Coint and Plick 2013 - The Sixth Annual ILX Video Game Poll

xenoblade is, i think, out of print
my PROTIP on buying xenoblade chronicles is that you join gamefly, put that one game in your queue and buy it for thirty bucks when they send it

no other game this year included frog pornography lemonade stand style simulations

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#6: Journey – PSN – 67 pts – 4 votes - 2 top game votes - Top PSN Exclusive Game

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8iaulIQnt1ra57bjo1_400.gif

Official Game Site

Metacritic

Gameplay Video

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdxe2f8NtW1qi6l3do5_1280.png

Some thoughts and sounds on sound design

Nightmare Mode

World One Two - ‘Over the Precipice: An Essay on Journey’

The Atlantic - ‘A Portrait of the Artist as Game Studio’

Brainy Gamer - ‘All About the Journey’

Jenova Chen Interview

Dissenting opinion at Quarter to Three

http://azurebot.com/dmas/art/journey_demake.gif

JOURNEY for PS3

forksclovetofu:Journey is NOT drastically different than Flower; it's just better looking, more ingeniously designed and with a Demons' Souls style multiplayer element. It's almost intrinsically not the most interesting game. The puzzles I beat were fairly easy and logical and not taxing; the kind of thing that’s good to beat with a new voiceless friend. So if you want a great game, this probably isn't it and if “how long the game is = how good it is”, you’re at the wrong station. But as an interesting EXPERIENCE this is a must play and probably the most profound time I had with something that thought it was a game since, wow, maybe ever.

kelpolaris: I’m gonna say it got *slightly* monotonous - yeah, even within it's near abysmal 2 hour timespan - but there were certain moments where i couldn't believe how beautiful the games shots were. I tagged along with a dude for near the entire game, almost never lost him.... only when the game ended did it tell me that i had actually spent all that time with 5 dudes O_o

EZSnappin: The best game of this generation on Playstation. Just the right length to play in one go, and a pleasure to go through again. Getting a chance to help a stranger discover the magic was the best gaming experience I've had in ages.

if: If I say that it is a lot like Fez but without a game to go with the beauty, I don't mean that entirely as a bad thing. The sweeping down the sandstream bit was stunning, and the ending was lovely too. Maybe if I had a connection with anyone I met on it I would be raving about it.

zappi: The year’s best walking simulator/non-game "experience".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgu76ql6FSo

how many times have I considered buying a PS3 just to play journey

i have a feeling i'd really like xenoblade. about the only thing that's seriously tempted me about a wii, but it feels way too late in the platforms' life to get it just for one jrpg.

whew so glad journey is not #1

xxp it's worth buying a ps3 cos it's the best system currently available and then getting journey, but it's prolly not worth buying a ps3 just for journey. it's a very cool game though, + it is the only video game my mom has ever commented on in her life as far as i can recall (she also thought it was cool)

just waiting on PS4 at this point tbrr

it's been said over and over but seriously this game has some of the most stunning images i've seen in the medium.. the cleaved mountain was a personal favorite, can't really put into words why but it seemed to be in some sort of sub-conscious jungian archetypal way

Flower is a better game

was going to vote for Xenoblade but then remembered that it was my number 1 vote last year
sorta enjoyed Journey for the 90 odd minutes it took, but even in that short timespan its ideas were stretched pretty thin

Flower was crap.

Here's my explanation of Super Hexagon's appeal from last year:

so is playing that game just a matter of memorizing the pattern and touching the screen appropriately? Could you write the winning passage as sheet music?

― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Friday, October 5, 2012 3:04 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there are patterns but they come out in an unpredictable order, so it's about practicing the mapping from patterns to touches to the point of being able to unconsciously execute them.

― www.toilet-guru.com (silby), Friday, October 5, 2012 3:06 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, i know those words make sense but I can't read them in a way that does

― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Friday, October 5, 2012 3:34 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol it makes perfect sense to me

― Mordy, Friday, October 5, 2012 3:37 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'll try again: it's distilled procedurally-generated rhythm mario

― www.toilet-guru.com (silby), Friday, October 5, 2012 4:09 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

super punch land just felt like every other l-r iOS runner and yeah the punching wasnt even that good

and as far as voting for important games goes, i didnt vote this year, but you are talking ot a guy who put drop7 at his #1 a couple years ago

important itt = big budget title?

important = "the vote makes a statement", not just "this was fun".

no other ios runners have nearly as much punching!

as much as i enjoyed dishonored it seemed more like a culmination/refining of a trend (very well designed open world RPG style game) and not a breakthrough in gaming. like idk ftl or walking dead feel like they could inaugurate a lot of similar games (small tightly designed gamey roguelikes and sharply written adventure narratives respectively). not that either of those are actually unique to the history of gaming but it's been a long time since either of those genres were popular or interesting. another COD4 style game (even a particularly good one) or another bethesda project (esp after the fallout 3 tour de force imho) just don't blow my mind in 2013

also terry cavanagh is a genius that goes without saying

Hold on, Dishonoured isn't open world, and it's not very RPG either.

yeah, i guess closer to deus ex / thief templates but it felt like a lot of other RPGs i've played lately and felt very 'open' maybe not in quest selection (tho plenty of optional stuff to do + places to explore) but in approaches/style development. it felt a little looser than bioware rpgs too, even if obv not quite as sprawling as skyrim/f3

i liked human revolution last year too but it also didn't feel particularly groundbreaking in the genre (and was also pseudo-open world, pseudo-RPG)

Punch Quest just felt right in the punching, timing and so forth, I dug the music, design and animation style too. Also I'll permanently associate it with getting me through the SUPERSTORM. I still haven't nailed a 200-hit combo though, maybe someday.

Ok enjoying 2 games that are still to place that have not been mentioned.

One of which is going to apparently blindside some peeps, but it is super badass

One of Dishonored's two creative directors did Deus Ex.

That's why you could approach the missions in a variety of play styles.

There's a difference between open-world and hub-levels. Sleeping Dogs is open-world; Deus Ex: HR is hub-level

phew, finally finished all of the goddamn images!!

(i was the reason for the holdup these last few days, sorry!)

you've been amazing dude. great work throughout.

http://i.imgur.com/flBEXN2.gif
#5: Borderlands II – X360, PS3, PC – 73 pts – 6 votes - 1 top game vote

http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/pictures/borderlands2_616.jpg

Official Game Site

Metacritic

Gameplay Video

http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Borderlands-2-Gets-New-DLC-on-PC-via-Steam.jpg?1355301896

Zero Punctuation

Quarter to Three

California Literary Review

Nightmare Mode

Extensive Video Dev Interview

That Game’s(UX)

YouTube Soundtrack Playlist

Popmatters: 1, 2, 3

How Borderlands 2 Lied To Me

The White World of Pandora

http://4playernetwork.com/static/media/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/borderlands2_top.png

BORDERLANDS - like Fallout 3 but with cars and MAXIMUM PWNAGE OMGWTFLOLNEWB FPS combat

jjjusten: Shoot shit, kill stuff, bang bang etc. It's not the most novel concept in the world, but BL2 might be the best iteration of it so far. Like Bulletstorm (well and the first Borderlands) before it, this is a shooter that understands that games are supposed to be fun, and that while depresso mope fests are one way to deal with the fact that virtually shooting people is sort of a creepy pastime, there is another answer - to turn the whole exercise into a ridiculous anti-realist romp. Gameplaywise, this is a shooter that sorta reveals it's depth as you go, and little things like frame rate are imperceptible, level design is actually pretty complicated and loaded with alternate routes and (gasp) strategic decisions if you are more of a "get the drop on them" rather than a "SHOOT U IN UR FACE NOW" player. re: improvements over the first one - the story isn't stupid, it's funnier, the vehicles are not absolute horseshit. Also, don't believe the "gotta play it multiplayer" hype, it's just as badass SP style.

CraigG: I played a ton of the original Borderlands, and it was the game that persuaded me to give FPSes a little more of a chance (I did, and I don't much like them still), so I couldn't pass up Borderlands 2. I haven't gotten really into it in the same way as I did Borderlands, but I think that's mostly because I've had so many great games to play this year (between new releases and catching up on some of the winners from C&P 2011). It's just as good, though, I think and seems pretty big so far. Now I'm armed with a decent assault rifle and a sniper rifle, I'm set to continue my rampage.

Graphics have been excellent on this thread

you've been amazing dude. great work throughout.

OTM. Seriously impressive.

Borderlands 2 is great, but has suffered from diminishing returns a bit for me. I think I need to try one of the other character classes, though (stuck with the commando thus far).

Co-sign on the great graphics.

Yep, I sort of hate borderlands 2 at this stage (although I voted for it). I'm pretty close to the end of the main campaign and I've hit a massive difficulty spike, and as far as I can tell it's really just because I've been unlucky with the random weapon drops. That shouldn't really be possible in a triple-A game these days, I feel like maybe they've just tried to build in too wide a range of possible play styles and classes and loadouts, but then weren't able to fully play test all the gazillion possible permutations that throws up.

But I've still had fun times in there, and I've not given up on it yet (I guess there's always something to be said for any game where I can spend two hours dying and dying and dying but still feel like I want to keep going).

The new game plus is pretty cool once you've done the regular game, it's when you start to get really crazy weapons too. I kind of like the randomness of it, but I do know what you mean.

Borderlands 2 is one of those games that looks like tons of fun until I remember that I am beyond terrible at shooters (the last one I played that I developed any type of aptitude with was... Goldeneye)

DJP - we should play Borderlands 2 together. I suck at shooters too. Might be a good laugh.

hahaha yes

it will be 5 minutes of shooting at a wall while desperately looking around for any type of melee weapon before the first controller goes flying across the room

We'll have to play with JJJ so he can actually progress the story while we empty our guns into the ground, sky, and each other.

things just got really sexy in here

get a room you guys! and if you've got a room, lose some weight!

its still worth giving borderlands 2 a shot (heh) if you hate shooters, because its still just a shooter on the face w/rpg dice rolls behind it (or at least that is my understanding).

nope, not banned yet

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#4: Fez – XBLA – 103 pts – 8 votes - 1 top game votes - Top XBLA Exclusive Game

http://tech.co/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fez.jpg

Official Game Site

Metacritic

Gameplay Video

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a7/Fez_videogame.jpg

Zero Punctuation

Experience Points

Lego Fez

Flash Fez clone “for poor people”

PopMatters

Soundtrack

2007 Dev Interview

2011 Dev Interview

Renaud Bedard Interview

The California Literary Review

NY Times

More like MicroBucks mirit? ...but maybe not.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/04/fez-thumb-main.jpg

fez

CraigG: I've probably only put a couple of hours into Fez, but I've played enough to know it deserves a place in my C&P poll, and that when I get a chance to spend a chunk of time on it I'm going to really enjoy it.

diamonddave85: Like a lot of people, I'd been waiting for this game since its first reveal: the visual aesthetic was beautiful and the 3d rotation seemed novel and fun. When it finally arrived, it was boring as shit. This was my most disappointing game of the year.

if: Provides a kind of constant brain-tickle of enjoyment through both the puzzle design and satisfaction of just rotating the world, and the beauty of the music and visuals. I just discovered that the soundtrack album is available to buy separately and it is probably worth it! Graphically the bright and simple colours are there not just out of a desire for retro accuracy but to create some amazing scenes - there was one particular moment in my playthrough with a bright purple sunset that I am not going to forget. I actually loved the down-a-rabbit-hole design of the map too, and the sense of mystery and things lying just out of the reach of comprehension, to the extent that I didn't feel even the need to go far into the cryptography stuff because it was a joyful and complete experience as it was.

WillM: This is one of two games I included just because of feel. I mean, sure, it's a good game. It's fun to do some of the puzzles, even if some are repetitive and others are so goddamn inscrutable that it makes you wonder why the fuck you're even trying to do it without a FAQ. But there was just something about playing this game with the lights out in late summer while the sun set and dusk set in. Maybe it was the excellent soundtrack (similarly with my other similarly-chosen pick, Hotline Miami). Maybe it was the graphics being so sharp, so bright, and so well-framed. Maybe it was the hints of a bigger story that I never fully uncovered but passively wondered about. I didn't beat Fez -- to be honest, I am not sure I'll go back and do so -- but on those perfect warm summer nights, this game was my fucking jam. I felt good just hanging out in it.

jjjusten: Definitely the most interesting game of the year, and one that actually lives up to the endless development cycle hype. It is at least nominally a platformer, and it is perfectly fine at doing that, and at times even ramps up the challenge, but it has very little twitch timing going on, because it is 100% at heart a puzzle game, so platforming only really comes into play in service of that. I know that deceptively simple is one of those horrible game review catch phrases, but behind the 8-bit sensibility lurks a strange and complex beast. This is the first time that a d/l title has actually done what all the other 5 star titles (fuck u braid) claimed to, which is deliver aha moments over and over and over. Immensely rewarding in every way, and brilliantly layered - whether you are in full on cryptography mode or just finally getting to the top of a pedestal, every frustration is met with that magical all-too rare feeling of actual gaming accomplishment.

gorgeous looking & sounding, gameplay didn't grab me personally.

loved this; concur most definitely with the sentiment of ok-Gameplay but WOW everything else, what an experience

really atmospheric too. Maybe I should give it another go...

ok too low, now forks u are banned

i dont mean to be this guy, but so journey and frog fractions made the top three? i voted for one of them, but gtfo with that nonsense

i like the idea of being the kind of gamer who is super into Fez, but i gave up really early after getting bored by thought of lots of backtracking and trial & error. :(