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[brandonh83]

Where the motherfucking fuck is Tropical Freeze.

Where the motherfucking fuck is Tropical Freeze on the GOTY list? It's only you know one of the best and vibrant platformers ever made with one of the best soundtracks to ever grace a game.

 

[Dragon1893]

Well this is now "the game I like wasn't nominated, these awards mean nothing now" thread.

Isn't that always the case? It's the same whenever a site publishes some kind of list. Lots of pages of people getting upset because the list isn't identical to theirs.

 

[molnizzle]

At a glance the only nominee that made me go WTF was.

Best Action/Adventure

Alien: Isolation
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
Bayonetta 2
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Sunset Overdrive

Developer of the Year

Blizzard Entertainment
Monolith Productions
Nintendo
Telltale Games
Ubisoft Montreal​

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I guess Kotaku is our only hope for Danganronpa winning something

 

[Nirolak]

Not having a best platformer is fairly criminal since it is a long standing genre.

I kind of wish though that puzzle games were broken down into 2 categories. I see puzzle games that lack repeatability like the ones found in adventure games as different beasts from those where the game can be vary through play session in infinite ways. By creating that second distinction I argue that procedurally generated games like Spelunky or No Man's Sky in the future could be included in this category.

To be fair, the only big retail platformers out this year are DKCTF and LBP3. Though you could factor in several indies like Shovel Knight.

Well, I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but there's no strategy game category either.

I think it's kind of the reality of having so few major entries in a genre in a given year.

I mean fighting games there is already barely scraping by with listing Smash twice, an expanded re-release, and two DLC updates.

 

[Vire]

Wow @ Watchdogs getting no nominations anywhere. What kind of Bomba?

The only award Watch Dogs deserves is "Most Bland and Uninspired"

or maybe... "Most Downgraded".

 

[shandy706]

The "fan voting" is also really suspect the way they set it up.

They have one "choice" in each category as a HUGE image and then the other choices get tinier based on votes.

LOL

 

[Hot Coldman]

To be fair, the only big retail platformers out this year are DKCTF and LBP3. Though you could factor in several indies like Shovel Knight.

Shovel Knight
LBP3
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Tropical Freeze
1001 Spikes

Boom, there's your nominees for such a category for 2014! I'm generally against having a massive bunch of genre awards, though - much the same with platform-specific awards - so it's not a big deal.

 

[papercan55]

Best Score/Soundtrack

Alien: Isolation
Child of Light
Destiny
Sunset Overdrive
Transistor

you have got to be kidding me, the best games composer returns and creates an almost flawless soundtrack and is ignored.....
am i missing something here?????

 

[Spinosaurus]

TF is my GOTY but I honestly didn't expect it being on the GOTY list.

Not being nominated for best soundtrack, on the other hand, THAT actually annoys me.

 

[shamanick]

It'd be pretty interesting if Bayonetta 2 won Game of The Year.

With the exception of the infrequent Mario game, it's not often that a game with such sheer joyful energy to it is able to stand on the pedestal above the rest. Usually you have a pretty good idea what to "expect" going into the GOTY season - big budget/cinematic/realistic/gritty aesthetic etc games that are tailored for the mass-experience. Bayonetta 2 in contrast is a game that focused it's meticulous design on encouraging the player just being able to have some absolutely crazy fun with memorable larger-than-life characters and a story that's just there to swing you into even crazier game play scenarios.

That sounds exactly like a description of GTA V.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Where the motherfucking fuck is Tropical Freeze on the GOTY list? It's only you know one of the best and vibrant platformers ever made with one of the best soundtracks to ever grace a game.

Yeah, it's pretty much the Bayonetta 2 of platformers (or is Bayonetta 2 the Tropical Freeze of character action games?).

I suppose I can let it slide because it didn't review well, but there's no fucking excuse for the soundtrack snob. We've waited years and years for David Wise to return, and it happened, and it's fucking astonishing.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Wow the GOTY nominees are shocking. Didn't think any of those games would be there aside from maybe Dragon Age. All the other choices in general for other categories also look really good. Im pretty impressed.

Oh and Nintendo for Developer of the year. None of the other choices are even close between everything the amazing stuff they put out this year and the stuff they published on their console like Bayo 2.

 

[Nirolak]

I don't actually think listing Ubisoft Montreal is ridiculous.

Between Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Child of Light they had an impressive amount of notable output, even if some of it was notably flawed, and it's likely that a lot of people felt good about at least one of those games.

That said, they are an eight billion person mega studio, but I think that's what is ultimately being reflected here.

 

[maxcriden]

Shovel Knight
LBP3
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Tropical Freeze
1001 Spikes

Boom, there's your nominees for such a category for 2014! I'm generally against having a massive bunch of genre awards, though - much the same with platform-specific awards - so it's not a big deal.

Aren't most of the categories genres, though? I'd also add Shovel Knight to this list. And Kirby. And probably others.

 

[Timeaisis]

Just remember that progressive isn't for specifically for social issues or gameplay innovation. It's for both.

And I don't see how those things are in any way remotely similar. I have no problem with having a category for one, or both, but rolling it into one seems like a very odd thing to do. Like I said previously, it seems like the "games we like that we can't place into other categories award". Which, I suppose is fine, but that is completely ill-defined. What is the criteria for winning said category?

Like, instead, we could have:

Progressive Themes Award for games that make you think about Deep Stuff
Left Behind
Valiant Hearts
et al

Most Innovative Game
Mountain
et all

I apologize for getting off-topic here and this will be my last post on the matter. Just wanted to clarify my position.

 

[Josh5890]

The lack of some Nintendo noms seems fairly ludicrous. No DK or Captain Toad? No Tomodachi or Kirby? How about Scram Kitty or Pushmo? If they can have categories like best performance and best narrative, surely they can have best puzzle and platform games.

Tomodachi got a nomination. Captain Toad missed the 11/25 deadline. I agree about Donkey Kong Country

 

[IAmRandom31]

Divinity Original Sin is not in a best soundtrack list?

.....

Replaced by Alien Isolation or SO?

.....

 

[Spinosaurus]

Aren't most of the categories genres, though? I'd also add Shovel Knight to this list. And Kirby. And probably others.

Shovel Knight is there

Actually forgot about Kirby

Spoiler

and yoshi's new island :V

 

[Orbis Tabula]

The lack of some Nintendo noms seems fairly ludicrous. No DK or Captain Toad? No Tomodachi or Kirby? How about Scram Kitty or Pushmo? If they can have categories like best performance and best narrative, surely they can have best puzzle and platform games.

I definitely think there should be a wider range of genres represented. Puzzle and Platform games should absolutely have their own categories.

 

[Ceezsa]

I hope they checking GAF or that this list is still a work in Progress. DKTF not being nominated for best score cements my disgust with gaming media outlets.

 

[TheExhaustedWalrus]

This should be a good show. Solid list of nominees. Also, if you would've told me that was what the GOTY nominees would have been at the beginning of the I would've laughed. Weird year for games in that respect.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Dark Souls 2 in a GOTY list?

........

yikes

most everything else looks good though from what I can tell. Didn't know if Dragons Age would be too new for any GOTY stuff

 

[Veritigo_X]

No Binding of Isaac for the indie category? Maybe because of it's controversial subject matter?

And LOL at AC: U and Ubisoft Montreal being nominated.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Aren't most of the categories genres, though? I'd also add Shovel Knight to this list. And Kirby. And probably others.

Shovel Knight is at the top

There's only five genre awards. I'd lose "best shooter" in a heartbeat, because I'll be damned if comparing Destiny to Wolfenstein makes any sense. Action/adventure is such a vague, crappy category too.

Replace them with an art award, because how is that not there this year?

 

[Nirolak]

No Binding of Isaac for the indie category? Maybe because of it's controversial subject matter?

Well, it's kind of a remaster, no?

 

[The Xtortionist]

Dark Souls 2 in a GOTY list?

........

yikes

Highest rated original non-iOS game of the year, tied with Bayonetta 2 and Shovel Knight 3DS (assuming Smash either loses metacritic after more reviews hit or it missed the deadline).

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

My picks...

Best Online Experience

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Dark Souls II
Destiny
Hearthstone
Titanfall

Best Family Game

Disney Infinity 2.0
Fantasia: Music Evolved
Mario Kart 8
Skylanders: Trap Team
Tomodachi Life

Best Sports/Racing Game

Fifa '15
Forza Horizon 2
Mario Kart 8
NBA 2K15
Trials Fusion

Best Role-Playing Game

Bravely Default
Dark Souls II
Divinity: Original Sin
Dragon Age: Inquisition
South Park: The Stick Of Truth

Best Fighting Game

Killer Instinct: Season 2
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Ultra Street Fighter IV
(Man, you know it's a shitty year for fighting games when two versions of the same game and two DLC packs get nominated)

Best Action/Adventure

Alien: Isolation
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
Bayonetta 2
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Sunset Overdrive

Shadow of Mordor or Sunset will probably win though.

Best Shooter

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Destiny
Far Cry 4
Titanfall
Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best Remaster

Grand Theft Auto V
Pokémon: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
The Last of Us: Remastered
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Games For Change

Mountain
Never Alone
The Last of Us: Left Behind
This War of Mine
Valiant Hearts: The Great War

No idea what this category means. I'm guessing its the one bringing up awareness for a topic?

Best Performance

Adam Harrington as Bigby Wolf, The Wolf Among Us
Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Melissa Hutchison as Clementine, The Walking Dead: Season Two
Trey Parker as Various Voices, South Park: The Stick of Truth
Troy Baker as Talion, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Best Score/Soundtrack

Alien: Isolation
Child of Light
Destiny
Sunset Overdrive
Transistor

Not voting for any of these out of protest for Smash for Wii U not being nominated. Seriously, WTF?

Best Narrative

South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Walking Dead: Season Two
The Wolf Among Us
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Wolfenstein: The New Order

Developer of the Year

Blizzard Entertainment
Monolith Productions
Nintendo
Telltale Games
Ubisoft Montreal

They won't win though. It'll probably be Ubisoft.

Best Mobile/Handheld Game

Bravely Default
Hearthstone
Monument Valley
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Threes!

Best Independent Game

Broken Age: Act I
Monument Valley
Shovel Knight
Transistor
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Game of the Year

Bayonetta 2
Dark Souls II
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Hearthstone
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

 

[NotLiquid]

Well, it's kind of a remaster, no?

Nah, remaster implies it's just the same game with polish. It's got so much new to it that it could stand as it's own sequel in a sense.

 

[disappeared]

Reviewers loved it. 91 metacritic, tied with Bayonetta 2. It's what I'd put my money on to win. Dat multiplat appeal is too strong.

Perhaps a collective apology for the first one getting snuffed out in favor of Skyrim.

 

[Veritigo_X]

Well, it's kind of a remaster, no?

Haha, I forgot about that and played the hell out of the original too. There was just so much added it feels like a sequel rather than a remaster.

 

[molnizzle]

Between Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Child of Light they had an impressive amount of notable output, even if some of it was notably flawed, and it's likely that a lot of people felt good about at least one of those games.

I get that... but I also think that if a studio releases a game that could be accurately described as a "technical disaster" then they forfeit their nomination for "Developer of the Year."

 

[Aaron]

I hope Wolfenstein wins for best narrative.

Best story-driven shooter since Bioshock, or maybe even Half-Life 2.

It's better than either by a mile. The last third of Bioshock is awful, and Half-Life 2 still feels unfinished even if you roll in the episodes.

 

[Vire]

Bloodborne is only #3 on Most Anticipated Game of 2015?

What's wrong with you people..

 

[Berg]

Best Score/Soundtrack

Alien: Isolation
Child of Light
Destiny
Sunset Overdrive
Transistor

you have got to be kidding me, the best games composer returns and creates an almost flawless soundtrack and is ignored.....
am i missing something here?????

Can't believe it either. Maybe cause it released way back in Feb, they forgot about it

 

[skLaFarebear]

Best Fighting Game

Killer Instinct: Season 2
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Ultra Street Fighter IV
(Man, you know it's a shitty year for fighting games when two versions of the same game and two DLC packs get nominated)

I wouldn't call it a shitty year for fighting games. KI S2 is incomplete, but when it's done it's gonna be amazing. USF 4 is the best version of 4, smash bros is fucking smash bros, Persona 4 Ultimax has so much content added in that it feels like a brand new game (and so far, ArcSys's best fighting game). And you can't forget that the new guilty gear is coming next month as well so I'd take out smash bros 3DS and put guilty gear there if it was out now.

Personally ultimax is my GOTY just for how amazing a game it is.

 

[papercan55]

there's no fucking excuse for the soundtrack snob. We've waited years and years for David Wise to return, and it happened, and it's fucking astonishing.

one of the best soundtracks to ever grace a game.

TF is my GOTY but I honestly didn't expect it being on the GOTY list.
Not being nominated for best soundtrack, on the other hand, THAT actually annoys me.

I'm a bit peeved that DKC:TF and Mario Kart 8 aren't in Soundtrack of the Year..... come on....

No Wolfenstein or Tropical Freeze for Best Soundtrack, either? Hmm.

WAIT I JUST REALIZED TROPICAL FREEZE IS NOT IN THE BEST SCORE NOMINATIONS
GEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF

Donkey Kong not getting nominated for best soundtrack is baffling.

My thoughts exactly. At least it should be in Best Soundtrack. Everything else is good aside from that omission

Dammit man, that's a horrible oversight.

Wait, DKC:TF was snubbed for everything? Awful.

I think the worst snub is to David Wise's soundtrack for Tropical Freeze, which is the best game soundtrack in many years.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze should be under Best Soundtrack and Game of the Year catagories. Its disappointing its been completely ignored.

how is this even a possibility? david wise deserves better treatment than this.
I'm pleased to see so many on gaf think the same though.

 

[molnizzle]

Can't believe it either. Maybe cause it released way back in Feb, they forgot about it

eh... I'm currently playing DKC:TF right now with my wife, and I don't really get the outrage over it not being included in the audio category. The soundtrack is catchy, but it's nothing groundbreaking or new. It sounds like the SNES DKC games in higher quality.

 

[brandonh83]

I suppose I can let it slide because it didn't review well

Wait, it didn't? I admit I don't really remember the reviews, but if it didn't get great reviews, I feel like I can officially just ignore reviews completely from here on out because that was a fantastic, impeccably designed game. The game design was through the roof.

 

[maxcriden]

Tomodachi got a nomination. Captain Toad missed the 11/25 deadline. I agree about Donkey Kong Country

Ah, didn't realize about the deadline.

Shovel Knight is there

Actually forgot about Kirby

Spoiler

and yoshi's new island :V

(I did like YNI a lot!)

Shovel Knight is at the top

There's only five genre awards. I'd lose "best shooter" in a heartbeat, because I'll be damned if comparing Destiny to Wolfenstein makes any sense. Action/adventure is such a vague, crappy category too.

Replace them with an art award, because how is that not there this year?

Yeah, I didn't see SK somehow, sorry

I agree action/adventure is vague. Just go for action, platform, and puzzle

I definitely think there should be a wider range of genres represented. Puzzle and Platform games should absolutely have their own categories.

Thank you Joe. I think there have been plenty of platform games deserving recognition.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Bloodborne is only #3 on Most Anticipated Game of 2015?

What's wrong with you people..

I've never been more confident in a game than I am for Bloodborne. It has GOTG written all over it.

 

[megalowho]

Yeah, it's pretty much the Bayonetta 2 of platformers (or is Bayonetta 2 the Tropical Freeze of character action games?).

I suppose I can let it slide because it didn't review well, but there's no fucking excuse for the soundtrack snob. We've waited years and years for David Wise to return, and it happened, and it's fucking astonishing.

One of these days I've got to dig up that unpopular opinions thread and make a detailed post about the Tropical Freeze OST.. there's some nice tracks but I've tried and tried and just don't get the overwhelming praise.

 

[Berg]

eh... I'm currently playing DKC:TF right now with my wife, and I don't really get the outrage over it not being included in the audio category. The soundtrack is catchy, but it's nothing groundbreaking or new. It sounds like the SNES DKC games in higher quality.

A lot of peoples opinions disagree with your opinion...it happens!

 

[The Xtortionist]

Wait, it didn't? I admit I don't really remember the reviews, but if it didn't get great reviews, I feel like I can officially just ignore reviews completely from here on out because that was a fantastic, impeccably designed game. The game design was through the roof.

83 metacritic, which isn't bad in general, but it's relatively bad enough for people to ignore it for GotY.

 

[molnizzle]

Bloodborne is only #3 on Most Anticipated Game of 2015?

What's wrong with you people..

They really should have called it Beast Souls.

A lot of peoples opinions disagree with your opinion...it happens!

A lot of people's opinions are being influenced by their hearts rather than their ears.

In my opinion. =P

 

[Schlomo]

Two games like Alien: Isolation and Bayonetta 2 in the same category is pretty funny!

 

[Palette Swap]

Well, it's kind of a remaster, no?

It adds a ton of new content. Seeing what they (had to) put in fighting games, Isaac Rebirth could definitely count as its own entry in non-Remaster categories.

 

[Kuro]

So this awards show is just PR bullshit right?

 

[shamanick]

So this awards show is just PR bullshit right?

I'm guessing you disagree with the nominee list.

Everything in this industry is PR bullshit.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Is the remaster category new? GTA V vs TLoU is always good for the lulz, but it won't be like last year since GOTY was on the table then. Its more of an undercard match sort of like a loser looses their hair match or having the old WCW TV title belt on the line.