Take note, I did not play every game in 2012 but here are the three games that I really enjoyed the most. I didn't get to play a lot of the great indie games released but I hope to do so. Anyway! Letsa go!

3. Max Payne 3

When I think of Rockstar, I think of unhealthy energy drinks and open worlds with plenty of detail in a Triple A game. Rockstar games revived the Max Payne series and made it a linear tale of drunken redemption in a harsh yet detailed enviornment. To me, Max Payne 3 was the best third person shooter this year because of its hazy and dirty art style. Overall it was a super solid, tight shooter with incredible animations. The soundtrack also be rockin. However, the gameplay still consisted of shooting hundreds of dudes while going from one room to another, but I can forgive that.

2. X Com: Enemy Unknown

This is not a game you can unwind with after stressful day yet I love it for its intensity and the careful planning you have to do in every firefight. Every action you take can have consequences that might screw you over. Even moving a soldier, no matter what rank he/she is has to be considered with caution. Strategy isn't limited to just the battlefield, maintaining your X Com base and researching new weaponry is just as important. You're fighting an enemy you know nothing about thats superior then you in almost every way. X Com will give you memorable tales of defeat and victory.


1. The Walking Dead

Speaking of tales! Eh, sorry, bad pun. Walking Dead is an Adventure game that really doesn't use a lot of the things you expect from an adventure game except for the obvious point-n-clicking. There are no actual puzzles in the game and you won't spend an hour trying to figure out what every NPC needs to progress. The gameplay is there but its more about the story and character development which Walking Dead succeeds in. These had to be the most memorable characters I've encountered in a long time and its all thanks to the game's strong writing. I generally care about video game characters, I'm there for the experience so of course I care what happens to Nathan Drake or Max Payne to a certain extent. But there is always a disconnection between the player and the characters on screen. They're video game characters. Walking Dead manages to blur that disconnection with characters you actually legitamatley care about. Clementine was crafted so well and that amount of dedication to her character shows through the player's desire to protect her.

Walking Dead was amazing. It made me feel... things. I thought the connection between Clem and Lee was genuine and I actually cared about their well-being. I can see why you picked it for your first place.

If I were to pick three, it would be Dust: An Elysian Tail, Darksiders 2, and Borderlands 2. Devil May Cry: HD Collection would be a close fourth.

What were the most disturbing or shocking parts for you? spoiler tags.

Walking Dead sounds so amazing. I gleamed a couple spoilers there, and that's heavy. I seriously need to find a good LP of it... that would make it less scary for me, but I could still see the story- which is what I'm most curious about.

I have had a severely hard time to pick 3 games. Much less, in an order. So I'll list some numbers, but honestly it was hard and shouldn't be considered huge gaps at all.

3. Borderlands 2

WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SURPRISE! Seriously, I love this game, I love the company putting it out, I love the art, I love it all. I actually got the art book for Christmas, and it's gorgeous and worth every penny. It's also quite detailed. But, for the actual game- it's a great multiplayer game(which I sorely need to get around to maxing out my character), it has some fun writing(even if certain jokes just kinda drag on and fall flat... which is fine. That's going to happen), and I especially have always loved the art design of Borderlands 2. And it's just too cool that one of the Alumni from my college actually works in their art department(I'll forgive him for thanking the biggest prick in our department besides the person who was more awesome and involved in the video game development section, and who SHOULD'VE BEEN MENTIONED MAN). Bonus factor: FPS that isn't mudville. Immediate ups.
This is one I recommend anyone who likes an FPS at all buy.

2. Analogue: A Hate Story

I know some people are like WHAT THE BUH? What game is this? And I'll say this- it's probably not a lot of people's cup of tea. This game re-sparked my love for the visual novel, and has some adventure game elements as well. The thing of it is... what got me was the sheer amount of emotions and legit intimacy you received from the AI, and how voyeuristic it is to read the ship logs and see some of the atrocities that occurred. The interesting part is, while this is considered to be a futuristic game- in actuality it is very much based on a dark time in Korea's history, the Joseon Dynasty. I think a quote from the wiki summed that up best: "Namjon yeobi.
Men are honoured, women are abased." It made me a fan of Christine Love as well, who writes very much diverse and engaging visual novels. It's a mixed bag to people though- more-so than "To the Moon", which a lot of people write off as "lol RPG Maker trash graphics boo" which is simply dumb. That being said, the end of the game was the one that had my stomach drop. How the events actually turned out. A certain tryst discovered in the logs certainly wasn't bad, either.

1. To the Moon

Was this released in November 2011? Yup! Do I care? Nope! Cause I first played it this year, on Steam. And I had no idea it existed before then, which was a very sad time indeed. I realize that while it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea(much like Analogue), it actually made me think, and I had a wonderful time playing it. I felt so... voyeuristic I guess, is the best term. I felt like I was involved and had a stake in people's lives. I legitimately got scared at one part of the game(you know the one, the one with the school), but I was glad that I kept playing. This is a game that is going to challenge how you think about everything, and has that nice unreliable narrator hook to keep you delving into the mysteries of not just one life of memories, but multiple threads weaved throughout that life. Give it a chance. I think this is more accessible than Analogue.

Ah, sorry Fay and Lantis, I haven't played any of those games. I can't play Borderlands 2 due to not having anyone to play it with. DMC collection I still really want to buy and To The Moon sounds incredible but I'm kinda swamped with other games. Ill try to play them all, honest!