Favorite game of the last 5 years
 

I would be interested in hearing people's top favorite games released in the last five years. These can be adventure games and/or other genres. Perhaps we can discover some new classics that maybe not everyone has tried.

For instance, I might say Heavy Rain for favorite adventure and Mass Effect 1/2 for other genre.

For me it is a The Lost Crown, but in this forum everyone knows how good this game is :) So I choose Gothic 3 (i can see the point why it isnt so popular, but I think its a so far best RPG in five years period). Next would be Far Cry 2, which I played recently and as a third Gothic, this game is quite awesome in non-linear gameplay.

I also enjoy GTR2, Eschalon: Book I or new King's Bounty.

Ah, modern games. Let's see:

Dead Space 1 and 2
Sam &Max: the episodic adventures(all seasons)
Mortal Kombat 9
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Worms Reloaded
Demon's Souls
Megaman 10
Portal 2
King's Bounty:Crossworlds
Heroes of Might and Magic V(granted, I haven't played this in a while)

Will post more as I think of them.

Red Dead Redemption

Excellent topic

I have played a lot of adventure games in the last 5 years and although there were many that I enjoyed these are the games I enjoyed the most.

Using Pagodas Online Database for games released in 2006 and onhttp://www.pagodagamedatabase.com/years.php

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened 2006
Scratches 2006

Anacapri: The Dream 2007
Rhem 3: The Secret Library 2007
Sherlock Holmes vs Arsene Lupin 2007

Perry Rhodan: Immortals of Terra 2008
The Lost Crown 2008
Overclocked: A History of Violence 2008
Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches 2008

Diabolik: The Original Sin (in adventure mode) 2009
Last Half of Darkness: Tomb of Zojir 2009
Memento Mori 2009

AlternativA 2010
Darkstar 2010
The Filmmaker 2010
Slip Space: The Burma Shave Analogy 2010

Baron Wittard: Nemesis of Ragnarok 2011
Blue Madonna: A Carol Reed Mystery 2011
Conspiracies II: Lethal Networks 2011

Scratches
The Lost Crown
Dracula 3: Path of the Dragon
Machinarium
Amnesia
Heavy Rain
Gemini Rue
Gray Matter

edit: how the hell did I forget GRAY MATTER? That's probably my favorite of them all.

This is the adventure forum so I'll confine myself to adventures. :P

Dreamfall
Sam&Max Season One/Two
The Lost Crown (with some reservations)
The Path
Machinarium
Edna and Harvey: The Breakout
Gemini Rue

EDIT: I forgot Overclocked. Also want to add Rhiannon and Barrow Hill. I love that type of game so much. :) And the free fan remake of King's Quest III, what fun that was!

See, this topic has already been very useful. I had never given much thought to The Lost Crown, which was a 3.5 star review (I've been looking at the site for years, but only started with the forums a few months ago). I loved Dark Fall 1 (haven't played the others yet), so I'll definitely have to check it out.

Oh, and I'll second Red Dead Redemption.

I usually need to replay games to really know what my opinion of them is, and since we're talking about fairly-recent games I haven't had the chance to replay most of them --- so my opinion might change. Oh, and like Fien, I'm restricting myself to adventures.

In no particular order:
The three seasons of Sam & Max (3>2>1)
Hotel Dusk and Last Window
Portal 2
Ghost Trick
The Experiment
Perry Rhodan (?)
Tales of MI (?)
Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper
Machinarium
The 3 Phoenix Wright games, especially Trials and Tribulations (but they should be played in order)
Dracula 3
Quest for Glory 2 VGA

Adventure games only from me to stay in theme with the board.

- Dreamfall
- Gray Matter
- Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut
- Lost Horizon
- Secret Files I & II

5 of my top ten favorite adventure games of all time were released in the past 5 years
Gemini Rue
Dreamfall
Tales of Monkey Island
Sam and Max: Seasons 1-3
Portal 1 and 2

but for non-adventure games I would recommend

Cave Story - Like Metroid with a better story (Technically it was released in 2004 in Japan but the English version wasn't officially released until 2008. Plus it is freeware so there's really no excuse not to play this game if you like this genre. Also the Nintendo 3DS remake is coming up in November, which almost is enough to make me want to buy one.)

Any of the Pokemon games released on the DS. I haven't played the newest ones released this year yet but I have sunk way too many hours into Pokemon Diamond and I can definitely say that Pokemon gives you the most value for your dollar in terms of gameplay. Obviously it is light on the story but that is what we have adventure games for.

There's a lot of new games I would love to play that are either Wii or PS3 exclusive but alas the last (non-portable) console I owned was the Nintendo 64...

It'd be tough to choice if I had to consider all genres but for adventure games, The Lost Crown was definitely my favourite. It has some problems - most of them due to the fact it was all made by a single person - but no game in the past 5 years has reminded me of the golden age of adventures more than it.

Definitely Machinarium

These are the best of what I played in the past 5 years:
Rhem 3 and 4
Outcry
Slip Space
Amertis
Machinarium
The Filmaker

and the winner goes to ......... Rhem 3.

Wow, tough one. There have been so many! Uncharted 1 & 2, and Portal 2 are at the top of my list...but since this is an Adventure game forum...

I think I'll have to go with Scratches.

Runners-up:
1) The Lost Crown
2) Gray Matter

I agree with that sentiment because I see some lists that I find much in common with. From those I can see a few games I should look into playing.

...

As for me? There is probably, for some, at least a few on my list that "break" the what-tiz-and-what-tiznt-an-adventure-game notion. But I am telling you:

Carol Reed(s)
Portal(s)
Mass Effect(s)

That's keeping it short... another good thing about thinking this through (and seeing other's lists) is that I realize that, though there is a lot of udder utter suckage these days, there is quite a bit of the damned good too.

...

To those of you who listed RHEM(s):
I started with 4 and am actually still in the midst(?or late stages?) of it.

So I ask: would I still be okay (or even advised and urged) to play RHEM 3? I think it is actually the best rated one?

...

To those of you who listed Conspiracies 2:
I played quite a bit of Conspiracies (I) before I became too bothered by it's failings to go on. If I recall correctly, I think the arbitrary-and-illogical was piling up. Only the sin of banality is more intolerable to me, these days -- but just -- I cannot put up with either very long. And I think it was quite glitchy too. But, also IIRC, I did like it quite a bit too.

So here I ask: is Conspiracies 2 "better"?

My favourites released in the last five years, in no particular order, were:

The Lost Crown
Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches
Barrow Hill
Drawn: The Painted Tower and Drawn: Dark Flight

Culpa Innata
Phoenix Wright
Flower Sun and Rain
The Lost Crown
Machinarium
Rhem 4: The Golden Fragments

First ACB,i still cant believe how UM crafted such a fascinating expanse after so booring sequal and TW2 because what you choose really matters (altering your story at your hands) at last.

I actually played more older games lately...:)

Ok, I'm not sure of the years but...

Dreamfall
Indigo prophecy
Chronicles of mystery -The tree of life
So blonde
Secret files
Destination: Treasure island
Tales of MI
Return to mysterious island

I still haven't played many new adventure games! :frown:, but I'm planing too , hopefully soon...

PC:

Dreamfall
Still Life
Sinking Island
Overclocked
Lost Horizon
Tales of Monkey Island
Secret Files 1 & 2
Fahrenheit
Memento Mori

Mafia 2
Bioshock
Darkstar One
Portal

Zelda - Twilight Princess (Gamecube)

DS:
Hotel Dusk
Last Window
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Inazuma Eleven
Dragon Quest IX

Those are the ones that spring up at the top of my head. May edit when I've thought it through a bit more :)

Wow this is tough!

I'd say my faves are:

Farenheit
The Lost Crown: A Ghost Hunting Adventure
Dragon Age: Origins
Mass Effect 1&2
Alan Wake
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
The Witcher 1 & 2

just the adventures, don't want to make the list too long...

lost crown
edna & harvey
culpa innata
sam & max seasons
last window
hotel dusk
gray matter
barrow hill
ben there, dan that
gemini rue
ghost trick
a second face
black sails

My favorite adventure games of the past 5 years... unless one slipped my mind... Pretty much the same as everyone else's list but I wanna put an emphasis on the first three because of how great they are. :9


Edna & Harvey
Lost Horizon
The Book of Unwritten Tales


Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Secret Files 1 & 2
Ceville
The Lost Crown
Gemini Rue
The Whispered World

The Lost Crown.

'nough said.

Gray Matter

In terms of adventure games it's Ghost Trick and Tales of Monkey Island.

As for other genres the usual suspects will appear as no surprise to anyone:

Red Dead Redemption
Mass Effect 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Atelier Rorona
Portal 2
Dragon Quest IX

Hey L-Jazz, is Inazuma Eleven out in Europe? I might import it if it's in English.

Yes, I bought it here in Sweden so I guess it's available throughout most of Europe and it's in English :) It's a really good game, sort of a mix between football and Pokémon, which sounds awesome right?

looks interesting. reminds me of that kickers anime i watched as child.

btw: i'd be pretty pissed at nintendo, if i were american. no last window, inazuma, xenoblades, ... :frusty:

I'm not sure, but I think the Inazuma Eleven game is based on an anime series. Have to google that one.
Couldn't agree more. I'm quite happy with the DS releases in Sweden. Although I had to import 999. Thank god that the DS is region free :)

Listed as favorite, not best

Secret Files: Tunguska
Lost Horizon
Secret Files 2
Dreamfall
Overclocked
Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Still Life
Tales of Monkey Island
Runaway 2
Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life

That's an odd distinction.

Don't you trust yourself? ;)

There's a difference between games I like playing more and games that are of higher quality. For instance I love playing the Secret Files games way more than I loved playing Dreamfall but Dreamfall is obviously a better game

I still say it's an odd way to think!

I suppose the qualification you want to apply has something to do with certain qualities that you somehow qualify beyond the most essential quality: your enjoyment.

What could possibly matter more? Especially in gaming?

Still Life, Dreamfall, Fahrenheit, Culpa Innata, Gray Matter, perhaps also the Black Mirror sequels and Memento Mori.

From non adventures Settlers VI and WoW expansions.

Well... comparing to movies: is some well made but silly comedy better than a quality drama like Schindler's List? Most likely not. But I'm pretty sure many people watch those silly comedies several times compared to a heavy, moving and perhaps disturbing piece.

With games there's also the controls, UI, overall polish. Some games are so smooth and nicely polished it's just a nice and relaxing feeling getting into them. Some other game can have a lot better story and characters but it can be clunky, frustrating or just too thrilling/scary/disturbing/sad.

I don't replay games very often but I wouldn't be surprised if I noticed after a couple of decades that I have replayed some smooth and funny games more than my absolute favourites. It wouldn't be so intense for me if I played it every year.

Yes. If it is.

Just because some "convention" says that "Schindler's List" is "quality" that does not make it so...

(And, by the way, for me, in particular, "SL" wasn't anything special at all. I felt it held back way too much -- the vulgarity and perversity of Nazism was quite watered-down. Typical of what Spielberg is capable of because he is not really a very serious film-maker he is a blockbuster-movie-maker. He may dabble in serious matters but only to lend himself a false veneer.)

Anyway, yes. Many would acknowledge that Monty Python, for instance, are possibly the Kings Of Sillydom (and many other brilliances) and their "...Holy Grail" (on a shoe-string budget) movie is better than SL. Yes, without qualification. Without a nod to the "quality" of SL.

Again, for me, the "quality" most important --especially in art -- is not what some bourgeois or petty-bourgeois pronouncement says it is -- the quality most important is subjective impact.

I don't watch, play or read much of anything twice on purpose. But I will watch "Caddyshack" if I catch it flying by and I'd be happy to read the "Dune" series again if it was presented at a group-read; not so with "Schlinder's List".

Good topic. I doubt it will bring some shocking revelations, though.

In the genre (with no particular order):

• The Lost Crown
• Grey Matter
• The Lost Horizon
• A New Beginning
• Runaway: The Twist of Fate
• Portal
• Portal 2
• Machinarium
• The Secret of Monkey Island SE
• Monkey Island: Le Chuck's Revenge SE
• The Tales of Monkey Island

Outside the genre (things are much more easier to remember):

• Hitman Blood Money
• Tomb Raider: Legend
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary
• Tomb Raider: Underworld
• Mafia II
• Batman Arkham Assylum

I'll edit the post if I remember something that I've missed, but I think this is it for me. :)

Favorites are:

Worms Reloaded
Mortal Kombat 9
Megaman 10
Demon's Souls
Amnesia- The Dark Descent
Starcraft games