Favorite new IP of this generation

[Doclector]

I'm going to say Alan Wake, followed by Dead Space.

Oh god how did I forget to mention Alan Wake? It's a ritual that if I meet someone and find out they're a videogamer, I will pester them to play Alan Wake, I refuse to see it go forgotten, it is one of my favourite games of all time without doubt.

 

[Evonisia]

Portal, definitely. I'm still waiting for another game to get the reception the series got (I think the closest was Skyrim).

Honourable mentions to Gears of War, who still remains as the best "Cover-based shooter" series with four great games. Another mention to BioShock, for obvious reasons, and Remember Me.

 

[God's Clown]

Mass Effect or Dragon Age for me. I love the characters and settings, even if the stories/gameplay aren't always perfect.

 

[King of Asgaard]

And I realized that the inFamous series is probably my favorite game series from this generation.

I'd say my favourite game this gen was Red Dead Redemption

On that basis it's probably a three way tie between Mass Effect, the Arkham games, and Dead Space.

IMO the Souls IP is probably the best thing to happen to this gen. A deep and challenging action RPG that offers an alternative to all of the dumbed down games this gen that hold the player's hand at every turn.

Dark Souls is amazing.

Bastion.

Portal.

I don't have to elaborate on that, I hope.

Wow.
Every single one of my nominations has already been mentioned.
Keep being awesome, Escapist.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I can't choose between Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect. It would be an easy pick if one of those didn't fuck up the ending.

 

[Hazy992]

Probably Saints Row followed by Borderlands. I have put so many hours into both of those series that I lost count years ago and I'm still not bored of them.

inFamous is a great new IP as well.

 

[Saltyk]

Tough call. People like to be pessmistic and say that things were better in the PS2/nintendo64/nes era (delete where applicable) era, and whilst they would be correct that you had to deal with a lot less bullshit back then, honestly, a lot of my favourite games of all time came from this gen. As a fan of epic storytelling and action, the power of the next gen bought with it the ability to make far more cinematic experiences.

This is true. Not that I don't understand the sentiment. For example, JRPGs have fallen by the wayside. Back on the PS One, there were countless top notch JRPGs to burn away on. Breath of Fire, Xenogears, Star Ocean, and many others. Even the PS2 kept up with the JRPGs. But since then, I don't think there really have been a plethora of such titles. And that is a loss to me. Platformers have also kinda died. Can you imagine a game like Spyro or Crash Bandicoot today?

Of course, we've got plenty of great games today, which is why I made this thread. To celebrate the best titles of this generation. And so far, there seems to have been a strong showing of great titles in the thread. Which makes me happy. There are plenty of titles from most every generation that would probably be in my "Favorite Games of All Time" list. And there would be no shortage from this generation.

Y'know what? Screw the rules, I have an obsession with lists. I'll name a handful.

Do you have money? You can't screw the rules without money.

"Metro" It may only have two games (and honestly, considering the ending to last light, it might be a good idea that it remained that way) but they are two of the most atmospheric games I've ever played. Many post apocalyptic games simply feel like action games with slightly more rubble, but it's not rare in metro that you truly feel like a part of a human race degraded, crawling in mud, struggling just to survive.

"Bioshock" considering the connection to system shock, am I cheating? Bah, I don't care. It's hard to pin down overall what makes these games so special. Really, I think it's great attention to world building, rapture was a waterlogged nightmare, and columbia a fake paradise with horrific crimes just underneath the surface, spiralling out of control. The storytelling is great, the gameplay's great, and the immersion near perfect.

"Saints row" With GTA putting on its big boy boots and going all serious (which was a good move) saints row filled the gap in the market for fun loving destruction. True, the series was never perfect, but it always strived to have personality, and in a gaming world oversaturated with soulless modern war games, that went a long way.

And of course, great picks. That goes for everyone else, too. Great picks, so far.

 

[WittyName]

IMO the Souls IP is probably the best thing to happen to this gen. A deep and challenging action RPG that offers an alternative to all of the dumbed down games this gen that hold the player's hand at every turn.

Dark Souls is amazing.

Agree with this completely, Dark Souls is probably one of my favourite games of all time, and I can't wait for the sequel.

I just enjoyed the freedom of making my character the exact way I wanted and then being able to complete the game in nearly any order, as well as finding optional bosses and piecing together the story for myself.

It was the first game I'd played in a while that encouraged you to explore and to work out for yourself where to go next, or what ending you thought was best.

 

[Terramax]

I had a lot of fun with Army of Two: 40th Day. Almost everything was a letdown for me, constantly overrated by reviewers and the general audiences alike.

Deadly Premonition.

Because it is Deadly Premonition and you cannot defeat Deadly Premonition. It is a literally impossibility. It's so good, I don't have to resort to childish things like logic or reasoning! It's just that damn amazing.

So says Mr. Stewart!

Mr Francis York Morgan
You must always remember to give a rhyme.
To not do so is quite a crime.
So says Mr. Stewart.

 

[octafish]

I...I have no idea what timeframe constitutes a "generation". Let's say, what the last eight years or so? I'm going with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Now get out of here.

 

[Vahir]

I'd say that Minecraft is this generation's super hit. It's an amazing game, and just about everyone on the internet plays, or has played, it.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Bayonetta is easily the best new IP this gen for me as it is also my favorite game of this gen as well. Just everything about the game really is perfect; the characters, the world, and the gameplay just mesh so perfectly together. Platinum knows they don't have the writing chops make serious stuff so they basically make the video game equivalent of B-movies (even more cheese than a Chicago-style pizza) and they do it extremely well. The gameplay is arguably the best for its genre. The game very slowly weens you off depending on Witch Time as you go through the difficulty levels and you will learn to dodge offset, which is a game-changing mechanic for the hack-and-slash genre. And, there's just so many unlockables it's ridiculous. I seriously can't name a flaw the game has (not even when nitpicking either) outside of the fact the PS3 port wasn't great, that's literally it.

Honorable mentions:
- Vanquish
Another Platinum game, which just blows all other cover-based shooters out of the water. It's basically like Vanquish is the major leagues and games like Gears and Uncharted are still riding the bench in single A ball.
- Valkyria Chronicles
Perhaps my favorite JRPG ever. I really didn't think the whole 'World War II but slightly different' world would come off well, but it somehow did and I loved the world and its characters.
- Mass Effect
Bioware made the best role-playing experience I've played in a video game. Most video game RPGs aren't RPGs to me (like say Valkryia Chronicles) because there's no role-playing. Mass Effect was just a great experience regardless of its flaws.

For me, it was probably Assassins Creed. I say was because I feel like the series has kind of been run into the ground at this point. I'm one of the rare specimens who thinks the first game is the best in the series, and its still one of my all-time favorites. But after playing AC3, I think I'm done with the franchise.

AC1 was by far the best game of the series because it had, you know, core gameplay. I was done at AC2 when I realized the best part of the game was doing the Glyph puzzles. The series went in the opposite direction I was hoping for; it basically went from being Hitman-lite in AC1 to just faffing about in AC2. The series really shows that it has already had 3 creative directors (hell, maybe 4 now).

---

Oh, and seriously the D Souls games aren't hard or challenging and they're nothing special unless you think pulling enemies one at a time is hard and only needing to block and light attack all game is hard. The bosses in Dark Souls were a joke (one dragon all I did was mash attack while standing right in front of it and not blocking once). D Souls does atmosphere and level design well but that's it. It's combat system is so simplistic, repetitive, and boring.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

That's a tough one.

I instantly though of Mass Effect at first, but then Portal & Borderlands also came to mind. But if i'd be pressed to chose one of them i'd definitly go with ME.
The world, the characters, the journey just about everything about this game is outstanding.

The botched up ending does not ruin hundreds of hours of fun, curiosity and engagement i had with the series. Specially when i consider that i think most endings are "meh" or "horrible" anyway.

From the top of my head only Portal had satisfying endings to me.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Can't decide between Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, or Dead Space. Funny enough, I have no plans to buy Dead Space 3, Gears of War: Judgement, and Assassin's Creed 4 any time soon, franchise fatigue and questionable quality are the main reasons at this time.

 

[The wolfpaw]

For example, JRPGs have fallen by the wayside. Platformers have also kinda died.

I lament the loss of the quality platformer, but if that is the price to be paid for the demise of JRPGs, I am content with the trade.

Favorite new IP though... Very tough call, but I'll go with Dragon Age, on the merits of the first game.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Witcher is by far my favorite new franchise.

I haven't played an "action 3rd person" RPG with shades of grey choice&consequence system in a very long time. I had to finish the game multiple times to see the different endings based on the decisions throughout the game.

When Witcher 2 did release the jump in terms of fan feedback, graphic quality and pretty much everything else about the game was elevated to AAA status in my eyes. And of course that I got incredibly hyped for it when I was getting the first news of the second title.

Regarding Witcher 3, it may be obvious that it's my most anticipated game of 2013 and I am very hopeful that CDProjekt RED will manage to merge their fantastic storytelling with the open world setting.

I would recommend all RPG lovers to try both games out and especially not skip the first one, because there is a lot of lore and backstory that will make you understand the characters and their convictions in the second game. Reading the translated books wouldn't hurt either.

 

[LaoJim]

Not exactly. They made a game called Red Dead Revolver for the PS2 and Xbox. The thing is, nobody remembers it because it was kind of mediocre (at least that's my impression having never actually played the game).

Ah, got me. I knew about Revolver though I've never played it. I understand that it was a FPS with very little in common with Redemption. What I really meant in my about post was "Rockstar nailed adapting the GTA sandbox style with the Wild West the first time around". But yeah they did have a crack at a cowboy game before.

BayonettaI seriously can't name a flaw the game has (not even when nitpicking either) outside of the fact the PS3 port wasn't great, that's literally it.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Bayonetta, I've been returning to it this past month and am very nearly at 1000GS for it. It's a great game, but not a single flaw the game has, seriously? I would say that it is one of those games which is awesome despite having some very serious flaws.

1. The Camera is terrible and you often have to actively fight it to get it pointing where you want.
2. Invisible walls everywhere. Bayonetta can jump about four times her own height (and she's a tall girl to begin with) and turn into a frikkin bird, but she can't get over a meter high fense.
3. The platforming is problematic, especially as the developers like to play around with perspective a lot
4. The Alfheim portals are hidden in an annoying way. You have to go halfway through a level and then backtrack to find them in places you've already been.
5. On your first playthough the Normal difficulty feels hard, by the time you get to Hard, you've got enough equipment and health gauge that it feels much easier.
6. The bike and rocket sections are pretty bad.
7. Cut-scenes go on way to long.
8. One senses the developers ran out of money so some cut-scenes are just story boards.
9. The plot is a confusing jumbled mess. (With quite a few awesome bits)

But anyway, it's still awesome.

 

[tilmoph]

I'm surprised the walking dead hasn't gotten mentioned yet. Does it not count since it shares a setting with the comics? Oh well, I'm nominating it anyway, since it fulfills what I want out of a rpg (I know it's not classed as an rpg, but let's be honest, the bulk of the game is playing the role of Lee however you see fit) really well.

If the whole adaptation thing precludes TWD, then my 2nd vote would go to Borderlands for the fun of the setting and the crazy guns, or Alpha Protocol, for the level of gameplay customization and the dialogue system.

ME1 would have a vote if I could isolate an IP from it's sequels, hell, I'll still vote for it if it's just 1 and 2. I really enjoyed defining my Sheperd, which was my main motive for replays, I had a ton of fun as an Adept in 1, the grand story of 1 and the character focus of 2 was solid (though two does have some very annoying questions, like "why can't I just go to the alliance instead of working for terrorists?"), overall, it was a very enjoyable 2 game series, even if 2 went way too shootery and too light on the gameplay rpg, but at least 2 had a strong role-playing element in the story telling and character interactions.

 

[Jak23]

Someone has to say it: Journey.
It marks the first and as of now, only time in my life I've cried from being too happy.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Transformers would be my favourite IP of this generation since War for Cybertron was a good start but needed some ironing out and Fall of Cybertron was amazing.