Support NeoGAF

[Alienous]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

 

[Vandole]

The cynic in me wants to say, "Nicely done. Think of all the hits you'll receive now!" But it was unquestionably a great game. I hope it was a genuine pick.

 

[GetemMa]

I think this is the first time in a long time that I've agreed with a Gamespot GOTY choice.

Well done.

 

[keit4]

The Last of Us deserves every GOTY award ever. Anyone who disagrees has simple never played the game or is underestimating its impact of gaming and their livelihood. Gamespot has forever lost its reputation awarding GOTY to a 2D handheld game. This is why IGN is more popular.

Wow, Sony fanboys never cease to amaze me. Jesus Christ.

I still have to play ALBW, i will do it as soon as possible to include it (or not) in my GOTY list.

 

[MisterHero]

Let me ask you guys this: have you ever seen a handheld game win GotY in the past?

I don't recall rewards so far back but Pokemon Gold/Silver was (and is still) absolutely praiseworthy.

I have 1000/1000 on sleeping dogs, but stopped playing GTAV after the 2nd heist, theirs a lot to do, but none of it seems to matter, the game just seemed hollow, like a wonderball with no candy inside.

The heists were my favorite part, but there were so few of them. Funnily enough, V is the first GTA I had the opportunity to actually complete. The rewards are so subpar though.

What do you get for winning? Money.
What can you spend money on? Vehicles.
Can you buy properties? Only one garage per character. No hideouts on opposite ends of the map, which might make having such a giant landmass actually fun.

The single-player game constantly loses your vehicles. You can't walk away from them or steal a car without risking them vanishing. That alone ruins so much about working through the game.

Online is a tedious grind too. No, I don't want to race 40+ times to unlock upgrades for a single class of car.

I can't say much for Zelda, but GTA V getting so much praise is almost comedic. I like Rockstar's game immensely but GotY it is not.

 

[Papercuts]

Any recommendations?

Depends on the genre you're interested in, but my shortlist of must plays would be Kid Icarus: Uprising, Virtue's Last Reward(Highly recommend playing 999 first using DS bc if you haven't), Fire Emblem: Awakening, Shin Megami Tensei IV, and Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies.

 

[SmokyDave]

Of that list I only haven't played GTAV since I'm hoping for a PS4 release mid-2014, and while ALBW wouldn't be my GOTY I think it's a good and progressive sign that one of the biggest gaming media outlets recognizes handheld games as.. well.. games. Handheld games have been ignored for a very long time for no good reason and honestly I hope that maybe next year a mobile game even makes the list.

DEVICE 6 made the IGN GotY list (as well as my own). Rejoice!

 

[Prince Vultan]

Wow, Sony fanboys never cease to amaze me. Jesus Christ.

keit4 calling out other posters for fanboyism?

How fun...

 

[Fallout-NL]

Depends on the genre you're interested in, but my shortlist of must plays would be Kid Icarus: Uprising, Virtue's Last Reward(Highly recommend playing 999 first using DS bc if you haven't), Fire Emblem: Awakening, Shin Megami Tensei IV, and Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies.

Thanks, I'll check those out once I'm done with LBW!

 

[ionicbluebird]

I guess good on them for picking something nonstandard.

But is it really good on them? Is the fact that they chose an unconventional GOTY in itself praiseworthy?

I'm starting to think a lot of great games are going to get snubbed by a bunch of sites' GOTY awards because they're "too obvious." And really that's kind of a shame, because while recognizing lesser known or unusual games for doing interesting and cool things is nice, to some degree it's dishonest to pick a GOTY just for the sake of giving the game more exposure.

I mean if everyone agreed that A Link Between Worlds really was the best game of the year then fine. I disagree, but hey, opinions. On the other hand if they picked it to get people talking about how they boldly didn't go for the obvious choice, then I think that's kind of dumb.

I fully agree. Couldn't have said it better myself. I expect a lot of "left field" picks this year.

Also I could see places might be hesitant to give the honour to GTAV simply because of the backlash from GTAIV... and in another way I can see them hesitant to give Naughty Dog two games of the years within such a short span, despite it's obvious quality.


And to the poster who questioned the actual gameplay of TLoU... I personally played the game 5 times through.. twice on Survivor (very hard). And I wasn't playing again and again to rewatch the cutscenes. In fact the last game I replayed like that was Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube. I hold both games in high esteem gameplay wise.

Just my take.

 

[CecilRousso]

I have GTAV as my GOTY, but I can understand, and like, that other people pick other game. I haven't that Zelda game yet, but if they think it's that good, why not?

People to often seem to think that high production values and story are the only criterias that GOTY candidates are judged on.

 

[massoluk]

Wow, actual surprise. It's on my GOTY list, but I don't even think it's the best Zelda. Not a bad pick. So surprise Gamespot gave it to a handheld game, expecting GTA or Last of Us from them.

 

[TS-08]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

Those were the only two games other than ALBW I've played on the list, and I would pick Zelda despite liking all three of them.

 

[Plinko]

That's a good choice. I love that game.

Agreed.

My favorite game of the last 5 years easily.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

I have played every one of those games except GTA(waiting for PC version), I would have picked Mario 3D World from that list. Then again, I haven't finished ALBW to give an honest opinion about the game.

My game of the year is Etrian Odyssey 4, a handheld game. I must be crazy!

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Wow, Sony fanboys never cease to amaze me. Jesus Christ.

I still have to play ALBW, i will do it as soon as possible to include it (or not) in my GOTY list.

lol did you take my post seriously. I was mocking people who are getting upset that LoZ got a GOTY.

 

[toastyToast]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

I've played and finished most of those games minus Tearaway and of those listed I'd probably go with Zelda as well with TLoU in second place followed by 3D World which might go up as I'm still playing it. I couldn't get into GTA V and I'm someone who somehow got into GTA IV despite my issues with it. The rigity of the characters feels archaic compared to Sleeping Dogs. I didn't care for the plot and I think I'm passed the point where GTA open world mischief is compelling. I just didn't care.

 

[LeadenStride]

Haha, the length of the spoiler tag kinda gave it away.
I'm happy to see Zelda win although I haven't played the game. It just seems that handheld games are generally underappreciated in the GOTY picks of bigger sites.

 

[MYE]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

Ugh, dont do this "well if you don't know better" thing.
I own all those games. I'll come back to you when I'm done with ALBW but about 5 hours in I can already tell you that so far it more than deserves to stand next to whatever is leading the GOTY polls.

And I'm probably gonna rank Infinite over TLOU and GTAV too, so I don't get the unwritten law that those should always occupy the two top spots of every list.

 

[Majestad]

The choice makes a lot of sense, even though Zelda isn't my GOTY (SMTIV is). I mean, the sequel of a perennial gaming classic that's even better than the original? That alone is remarkable.

 

[Kandrick]

Ugh, dont do this "well if you don't know better" thing.
I own all those games. I'll come back to you when I'm done with ALBW but about 5 hours in I can already tell you that so far it more than deserves to stand next to whatever is leading the GOTY polls.

And I'm probably gonna rank Infinite over TLOU and GTAV too, so I don't get the unwritten law that those should always occupy the two top spots of every list.

I liked Bioshock Infinite more than The Last of Us too, but it's not something you want to say around here.

GTAV and The Last of Us probably won't even be in my top 10 list. Hell, Infinite probably won't be either!

 

[CecilRousso]

It's really funny to see thread after thread were so many people just can't understand how anyone can pick any other game then The Last of Us as GOTY, and that everyone who does have a specific agenda with their picks.

 

[tmarques]

All this talk almost makes me want to buy the game. Never played a Zelda game or Zelda clone that didn't bore me out of my skull, though. Must. resist.

 

[MYE]

I liked Bioshock Infinite more than The Last of Us, but it's not something you want to say around here.

puff I'll start a thread about it.

fuckthepolice.jpg

 

[toastyToast]

It's really funny to see thread after thread were so many people just can't understand how anyone can pick any other game then The Last of Us as GOTY, and that everyone who does have a specific agenda with their picks.

It reeks of the Uncharted 3 8/10 furor except this time the complainers probably haven't played the other game for a point of reference. Even then it's basically my opinion > your opinion

 

[TheContact]

Gta v is more deserving
albw is fantastic though

 

[Alienous]

Ugh, dont do this "well if you don't know better" thing.
I own all those games. I'll come back to you when I'm done with ALBW but about 5 hours in I can already tell you that so far it more than deserves to stand next to whatever is leading the GOTY polls.

And I'm probably gonna rank Infinite over TLOU and GTAV too, so I don't get the unwritten law that those should always occupy the two top spots of every list.

Didn't mean it like that.

Just thought it was interesting that TLOU and GTA V would be my top two, but a I've barely played enough of 3D World or any of ALBW to discount them as contenders.

Thought it might be two sets of gamers operating in vacuums. Evidently not, it seems.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Nah, Dota 2 was GOTY 2012.

Dota 2 is a 2013 release.

Hey guys Steam is a pretty big deal right? That's what I've been hearing over the last few years anyway.

If it hasnt happened already then it will soon. Dota 2 will have more players playing the game per day than every other game on Steam combined.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Congrats.

Keep your hands steady duder.

That´s a very fun way to play games. Just don´t move your hands lol.

Just use 2D instead of standing like a statue concerned on moving one millimeter away from not seeing anything.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Literally the last game on that list I'd have picked.

I hate to tell you this but... you don't work for Gamespot... so it's fine.

 

[Alienous]

good to see a handheld game win.. the tech is definitely there for the 3ds and vita to produce goty challengers, and tearaway/zelda are great examples of their system's unique features. you couldn't play those games on consoles, even though consoles are more powerful.

in many ways 2013 was the year handhelds came of age.

Retirement age.

 

[Magicpaint]

I definitely thought bought TLOU and GTAV were superior games to ALBW, but I'd put ALBW over Infinite. Infinite was a bit of a disappointment to me, but TLOU and GTAV both lived up to the hype.

The choice makes a lot of sense, even though Zelda isn't my GOTY (SMTIV is). I mean, the sequel of a perennial gaming classic that's even better than the original? That alone is remarkable.

LttP >>> ALBW though. Better atmosphere, overworld + secrets, dungeons and pacing. It also did everything first and ALBW apes so much of its predecessor that it doesn't have its own unique identity. Even Lorule looks almost exactly the same as the Dark World, except more poorly implemented gameplay wise. It's just too familiar.

 

[yaesir]

Dota 2 is a 2013 release.

Hey guys Steam is a pretty big deal right? That's what I've been hearing over the last few years anyway.



If it hasnt happened already then it will soon. Dota 2 will have more players playing the game per day than every other game on Steam combined.

Honestly the 2012 beta was pretty much release, anyone could get in. Hell i had like 15 invites i could give out and everyone i knew was already in.

The 2013 "release" is hardly a real release, more like opening the flood gates.

Its like saying Gmail didn't release in 2004 but in 2007, when everyone could use it by 2006.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Nice to see that some outlets are willing to crown a handheld title king. Not a fan of the actual franchise myself, but it's cool just the same.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

Honestly the 2012 beta was pretty much release, anyone could get in. Hell i had like 15 invites i could give out and everyone i knew was already in.

The 2013 "release" is hardly a real release, more like opening the flood gates.

Its like saying Gmail didn't release in 2004 but in 2007, when everyone could use it by 2006.

I don't recall seeing it on a single GotY 2012 list though?

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I don't care about this thread anymore. Where is this from now?

 

[redcrayon]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

I've played TLOU and LBW, and at the moment my GOTY list is

Fire Emblem: Awakening
Zelda: ALBW
TLOU.

I don't really understand why everyone has to view GOTY through the view of 'which is the most cinematic AAA game that pushes the genre forward'. Can I just choose which game gave me 200 hours of fun for £40,despite its abstract 'gamey' mechanics, and that I want to replay over and over, rather than the one that was a beautiful twelve hour corridor run but I've already traded it in? I don't need games to be films, I'm happy for them to be fun to play rather than restricting mechanics to the boundaries of a story. TLOU was a great narrative for a computer game, but I felt the 'game' part of it to be quite repetitive in places and not worth a second play.

Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourites, the characters and art are fantastic. But where most critics have praised the writing as a strong point, personally I just see a derivative copy of what John Wyndham was writing 50 years ago. I don't see how you can focus on writing in games when the player is controlling the protagonist- you either chain and restrict the player to your narrative, forcing endless cut scenes on them, or the narrative doesn't make sense as the player refuses to rescue someone while they explore or collect magic kittens and jump around the room instead. I still think my favourite writing in games was things was like walking into a house in fallout 3, seeing a skeleton, a gun and some notes, and piecing together what happened. The main quest writing was dire, but stuff like those incidental little scenes, they explore how you can help the player to tell their own story, not be chained to yours.

 

[Apenheul]

DEVICE 6 made the IGN GotY list (as well as my own). Rejoice!

And to think I haven't played that one yet.. Imma go take a look.

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

Like I said I haven't played GTAV and ALBW isn't my GOTY but my honest opinion on TLOU is that it's ambitious in a lot of areas but perhaps a bit repetitive in its core; walking around in environments while the main characters are having a conversation and nothing really happens, you enter a room and you try to disable enemies (of which there are only three types) and as soon as you've done that you're safe, then you go to the next room, cutscene and repeat. So I can easily see how it doesn't top everyone's list. I also have my gripes with ALBW which although I love renting weapons and its (mostly) non-linear structure I found quite easy and, once you get to Lorule, quite fragmented and not as well contextualized in terms of story & setting compared to other Zelda games. From GameSpot's list I'd personally go with Tearaway as my GOTY.

 

[Mondy]

TLoU robbed! : p

You'll be seeing a lot of this, I feel. I strongly disagree with Gamespot and I love Zelda as a franchise.

 

[sephiroth7x]

Chuffed to bits with this... though not my personal GOTY I am happy it won it.

Would have given it to Super Mario 3D World personally.

On a side note... this has made my day after shitty Digital Spy put it 9th and placed Tomb Raider above it...

 

[monome]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

Played, finished, enjoyed TLOU.

I hate GTA with all my guts.

aLbW is my GOTY.
over 3DWorld and W101, héhé...

my others finished games for 2013 were GoW J, DmC, Tomb Raider, Bioshock, Anarchy Reigns and I have a X1 for some next-geness cred.

 

[Alienous]

Nice to see that some outlets are willing to crown a handheld title king. Not a fan of the actual franchise myself, but it's cool just the same.

Heresy.

 

[Tenck]

No, really I'm not joking (everyone else, please stop asking that).

I'm not saying ALBW is a bad game. In fact, it might even be a great game. But the fact of the matter is that, at the end of the day, it's still a handheld game. Just like no matter how big an ant gets, it's still an ant (barring genetic engineering, obviously).

Handheld game can't be Game of the year?

I own an Xbox One, PS3, 3DSXL (and 2DS), and a gaming PC. I've had more fun on my 3DS than I have on any other platform. At the end of the day, all platforms have great games.

 

[Nibel]

Literally the last game on that list I'd have picked.

Jeez, I wonder why

 

[Strider]

I really like AC4, but no way it deserves to be mentioned alongside games like TLOU, GTA5, Tearaway, and Zelda...

I'm surprised at their choice. I haven't gotten around to playing link between worlds yet but I'll pick it up sometime early next year.

 

[Volcynika]

Does ANYONE who has played ALL (or rather, GTA V and TLOU) of the nominees agree with Gamespot that ALBW is the GOTY?

I get the feeling that the people saying ALBW is their GOTY haven't played GTA V or TLOU, and those that have one of the latter two games as GOTY haven't played ALBW.

Prove me wrong, GAF. This may just be a Nintendo vs. The World thing.

I've played a few hours of ALBW and beaten TLOU. As far as my personal top 10, ALBW is definitely going to be on it, and TLOU will be nowhere near it.

 

[lobdale]

Well-deserved, more smooth and engaging, best pacing of any game I've played in years. Handheld games are more "game" than the big console shit anymore, really.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Jeez, I wonder why

He has a different taste. Big deal.

 

[Phatmac]

I gotta play this soon. Great choice from gamespot.

 

[BrainZEROX]

I'm OK with Gamespot's choice. Well, apathetic is a better word to describe how I feel. I would have gone with TLOU but I really want to play that Zelda game as I'm a huge fan of A Link to The Past so it's an OK choice for me.

I expect more websites not going with TLOU or GTAV as their GOTY. They are too obvious choices and websites need something a bit more controversial for the clicks. The gaming press is pretty much irrelevant to me anyway so I don't really care... GAF's GOTY is the only valid GOTY anyway.