Favorite Games of the Generation

[Great Rumbler]

November 22, 2005 to November 15, 2013. Choose five games that were released during that time frame.

-Some games will be grouped to keep the list from getting too long [like Bioshock 1 and 2, and the three Mass Effect games].
-I'll add any game that anyone wants me to add

[Yulwei]

My top 5 and the platforms I've owned them on:

1. Street Fighter IV (PS3/360/PC)
2. Jump Ultimate Stars (DS)
3. Demon's Souls (PS3)
4. Gundam Vs Gundam Next Plus (PSP)
5. Nier (360/PS3)

Forgot to choose Demon's Souls when I voted. Oh well.

[bork]

Street Fighter IV, without question.  Spent so much time playing it from its initial arcade release in July 2008 through around the end of 2011.  Own/have owned it in its various incarnations on PS3, 360, PC, iOS, and 3DS.  And have recently started playing it again in preparation for Ultra!

[Himu]

1. Mario Galaxy
2. GTAV
3. Resident Evil 5
4. Portal 1/2
5. Dead Rising 1

[Himu]

Handheld fave games:

1. DQ9
2. Ace Attorney 3
3. Ghost Trick
4. Elite Beat Agents
5. Tactics Ogre: LUCT

[Steve Contra]

Mirror's Edge, New Vegas (NOT FO3), Dark Souls, Diablo 3, Mario Galaxy

[The Sceneman]

I voted:

Dark Souls
Red Dead Redemption
Ass Effect trilogy
Saints Row series
David Cage as lolz vote

List was missing Bionic Commando 2009

GTAV and/or Nier should have been my last vote, and Dead Rising 1 &2, Alpha Protocol and Spelunky are other honorable mentions

[fistfulofmetal]

Gut reaction

Dark Souls
Mass Effect 2
The Walking Dead
Journey
Witcher 2

[magus]

Tales of Vesperia for being the most kickass next gen jrpg
Just Cause 2 for being the only sandbox game i've actualy liked
Little King Story for being the most whimsical game i've ever played
TWEWY for being the last good square/nomura game i played
Monster Hunter 3 because i played that shit for 200 hours and would have played it even more if i just didn't run out of stuff to do

goddamn that poll sucks balls,leper GR

[cool breeze]

Deus Ex Human Revolution
Fallout New Vegas
Mario Galaxy
Twilight Princess
Dark Souls
Mirror's Edge

Cheating with the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess.  I chose Mirror's Edge over Portal 1 because it's sacked with Portal 2.

[TakingBackSunday]

1. ) Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
2. ) Arkham series
3. ) Mass Effect series
4. ) Skyrim
5. ) Fallout 3 and NV

[demi]

Dead Rising [Series]
Last Remnant
Xenoblade
Skate
[everything else]

[Raban]

I voted for...
Modern Warfare
Catherine
Mass Effect series
Mirror's Edge
Vanquish

It's stunning how long the poll is and it's still missing plenty of fantastic games from this gen.

[Smooth Groove]

Why not just Bioshock 1? 

Bioshock 2 was a lesser game made by a different developer  although Minerva's Den is awesome

[Great Rumbler]

Okay, I added some more games.

Why not just Bioshock 1? 

Because Bioshock 2 is the same as Bioshock 1 but with better combat and a not as good story.

[Smooth Groove]

Add Oblivion for Van Cruncheon

He spent 500 or more hours on all of the versions

[iconoclast]

1. Mushihime-sama Futari
2. Ninja Gaiden II
3. Akai Katana Shin
4. Dark Souls
5. Dodonpachi Saidaioujou

My top three are pretty much locked, but I could replace numbers 4 & 5 with like twenty different games.

[Raban]

Where's Super Meat Boy? :'( or Resident Evil 6?
It's hopeless, GR, there's no way you can make this into a poll. Funny how Himu's thread is way more suited for it and yet she didn't use a poll

[Great Rumbler]

It's hopeless, GR, there's no way you can make this into a poll.

It'll work. I'll just have to reset everyone's votes a few times.

[Yulwei]

Tales of Vesperia for being the most kickass next gen jrpg
Just Cause 2 for being the only sandbox game i've actualy liked
Little King Story for being the most whimsical game i've ever played
TWEWY for being the last good square/nomura game i played
Monster Hunter 3 because i played that shit for 200 hours and would have played it even more if i just didn't run out of stuff to do

goddamn that poll sucks balls,leper GR

I still need to play TWEWY..

[Stoney Mason]

Cod 4/Black ops 2
Mass Effect 2
GTA 5
Red Dead Redemption
Dragon Age Origins
Plants versus Zombies
Skyrim
Bad Company 2/Battlefield 3
Batman Arkham Asylum
Uncharted 2
Civ 4/Civ 5
The Walking Dead
Fallout 3
NBA 2k7/2k13

Picking just 5 is impossible for me.

[Mupepe]

Skyrim
Oblivion
Bioshock
GTA5
red dead redemption

[Rufus]

Dishonored
Nier
Fallout 3
XCOM:EU
Alpha Protocol

Haven't played a lot of games on the list though.

[Himu]

To be honest, I think this would be better served by dividing into genre than just voting and listing.

[thisismyusername]

I voted Battlefield, but you don't include Bad Company 1-2 in that or 1943. For me that series was my entire past generation from like 2008 to now. 

Otherwise redo the poll if you don't count those three with those two.

But the rest is another DICE title (Mirror's Edge) CoD4 and two Sony exclusives. One of which went multiplatform.

But there's some damn good titles on that list to where I couldn't just pick "5." These are just the five that I enjoyed the most/impressed me the most that generation. Just Cause 2, for instance: Crazy fun, but not a "OMG must play" title that I'd recommend to everyone as it gets REALLY shallow after a bit.

[Great Rumbler]

To be honest, I think this would be better served by dividing into genre than just voting and listing.

Then people wouldn't have to make such hard decisions.

[Trent Dole]

Surprised I'm only the second David Cage wankin on yr face vote. Couldn't find a fifth thing I felt like voting for. Also smh at the lack of Tales love. Bore pls.

[DCharlieJP]

1. Chromehounds

Best game this gen - certainly the most fun i had by a long shot. Long may it's awesome online rest in peace.

2. Fallout 3

Yeah, i know - it's got an awful story - but this is how Wasteland on the c64 looked in my head. So it was more a dream come true game - to my shame i still haven't started NV and that sounds even closer to Wasteland

3. EBA/Ouendan 1 ~ 2

I finish each of these all the way through from scratch once a year. Brilliant games.

4. MH3rdP

Dumped a stupid amount of time into this, cleaned up everything in the end but not solo like the wife did :/

5. Hotline Miami

Finished it over and over and over and possibly the music has a lot to do with it.

[tiesto]

Xenoblade
Sin and Punishment 2
Tales of Vesperia
Nier
Resonance of Fate

[Your Stalker]

1. Left 4 Dead 2
2. Fallout: New Vegas
3. Skate 2
4. X3
5.  NBA 2K13

Runners up: Mount & Blade, Dragon Age, Assassin's Creed II, Mass Effect 2, Halo 3

[archnemesis]

I'll just quote myself from a different thread.

2006
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Although it's inferior to other games in the series, it's still an amazing RPG.

2007
• Etrian Odyssey - A first-person dungeon crawler that strips away everything superfluous about RPGs. It's all about trying to reach deeper into the dungeon and then trying to make it back to the town alive. The class and skills systems makes it very customizable and replayable.
• Folklore - It's like a more mature version of what I imagine Pokémon is like. It also has a really nice setting in rural Ireland.
• Portal - Really innovative puzzles with level design that wasn't possible in earlier generations.
• Super Stardust HD - The best twin-stick shooter I've played.
• Warhawk - Superb vehicular third-person shooting multiplayer action.

2008
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - They wack story probably killed my interest in the series, but I still had incredibly fun playing it both in single and multiplayer.
• Mirror's Edge - Another great example that you can make a game in first-person without having a focus on killing dudes.
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village - It's a bit word heavy, but the puzzles in it are excellent.
• Valkyria Chronicles - A great example of how to make a strategy game with high production values. Not everything has to be grid-based with simplistic graphics.
• WipEout HD - A fantastic and beautiful racing game. I really hope we'll get a PS4 version.

2009
• Anno 1404 - A resource management simulator. I prefer the historic setting compared to the latest Anno 2070.
• Demon's Souls - Read Das's post above.
• Flower - I, and everyone who isn't dead inside, loved it.
• Killzone 2 - The multiplayer was awesome and much more strategic compared to most console shooters.
• Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II - All the Dawn of War games are great. Unlike the first game, this isn't a traditional RTS. The single player campaign feels like a mix of Dune II and Diablo.

2010
• 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - The first visual novel I've really liked. Great story and puzzles.
• Gran Turismo 5 - With a racing wheel it's the best driving experience.
• MAG - 256 player awesomeness that requires a people to work together as a group.
• Mount & Blade: Warband - It's medieval Sid Meier's Pirates with an advanced semi-realistic combat module.
• The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom - The best game in the series and incredibly underrated.

2011
• Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland - I'm glad I discovered this series. The second game is my favorite, but they're all good.
• Frozen Synapse - A small simple strategy game that's incredibly fun to play against others.
• Minecraft - Lego blocks were one of my favorite toys as a kid and building things in a virtual world is still as fun.
• Rocksmith - Finally a music game where you actually play a real instrument. It's a great way of practicing playing music you're not used to and an excuse to pretend to be a rock star in your living room.
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The bleak setting wasn't my thing since I'm so used to it, but otherwise it improved some things from it's predecessor.

2012
• FTL: Faster Than Light - Another excellent indie game and very replayable with all the random events and different ship designs.
• Legend of Grimrock - A modern rendering of classic dungeon crawlers like Dungeon Master. Great puzzles and the traditional real-time combat is really cool.
• The Unfinished Swan - There have been plenty of good artsy games this generation and this is one of the better ones.
• The Walking Dead - Great story and I can't wait to play season 2.
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown - A modern take on one of my favorite games. I still prefer the original, but doing a re-imagination instead of a straight remake was a great idea.

2013
• Beyond: Two Souls - I might actually prefer Heavy Rain, but I figured at least one of the two games should make it to the list.
• Europa Universalis IV - I'm still playing it three nights a week.
• Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Ever since Magic Online turned to shit in 2008 I've been looking for a replacement card game. This might be it. There are other good candidates, but non as polished.
• Rebound - Not every game has to have a high budget to be fun. Every year Ludum Dare produces a number of really interesting small games and this was one of the better ones from 2013.
• The Last of Us - I find most AAA games quite boring, but this one had a good balance between story and compelling gameplay.

[Damian79]

Last Story
Fallout 3
Fallout NV
Civ V
Dragon Age Origins

[brob]

1. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
2. Wipeout HD/Fury
3. The Void
4. Akai Katana Shin
5. Demon's Souls

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
DiRT 2
Red Faction Guerrilla
Borderlands 1 and 2
Blue Dragon

[Great Rumbler]

Skyrim

[Yulwei]

Skyrim 

[Joe Molotov]

Skyrim

[Your Stalker]

Skyrim

[Huff]

where is wii sports? number one game of the gen

[Great Rumbler]

I'm gonna reset the votes at the end of today. So everybody come back and vote again tomorrow. Or not. Whatever

[Positive Touch]

what the shit

[Your Stalker]

[Great Rumbler]

I reset the poll.

[Madrun Badrun]

Dark souls, Mario, Uncharted, Fallout, and Dragon age.  Civ V should be on there too but you didn't let me pick 6 asshole. 

[Himu]

Skyrim used to be higher. But the more I played the more I decided it was highly flawed. I remember one post in particular that Crushed posted on gaf that completely ruined Skyrim for me.

[Your Stalker]

I should have picked Demon's Souls instead of Dragon Age. Oh well.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Reset the poll again? 

[close]

[Himu]

Let's go Demon's Souls.

Let's show the Himuros, the Stoneys, the BrandNews, the Eschatons and other Papangi that Bore has still got it.

Impeccable taste.

Hey! I may not have chosen Demons Souls but I did pick Mario Galaxy!

[Stoney Mason]

I remember one post in particular that Crushed posted on gaf that completely ruined Skyrim for me.

Such a weird concept to me to not go by what you experienced while actually playing something and instead read a post and then revise your experience from the past that already happened through the lens of another person.

[Himu]

No, you misunderstand. After his post, I went back and played it, and he was completely right. Skyrim is fast food. It has a lot to offer in terms of things to order, but ultimately when it passes through your stomach it doesn't have much depth. That said, I can still play Skyrim and it's a fun game. But past the initial hype, it isn't as great as I originally thought it was.

[Stoney Mason]

Well I won't ever argue individual taste and such.

I'll just make a general statement and say that most games are "fast food" despite what their most ardent followers would have you believe. Some games try to cloak themselves in an aura of depth or difficulty and lots of hardcore/forum types fall for it. But its equally an illusion.

But I digress.


edit: Which is not to say that there aren't some deeper well designed games. But its far more rare than people admit.

[Himu]

I am not really arguing taste. Skyrim is a great game and no one has any reason to feel bad for liking it. Hell, I like it a lot. I'm just saying that after some thinking, Skyrim went down a few pegs for me. It used to be much, much higher.

[Rahxephon91]

Xenoblade
Vanquish
Battlefield 3
Resonance of Fate
Final Fantasy XIII

[Yulwei]

Yeah... that's really over the top.

I am not a fan of Skyrim but I still enjoyed the first 30 hours I put into the game.


Also, thanks for resetting the poll.

[Human Snorenado]

Fallout series.  Bethesda were undoubtedly "developers of the gen" for me, which is funny considering I didn't really think much of them 8 years ago or so, and Oblivion did nothing to improve that.  Between Fallout 3, NV, and Skyrim I had some of the most fun gaming this gen.  Funny how tastes and opinions will change over time.

Honorable mentions:
Diablo 3
Borderlands 2
SR III & IV

Biggest decline in quality this gen:
Japan
Bioware

[TakingBackSunday]

on this second vote I got rid of Skyrim and voted for Bioshock 1 instead 

I love Skyrim but I already voted for Fallout so I wanted to spread the love around.  Bioshock 1 was probably the first true next-generation experience for me in many ways -- presentation, gameplay, sense of wonder and awe.  I still love the game even though its rather pedestrian when I look back and examine it.  It at least has the excuse of being an early next gen title.  Infinite has no excuse to be equally as pedestrian.  Even though I loved that game too. 

[CajoleJuice]

Looking at this list makes me realize how little I played this gen

Modern Warfare
Bioshock
Mass Effect
Team Fortress 2
Civilization 4/5

so bro

[Bebpo]

Voted:

Demon Souls/Dark Souls
Hotline Miami
Red Dead Redemption
Mario Galaxy 1&2
The Last of Us

Fallout New Vegas is up there, as it's amazing.  But I didn't know which one to drop as those 5 are all incredibly memorable experiences.  Luckily the OP decided to include Fallout 3 with NV, and since I fucking hate Fallout 3 and don't want to give it any prestige it doesn't deserve, the choice was easy.

[Bebpo]

Oh shit, didn't see Xenoblade on there.  Hmm, only really good jrpg this entire generation.  Probably would swap Hotline Miami for it.


It's been a good generation despite all the crap and Japan falloff.  At least 10-20 of those are 10/10 generation defining experiences.  Then again the generation went on waaaaay too fucking long, so it'd make sense that there's at least a couple fantastic games a year.

[Great Rumbler]

Do people just really like the souls games ironically?

[Trent Dole]

Hey, where the fuck is Geometry Wars series? RESET THE POLL AGAIN