The Best Game of 2011 Tournament was ran in early 2012 by Raven. The overall #1 seed was Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, marking the second time in three years that Uncharted had accomplished such. Also, due to the close results of the November poll, this would mark the first time a game received a #1 seed without winning Game of the Month, with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword finishing runner-up to Uncharted 3. Notable upsets were done by Forza Motorsport 4, Outland, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and Killzone 3.
The winner was Portal 2 as it defeated Uncharted 3 in the finals. This would be Valve's first championship in these tournaments, and it would mark the second time in three years that Uncharted appeared in the finals.
2011's Ultimate Loser: Portal 2 > Uncharted 3 > Skyward Sword > Dark Souls > Skyrim > Radiant Historia > Battlefield 3
Best Game of Each Month in 2011, according to Board 8[]
| Month | Game of the Month |
| January | Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective |
| February | Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds |
| March | Pokémon Black/White |
| April | Portal 2 |
| May | L.A. Noire |
| June | InFamous 2 |
| July | Catherine |
| August | Deus Ex: Human Revolution |
| September | Gears of War 3 |
| October | Batman: Arkham City |
| November | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception |
| December | Mario Kart 7 |
2011 Bracket[]
| Best Game of 2011 Tournament | |||||||
| Ubar Division | Uncharted 3 Bastion |
Uncharted 3 Skyward Sword |
Uncharted 3 Portal 2 |
Portal 2 | |||
| (1) Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (16) Corpse Party |
Uncharted 3 You Don't Know Jack |
Uncharted 3 Dead Space 2 | |||||
| (8) You Don't Know Jack (9) Dissidia 012 - Duodecim Final Fantasy | |||||||
| (5) LittleBigPlanet 2 (12) King of Fighters XIII |
LittleBigPlanet 2 Dead Space 2 | ||||||
| (4) Dead Space 2 (13) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | |||||||
| (6) Assassin's Creed: Revelations (11) Kirby Mass Attack |
AC: Revelations InFamous 2 |
AC: Revelations Bastion | |||||
| (3) InFamous 2 (14) Magicka | |||||||
| (7) Bastion (10) Child of Eden |
Bastion Marvel vs. Capcom 3 | ||||||
| (2) Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (15) Terraria | |||||||
| Hyrule Division | Skyward Sword Dark Souls | ||||||
| (1) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (16) FIFA Soccer 12 |
Skyward Sword Sonic Generations |
Skyward Sword Super Mario 3D Land | |||||
| (8) Sonic Generations (9) Star Wars: The Old Republic | |||||||
| (5) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (12) Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together |
Deus Ex: HR Super Mario 3D Land | ||||||
| (4) Super Mario 3D Land (13) Minecraft | |||||||
| (6) Professor Layton and the Last Specter (11) Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation |
Professor Layton Dark Souls |
Dark Souls Skyrim | |||||
| (3) Dark Souls (14) Trine 2 | |||||||
| (7) Radiant Historia (10) Battlefield 3 |
Radiant Historia Skyrim | ||||||
| (2) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (15) Alice: Madness Returns | |||||||
| Gotham Division | Arkham City Ghost Trick |
Arkham City Portal 2 | |||||
| (1) Batman: Arkham City (16) MLB 11: The Show |
Arkham City The Witcher II: SS |
Arkham City L.A. Noire | |||||
| (8) Dirt 3 (9) The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings | |||||||
| (5) Mario Kart 7 (12) Forza Motorsport 4 |
Forza 4 L.A. Noire | ||||||
| (4) L.A. Noire (13) Okamiden | |||||||
| (6) Shadows of the Damned (11) Outland |
Outland Catherine |
Catherine Ghost Trick | |||||
| (3) Catherine (14) Dead Island | |||||||
| (7) Saints Row: The Third (10) El Shaddhai: Ascension of the Metatron |
Saints Row 3 Ghost Trick | ||||||
| (2) Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (15) Shogun: Total War | |||||||
| Unova Division | Pokémon B/W Portal 2 | ||||||
| (1) Pokémon Black/White (16) Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland |
Pokémon B/W Rayman Origins |
Pokémon B/W Return to Dreamland | |||||
| (8) NCAA Football '12 (9) Rayman Origins | |||||||
| (5) Kirby's Return to Dreamland (12) Driver: San Francisco |
Return to Dreamland Ratchet and Clank: A4O | ||||||
| (4) Gears of War 3 (13) Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One | |||||||
| (6) Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (11) Killzone 3 |
Killzone 3 Mortal Kombat |
Mortal Kombat Portal 2 | |||||
| (3) Mortal Kombat (14) The Binding of Isaac | |||||||
| (7) Dynasty Warriors 7 (10) Madden NFL 12 |
Dynasty Warriors 7 Portal 2 | ||||||
| (2) Portal 2 (15) The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | |||||||
Zero's Final Thoughts[]
The first thing observed in the Best Game of 2011 tournament was how stacked the month of November was. Due to the finishes of the monthly polls, we had a solid and close top 3 with Uncharted 3, Skyrim, and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Their finishes were good enough to net not just one, but two #1 seeds and a #2 seed. The other two #1 seeds went to Batman: Arkham City and Pokemon Black/White; this was the best Pokemon had looked since Gold/Silver won the 2000 tournament, and Batman had just appeared in the 2009 finals losing to Uncharted 2, so there was every reason to believe the Dark Knight could do it again. All four #1 seeds lived up to their potential as they all made it to the elite eight. The only one to fall short in its run to the semifinals was Pokemon Black/White, as it ran into a Portal 2-sized roadblock, which we'll cover more of in a little bit.
Four Game of the Month winners laid an egg in the first two rounds. We saw Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution bow out in round 2 to Bastion and Super Mario 3D Land, respectively. December's GotM, Mario Kart 7, gets shut down in round 1 by Forza Motorsport 4, but that was nothing compared to the egg September's GotM laid. In a big upset, Gears of War 3 loses 9-7 to Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One; this wouldn't be such a big deal, except All 4 One is considered by many to be the worst in the Ratchet series. Also in round 2, June's GotM InFamous 2 would lose to Assassin's Creed: Revelations, the second time in three years that InFamous would lose to Assassin's Creed. Other big upsets included #11 seed Killzone 3 edging #6 seed Disgaea 4 by two votes and #11 seed Outland surviving overtime against #6 seed Shadows of the Damned by one vote.
As the contest progressed, the bigger titles began to fall. Skyrim and Dark Souls, arguably two of the best titles of said generation met in round 3 and Dark Souls walked away with a 16-13 victory. This stunned many as Skyrim was a GotY winner in many places, including GameFAQs' own polls; Dark Souls couldn't keep the momentum going as it loses in the Elite Eight to Skyward Sword. Uncharted had an easy round to the final four, beating Corpse Party, You Don't Know Jack, Dead Space 2, and Bastion with a combined final score of 81-17. Batman's division was a little harder to get out of thanks to #2 seed Ghost Trick; after Arkham City dominated the likes of MLB 11, The Witcher 2, and LA Noire, it needed overtime to escape to the semifinals with a huge 48-46 victory.
The semifinals happened and they began with controversy. The first match was Uncharted 3 vs. Skyward Sword, and it took half a day to realize that the fix was in. Out of nowhere, Skyward Sword escalated in votes, and it was soon discovered that someone went to the game's board to rally users into coming into my contest. Someone else tried to fight fire with fire and do the same thing with Uncharted 3's board. If left untouched, Skyward Sword would head to the finals; however, this wasn't the GameFAQs Best Game of 2011 tournament, it was the Board 8 Best Game of 2011 tournament. After configuring who had posted regularly on B8 and who was a lurker, the most appropriate option was to tie the match at 36 a piece and begin overtime. In the end, the final score was 72-64 in favor of Uncharted 3; Nate's epic theme played as he made his second finals appearance in three years, and it almost seemed appropriate that Uncharted would nab it's second championship.
And then Portal 2 happened. In all the GotY contests I've ran ranging from 1998 to 2016, no game's performance was as dominating as Portal 2's was. The first Portal had a strong run in 2007, losing in OT to BioShock in round 3; if BioShock had came out another year, Portal probably would have been in the 07 finals against Mario Galaxy. Portal 2 wasn't having any of that early exit stuff going on, and it showed based on the final scores of each match. 18-3 against B8 favorite Trails in the Sky, 21-6 against Dynasty Warriors 7, 27-9 against the Mortal Kombat reboot (which came close to winning April GotM against Portal 2), and 29-11 against #1 seed Pokemon Black/White. It was apparent that Portal 2 was underseeded even at #2. The final matches wouldn't be any different either. Batman came the closest to beating Portal 2 out of all six of its opponents, which is expected of the Caped Crusader; however, the score was still 32-18, with Portal 2 still scoring 64% of the total votes. The finals? Nathan Drake wouldn't have any incoming miracles this time around, as Portal 2 walked its way to the 2011 Game of the Year award with a 36-13 victory, nearly a 75-25 finish; to this day it's the biggest blowout in the history of these tournaments and nothing's really come close to outdoing Portal 2 in this.
One last thing I pondered with planning for this contest was the situation with Xenoblade Chronicles. The game was released everywhere but America and it was strongly considered not only the best game on the Wii, but also one of the generation's best games period; it almost became the first non-American released game to make one of these tournaments, but thanks to Nintendo getting their act together, Xenoblade would finally get a chance to make a run for GotY in 2012...