My personal top 10 games of 2011

 

The end of the year is always a hard time for a videogame journalist. Not only do we have to recall every experience we've had over the course of the year, but we then need to match each title up against one another, like some kind of digital Mortal Kombat tournament, in order to find that elusive 'game of the year.'

Keep in mind that this list is my personal favorite games of the year, not a list of the 'best' or most popular out there. That means some of the more abstract titles out there might take the place of the greater ones. Let's start things off with a game that was neglected, but is great in its own way.

Bastion review (with video review)

 

Bastion is Supergiant Games' attempt at resurrecting a forgotten medium within contemporary game design. The isometric action-RPG is a deep and twisted beast with plenty of meat to go around, but it isn't exactly the most popular format out there presently. Whilst its gameplay may contain an anachronistic feel, Bastion is the game that's ever come closest to unseating Squaresoft's vintage SNES title, The Secret of Mana, as my most favourite title in the genre. Believe me when I tell you that's quite a feat in itself.