Best game at the halfway point of 2012

[Pro A.]

Okay, it's not til Saturday, but this is close enough, I think. It has been an interesting, somewhat tumultuous, 2012. With the Wii U coming out in November and the promises of a couple of Mario games and RE6 and a few other possible A-listers, it should be a good year. Maybe on par with 2011, maybe not. Here's my top 5 for the year (so far):

5. Xenoblade Chronicles, Wii. It's a good thing the story more than holds its weight because the combat is pretty blah. Then again, this is an RPG so we probably shouldn't expect too much. This game got a lot of buzz in Europe as one of the more engaging RPG's in recent memory. And we're talking more of the classic RPG here for Xenoblade, which is a spiritual sequel to the cult classic Xenogears.

4. Max Payne 3, PS3, X360, PC. It's worth noting Max Payne is absolutely awful at whatever he job he does before he starts murdering an entire city. It is also worth noting that this noir-ish title is delightfully stepped in grimy, ugly despair that is absorbing even when the game starts doling out C-movie dialogue (which is quite often). Bullet time is still a wonderful thing and I can only hope it doesn't take eight years for the next Max Payne.

3. Diablo III, PC. Thank God all those years of waiting were worth it. It lacks the rich complexity that made the second title so good, but it still delivers. Misery, blood, and hell never looked so good. I just wish the launch hadn't been such a disaster. I mean, come on guys, you had 11.5 years to get it right.

2. Mass Effect 3, PS3, X360, PC. Yes, we know the ending sucks. Yes, it will go down as one of the biggest clusterfucks in history. It is the complete antithesis to Arkham City's ending, which ranks as one of the five best ever. Personally, I don't think ME3's ending is as awful as some people, though it is underwhelming. Sci-fi trilogies can't seem to hack it as far as endings go. Halo 3 was pretty shitty, too. All that aside, it is still one extremely riveting thrill-ride and worth the experience. Granted, with a caveat.

1. Journey, PSN. Journey is some kind of strange near-masterpiece, for sure. The game owes a bit to Shadow of the Colossus, which was more action-oriented and puzzle-oriented, but in terms of that vast, epic scope that kind of brings a hush to you as you experience the game, few games have been able to match this experience. I just wish it weren't over so soon, though it has plenty of replay value because the experience is so absorbing. This is definitely the greatest DLC/online-only title I have ever played.

Most disappointing game of 2012:
Prototype 2, PS3, X360. You only wish the game was as engaging as the commercial, which gets props as being one of the better VG commercials post-Gears of War.

Worst game of 2012:
Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode II, PS3, X360, Wii. Not even close. Any hope Sonic Generations provided was completely eviscerated with this grating piece of shit. Episode I was flawed, but it remained reasonably entertaining through most of the title. Episode II made me physically ill. And that was before I put the game on mute so I didn't have to listen to the music.

Other games of note:
- Twisted Metal's decade-long layoff should have gone another five years after laying an egg with its quasi-revival.
- FFXIII-2 proved direct sequels in this series DO NOT WORK. Not counting the online turkeys that were FFXI and FFXIV, this and X-2 are the nadir of the franchise and are emblematic proof of how far this series has fallen in the last decade.
- Mortal Kombat's return was probably better than it deserved. Still not as good as Street Fighter's revival a few years back, but a step in the right direction.
- Kid Icarus's proper return after 25 years was a very good title for the 3DS. The controls were a bit wonky, but the experience was about what I expected from a modern-day title.

Have I played everything? No. Will I? I'll do my best. A lean summer should get me caught up in time for NSMB 2 for the 3DS, which comes out in August.

[Segitz]

I haven't played a whole lot this year (yet)... and if I did, it was mostly (re)playing old stuff.

I did however like Yakuza 3 and 4. As well as Bayonetta and a bit No More Heroes and Shadow of the Damned (yeah... I like japanese games).

New titles were only Max Payne 3 and Mass Effect 3 (what's it with the threes?). I did like the former, and was disillusioned by the latter. MP3 was a REAL PC game once again, after a decade of meh, Rockstar delivered. It wasn't without fault (the game defaults to analog stereo instead of 5.1 surround via HDMI, unless you force it, but only in fmv cutscenes!), but for what it was, it sure delivered. ME3 was... a good game (though the tacked on multiplayer sucked ASS), but Bioware basically broke every promise they made about the ending... if you don't count the whole game as the ending (i.e. I let the Rachni live... you see her again, but it doesn't affect the ending of ME3, just that one cutscene, and only midly so). It was... just so... even Deus Exs (the first, no the third, which I found lacking, too) ending wasn't as shortlived. At least it had some interesting voice overs. ME3? None of that. Red, blue or green... that's it. The rest was not just essentially the same. It WAS the same in a different hue.

Say... what else. A yes. Played Civ5 again. God I love this game. Short (as in once a month, not per session) bursts of this game are really fun. And now with Steamworks, even better! Need a faster CPU for this game, though, as massive levels tend to slow this game down to a crawl. Starting to get really good at it, too.

[AC!D]

Top 5 games i played this year are probably Witcher 2, Journey, Dragons Dogma, Golden Abyss and Xenoblade Chronicles. If Gravity Rush keeps me this entertained till the end of the game i might just be adding it to the list soon also.

[Pro A.]

Witcher 2 is on my list of games I haven't gotten around to. I've heard a lot of good things.

[AC!D]

You are in for a treat. Just remember that when the credits roll you are only halfway done with the story. It's best to play this game twice making different decisions at the end of act one.

[Pro A.]

Gotcha. I'll make a note.

[Diresu]

Witcher 2 gets my vote easy.

[Segitz]

Sure... though for me it was last years GOTY by far (PC version that is). As CDPR already teased their new Steampunk game, I am quite excited for that, actually.

I might add a "most disappointing" to my list, which easily goes to Mass Effect 3. The controls are fine, I guess, but a LOT of the missions simply involved the tacked on "survive these waves of enemies" (because we can't be bothered to design actual levels) to progress. I VERY much hated that. That, and the completely botched ending, which was now retconned with the DLC... wtf?

I did play Bastion earlier this year... which, at least to a degree, takes my Goty at the moment, though I am sure it won't last till the year is out. I am yet to play Catherine and Yakuza Dead Souls (though I doubt the latter will be great). And I might get Mortal Kombat 9, finally (I am building myself a new arcade stick, soon, and MK9 will be the prime candidate to test it with, as well as VF5 on PSN).

[Diresu]

^I am definitely super excited for whatever the Witcher devs got in store next, and I agree with your observations on ME3. That particular aspect felt really lazy.