RPGWatch - Game of the Year 2011 Awards

Best RPG 2011:
If it wasn´t for Drakensang 2 I would have problems choosing my number one, because other games ended up in a tie (The Witcher 2, DE: HR, Skyrim).

1. Drakensang 2
The only RPG on the list I consider to be a "fully fledged" one and it also happens to be good.
Early quest(s) differing based on a chosen character type, good character system which gets a good support in-game (including crafting and a lot of skill checks in dialogues), party based, multiple quest solutions, some C&C, some dungeon crawling, wealthy amount of sometimes not entirely straightforward puzzles, well designed boss battles including one of my favourite from 2000+ (Zant), side quests getting dispersed based on progress in the main story (areas can´t be "cleaned" upon first visit), good production values, freshly non-"epic" story, very little of filler combat.
Compared to the other three candidates I´ve found the least amount of flaws in this game (one filler combat-y location, limited diversity of party members and few issues with combat mechanics) and consider it a gold standard for how to address predecessors´ issues in a sequel.

2. As I said, that would be a tie between The Witcher 2, DE: HR and Skyrim which I´ve found all enjoyable (mostly for different reasons).
Went with The Witcher 2 in the end, simply because in hindsight it provided me with the most memorable experience of the three.

Best Indie RPG 2011:
1. Frayed Knights
Seemed like a "nice little" tongue-in-cheek homage to the oldschools and not much else at first, but the game actually brought some substantial new things to the table as well. Finally getting the endurance mechanics under control felt good :).

2. None
Neither Avadon nor Dungeons of Dredmor grabbed me and I didn´t pay attention to the rest.

Most promising RPG 2012:
1. Risen 2
Piranha Bytes + pirate setting. Nuff said, in my book :).
Hopefully the game won´t be too "mainstream-ized".

2. Dragon Commander
Seems like an interesting genre mixing venture and some breath of fresh air is solely needed on the RPG-y front I think, hopefully it´ll pan out well.

Also, Dark Souls for PC needs to happen.

Most promising indie RPG 2012:
1. Dead State
Can´t say I´m into "zombie genre" besides Dawn of Living Dead´s take on it, but fortunately Dead State seems to be taking the DoLD´s route :).
Also, can´t wait for Brian Mitsoda´s writing because what he did for Bloodlines belongs among my absolute favourites in the category.

2. Age of Decadence
Skill check driven roleplaying experience where combat isn´t necessarily THE problem solving tool? Yes, please.

That said, I´ll be rather surprised if any of these two will be released this year.
 
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Best RPG of 2011:
1. Skyrim
2. The Witcher 2

Most RPG anticipated of 2012:
1. Risen 2
2. Mass Effect 3

I replied "none" on the indie questions.
 
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If there was a category for most surprising RPG it would be Drakensang: The River of Time for me.
After a slow start it's the RPG that's been battling it out with Skyrim for my playing time and my first place vote here. It's a shame one company is making a fortune and the other is dead.
 
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If there was a category for most surprising RPG it would be Drakensang: The River of Time for me.
After a slow start it's the RPG that's been battling it out with Skyrim for my playing time and my first place vote here. It's a shame one company is making a fortune and the other is dead.

That's great to hear! I bought this one recently from Steam but haven't had time to install it yet.
 
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2011 for me

Best RPG:
The Witcher 2
Skyrim

Most promising RPG:
Risen 2

Most promising Indie RPG:
Age of Decadence

Yeah that's almost exactly how I voted as well. I'm glad that RPGwatch users are generally able to appreciate very different types of games within their favorite genre. Yeah we can be guilty of using the false dilemma (false dichotomy) and similar fallacies in arguing over preferences. For the most part though it seems that users here are not so overly invested in their opinions on these games that they can not accept that someone could genuinely and validly enjoy a game they did not.

At least when we do get into silly fights over say Skyrim v Darksouls v The Witcher 2, we are having a silly and fallacy filled argument over games with very different approaches and executions. Compare that to arguments that crop up in FPS of the year award comment threads. We might get into flame wars over what amounts to porter vs. lager but at least ours don't sound like arguments over Budweiser vs. Bud Select.
 
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Drakensang TRoT was a 2010 game for me. It came out 15-10-2010 in the Netherlands in English (original slated date was 29-10 but they moved it before New Vegas, I guess they saw the problem). I probably played it into the year 2011. Unlike last year (read: 2010), this year publishers wisely avoided putting out a big RPG shortly after a time consuming RPG release of the caliber of New Vegas (read: Skyrim).

I guess it's the problem of an international site. Or more precise of some titles that are not getting an in sync release around the world.

I'm actually proud that I was able to play most of the big rpgs this year (excluding LotR War in the North) in the actual year of release. (What I've seen from some let's plays gives me more of a First Templar/Hunted: Demon's forge feel but that's not really having played it myself)

Some other big non-rpg games of 2011 I still have to play so I couldn't vote for them on a similar poll on a general gaming Dutch website. But an rpg has my attention first.

1.Skyrim
2.The Witcher 2
(3. Deus Ex:HR, but I would place Drakensang TRoT here if it would apply for me althought it is of no consequence to the poll)

Promising:
1. Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (although having some reservations about look and being tied to an mmo, but hoping to see some spirit of Morrowind)
2. Risen 2: Dark Waters

I selected none in de indie polls because I only played some Bastion and that would seem unfair to the others.

For promising indie I picked none because they're all getting delayed to 2013.
 
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@jhwisner

There's is an old saying:

"Good is good, but better carries it."

so it's always fun to to philosophize about crpgs, their elements and the best implementation of a given crpg-system.
 
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@jhwisner

There's is an old saying:

"Good is good, but better carries it."

so it's always fun to to philosophize about crpgs, their elements and the best implementation of a given crpg-system.

I agree - just glad we usually manage to pull back from the sort of arguments where posters find it unimaginable that someone could have appreciated Skyrim's for its degree of choice more than the degree in which The Witcher 2 responds to choice or vice versa.
 
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I don't know what you all voted for, but if you didn't vote for the games I voted for than obviously you don't know squat.

Just sayin'
 
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1. Witcher 2
2. Drakensang 2(even though i played it when came out in europe, otherwise it would be skyrim)

Looking forward to:
Risen 2
 
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Best RPG this year: Skyrim
Most Anticipated next year: Risen 2

I always feel wrong doing these polls since most of the games listed I haven't even touched, but at least there were a couple: DE:HR, and Skyrim.
 
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Is Frayed Knights 2 Confirmed ? Still looking foward to playing INQUISITOR. and Legends Of Dawn but i havent heard any recent news about the game . Its a cross between NWN and Sacred 1,2.
 
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Personally I would be interested in seeing the first and second place pole results just as is, and let the winner be the one getting the most first place votes.
 
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The contest is closed. The results will become available next week.
 
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Yes, virtual prizes can be won. We still have a few of them....
 
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