Hello, and welcome to Peter’s (extremely belated) 2011 Awards! Now, I’ve been meaning to get around to this for some time. Instead of making awards for games that came out in 2011, I’m talking about games that I played in 2011. I might make this an annual thing if I’m still doing this next year.
Anyways, here we go!
Best Game I Played In 2011: Final Fantasy X (PS2)
I played a lot of great games last year, there’s no denying. And among those great games, I played the majority of the Final Fantasy series. Still, Final Fantasy X proved itself to be my favorite of the series, and I really can’t say why. Was it the imaginative art style and gorgeous visuals? Was it the epic story and well-developed characters? Was it the excellent combat system and open-ended character development? It certainly wasn’t the voice acting… but for whatever reason, I beat this game in a record (for me) two weeks, with forty or so hours sunk into it. I just didn’t want to stop playing, and that for me is the mark of an amazing game.
Runner Up: Chrono Cross (PS1)
Most Underappreciated Gem I Played In 2011: Dark Cloud (PS2)
I remember hearing a lot of mixed reactions to Level 5’s debut title for the PS2. While I can accept the fact that certain aspects of Dark Cloud aren’t all that great, I fell absolutely in love with this colorful, entertaining title. All the aspects of Level 5’s future game design can be found here, and I had a blast clearing out randomly generated dungeons and building my virtual town. It’s just one of those games that I can sit down with and just lose myself in, having fun just screwing around with the Georama, or looking for treasure in the dungeon, or fishing, or any of the other activities in Dark Cloud. Even the presentation, which does look very dated from a technical standpoint, I thought, was very nice, with much charm in its simplistic designs. Dark Cloud has become one of my favorite games, and it’s certainly an underappreciated gem.
Runner Up: Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (PS2)
Best Looking Game I Played In 2011: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
Say what you will about Square’s first next-gen Final Fantasy adventure, there’s no denying that it’s a fantastic looking game. Linear corridors may be present, but they’re very pretty linear corridors. The true highlight of the presentation is the expressive character models, which sell you wholly on their humanity. Square hit a new visual high point with XIII, and I hope future Fantasies can continue this trend.
Runner Up: Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Most Disappointing Game I Played In 2011: Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (DS)
As much as I liked Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days, I really wish Square would just get on with Kingdom Hearts III. RE:Coded is one spinoff too many. While it has some fun ideas, everything in it just feels inconsequential. It’s less of a full Kingdom Hearts game than it is a collection of bad minigames, and only one moment in the game actually develops the overall Kingdom Hearts story.
Runner Up: Star Ocean: The Last Hope (PS3)
Best Protagonist: The Hero (Dragon Quest V)
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I can hear you saying, “How can a silent character be the best protagonist you’ve seen this year? Peter, did you hit your head on something?” Well, yes, but that’s not the point! The reason I picked the Hero of Dragon Quest V is because of the highly personal nature of the game. Never before have I resonated so strongly with a silent protagonist. You literally follow this guy through his entire life. You watch his (your) father die before his (your) eyes, choose his (your) bride, see him (you) father children… all while on a quest to stop the villains who have plagued his (your) family throughout the generations. He doesn’t speak a single word of dialogue, but he doesn’t need to; he’s you.
Runner Up: Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
Best Side Character: Auron (Final Fantasy X)
You know what’s great about Auron? He’s a man of few words, a man of resolute character, a badass with a huge sword. And you know what else? He was dead for most of the game, and felt that this wasn’t important enough to mention.
Runner Up: Edgar (Final Fantasy VI)
Best Villian: Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)
Ah, Kefka. How we love to hate you. How you burned Figaro Castle. How you poisoned Doma Castle and killed Cyan’s family. How you stole the power of the Espers at the behest of a power mad king. How you threw the balance of power between three warring gods out of alignment, absorbed the power of magic, became a god yourself, and destroyed the world. Wait, what? Kefka, the mad jester of Final Fantasy VI, is perhaps the only villain who, perhaps even after death, won. He defeated the heroes. He became a god. He destroyed the world. Of course, the heroes banded together and ascended Kefka’s tower, and what did they find? In a metaphor parallel to Dante’s Paradiso, the heroes ascend into heaven, and hear the meaning of life from the lips of God… but God has the leering face of Kefka, and even as a god he found no meaning to life. Even in his defeat, perhaps, Kefka’s still laughing at us, for all our futile hopes.
Runner Up: Sin (Final Fantasy X)
Most Frustrating/ Cheapest Boss: Satanail (Star Ocean: The Last Hope)
Oh. My. GOD. This boss. I know that a lot of bad JRPGs like to shove massive stat numbers in to make the game seem more challenging, but whoever thought that THIS game needed a final boss with three forms, several punishing attacks, temporary immunity to Blindsides, and FIVE MILLION HIT POINTS was a good idea deserves to suffer as much as the player will during this hour long battle.
Runner Up: Barthandelus (Final Fantasy XIII)
Best Music: Chrono Cross (PS1)
Mitsuda. Enough said.
Runner Up: Final Fantasy X (PS2)
Best Area: The Dead Sea (Chrono Cross)
If we can change the future, then what happens to futures that never come to be? If Crono, Lucca, and Marle stopped Lavos and changed the future, what happened to the people from that other future? Well, they’re stuck in a hellish wasteland, eternally suspended in time. The Dead Sea is perhaps the most haunting, chilling moment in the game.
Runner Up: Gran Pulse (Final Fantasy XIII)
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