I was pretty surprised by the Kerbal Space Program and Cities: Skylines picks.
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Gamespot GOTY 2015: The Witcher 3
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
It doesn't really add much new to the usual Bethesda formula, so it often feels like playing Fallout 3 again. Although I do think it's superior to 3 in pretty much every way.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
We're on a forum where we discuss our opinions and others. Disputing is fun. Also, I'm not the only one around here making such comments.
Already Torn
Banned
Shadow of Mordor?
Nintendo has been pretty bad this year though, and I liked Chibi Robo.
Shadow of Mordor was made by Nintendo apparently
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=955387
Portugeezer
Member
Damn, I really need to get back onto it seeing as Fallout 4 hasn't gotten much play time from me.
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
Bloodbourn is a bit high, but overall, a great ranking.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
It's not number 1, so no it's still not as high as it deserves to be. Someone will surely get it right eventually.
Should be three places higher.
ninjablade
Banned
sorry i meant 2013, which is even more insane, since that year, last of us and GTAV were released, and winning the awards almost everywhere.
m_shortpants
Member
Well deserved! Only game that captured me enough to finish this year. That and Rocket League for sure.
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
Nah, maybe 7 or 8.
Already Torn
Banned
It can't possible be 7 or 8 places higher 😳
Solid pick for #1. Everything they said about it was spot on.
You should email them I'm sure they'll get right on that.
EXCEPT FOR WHEN THE GUY FUCKING CALLED HIM JERALT!
You should email them I'm sure they'll get right on that.
Denton
Member
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is a modern classic, a game that stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest games ever made, games such as Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate 2, Deus Ex or Vampire Bloodlines. I have no doubt people will still be talking about it and playing in in 15 years much like we are still playing Baldur's Gate (new expansion for it is coming, btw 17 years after release!).
Good on Gamespot for recognizing that and awarding the game and its studio accordingly. CD Projekt have been a consistent gold standard and I am very happy for them.
That said, I do have a few disagreements with the list overall. I would drop Evolve, Assassin's Creed Syndicate and Just Cause 3. I would add Life is Strange (somewhere into TOP 5) as well as place SOMA much higher. I would drop Fallout 4 much lower.
I would add Pillars of Eternity and Shadowrun.
But overall it is a good list. The inclusion of some offbeat games is pleasant, namely Kerbal Space Program and Cities Skylines .
Fallout 4 has terrible quest design (there are few good quests in a sea of shit) and mostly mediocre-to-bad writing. Many people find it unsatisfactory after Fallout New Vegas and particularly Witcher 3. Me included.
Good on Gamespot for recognizing that and awarding the game and its studio accordingly. CD Projekt have been a consistent gold standard and I am very happy for them.
That said, I do have a few disagreements with the list overall. I would drop Evolve, Assassin's Creed Syndicate and Just Cause 3. I would add Life is Strange (somewhere into TOP 5) as well as place SOMA much higher. I would drop Fallout 4 much lower.
I would add Pillars of Eternity and Shadowrun.
But overall it is a good list. The inclusion of some offbeat games is pleasant, namely Kerbal Space Program and Cities Skylines .
Fallout 4 has terrible quest design (there are few good quests in a sea of shit) and mostly mediocre-to-bad writing. Many people find it unsatisfactory after Fallout New Vegas and particularly Witcher 3. Me included.
Evolve is actually a really good multiplayer game but you absolutely need friends to enjoy it.
johnnydrama
Banned
There's this guy who keeps posting "The Witcher 3 got away with murder" in every GOTY thread. I'm here for that.
Eh, I don't think they were as weak as prevailing opinion would lead you to believe. 2D platformers and spin-offs in general have become wildly undervalued so games like Yoshi's Woolly World, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, and Tri Force Heroes have gotten unduly tepid reception from many. eShop games like Stretchmo and BOX BOY! never seem to get recognition on these lists. Majora's Mask 3D befuddles me for its omission from these lists most of all. I know it's a remaster but...it's oft-spoken of in convos about GOAT games. I dunno. I guess handheld games in general have always been the overlooked cousin of these kinds of awards.
As JC said, LBW did get GOTY a couple years back. See above, though. I think Nintendo had some stellar games this year that were mostly underlooked.
schlongdog
Banned
Rocket League beating all those huge games to number 2 based on how brilliantly it controls and feels makes the choice of number 1 somewhat strange to me.
Deservedly so!
Roddslayer
Member
Rocket League representing!
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I didn't like Splatoon. Mario Maker would be at least my number 2 non indie game this year. Tough choice between that and Steins Gate.
RespectThySole
Member
Yup. An absolute landmark game that many will try to replicate
and fail
Dragon Puncher
Member
Rocket League at #2 makes sense considering it apperantly had to be banned in the Gamespot office because people played it too much doing work hours 
No surprises here , honestly I doubt in most gaming sites its going to be anything apart from This or maaaaaybe MGSV. But honestly since Gamespot usually loves to throw Curveballs , it looks like Rocket League could have taken it.
Its just hilarious when people were surprised when Witcher 3 won goty at GA , like what were people expecting to win? Some Japanese game or a really buggy bethesda game?
Its just hilarious when people were surprised when Witcher 3 won goty at GA , like what were people expecting to win? Some Japanese game or a really buggy bethesda game?
Discuss all you want but saying "missing Pillars and Lis is odd" isn't really discussing anything. You're just saying they should have different opinions. And no, you're not the only one but its just silly how every thread that has some outlet's game of the year list is filled with people acting like they're wrong for not liking the right games.
Calm waterfall
Banned
Congrats to CD Project Red.
Plague Doctor
Member
The one things that does get acknowledge but should be trumpeted up to the heavens is TW3 is one of (or maybe the only) massive open world game in which all the secondary quests and locations feel compelling and a story onto themselves. There isn't any mindless scavenger hunts to be seen.
I want games to replicate that moving forward.
and to think we are getting a full fledged expansion next year, the first addon was amazing already, can't even imagine how good it will be.
Uno Venova
Banned
Are we having a media goty picks thread this year?
dreamlongdead
Member
Gamestop was harsh on those games and essentially underrated them, but I also don't really see great word of mouth for any those games either. It seems that a sizable portion of GAF were unhappy with Kirby and Tri Force Heroes. Majora's Mask came out 15 years and should never be considered for a 2015 GOTY award.
Nintendo just didn't have a great year.
Denton
Member
I think most people who played TW3 probably hoped it would win, but considering how utterly dominating Bethesda's previous games were, many were expecting Fallout 4 to win, bugs or no bugs. And both MGSV and Bloodborne are great games in their own right, that would easily won GOTies last year, for example. MGS4 and Dark Souls won a lot of awards too.
Yeah. This is something I am super grateful to CD Projekt for. They have proven that you can build huge, detailed open world and stuff it with unique, varied and interesting things to do, instead of copy paste fetch quests and collectible bullshit, which infects so many other open world games.
Infinitely more gameplay options/60fps, as it should be.
YankeeDonB
Member
Certainly my game of the year. Who would have thought, a Western RPG my game of the year. What's next, dogs laying with cats?
See, I think word of mouth was bad because people shitposted those without playing them. I don't mean this to argue with you at all. I just think the substance of word of mouth for not just Nintendo games, but all games and really all forms of media has transformed considerably in the last 10-15 years with the advent of the internet. It used to be word of mouth would be primarily formed by people who actually had experienced the media in question, now you have relatively few people who start the ball rolling with distaste and before you know it, everyone is talking about how shitty, say, Yes Man is, without watching it for themselves and seeing it's a pretty funny movie. You know? I think it's just become a lot more pervasive for groupthink to take over in these word of mouth scenarios than it used to be.
FWIW, most people who I saw playing Kirby and TFH in the OT and other threads for those games were really digging them. I'll readily admit I might have a selective memory bias on that front, though. I don't have any strong empirical evidence to substantiate my claim here, just something I've observed over the past few years as an increasing pile-on for games that are deemed unworthy by a few and then others jump on the bandwagon. I'm seeing it for stuff like No Man's Sky already, for example. Tons of people are primed to hate on that game and concern troll for it.
Considering how much of the list is devoted to narrative games, it's absurd that Life is Strange is not on there.
Myself, I don't much care for narrative games so I'd replace them with games like N++, Downwell, Warhammer Vermintide, Grow Home, and Dariusburst CS.
I predict everyone is going to be embarrassed about their positive views on Ori and the Blind Forest when they try to replay it at any point in the future.
Myself, I don't much care for narrative games so I'd replace them with games like N++, Downwell, Warhammer Vermintide, Grow Home, and Dariusburst CS.
I predict everyone is going to be embarrassed about their positive views on Ori and the Blind Forest when they try to replay it at any point in the future.
LurkerPrime
Member
Gamespot is strange. Their top 25 is OK (barring some odd absences) but I can't figure out if their 2015 Special Achievements Category is a genuine article or elaborate reverse-troll for the games featured. Like, Axiom verge seems legit, but then all the others are questionable... praising SC2's conclusion to the "trilogy;" the toys-to-music genre's brief, shambling revival; Batman: Arkham Knight's Best Console Version achievement; Battlefront as Best Pre-SWTFA Experience... Just, what?
At least Number 1 is worthy. The Witcher 3's march to the top is only just beginning.
At least Number 1 is worthy. The Witcher 3's march to the top is only just beginning.
Krappadizzle
Member
Meh....It was okay.
Great list. 2015 was a great year of games.
Great list. 2015 was a great year of games.
Gurgelhals
Member
Cynical bastards such as myself saw Bethesda Game Studios as everybody's darling within the mainstream videogame media and their games as immune to any form of criticism and thus a shoo-in for the GOTY season regardless of bugs, shitty writing and streamlined to hell and back gameplay. I'm quite happy to be proven wrong this time.
RespectThySole
Member
I can't think of any other open-world game where I actually take it upon myself to complete every quest I'm given. Even New Vegas had some stinkers.
Hearts of Stone was magical, but I feel Blood & Wine will be an entirely different beast with them adding a whole new region. If they can somehow manage to match Gaunter O'Dimm, then The Witcher 3 will probably be my GOTY two years in a row.