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

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

#26: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – PC/Mac – 35 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/sc2.jpg

Starcraft 2: Mothership Connection

MattD: I can't speak for the single player campaign, as I generally only play RTS titles for the competitive multiplayer. It's the same game it was a decade ago, and it isn't - there are more options, tricks, tactics and polish, but the gameplay is still fast, tense, rewards intensive macro and micro level decision making / planning, and causes severe levels of stress and cardiac palpitations when played at the peak of my skill level. Which is why I stopped, because progressing beyond that point would take an inordinate amount of devotion and probably give me a heart attack. But there's no RTS out there that has such broad appeal or is so accessible yet rewarding. It is possibly the best way to earn the grudging respect of the teenagers your friend teaches; by 2v2 tandem 4-gating them into the dirt over and over and over again.

http://www.thewebtechreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/starcraft2_1.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgyL08nhtkw

Wired review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcxg4ylQJ6o

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/51168115-7e31-49f7-955e-0b3686f250b7.jpg

PC Gamer

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b380/TheHan/StarcraftLove.png

yeah this is ace. but i didn't pick it up till 2011 so no vote from me.

cozwn's description of Vanquish intrigues me....

surprised that some of the big guns placed this early too

#25: Darksiders – 360/PS3 – 35 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/06/19/61974_Darksiders-14_normal.jpg

Lamp: a derivative game made by people who take manga too seriously darkstalkers is also p fukken rad, you get to be a horsemen of the apocalypse preventing a premature armageddon and there some shit with sexy angels and forces of evil and who cares. there's puzzles! and gory-ass swordplay! its zelda with blood!

http://static2.videogamer.com/videogamer/images/xbox360/darksiders/screens/darksiders_80.jpg

Giant Bomb review

jjjusten: Bash dudes, find treasure, bash dudes, retrace steps, boss battle, more treasure, cutscene, rinse repeat. It's better than it sounds, but no point in lying about it. Main character design makes me wish they would take everyone who has ever been artistically influenced by Gears of War and drown them in a well.

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

Eurogamer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Cch1QE--w

http://www.freshcharacters.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/darksiders_by_derrickSong.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lORCuR84-_8

woo!

#24: Persona 3 – PSP – 39 pts – 3 votes - 1 top game votes - TOP PSP
Official Game Site

http://gamesareevil.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-1541.jpg

Kids, shoot yourself in the head and gain super powers! The SMT / Megaten / Persona thread

Will M.: I feel weird voting for an old game first overall (one I may have voted for in the past) but this is finally the first version I've completed, and apparently, the best version (discluding its discluding of the epilogue) and goddamn if it didn't actually rekindle my love for jRPGs. Not that any others will make me want to play like this did, but damn. 70 hours and I'm on my SECOND playthrough now.

1up review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB4WyHe-HRM

if: Playing this for the first time after P4, there were a couple of spots where I could see how things were later improved on and there wasn't the same novelty value to its social mechanics or its particular line in lightly gothic weirdness. Despite that, the actually interesting and likeable story and characters (ok, likeable apart from Junpei, but I guess that's deliberate), the perfectly streamlined old school combat, and the endless options to spend your days as you choose and advance both stories and abilities as a result still make it stand out as a class apart from other JRPGs. There's also still the fun of having one bizarro alternate world of Shadows and Personas ('The Midnight Hour') built on top of another bizarro alternate world where you get a day off school to respect your elders and getting high exam marks makes you more popular ('Japan').

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz0R88xG-pc

Eurogamer

Lamp: atlus's persona 3 FES is a gothic-tinged rpg that came out in the waning days of the PS2. the player takes on the role of a silent, mysterious transfer student to a japanese high school. on your 1st night in your new dorm you and your housemates are attacked by a slinking inky mass of arms and faces called 'shadows'. after shooting yourself in the head you summon an otherworldy spirit guide - classically allusioned and perfectly art-designed - to defeat the shadows & save yourself and your housemate. all of this takes place after about 35 minutes of introductory cut-scenes, expository dialogue and cryptic visitations.

so persona 3 divides its time btw the world of shadows & the day-to-day life of a japanese high school student. & as you make way through both of these worlds, studying for exams, building friendships, occasionally venturing into the shadowlands to defeat monsters and gain strength the two worlds begin to build inwards upon each other, permeating their counterparts in strange & unexpected ways. like twin peaks P3FES does an incredible job of portraying a mundane world that is constantly under threat from the unknowable & mysterious horrors that underlie our everyday world. but unlike twin peaks the 'regular' existence never feels like an afterthought, the pleasures of simply being in this world & the social link mechanic are equal to the pleasure of dungeon crawling & the story-driven mystery elements of the game that mostly take place in the hidden shadow world.

it seems kinda crazy that a part dungeon-crawler rpg part japanese dating sim game can be summed up using em forster's famous maxim 'only connect' but persona 3 FES is above all about the longing for contact & the terror of isolation. its most meaningful moments take place in the spaces btw how we see ourselves & how the other characters see us. i think its a mistake to want the game's dialogue trees and social interactions to function in the same way as they do in d&d-influenced western rpgs. in a western rpg the focus is on developing a character & so the best games give a sense of true possibility and naturalism. whereas with persona there is always a right answer, a correct path. the point isn't to give the player a blank slate to write his intentions on, to chose a 'good' or 'evil' path & then make descions based upon your character's intentions. in P3FES your character is a mirror held up to the npcs. you reflect their vanities & insecurities, their hopes & fears. and so the player is forced to consider them, who they are & at best you can understand and help that person. your goal, your job is to build relationships, not a character.

finally - finally! - the combat in P3FES is one of the most tactically interesting mechanic of any turn-based rpg. every npc is self-directed and their actions will often - frustratingly - shadow their reallife personalities. as battle leader you can give them directives but you cant control their actions perfectly. so combat begins to double the social link aspect of the game, you're forced to predict the actions of your comrades to know their strengths & weaknesses & so to understand them as people. the difficulty of this makes what is a very grind-heavy game both more fraught and more engaging. never a game to miss an opportunity death literally haunts the game's dungeon & his shadow is always present in P3FES. even regular combats are perilous & you will die. a lot.

the best that i can say for P3FES is that unlike almost any other game the memory of its events stayed with me. although its mechanically frustrating, overlong & exacting it manages to create a plausible, engrossing world like no game before or since.

http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/galleries/2010-06-20/persona-3-portable/persona-3-portable_1277089256.jpg

http://visublog.mechafetus.com/system/images//persona3c.gif

nice writeup, lamp

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