Best RPG 2011

Yeah, Fuck that noise.

CLEARLY GR was paid off by SE, some other game should have won instead!

Skyrim all the way! I even think Dark Souls and Catherine should have won.

CATHERINE!!! I ****ing move blocks whenever I close my eyes after I play the game for a hour

I completely agree with this because of the fact that there were so many ways to enjoy this game, (stealth, traversal, precision combat, augmentations, and heavy weaponry) and the fact that you could go about solving problems through different means as well (combat, talking it out). For the extreme depth, development and minor branches, I agree that the narrative was pretty strong (even if there were problems with it, the fact remains they were problems becuase of the strength of the narrative in the first place).

I agree completely with this decision. Though, Catherine? That's a puzzle game, not an RPG. It's puzzle game of the year, though.

Catherine is a puzzle game....

No Love for The Witcher 2? Bastion? Dragon Age II?

I is confused...still, glad Deus Ex won, it deserved it more than Skyrim.

Yeah, I'm really surprised by the lack of Witcher 2 love. In terms of choice and story, it FAR exceeds Deus Ex: HR.

Good call. But in what universe is Catherine an RPG? It's a puzzle game. And it would have been the best puzzle game of the year if not for Portal 2.
Unless you count Portal 2 as an FPS, you silly GЯ, you...

This feels kinda bias, I mean I don't even care if Skyrim won or not just not this. Deus Ex may have had an "adult narrative" but the gameplay pretty much sucked. The combat was boring, the gameplay choices devolved into 2 choices which ultimately just got you to the same goal. Sneak by or shoot everybody your choice. MGS4 had more choices than that and it came out years ago, looked better to. Skyrim had a LOT more choices. Oh, and this wasn't even a decent RPG. Skyrim and Dark Souls were far better RPGs. Deus Ex also had a small, boring world. Skyrim and Dark Souls had much larger, far more interesting worlds. Bottom line don't pick "RPG of the Year" because it had a good narrative (which I honestly disagree with, I thought it was fairly boring) it doesn't make any sense. Skyrim and Dark Souls are fathoms above this as RPGs, maybe even games as whole. They have better stories, bigger, better, more beautiful worlds, You made the wrong decision, Deus Ex sucked. I'm done venting now.

1- It's either "You have a bias" or "You are biased". Pick one, don't mix them.
2- They're talking about their favorite games of the year here, how can they not be biased? Look up the word "opinion". And "bias" while you're at it.

Catherine is only an RPG if you play it with your pants off. I get what you're saying about story & narrative, but I still think Skyrim should have won.

Definitely a fair choice. Meaningful storyline is severely undervalued in modern games.

But I must say I'm also perplexed by no mention of The Witcher 2. Very surprising that it was overlooked in favor of Catherine and Yakuza 4.

HR's storyline didn't really feel like it went anywhere. The world was really cool and detailed, but the plot never really evolved beyond basic, loaded ethics and misfired intrigue.

My vote would be for Xenoblade Chronicles. Maybe next year, after it's out in the states.

I call bullshit on GR stating narrative is as important as gameplay since they have given MMORPGs great review scores. MMORPGs and great narrative are more polar than Mike Tyson and manners. RPGs can still be good because of the leveling mechanic, game world, customization, etc. Many things are equally important and more important than narrative to RPGs. Also didn't New Vegas win this last year? I swear there's a game similar to that one out now...

I'm fairly sure Mass Effect 2 won last year. I don't see how it couldn't if its biggest competition was New Vegas.

I'm actually 99% sure it was new Vegas because I remember being offended that Mass Effect 2 was beat by it. Can someone at GR ask Nick because I'm pretty sure he wrote up the blurb on it last year and probably remembers what won. Also my comment about a similar game being released this year was in jest, as I think Skyrim craps all over New Vegas and you're right, the same game shouldn't win every year.

Dark Souls isn't a run-of-the-mill RPG either. Not something like Final Fantasy or Skyrim.

Are you trying to compare Skyrim to New Vegas? Because that's like comparing an apple to an apple pie with ice cream, coffee, pancakes, and eggs. In terms of RPG in the narrative, New Vegas faaaar exceeds Skyrim, and Mass Effect 2 for that matter, and in terms of RPG in the gameplay, New Vegas faaaar exceeds Skyrim again, and again Mass Effect 2.

New Vegas barely had any narrative, even less than Skyrim. It had you go to new Vegas to find the guy who shot you, then contact assorted factions, then take the dam. But to say new Vegas' narrative is stronger than mass effect 2 is so absurd I don't know where to begin.

If narrative and stealth is all you need to be RPG of the year, then Dishonored is looking to be the best RPG ever made.

I just made you want to look up what the hell Dishonored is. Your welcome.

I honestly think this should have been a tie between Skyrim and The Witcher/Deus Ex. The latter have a better narrative, but no the only games that exist that can hope to match Skyrims world are MMOs, and thats just size. The only other game universe I've been as absorbed as Skyrim was Mass Effect. TES and Fallout provide that sense of freedom and exploration nothing else can.


Also, might as well put out the RPG of 2012 out now, its going to be Mass Effect, and you know it.

Wait is this the community or staff pick?

Staff I Think?

I'm surprised by this, I think you have a point though, and with it I think I know GR's Staff GotY already,
I saw it coming like a batarang.

In Deus Ex you're forced to play as a white guy with a predetermined name, and you're forced to go through each area of the world in order. How you play each level may change and what augmentations you pick are up to you, but you'll always have to get through them in the same order, and you'll always be Adam Jensen. In Skyrim and Dark Souls you can be male/female/nonwhite and you're not forced to finish areas in a pre-determined order. The gameplay in Dark Souls especially is vastly superior to DX:HR, you can still be a badass but you're just as fragile in Dark Souls and the enemies are more fun/rewarding to fight against. "Apart from the boss fights..." yeah the boss fights were terrible, the Dark Souls bosses are awesome. Dark Souls is one of the best gaming experiences of all time, Deus Ex is a FPS Metal Gear Solid, and Metal Gear Solid is not a good RPG.

So essentially, while Deus Ex actually forces you to play a ROLE, the other games take an adventure setting and throw in RPG like elements. This takes me back to the conversation I started a few months ago; the term RPG either needs to be redefined or done away with entirely.

Uncharted, Gears of War, and Batman all force you to play roles as well, and they have good gameplay and decent enough narratives. Why weren't they considered for RPG of the year? Saint's Row 3 gives you a role to play, but I doubt most people would consider it an RPG. Skyrim and Dark Souls give you roles as well. I agree that the term RPG is vague and should be redefined or abandoned. It seems to me that most games are hybrids these days (not that it's a bad thing) and it's hard to describe some of them. Also I liked Deus Ex, I just don't think it was the best at any given category of game this year.

I call conspiracy. It only won because it has Revolution in the name!

Skyrim: A

Human Revolution: A-

Explain how this works, please.

I understand how a game could get an A- and get GoTY over a game that got an A because the review is the opinion of one person, where as I'm guessing multiple people vote for goTY and they might have differing opinions on the quality of the games. But if you are saying you could give GoTY to a game that you personally scored worse than a similar game then I just don't understand how that would work (which could be why no one pays me to review video games) but either way I'm just curious.

Surprised...but welcome surprise. I likes

So maybe I should get this game.

Wow, I thought this was one of the most disappointing games of the year.

If RPG's were measurable based primarily on Storyline then the games awards system is flawed and this award should be for the best RPG Storyline - Role-Playing Games don't allow you to one-shot someone in the head with the weakest gun in the game... there's not a single statistic in deus-ex that upgrading your weapons or skills will show a measurable increase in your damage against people's unprotected heads... there's not a critical attack system, there's nothing of the staple RPG combat system visible in this game - it's more action/adventure than RPG anyway and Dark Souls should have pwned all over this award... Hell, even Skyrim...