The year-end VG awards of 2012

[Gare]

If you've been a member here for a while, you know that this has become sort of an annual thing for EP. I usually post these at the beginning of December, but I guess doing it a few days early isn't going to change much. So here goes.

Rules:

#1 - This isn't limited to games released this year. It just has to be a game you played this year, preferably for the first time.

#2 - No flame wars. This isn't a "my favorite game is better than yours" sort of thread.


Alright, here we go. (I always encourage elaborating on your choices, but it's not necessary if you don't want to.)

The best games you've played this year?
Your overall game of the year?
Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?
Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?
Your most beloved gaming platform this year?
Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.
Biggest surprise of the year?
Biggest disappointment of the year?
Most memorable VG character of the year?
The game you sank the most hours into this year?
The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?

[Elmdor Rizer]

The best games you've played this year?

Well, see, at first I was, like, WHOA CONTRA HARD CORPS... uh, what's the last word of the title? Actually it's not even named Contra I think... you know, the PS3/X-Box store game... uh, SO I WAS LIKE BEST GAME EVER RETRO CONTRA GOODNESS and everything was totally fabulous, but then it got old way sooner than I thought it would, and I got really sad.

The Ninja Gaiden trilogy for the NES really did knock my socks off. I was a bit disappointed, difficulty-wise, they are actually quite easy to master once you manage to turn off your frustration, but yeah.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, AND MARIO PARTY 3! PLOT TWIST! Also Castlevania, beating Death and Dracula is so much fun for some reason.

InFamous 2 was alright aswell.

Your overall game of the year?

Wait that said it's obviously Ninja Gaiden III.

Obviously. Or maybe that, uh, Minigame Marathon for X-BOX360. I fucking rock.

OH! OH! OH! ANd there was that Fire Emblem hack (I made a thread about it... I think) WHICH WAS BRILLIANT!

Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?

Mario Party and Ninja Gaiden. I'd say Contra aswell, but that's every year.

Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?

Those Swedish - i think - chaps who made Storage Inc.

Your most beloved gaming platform this year?


The NES, but that's fucking every year.

Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.


The Ninja Gaiden song. YOu know the one. BAAADUDUDUDUDUUUUUUUU!!!!!!

Biggest surprise of the year?

Castlevania being so short and Mario Party 3 being SO AWESOME.

Biggest disappointment of the year?


FIFA13, EA still refuse to fix broken shit.

Most memorable VG character of the year?


Zeke. He's fat and dying ((((((((

The game you sank the most hours into this year?

Probably InFamous 2, yeah.

The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?

Um, I dunno. People release new games? I wanna play Fire Emblem XI, I think it is, for the Wii.

[Drageuth]

The best games you've played this year? There have been a lot of really good games that I've played this year, so I'm going to split hairs a bit and say what the most addictive game I played this year was: Dragon's Dogma. I absolutely loved it, and poured 90 hours into the game in the first week that it was out. There's just something about that game that had me hooked -- the combat was fun, you could change up your class whenever you wanted if things started to get a bit stale playing as a fighter, taking down huge beasts "randomly" around the map never got tiring, so on and so forth. The combat was what I enjoyed the most. It could get repetitive at times, and the story was practically non-existant, but for me that didn't take away from the experience at all.

A very, very close runner-up would be Kingdoms of Amalur. Largely for the same reasons, 'cept Amalur just felt one step behind in everything that it did compared to Dragon's Dogma.

Your overall game of the year? Probably going to stick with Dragon's Dogma for this one. This might change as I play a couple more games through December, but as it stands right now, nothing stood out as such a great game, or got more referrals to my friends, as Dragon's Dogma did.

Your most beloved franchise(s) this year? Ratchet & Clank. This year was their 10th anniversary and there has been a lot of R&C love hitting the store. Between All 4 One appearing as a free game on PS+, the release of the HD collection and now with Full Frontal Assault, every game is just a tiny bit different yet still so so wonderful. It's very rare that a franchise can dabble in as many different ideas as Insomniac has taken R&C and still come out with a great game every time. I'm hoping for a return to the Futures storyline sometime next year, though. In the meantime, everyone -- and I mean everyone -- should go and buy Full Frontal Assault. Great game.

Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year? Gonna have to go with Insomniac again. They have always treated their fans well and have an open and (fairly) honest line of communication with them, and they constantly put up premium games. A close runner-up would be 2K Games and all of their studios -- it's hard to pick just one that stands out as the most amazing.

Your most beloved gaming platform this year? PS3. I think that's fairly obvious by now.

Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.

Biggest surprise of the year? Rayman: Origins was actually good. Like, ridiculously good. Like, I put serious thought into buying a WiiU just to play Rayman Legends, it was that good.

Biggest disappointment of the year? The Sly Cooper HD Collection. For all the people that said Sly Cooper was a great series, and the great reviews that it received, I was horribly disappointed. Nothing about the series stands out as being worthwhile going back to replay, and it has completely dashed any thoughts I might have had about buying Thieves in Time on release.

Most memorable VG character of the year? Left intentionally blank. While a lot of the games that I've played have been a lot of fun, no one is really standing out as "this game is better because of that character and the way that they were portrayed."

The game you sank the most hours into this year? Again, probably Dragon's Dogma. Finding anything else that came out this year that was as addictive for me is proving difficult.

The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year? In order of interest: Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Beyond: Two Souls, The Last of Us, God of War: Ascension, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Devil May Cry.

[FlavaFlave]

The best games you've played this year?
I'll try to keep this within 2012 releases, as I have played some great retro stuff I missed (Dragon Quest III is phenomenal). With that said, I really enjoyed Halo 4 (and I'm not an FPS junkie). Dishonored is also a great game, Catherine (although I think that was released last year) was also really good, especially the story aspect of it. The game itself was a bit weak (puzzles get annoying), but like I said the story was front and center one of the best I've seen in many years. X-COM is also a candidate. Diablo III also an honorable mention (good times with friends). And last, but certainly not least is The Witcher 2. I'm referring to the Xbox 360 release since it hit this year. I really hope people supported the game because it's worth it. Retro stuff worth a quick mention - DQ3, DQ5, Faxanadu, Actraiser, Castelvania 4 and Castlecvania Lords of Shadow (not retro, but it's a few years old).
Your overall game of the year?
Either X-COM or Halo 4
Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?
Well, Halo I guess, but I also picked up the Devil May Cry HD collection and I fell in love with it all over again as well (not 2 though).
Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?
That's tough - I lost a lot of respect for a few companies, but I'll go with Bethesda for now (Dishonored), although I think they were only the publisher and not the developer of the game. Also Firaxis (Civ5, X-COM) get's mention since they've never really let me down.
Your most beloved gaming platform this year?
Probably PC this year. I've been playing a lot of emulators, STEAM and games purchased from GOG.
Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.
Meh, nothing terribly memorable. Last soundtrack I really enjoyed was probably Deus Ex Human Revolution, but that's last years news. Other than that, I'm going to nominate Splatterhouse just because it's heavy metal and fits the game perfectly.
Biggest surprise of the year?
Halo 4 - had NO hopes for this game at all. FEZ was also a blast.
Biggest disappointment of the year?
This is easy, Mass Effect 3. Playing that game was the equivalent to someone killing my dog. Max Payne 3 was pretty lousy as well - Rockstar usually delivers but they didn't this time. Resident Evil 6 also get's a mention - it was pretty underwhelming. I'm also throwing Borderlands 2 in here as well - it's not a bad game, but to me it just felt like a big expansion pack.
Most memorable VG character of the year?
Myself - Allow me to explain; X-COM, you can name your characters... I named myself as the first recruit I had, I became a Heavy Weapons Expert, survived every battle until the final mission and actually got killed saving my team to thwart the alien menace. If that isn't an acceptable answer, then Geralt of Rivia (Witcher 2) is my definite choice. EDIT: I need to mention Garrus Vakarin (Mass Effect 1-3). He is one of my absolute favorite game characters from this last generation of gaming. Fiercely loyal, a friend to the end. I absolutely love him.
The game you sank the most hours into this year?
Metal Gear Solid 4 - the trophy pack came out in August and I played the game until I unlocked every trophy. In case you haven't played it, in order to get one of the trophies you need to obtain EVERY rank in the game (of which there are 40), which means you will have to beat the game around 10 times or more depending on your skill. I don't know how many hours I spent, but it was far more than anything else I played this year, or in the last few years probably. Diablo III is up there as well - I'm pretty sure I have over 300 logged hours.
The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?
Metal Gear Ground Zeroes, Bioshock Infinite, Rainbow Six (if it doesn't get pushed to next gen systems), Ni No Kuni (PS3) and The Last Guardian (which is most likely vaporware by this point... but one can hope, right??)

[Gare]

Here's mine. I skipped a few questions that I didn't really have an answer for.

The best games you've played this year?

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (The plot and true ending just blew my mind. If you have a DS and haven't played it yet, FUCKING DO IT and don't stop until you reach the true ending.)
Saints Row: The Third (100% fun. I can't believe how much better this is than pretty much any GTA game ever.)
Valkyria Chronicles 3
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Alice: Madness Returns
Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time
And maybe Sol Trigger, though I haven't finish it yet, but so far it's pretty good.
Same goes for Mass Effect 3, which I started, but haven't finished yet. I don't know what the ending is, but I have a suspicion that people were just overreacting.

Your overall game of the year?

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa, although it isn't a "game" in the traditional sense of the word. This visual novel has been a part of my life since mid-July. The entire thing has been a pretty fantastic experience, and overall the most memorable thing I played/read this year.

Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?

The dudes who made Saints Row 3.

Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa:

Spoiler warning:

Sol Trigger:

Spoiler warning:

Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki. It's that new Suikoden game on the PSP that everyone hates. The game itself is okay, and not as bad as people make it out to be, but what made it really memorable was the soundtrack:

Spoiler warning:

Oh, and maybe the soundtrack of Alice: Madness Returns. I recall it being pretty cool, especially the tune that plays in the Queensland section.

Biggest surprise of the year?

Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time. I didn't expect too much from it, and actually found the first 30 or so minutes of the game fairly boring and was tempted to drop it. However, after playing for a few more hours I got totally hooked on the story and characters. It's an insanely long game though, and therefore I haven't finished it yet. But it's really damn fun. Also, dat art style.

Saints Row: The Third. Waited to get this until it was on sale because I didn't expect much from it. I mean, I heard it was fun, but I'm usually not a fan of GTA type games. But man, this game is fucking great in co-op. Like I said in some other thread - most fun I had with a game in quite a while.

Also, the announcement of the Dark Souls PC version.

Biggest disappointment of the year?

Probably Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Which is weird, because I had a blast with Brotherhood. But this one was just... bleh. It was still a solid game, but it really felt like they completely ran out of ideas by this point. The entire game felt redundant. They should've just retired Ezio after Brotherhood.

Most memorable VG character of the year?

Minato Kageaki, the protagonist of Full Metal Daemon Muramasa. Saying anything about this guy would be a spoiler, so I'll just leave it at that. Also...

「鬼に逢うては鬼を斬る、 仏に逢うては仏を斬る。 ツルギの理ここに在り。」　[Meet a demon - slay the demon. Meet a saint - slay the saint. Therein lies the way of the sword.]

That phrase has basically been burned into my mind ever since I started playing the game, further proof of how memorable this whole thing was for me. And it gains even more importance when the game finally explains what those words really mean.

The game you sank the most hours into this year?

Full Metal Daemon Muramasa. No contest. Being a visual novel, and a long one at that, this robbed me of countless hours. As far as "proper" games are concerned, maybe Phantasy Star Online 2 and Skyrim.

The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?

A bunch of stuff on the 3DS like the new Phoenix Wright and so on, even though I don't actually own the console yet. Tomb Raider. Metal Gear Revengeance or whatever the hell it's called. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Half Life 3 (one can hope). Many other games I can't remember right now.

[Gypsy]

The best games you've played this year?
Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Graces, Yakuza. Could probably list way more as I played and like a lot of games this year but I wanted to keep it short. Yakuza 2 would very likely be here but I haven't finished it yet.
Your overall game of the year?
Mana Khemia. Yeah it was a replay, whatever.
Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?
Wild Arms and Atelier. Finished the series (WA) and got and played the PS2 remake of the first one this year. Put a lot of time into Atelier games as well, beating 3 or 4 this year (a couple were replays).
Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?
Capcom Serious answer: NISA (always) and to a lesser extent Bamco. Normally I call them Scamdai Trollco but they announced a lot of good things this year.
Your most beloved gaming platform this year?
PS3
Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.
Biggest surprise of the year?
Lol
Biggest disappointment of the year?
Halo 4
Most memorable VG character of the year?
KAZUMA KIRYUUUU.
The game you sank the most hours into this year?
Probably Disgaea 4, it's hard to remember how much time exactly I put in to it earlier in the year.
The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?
Tales of Xillia, Ni No Kuni

Edit: @Gare: Yeah, that happens with Growlanser sometime, especially the 50 million prologues in Heritage of War which is actually a decent game if you can get past that sequence. Wayfarer of Time was pretty sweet.

[Gare]

It's my first Growlanser game, actually. Heard it was the best one. Might have to look into the other installments now, once I beat WoT. Not sure where to start, though.

[Mikey]

The best games you've played this year?
Your overall game of the year?
Borderlands 2 easily.

Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?
I...don't think I have one.

Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?
Capcom.

Your most beloved gaming platform this year?
PS3. Does PC count? If so, that.

Best soundtrack/video game music of the year?
So many....but I'll choose one that creeped me out recently: the music heard at first from Blops 2 zombie mode.

Biggest surprise of the year?
A new Metal Gear Solid game...? *shrug*
Oh! I know! Resident Evil 6...

Biggest disappointment of the year?
This is a toss up between my expectations of Resident Evil 6, and the Nintendo 3DS in general.

Most memorable VG character of the year?
Well, I don't know about memorable, but I did find lots of joy with Claptrap. =D

The game you sank the most hours into this year?
Borderlands 2. Though, technically, this would go to Final Fantasy 9.

The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?
Blops 3, RE7, Borderlands 3, or Mario Galaxy 3.

[williamjones]

Ok, here I go...


The best games you've played this year?
Final Fantasy 7, played it for the first time and fell in love with it well before disk one was over. So simple to level up in unlike with FFX. It wasnt hard at all and I never had a game over, I really hate dying in rpg's haha. Id put it on the same self as Zelda OoT and Mario 3, which Ive played those before when I was a kid and over again this year..

Your overall game of the year?
Getting into retro gaming through emulation has been amazing, I cant afford new systems, and the newer games that sell well outside of Nintendo arent the same type of games that used to be amazing. When I think of one game that captures everything I really like in my life and in old games I have to go with Symphony of The Night. RPG-like, side scrolling action, beautiful creepy enemies, great music and secrets that make it easier than you first think. It has everything you want.

Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?
Castlevania, played a number of different games from NES to NDS, and man when it comes to 2D scrolling action theyre the best besides Mario.

Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?
SNK, I like that they go for niche fans. Learning about them this year was one of the many delights I experienced. As a kid I missed the arcade crazy of the early 90's. So glad I can experience all of their games on my computer and even though I suck at them I really appreciate them out of all the Street Fighter followers.

Your most beloved gaming platform this year?
PS1, so many amazing games Ive downloaded for it, almost 100 by this point in 4 months. I got a ton og work cut out for next year haha.

Best soundtrack/video game music of the year?
Symphony of The Night


Biggest surprise of the year?
Me getting into fighting games, I really want to get good at them, Im not sure why, but I just really like 2D ones.

Biggest disappointment of the year?
People not getting sick of FPS's and buying Black Ops 2 so much. sigh.....

Most memorable VG character of the year?
Safer Sephiroth, I love his battle theme and if I were to cosplay as a game character Id want to do him right.

The game you sank the most hours into this year?
FF 7, 82 hours. sounds like a lot, but thats only 4 days out of my life, and they were amazing.

The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?
Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, both those I havent finished but started, and FF 4, 6, DS 3, 9, Also a ton of NDS games Ive downloaded.

[Gypsy]

Biggest disappointment of the year?
This is a toss up between my expectations of Resident Evil 6, and the Nintendo 3DS in general.

Hope they weren't that high.

[Pickles]

The best games you've played this year?

I'm really not sure about the answer to this one, but only because developers want to hurt me. I guess the first thing to come to mind is Borderlands 2, despite the whole thing feeling a little like a copy/paste job. Despite that I really got into the humour and at the end of the day I do love borderlands. I guess It just felt a bit cheap on the developers part.
I've been really enjoying Starhawk as well which came as a surprise.

If I ever get around to unsealing my copy of Dragons Dogma and playing it I might have to change this.


Your overall game of the year?

Silent hill 2, because everything else was shite.


Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?

While I'm nearly sure nothing God of War related came out this year, I did play the origins collection, and it did rekindle my love with the series, very much looking forward to the next installment.


Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?

Really don't have a good thing to say about anyone of em.


Your most beloved gaming platform this year?

As the only one I own right now, I'm gonna say Ps3.


Biggest surprise of the year?

Mass Effect 3 being absolutely shite.


Biggest disappointment of the year?

Skyrim being completely broken on Ps3. Cant see myself playing another Elder Scrolls game, despite how much I do love them.


Most memorable VG character of the year?

The guy from The Saboteur, for being the least Irish Irishmen to ever be thought up and released to the general public.


The game you sank the most hours into this year?

Skyrim, think I was on 135 hours or something.


The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?

MGR and God of War Ascension. Hopefully next year provides less shite.

[Gare]

Bumping this because why not. We're getting closer to the end of the year, there were a couple of new releases since then, and some of you probably just missed this thread altogether.

In other words, I'm bumping this whether you like it or not.

[williamjones]

No problem dude.

To add to my post up there I just played Chrono Trigger, FUCKING AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now Im playing Earthbound, and I love the atmosphere, so Im already knowing this will be one of my favorites.

[Curses]

The best games you've played this year?
Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition, Bayonetta, Uncharted 3, Tekken Tag 2, WWE 13; that's half the games I've bought this year and don't intend on trading until a sequel comes out.

Your overall game of the year?
I don't know. Whoever claims this answer first can have their own answer replicated in its space.

Your most beloved franchise(s) this year?
Tekken

Your most beloved gaming company/companies this year?
Tekken

Your most beloved gaming platform this year?
I didn't get any platform games.

Best soundtrack/video game music of the year? Feel free to post Youtube vids of the selected piece if you can find it.
I find Lil Reese - Us goes quite well when playing Resident Evil 6.

Biggest surprise of the year?
Finding out the girl working as a temp who I repeatedly got a boner over had just finished high school.

Biggest disappointment of the year?
See above. And Skyrim.

Most memorable VG character of the year?
Alberto Del Rio

The game you sank the most hours into this year?
That would be a toss-up between Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Uncharted 3. Initially, I racked up a lot of hours on FF but I don't have it anymore and U3 is loading up another game now, so...

The game(s) you're looking forward to the most next year?
Diablo 4.