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Witcher 3 has won over 240 GOTY Awards so far.

Forget those games exist before playing The Witcher III. If you cannot, don't touch it . I almost quit early on due to the combat and playing the game right after Bloodborne.

I don't think I can. Demon's Souls' combat felt like such a huge revelation and felt like a new chapter in how I consider priorities in games (it used to be story>gameplay for me, but now it's gameplay>>>story), that I don't think I could put up with bad combat for ~30 hours just because of a good story or game world.

I dunno. I'll wait until it's £15 before I pick it up.
 

roytheone

Member
Since the raw number of GOTY awards they count each year seem to fluctuate a lot, I decided to look at the percentage of all the GOTY awards the winner ended up getting:

Currently Witcher 3 has won 58% of all the goty awards counted.
In 2014, Dragon age won 33 % of all the goty awards counted.
In 2013, The last of us won 48 % of all the goty awards counted.
In 2012, The walking dead won 19 % of all the goty awards counted.
In 2011, Skyrim won 56 % of all the goty awards counted.


I haven't looked at the years before 2011, maybe I will do that later, but out of those 5 years, percentage -wise The Witcher III is the most successful game right now! Skyrim is VERY close though.
 
I know the audience is there, but I would like to see more critics (not just Edge and a few others) give their GotY to games that don't fit the big budget game aimed at a mass audience moniker. There's so much more to this industry. Where are the Japanese games or the indies? If I look at film lists at the end of the year, you don't see 200 awards for the same Hollywood blockbuster. How can shallow bullshit like Shadow over Mordor beat the rich mechanical intricacies of a Bayonetta 2 for example, let alone Dragon Age? Those type of games never seem to stand a chance when it comes to overall GotY picks, so kudos to the media that do dig a little deeper.

I understand your frustration, but it's just how the industry work. People tend to pick the bigger and more heavily marketed games (Bloodborne was actually heavily marketed iirc) than the other ones. And we really have to remind you once more, that these awards are coming from western audience. You'll find more Japanese games getting awards in Japanese media.

And anyway, how about your picks?
You don't list that many Japanese or indie games on your gaf goty list. There are so many good Japanese games and indies that were released in 2015. Ori, Axiom Verge, Titan Souls, Invisible Ink, Undertale, etc are just a small list that I can remember. If you're really not into western video games, there are still several smaller budget Japanese games released in 2015, like Disgaea 5, Zestiria, XenobladeX, etc.
 

Roufianos

Member
Who the devil is handing Fallout 4 GOTY awards? All I can think of is the mainstream press who are just making the assumption of its hype.

I despise MGSV as a fanboy of the series and I only played Bloodborne for 10 hours but both are infinitely better than F4.
 

Moff

Member
CDPR have surely placed themselves among the worlds most promising AAA developers, I can't wait for Blood&Wine and Cyberpunk.
 

geordiemp

Member
Winners of the previous years according to the site:

2003: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2004: Half-Life 2
2005: Resident Evil 4
2006: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007: Bioshock
2008: Fallout 3
2009: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2010: Red Dead Redemption
2011: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2012: The Walking Dead: The Game
2013: The Last of Us
2014: Dragon Age: Inquisition

I guess when you take the criteria for most GOTY awards you get a ist which is pretty good in my opnion and weeds out niche GOTY votes from some sites.

Great list, did not play Knights old republic personally
 

Despera

Banned
Whenever I watch footage I just see Dragon's Dogma-ish combat which I didn't mind. I'm assuming it doesn't play like that, though, since people wouldn't be so down on it.
I don't mind TW3's combat actually, but lol no it's nowhere near Dragon's Dogma in this regard.
 
And anyway, how about your picks?
You don't list that many Japanese or indie games on your gaf goty list.

Well, all four are Japanese and one is both Japanese and indie. ;)
I only wanted to list games that I really invested some time in (and I played a ridiculous amount of BB, still am). I have quite the backlog.

And yeah, I know this is how this industry works, but damn, a bit more variety would be nice.
 

Dark_castle

Junior Member
Whenever I watch footage I just see Dragon's Dogma-ish combat which I didn't mind. I'm assuming it doesn't play like that, though, since people wouldn't be so down on it.

If Witcher 3 had Dragon's Dogma combat, it would be a legit best game of all-time. Seriously, Dragon's Dogma combat is unrivaled in the field of Action RPG, on par or better than Souls, and Witcher 3's battle system unfortunately is its biggest weakpoint. It's serviceable, but there are many other ARPG that has better combat.
 
In my opinion, it totally deserves it. One of the best all around Western RPG's I've ever played. 2015, disappointments included, was a pretty damn stellar year. And there are still a dozen games I haven't played that are legit top 10 candidates.

I guess, in a way, that means 2016 is going to be off to a great start.
 
And rightly so.

There are stories to tell, and good stories deserve to be to be told.

Unfortunately, most of those games don't have good stories to tell. Many of them are great games despite their narratives. The Last of Us is probably the only game I'd say has a legitimately strong narrative and it all comes down to the characters and the performances from the actors, which Naughty Dog accomplished better than any other game has.
 

Guerrilla

Member
this. especially in the case of da:i, it feels like the deciding factor's been the physical size of game world :) ...

The deciding factor for da:i has been the lack of contenders...

And today most big games are open world, so the chances of an open world game getting the award is likely
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
this. especially in the case of da:i, it feels like the deciding factor's been the physical size of game world :) ...
It's already been shown that there are less open world games that've won the overall consensus than linear and/or smaller games but don't let that fact get in the way. Or the fact that neither DAI or Witcher 3 were the biggest games during the year of their release.
 
Well, all four are Japanese and one is both Japanese and indie. ;)
I only wanted to list games that I really invested some time in (and I played a ridiculous amount of BB, still am). I have quite the backlog.

And yeah, I know this is how this industry works, but damn, a bit more variety would be nice.

I had no idea that Downwell is a Japanese game.
Heard good things about the game.
 
I don't think I can. Demon's Souls' combat felt like such a huge revelation and felt like a new chapter in how I consider priorities in games (it used to be story>gameplay for me, but now it's gameplay>>>story), that I don't think I could put up with bad combat for ~30 hours just because of a good story or game world.

I dunno. I'll wait until it's £15 before I pick it up.

Ehh I always feel like TW3's "awful" combat is a little overplayed.
Definitely not perfect by any means but it works more than well enough for that game and it's lore/world building.

I dunno, I just shrug and think of Skyrim's legitimately shit combat in comparison, where TW3 is leagues above that but I had a great time with both games.

Don't feel too put off is what I'm trying to say.
 
Ehh I always feel like TW3's "awful" combat is a little overplayed.
Definitely not perfect by any means but it works more than well enough for that game and it's lore/world building.

I dunno, I just shrug and think of Skyrim's legitimately shit combat in comparison, where TW3 is leagues above that but I had a great time with both games.

Don't feel too put off is what I'm trying to say.

This is a good point. The Witcher III's combat is serviceable but Skyrim's is downright horrendous.
 
Fallout 4 above MGS V and Bloodborne...
pn6Dbp.gif
 
It's already been shown that there are less open world games that've won the overall consensus than linear and/or smaller games but don't let that fact get in the way. Or the fact that neither DAI or Witcher 3 were the biggest games during the year of their release.

i'm simply seeing indications of things possibly trending more toward larger games (& no, not necessarily 'largest' games :) ). chill...
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
i'm simply seeing indications of things possibly trending more toward larger games (& no, not necessarily 'largest' games :) ). chill...
But it's not exactly a trend unless you only consider the triple A market and even then there's a lot of variety. I'm perfectly calm it's just annoying to see statements that can be so easily disproven being reiterated.
 

Exentryk

Member
what is this? why are you showing a picture of Chrono Trigger and then The Witcher 3?

You should have, like, Darklands or Ultima IV there, since that's where The Witcher 3 comes from.

Chrono Trigger is one of my favourite RPGs from the 2D era. I dreamt that the 3D era of RPGs would give us something like Witcher 3. Thus the images.

We've come a long way.
 
Ehh I always feel like TW3's "awful" combat is a little overplayed.
Definitely not perfect by any means but it works more than well enough for that game and it's lore/world building.

I dunno, I just shrug and think of Skyrim's legitimately shit combat in comparison, where TW3 is leagues above that but I had a great time with both games.

Don't feel too put off is what I'm trying to say.

This is a good point. The Witcher III's combat is serviceable but Skyrim's is downright horrendous.

Thank you for your input, but I didn't play Skyrim largely because its combat looked like shit (and I didn't enjoy Oblivion all that much).
 

LilJoka

Member
Just finished a 2nd play through as I got the bad ending on the first play through. It's the first game I feel emotional about the characters, the ending still brought a tear to my eye. It's beaten windwaker as my favourite game.

Game spoiler
When ciri still stepped into the white frost I thought I had fucked up again
 

Nightbird

Member
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 170

The Critics' Picks - 125

The Readers' Picks - 45


Fallout 4 - 39

The Critics' Picks - 29

The Readers' Picks - 10


Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - 23

The Critics' Picks - 23

The Readers' Picks -


Bloodborne - 19

The Critics' Picks - 18

The Readers' Picks - 1


Life Is Strange - 10

The Critics' Picks - 10

The Readers' Picks -



Super Mario Maker - 7

Rocket League - 5

Rise of the Tomb Raider - 4

Undertale - 4

Batman: Arkham Knight - 3

Her Story - 3

Cibele - 1

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - 1

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture - 1

Massive Chalice - 1

Ori and the Blind Forest - 1

Prune - 1

Star Wars Battlefront - 1

Sunless Sea - 1

Until Dawn - 1

Source
 

AniHawk

Member
But that's all subjective. And again, you're heavily downplaying the sheer amount of differences between the games because they're quite dissimilar aside from being western made m-rated games. I loved Journey too but I can enjoyed WD more that year.
People have different tastes than you. To say that Bioshock, FO3, or UC2 weren't mindblowing at release or as you put it "magnificent" because it's different from something else you enjoyed is pretty ridiculous.

i don't think that the design of bioshock and uncharted 2 are what led to them being such critical darlings. i'd much sooner point to the writing and the acting.

walking dead would have been just as effective as a book, and this was what was held up as the best video game of 2012. i don't think it's a stretch to see where i think it's kind of ridiculous and how it more or less fits with the gaming equivalent of oscar bait (again, not that i think this was telltale's intention).

i also don't think i'm downplaying the similarities here. no platformers, japanese rpgs, strategy games, puzzle games, sim games, or e/e10+-rated titles in over a decade? yeah, that's bound to raise some eyebrows.
 

Conduit

Banned
I haven't looked at the years before 2011, maybe I will do that later, but out of those 5 years, percentage -wise The Witcher III is the most successful game right now! Skyrim is VERY close though.

That doesn't makes sense because from year to year number of GOTY awards varies. So, Uncharted 2 is 3rd then with 53% or 111 GOTY awards. You have to consider what was the competition in that year, is it some new IP or some sequel from known franchise. For me TLOU is THE MOST successful game ever. When some completely unknown IP ( TLOU in that case ) goes against sequel from very known and successful franchise, behemoth like GTA V and won so many GOTY awards, it tells you something.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
i don't think that the design of bioshock and uncharted 2 are what led to them being such critical darlings. i'd much sooner point to the writing and the acting.

walking dead would have been just as effective as a book, and this was what was held up as the best video game of 2012. i don't think it's a stretch to see where i think it's kind of ridiculous and how it more or less fits with the gaming equivalent of oscar bait (again, not that i think this was telltale's intention).

i also don't think i'm downplaying the similarities here. no platformers, japanese rpgs, strategy games, puzzle games, sim games, or e/e10+-rated titles in over a decade? yeah, that's bound to raise some eyebrows.
No it was also the design. Bioshock mechanically was very unique at the time of release with it's powers and weapon switching. Uncharted 2 was unique because we were seeing set pieces that weren't thought to be possible at all. The train sections, the building collapsing, the set pieces in general were mind blowing. The presentation of the narratives only served to enhance these things. Walking Dead was incredibly effective as a game because of the great writing and ofc the choices it let you made which in the moment were intense and felt more personal and you wanted to see the story unfold, it was very unique at the time despite other games having more "gameplay." The list doesn't need all of those categories to be in the majority vote to have variety when you look at the games with any sort of scrutiny. And yes, games of those genres also won awards during those years, they just didn't have the majority vote.
 
Winners of the previous years according to the site:

2003: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2004: Half-Life 2
2005: Resident Evil 4
2006: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007: Bioshock
2008: Fallout 3
2009: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2010: Red Dead Redemption
2011: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2012: The Walking Dead: The Game
2013: The Last of Us
2014: Dragon Age: Inquisition

I'm surprised I agree with more than half of those. I always feel like I don't regarding the "winningest game of the year".

Kudos to The Witcher III for dethroning Bethesda's streak.
 

Nestunt

Member
Bloodborne got robbed in comparison with Fallout and MGS

it is so much better than those two

Witcher and Bloodborne should be closer (with Witcher number 1) and with a huge gap til number 3
 

Mifec

Member
Bloodborne got robbed in comparison with Fallout and MGS

it is so much better than those two

Witcher and Bloodborne should be closer (with Witcher number 1) and with a huge gap til number 3

Moment to moment gameplay MGS is better than BB simply because of the amount of options available.
 
Thank you for your input, but I didn't play Skyrim largely because its combat looked like shit (and I didn't enjoy Oblivion all that much).

Haha yeah Skyrim's combat was downright *bleurgh*!
At least CDPR put some thought, effort and strategy into that aspect.

Coupled with the amazing story building, quests and visuals etc, its a really great RPG.
Definitely check out a couple combat vids online.
 
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