The Fourth Annual Coint and Plick Video Games Poll - Part Four: #21 - 52

Oops, sorry. I'll do a couple now.

I would totally be willing to take this on and post 5 a day for the next week. Just throwing it out there. :)

Be careful what you wish for.

two way tie for 39

#39: Trainyard – iPhone – 25 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/FCKEditorFiles//Trainyard_01.jpg

ledge: Made me realise my favourite puzzle game is one where everything is controlled and determined, not random like bejewelled, or dependent on perfect timing and touchpad control like angry birds or cut the rope. It's all about thinking, not doing. Also a beautifully produced game, with a lovely look and feel and wonderfully tuneful sound fx.

http://c1345842.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/assets/screenshots/images/001/357/540/original.jpg?1276365589

Euler: A problem with puzzlers on this platform is the small screen real estate but this one gets it right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWtIb7NEYgM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKWJs5huXyY

MattD: A really cute little train puzzle game with a feature I don't see in many; most of the problems have multiple possible solutions. You can upload yours to the online database and see how other solved any given puzzle differently or more / less efficiently. It gives it some sold replay value as well as cutting down on the frustration that often ensues from trying to find the exact right way to solve a problem

Wired review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yYPly3D8Gs

If we were voting now for 2010 (heaven forbid!) I'd rate Trainyard much higher yet; I'd only really just started with it at voting time, but it's been a reliable standby ever since (still not quite finished with the bonus puzzles, but close).

#39: Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes – DS – 25 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://sfx-360.com/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/MightAndMagicClashOfHeroes.jpg

Euler: En realidad I didn't play many 2010 games this year but I happily played a lot of this on a bunch of transatlantic flights so it ends up near the top kinda by default. (If this were "best of what you played in 2010" by contrast, the winners would be Pic Pic, Strategery & Civ Rev for iOS, and Assassin's Creed, but you go with the year you have not, not the year you had at some previous date.) But Clash of Heroes was worth the time because leveling! new units! fast improvement! kinda puzzly! plot a helluva lot better than Puzzle Quest!

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/2009/12/custom_1260900505570_mightandmagicclash.jpg

abanana: puzzle rpgs still struggle with plot. but the puzzles were innovative here.

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/100/1004030/might-and-magic-clash-of-heroes-20090715030430448.jpg

Will M.: I can't wait to try this out against other people whenever I end up buying the XBLA one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wccV45fsoJI

IGN review

#38: VVVVVV – Flash/PC – 27 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.merseyremakes.co.uk/gibber/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/vvv2.png

a passing spacecadet: I have never had so much fun being so bad at a game. Thank you death counter for racking up just how bad I was. Thank you that one trinket with the 3-room-high jump which I spent over an hour swearing at. It was like being 8 and hunched over Jet Set Willy every evening for months all over again. Such beautiful wrist pain.

http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/vvvvvv05.png

GM: No games hooked me as hard this year as genius throwbacks like ... VVVVVV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56c9NJO3ASM

Eurogamer revvvvvvview

http://www2.ambientdesign.com/gallery/files/9/8/0/0/vvvvvv_gleeee_original.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E99qxCMb05g

http://distractionware.com/blog/img/2010/nov/vvvvvv.jpg

i very nearly voted for that

#37: Final Fantasy XIV – PS3 – 30 pts – 1 vote - 0.5 top game votes
Official Game Site

http://au.playstation.com/media/DiKtuPTc/FinalFantasyXIV_Hero.JPG

Princess TamTam: a daring reimagining of what constitutes "good" and "fun" gaming... boldly elects to regress in quality from Final Fantasy XI... fearless in the way that all great art is, will one day be seen as a Duchampian lightning bolt that forced a reassessment of the status quo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwk3Ps3Jayw

Kotaku review

http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/242367_S/Final-Fantasy-14.jpg

Wikipedia:

Square Enix has sent at least two apologies to its customers, recognizing the poor quality of the game, asking for patience, and announcing free trial extensions and reshuffles in the development team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdZ7B2XkzQc

just tried out trainyard recently - good stuff!

i originally tried to give Final Fantasy XIV 100 points, but forks wasnt having it.

haha! when is it coming out on PS3, do they have a date yet?

Be careful what you wish for.
― polyphonic, Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The gametrailers video for FFMMO is DAMNING

i'm serious, i'll do it if needed! i can take one for the ilg team

ffxiv was my most disappointing title of the year iirc

Z S, I'll let you know but I think I'm fine for now.

#36: Kill God – PC – 30 pts – 1 vote - 1 top game vote
Official Game Site?

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/killgod.png

Bamcquern: kotm entry that may be my favorite bullet hell shmup because I don?t really play bullet hell shmups but also because I like the bullet patterns, the copy-paste aesthetic and that I can tell how good I'm doing based on how far through I've gotten through the Japanese song made up of three or four apparently not disparate musics

http://www.dumb.com/god/images/god.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZGIMNplzAQ

http://neterubookstore.com/images/canmankillgod.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3eTsNEgmL8

http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/target.jpg

If you can find a still from the game be my guest.

haha, damn.

Two way tie for 34

#34: Sonic Colors – Wii – 30 pts – 2 votes - 1 top game vote
Official Game Site

http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/Sonic-Colors-New-Trailer-Old-School.jpg

Autumn Almanac: Finally a good Sonic without filler. 3D Sonics always had tremendous potential; this is the closest the franchise has come.

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/11/sonic_colors_review.jpg

silby: Tolerable while muted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa6-fzXlf8c

Wired review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAadsAR8rH4

Destructoid review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VonhgARLb5U

is this "kill god"?
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/files/WAHT.png

#34: Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 – PS3 – 30 pts – 2 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.latinogamers.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/image_pes_2011-12749-2028_0001.jpg

EZ Snappin: Huge step forward from 2010 that still has some issues but I'm playing at least one game a day.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIlG9bZpU0U/TVocfsT5ELI/AAAAAAAAAQo/mZTq4vg2RfY/s1600/PES_2011_12.jpg

Daily Mail review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8FNkit3wBc

PESFan review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-hVGx29IkI

Eurogamer again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT2qctMWl40

just finished playing 2 games. Still fun.

#33: Rock Band 3 – 360/PS3/Wii – 30 pts – 3 votes - 1 top game votes
Official Game Site

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/rock-band-3-keyboard.jpg

JimD: I was out of practice by about five years until I got this and the pro keyboard. Now I can play again. So that's a pretty huge gift to get from a game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AAy-NGf2VQ

Joystiq review

http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/Drum-Rocker-Pro-for-Rock-Band-3.jpg

Mitch Krpata: The best music game of all time just got better. But did we see its death throes?

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

Game Informer

http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/166366-134551-RockBand.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Qxuw8C16s

#32: Costume Quest – PS3/360 – 32 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/costumequest_preview.jpg

Mordy: I really only played this for one night - the evening of Halloween - but what a night it was. Costume Quest is colorful and cute and just long enough for a single extended evening of play. Though it's hampered by a rushed third act and gameplay that is about as challenging as you'd expect (not very) it's really fun and irrepressible.

http://www.thatgamerpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/costume-quest-2010-08-11-01_173jv-1024x614.jpg

litel: Costume Quest is really, really fantastic.

forksclovetofu: Okay, I just beat Costume Quest and knocked out 100% of the trophies; it's actually three worlds, not four. It's a very likely one-sitting game, so be aware that you're plunking down 15 bucks for a short, sweet adventure that's wonderfully done but is NOT going to keep you busy even through halloween.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npbz3ZER0UU

polyphonic: Much more fun than Brutal Legend.

stevie: just hit the french fry costume bug in costume quest. and so now... the game is broken? don't think i'll be buying any further doublefine games, tbh. this is bullshit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M49wErmsdQ

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ae0Pt6UDPgw/TLybnJZhXHI/AAAAAAAAB5c/53yPw85GIo4/s1600/costume+quest+double+fine+contest.jpg

Yeah, 20 of those 30 rock band 3 points were from me, it was by far my GOTY. Game really deserved a lot better, both in this poll and at retail. Though I guess for anyone who wasn't interested in the pro instruments, it was effectively just shovelware.

#31: Cave Story – Wii/DS – 33 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/216/3/8/Fanart__Cave_Story_by_Risachantag.jpg

if: Playing this at a few years remove meant playing an old classic pretending to be a far older classic, but the gameplay stands the test of time. The controls are fantastically tight and the 2D exploring and light platforming/shooting captures almost everything that made Super Metroid great without resorting to plagiarism. The choice of which weapons to upgrade and the way that they detiorate again as you lose health adds an enjoyable extra element of its own. It also helps that the whole thing is ridiculously charming, from the music to the setting to the pixel drawings of each character when they speak.

http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/916/916811/cave-story-20081007070409391_640w.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr0CCkH49g0

Game Tunnel review

http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/ul/76991-468x-Top%205%20Wii%20-%20Cave%20Story.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqqo73tvtVw

Z S: played this on PC a couple of years ago, assuming it's just as good on DS

Eurogamer

http://www.deviantart.com/download/25366059/Cave_Story_by_eloretardo.jpg

Tiny Cartridge

http://www.spritestitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/cavestoryquilt.jpg

I think Costume Quest was my first game to appear? Certainly one of the first (this poll has been going on so long I can't remember -- was Digital from this year or last?)

Stevie: just hit the french fry costume bug in costume quest. and so now... the game is broken? don't think i'll be buying any further doublefine games, tbh. this is bullshit.

wondering whether to lay my money on the line and say that whatever the top 5 games are, i will buy them (obv not if i already have them that would be really silly)

well #2 is naughty bear so

Rock Band 3 is really great; only got it this year so no vote for it from me, but keys are super fun, & the track list is great too; also love the new way of handing career progression; before I rarely went back & played the same songs again & again when doing career, unless they were ones with which I was already super familiar & loved; but RB3 kinda forces you to play songs again & again & that's a really good thing! use what you have instead of just rushing through once & then wanting more more more new.

I refused to get RB3 because every RB guitar I have purchased (3) has died due to... being leaned against a wall

I loved Guitar Hero 3 for the 5 hours that the guitar worked. Then a friend of mine came over and she got REALLY into billie jean, and that was it.

the neck buttons can be popped off and cleaned if that's the problem

#30: Minecraft – PC – 33 pts – 3 votes - 1 top game votes
Official Game Site

http://admintell.napco.com/ee/images/uploads/gamertell/minecraft_scenery_picture.jpg

itt we minecraft

MattD: Like a box of cubic Lego. Minecraft's emergent gameplay is incredibly refreshing compared to most recent titles, which are full of pop-ups that prompt you when to press X to jump or B to trigger one of a barrage of quick-time events in which your character leaps, climbs and opines without any direct control or input. In Minecraft, you start with your bare hands. What happens when you punch that tree? What happens when you combine those blocks? What happen when you dig (too deep, too greedily). You will die to natural and man-made disasters, zombies, crumbling experiments, and exploding block monsters. You will probably set your house on fire. I enjoyed this game so much I set up a server for a few months so my friends and I could run rampant and explore each others creations.

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Daily/2010/09-Sept/30/minecraft%20puter/minecraft_pig--article_image.jpg

CNET review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaMTedT6P0I

Jeff Vogel review

jamescobo: In all honesty my vote is more a recognition of Minecraft as a seismic event than it is of Minecraft as A Game Which Is Fun To Play; I'm not really one for building all kinds of crazy shit so I mostly just ran around getting killed over and over and over again. That being said, it's the biggest leap forward in terms of the sheer scale of the world games can present since GTA:SA, maybe even since Ocarina of Time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooTS9Z6PFh0

Will M: I haven't played it since they put monsters into the multiplayer game, but when it was a collaborative LEGO game without punishment, it was brilliant.

Zero Punctuation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uyxVmdaJ-w

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/papercraft-minecraft.jpg

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Features/2011/04/Week%20of%20Hate%202011/5%20reasons%20to%20hate/Minecraft/minecraft--article_image.jpg

i would have voted for minecraft, but i hadn't played it at the time.

Will M: I haven't played it since they put monsters into the multiplayer game, but when it was a collaborative LEGO game without punishment, it was brilliant.

there's a "peaceful" setting you can turn on in the options that turns monsters off. The very first time my meticulously crafted house was destroyed in the middle of the night by a gang of tnt dudes, i turned it on.

#29: Dead Rising 2 / Dead Rising: Case Zero – 360/PS3/PC – 33 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/03/dr2smash2.jpg

Mordy: Remarkable and awesome. The psychopaths are scarier, the zombies are more plentiful, the cell phone doesn't cripple you when you pick it up and -- probably the biggest and most significant change -- the survivor AI is great! You can run all over the place with a train of survivors following you who will protect themselves and, if you equip them with weapons, even help you! It's startling how a few mechanics changes can take a fun but flawed game and make it great! It has basically taken the DR1 mechanics, tweaked them to basically get rid of everything annoying (no more stupid paralysis-inducing cell phone calls!) to just leave the kernel of sweet arcade goodness. It feels like a classic Capcom game.

http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/2006/201/928326_20060721_640screen002.jpg

Gamepro review

CraigG: I don't have a lot to say about this, as I haven't played it loads, but it's impossible to not have fun when scooping zombies up in wheelchairs and beating them with whatever is lying around. Even the most basic of weapons, like a baseball bat with nails through it, is so satisfying to dish out some pain with. I really wish there was a free mode, as I don't like the time constraint, but the game is a lot more forgiving than the original, and infinitely more fun as a result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUdA2VVNY3w

1up review

Will M.: Case Zero was a spectacular bit of DLC/Arcade game and got me completely stoked on this title, which lived up to the hype I built in my head. Hilarious game and fun and removed a lot of the excruciating shit from the first one. Except for the kill 3195810980 zombies in one playthrough thing. I guess SOMETHING about it needed to be awful. The Case West DLC left me sour but DR2 and Case Zero? Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMx48GXwEAc

Kotaku Case Zero review

http://www.acparadise.com/cosplayers/100/100-13147-3.jpg

#28: Vanquish – 360/PS3 – 35 pts – 2 votes - 0.5 top game votes
Official Game Site

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/10/vanquish_review.jpg

VANQUISH

cozen: P.N.03 and contra and viewtiful joe in HD. vanquish is genuinely brilliant but I will say I'm glad I waited for it to drop in price: I know much is made of the game's vaunted replayability but I was surprised the main campaign only clocked in at 4 and a half hours. no unlockables either, which this game is crying out for even just some cheats, badass guns and suit upgrades (even if just cosmetic). online co-op would be awesome too

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c8NhpyO413Y/TL3YN2NevuI/AAAAAAAAAII/8AkAXBzIUik/s1600/vanquish-sega-new-screens-11.jpg

Gamesradar review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT5wg51JB8w

Guardian review

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

Eurogamer

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4704796454_a482798e75.jpg

the neck buttons can be popped off and cleaned if that's the problem

No, the problem is that the strum piece just stopped registering. On all 3 of them. For no fucking reason. Yes I changed the batteries.

I loved watching my friend play Vanquish. I didn't enjoy playing it (not my thing) but it was gorgeous in the hands of someone who was good at it.

two way tie for 26

#26: Nier – PS3/360 – 35 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.gameranx.com/images/updates/1296462823_nier.jpg

so NIER and yet so far: itt "a game from square enix"

zappi: biggest surprise was Nier, has huge flaws but i loved the world & the way it kept switching up the gameplay - at one point it even becomes a text adventure!

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gamelife/2010/02/nier-0203_1-660x371.jpg

Destructoid review

abanana: decent plot, decent fighting, fast walking speed. that's good enough for me.

http://fourplayercoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nier-1024x575.jpg

polyphonic: Nier is reminding me more of Deadly Premonition than I would've guessed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsWZ27odqRQ

lol ny times

"Nier does many different things at such a high level of sophistication and accessibility that I cannot think of another single game of recent years that more faithfully represents the sheer intellectual breadth of modern video games."

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

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/750/91057882.jpg

^^ replayed it over xmas and it was still as good as the first time. plus i knew to skip all the dumb sidequests :p
this guy recently discovered some interesting details in the game, huge plot spoilers of course http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28132837&postcount=7755

is Nier the one that made one reviewer go insane because of a quest that had him fishing for like 3 hours because he was standing in the wrong spot

ya, he didn't look at the big red X on the map.

tbh I almost bought the game solely because of that review

much lolling

xp all i heard about it really was the PC DRM was atrocious

Games I was at least a little surprised didn't make it to the top 20, given either general popularity, or even just their popularity on this board: Starcraft II, Assassin's Creed, Super Meat Boy, Dead Rising 2, Minecraft

esp. the Crafts, Mine and Star II

observations/predictions looking at the ballot as we move into the home stretch:

- by my count there's four missing heavy hitters from the iPhone alone left: 9 Innings, Angry Birds, Carcassonne, & Game Dev Story (which I assume will set the record for "most quotes & screenshots included with a C&P entry")

- shocked to see Mario Galaxy 2 cracking the top 20, that game seemed completely unnecessary to me after the first one

- looks to me like the big multiplatform titles left are New Vegas, ME2 (listed as 360 on the ballot but wasn't this on PC too?), Bayonetta, Just Cause, Blur (maybe? the only racing series I pay attention to is Motorstorm) and Pac-Man CE DX (which I think will end up placing really high since it was still fresh in everyone's mind when voting was going on)

- looks like a potentially strong finish for the DS - still no sign of DQ9, Picross 3D, Pokemans, Strange Journey, Golden Sun (maybe?), or Miles Edgeworth (ditto?)

- hoping Joe Danger makes it into the top 20, that game is fun as shit and I wish I could have found room for it on my ballot

- lol zero votes for Peace Walker

- I never would have picked Bejeweled 3 to be top PC/Mac exclusive but it looks like the only remaining candidate. ditto for Heavy Rain (COME ON) as top PS3 exclusive.

chatter on the DS thread was pretty low this past year, I have a feeling only DQ9 and Pokemon will show, if even

Peace Walker was last year? feels like much longer ago

heavy rain not a surprise, there are still some fans here

i voted for civ 5 on my truncated ballot this year partly to acknowledge that i spent a bunch of time playing it & partly because it gave me a lot of pleasure. im not really sure how i feel abt the game design itself if only because like 15 years of playing civ has created this impossible mental tangle of 'how a civ game should be' that no civ game every really manages. but i liked the basic feel of 5, the look of the maps in particular, but the interface and the streamlined cityscreen. i had a fair amount of fun playing the game, especially at first, almost uncompetitively & just letting the game wash over me - the simplicity & the downtime were enjoyable to me idk

otoh it is too easy & too neutered - i never really felt the same sense of possibility that earlier civ games gave me, there are really only a few ways to win & only a few ways of managing your empire. its much too limited a game to be truly challenging or worth thinking abt imo

xpost 3D Picross got votes on 2009's poll in import form so there's definitely some sentiment for it

civ 5's ok but its no epic mickey or final fantasy xiv

lol i wonder if i can find my 'most disappointing' writeup for final fantz

also iir my ballot c u shld be pretty pleased by whats still 2 cum

when are we doing most disappointing?

nobody voted for carcasonne btw