Let's get it ON: GOTY

[TVC15]

Mass Effect is the only contender that is still out, and all signs point to it being. . .well, I don't have much faith in Bioware these days.

In no order:

Super Mario Galaxy - Even if the game goes totally tits up from the point I'm at on to its conclusion, it has still so far provided the best 3d platforming ever, and possibly the best platforming since Yoshi's Island.  NINTENDO REDEEMED.  SPACE JUNK GALAXY OMG MY THROBBING COCKUS!

Heavenly Sword - Ninja Theory's first noteworthy game is flawed and short, but it's an experience with exceptional presentation and a different take on combat. It's easy and fairly approachable, too (if you ignore the shitty demo).

Dynasty Warriors Gundam -  Musou for the masses.  A slightly different take on Musou with a slightly simplified formula.  Also, it is basically animu porn.  Whether you prefer scripted mission Musou, or more free for all, unscripted missions, this has got your boner licked.

Puzzle Quest -  Oh yeah, I'm going there.  The 360 version is the best, but the PSP and DS versions are no slouches either. The last quarter or so of the game drags on a bit too long, but what with it being a puzzle game, you could chip at it.

Blue Dragon - It's basically the best bits of old school JRPGs dressed up with super pretty graphics.  The story, at times, is reminiscent of both Final Fantasy 4 and Dragon Quest 7.  The combat system is basically FF5's.  And Nobuo Uematsu proves that he just wasn't trying very hard on those last couple FF scores he did.  Best JRPG in a long ass time.  You can tell what gender every character is upon looking at them, a first for Japanese videogames.

Things that didn't make the cut.

Bioshock - I think you did just about everything right, but I just didn't enjoy you as much as I felt like I should.  No offense!  RIP Irrational.

COD4 - Honestly, I haven't played the full game.  I will, but I think I might be. . .gasp. . .FPSed out.  I am basically in this for multiplayer.

Halo 3 - Another game I haven't really cracked open.  I will get to it when things slow down.  Again, I think for the first time ever I might be FPSed out.

[MrAngryFace]

DW: GUNDAM O COURSE OMG OMG

[Mr. Gundam]

Too soon, but Gundam Musou will be in my top five for sure.

[MCD]

Need more Naruto love!

[TVC15]

I don't even consider Naruto a videogame anymore, man.  It's like a philosophy.

[Smooth Groove]

That's the crappiest GOTY list I've ever seen.  SMG is the only one that remotely resembles a GOTY candidate.  

[Mondain]

Virtua Fighter 5

[TVC15]

Portal so far.

It was a triumph, i'm making a note here : huge success.

Ah yeah, I feel bad for not honoring Portal.  Well, consider it a top 6, because I don't want any of my first 5 off.

Shut your gay face, Smooth.  These are my favorite games of the year.  Go catheterize your penis.

[bagofeyes]

ive only played mario

[Van Cruncheon]

i don't see atelier iris 3 on that list

as it stands, my vote goes to disgaea 2 or blue dragon

[MCD]

I don't even consider Naruto a videogame anymore, man.  It's like a philosophy.

Portal so far.

It was a triumph, i'm making a note here : huge success.

Ah yeah, I feel bad for not honoring Portal.  Well, consider it a top 6, because I don't want any of my first 5 off.

You can take HS off for dcharlie.

[demi]

Too soon, but Gundam Musou will be in my top five for sure.

There's a month yet, it's close enough

What even came out this year? GOTY is Blue Dragon, period

Portal? A 5 hour romp. Not even close.

[TVC15]

Too soon, but Gundam Musou will be in my top five for sure.

There's a month yet, it's close enough

What even came out this year? GOTY is Blue Dragon, period

Portal? A 5 hour romp. Not even close.

Portal isn't even 5 hours, hah.  Maybe I should save that for my top 5 XBLA/downloadable games, since it is a mini.

And HS stays on, if only because I feel it gets disparaged by the populace too much.  Reviews did greatly overrate it, though.

[demi]

I haven't even played it. It's not that interesting, guys. Go play Blue Dragon instead.

[Smooth Groove]

Portal so far.

It was a triumph, i'm making a note here : huge success.

Orange Box has to be the greatest bargain ever.  Sfags would rave endlessly about Portal if it were a PSN title.  Even if it had cost $30.  

I can't speak for SMG or Blue Dragon since my BD is still unopened and the local TRU didn't have SMG tonight but I'm certain that Orange Box is better than the rest of TVC's crap of the year candidates combined.  

[demi]

Orange Box doesn't even count - it's not a game.

[TVC15]

I said they are my favorites of the year.  I was unaware that "favorite" indicated that I was declaring an objective fact.

[drohne]

i guess my list at this point would be portal, halo 3, heavenly sword...uh...armored core 4? edf3?

that's...not too hot. there are at least four games from 2006 that would knock this list on its ass. no matter, i'm buying like five games this month, and hope to see some serious displacement

edit: oh wait, forgot sshd and everyday shooter. do games that don't cost $60 or come in boxes even count

[Smooth Groove]

I said they are my favorites of the year.  I was unaware that "favorite" indicated that I was declaring an objective fact.

WTF would we care about the GOTY of one guy? 

[Van Cruncheon]

because it's a point of discussion -- i.e. the purpose of ANY web forum?

[Van Cruncheon]

ooo, forgot about super stardust hd. that's up there, too.

[demi]

edit: oh wait, forgot sshd and everyday shooter. do games that don't cost $60 or come in boxes even count

Sure, if people can wave GOTY flags about Portal, which has the value of an XBLA game, SSHD and such can too.

[MrAngryFace]

I like how smooth believes an entire forum could select a single goty

[TVC15]

I think I might do a second list for XBLA/PSN stuff.  I will exclude Puzzle Quest, though.

drohne:  AC4 good?  I got it cheap at Fry's, but I have never even unwrapped it.

[MrAngryFace]

AC4 is good IF you like AC games.

[MCD]

I'd go with Lost Planet myself, at least somewhere in my list this year.

good graphics, fun bosses, nice multi.

maybe next time they can hire a better writer but who cares.

[Mr. Gundam]

\
drohne:  AC4 good?  I got it cheap at Fry's, but I have never even unwrapped it.

Eh, it was ok. Seemed to be lacking something from the previous AC games. Online was fun, though. Good thing you got it cheap.

[Smooth Groove]

I like how smooth believes an entire forum could select a single goty

Why not?  We'll just come up with a list of candidates and then vote on it, like most magazines.  Also, it's pretty sad that there's been no mention of any PC game even though we supposedly have a bunch of PC enthusiasts here. 

[drew]

I have to nominate skate and space giraffe, as they both saved me from becoming jaded and offing videogames for good.

[Van Cruncheon]

it wasn't a great year for the pc, frankly. if rise of legends or company of heroes were this year, they'd knock everything off the list

[drohne]

i loved it, but frankly there's a whole lot wrong with it. the missions are as perfunctory as ever, the online is shockingly limited and unbalanced, and the controls will break your fingers. but it's got tons of visual style, there's something deeply compelling about kitting your mechs out, they've made it easy to build something that can fly around all day, and the very simplicity of the missions makes them highly replayable. it's also got the best achievements ever -- they point you to certain missions on hard, which really test your ability to build mechs situationally and then do cheapass shit with them. there's this one mission where you have to fight four partially-damaged high level mechs yourself. omg. so good.

[MrAngryFace]

Smooth: Yes, but we'd never all agree. Personalized GOTY threads are the way to go

[Smooth Groove]

it wasn't a great year for the pc, frankly. if rise of legends or company of heroes were this year, they'd knock everything off the list

Company of Heroes:Opposing Fronts was a standalone game.  Also, the Witcher had nice presentation and is at least equally as fun as the other games on TVC's top 5. 

[Van Cruncheon]

i haven't played enough of the witcher to claim that it should be on the list, and you know why? it has TERRIBLE LOAD TIMES THAT MAKE ME NOT WANT TO PLAY IT, which disqualifies it right there. opposing fronts has terrible, terrible balance; same for asian dynasties.

i dunno if i'd agree with any title on tvc's list myself excepting blue dragon, but i also have very eclectic tastes. as maf said, i see no point in a forum goty, because it would in no way represent me. i'd rather argue over someone else's goty candidates.

[brawndolicious]

so far it's honestly lost planet.  I haven't finished any other game from this year though.  seriously, we should wait a few months.

[drohne]

i liked lost planet too. and motorstorm. actually i've played a lot of good games this year...just nothing i'd want to put on top of a goty list. last year there were four games i wanted to put on top of a goty list: chromehounds, ultimate g+g, okami, and dead rising

capcom

[Smooth Groove]

i haven't played enough of the witcher to claim that it should be on the list, and you know why? it has TERRIBLE LOAD TIMES THAT MAKE ME NOT WANT TO PLAY IT, which disqualifies it right there. opposing fronts has terrible, terrible balance; same for asian dynasties.

i dunno if i'd agree with any title on tvc's list myself excepting blue dragon, but i also have very eclectic tastes. as maf said, i see no point in a forum goty, because it would in no way represent me. i'd rather argue over someone else's goty candidates.

I haven't found The Witcher's loading times to be that annoying but my load times might be quicker because I use 4gbs.  I'm surprised it loads so slowly even with your 10,000 RPM raid setup.  Is it possible that the load times seem especially long because you've been playing a quick loading game like Titan Quest?  The Witcher's load times seem fast compared to most console games.  

[MrAngryFace]

They're patching the loading problem, its a known issue. Its kinda shelved till 1.2

[Van Cruncheon]

yeah, i haven't been blown away this year. recently, my gaming time has been spent on a portable rehash (disgaea), a mediocre musou installation (orochi), some busted rts expansions (aoe:tas and coh:of), a middlling j-rpg (wa5), and a bunch of xbla/psn dual-stick shooters. that kinda sums up my entire gaming year, in a lot of ways.

[cubicle47b]

WoW: Burning Crusade.  So what if it was an expansion, it had an absurd amount of content.  After that it's hard to pick a clear winner.  I have issues with all of my possible candidates.  My retro GOTY is Military Madness.

[Smooth Groove]

Drohne, what did you like about Lost Planet?  I installed LP and then neglected it after reading all the bad reviews.  Pretty graphics are usually enough for me to try a game but the majority of the PC reviewers really panned LP. 

[drohne]

pretty graphics, certainly, but also big battlefields populated by big monsters and big mechs you can jump in and out of. the bosses don't telegraph their attacks and the enemy soldiers are dumb enough to be gaf regulars, but it's loads of fun anyway

game reviewers are twits

[TVC15]

Lost Planet starts off REALLY REALLY awesome, but it kinda loses its steam quickly, between meh levels after a good start, and some buh gameplay decisions.

I liked it, and it deserved to be a hit, but they were wise to release it in a season when it had little competition.

[bork]

The best games I've played this past year have been:

-Phoenix Wright 3
-Crackdown
-Bioshock
-Mario Galaxy
-Biohazard 4 Wii Wii
-Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles
-Halo 3
-Call Of Duty 4
-Musou Orochi
-Lost Planet (released right at the end of last year, so I'm counting it)
-KOF Maximum Impact Regulation A

So that means:

PSP- 1
DS- 1
PS2- 1
360- 5
PS3- 0
Wii- 2

And there's still more to come. I have a backlog of games I haven't really gotten around to, like Heavenly Sword, PGR4, and Orange Box, too. (Keep hearing how awesome Portal is!)  And I still don't have Virtua Fighter 5 on Xbox 360 yet.

The most fun I've had this year has been with Crackdown, Mario Galaxy, Lost Planet, and Halo 3. I think CoD4 is going to be up there too.

Also unless Capcom somehow REALLY fucks it up, Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes is definitely going to be among my favorites.  Gundam Musou?  Orochi?  DW6?  Pffffft.  Basara 2 kicks all their monkey asses and is the REAL "Musou for the masses."  

But like Drinky said, and despite some awesome games, this year has largely been a disappointment.  Last year saw the (home) releases of awesome games like Godhand, KOF XI, MI2, SS Tenka, Sengoku Basara 2, Portrait Of Ruin, Lost Planet (hey, I'm counting it twice!), Gears, Tekken DR, and more.

[MCD]

What saddens me about GAF is how they say "WE DON'T NEED LP ON OUR PRECIOUS SONY PS3".

it's one of the best experience for me this year, and seeing this really piss me of, i mean it's not the best game ever, heck go on and say it's the worst piece of shit but we don't need it? come on, if anything, Sony are in need of more software.

[bork]

Lost Planet starts off REALLY REALLY awesome, but it kinda loses its steam quickly, between meh levels after a good start, and some buh gameplay decisions.

I liked it, and it deserved to be a hit, but they were wise to release it in a season when it had little competition.

Lost Planet was great fun for most of the game; really the only level I found mediocre was the last level, simply because after all the huge boss fights, it was like "this is it?  A ZOE-like mech battle?"  Also I had a BLAST with the game's multiplayer.  I liked LP enough that I am even going to get the PS3 version next year.  

And guys, let's see if we can just get off GAF already.  Why keep bringing it up?

[MrAngryFace]

Mine are:

DW: Gundam
Luminous Arc
Disgaea
Orange Box (PC)
MLB07 The Show (PS3 version)
Virtua Fighter 5

[brawndolicious]

well the combat was very good.  the lack of checkpoints was absolutely fucking awful.  enemy AI wasn't very good but surprisingly, the VS AI wasn't that bad.  The akrid (bugs) are really fun to take on cause nearly every time you do, you know you're going to come up against bigger and bigger one you haven't seen.  the boss battles are the best I've ever played.  especially since a lot of them let you use a VS.

oh and forgot about RE4 wii wii.  if that's counted than it's a contender.  some didn't like the waggle aiming but I liked it more than the gamepad aiming.

[TVC15]

Sengoku Basara 2 never came out in america, so it doesn't count.

[MrAngryFace]

ooh burn

[MCD]

And guys, let's see if we can just get off GAF already.  Why keep bringing it up?

Sorry lyte. 

[bork]

Interesting that after all the Bioshock hype n' wack off sessions, most people aren't putting it on their GOTY lists.  It was awesome, guys...what happened??

am nintenho- RE4 Wii definitely counts.  It's the definitive version of 2005's GOTY.

TVC- Japanese games count. 

[TVC15]

You have to forgive me for being a bit dismissive of Sengoku Basara 2.  Devil Kings blew ass, and I will never play the sequel, so I can never understand how much of an improvement it is.

[MrAngryFace]

I only listed stuff I spent a lot of time with really. For me games of the year are games I actually play for more than 5 hours lol.

[Van Cruncheon]

yeah, devil kings was so fundamentally awful that i can't imagine part deux being even up to middling musou standards -- and sorry, lyte, but you and duckroll and the rest of the few basara 2 j-gaf set et al really have some dubious freakin' tastes, even by my wholly unorthodox standards.

[drohne]

yeah, chromehounds is fuckin legendary. best game this gen by far. i think i actually voted for okami in last year's gaf poll, but only because i'd just played it, and i tend to have those afterglow moments of irrationality in which the game i've just played seems like the best game ever -- sort of the way a girl i've just slept with seems for several moments to be intelligent and objectively beautiful

[demi]

I only listed stuff I spent a lot of time with really. For me games of the year are games I actually play for more than 5 hours lol.

Sounds like you can squeeze Portal in there

[Smooth Groove]

I guess I'll give Lost Planet a real try since so many of you vouch for it.  I usually trust PC reviewers because they're far less fanboyish than their console counterparts.   Many console ports have been rated much lower by PC reviewers even when they were improved for the PC.  But I guess some of the low scores could have been due to PC snobiness and not higher standards.  

[brawndolicious]

smooth, you might want to try a gamepad.  lost planet was really designed for one and a mouse might cheapen the aiming too much considering how the enemies/vs are balanced.

chromehounds had awesome customization and multiplayer.  people still play it online.  you can get it for like $20 now too.

[MrAngryFace]

I hated chromehounds. I just remember joining the side that was getting dogpiled and walking around in a crappy desert with TVC.