Best of the Year - Discussion.

Mr E

Ok, so the overall nomination threads are up. Are you going to go for the big name heavyweights of the year, or the games that arrived with no fanfare and surprised everyone?

Retr0gamer

I predict Uncharted 2 but for me Demon's Souls is by far the clear winner. Also Persona 4 is going to get criminally ignored because it's a PS2 game. Street Fighter 4 deserves a lot of credit as well because I've actually made new friends because of this game and becasue it's simply brilliant.

AnCapaillMor

ITs a pity a select few have really played Demons Souls, if it had genral release it would walk away with GOTY. Anyway it gets my vote, altho as retro said uncharted will walk away with it.

Dustaz

Wheres the mmo category?

tman

Dustaz wrote: »

Wheres the mmo category?

That's perfectly covered by online GotY already - no need for another option imo

johnny_ultimate

It is a shame that some of the more obscure games won't have a chance (although Demon's Souls and Persona are getting lots of love in the nomination threads) but in fairness Uncharted 2 is hardly an undeserving winner. There may be personal preferences (I somewhat suspect Retr0 is obsessed with Demon's Souls ) but Uncharted 2 provided me with almost as much fun and entertainment as 'Shin Megami Tensei: Obscure Japanese RPG 7' (well, 8 hours as opposed to 70, but you get the point).

That said,

I'm still voting Persona 4 :pac:

Retr0gamer

In a weaker year Uncharted 2 would get my vote but we've had a sequel to possibly the best JRPG ever made, one of the finest beat'em upsever made thats caused a resurgence in fighting games and created a fantastic community here on boards and an amazing action RPG that as happens to have the most original use of online integration since the MMO. For me a very entertaining shooter doesn't stack up

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer wrote: »

In a weaker year Uncharted 2 would get my vote but we've had a sequel to possibly the best JRPG ever made, one of the finest beat'em upsever made thats caused a resurgence in fighting games and created a fantastic community here on boards and an amazing action RPG that as happens to have the most original use of online integration since the MMO. For me a very entertaining shooter doesn't stack up

Don't get me wrong, I loved the games you mention (except Street Fighter IV, because it tends to kick my ass Practice still needed). I still think a very entertaining shooter is underselling Uncharted 2 a bit. In terms of character and storytelling (as in a story that genuinely engages) it was miles ahead of the competition these days, and it would be hard to find a game with such fluid technology and mechanics. Perhaps it wasn't as innovative as others (if we're going on innovation, I'd also throw the transcendent Flower into the mix) but nothing I played this year was as comfortable being exactly what it wanted to be.

Of course, this is basically like arguing whether my lump of gold is better than your lump of gold. The gaming world is much richer for having Uncharted 2, Demon's Souls, Persona 4 and Street Fighter IV. I know you're a valiant knight of the obscure (I can be guilty of such a cause too on occasion) but Uncharted 2 is one of those very, very rare cases when mass popularity and acclaim is totally warranted. It might not be perfect, but I still wouldn't complain about it being proclaimed game of the year. Personally, I consider Persona 4 my most compelling game of the year, but Uncharted 2 obviously reached a far wider audience. And to me anyway it totally deserved that audience.