AoD Game of the Year 2007

[Johnny]

End of the year so time to start thinking about that #1 game of 2007. Do it in any format you like (top 10 list, ranked by console etc) and feel free to add categories.

I'm not adding my choices just yet but it'll be interesteing to see if there's an agreement on any one game standing out amongst all others.

[Pyocola]

My top two games of 2007:

The Orange Box
BioShock

[Chacranajxy]

Right now, it's between Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy. The 360 and PS3 don't have anything that even comes close, but I still need to play through Crysis. That game is easily the best single player FPS I've ever played right now.

Multiplayer game of the year is Unreal Tournament III (PC) though... without a doubt the most fun I've ever had with a multiplayer game. I've heard the PS3 version is gimped, which is a shame, but I'm sure it's still unbelievably good on there.

[Jarred]

Tough choice, but for me it would definitely be one of the following:

BioShock
Orange Box
Mass Effect
Rock Band

I had great times with all of them, and each one left me feeling like I wanted to come back for more. To figure out which one is my GotY, I'd have to start comparing the cons of each and I honestly don't want to go down that road as no game is perfect. So I say bundle them all together as the AoD Box and sell it as one game and then you have my GotY. :D

[GHardin]

There have been quite a few good games this year, so I think I'll just go by my favorites for each platform.

Multiplatform: (bold indicates which version I played)
Bioshock (PC/360)
Call of Duty 4 (PC/360/PS3)
Orange Box (PC/360/PS3)
Rock Band (360/PS3)

360:
Mass Effect

PS3:
Ratchet and Clank FUTURE: Tools of Destruction
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Wii:
Metroid Prime 3
Super Mario Galaxy

PC:
Crysis
World in Conflict (well, PC for now anyway)

PSP:
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles

DS:
I don't think I bought anything for the DS outside of the second Bleach (obviously imported) game this year...

[Andrew Cunningham]

Mario Galaxy, Rock Band, and Zelda:Phantom Hourglass.

[Azumangaman]

I have no idea yet. I need to review plenty more games, come up with final grades and make my decisions then.

However:
Ratchet and Clank Future
Bioshock
Call Of Duty 4
Blue Dragon
The Darkness
UT 3
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune
Virtua Fighter 5
are all potential games at this point.

[ADC]

Console awards …

Best of GBA
• Final Fantasy VI Advance

Best of Gamecube
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess — yes, it's a December 2006 title, but there you are.

Best of DS
• Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
• Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings

Best of Wii
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Paper Mario

Best of Virtual Console
• Punch-Out!!
• Super Metroid

Best of PSP
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
• Jeanne d'Arc

And the best of the bunch?

Runners-up
• Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings
• Super Paper Mario

Game of the Year
• Super Mario Galaxy

[lostnomad84]

Game of the year: Mario Galaxy.
Any game that is better than Mario 64 deserves to be game of the year, hands down!

Runner up: Bioshock
Great atmosphere, storytelling, incredible graphics, and revolutionary weapon system with the plasmids.

[Kinomoto_Shinji]

My list:
1. Persona 3
2. Odin Sphere
3. Silent Hill Origins
4. Puzzle Quest
5. Super Mario Galaxy

Thats all I have at the moment. I would like to add more, such as Castlevania DX, but I honestly did not care for it. I thought I wanted old school play again...I guess not. I should of used my money for Phoenix Wright games instead. Live and learn.

Also I would like to get around to the Orange Box. I'm just not enough of a PC gamer to justify the $50 price tag when I all want is to play Team Fortress 2.

Hopefully next year I'll have a PS3 to add more top games to my list. That and free time to play them. I've bought several I would like to add to my top list, but since I haven't played them enough, I can't really add them.

[jecca-neko]

I'm going to copy ADC and do it by console, but I'm only going to pick one title for each.


Best of GBA:
Final Fantasy VI Advance

Best of DS:
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl

Best of Wii:
Trauma Center: New Blood

Best of Virtual Console:
Star Fox 64

I don't know what I think was best of the year. It's always so hard for me to decide.

[Zorak]

Bioshock
Silent Hill: Origins

[Pyocola]

Also I would like to get around to the Orange Box. I'm just not enough of a PC gamer to justify the $50 price tag when I all want is to play Team Fortress 2.
So you want to play an FPS, you evidently like single player games and you don't want to play Episode Two or Portal.

head explode gif from Scanners

[Mateo_home]

Um, okay...

DS
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy

PS2
Arcana Heart (yeah, I didn't get many PS2 games this year) :sd:

PSP
Castlevania: Dracula Chronicles X

Other fun games I just have to bring up
Fire Emblem 10
Super Paper Mario
Hotel Dusk
ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat
Sonic Rush Adventure
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

If I had to pick one game for game of the year, I'll go with Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. Hey, just not trying to be like everyone else so far. :P

[martod]

Best RPGs:
Jeanne D'Arc(PSP)--An old fashioned strategy RPD that focuses on battlefield strategy instead of stat juggling, micromanagement, and level grinding. I love how there are no generic characters--every character you're given has his/her own good points and bad points. The use of anime for the cutscenes instead of CG is a great.

Blue Dragon(360)--boring story and characters, but the game is a nice traditional RPG with a massive world and a lot of things to do. Being able to search almost every object was a nice touch.

FFXII:Revenant Wings--I've only got to chapter 5 so far, but so far it's very addictive and has much better characterization than FFXII.

.hack//GU vol 3(PS2)--I fell in love with this series this year. Much better than the original .hack series in every way, and the original series was pretty good on its own.

Shining Force EXA(PS2)--Nothing like the old Shining Force games(Jeanne D'arc is very similar to those though), but a surprisingly goood hack and slash RPG with a lot of character. I also thought the voice acting was surprisingly good despite there being no big name actors.

honorable mention to Wild ARMS 5, which would be a fine game if it didn't have the single most obnoxious hero in videogame history.

Best Non-RPGs:

Bioshock(360)--The best FPS I've played since Deus Ex. Great story, great dialogue, brilliant setting(kudos to the designers for making the levels all be places where people once lived and worked, instead of easy to craft places like sewers or subway tunnels), and lots of collectibles. I got the 360 version because from what I heard the installation of the PC version is ugly...ugly...ugly...UGLY...UUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGLLL LLLLYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!(I just had to use that quote :D )

Beautiful Katamari(360)--The game is just as addictive as it was in the two PS2 games(the PSP game just proved that the system was just not right for Katamari game).

Biggest disappointment:

Ar Tonelico(PS2)--I expected another Atelier Iris, but AT just seemed sloppy and disorganized, the translation was dry and lifeless(aside from the sexual innuendos), the hero was so bland he was practically invisible despite how much dialogue he gets, and the combat system was repetitive.

[Kinomoto_Shinji]

Also I would like to get around to the Orange Box. I'm just not enough of a PC gamer to justify the $50 price tag when I all want is to play Team Fortress 2.
So you want to play an FPS, you evidently like single player games and you don't want to play Episode Two or Portal.

head explode gif from Scanners

FPS are an exception. While I do own Half Life and Half Life 2, I never played them all the way. When HL1 was out I spent my time with Team Fortress classic and Counter Strike, and then with HL2 I just played CS Source and Deathmatch Source. I just couldn't get into the actual game, as illogical as that may seem.

[DeadlyMessiah]

5. Uncharted
4. Metroid Prime 3
3. Call of Duty 4
2. Mario Galaxy
1. God of War II

If you want to get into specifics by system, then it goes:

PS2 - God of War II
PS3 - Uncharted
360 - Call of Duty 4
Wii - Mario Galaxy
DS - MegaMan ZX Advent
PSP - Final Fantasy II

Best Sountrack - God of War II
Best Dialog - Uncharted
Best Graphics - Call of Duty 4
Best Weapon - The Heavenly Sword
Best Video Game Chick - Alicia from Bulletwitch
Worst Game of 2007 - Vampire Rain

[untoldsorrow]

My game of the year has to be Persona 3 for PS2. It does everything right. The style, the soundtrack and presentation are top-notch. The rpg elements are easy for beginners but also complex for the advance players.

The main characters are highly likable, great voice acting and addicting gameplay with a good ending, something that most recent rpgs or games in general lack.

Runner up:
Mario Galaxy for Wii - I haven't played it enough to actually vote it as my GotY but from the little that I've played, definitely a A+ game.

Honorable mentions: Uncharted (PS3), Ratchet and Clank Future (PS3)

[quenelf]

Mario Galaxy. There, done. :)

I only have a Wii (and DS), but I'm pretty confident that if I had other systems too, that choice would stand. (Bearing in mind that there's a reason I only have a Wii, which is that I really like most of the major Nintendo games...)

Unlike Mario Galaxy, I don't think it'd be anywhere near game of the year status when other consoles are considered too, but Zack and Wiki would be my runner-up on the Wii. (Everybody who owns a Wii has to buy that game - IT'S THE LAW! Do it now!)

Now if only my new monitor power supply would get here so I could actually play these games...

--quen

[martod]

but Zack and Wiki would be my runner-up on the Wii. (Everybody who owns a Wii has to buy that game - IT'S THE LAW! Do it now!)



I bought the game. And I'm very close to regretting my decision. The game is so far proving there is such thing as being TOO innovative. There's too much faith put into the imprecise motion sensors. I tried about 50 times to do those damn Bonelich minigames and the only thing I got out of it is a sore forearm.

[Lovely]

Hmmm, well, after some thought... I guess my games of the year would be .hack//GU vol.3 (and was 2 this year? Eh, I just love the series ^^;. ) And Persona 3.

[ZhenJi]

For me it was Bioshock. I love Mario Galaxy, but it's not as original as Bioshock.

I also enjoyed Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Zelda Twilight Princess (I didn't get it until March :P ).

[Draneor]

My personal game of the year for consoles was Ar Tonelico. I haven't played through a RPG this many times since Disgaea (and before that was Chrono Trigger). I personally found the item creation system interesting, the characters moe, and the combat fun to play. Also, I found the hymmnos incredibly enchanting and currently consider EXEC_PHANTASMAGORIA/ to be the best ending song I have heard to date. Really, I think I enjoyed the music of the game most of all (after Nogawa Sakura's performance).

As for PC, Little Busters, maybe? I don't really play anything these days outside of dating simulations, RPGs, and strategy.

[pathos]

It would be hard for me to vote 10 best, for alot of reasons. Mostly, because I only play rpg's and fighting games, with a strategy or action game thrown in every now and then.

So, I'll give you the best from what I played.

Persona 3
Mass Effect

umm, thats it. There were alot of other games I played that I liked. But, a "best of" category they are not.

I enjoyed virtua fighter 5. But, for some reason, it wasn't as "fun" as the last doa and tekken installments (for me, hardcore doesnt always = fun). Hrm, for that matter, I actually liked the last soul caliber better. No, I'm not saying vf5 is bad. It is a good game. Just an "inferior to the rest of the group" game.

I also spent alot of time working through my long backlog of games, so alot would be from previous years, just new to me.

[rainking187]

Bioshock, hands down. Nothing else I played this year even comes close.

[beatmania]

Bioshock, hands down. Nothing else I played this year even comes close.

Word. Mr. Bubbles!

[AdyHart]

This year my number of game purchases has been pretty dire as I haven't bought anywhere near as many as I normally would and most of them I have bought have been older titles so I will have to think about it for a while.

One of my early contenders has to be Naruto: Rise of a Ninja.
Even though it isn't perfect it is a really well made game and a solid effort from Ubisoft.

I will have to reserve my list till after christmas as I should be getting a few contenders as presents (I hope).

[Jarred]

Tough choice, but for me it would definitely be one of the following:

BioShock
Orange Box
Mass Effect
Rock Band
It wasn't until I read Wired's (http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/multimedia/2007/12/YE_games_2007) Top 10 list that I realized I forgot Crackdown. I had a ton of fun with that game when I bought it with my 360 Elite (still have 4 agility orbs to find!!), so that rounds out the Top 5 for me.

[Johnny]

Think I'm about ready to do this. Still have some things to come so I'll be adding some games to some categories as potential list-makers or games I know will be great but I won't have enough time with in 07 to add to the list.
Anyway...

PS3
After a fairly weak 06 launch, much better from Sony in 2007. Important 1st party releases like Heavenly Sword, Uncharted and Warhawk all turned out well, constant firmware updates a little annoying but some really cool multimedia stuff added, much more 3rd party support and the PSN shaping up well in all aspects (online play, downloadable games etc).
2008 looks even better.

1. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
2. Warhawk
3. Heavenly Sword
4. Ninja Gaiden Sigma
5. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction

*Gran Turismo 5 Concept
*Time Crisis 4

360
It was always going to be hard to top Gears of War last year and while I haven't played Halo 3 yet, IMO Mass Effect was a missed opportunity and suffered more than Halo 3 did of gross, gross over-hype. Great game, yes, but in no way as revolutionary as it was made out to be. Xbox Live going from strength to strength in all areas. Still shocking failure rate on the hardware side though, something that drastically needs to be sorted out ASAP. Lot of nice exclusives and some interesting Japan only stuff but it seems like the 360 has completely failed in Japan already, even if it has done much better than the original Xbox.

1. Lost Planet (came out in Japan first in late 06 but I'm counting it as an 07 release)
2. Forza Motorsport 2
3. iDOLM@STER
4. Project Gotham Racing 4
5. Crackdown

*Halo 3
*Lost Odyssey

Wii
After selling out last year purely on the back on vast over-hype and one good Gamecube port, 2007 justified owning a Wii with superb 1st party software in Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3. Third party support increasing and nice to see it produce more than the dreaded party games. Even ports such as Resi 4 are welcome if they continue to add to the game in question and receive budget priced releases.

1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. No More Heroes
3. Metroid Prime 3
4. Super Paper Mario
5. Sonic and the Secret Rings

*Zack & Wiki
*NiGHTS

PSP
I'm a great defender of the PSP but this year it definitely did have a real lack of games. Understandable given Sony's focus on PS3 and developers flocking to the DS, but needs to be better next year. Crisis Core in the US and God of War and some others should sort this out.

1. Silent Hill Origins
2. After Burner: Black Falcon
3. DJ Max Portable 2
4. Parodius Portable
5. Metal Slug Anthology

*Wipeout Pulse

DS
Poor year for the DS overall, especially given the bucketload of AAA software in 05 and 06. Zelda was enjoyable but nothing revolutionary and Pokemon was more of the same. Surprises in 3rd party stuff like Ontama and Nodame Cantabille.

1. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
2. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
3. Taiko no Tatsujin
4. Ontama: Onpu-tou Hen
5. Cooking Mama 2

*Dragon Quest Monsters J
*Contra 4

PS2
PS2's last big year but one of the games of the year was on the system and HnK was a really good fighter so late in the consoles life.

1. God of War II
2. Hokuto no Ken
3. Burnout Dominator

*Arcana Heart

Online Multiplayer Pick
1. Call of Duty 4
2. Lost Planet
3. Warhawk
4. Forza Motorsport 2

Multi-Format
1. Assassin's Creed
2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
3. Virtua Fighter 5
4. Call of Duty 4
5. Skate
6. Guitar Hero III
7. Sega Rally
8. Virtua Tennis
9. The Darkness
10.

Overall
1. Lost Planet
2. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
3. Assassin's Creed
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
5. Super Mario Galaxy
6. God of War II
7. IDOLM@STER
8. Forza Motorsport 2
9. Heavely Sword
10. Project Gotham Racing 4

Surprises of the Year
Crackdown
Sega Rally
The Darkness
Nodame Cantabille
Ontama: Onpu-tou Hen
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Zack & Wiki

[Kurou]

Overall: SRW Original Generations. Predictable from me, but it has my top spot.

PS2: ^
360: Halo 3, Crackdown, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed. Lots of goodnees for the 360 this year, and that's just off the top of my head.
PC: Europa Universalis III, hands down.
DS: Pokemon Diamond
Wii: *gathering dust*

[Andrew Cunningham]

No Rock Band?

[Johnny]

No Rock Band?

Haven't played it yet unfortunately. I'd say it would be up there if I had though.

[Noodle]

I don't think this could possibly be right, but it probably is: the only new games I've been on in 2007 were Phantom Hourglass and Sega Rally. Choosing a 'best game' based on that pathetically small list seems... silly. They're both cool, but I guess Zelda wins by virtue of Zelda always winning for me. :neko:

.. That said, I only just got my DS last month, so I'm sure Final Fantasy, Diamond/Pearl, and Phoenix Wright would have been contenders had I just gotten to them yet....forget consoles; my games for them are still firmly stuck in last year and most of those games bought in 2007 are still in their plastic. Man, my backlog is getting uglier by the month. :sd:

[Jarred]

Looks like you haven't made it that far yet in Mass Effect. For me, it got awesome starting with Feros then moving on to Virmire and the big finale. After I got done, I just couldn't stop thinking about the game and wanting to do it again.

Defenitely give it more time. It has a long windup and learning curve.

[Super Saiyajin Joshua]

I apparently missed out on this Persona 3 game. After seeing everyone here label it as one of their personal favorite games of the year I figured I'd pick it up and give it a try. It's apparently OOP already though because I couldn't find any copies at any online retailers and on ebay the cheapest I could find it was about $60.

[pathos]

I apparently missed out on this Persona 3 game. After seeing everyone here label it as one of their personal favorite games of the year I figured I'd pick it up and give it a try. It's apparently OOP already though because I couldn't find any copies at any online retailers and on ebay the cheapest I could find it was about $60.

That seems to happen to all the Shin Megumi Tensei games. Buy them fast, or pay a boatload for them on ebay, unless you get lucky at your local gamestop used section

[WRX]

These are my favorites for each system:

PC: Crysis
X360: Bioshock
PS3: Ratchet & Clank - Tools of Destruction
PSP: Disgaea - Afternoon of Darkness
Wii: Zelda - Twilight Princess (even though it's a 2006 game it's still my favorite on the Wii)

[Jaynin]

I'm basing my decisions only on what I've played, as sadly I have quite a few of 2007's hot games yet to be played, and I don't own a 360 or PS3.

The top 5 games that I absolutely adored and consumed my time the most would be:

Super Mario Galaxy
Ouendan 2
Persona 3
Zack & Wiki
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All

[Jumbo]

2007 was a pretty slow year over all for me in terms of games... Granted I never got into the first person shooter genera so that takes a whole slew of what was big and popular out of contention for me. (Orange Box, Bioshock, etc.)

2007 also marked a year where I didn't break down and buy a new gaming system of some sort. Sure having a Wii would have been nice for Mario Galaxy this year but I'm also in no rush either (way to many other games I should be playing as well) and having Twilight Princess on the Gamecube worked fine for me. Here's hoping the Wii hold a promise of more games that will be a bit more interesting to me than simply wanting Mario Galaxy.

I was also tempted by the whole PS3 various SKU's fiasco but when all was said and done I just decided I'd hold off and I can't say I feel like I've missed anything I can't catch later either.

[PS2] -R2- Persona 3 FES

Typically I'm not one for dungeon crawling but with the balance of school life and leveling up, I was quite hooked. Add in a fresh twist on the JRPG "style" and a wonderful cast list and top it off with Maaya Sakamoto playing an android and this little Maaya fanboy is a happy camper. While I didn't play much of the Original Persona 3 (Only about 20 hrs of play before I gave up to simply wait for FES) the fact that they released a cheaper appendix disc was bonus and having heard and read what didn't make it in to the first game vs. FES makes me glad I waited. Hopefully I'll finish the main chapter up and get moving on to the exclusive Episode Ageis here soon. (After I collect enough maid outfits to dress all my female party members up to create a harem of maids, I'll be ready to go.)

[DS] -R2- Gyakuten Saiban 4

Another game that took me too long to get around to (I held out for the Best Price remake of GS 3 for the DS) but boy has it been a blast. They took a big chance and really shook up the main storyline but it has come together so well that I've enjoyed it even more than how GS 3 ended. The new systems and characters have been a lot of fun. I'm moving into the final day of what looks to be the final case and hope that the ending ends up icing the cake.

[PC] -Doujin- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni -Kai- Matsuribayashi edition.

While technically this released last summer, I didn't get around to finishing it up until this year around the time the PS2 version of the game released.

While it is hard to really call this much of a "game" this goes a long way in proving to me that if a game doesn't have a good story to stand on, it's harder to enjoy. Ryukishi07 put a whole lot out there on the table and even through its expansive length the characters kept me coming back for more. Maybe it was because I read too much Alfred Hitchcock's The Three Investigators when I was a kid but I haven't enjoyed a mystery this much in who knows how long. When simply reading the text of a "sound novel" is more fun than some of the RPG's I played this year, This title was the easy choice and just beats out P3 FES for game of the year for me.

[Kevinroc]

My vote goes to Super Mario Galaxy. It hit all the right notes in my book.

[untoldsorrow]

[PS2] -R2- Persona 3 FES

Typically I'm not one for dungeon crawling but with the balance of school life and leveling up, I was quite hooked. Add in a fresh twist on the JRPG "style" and a wonderful cast list and top it off with Maaya Sakamoto playing an android and this little Maaya fanboy is a happy camper. While I didn't play much of the Original Persona 3 (Only about 20 hrs of play before I gave up to simply wait for FES) the fact that they released a cheaper appendix disc was bonus and having heard and read what didn't make it in to the first game vs. FES makes me glad I waited. Hopefully I'll finish the main chapter up and get moving on to the exclusive Episode Ageis here soon. (After I collect enough maid outfits to dress all my female party members up to create a harem of maids, I'll be ready to go.)



I really hope P3 did good enough for them to consider bringing Fes over to the states. I would love it if they did but I don't think Atlus would, but then again, they do many things we don't expect.

[Zorak]

X360:
Bioshock
Crackdown
Eternal Sonata
The Orange Box
The Darkness

PS3:
Assassin's Creed

PS2:
Persona 3

PSP:
Silent Hill: Origins

[Chuplayer]

Orange Box and Time Crisis 4 for me.

[Jumbo]

I really hope P3 did good enough for them to consider bringing Fes over to the states. I would love it if they did but I don't think Atlus would, but then again, they do many things we don't expect.

Yeah, after having played a bit of just P3 and then switching to FES I can understand why Atlus didn't "tag it on" as they would have probably had to set pack production of the game another 6 months to get all the new content in. Between their contract for the first P3 and time restraints I feel there wasn't much of a choice they could really make. I'd love to see a FES "Appendix Disc" at a nice lower price point over here too if possible. Dragging my R2 PS2 around to my friends place to show them parts they are missing isn't as fun as letting them play it themselves.