Aralon. Maybe there is a serious vocal minority kinda thing going on here. I don't know what the team at Galoobeth and CM did to garner such flamboyant, overzealous worship from a certain segment of their fan base, but it's bizarre. Maybe the beta testers foster some kind of weird feeling of kinship with the devs. Anyways, and just my opinion obviously: the game is terribly underwhelming in every aspect but ambition and technical proficiency. God knows they tried, and it's a pretty game and a good time, but Aralon doesn't deliver on those ambitions, from narrative to character development... to downright playability... Call me a hater, but how exactly is this game of the year? Because there's no other game like it in the app store? Infinity Blade has much less in common with other app store fare, and it's an immensely superior game in every aspect possible. Nevermind the graphics, they could be vector-based; the game plays like a dream and has a trailblazing concept perfect for iOS and the app store. Is it possible to dispute that Aralon is derivative to the core? And therein lies my main point; derivative is just about the last word I'd associate with my game of the year. Why not a game that utilizes the strengths of it's platform, for starters? I don't get it.
Infinity Blade superior? The fighter game with great graphics? Disappionted in you, man. :/ Aralon is the most ambitious game in the store, that's sure. I was/am one of the testers, and I can see that they do whatever they can to make the game better, while most games in this category don't get updated ever (lookin' at you Gameloft). How the hell could Aralon be the most overrated game? \tired, just woke up, sorry for misunderstandings/typos/crappy grammar\
I think Aralon is one of the more promising games of the year although it definitely needs updates to fix issues I never saw it hyped up anywhere to be honest except on this forum. I think Infinity Blades easily the most overhyped.
I agree completely. I'm talking about the TA forum here; I come here 90% of the time for iOS gaming news. IB was definitely the most overhyped overall, and it got a ton of attention here. I don't think it's overrated though. I don't want anyone to get me wrong, I love the community here. This is just a rant on something to which I don't relate.
I think that happens to everyone at some point. Example: one of the games in your sig: Real Racing 2. Horrible, horrible game in a number of ways, in my opinion. "Overrated" doesn't even begin to cover it for me; more like the folks who like it must be victims of some form of mass hypnosis. See? You probably disagree. Happens to everyone, as I said.
Real Racing 2 didn't reach nearly the same level of fanaticism, nor is it the TA forum's game of the year. Gauging the merits of a game is a matter of opinion, of course. As stated in the OP.
The problem with threads like this is that overrated is such a personal category -- basically, all it means is that other people liked a game more than you did. As Gabrien points out, you could say that about pretty much any well-received game. If I were to name a "top overrated game of 2010" it would be Angry Birds, which is taking the world by storm and bores me within minutes. But to say that it's overrated is to claim that other people shouldn't like it as much as they do. And that's pointless and more than a little self-centered. As to Aralon vs Infinity Blade, let's just say that there's more than one way to be innovative on a platform. For people who wanted an immersive and expansive experience, Aralon delivered in ways that other handheld (not just iOS) games don't. Infinity Blade is a big deal, too -- it's an innovative take on the fighting game and a big step forward technically and aesthetically. In my view, neither is overrated. But that's just one man's opinion.
I can only speak from my perspective, but I think it seems people like Aralon so much because the most vocal people are the ones that followed it since it was announced, or beta tested it, or had interaction with the devs. As a whole experience I've had more fun with Aralon than any other game. If your trying to get honest answers from people, maybe don't start a thread with the most controversial choice you can think of, unless all you wanted is a debate about why you think Aralon sucks. It was overhyped, yes, but not overrated. There's a large group of people even here on TA that can't stand the game. My personal choice would be infinity blade. Just like I predicted, I totally stopped playing it on the 16th, because once you get past the pretty face, there's not much there at all.
Funny, it just actually occurred to me that both Aralon and Infinity Blade, though neither is a bad game, are overvalued (I think that's a better term) for the same reason: their presence on the iDevices alone, is judged to be an accomplishment. In one case, for its scope, while in the other, for its graphics. By far the best game I played this year on any platform is Limbo. Ironically, a game that would look just as much at home on iDevices as anywhere else.
Beta testers for better or worst will always have a tendency to be bias for the game they beta tested be it a GOTY material or just plain crap. This is why TA is very indie friendly.
That's simply unfair. There are several beta tests I've bowed out from because I didn't like the game -- the one that comes to mind most readily is Eco Punk. Just because you beta test a game doesn't mean that you lose all your critical faculties. @Gabrien: I think that's a reasonable take, though, as you know, I happen to disagree . I do agree, however, that Limbo needs an iOS port pronto.
Then you have avoided the tendency but I personally known some guys who grown too attached to a game they beta tested.
That's an interesting point. The first thing is now overrated is about basic players, I don't know when this changed but some time ago it was clear it was those who rate vs those who play. Ie an overrated game was a game reviewers rate quite higher than players would do. The same for a hype, it was also an opposition between media and players. So now it's global the players are the media and everybody is on the same level, yeah blogs and all. But as you highlight it's pointless because you have no way to evaluate the rate average of all players, no please don't quote App Store stars. Hence overrated, or hype has a real sense only through an opposition between media and players, not players vs other players.
That's a very good point. The term makes sense when you are looking only at critical reception and comparing it with player's real experience. I think it's perfectly fair, for example, to say that you don't agree with TA's review (as I have done with a different game for the opposite reason). Some people, however, like to display their "superiority" by deeming folks who like a particular game (or movie, or book) as deluded fools. @beachmusic: getting "too attached" is a good and fair way to put it. I guess I was put off by the "just plain crap" part. Most responsible beta testers would simply not test a game that was just plain crap -- it isn't worth their time (and it takes a lot of time to beta test a game).
I like Aralon and I think I agree with TA's assessment, although I also voted for Space Miner, too. Nevertheless, Aralon fulfills the strong and popular desire for a fully-realized, deep, and relatively extensive open-world RPG to rival something like Oblivion, something which hasn't truly been fulfilled on the iOS platform. Ravensword only went so far, but its relatively small world satisfied only for so long. Aralon is the largest open-world RPG on the App Store, one of the best-looking, has the most side quests, best skill tree (limited though it is), longest gameplay, and most appealing gameplay overall, so it has wide appeal with RPG fans. Don't get me wrong, Aralon isn't perfect; there is a laundry list of things I'd like to see improved, but they're being worked on and improved, whereas Ravensword hasn't been updated since last July, doesn't support iPad and doesn't even have Retina display support. But for all of Aralon's flaws it is still hands-down the best of its genre by a very, very wide margin. You may not like it, and you may think it is overrated, but your opinion is your opinion and seems to be in the minority.
I really am enjoying Aralon right now for what it is - a fun 3d western RPG on my portable device. Something that 11 months ago I thought was impossible. I am surprised that people take "awards" so seriously - I mean how much time are you going to spend worrying about an article on a game that you either like or don't like instead of actually playing games.
