Did Portal 2 deserve to be 2011's Game of the Year?

[QuixoticNeutral]

I loved Skyward Sword to death, and it goes to show just how incredible Portal 2 was (especially if you played with the level builder and the co-op campaign at all) that Skyward Sword was my clear #2.

A strong year all around, though. I was particularly surprised by how much I liked Deus Ex: HR. And I want to put in a small word for Arkham City, not mentioned in the poll, which had a lot going for it despite being a step down for me from Arkham Asylum.

And come to think of it—good heavens, Super Mario 3D Land was that year too, though I didn't think of it that way as I took a while to get to it. In retrospect it now looks like a bit of a prototypical game that was totally eclipsed by everything 3D World brought to the table, but it deserves a lot of credit for laying out that design direction.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Yup. Also the final hurrah of "Prestige Valve". What a game.

 

[T8SC]

Skyrim.

 

[RidiculousMirror]

Portal 2 is like 5 hours too long. You think you're done and then it keeps going. And going. And going.

 

[Deleted member 9305]

Portal 2 was like 5 hours too short. You think it should last forever, but it didn't, just stopped, and ended.

 

[Kalamour]

Portal 2 is like 5 hours too long. You think you're done and then it keeps going. And going. And going.

Click to shrink...

It's one of those rare games that I felt should never end. I could have solved puzzle forever while listening to JK Simmons' rambling.

On topic: yes, absolutely.

 

[DaciaJC]

Was Portal 2 significantly better than its predecessor? I played the first game and enjoyed it, but I'm not sure what the sequel did differently.

I'd personally pick Dark Souls for 2011. Its success led to pretty significant reverberations throughout the action-adventure genre and the industry as a whole for years to come, and it happens to be a damn fine game to boot, unlike a certain Elder Scrolls title on the list. :p

 

[Deleted member 56773]

Games like Minecraft and Fortnite would be continually GOTY under those criteria. The base Skyrim game wasn't all that great and the Playstation launch was a technical mess. Like all modern Bethesda games Skyrim is a sandbox of immense promise that doesn't really deliver out of the box.

Portal 2 is the greater achievement in design, writing, pacing etc...

Click to shrink...

that kind of expands on my thoughts - what does GOTY even mean any more with online games and GAAS? like when is the "year" that the game is counted? I'm not sure, due to the nature of video games, that a GOTY category even makes sense. Or there needs to be expanded categories and there just isn't one single GOTY category. There could be a GOTY single player new game, GOTY multiplayer new game, GOTY ongoing multiplayer, GOTY GAAS single player, etc.

like I honestly don't think best of the year as a category should exist for games

 

[EVIL]

Was Portal 2 significantly better than its predecessor? I played the first game and enjoyed it, but I'm not sure what the sequel did differently.

I'd personally pick Dark Souls for 2011. Its success led to pretty significant reverberations throughout the action-adventure genre and the industry as a whole for years to come, and it happens to be a damn fine game to boot, unlike a certain Elder Scrolls title on the list. :p

Click to shrink...

Yes, I would say so! It took a core concept that was Portal and expanded it without ruining any of the core elements and added quite a few new ones to it. It is an amazing experience with one of the best comedic writing in a game that I have seen. Portal was the Prototype, Portal 2 was an actual finished game experience

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

Just going by list in poll, hell yeah Portal 2 did. Its 1 of my favorite JK Simmons performances and that man gives a shit load of amazing performances. And it's not like gave 1 good performance. McClain and Merchant were both also amazing. Add in great puzzles, a cool story, and my favorite silent protagonist ever.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Sure, it's easily worthy of it. But so are Dark Souls and Human Revolution.

 

[Maverick14]

One of the most inventive and original games and mechanics with an incredible voice track to tell you the tragic story indirectly and also make you smile...there is nothing else like Portal 2...and for that it deserves the crown..

 

[Deej1980]

Yeah, absolutely. One of the best games I have ever played. Brilliant from the get go.

 

[Igorth]

I really like it back in the day, but the influence of Skyrim and Dark Souls is bigger to this day in the industry.

That said, my pick is Human Revolution.

 

[ThisIsBlitz21]

It's between Skyrim and Portal for me, and maybe a past me would lean towards Skyrim. I still love that game.

But it's Portal.

edit: because skyrim original edition just didnt age too well. If I consider the special edition on xbox one (graphical upgrade with better performance and loading times, plus mod support), it would win for me, but it's not really fair is it?

 

[Prolepro]

Sure.

 

[Dalek]

Hard to believe it's been so long. I would pay for a remaster on PS4

 

[GamerJM]

It was Pokemon Black and White for me. I'm totally fine with Portal 2 winning though, game isn't really in my comfort zone but I still enjoyed it a lot. I think it was probably one of the best western AAA games of last-gen.

2011 was a pretty weak year for GotY contenders for me. My three front runners were Pokemon, 3D Land, and To The Moon. All of which are pretty great games but don't exactly scream "best game of the year" to me, especially in retrospect. I imagine Radiant Historia is in that ballpark as well but I still haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Inugami]

Yes, hands down one of the best, and without a doubt the funniest game ever.

Click to shrink...

This can't be overstated... To make a game that's consistently funny over many hours? That took some damn talent. Not just in writing, but in the performances as well.

 

[Deleted member 2254]

Portal 2 absolutely. It's one of the best puzzle games ever made. I enjoyed Dark Souls but it comes nowhere near in terms of gameplay precision, as the first chapter of that saga was definitely quite a jankfest tbh.

 

[Deleted member 39374]

I remember watching my friend finish Portal 2 in one sitting, it was quite the experience.

Skryim in 2011 was a mess, lots of game breaking bugs and borderline unplayable on PS3. For consoles it was 2016's remaster that made it truly great

 

[Deleted member 1656]

It's a good choice, but I think Portal 1 may be more deserving of the title for its respective year (2007).

 

[CloudWolf]

Hell yeah, Portal 2 is amazing. The only real competition that year was Dark Souls.

 

[Terbinator]

Tough one for me.

The only game i'd not played out of them is DS. Real struggle between Portal 2 and Skyrim.

Also got FM4 and Gears 3 releases that year, arguably series' pinnacles.

 

[Htown]

This game was phenomenal. Also has my favorite achievement in all of games:

Spoiler: that part

"Well. This is the part where he kills us."
"Hello! This is the part where I kill you!"

CHAPTER 9
THE PART WHERE HE KILLS YOU

Achievement:
The Part Where He Kills You
This is that part

So stupid, but I died laughing.

 

[Dark Knight]

Portal 2 is still absolutely brilliant, so yeah?

 

[Sordid Plebeian]

It's an incredible achievement, one of the only games I played through in a single sitting

 

[Zen Hero]

Portal 2 is still such a unique and wonderful game. And actually I feel like it was a little head of its time in terms of its tech culture satire, the kind of thing that is more trendy these days.

 

[Wackamole]

Portal 1 and 2 are insanely good. Played coop too in Portal 2.
I would LOVE a Portal 3. LOOOOOOOOOVE.

 

[tuta]

Solo was not as great as Portal, but I've had the best time playing coop. It was fun, complex and I say it deserves its reward.
I want a number 3 so bad only for a new coop.

 

[Budi]

Sure it's an incredible game. Personal pick would be Deus Ex: Human Revolution with Witcher 2 as a runner up.

 

[weekev]

I voted for Uncharted 3. That was a holy shit moment for me personally because I had just bought a 3d tv and Uncharted 3 in stereoscopic 3d was an incredible experience. I'm glad VR has picked up the baton now that 3d is dead because it was just mind blowing how well Naughty Gods utilised the tech and it's a little sad that so few people were able to experience it like that.

 

[SirNinja]

Skyrim for me. Portal 2 was a lovely game, but Skyrim was a revelation back then. I'm still playing it and finding new things in it.

 

[KartuneDX]

This is tough and the top three are definitely Portal 2, Skyrim, and Dark Souls.. and as a fervent admirer of the latter two I have to give it to Portal 2.

Skyrim and Dark Souls were both monumental achievements when you look at their influence over the years but Portal 2 was the game that year. The improved writing, the humor, the mechanics, the narrative, the overall execution..

Portal 2 was kind of the perfect sequel. As far as I remember it was a huge topic of discussion that year just how good it was and it was kind of a unanimous "This game is fantastic".

Sure you could argue it's a one and done, or lacking in replayability or nitpick about something but it's impact that year was tremendous. Nobody expected Portal 2 and what we got was an incredibly engaging ride of a time and dammit I need to go and play Portal 2.

(I voted Dark Souls because Portal 2 is not losing this)

 

[denx]

The Coop campaign was GOAT stuff, so yes.

 

[LossAversion]

Skyrim for me. Portal 2 is fantastic but I'm STILL playing Skyrim after 8 years.

 

[pagrab]

Definitely. It is a unique experience and all of its components worked together perfectly. It is one of the games I will probably replay many times in the future. At the time I was disappointed by the fact that you can open portals only in designated places, but this is probably the only criticism I can think of.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

Portal 2 was stunning. I could see arguments being made for Skyrim though. Depends whether you value massive scale or a smaller, scope, super-polished experience I suppose.

 

[Deleted member 1627]

The co-op levels alone are good enough to be GOTY so I suppose the answer is 'yes, yes it did'.

 

[ClivePwned]

Portal 2 was sheer joy. The perfect sequel. It's slightly bittersweet since Valve haven't chosen to talk about a follow-up (outside of Portal Bridge and the Lego Dimensions campaign). The other games in the poll are very good, but Portal was just great.

Skyrim was a great RPG experience (especially for people like me who dislike fantasy settings)

Imma replay both of those over the summer.

 

[Cecil]

It has a fantastic single player campaign.
Without any violence.
It's one of the most genuinely funny games out there.
It has a fantastic art style.
JK Simmons and Steven Merchant were brilliant in it.
The soundtrackt is fantastic well.
It came with a complete separate coop campaign.

Yes, it very much deserved to be GOTY that year.

 

[AndyVirus]

Pftt, Arkham City not in the poll.

 

[Puru]

I see the binding of isaac and warhammer 40k space marines id put above any of these, i'd argue the same for ghost trick.
But really it's hard to pick for once, portal 2 is a decent choice for once.

 

[Big G]

Yep. It's one of the best games ever made.

1. Portal 2
2. Dark Souls
3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
4. Skyrim
5. Arkham City

 

[Moppy]

This game was phenomenal. Also has my favorite achievement in all of games:

Spoiler: that part

"Well. This is the part where he kills us."
"Hello! This is the part where I kill you!"

CHAPTER 9
THE PART WHERE HE KILLS YOU

Achievement:
The Part Where He Kills You
This is that part

So stupid, but I died laughing.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, the timing on the achievement pop is beautiful.

 

[monmagman]

That was a pretty good year,I can understand why Portal 2 won......but in retrospect I can't see past Dark Souls in that list.

 

[UncleDisco]

All things considered... I think I have to go with Minecraft. I know it made it's first big splash the year before, but it did hit 1.0 in 2011 and I think that's what qualifies for being "released". I can't think of a game that had a bigger impact that year.

 

[Andromeda]

Yes. Even if the game was too easy, the atmosphere was incredible.

 

[Zhukov]

It's certainly my favourite among the games listed.

I suppose cases could be made for Skyrim and Dark Souls in terms of lasting influence.

 

[ElectronicOldMen]

I don't know if it's as good as Portal 1, it maybe suffers in comparison by being a bit baggier (even though it's still only, what, 6 hours long?) and not as sharply designed, but it is wonderful.

Of those listed it's my favourite, although I'd maybe put Minecraft above it on a pure personal impact and personal importance level.

Is there a better celebrity stunt-casting voice performance than JK Simmons in Portal 2?