The Last Decade in Games: 2011

[TheXbox]

Skyrim prevails in my memory, always the first game I think of for 2011. 11.11.11. How can anyone forget that? And while I may have had my gripes with the game, the first couple months I spent with it were magical. Wintry landscapes, goofy glitches, shouting matches with dragons; great memories.

Uncharted 3, Gears 3, Battlefield 3, and Portal 2 are all awesome games, but they hardly feel like they belong to the same year. Skyrim is 2011.

 

[Sawneeks]

I still remember the whole marketing campaign around Skyrim's launch and 11.11.11 being a big deal because that was launch day. When the game finally came out I couldn't grab it since I was a broke HS student but my best friend was able to get a copy and that game blew me away. How open it was, how good it looked at the time, all the things you could do, how dragons could just show up and attack you, etc. We all joke about it now since it gets rereleased to death but that game was a storm when it launched. The only negative I remember was the PS3 memory leak glitch that just completely stopped the game from working if you got far into it. They didn't fix it for a long, long time, and it completely killed the interest in the game my friend and I had. Still didn't stop me from purchasing the game 4 times over the years...

Not to mention we also had the 3DS launch (Blue!), Wii U reveal mess and how that would signal the future of that console, the big hack against Sony, the official launch of the juggernaut Minecraft, and more.

Big shoutouts to Infamous 2 though. It was the first game I had ever platinumed and I was even thinking about it earlier today with how there hasn't been a game that plays like it since then. Not really in regards to the story or structure of the missions but how your powers worked and interacted with the world. Once you had enough powers towards the end of the game you had so many things you could do in big skirmishes that each battle could be different. Something that Second Son never captured for me was the ability to use the world around you as a weapon. In 2 you could upgrade your abilities to be able to flip cars, meaning in a big fight you could stand around a dozen cars, hit that ability, and just watch these cars fly and explode all around. Still haven't played a game like it since.

 

[Komo]

MW3 and BF3 was a great year for shooters.

 

[Rotobit]

Going to Hengsha in Deus Ex Human Revolution was definitely the most memorable moment from this year, for me

It's basically Midgar but even less subtle, I love it

I also vividly remember the 3DS launch, since to this day it's the only midnight launch I've ever gone to. I was expecting it to be hype, with multiple other excited people hanging around outside the HMV. There were like 4 of us, it was freezing, none of us talked to each other, and I ended the day owning Pilotwings Resort and Rayman 3D - two "okay" games. The walk home by the river was super nice and refreshing, though, will stick with me forever.

I think Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded was my most-played game on the 3DS until the eShop launched with Link's Awakening. Thank god Ocarina of Time 3D happened.

 

[denx]

A great 2011 game that went under the radar was Frozen Synapse, one of my favorite turn-based tactics games from the last decade. Well, actually calling it turn-based tactics is not exactly accurate since this doesn't play like XCOM, FE or any other turn-based tactics games you can think of. Basically each turn consists of two phases: the planning phase, where you can give your units extremely detailed orders on what they have to do, and then the resolution phase, where your units and those of your opponent execute the orders you gave them at the same time. TB did a great WTF Is episode on this game back in the day.

Going to Hengsha in Deus Ex Human Revolution was definitely the most memorable moment from this year, for me

It's basically Midgar but even less subtle, I love it

Click to shrink...

Love Human Revolution. Hope we can play the ending of Jensen's story one day.

 

[Sawneeks]

Oh, can't forget that Duke Nukem Forever finally came out that year. That image of someone's Gamestop pre-order receipt for the game from 1996 or so will still be burned into my mind for how much it was posted.

Sonic the Hedgehog also celebrated its 20th anniversary for that year! Sonic Generations was released as a result and can arguably be described as the point where Sonic games started to turn around and head down the path they are today.

 

[PCfromNYC]

TF2: Free to play. Forever.

 

[SlayerSaint]

Much better year than 2010 for me. Portal 2 is definitely in my top 10 of the decade, I loved Arkham City a lot as well. Skyrim was obviously the biggest game of the year, but I'm not a fan. Uncharted 3 was the worst Uncharted but still solid. Dark Souls was only the most influential game of the decade. Good year.

2012 coming up next on the other hand was probably the worst of the decade.

 

[OzBoz]

For me, this was the year of watching Mortal Kombat (9) and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on youtube.

 

[Prolepro]

Dark Souls
Witcher 2
Skyrim

I was happy

 

[Wozman23]

The last post made me decide to assemble some old GOTY lists, as I wasn't keeping track back then. Hopefully it will make the inevitable task of ranking the decade's games a little easier.

This was one of my fondest years of the last generation. Developers were well oiled machines, cranking out sequels in a two year cycle. It was arguably the year that Uncharted, Resistance, Dead Space, and LittleBigPlanet all peaked.

Rayman Origins was one of my most anticipated titles in quite some time. It blew my mind!

A lot of people didn't like Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. I loved it! With 2009's A Crack in Time being the highlight of the series for most, I was actually starting to get fatigued with what was, and still is, my favorite franchise. All 4 One was just what I needed. I still think it has some of the best art and creativity in the series. That style really allow CreatureBox to run wild. I didn't expect us to have an 11 year gap without another full Ratchet & Clank adventure pushing the story forward, but I can't wait for Rift Apart. It's clearly pulling from enemies and locations from throughout the franchise, and I'd love to see some All 4 One representation with enemies like the Wigwump, and locations like the Terawatt Forest.

Top 10 2011:
1. Rayman Origins
2. Uncharted 3
3. Resistance 3
4. Dead Space 2
5. LittleBigPlanet 2
6. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
7. Portal 2
8. Infamous 2
9. Trine 2
10. Alice: Madness Returns

Honorable Mentions: Shadows of the Damned, Bulletstorm, El Shaddai, Outland, Bastion, PixelJunk SideScroller

 

[gogosox82]

I like how everyone ignored the fact that Skyrim was unplayable on ps3 for months. Hell, it even ran like crap on pc unless you downloaded skse and the unofficial patch but lets give it a bunch of awards because reasons.

 

[Lunchbox]

Skyrim was definitely 2011, man.. it's been way too long.

 

[Deleted member 49319]

The Dark Souls of gaming years.

 

[FaceHugger]

Wow, Skyrim is almost nine years old. That game overshadowed everything else for a good year. I am not sure if I played any other games for a good three or four months after buying it.

 

[Tobor]

It's Skyrim, and it isn't even remotely close. I still play Skyrim to this day. I've never played any game as much as Skyrim in my life, save maybe Tetris or Solitaire.

 

[Sawneeks]

I like how everyone ignored the fact that Skyrim was unplayable on ps3 for months. Hell, it even ran like crap on pc unless you downloaded skse and the unofficial patch but lets give it a bunch of awards because reasons.

Click to shrink...

Nah, I mentioned it.

These issues also didn't affect everyone. The PS3 problem you had to have a ton of hours into the game and even then it typically got worse if you left it on and in sleep mode? May be misremembering that part though.

 

[AzorAhai]

Not as good as 2010 but 2011 was amazing!

My personal top:
1. Portal 2
2. Uncharted 3
3. The Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword
4. Xenoblade Chronicles (eu)
5. LittleBigPlanet 2

And i still have to play Skyrim and Dark Souls !

 

[gogosox82]

Nah, I mentioned it.

These issues also didn't affect everyone. The PS3 problem you had to have a ton of hours into the game and even then it typically got worse if you left it on and in sleep mode? May be misremembering that part though.

Click to shrink...

No. If you kept playing the game the game would become unplayable. It would just crash after 15 minutes. It happened on every tes game on the ps3. Oblivion, Fallout 3 and NV all have the same issue. If the save file became too large the game would become unplayable and it effected anyone who had a large save file which was basically anyone who played for more than 20 hours which is nothing in a tes game.

 

[inner-G]

2011 was all about Skyrim for me

My wife is at her PC next to me playing it right now (special edition) 😂

 

[HomokHarcos]

In hindsight Minecraft is definitely the most important release of the year.
BTW thank you for splitting the Japan, Western and indie releases into separate paragraphs!

 

[Wanderer5]

Definitely a more interesting year for me compare to 2010, in part because of the arrival of the Nintendo 3DS, and man was it kind of rough at first. XD

Still, I remembered going to the midnight launch for the system, and getting Pilotwings, which was fine despite lacking content. Course later in the year, the 3DS price would go down, but getting exclusive access to 10 GBA games ended up being pretty nice.

As far as some game highlights go:

• Portal 2 - Pretty much my GOTY. Took the original and crafted a fully fledged game with a lot of neat ideas and charm. The co-op mode was really fun too.
• Batman: Arkham City - The sequel to Arkham Asylum goes big, and honestly while I still prefer the more Metroid structure of the first, there were a lot of good to be had exploring this small area of Gotham.
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - The Zelda game I enjoyed the most from this year heh.
• Minecraft - Totally forgot this came out around then. I remember checking out the alpha version, and having since putting in loads of hours on and off to make my own world or exploring others. XD

Also want to give a special shout out to Dead Space 2, which i didn't play till a couple years ago, but by damn is probably one of my favorite horror games now and just behind Portal 2 for 2011. Just some great pacing, action, chills, and scares all around.

 

[Rogue Kiwi]

Skyrim, what a game. One of my favorite things to do in ES games is to just wander into small towns and talk to villagers and residents and just chill out, Skyrim did a great job of that. The Guilds were pretty good and the world was beautiful.

Not to mention it probably has the GOAT modding scene, I can't really think of anything that comes close to the Skyrim modding community.

 

[ShineALight]

Interesting that Skyrim, Dark Souls and Xenoblade (depending on your region) all released within that year...and I've also bought all three on Switch within the last month. The original release of Dark Souls somehow feels more recent that that of the rest, but all three are enjoyable and even widely played and discussed today. It will be interesting to see what games that holds true of (and are playable portably) when we do this again in 2030.

 

[Deleted member 21411]

Dark souls changed my entire taste of video games..... But God I also loved Witcher 2 and ghost trick.

Also I might be a sinner for this but I loved the ssx reboot

 

[Flevance]

Another brilliant year, Skyrim was like the FF7 of the WRPG as it pushed its popularity to an entirely different level and had its influence on the WRPGs that came after it. But my GOTY would still go to Portal 2; this game is almost flawless and I doubt will ever age

 

[Yunsen]

This was the peak year for me last gen. Had two of my favorite games of the decade with LittleBigPlanet 2 and Portal 2.

 

[shintoki]

Remember when Deus Ex's demo leaked online and the Devs went full in with big dick energy and said just play it. They managed to succeed in following up one of the all time greatest PC games. Deus Ex HR was the first game I played on my newly upgraded PC with 560GTX TI, pre-ordered on Green Man Gaming. Ended up replaying it right after on Deus Ex difficulty. I can count the games on one hand from last gen I've replayed right after. Lost Planet 2, Vanquish, Halo 3, Devil May Cry 4, and Nier. All end up in my tops. Only other game of note was Witcher 2 for me. Fantastic follow up to 1. Team Roche.

In Nov of this year, I played my last game of League and went over to DOTA 2 when I got the invite(Invites were still going for 40-50$ at the time, gave the other two to two Gaffers).

Few other gems, Red Orchestra 2, Outland, Orcs Must Die. But the yearly was dominated with League, followed by DOTA2. With like a month break for Deus Ex:HR and Witcher 2. This was the year I went from playing dozens of games a year to just a few.

 

[Zaied]

2011 was a very memorable year: those first few months with Killzone 3, Crysis 2, and MK9 all releasing weeks after the next were great times. The back end was even stronger with heavy-hitters like Arkham City and Skyrim, and plenty of stuff I didn't get to play until much later. With any luck, 2021 will be as good.

 

[T.Rex In F-14]

Ah, 2011. The year I had cancer, fun times. Luckily some extremely good games came out!

2011 was my first year on GAF, meaning it was the first year I made a GOTY list. My choice back then was Skyward Sword but I realize now that it was my Zelda bias that elevated it above other games that were better. It is still a great game, mind you, but I over inflated it. There are a few all-time games that came out in 2011 so creating a ranked list is very, very difficult and my mind will change as soon as I post this. I also don't know how to handle games that came out in 2011 but I didn't play until the following year when they released on platforms that I played them on (Witcher 2, Deus Ex, Arkham City). It obviously doesn't matter since this isn't being scored or anything. Any of my top 3 could be in any of the top spots.

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2. Portal 2
3. Dark Souls
4. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
5. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
6. Dead Space 2
7. Batman: Arkham City
8. Assassin's Creed Revelations
9. Rayman Origins
10. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

 

[Ra]

Let's not forget that Warhammer 40K: Space Marine graced us in 2011.

That game is probably the best virtual embodiment of how it should feel to be a Space Marine mowing down Xenos filth with no mercy.

Shame we never received a sequel or follow up.

 

[Blue Ninja]

I'm replaying Skyrim right now. For me, it's still the best game I've ever played.

 

[kinoki]

I'm replaying Skyrim right now. For me, it's still the best game I've ever played.

Click to shrink...

I know the feeling. I platinumed the PS4 version yesterday. Starting with the expansions today. Even for all it's apparent flaws and kinks it's really a marvel that it has aged as well as it has.

 

[Version 3.0]

2011 contains my far-and-away, undisputed Game of the Generation, Dark Souls. But more than enough will be said about Dark Souls. Portal 2, Arkham City, Skyward Sword, Rayman Origins, and Resistance 3 rounded out the big-name games I enjoyed that year.

Skyrim was okay, too, but it never became the time sink for me that it did for everyone else. I doubt I spent any longer on it than I did on Oblivion, which is to say, only a few days before I became bored of it.

It also contained several games that landed in my best of the year that probably won't get much attention. The 2D Bloodrayne: Betrayal is amazing, a much better game than the earlier, fairly well-received 3D entries. Shadows of the Damned is more than a bit juvenile, to the point where it's almost embarrassing to like, but I still did. You Don't Know Jack's best entry in the series arrived, which I still bust out when I have company to this day. And Outland, a nearly forgotten Metroidvania with an Ikaruga-like dark/light switching mechanic, was highly enjoyable. Even after the glut of high-quality entries in recent years, I'd still recommend Outland.

 

[Version 3.0]

Nice OP, by the way! Thanks for doing these threads, they are so much fun.

You should've mentioned the PSN outage - biggest video game story of the year, I'd think. Also, the early 3DS struggles, with the price drop and Ambassador Program.

I was in the middle of playing Bionic Commando: Re-Armed 2 when the PSN outage hit, which is how I found out that the game required an online connection to play, despite having no online functionality that I know of. That left a very sour taste in my mouth, and one more thing I felt I had to check for before purchasing a game.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

Skyrim is king, sorry Dark Souls. You're a very close second.

 

[Creamium]

This is a pretty weak year for my tastes, with only Dark Souls as a lonely headliner. Rayman and Portal 2 were really good, but my memory of DS2 is hazy. Definitely not as good as the original. I never liked Arkham City that much. I really should've played Ghost Trick by now.

 

[sacrificengineer]

Crysis 2 and Killzone 3 are my primary memories of that year. Liked those shooters quite a lot.

 

[spunodi]

Sonic Generations released in 2011 and remains one of the best 3D Sonic games.



Nothing in the mainline Sonic series has been up to this standard in the decade hence. The PC version is even better with it's gorgeous performance and vibrant mod scene (Unleashed Project is highly recommended.

Only Sonic Mania since has been as good a Sonic experience for me in the last decade. Sonic Generations was very special.

I'm sure there were probably other games that year too :)

 

[CannonFodder52]

I'm looking at these games by my view of them now, as opposed to what I was playing then.
Anyways, Dark Souls is one of the all time greats. Love the sense of exploration and atmosphere, to me it captures a lot of what I love about the metroidvania genre in a 3D space.
Catherine is great in that it's a mature AAA game that features a relatively a normal person, not a mass murder or a wizard but some guy dealing very human and relatable issues. It's the direction I kinda wish the Persona games would head instead of the teen protags, but whatever. It's got very fun gameplay with it's dream sequence puzzle scenarios and a captivating story.

Yakzua 4 I came to late, but it's an absolutely wonderful game with a great series of protagonists and an incredible final battle.

1. Dark Souls
2. Catherine
3. Yakuza 4
4. Portal 2
5. Shadows of the Damned
6. Skyward Sword
7. EYE
8. Deus Ex Human Revolution

 

[coldsagging]

Looking back 2011 was a strong year. Dark Souls, Portal 2, Human Revolution, Witcher 2. I loved all those games. I played Dark Souls to death, i think my PS3 save was over 900 hours.

I still remember the day i got it. My brother was heading into town to trade some games in, I was ill and in bed. I'd been pondering whether to get Dark Souls which i really wanted but i was worried it wouldn't click, or Rage. I went for Dark Souls and it was the most i'd enjoyed a game since i was a kid, it was like playing Metal Gear Solid or FF7 for the first time. Pulled me in and blew me away. My brother too, we don't often agree on games but he was as hooked as me.

Still haven't played rage lol.

 

[ThisThingIsUseful]

This reminds me that I never got to 2011 in my old "XXXX in gaming: what'd you think?" series.

One day I need to get back to that. Twas fun, but it's a lot of work putting threads like that and this one together.

 

[angelgrievous]

I played so much Dark Souls and Skyrim that I don't really remember anything else. Well, Dead Space 2 but that's it.

 

[Serpens007]

What a great year, I have fond memories of that one.

The release of Pokemon Black and White, Deus Ex Human Revolution, going to my friend's house to test Duke Nukem and confirm it as total bullshit, the hype of Modern Warfare 3 vs Battlefield 3, with the Beta of the last one making me really want to play Battlefield for the first time (console player). Uncharted 3 launch, wow, like, so many good games. And many more I got to play after like Arkham City. Good times

 

[mreddie]

Portal 2. MvC3, MK 2011 and Deus Ex were the big ones.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

Deus Ex: HR was an impressive return for the series, not as good as the original, but it struck a good balance of the old style and being more mainstream-friendly. Portal 2 nicely expanded the first game's concept. 3DS Shinobi is the most overlooked 2011 release, a really well made return to Genesis-style Shinobis.

 

[Doomguy Fieri]

Dead Space 2 and Portal 2 are both fantastic games that aren't exactly pure improvements off the original. In fact I think it's fair to say both of them suffer from subtraction by addition. There is a lot more going on in both than in the originals, but all of the new stuff doesn't necessarily improve the total experience. Too much talking in both, for one thing. And new mechanics that are flashy but sometimes feel like distractions from the more "pure" gameplay from the original.

Deus Ex likewise does a worthy job bringing the fun of the original into a modern design space, but I wouldn't credit it with taking the concept of Deus Ex and improving it substantially.

End of the day, GOTY 2011 cannot be anything but Dark Souls. Another sequel (spiritual, at least,) but this one really does take what worked in the original and tunes everything up to the next level. Probably no games since RE4 that hit the industry this hard. A few years later, everyone is making "the Dark Souls of FPS" or "the Dark Souls of Visual Novels." In hindsight there didn't actually turn out to be a huge number of games directly ripping off Dark Souls, but the design ideas and themes pop up over and over again.

(Minecraft is actually the most influential game of 2011 and arguable the most influential game of the decade, but I never played it much.)

 

[klauskorp]

2011 was the year I started keeping track of most games I play in a given year. I had just kicked the WoW habit, so I spent a good portion of the year getting caught up on games I had missed from previous years. Ignoring the games that came out that year for a moment, it was a great year for me because I played Braid, Super Meat Boy, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed: 2 & Brotherhood, and Shadow Complex, among others.

As for 2011, Dark Souls, Portal 2, and Skyrim are my favorites by far. Depending on the day you ask me, Skyrim and/or Dark Souls could creep onto a hypothetical top 10 of all time.

Part of me wants go give Skyward Sword another try someday. I also tell myself I'll play Dead Space 2.

 

[Barn]

Loving these reflections. Did not know about Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association and that's hugely significant. On a personal level, even just two years in, looking back is granting me some interesting perspectives on the years and my relationship with media.

In 2010, I settled in to vibing with stranger games, but as someone mainly interested in Nintendo and indies, I played some of the bigger stuff in 2011, what with the Wii winding down.

I've got to highlight Bit.Trip Complete as another significant indie (this time a collection) that cemented my games-as-art stance -- every game here is pure pop art, museum quality stuff. Also, no one has yet mentioned Pandora's Tower which is a near-perfect gem of a game with almost no visibility; it has a rarely mature narrative, incredibly tight level design, a satisfying feedback loop and a wholly unique atmosphere.

Though it's gotten its lip service, I'll go to bat a little for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, given how maligned it has become in recent years. Though I've not played it since finishing it in 2011, I stayed up till 7 a.m. passing a controller with a friend (whose favorite game is A Link to the Past) and we enjoyed it so much. It's easy to forget or diminish how incredibly designed every single one of the core 3D Zelda games were, from Ocarina to Skyward.

And while the series would later faceplant for me with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the first Xenoblade Chronicles remains a hall-of-fame JRPG. I haven't even thought about playing the recent remake and that's solely because, nine years later, I still remember Xenoblade, beat for beat.

 

[SPRidley]

Props to Skyrim's talented and dedicated modding community. One even won a Writer's Guild Award.

Click to shrink...

Are those the ones that made "interesting NPCs" mod? Becuase I cant play Skyrim with that. Is a completely different (and actully well written) game with that mod.