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RPGs of the Year 2009
By Heath | January 17, 2010 at 11:04 am
We’ve talked about it peacefully amongst ourselves. We’ve also argued violently about it. Michael is a huge Texan, but Orie has the title of manliest beard grown by RPG Land staffer and Heath has the record for being banned from the most bars/arenas/churches/libraries in his home state’s history, so in the end things came out fairly even.
We say “Game” and “RPG” of the year interchangeably here but on an RPG site, we’re only talking about RPGs, obviously.
We only award one winner and one runner-up for system categories, and we add an Honorable Mention for overall.
Here we go…
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| Muramasa: The Demon Blade |
BEST WII GAME OF 2009
Winner: Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Runner up: Rune Factory Frontier
Vanillaware continues to show the world that it is a top-tier developer with yet another amazing game, Muramasa. Meanwhile, everybody’s probably gonna forget Rune Factory Frontier. Cool people won’t, though!
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-Imagine a guitar solo interlude here-
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| Borderlands |
BEST XBOX 360 GAME OF 2009
Winner: Borderlands
Runner up: Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
The guns, the action, the insanity — Borderlands is awesome, and available on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. We see it as overall the best 360 game of the year. Our editor still declines to play it, however, by way of word association reminding him of that time he got detained at the friggin’ Canadian border. Yeah they called the friggin’ employer, bank, parents, university, and said “Well, your story checks out on all angles, but we just can’t believe you’re planning on returning to the US!” Border patrol: where genius happens.
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-Game Awards: Serious Business-
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| Demon’s Souls |
BEST PLAYSTATION 2 AND/OR 3 GAME OF 2009
Winner: Demon’s Souls
Runner up: Ar Tonelico II
Demon’s Souls is an incredibly intense action RPG with an immersive world and difficult yet addicting gameplay. We kinda combined the PS2 and PS3 like we have combined other systems in odd years where one only gets a couple of releases, and the Gust’s Ar Tonelico II snuck into second place.
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-Pandas in clown cars-
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| Dragon Age: Origins |
BEST PC (non-MMO) GAME OF 2009
Winner: Dragon Age: Origins
Runner up: Torchlight
Storytelling and immersion were the true strength of Bioware’s stunning multiplatform trip Dragon Age: Origins. Fans of the studio’s previous works are almost gauranteed to enjoy Dragon Age. At first, I had “Porchlight” as the runner up, but then I remembered, oh snap, that’s not a game. That’s an album by a local band I enjoyed in high school. We once taped a mirophone to thehandle of an upright vaccuum when the mic stand broke at a basement show. My friendship with the lead singer took an unfortunate turn when he ordered a veggie sub.
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-Catman, if you’re reading this, I still wonder what happened to you, dog-
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| Bowser’s Inside Story |
BEST DS GAME OF 2009
Winner: Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
Runner up: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Mario & Luigi’s latest RPG takes the DS award this year. It was humorous and downright fun to play, featuring a twist ending in which Mario and Luigi die, having been eaten by Bowser. …….K I typed that and was told that that is not at all what happens. But anyway, the other top contenders for the DS title were remakes, so that kind of gave it an edge. Our second place game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, is a remake of the original Fire Emblem for NES. Another great one that was considered, Dragon Quest V, is on its second remake.
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-Don’t stop now, fatty!-
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| Half-minute Hero |
BEST PSP GAME OF 2009
Winner: Half-minute Hero
Runner up: Class of Heroes
If you had the word “Hero” in your title, you got a PSP award from RPG Land. Years ago, Janelle said, “I want to make an RPG, but combine it with an arcade game. Like, condense the experience so you have to clear it really fast, and divide it into stages.” Upon her first viewing of a Half-minute Hero trailer, she was heard to say, “Hey that’s my game!”
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-Saying “Catman” reminds me, Batman also wins an award. His game is not an RPG, but he’s Batman, so we do what he says.-
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| Aion |
BEST MMORPG OF 2009
Winner: Aion
Runner up: Darkfall
This was as close a race as there could have been, but in the end, we had one more guy play Aion than Darkfall, so it won by the two greatest words in the English language: de-fault. Darkfall should not be discounted by any stretch, as it has captivated one of our notoriously hard-to-impress forum members.
THE FREEBIE AWARD (Best Free-to-play MMORPG)
Winner: Dungeons and Dragons Online
Relaunched with a new name and new purpose, Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited beat out some surprisinglytough competition to take this title. Check out its official website here.
STATESIDE PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR:
Winner: NIS America
For having the balls to still crank out PS2 games in 2009 (Ar Tonelico 2, Mana Khemia 2), as well as cater to fans of Disgaea, Mana Khemia, and Atelier, which saw portable games (some ports) this year, NIS America takes this one. There’s a bit of risk bringing over PSP and DS games when the previous fanbase of a series had been established on another platform, but NIS America put out Disgaea 2 for PSP and Atelier Annie for DS, among others. Their quality is naturally as subjective as any other games’, but it’s what fans were asking for,
and you gotta give major credit there.
NIS America accepted this award with the following note to its fans and RPG Land, “Thank you very much! We cannot express how much we appreciate your support! We’ll have some exciting titles in 2010, so please look forward to them! Thank you again for this honorable award!”
BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME:
Winner: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (Wii)
FORUM JACKASS OF THE YEAR AWARD:
Winner: Some kid who calls himself “Drakes_Fortune.”
Angered by a review of a game he never played, “Drakes_Fortune” couldn’t lay down enough smack talk. He even stormed his way onto the RPG Land forums in a huff and ready to throw a fit. After Heath psychology’d his ass, he left with his tail between his legs. LiQuid!, always a hater on every single game, was also under consideration.
MOMENT THAT MOST MADE US BE ALL LIKE WHOA:
Winner: Dying in Demon’s Souls
If you play Demon’s Souls, you will die. A lot. And you will have the time of your life. Dying. Repeatedly. Awesome.
Runner up: Tentacle Rape in Muramasa
Well it wasn’t in the game so much as it was on Play Magazine. But still!
READER’S CHOICE GAME OF THE YEAR 2009 IS…
Winner: Demon’s Souls, as it was mentioned most.
Runners up: Tie between Darkfall and League of Legends, for matching dedication of Pip and Idin.
Honorable Mention: Half-Minute Hero, as people in the forums were all like “Whoa.”
RPG Land’s 2009 OVERALL GAMES OF THE YEAR, 2009 ARE…
Winner: Demon’s Souls (PS3)
Runner up: Borderlands (360/PS3/PC)
Honorable Mention: Dragon Age: Origins (PC/360/PS3)
And there you go. Threse are three incredibly solid games which have been giving their props, and now they’re given the most prized props in the gaming world: coveted RPG Land awards.
Cheers till next year!
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Topics: Awards, Games of the Year, NIS America