Top 10 Best Games of 2011

#1 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [GOTY 2011]

Annie Dennisdóttir Wright, Features Editor: My top pick for Game of the Year 2011 would have to be Skyrim. I know this is not a surprising choice in general, but it's definitely a first for me. I almost never end up going with a mainstream title, and especially never a fantasy RPG. I haven't enjoyed most of the other Elder Scrolls game (not that they are all bad, they're just not really my thing). Call me a hipster if you must, but the reason I usually opt for an indie title for GOTY revolves around the notion that I'd rather see something innovative and unfamiliar, created by a small studio of enthusiastic artisans than some tired franchise installment of ancient IP, belched out by a factory farm publisher in a cloud of unboxing videos and mouthbreather fumes.

However, Skyrim may just have renewed my faith in mainstream titles. I can't possibly write anything here that hasn't already been said, so I'll skip the detailed reasons, but it should say a lot that nearly two months after receiving my review copy, I'm still actually playing it nearly every day.

Jacob Saylor, Writer: So, it’s that time of the year, again – time for the obligatory ‘Game of the Year’ article. Since I only have a couple hundred words to talk, let’s get to it:

My Game of the Year is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. A fierce battle raged in the dark recesses of my mind for quite a while between Uncharted 3 and Skyrim for the award, but what it came down to was really just replay value. Anyways – why, in a more general sense, did I choose Skyrim over other competitors? It may just be a phenomenon known as the honeymoon phase, because I have never enjoyed console RPGs to this degree; I like to believe though, that it’s more than that: Skyrim has brought me nearly two-hundred hours of enjoyment so far, and because you can choose when to complete the main storylines, the game has as much play value as you let it.

So, in conclusion, I’ll take a note from my Communications professor: “It’s not about the destination, but really, how you get there.”