Wow, close race! I just finished Bastion this week, and while I think it was an amazing game, I don't really consider it GOTY for this year since it was originally released in 2011. So I picked Punch Quest - just an incredible indie game that has kept me playing nearly every day since its release. Haven't played Ravensword yet, so hard to say if that qualifies (though it looks really good). The Walking Dead is definitely well done, but it didn't keep me captured like PQ (only played the first episode, and while I was tempted to get the rest, I have too many other games I'd rather play). Haven't played the others yet. If Baldur's Gate had been released without its bugs, I would choose that (I realize that is counter to my argument about Bastion, but BG was originally released about 14 years ago and has been significantly changed since then - just the port alone is an amazing feat).
Gonna be a hard decision for me... @crex: Thanks for the awesome poll and all the hard work! @everyone who loved Blood Roofs: Haha..one of my favorite endless runners too. Loved the atmosphere and having boss fights. Gonna redownload it. Blood Roofs felts less twitchy to me and gives me plenty of time to plan out my routes...trying to find another endless runner similar to this, without levels (no memorization). I am enjoying Endless Roads and Pitfall a lot right now.
What's funny is that it's entirely possible that something like GTA: Vice City could get no votes. Just because a game was in people's 10 nominations doesn't mean they will ultimately choose it for GoTY. Crex has done an awesome job with this. But I wonder if the poll would be any different if everyone just gave one game as their GoTY and the votes were added up, whether there could possibly be a different outcome. Probably wouldn't turn out much different, but since there's already people making a choice of a game that they wouldn't have necessarily picked if their own GoTY was in the poll, it just got me curious.
I 100% completed: Bastion Swordigo Rayman Ravensword Walking Dead Waking Mars Modern Combat (Haven't started 100000000000 and Gta) From these, I would pull out Swordigo, Bastion, and the Walking Dead. Bastion was an amazing story, taking two times to completely beat it. I LOVED IT, and I actually thought it was a game that took two play throughs to master. However, it didn't feel right on the iOS, but I'm not complaining. At least I got to play it on my phone. The walking dead was incredible, but the framerate was terrible and a complete turn off. The story was the only thing that had me going. SWORDIGO. Yes. Swordigo is my pick of the year. The controls felt suited for the iOS. The visuals were awesome, gameplay awesome, and the sense of adventure kept my attention the entire game. I couldn't put down this game during finals week last spring quarter.
Well Ravensword wasn't initially in my nominations because I didn't play it until now. And boy, this is truly a masterpiece on mobile devices that is unprecedented, with stunning graphics, great gameplay, and it really is the whole package. My vote goes to Ravensword.
Voted for Ravensword. I'm not really bothered by this, but one of the MC4 votes is a bit questionable.
It was quite easy for me to pick my nominations, but now I can't choose a winner! Ravensword was a great game and the game developer was active on the forum, giving us news on it before it came out, but I have never knew a game that brings out emotions more than the walking dead. Waking mars had a great atmosphere, and Bastion was one of the best ports this year. MC4 has some of the best graphics on iOS, but is it the best overall? I'll have to pick soon!
At least four of the MC4 votes are invalid. CMMC4, CMMC4Test, golden eagle, Kevinootwo. These are associated with Gameloft. Four votes have been removed.
Thanks for doing this crex, it's been massively interesting and I ended up dloading new games because of it! Off to try blood roofs now... I need to try swordigo again too, it did not grab me much at all when I tried it but it comes up hand in hand with bastion and walking dead again and again and they are games I loved...
Is it wrong that I'm finding this insanely pathetic, and incredibly hard to understand why they even give two craps?
While most of these games are very good indeed, many of the heavy-hitters on the list were originally designed for other platforms, whereas Ravensword was specifically designed to showcase the iOS platform and its potential, something it does exceedingly well, particularly on higher-end devices. I loved Vice City, Bastion and The Walking Dead when I played them on PC, but while they're all fantastic games, I don't think any one of these warrants being recognised as the iOS Game of the Year. I also wasn't too impressed with the way the iOS version of TWD changed and removed things that existed in the other versions (in addition to the reduced visual quality and missing effects, the game is permanently set to "easy mode", and also automatically controls Lee in places where the player would have normally been in charge), but that's a discussion for the main TWD thread.
My thoughts on the final nominations: 10000000 It's an interesting indie game puzzler that has a unique premise and an addictive upgrade mechanic that creates a gameplay aesthetic that is unique to play through. I especially liked how incredibly well the difficulty was tuned to the combination of player skill and the upgrades and boosts that eventually become available. The game is challenging without being frustrating, mainly because every action is a reward unto itself. But it is not my pick this year Bastion Played the XBLA and PC versions, loved both and completed the PC version. Never played it on iOS, though, so I did not pick this one. GTA: Vice City Never played it. Never cared for the franchise. MC4: Zero Hour Never played the series, and thus have no comment on its quality. Punch Quest This WOULD be my pick... if there was less of a grind as the game progressed. It was grindy before it went premium and is still grindy now, and it gets grindy enough that I like it slightly less in the long run. Ravensword: Shadowlands I only played for about an hour of this game, so take what I say here with a grain of salt. I understand the appeal: an Elder Scrolls-like game on a handheld device. However, I do think the implementation needs more tailoring to iOS and more of an original focus in, well, everything to truly be something special, something this game does not accomplish IMHO. As I played, I could not shake the feeling that I have seen most everything here in other games like it, and those games more often than not had more originality than this game did in my eyes. Still, for being somewhat derivative, it controls well and is fun to play, so I can see why it is here; I just don't believe that it is as great as it was hyped to be, because of less original implementation of the core concept. Again, take this with a grain of salt. Rayman Jungle Run Nice auto-runner. Now give me full control of the character, dammit! Yeah yeah, I'm being picky, I'm human darnit, give me some slack here! Swordigo I do not belong in the camp that frustration equals to fun-over-time, or FOT as I like to say. Yes, the environments, enemies and secrets are varied, yes, the game rewards exploration and backtracking, yes, the game can be fun. But if a player does not have the requisite skill to succeed at the game, they feel like they are 1.) inadequate and unworthy to be gamers, 2.) that something is physically or mentally wrong with them, 3.) ashamed that they cannot complete the game as they are, 4.) intimidated at the challenge of building the skill needed to succeed, and 5.) afraid that they will never succeed, and that they will forever be stuck in the "loser" camp. Sure, these feelings may be very small in size, sure, the satisfaction of overcoming these feelings and persevering is significant, sure, these are not the only emotions that are possible in this situation, sure, no emotion is permanent, but it is still upsetting to be caught in that flurry of negative feelings and it can really depress the player and turn them away from the game. Thus, a well-designed game IMHO needs to be able to a.) find a way to reward the player for at least trying, b.) re-in force that this is just a game and that no one should care about their performance at it, or c.) up the "fun" factor to such a degree that even when they are losing, they are still having a blasting good time. I am sure there are other solutions to this problem. Swordigo tries the third option, and to some degree it succeeds, but it was not enough to get my vote this time. Waking Mars A gorgeous-looking game with a focus on non-combat gameplay, which is a rarity among "serious AAA games". Yet it does not sacrifice complexity or challenge, as survival is just as important as the needs and requirements of the organisms in the various levels. In fact, it is rare to find a game that encourages the player to fill levels with alien and potentially deadly life, instead of taking a gun to a room full of targets and leaving it as an empty and looted wasteland. This should have been my pick, now that I think about it. I certainly wish I could change my vote That leaves the last one: The Walking Dead I voted for this at first because I wanted to support Telltale's endeavors on iOS. They are a company that has found a way to keep the adventure game alive in a modern industry, and I personally believe that deserves every ounce of praise headed their way. However... I have not played the game. Thus, I should not have voted for it. Hindsight, why must you be 20/20?! (>_<)**** Ah well, those are my thoughts ^_^
The Walking Dead is a good Game but nothing more. There is a reason why many in the Industry don`t believe that it is a better Game then Journey. The Walking Dead is just swiming on a Wave with the TV Show currently and if the TV Show wouldn`t be still on Air probably nobody would give a damn about the Game since Adventures are only still popular in Europe. Also in my Eyes Telltales Games have screwed it up to many times in the past. They lied, tried to hide it and even had enough qualm to make things often look completely the opposite what they were in reality. But as usual People forget nowadays those things very fast since we are living in a Freemium World where it doesn`t matter anymore if a Developer tries to make you bend over or not. If it comes to Mobile Gaming Telltale Games is on the same Level as Zynga and I spit each time I read a comment of how great Telltale Games is and what great things they had done for Mobile Gaming.
Personally I don't feel like a game already released on another platform deserves to be goty regardless of how good it is (bastion, gta, etc). Giving this to 10000000
Even though I voted for Bastion, I think I have to agree. If Bastion came out on PC in 2011, and made it to the Xbox in 2012, nobody would give it consideration for GoTY. Same thing should apply here.
3 of mine got on the list it was tough between ravensword 2 and walking dead. I think walking dead just tops it
