Generation Ending - Your Favorite Games Each Year

[brunoafh]

I was reflecting on what games have stood out to me as new favorites this generation (2006-2013), and became curious about what the rest of the board would have to say on it. Hopefully the topic doesn't feel that redundant as I know we have GOTY threads, but I wanted to generate some discussion, and didn't feel like combing through several threads (perhaps in some cases people have changed their minds after playing more recent games).

I went with 2006 as the first year but that doesn't mean you have to. Even though the 360 came out in 2005, that year just doesn't "feel" like the seventh generation to me. I also made an effort to only list games for seventh generation consoles, but for 2006 I had to pick a PS2 game that overwhelms anything on new systems I played from that year. I also included runners up for some years with a few games that were defining for me.

2006 - Okami

2007 - No More Heroes
-Armored Core 4
-Ninja Gaiden Sigma

2008 - Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan
-Super Robot Taisen Z

2009 - Demon's Souls
-Half Minute Hero

2010 - Deadly Premonition
-Tatsunoko vs Capcom

2011 - Dark Souls

2012 - Super Robot Taisen Z2

2013 - Anarchy Reigns

2012 and beyond has not been very interesting. 2007-2010 was pretty much the highlight of this generation for me.

[noiseredux]

I'm surprised to see the omission of 3D Dot Game Heroes on your list, bruno.

[Violent By Design]

Coincidentally, today I was thinking of playing games from a certain year to see what the GOTYs of random dates like 1992 were.

My selection from each year would be from a very limited source. Only recently started playing single player games and most have been retro since I'm cheap .

I'd personally start from 2005 because the DS came out in 2004, can't ignore those handheld brah . I'll come up with a shitty list soon

[dsheinem]

From my past threads:

2013:
too early to call...

2012:
Borderlands 2
Journey
The Pinball Arcade
Sound Shapes
Diablo III
BlazBlue: CSE (PSV)

2011:
Resistance 3
Portal 2
Crimizon Clover
Uncharted 3
Killzone 3
Dragon Age 2

2010:
God of War 3
Metro 2033
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Halo Reach
Joe Danger

2009:
Uncharted 2
Dragon Age Origins
Red Faction Guerrilla
Infamous
COD Modern Warfare 2
Flower

For stuff before that I'd have to go back and think/look. And yeah, there's stuff like DoDonPachi Resurrection which weren't on the 2011 list because I played it in 2012...but I'd consider it high on my list of favorite games ever. I am sure there's other stuff like that as well.

So not sure if that helps or not

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm looking strictly at Wii/PS3/Xbox 360/DS/PSP/PC, 2006 - 2013. I'm allowing remakes that are drastically different than the original game, but no direct ports.

2006
Final Fantasy III (DS)
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Enchanted Arms (Xbox 360)

2007
Etrian Odyssey (DS)
Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)
Contra 4 (DS)

2008
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii)
Eternal Sonata (PS3)
Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)

2009
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS)

2010
Ys Seven (PSP)
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)
Deathsmiles (Xbox 360)

2011
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PSP)
Radiant Historia (DS)
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation (DS)

2012
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
Tales of Graces F (PS3)
Journey: Collector's Edition (PS3)

2013
Pandora's Tower (Wii)
too soon to call the rest! We'll see how Tales of Xillia is

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Favorite games (that I played) from 2006 forward? I only play a few new games every year, so no one will agree with most of my picks

Uh...

2006 - Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
2007 - Lair
2008 - Valkyria Chronicles
2009 - Mirror's Edge
2010 - Knights in the Nightmare
2011 - Hatsune Miku: Project Diva EXTEND
2012 - Katawa Shoujo

2013 will probably be Fire Emblem, SMTIV, or Project Diva. Wonder if anything else will come along and surprise me?

[Violent By Design]

2005 - Resident Evil 4
Game I most wanna try out: God of War

The older plats still ruled the world in 2005, but RE4 still delivered the modern experience. A lot of good games from that year. God of War looks like pure ignorance, which is something I'm fond of.

2006 - Gears of War
Game I most wanna try out: Mother 3

Had a hard time looking for games that I really cared about. Played a lot of the big hitters but none of them really stuck for me to dig deep into them. Gears of War was pretty fun when it came out, and looking back at it its probably better than I give it credit for. Controls and graphics still are pretty good.


2007 - Portal
Game I most wanna try out: God of War II


2008 - Street Figher IV
Game I most wanna try out: Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

2009 - League of Legends
Game I most wanna try out: Demon Souls

2010 - Starcraft 2
Game I most wanna try out: Vanquish

2011: Super Mario 3D Land
Game I most wanna try out: Portal 2

2012: The Walking Dead
Game I most wanna try out: Xcomm: Enemy Unknown

2013: Dota 2
Game I most wanna try out: The Last of Us


Looking at a few huge ass list, I've played more games this gen than I thought. Haven't played a lot of the big hitters though. Only recently got a 360 and my comps video card is too crappy to play modern games.

[brunoafh]

I'm surprised to see the omission of 3D Dot Game Heroes on your list, bruno.

I wanted to be very selective with a list. 3D Dot Game Heroes was definitely a contender, but of retro RPG throwbacks, Half Minute Hero sticks out more. I can't remember if you've played it or not, but I bet you'd get a kick out of it. I only wanted to do one runner up max, but for 2007 those three games equally define my experience with that stage of gaming.

2006
Enchanted Arms (Xbox 360)

Sometimes, I feel like I am the only fan of that game. I thought it was quite good for what it was, I'd replay it for sure.

It's also worth noting this is one of the few games that actually had content removed when it was ported to PS3. Some of the golems you can create are based on "Microsoft exclusive" characters or whatever, and they are not present in the PS3 port. They did add some interesting NG+ content to the PS3 version though, but I would have rather of had the Otogi and Metal Wolf Chaos stuff in the 360 game.

[noiseredux]

I wanted to be very selective with a list. 3D Dot Game Heroes was definitely a contender, but of retro RPG throwbacks, Half Minute Hero sticks out more. I can't remember if you've played it or not, but I bet you'd get a kick out of it. I only wanted to do one runner up max, but for 2007 those three games equally define my experience with that stage of gaming.

I did play and beat Half-Minute Hero. I loved it. It's probably one of my favorite games released on PSP. But I'd actually choose 3D Dot Game Heroes myself between the two. And actually, I tend to think of it in my handful of favorite games this whole generation. Personal preference of course.

[Violent By Design]

Hey Bruno, what would you say is your game of the generation? Might make for some good inspiration for me to get into modern games. Been meaning to clean a few recent games up so I can have more relevant convos with gamers.