What was the best game of the year? It’s something that gamers worldwide will argue over for the next several weeks. You have, and will continue to see, numerous ”Top 10″ lists plastered over every gaming blog on the internet.

This year, we at WingDamage.com wanted to take a little different approach. 2011 was a fantastic year for gaming. You could pick up nearly any new release (or digital only release for that matter) and come away pretty happy with your purchase. While this is a fantastic problem to have, it does make narrowing down and ordering a “Top 10″ list a harrowing endeavor.

Instead, this year we’ve decided to give you a quick rundown of a few of our favorite games in no particular order. If we missed your favorite game, please let us know in the comments.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

Jonah: This is one of the most obvious choices. If you are doing a Top 10 list and Skyrim isn’t at least near the number one slot, I’m sure your comments section will explode with anger. As we’ve come to expect, Bethesda delivered a rich and engrossing open world that is easy for players of any skill level to get lost in.

It also includes a fantastic leveling mechanic where you get better at the skills you actually use by using them. There is a plot involving some political intrigue, but more importantly there are an infinite number of dragons for you to battle. It all comes together to make Skyrim an appropriately grandiose experience with an epic fantasy flavor that might just invoke in you similar feelings as those books with all the rings and lords in them.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

Jesse: For a game that wasn’t even on my radar, I was pretty surprised by just how much I loved Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It felt like a new take on Metal Gear Solid with a hint of Blade Runner. I love a good stealth game and Deus Ex not only has great stealth mechanics, it also allows you a huge amount of freedom in how to tackle each situation.

The vast array of skills you can put points into caused my playstyle to drastically differ from those who joined me in discussions around the water cooler. And each area has so many ways to get in that exploration actually felt incredibly worthwhile. Top this off with dialogue trees that feel like an actual game in themselves and you have one of 2011′s most engaging experiences.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (PS3)

Jonah: While the turn-based strategy formula hasn’t changed much over the years, the Disgaea series has always done a good job of adding its own spin on things. NIS has an off-the-wall sense of humor and aren’t shy about broadcasting it through not just dialogue, but the gameplay itself.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten has taken the increasingly complex mechanics of the series and presents them in a way that can ease in players new to the series, but also be continually satisfying for series veterans. While you can just stick to the main story, there is enough extra content to keep you busy for potentially hundreds of hours. It’s absurd, but then again, so is the rest of the game.

Catherine (Xbox 360, PS3)

Jesse: As soon as I finished Catherine, I immediately played through the whole game again. With the exception of platformers, this just isn’t something I normally do. I was craving a game that truly did something different and Catherine fits the bill so well that it will probably put a lot of people off. It’s weird!

It’s also incredibly challenging. The puzzle sections constantly add new mechanics even in the very end of the game and are setup in a way that actually makes them still fun after repeated playthroughs. But one of my favorite aspects was gradually learning about all the messed up lives of each minor character hanging out in the bar. The fact that you don’t have enough time to talk to all of them as they come and go, and that your lack of conversing with each of them regularly results in their gruesome death makes it all the more gripping.

Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)

Jonah: It’s tough to judge an MMO after only it’s first few levels. Well, that might not be entirely true. You might be able to tell if a game is really bad fairly quickly, but it’s hard to say if a game you are finding fun now will still be fun twenty hours later, let alone several hundred hours in.

While the combat of Star Wars: The Old Republic still feels very familiar to anyone that has played an MMO post-World of Warcraft, Bioware was able to keep things feeling fresh with the inclusion of fully voiced characters and stories that are actually interesting. It also manages to invoke all the things I love about the Star Wars universe while making me forget about all those other, newer things I hate about it. At least for the forseeable future, it is a worthy followup to the original Knights of the Old Republic, one of my favorite games of the last gen of gaming.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

Jesse: Yes, there is filler. A chunk of hours could be removed and it would only be a better game for it. But the good parts of Skyward Sword are so good. If I tried to say it wasn’t one of my favorite games of 2011, I would be lying.

I was very skeptical about how long motion control combat would be sustainable, but it feels incredible all the way up to the ending credits. I have a hard time thinking of a battle in the series I had as much fun with as Skyward Sword‘s four-armed Stalmaster mid-boss. But aside from tweaking so many core mechanics for the better, there’s also crazy ideas like spheres of time travel that you can throw that make the filler much easier to gloss over.

Monster Tale (DS)

Jonah: As long as games continue to be made, I hope that someone out there continues to make them in the open map structure genre. You know, the Metroid style ones?

Thankfully, this year we got Monster Tale, a game that uses that formula, mixes in a little bit of Mega Man flavor with an X inspired wall jump, and even adds in a sidekick monster companion that evolves as you play. It’s a pretty lighthearted game, and easy as far as the genre goes, but it will also charm you with its fantastic sprite work and fun character designs. The farther into it I played, the more it got its hooks into me. If you have a DS, or a 3DS, or anything that happens to play DS games, you should go out and grab this one.

Portal 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

Jesse: Humor in games falls flat more often than not. Portal 2 caused audible laughter from me within minutes. It has the rare rare combination of both great writing and fantastic performances. The campaign stays consistently interesting by dividing itself into three very distinct acts, the second of which made the game nearly impossibly for me to put down.

Then there’s the co-op. I would have been satisfied had this just been the single player campaign. But then they went and made one of the most satisfying co-op experiences I’ve ever had. Get this: it requires actual cooperation. I can’t count how many conversations between me and my buddy started with the phrase, “I know this sounds crazy, but…” before coming up with the working solution to a stage. It’s two wonderful experiences in a single package.

Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Jonah: While I’m not opposed to the first person shooter genre by any means, I normally find little attraction from the generic war combat simulators (my exceptions being Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and Battlefield 1942). When my wife picked up a copy of Battlefield 3 so that she could play with her coworkers, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself drawn in as well. It wasn’t long before we had two copies of the game so that we could both play at the same time.

Battlefield 3 combines tactical gameplay with combat objectives that require you to work together effectively as a team. While the full team sizes are fairly large, you and your friends can hop on as smaller four man squads that are still able to get the job done. Matches rarely felt one-sided in either ours or the other team’s favor, and the inclusion of persistent class progression made me always want to play “just one more round”. It is the most fun I’ve ever had playing online multiplayer.

Rayman Origins (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Jesse: Super Mario 3D Land and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland were fun platformers, but they’ve got nothing on Rayman Origins. Every moment I spent with the game was full of tightly designed platforming challenges. The level design is phenomenal and even on par with last year’s amazing Donkey Kong Country Returns. Speaking of which, it can also be quite challenging.

It also has a hand drawn, slapstick style that gave me one more reason to instantly fall in love with it. Rayman Origins is constantly delightful. All of its wacky animations and amazing music can’t help but put you in a great mood even as you repeatedly fail the appropriately named “Tricky Treasure” stages. It’s a must-play for platformer lovers.

————————————-

Now that you’ve heard ours, what were your favorite games in 2011? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: 2011 wrapup, Battlefield 3, Catherine, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Disgaea 4, Monster Tale, Portal 2, Rayman Origins, Skyrim, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 5:00 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.