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[truly101]

Its interesting to see what time and franchise fatigue have done to some games that I would definitely have on this list. I think COD4:MW should definitely be on the list, I think people forget how well liked it was by the enthusiasts before it became the 7th gen staple it is now.
Franchise fatigue, or maybe developer fatigue definitely hit TWD Season 1 big time to have it not even appear on the adventure game top 5. I think everyone has soured on Telltale and its outdated tech and storytelling flaws that even when they do something right like Batman or Tales of the Borderlands, you don't hear much about it.
Me personally, I would stick with the 1 game per franchise rule simply for variety sake.

I still enjoyed the list quite a bit and props to those who put it together.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Fantastic list, as usual gaf has excellent taste. We can argue spots but for the most part the best is covered. I have beaten 24 of the top 25 games and 75 of the top 100. I have done well.

MGS4 still too high, though.

Never, glad to see that masterpiece get the recognition it deserves. It was the best game of 2008 again on this list. Third time winner baby.

 

[YaBish]

I still contend that Arkham City is better than Asylum, but I'm just glad that one of the Batman games got on the list.

 

[Catvoca]

COD4 was robbed blind.

I am surprised it is so low but I guess Gaf doesn't have that many COD fans in general.

 

[Yoshi]

Super Mario Galaxy 1 is the inferior of the two, but still, being the second best game of the generation makes it clearly deserving of this great performance. Considering its better sales and the vote splitting, it is not surprising it beat 2. I am surprised though that it made it to number 1, because of how much GAF worships the Souls games.

Great work as always Anihawk!

Also a nice observation: I like the top rated game of each generation .
This generation has only three games I like in the top ten though (the Galaxies and Bayonetta) .

 

[Paganmoon]

Heavenly sword in the top 250! Hell yeah. I knew people loved that game.

Also Prince of Persia 2008 at 220!

 

[Vilix]

Another excellent thread, Ani. Glad to see Bayonetta getting some love.

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

Galaxy 2 is a fantastic game and I can absolutely see arguments for it being in the top 10 of the generation, no doubt. For me, personally, Galaxy 1 is the better game and takes the crown because it's just fresher and more complete. There are a few worlds in Galaxy 2 that just feel a bit recycled and a couple of things about it that didn't click with me. I also felt that controlling Yoshi just wasn't that fun, dude is all over the place and just hard to move around.

 

[Psychoward]

Super Mario Galaxy 1 is the inferior of the two, but still, being the second best game of the generation makes it clearly deserving of this great performance. Considering its better sales and the vote splitting, it is not surprising it beat 2. I am surprised though that it made it to number 1, because of how much GAF worships the Souls games.

Great work as always Anihawk!

Also a nice observation: I like the top rated game of each generation .
This generation has only three games I like in the top ten though (the Galaxies and Bayonetta) .

I've still never played 2 because it was still 50 dollars for ages and I couldn't justify that since I already had 1. Now 2 is cheaper and I wanna get it but it's been years since I played 1 so I kinda wanna play that again....


What controller would you guys recommend for it? I only have the wiimote and nunchuck.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Galaxy 2 is a fantastic game and I can absolutely see arguments for it being in the top 10 of the generation, no doubt. For me, personally, Galaxy 1 is the better game and takes the crown because it's just fresher and more complete. There are a few worlds in Galaxy 2 that just feel a bit recycled and a couple of things about it that didn't click with me. I also felt that controlling Yoshi just wasn't that fun, dude is all over the place and just hard to move around.

Honestly I never found Yoshi to feel much different than mario regarding movement, outside of red pepper mode of course.

But yes if there are blemishes on Galaxy 2 it's that a chunk of the optional post game content is straight up Galaxy 1 content remixes like Mario squared galaxy being Mario/Luigi's Purple Coins 2.0, Stone Cyclone Galaxy being beach bowl's third (?) power star with increased enemy speeds and a boss rush of Galaxy 1 bosses.
Still on team SMG2 mind you, the main game contains much less simple fluff like swimming through guppy rings and the like.

I've still never played 2 because it was still 50 dollars for ages and I couldn't justify that since I already had 1. Now 2 is cheaper and I wanna get it but it's been years since I played 1 so I kinda wanna play that again....


What controller would you guys recommend for it? I only have the wiimote and nunchuck.

That's all it can use so you're all set.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Nice on Galaxy, surprised Minecraft wasn't higher, and lol @ PS3 winning, but we did avoid an MGS4 three-peat heh.

edit: forgot, Thanks for the hard work, Anihawk.

Mine -> GAFs

1 -> 66

2 -> 85

3 -> 5

4 -> 17

5 -> 37

6 -> 302

7 -> 196

8 -> 228

9 -> 3

10 -> 163

Yup, that's a list for that gen from me.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Wow good analysis anihawk. Thanks for the hardwork.

I would say my biggest gripe is that only 252 people's ballots were counted. Would expect to see a larger turnout from gaffers.

None the less - great job, fun stats to see. Thanks again!

 

[Ventara]

Are you shitting me? Xenoblade at 13?! Nier and Ys 7 didn't make top 25?!! Well, i guess it's not surprising for a PSP game, but it only made 5th in the PSP rankings. This is horrible.

(My ranking - Overall ranking)

1 - 27
2 - 13
3 - 139 (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO)
4 - 31
5 - 1
6 - 59
7 - 187 (This is BS)
8 - 37
9 - 142 (....)
10 - 373 (Gaf has shit taste)

Ugh, I should've rallied the Vita crowd.

Anyways, thanks for the hard work AniHawk. It was fun making my top 10 list, and I look forward to the next one.

 

[ScaryShark]

Thank you putting this together. The reverence for Mass Effect 1 continues to baffle me.

In another 10 years will BioShock even make this list?

 

[AniHawk]

So much work!

I thought Mass Effect 2 was hated here in Gaf though.

mass effect 2 is beloved here. however i think if we were to vote for 2010 again, smg2 would get game of the year instead. i think some me fans dropped off thanks to 3. i know it's partially why i didn't give me2 a spot personally. infinite space got my space opera vote.

 

[AniHawk]

also a comparison:

the 7th gotg thread / the goty thread / revote thread:
2004: Lumines / Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater / Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
2005: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney / Resident Evil 4
2006: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess / The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2007: Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy
2008: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots / Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots / Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2009: Demon’s Souls / Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2010: Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Mass Effect 2
2011: Dark Souls / Portal 2
2012: Journey / Journey
2013: The Last of Us / The Last of Us
2014: Dark Souls II / Bayonetta 2
2015: Life is Strange / Bloodbourne
2016: Persona 5 / Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

 

[Imp the Dimp]

also a comparison:

the 7th gotg thread / the goty thread / revote thread:
2004: Lumines / Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater / Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
2005: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney / Resident Evil 4
2006: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess / The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2007: Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy
2008: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots / Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots / Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2009: Demon’s Souls / Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2010: Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Mass Effect 2
2011: Dark Souls / Portal 2
2012: Journey / Journey
2013: The Last of Us / The Last of Us
2014: Dark Souls II / Bayonetta 2
2015: Life is Strange / Bloodbourne
2016: Persona 5 / Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Not all changes are for the better but great list by GAF overall regardless.

 

[NathanDiego]

I am really happy to see my quote,glad to see the Last of Us winning Passion Award,I already expected Super Mario Galaxy take top spot,great list overall,could be better if it had more ballots,too little for a such big forum.Good to see both Mass Effect on top 10,Mass Effect 2 was my 6° as well,Mass Effect don't make the cut on my list because is my 11° fav game.Also,Metal Gear Solid 4 game of the year 2008 for the third time,haters gonna hate,well deserved.Surprised by GTA V so low.The only point for Beyond two Souls is mine LOL and probably the most overrated game of all time is too high at

Spoiler

112° Grand Theft Auto IV

My top 10 >>>>>>Gaf
1.The Last of Us>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>2°
2.Bioshock Infinite >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>36°
3.God of War 3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>49°
4.Uncharted 2 Among Thieves>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7°
5.Red Dead Redemption >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>8°
6.Mass Effect 2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>6°
7.Heavy Rain >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>77°
8.Beyond two Souls >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>344°
9.Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots>>>>>>15°
10.Grand Theft Auto V >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>21°

 

[WhyMe6]

Nice results, Gaffers have excellent taste confirmed.

My votes featured a lot of the top games, too. The only games I didn't enjoy playing that placed in the Top 20 were Bioshock, Journey and Uncharted 2.

1 >>> 130 (Muramasa ; _
2 >>> 8
3 >>> 9
4 >>> 6
5 >>> 67
6 >>>65
7 >>> 31
8 >>> 1
9 >>> 10
10 >>> 160 (Ouendan ; _

Great work Anihawk, as always! Looking forward to the next one!

 

[AniHawk]

Not all changes are for the better but great list by GAF overall regardless.

the core years remain rather consistent. mass effect 2 took a bit of a hit and dark souls really grew over the years while portal 2 declined. i think it has to do with dark souls being a more consistent franchise that's fresh in people's minds while portal 2 was a sort of last hurrah for valve in the single-player space that they haven't followed up with.

 

[Davide]

Missed the vote on the list.

Good list, Assassin's Creed II should be in the top 25 though.

 

[AniHawk]

Legitimately shocked dark souls didn't top the list, anyway an expected but solid top 10 of which mgs4 thankfully didn't make thus all is right with the GAF universe.

Great job with these threads Anihawk, now we have a well rounded collection of generation votes to refer to, take a well earned rest.

up until the last day, dark souls was about 10 points behind super mario galaxy. but then on the last day, the last of us made a pretty big comeback from a deficit of about 30 points and smg grew at the same rate.

 

[Andrew J.]

Thanks for all your hard work, Ani! Sorry about all my honorable mentions.

NeoGAF Games of the First Three Generation Awards
NeoGAF Games of the Fourth Generation Awards
NeoGAF Games of the Fifth Generation Awards
NeoGAF Games of the Sixth Generation Awards

Counting this poll, 4 out of 5 #1s are from Nintendo. All of them are Japanese. In fact, it seems Gen 7 is the first one to have more than two Western-developed games in the top 10. Does this say something about relative national game design skills, or is GAF just full of weeaboos?

 

[AniHawk]

Thanks for all your hard work, Ani! Sorry about all my honorable mentions.

no problem. every bit counts!

Counting this poll, 4 out of 5 #1s are from Nintendo. All of them are Japanese. In fact, it seems Gen 7 is the first one to have more than two Western-developed games in the top 10. Does this say something about relative national game design skills, or is GAF just full of weeaboos?

i think gaf skews older, and that means you will grab more people who grew up when japanese games were the big thing on nintendo, sega, and sony platforms. the casual 360 market from 2005-2010 isn't super large here, and there's not a ton of nostalgia for that era or those games in particular.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

NV is great, but I like ME-Trilogy more. NV certainly isn't top 5-7 WRPG in my book. Fallout 1+2 alone are still better games.

I think NV is much better than FO1 and FO2. Fallout 1 was great, but it always felt a bit too short and lacking in content. Fallout 2 was a rushed sequel that ended up arguably harming the integrity of the setting (and retroactively turned Fallout 1's story about the burdens of heroism into a cartoonish tale about how that meddlesome Vault Dweller almost ruined the government's evil experiments), filled with loads of questionable pop culture references and rushed-production cracks that begin showing in force once you hit San Francisco.

NV surpasses them in several areas like the faction system and the reactivity that stems from it, the structure of the main quest and the continuous support for different play styles — and these aren't just minor things but some of the biggest strengths of the whole series (and genre). The quest design is also pretty damn impressive at times; there are some weaker moments in the mix, but they can be mostly forgiven due to the sheer scope of the game. The only real problems stem from the (admittedly common) jank and the clunk leftover from FO3.

 

[Off-Kilter]

...I should play 999

 

[ronaldthump]

a whole bunch of great games!

not sure how twilight princess made top 25.

 

[ronaldthump]

NV is great, but I like ME-Trilogy more. NV certainly isn't top 5-7 WRPG in my book. Fallout 1+2 alone are still better games.

NV is great considering the other modern fallouts are not so good. Can't even finish fallout 4.

 

[AniHawk]

a whole bunch of great games!

not sure how twilight princess made top 25.

tp was goty here in 2006, and in the gotg 6 thread, it was #25 as well. in the gotg 6 thread, it was also the top-rated game released in 2006.

it's had a consistently strong, supportive fanbase for a decade.

 

[LiquidSolid]

My 10:
1. The Last of Us - #2
2. Portal - #17
3. Demon's Souls - #5
4. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - #7
5. Mirror's Edge - #26
6. Journey - #20
7. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - #24
8. Nier - #27
9. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - #178
10. Valkyria Chronicles - #22

I'm disgusted at the PW rank. Best last gen Metal Gear.

Also, Portal 2 above Portal 1. What the hell?

 

[spekkeh]

Portal 2 scoring above Portal 1 is everything that's wrong with gaming in the '00s.

 

[Breads]

No problems with that list. In the end we all won in this generation.

I'm disgusted at the PW rank. Best last gen Metal Gear.

As far as gameplay goes I agree, and I was delighted when I found out that MGSV was more a sequal to PW than it was to the previous foolishness.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Mark of the Ninja came out on PS3?

 

[vareon]

Galaxy and 999 surprised me! I really thought Uncharted would take the top award.

999, too, given how amazing the DS library was.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

I think NV is much better than FO1 and FO2. Fallout 1 was great, but it always felt a bit too short and lacking in content. Fallout 2 was a rushed sequel that ended up arguably harming the integrity of the setting (and retroactively turned Fallout 1's story about the burdens of heroism into a cartoonish tale about how that meddlesome Vault Dweller almost ruined the government's evil experiments), filled with loads of questionable pop culture references and rushed-production cracks that begin showing in force once you hit San Francisco.

NV surpasses them in several areas like the faction system and the reactivity that stems from it, the structure of the main quest and the continuous support for different play styles — and these aren't just minor things but some of the biggest strengths of the whole series (and genre). The quest design is also pretty damn impressive at times, although there are also some weaker moments in the mix, which can be mostly forgiven due to the sheer scope of the game. The only real problems stem from the (admittedly common) jank and the clunk leftover from FO3.

Fair points. I think the jank and the bland graphics are my biggest gripes with NV. The shooting also feels like shit. I vastly prefer the isometric style gameplay of F1+2. That's why I also like Wasteland 2 more than NV.

 

[AniHawk]

Galaxy and 999 surprised me! I really thought Uncharted would take the top award.

999, too, given how amazing the DS library was.

i think uncharted 2 received more mentions than any other game. but a lot of it was honorable mentions. still, it was the most popular 2009 game on the list.

 

[gogosox82]

Dammit I always forget to vote for these things

At least Dark Souls got a ton of love. Definitely was my GOTG

 

[Lostconfused]

Devil May Cry 4 not even showing up on the action game list? Damn.

 

[Bolivar687]

I get that this is voting but I'm not a fan of how there's two Mass Effects, two Marios, (Beyond!) two Souls and two Naughty Dog games in the top 10. Feels like people were voting for their favorite franchises to get as high as possible instead of using the room on their list to capture the most definitive and all around best games of last gen. Lots of important stuff that's being forgotten, and some okay games getting overhyped. Looking at these games also shows how it wasnt really a great gen.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

the casual 360 market from 2005-2010 isn't super large here, and there's not a ton of nostalgia for that era or those games in particular.

Worst time line. Dude bro culture was insufferable.

 

[Jonneh3003]

Xenoblade is too low Mario deserves the number 1 spot though and I'm glad Halo 3 got the recognition it deserves.

 

[Exploratory]

Skyrim at 19?

I think your NeoGAF is showing.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

...I should play 999

Do it and start a LTTP thread too.

 

[Aters]

Journey is the best game of 2012, again. Great.

 

[GamerJM]

Mine:

1 ->25
2 -> 246
3 -> 65
4 -> 43
5 -> 196
6 -> 103
7 -> 122
8 -> 63
9 -> 79
10 -> 373

 

[Realeza]

How would Super Mario Galaxy and 2 not be on this?
And why would The World Ends With You be on there?

Because is a better game than whatever you think should be above it.

 

[Schlorgan]

Mass Effect 2 in the Top 10 so I'm fine with this list.

 

[Lifeline]

Still have some of these games half completed in my backlog. Give me BC Sony to give me the extra motivation to go through them.

 

[JeTmAn81]

Solid top ten, but no love for Rock Band makes me SMH

 

[Servbot24]

Amazing top 10 aside from the Mass Effect games.