The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is 2011's game of the year. It might be the game of the past decade. It certainly is engaging, engrossing and encroaching...on my time with other games. Since picking up Skyrim, I've logged in almost 200 hours on the game (not to mention all the hours spent writing the guide for the game). If I were to make a top ten games list for 2011, Skyrim would be all ten games.
Yes, it's that good. And, yes, it's at least ten different games. (You can be a dragon-hunting warrior. Or crime kingpin of the entire country. Or a blacksmith. Or a miner. Or a potion-brewer. Or...or...or...)
So while I'm engrossed in Skyrim, other games languish on my shelf. Unplayed. Lonely. Forgotten.
OK, not forgotten. I keep looking at them, but I can't take Skyrim out of the PS3. Not yet, anyway. Here are ten games languishing on my shelf while I play Skyrim, in reverse order by their Metacritic score...
10) White Knight Chronicles
While this title hit the States almost two years ago, it only hit my shelf in one of GameStop's Buy-2-Get-1-Free used game sales during the holidays. While I'm not normally big on Japanese-style RPGs, this one looks interesting (if a bit flawed, based on reviews). It will probably continue to hang around a while until I get through some of the games higher on this list.
9) DC Universe Online
I started up a DCUO character right after the game went free-to-play. I even got through the tutorial mission and then got a little lost. I was trying to figure out what to do next when Skyrim hit. It's kind of a shame, really. Much as I love comic book superheroes, this game, in the short time I spent with it, seemed stilted and flat. I probably will only mess around with it here and there—but not until Skyrim has been thoroughly beaten.
8) Dragon Age: Origins Awakening
I know this add-on to the original Dragon Age has been around a while. And I actually bought it when it was new...but, then, never completely finished it. I've taken two different DA:O characters partway through, but never managed to finish. And, once Dragon Age 2 came out, I found DA:O's gameplay to be somewhat lackluster compared to its younger sibling. Still, I need to fully finish DA:O, which includes finishing this expansion as well as all the DLC.
7) Dragon Age 2: Mark of the Assassin
Another Dragon Age add-on. This one I probably would have gone through and completed, but it came out too close to Skyrim and I never managed to even get it started. By the time I'm ready to go back and pick this up again, I'll probably have to play through a new game of DA2 to re-acclimated myself to everything. Darn.
6) Deus Ex: Human Revolution
This was one of three games I received for Christmas. One of those three, "LEGO Harry Potter Years 5 – 7" is actually getting played—mostly with my kids, but a little on my own as well. This one I know is going to take a while to complete and I don't want to start it until I have time to devote to getting everything out of it I can.
5) L. A. Noire
I was really interested in this game when it came out, but passed on the full-priced version. Interestingly, for all the fantastic reviews, this game must not have sold well because the price tanked quickly. Good for me though. I picked it up along with White Knight Chronicles in the GameStop holiday sale. It's not the kind of game you can pick up and play whenever and will need some concentrated gaming once Skyrim (and a couple other games) is out of the way.
4) Fallout 3
Bethesda's in-between-Elder-Scrolls-games masterpiece has been sitting on my shelf since its release. I started it up a couple times but never went very far. Earlier this year I traded in my original game and picked up a used copy of the GotY Edition with all the DLC and over the summer I finally got back into it and was getting pretty far. Then Skyrim came out. :sigh: Yeah, story of the Fall for me. It'll have to wait a while now until I'm ready to slog through yet another massive game like Skyrim.
3) ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Collection
My son bought this for me on my birthday, but I was knee-deep in Fallout 3 and now Skyrim, so I haven't given this two-fer of classic PS2 titles its due. It will be coming though...
2) Uncharted 3
The third game I received for Christmas and the one that's going into the PS3 as soon as Skyrim is finished. I played and loved the first two Uncharted games and I can't wait for this one. Or, actually, I can wait...until I finish Skyrim. :sigh:
1) Batman: Arkham City
The game my son feels should be GotY for 2011, but it lagging far behind Skyrim on most publications' lists. I played a little of Arkham Asylum, but didn't really get into it. Watching my son play Arkham City, though, looks very good and I'm eager to give it a whirl. Well, not eager enough to stop playing Skyrim, or Uncharted 3 next, or...
