The best games of 2012: Best Art Style

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3 mins read

As voted by you!

Through the month of November, we asked for you to vote for your favourite games of the year. You did (and in incredible numbers – thank you for that), and now it’s time to announce the finalists and the winners. Each day we’ll be revealing a new category.

How it works

The five games you’ll see below are the top five games for each category based on the reader’s votes. They are listed in no particular order. The final game is the winner.

If there are six games listed, then there was a tie for the 5th finalist in that category.

We’d love to hear what you think about each category, so please do let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Best Art Style

The Finalists:
Dead Or Alive 5 – When people think “Dead or Alive” they think “jiggle.” Yes, there’s that, but the reality is that the men and women of Dead or Alive are by far the most detailed and naturalistic-animated jiggling digital people. This means the various fights are some of the most spectacular you’ll see.
Kid Icarus Uprising: One of the most spectacular games you’ll see on Nintendo’s 3D powerhouse, Kid Icarus takes action, and turns it to 11. The spectacular lighting and sense of movement is really brought to life in a way we would not want to see on any other console.
Borderlands 2 – For a while it looked like Cel Shading would never amount to more than a visual gimmick to mask shovelware. Borderlands showed us just how much it can add to an experience, and the sequel blows that out of the water. 
The Unfinished Swan – Many will say that the visual style of The Unfinished Swan is the only reason to play this game. We think that’s a little unfair, but it’s hard to deny that the striking art style is absolutely beautiful.
The Winner:

Journey

Journey is the game that so many people in the future will point out as textbook proof that games can be legitimate art works.

Never has minimalist concepts been applied so beautifully and so emotively to a video game. Never has a game so subtly clawed its way into a player’s very soul and caused them to think so deeply about, not only the game itself, but what it means to their personal lives.

It is subtle, and it’s a little difficult to see the majesty of Journey from mere screenshots. This is a game that demands to be played, and will never be forgotten by those that do.

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  • True. Hopefully that will change. The Vita already has a much better game library than the 3DS. It might not for long though, with the 3DS getting both MH4 and SMTIV.

  • Agreed, however Tecmo Koei's support of the Vita next year alone is enough for me. Atelier Totori, Dead or Alive 5 and more Ninja Gaiden in my pocket? Heck yes.

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