LogFAQs > #951316068

Best Game of 2011
https://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?1&tid=417051

Ran: January 2012
Overall top seed: Uncharted 3 - Drake's Deception
1 seeds: Uncharted 3, Skyward Sword, Arkham City, Pokemon Black/White
Final Four: First three games, Portal 2
Ultimate Loser: Battlefield 3
Championship: Portal 2 defeated Uncharted 3 36-13

First off, the poll...
January: Ghost Trick - Phantom Detective
February: Marvel vs Capcom 3
March: Pokemon Black/White
April: Portal 2
May: LA Noire
June: inFamous 2
July: Catherine
August: Deus Ex - Human Revolution
September: Gears of War 3
October: Batman - Arkham City
November: Uncharted 3
December: Mario Kart 7

In a rare turn of events, considering how stacked November was, plus the results of said poll, Uncharted 3 earned the overall top seed narrowly beating Skyward Sword and Skyrim by only a few votes. Skyward Sword's performance netted a #1 seed, and Skyrim got to be #2 in its region. Arkham City won a month that featured Dark Souls and Kirby's Return to Dreamland, so a #1 seed was justified. Finally, Pokemon was in full swing as usual, so B/W got the final #1 seed.

It didn't take long for business to pick up. Gears of War 3 bombed as a #4 seed, losing to Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One in the first round. Mario Kart 7 lost to #12 seed Forza Motorsport 4 in the first round. Marvel vs Capcom 2 crapped out as a #2 seed, losing to Bastion in round 2. #11 seed Outland upset Shadows of the Damned in OT. Skyrim's chances of making the finals were dashed in round 3 when it was upset by Dark Souls. So how about those #1 seeds?

Uncharted 3 lived up to its predecessor's run in 2009, easily disposing of Corpse Party, You Don't Know Jack, Dead Space 2, and Bastion to net the first final four spot. Skyward Sword had an easy bout with FIFA 12 before having close matches with Sonic Generations, Super Mario 3D Land, and Dark Souls to get the second final four spot. Arkham City looked like a beast, tearing up a baseball game, The Witcher 2, and LA Noire in the first three rounds. Batman finally broke a sweat in the Elite Eight when Ghost Trick took the Dark Knight to overtime. Batman escaped with a 48-46 win for the third spot in the final four. Before we discuss the 4th semifinal slot, let's skip ahead, shall we?

I said 2011's tournament brought a hint of controversy, and it happened in the semifinals between Uncharted 3 and Skyward Sword. Halfway through the 24 hours, Skyward Sword jumped to a ridiculously large lead. 3/4ths of the way, Uncharted 3 started surging. The one thing I noticed? A large majority of the votes were from users I've never seen on Board 8. Uncharted 3 and Skyward Sword's game boards both had links directing to the match at hand. The fix was in, and a double rally had occurred. After a set period of time fishing out the rallied votes, the match was tied at 37. When it's all said and done, these are to determine what Board 8 thinks is the best game of the year, not CE or some random specified game board, so I stand by my decision to enforce overtime. The end result? Uncharted 3 pulls through, winning said match 72-64 and giving the series its 2nd championship appearance in three years; everything was looking like Nathan Drake would have his theme being played in the end.

And then Portal 2 happened.

Portal 2 must have taken it personally that Pokemon got the last #1 seed over it. First victim was Trails in the Sky, losing 16-3. Second victim was Dynasty Warriors 6 with a 21-6 blowout. In round 3, Portal 2 puts up 75% on Mortal Kombat, winning 27-9. Then it was time for #1 vs #2, and Portal 2 proceeded to beat the brakes off of Pokemon Black/White, with an astounding 29-11 final score. In the Final Four, Portal 2 had its closest match in the entire contest, still putting up 60% on Arkham City, beating the Dark Knight himself 32-18. And the championship match? The score posted at the beginning of the topic; Nathan Drake went into the Finals looking like a million dollars and came out looking like a potato as Portal 2 delivered the biggest blowout in tournament history.

Portal 2's run remains the single greatest tournament run in the 25 contests I've ran for GotY. It had a strong following here back in 2011-12, and everything fell in the right place at the right time. If the same bracket was ran today, I couldn't guarantee Portal 2 would repeat, only because of Dark Souls and Skyrim slowly gaining ground over the past few years and honestly saying the winner of that would face Portal 2 in a Championship match today. The winner between Portal 2 and Dark Souls/Skyrim is debatable on all fronts.

Two final notes. First off, Battlefield became the first series to have two Ultimate Losers.

Second off, the other hot topic of discussion was the idea of Xenoblade Chronicles being put in this tournament. At the time of August's poll, there was no news of the game coming out in North America, but I decided to hold out on hope and come to a decision by December. Thankfully by then, Nintendo finally listened to the people and announced an April 2012 release date for Xenoblade in North America.

Therefore, Xenoblade would finally have a crack at the contest come January 2013.

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