I really enjoyed the first little big planet, though it’s limited play styles sort of wore on me over time, the controls weren’t precise enough to make me want to play through it based purely on platforming like the Mario games do, but it was still a great little game and extremely charming. Enter Little Big Planet 2, a game that would appear to be packaged with it’s own game engine as opposed to the meager level creator that was included in the first. Play Create Share brought to the next level.

Already I’m loving the variety in the gameplay, for the love of god there is a cupcake launcher used to solve simple platform puzzles. It’s a nice touch to have so much in the game, especially early on.

I’ve already mentioned that i found the original LBP charming, and I would expand that further to say kooky, in it’s style and in it’s characters. They cranked this up in LBP2, I’d call it outright surreal, but I find it very believable for some reason, like it makes perfect sense for me to stop the dragon train… and have a cupcake launcher… I don’t think anything in the game will surprise me thematically at this point, it is all very strange and very fun, and most of all, welcome.

I have been having issues with the play online piece, it would appear that no one wants to play with me, which makes me sad. I only saw one prompt for someone to join my game, and I was literally steps away from the end so I declined. I’ve been declined several times, it feels sort of broken.

All of the game of the year discussions have been had by the media outlets, and it pretty much went as I expected them to go, everyone was on Red Dead Redemption for a lot of reasons, and I can understand why even though I disagree (my review for more detail). It seemed many of them wanted to see more Bayonetta, a game that I missed this year, mostly scared off by the distinction that the PS3 version was inferior to the xbox version, and it came out before I had upgraded my xbox, so I will be likely pick this up on the cheap sometime this year. Rather than rate games in some order that could (for the most part) change based on my mood, I’m going to highlight some of the most memorable experiences that I don’t think should be missed from the previous year.

The one (and only) staple on this list that I would cement firmly in a #1 slot this year has to be Starcraft 2 (review). Simply put, SC2 transcended gaming for me, as much as I played the campaign, and countless vs bot matches, and coop and versus matches with friends and despite the fact that I was scared away by the online competition. I spent just as much if not more, time watching tournaments (GSL,MLG),  tutorials(day[9]), and various other matches. I had more fun with Starcraft 2 this year than any other game, and a profound thanks to the community for their contributions to my enjoyment. Can’t wait for the next installment

Limbo (review) at risk of sounding like an “artsy” gamer, Limbo was one of the most engrossing gaming experiences I had this year, subtle, charming, and although my enjoyment tapered off towards the end, it was just the right length. I still contend that this game should not be missed.

Mass Effect 2 (review) This is a great game, and a pretty epic experience, although the story felt much like a gateway like the second part of any trilogy and feels like it’s on it’s way to a much more epic conclusion on the horizon. The game play here is awesome, and they got rid of many of the standard RPG tropes, so much so that I personally have a hard time classifying this as an RPG like many of the outlets have. With it’s release on PS3 coming this month including a catchup on ME1 if you haven’t got into it yet, that would be the way to go, so that you get the full story at least, but this was truly one of the best games to come out this year and bolstered with some of the best DLC.

Other notables for me were Darksiders, widely underrated, and dismissed as a Zelda clone, which is retarded because people have been asking for a mature zelda game since the dawn of time, Skate 3 even though I think they can not make those for while, and the video upload stuff should have been more consistent. For Wii owners Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Kirby’s Epic Yarn, also Trauma Team didn’t get enough credit. Super Meatboy was really fun and contrary to everyone else I liked Final Fantasy XIII although I can understand their point of view on that as well. There weren’t really any racing or sports games that deserved to be sought after in my opinion.