GWJ's Favorite Games from 2011-2014

Wow, I've actually beat over half of those games And aside from Dishonored (sorry Eleima!) I enjoyed playing all of them.

I own 12 of those games of which I've only played 6 and of which I've only beaten 4. It's like a small slice of my backlog in list form!

13/25 completed. Not bad.

23/25 owned -- Dragon Age 2 + The Last of Us are the missing culprits, the latter of which I hope to pick-up soon after all the accolades (and while I can still avoid spoilers).

Budo wrote:

Best part about the list is it helps me prioritize my pile.

I like this plan.

I've beat thirteen myself, not half-bad! Favorites include Skyrim, Portal 2, The Walking Dead, Mass Effect 3, Bastion, Saints Row the Third, Dishonored (I'm not speaking to you anymore, CptD ), FTL, Mark of the Ninja, and Dragon Age 2. I also played Borderlands 2 which ended up being a bit of a chore (funny I loved number one in the series) and Gone Home. Gone Home, I have mixed feelings about: I loved the setting, its story, the 90s nostalgia but some things bugged me in the ending. Arkham City was good, but... Meh. XCOM didn't click with me, not my genre.
So that leaves Brothers and Tomb Raider from the list and still on my pile. Looking forward to both!

I'd be curious to get the breakdown by year though. I'm willing to bet those are mostly 2012 games, because most of us haven't gotten around to 2013 games yet (like AC4 and SR4). Games that have been out longer have a greater chance of being voted for, so there's a bit of a bias there.
*sigh* I can't seem to turn my brain off, can't I?

Eleima wrote:

I've beat thirteen myself, not half-bad!

Slightly over half-bad, if my math is right.

Eleima wrote:

I'd be curious to get the breakdown by year though. I'm willing to bet those are mostly 2012 games, because most of us haven't gotten around to 2013 games yet (like AC4 and SR4). Games that have been out longer have a greater chance of being voted for, so there's a bit of a bias there.

As you wish.

It's actually an even split between 2011 and 2012:

10 from 2011 (Bastion, Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Dark Souls, Deus Ex, Dragon Age 2, Portal 2, Saint's Row the Third, Skyrim, The Witcher 2)

10 from 2012 (Borderlands 2, CKII, Diablo III, Dishonored, FTL, Journey, Mark of the Ninja, Mass Effect 3, The Walking Dead, XCOM)

5 from 2013 (BioShock Infinite, Brothers, Gone Home, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider)

Very cool. In spite of sometimes feeling like I don't have much time to play games, I've played 17 of them, and I finished 13 of those. Thanks for doing this.

Gravey wrote:
Eleima wrote:

I'd be curious to get the breakdown by year though. I'm willing to bet those are mostly 2012 games, because most of us haven't gotten around to 2013 games yet (like AC4 and SR4). Games that have been out longer have a greater chance of being voted for, so there's a bit of a bias there.

As you wish.

Of course, I immediately thought of this:

Gravey wrote:

It's actually an even split between 2011 and 2012:
10 from 2011 (Bastion, Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Dark Souls, Deus Ex, Dragon Age 2, Portal 2, Saint's Row the Third, Skyrim, The Witcher 2)
10 from 2012 (Borderlands 2, CKII, Diablo III, Dishonored, FTL, Journey, Mark of the Ninja, Mass Effect 3, The Walking Dead, XCOM)
5 from 2013 (BioShock Infinite, Brothers, Gone Home, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider)

Thanks for looking it up and doing the legwork, bit tied up with (by? ) the toddler this morning. So there is a slight skew in favor of 2011 and 2012 games, but not as spectacular as I thought it would be. I'd imagine it would even out as we add following years (2014 and 2015) to the data pool. My somewhat uneducated guess would be that there will always be a slight skew because a lot of us don't always buy games day one, will wait for discounts, Steam sales, and of course free time to play the more recent games.
Still, it's interesting to see the contrast between this year's top ten (which contained mostly 2013 games IIRC) and the overall tally.

Eleima wrote:

*sigh* I can't seem to turn my brain off, can't I?

Sometimes, I scare myself...

Completed 10/25

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Portal 2
XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within
Mass Effect 3
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
BioShock Infinite
Dishonored
FTL
Batman: Arkham City
Diablo III

Uncompleted 8/25

Bastion
Saint's Row the Third
Dark Souls
Mark of the Ninja
Borderlands 2
Tomb Raider
Dragon Age 2
Crusader Kings II/Expansions

Owned, untouched 4/25

The Walking Dead
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Gone Home
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Notably absent 3/25

The Last of Us
Journey
Battlefield 3

Played 19/25, beat 16/25, and own all 25.

I'd love to play Journey and maybe Last of Us as well. Too bad they're console exclusives.

Eleima wrote:

I'd love to play Journey and maybe Last of Us as well. Too bad they're console exclusives. :(

I'm right there with you. I could probably borrow a PS3, but the pile beckons.

Eleima wrote:

I'd love to play Journey and maybe Last of Us as well. Too bad they're console exclusives. :(

That's the boat I'm in with Gone Home and Crusader Kings 2. I'd love to play both, but they're PC exclusives.

What struck me about the list was no Nintendo games! Not that I'm a rabid fanboy, its a very good list. I've completed 13 games on it and there a couple more that I'd like to play, but my personal top 10 of the year always features a few Nintendo games. Its interesting to see how peoples tastes vary.

That may just be a case of GWJer platform demographics, predominantly leaning towards PC. I'm guilty of the offence, haven't owned a Nintendo console for quite some time until I picked up a 3DS back in October. Still could not in good conscience vote for Wonderful 101, much to the chagrin of ccesarano.

O.o

I think I own 23 of those...

*shame*

Still plenty of great games not on it, but not a bad list.

So long as GWJ breathes, PC gaming will be relevant.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

From this list, I've played Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Bastion, and Batman: Arkham City. I liked Deus Ex; I generally disliked the other three.

Weird. I hated Deus Ex, and loved the other 3.

mr_n00b wrote:

Still could not in good conscience vote for Wonderful 101, much to the chagrin of ccesarano.

That's okay. I'm researching how to clone my ghost so that I can haunt all of you.

Completed: 13
Portal 2, The Walking Dead, Mass Effect 3, Bastion, Saint's Row the Third, Bioshock Infinite, Dishonored, The Last of Us, Mark of the Ninja, Borderlands 2, Tomb Raider, Batman: Arkham City, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Played, Unfinished: 2
Dark Souls, Dragon Age 2

On the Pile: 3
XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Battlefield 3

Unplayed, Not owned: 7
Skyrim, FTL, The Witcher 2, Journey, Gone Home, Crusader Kings II, Diablo 3

I have surprisingly beat quite a few of these:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Portal 2
XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within
The Walking Dead
Mass Effect 3
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
BioShock Infinite
Dishonored
Mark of the Ninja
Borderlands 2
Tomb Raider
Batman: Arkham City
Dragon Age 2
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

There is a distinct lack of Dead Space though. ;p

kuddles wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

From this list, I've played Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Bastion, and Batman: Arkham City. I liked Deus Ex; I generally disliked the other three.

Weird. I hated Deus Ex, and loved the other 3.

It's like you're a Bizarro Clocky. Or Clocky is a Bizarro Kuddles.
Whichever.

Eleima wrote:
kuddles wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

From this list, I've played Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Bastion, and Batman: Arkham City. I liked Deus Ex; I generally disliked the other three.

Weird. I hated Deus Ex, and loved the other 3.

It's like you're a Bizarro Clocky. Or Clocky is a Bizarro Kuddles.
Whichever. :D

I don't think either of us should be surprised we don't agree about a game. Although if I'm the anti-Kuddles, maybe I should get a copy of The Last of Us as soon as possible.

I do think I'll make an effort this year to play something from this list that's outside of my normal gaming habits (which, conveniently, is most of this list). Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 are the highest-rated games on this list that I haven't played that don't seem like my thing. (The Walking Dead is an adventure game, and I love those, and XCOM is a reskin away from being a Japanese SRPG.)

I've played 13 of the 25 and didn't dislike any of them.

I attribute this to my brilliant game-buying skills.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Eleima wrote:

I'd love to play Journey and maybe Last of Us as well. Too bad they're console exclusives. :(

That's the boat I'm in with Gone Home and Crusader Kings 2. I'd love to play both, but they're PC exclusives.

You have a Mac, right? If you have Boot Camp installed, you could try the Windows demo and see how it runs (I don't know why there isn't a demo for the OS X or Linux versions). It can't be that demanding, can it—it's just, like, dudes standing around on a map.

(I've been meaning to try CKII too, and haven't yet remembered to take my own advice, though the requirement is a 9600 and I have a 9400M.)

Crusader Kings II straight up won't run on my MacBook. The video chipset isn't supported.

Gone Home might run, but it'll run like garbage.

CKII and EUIV can be surprisingly tough to run. Since the map moved to 3D it got to be pretty tasking, but I think it's mostly a cpu crunch for older computers.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Crusader Kings II straight up won't run on my MacBook. The video chipset isn't supported.

Ah well that answers that.

garion333 wrote:

CKII and EUIV can be surprisingly tough to run. Since the map moved to 3D it got to be pretty tasking, but I think it's mostly a cpu crunch for older computers.

As I understand it, the GPU requirements for CKII and EUIV are largely about off-loading complex calculations off the CPU onto the GPU, so they require beefier cards than you might expect given their visual presentation.

This community has been responsible for me trying a lot of those.

There's less than a handful I've elected not to play (and a few that not owning the requisite hardware has prevented me from - i.e. no PS3 exclusives.

Played 21 of those :O

Arkham City, Deus Ex, Saints Row the Third, Battlefield 3 being the missing ones, and partly thanks to PSN+ Battlefield3 is the only one I dont own. Hell, I might own BF3 on PSN without even knowing it. Despite only having a PC and a PS3. All other consoles are dead: confirmed!

But really, the BI vs TLOU thing is nothing compared to the wrongness that is Dark Souls not being on top of that list.
Sure, you can argue it is just yet another stereotypical story about a zombie protecting a snake-man with big teeth, but that is no excuse.