Game of the Year 2011: Rayman Origins Man, I had looked forward to this game before. However, when I played the demo, I was stunned at how well it played. The levels are designed really well, and I really dig the aesthetics. What amazed me the most is how much difference co-op multiplayer made. It's like I naturally played in two different ways whether I was playing alone or with someone else. I'm know there have been other games where this was the case, but something about this one just felt like a noticeable flow versus just a slight adjustment.

Runner-up of 2011: Dragon Quest VI DS Well, I did make a page just for this and even evaluated all sorts of things for it, so of course it had to be a given! Still, having played it before on SFC, it didn't quite feel fair enough to give it the big prize. That said, it really felt like a huge difference between the two had been made. Even if the majority of the game is the same (unlike DQ4 and DQ5 where a huge difference was made), it felt like all of the tweaks and conveniences made for the player's behalf just came together in a grander scale. Aesthetics were notably improved (no more hunching Hassan/Carver), but even gameplay just felt a lot more refined and polished from the original (even, losing the option to recruit wild monsters wasn't that big a loss in the long run). Of course, the best part had to be Party Chat, which really made it feel that much more, well, alive.

Favorite Game Played in 2011: Destiny of an Emperor How the heck did I never bother to play this game before this year? Man, what a kickass game. Oddly enough, the simple description most use, "Dragon Warrior series meets Dynasty Warriors series" is pretty damn accurate. However, even if the hardware doesn't allow it to show everything on scale, it almost feels like it takes the best parts of both and arguably improves on them. There's very few complaints I really have about this game (or its sequel), and even those are inconsequential at best when looking at the game as a whole. The graphics, as simple as they are, really convey the world of a "mystic" ancient China really well. The battles, even though shown in scale, really have all sorts of feelings tied to them. From the laughable attempts of random bandits trying to pick fights with you to the immense dread and danger of facing the master warlords and their colossal armies, everything just feels so kick ass. Which brings me to the crowning point of the game: THE MUSIC. I can't even begin to describe how much I love it. It's not even the same to just look it up on Youtube, so play the game. I don't care how. Just do it. That's the only way you'll really grow to love it.

Runner-up in 2011: Metal Max Returns I almost feel like I'm cheating putting this here. Especially since it's like multiple entries in one, so I'll put it in the runner-up to be fair. The Metal Max series as a whole is just... whoa. "Destined kid hero? Destroyed hometown while you're on your tutorial quest? Bosses that play fair?" HA! This game and series as a whole pretty much takes your expectations of "Generic JRPG 22", throws them to the ground, and shoots them in the face. It pretty much defies convention to the extent that it creates its own genre of RPG. I guess the closest thing setting wise I could compare this to is Fallout, maybe? Even then, it's like it took a similar concept and went a whole different direction with it. And it did a damn good job of it too. What stunned me the most is after playing Returns and then playing the original on FC/NES, which it was a remake of. Outside of a small few tweaks and additions here and there, the game pretty much set everything up with that very first game. What's impressive though is how much it really set up compared to RPGs of the time, in any hemisphere. It isn't so much about "all of the options and paths" compared to stuff like Ultima or Elder Scrolls, or "a grand adventure with an epic story" like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, it's like the game just throws you into a new world full of bio-mutants, renegade machines, freak-show killers and so much more and says "do it" and leaves you for dead. "Do what?" is your question at first, but then you figure it out and you do it. I'm being pretty vague about all this on purpose. You really ought to give this series a chance, even if only 2 games are translated (Returns on SFC and Metal Saga on PS2).

Looking Forward to in 2012: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning This is one of those games that I purposely try to avoid trailers and info for, sorta like Skyward Sword, just to hype myself up. I saw the first trailer way back when, and was honestly impressed, but still uncertain. Then I read up about who was working on it and behind the under-workings and then it became "one of those games". Yeah, I'm pretty hyped. Blindly so? Over-enthusiastically? "Probably" on both accounts. Can't say I care much about that. Still, I really hope this one will be good, it definitely seems to be shaping up to be. I might honestly buy it the first chance I get.