Winner: Mass Effect 3
While BioWare’s trilogy capper was chastised for having an underwhelming conclusion, the game’s final fifteen minutes don’t discredit the twenty some-odd hours of pure awesome that preceded it. Not only does Mass Effect 3 manage to wrap up almost all of the story threads left hanging at the end of ME2, it provides a satisfying and emotional roller-coaster ride throughout the galaxy as Commander Shepard seeks to find a way to save humanity.
Witnessing the ramifications of the decisions you made in the first two games is super rewarding, and the story arcs for each of the characters you’ve grown to love (or perhaps hate) are equally awesome. There isn’t another role-playing franchise on the market that provides you with such a malleable protagonist that you can shape however you want. It also features fast-paced, super-fluid gameplay that puts other games in the genre and prior entries in the series to shame.
Groundbreaking franchises like Mass Effect are truly a rarity. With one of the best stories in gaming and the ability to direct the flow of the narrative, it’s hard not to be in awe of what BioWare has achieved. The epic grand finale had a lot of hype and expectation behind it, and somehow, the concluding chapter manages to deliver. If there’s one RPG from 2012 that demands your attention, it’s Mass Effect 3.
Runners Up:
- Persona 4 Golden
- Kingdoms of Amalur
- Dragon’s Dogma
Stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle all week during our Best of 2012 Awards week.
