Poll: Escapist Game of the Year

[Drathnoxis]

Yoshi has problems understanding concepts, what can you realistically expect from a dinosaur really?

And have you played Doki Doki Literature Club? If not, then I don't see how you are in a position to talk.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Yoshi has problems understanding concepts, what can you realistically expect from a dinosaur really?

And have you played Doki Doki Literature Club? If not, then I don't see how you are in a position to talk.

Yoshi was making a jab at others more than sincerely replying to you. You at least played the game so it's fine to nominate as your GOTY whereas Yoshi nominated Xenoblade 2 before it even released.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Oh hey, The Game Awards 2017 are this Thursday.
Nominees for Best Game are Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5, PUBG, Mario Odyssey and Zelda BotW.
Nominees for Best Direction are the same, with RE7 and Wolfenstein II replacing Persona 5 and PUBG.
I've always wondered how they differentiate between Best Game and Best Direction in a videogame.

 

[Mad World]

That's why PUBG's game design is shitty.

That's your opinion. Obviously, a lot of people like the game to a considerable degree. So, it is fair to argue that it could be contender for Game of the Year.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

In Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, the players are forced to move to different areas every few hours and the battlefield becomes progressively smaller. Does this game have anything like that? Are there footprints or anything that would make a mode like this interesting?

It does. The map gets smaller over time, which does force you into combat, however it doesn't promote and incentivize said combat. You're incentivized not to engage, and most of your deaths will be by snipers you never saw, you very rarely actually fight face to face.

IIRC, there is also a rule in Battle Royale (book, manga and movie) that if 24 hours pass without any eliminations, then all explosive collars will detonate simultaneously and on one wins.

As far as I know, none of the battle royale type games have a mechanic like that. But perhaps they should. Maybe not the 'all players go boom' approach, because I can imagine everyone losing because by sheer coincidence no one ran into anyone else (however unlikely) would not go over well, and it would be hard to determine a correct timer for something like that. But some other way of disincentivizing passivity. Maybe have the safe zone shrink earlier and faster if a certain amount of time passes without any kills.

Everyone's sitting on their ass? Fine, the wall of death moves now instead of in 3 minutes, and twice as fast. Better move it.

Probably not a good solution, but all I can think of right now.

 

[Avnger]

In Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, the players are forced to move to different areas every few hours and the battlefield becomes progressively smaller. Does this game have anything like that? Are there footprints or anything that would make a mode like this interesting?

It does. The map gets smaller over time, which does force you into combat, however it doesn't promote and incentivize said combat. You're incentivized not to engage, and most of your deaths will be by snipers you never saw, you very rarely actually fight face to face.

IIRC, there is also a rule in Battle Royale (book, manga and movie) that if 24 hours pass without any eliminations, then all explosive collars will detonate simultaneously and on one wins.

As far as I know, none of the battle royale type games have a mechanic like that. But perhaps they should. Maybe not the 'all players go boom' approach, because I can imagine everyone losing because by sheer coincidence no one ran into anyone else (however unlikely) would not go over well, and it would be hard to determine a correct timer for something like that. But some other way of disincentivizing passivity. Maybe have the safe zone shrink earlier and faster if a certain amount of time passes without any kills.

Everyone's sitting on their ass? Fine, the wall of death moves now instead of in 3 minutes, and twice as fast. Better move it.

Probably not a good solution, but all I can think of right now.

They could highlight every player's position on the map until someone dies. That would force everyone to move immediately to find new hiding places and kill someone.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Uh, the year still has an entire month left in it. A bit early to start this, ain't it? Furthermore, shouldn't there be more titles on this list? In fact, why is there a poll at all? This was a pretty dense year for games and it's not easy to pick stuff out. If I was going to take a guess, what's probably going to end up hitting GOTY on a lot of lists are either Zelda and Mario (not surprising) while everyone else fights for scraps. Those are the two games everyone has been talking about and they're by far the best-reviewed.

 

[CritialGaming]

Uh, the year still has an entire month left in it. A bit early to start this, ain't it? Furthermore, shouldn't there be more titles on this list? In fact, why is there a poll at all? This was a pretty dense year for games and it's not easy to pick stuff out. If I was going to take a guess, what's probably going to end up hitting GOTY on a lot of lists are either Zelda and Mario (not surprising) while everyone else fights for scraps. Those are the two games everyone has been talking about and they're by far the best-reviewed.

Most award shows tend to lock in their results at the beginning of December. So the December 2016 is included in their year's awards like Final Fantasy 15 for example.

 

[sXeth]

Oh hey, The Game Awards 2017 are this Thursday.
Nominees for Best Game are Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5, PUBG, Mario Odyssey and Zelda BotW.
Nominees for Best Direction are the same, with RE7 and Wolfenstein II replacing Persona 5 and PUBG.
I've always wondered how they differentiate between Best Game and Best Direction in a videogame.

I think direction is supposed to acknowledge a broader sense of aesthetics, writing, cutscenes, setpieces, music, art style, etc.

Whereas the game one is more based purely on the gameplay elements.

 

[Pseudonym]

I don't play that many videogames nowadays. There is a switch in my house though so I have seen the new Zelda and Mario. I really liked Breath of the Wild, though. I was genuinely curious about what would be over the next mountain. I have 117 of the 120 shrines and some 250 or so Koroks (of nine-bloody-hundred) so its fair to say I was pretty enthousiastic. Mario Oddyssey seems great as well, though I only have 100 or so moons so I am not nearly though it yet.

Besides that I've been toying around with Hearts of Iron 4 recently but I have, as of yet, no understanding sufficient to play it without getting smashed by obviously inferior armies. I also have the new pokemon ultra moon which seems alright, if a bit handholdy and sacharine, even for a pokemon game. More so than pokemon red or gold, I'd say, but I might just be too old for this stuff. I have tried my hand at the switch version of mario kart 8. Never played much mario kart before. It was pretty good, though the rubber banding is a bit much, if you ask me. I think the Wii U version was not from this year though.

Shoutout to golf-story. I didn't play it myself but I did see bits and pieces of most parts of a playthrough and it looked like a pretty great indy title.

So yeah, I voted zelda. I might check out Nier: Automata in the future, though I'm not sure the gameplay is my cup of tea.

 

[Fox12]

Personally I think if you combine the technical [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y8u7MvuArA] and artistical [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CggHZkFdTNM] elements, butter-smooth gameplay mechanics (dat slide, dat aiming, dat climbing, dat robo-riding) and originality factor (how many people checkled and hand-waived at fighting robot dinosaurs in an open world) then Horizon is pretty much a lock. I?d even give GG developers of the year for pulling it all off as well as they did. It?s not perfect of course but a drop in a bucket are its faults next to what it does well.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Results from The Game Awards 2017: The Legend of Zelda: Beath of the Wild won both GOTY and Best Direction; Best Narrative went to What Remains of Edith Fitch, Best Art Direction went to Cuphead, Soundtrack went to NieR: Automata and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice got Best Audio Design, Best Performance and "Games for Impact", whatever that is.

Then there's a genre-by-genre GOTY list:

Best Action: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Best Action-Adventure: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Best Family: Super Mario Odyssey
Best Fighting: Injustice 2
Best Multiplayer: PUBG
Best RPG: Persona 5
Best VR: Resident Evil VII

Etc.

 

[CritialGaming]

Results from The Game Awards 2017: The Legend of Zelda: Beath of the Wild won both GOTY and Best Direction; Best Narrative went to What Remains of Edith Fitch, Best Art Direction went to Cuphead, Soundtrack went to NieR: Automata and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice got Best Audio Design, Best Performance and "Games for Impact", whatever that is.

Then there's a genre-by-genre GOTY list:

Best Action: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Best Action-Adventure: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Best Family: Super Mario Odyssey
Best Fighting: Injustice 2
Best Multiplayer: PUBG
Best RPG: Persona 5
Best VR: Resident Evil VII

Etc.

Horizon was snubbed as fuck! I was so upset. I figure HZD deserved at least beat action adventure, because frankly I knew Zelda was going to win GOTY because it was every major outlets GOTY.

Outside of that, I feel the awards were mostly fine. Cuphead won the catagory that I thought it should have. Persona 5's win was good as well. I don't think I agree with Wolfenstein's award because it just isn't getting the reception that I thought it should be to be getting awards for anything.

I was hyped for a lot of those reveals, Jeff Kealey is getting better at these shows.

 

[sXeth]

The Best Family one was funny. A handful of Nintendo stuff and someone panicked and had to throw Sonic in at the last second. I guess Family's can't be bothered with indies or something, there was a decent slew they could've popped in for variety in the field.

PUBG (and Fortnite, which also popped up in the multiplayer nominations) should be disincluded for not being released yet. Maybe throw PUBG in for "Impact" if you feel the need to acknowledge it's success. (Though "Games for Impact" seems to be the "Art Game" category, just not labeleld as such). Besides the Best Multiplayer one it won, it also looks even more out of place in "Best Ongoing", a category that makes even less sense to be in in your debut year (Destiny 2 was in there too, equally out of place).


And while it didn't win, we got the obligatory DLC pack nominated from XCom this time. The strategy category seems much like the Family category, where the indies apparently ceased to exist to fill out the field with actual games even.

And Overwatch repeats as the fan-voted "Best ESports", despite still not having an Esports presence (which are set to start next year).

For the amusing EA schadenfraude, despite their touting their multiplayer publshing acumen, they landed only one nomination in the Sports category, losing to Forza.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Horizon was snubbed as fuck!

I don't think I agree with Wolfenstein's award because it just isn't getting the reception that I thought it should be to be getting awards for anything.

I don't feel like looking up what the VGA considers to be in the "Best Action" category but for me (I assume from your post Horizon was in Best Action Adventure category), Horizon easily had the most exhilarating action this year as very few games really ever have succeeded in great combat against such large enemies and Horizon nailed that aspect that probably only the likes of Shadow of the Colossus and Dragon's Dogma have accomplished. Maybe Monster Hunter has but I've never played it because I hate grinding plus with it being on portables and consoles I don't own as well. I just finished Wolfenstein and while it was indeed a fun and deliciously pulpy romp, it has a lot of weird gameplay and design choices that do bring down the overall experience quite a bit. Errant Signal's video pretty much touches on it all, though it does have heavy story spoilers, and I couldn't agree more with his analysis.

 

[sXeth]

Horizon easily had the most exhilarating action this year as very few games really ever have succeeded in great combat against such large enemies and Horizon nailed that aspect that probably only the likes of Shadow of the Colossus and Dragon's Dogma have accomplished. Maybe Monster Hunter has but I've never played it because I hate grinding plus with it being on portables and consoles I don't own as well.

Having played Monster Hunster in that beta this weekend. On the dinobot side, Horizon is essentially a clone of it. The way status effects work, the special ammos, even the system where you trade in enemy parts for weapons and armor. Even the general way things move and to an extent the dodge timing. With the turnaround being that Monster Hunter has a more melee focus in general, while Horizon has the stealth gameplay to it and more impactful weaknesses it seemed like.

 

[infohippie]

I really don't think any game that is exclusive to a single platform should even be up for consideration. So that would rule out Persona 5, Zelda, and Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

[Fox12]

I really don't think any game that is exclusive to a single platform should even be up for consideration. So that would rule out Persona 5, Zelda, and Horizon Zero Dawn.

That would eliminate many of the best-made games. Anyways what I don?t like is that, besides these types of awards shows being generic popularity contests, the categories are almost like what you?d find for movies. There should be more game-centric categories that reward feats of excellence specific to the gaming medium.

For example, aside from how technically and artistically gorgeous the environments, dynamic clouds, lighting, animation system, etc. is, the two dozen+ machines in Horizon: ZD are nothing short of a digital engineering marvel. The modeling was in and of itself a colossal task. It took "man years" of work, and van Beek believes that it took five modelers around eight months for the T-Rex-like Thunderjaw. And that was just on the modeling end: it was around 18 months from the initial sketch to get it working and enjoyable in-game. [https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/296493/Making_Horizon_Zero_Dawns_Machines_feel_like_living_creatures.php]

Now, if it doesn?t win a SiGGRAPH award for that technology it?d be an insult.

For the rest, yeah it kinda did get snubbed considering it?s an original IP and almost thoroughly delivers on its massive ambition. Even finding all the various types of lore for example is exhausting let alone coming up with it all. A couple good opinion write-ups on it here [https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2017/11/06/horizon-zero-dawn-an-appreciation/amp/] and here [https://io9.gizmodo.com/horizon-zero-dawn-made-me-love-video-games-again-1792717442].

 

[Casual Shinji]

Horizon was snubbed as fuck! I was so upset. I figure HZD deserved at least beat action adventure, because frankly I knew Zelda was going to win GOTY because it was every major outlets GOTY.

It was kind of a shame, considering it was a new IP, and it was one of the least bullshitty AAA games this year (no microtransactions, no on-disc DLC, no bullshots, no massive glitches or lack of gameplay due to a heavy emphasis on graphics). Overall it was the "nicest" AAA game this year.

But I guess by it being snubbed it means there was at least some fairness at the awards this year. The way things were nominated I figured they would spread the awards so that every big game would at least win something, thereby placating every big publisher.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I really don't think any game that is exclusive to a single platform should even be up for consideration. So that would rule out Persona 5, Zelda, and Horizon Zero Dawn.

Wouldn't that also rule out Super Mario Odyssey? That game can only be played on Switch; Zelda at least runs on Wii U as well. Persona 5 is also on PS3.