The Escapist Awards Winners - Game of the Year Goes to ...

[Haerthan]

Oh boohoo. DAI won GOTY. Give me a break guys. DAI is a legitimately good game. High review scores all over the place and high user scores as well. Hell it was voted by you guys as GOTY. So as far as I am concerned you have only yourself to blame.

And whoever said "boring characters" watch that BS of Twilight. Those are some boring characters. Not DAI.

I have to agree that the game is legitimate good. It IS being praised everywhere and it no doubt gives it legitimacy. That's what makes me sad, but I know I am in the minority.

The good stuff alone in the game makes it legitimate and I am happy that most people saw it. Does it have issues? YEs

Some bugs. Myself I noticed mainly some clipping issues.
Fetch quests. They don't bother me as much, especially after playing Origins 100 on my main OC.
You can't tell me about a boring story or characters, not when it is clear they put soo much work into it. Especially after a very specific cutscene.
But the issues are completely outweighed by the good. Just like every other good game this year.

Do i love the game? Yes. Did the Bioware check clear through, depositing another 1k in my account? Yes. Did they send me a free copy? Yes.

That was sarcastic btw. Just so you guys know. I know someone who works at Bioware, but all my attempts to get the guy to tell me stuff didnt work. Damned NDA.

Captcha: Time and Paper. Yes captcha that is what I need to break the guy from Bioware. Time and a ton of paper. BUt how to use said paper?

 

[Rabidkitten]

Dragon Age 3 is NOT better the Dark Souls 2 in any way shape or form. How is the highest rated and most acclaimed game getting snubbed by a single play MMO from EA of all places. Oh right, because the media are a buncha paid off shills. Good job losing even more credibility.

 

[Sanunes]

Dragon Age 3 is NOT better the Dark Souls 2 in any way shape or form. How is the highest rated and most acclaimed game getting snubbed by a single play MMO from EA of all places. Oh right, because the media are a buncha paid off shills. Good job losing even more credibility.

If EA or any other publisher was forcing or exchanging exclusivity or monitary gains for positive reviews and accolades, no matter how much they were willing to give breaking that story would be much more worthwhile.

I get that you think Dark Souls 2 is the GOTY, but the game I wanted to win didn't even make it out of the first round of the viewer's choice. Just because the game you thought was better didn't win the award or accolade it doesn't mean they are "shills", it just means they have a different opinion then you do.

Edit: Reworded post.

 

[zinho73]

Oh boohoo. DAI won GOTY. Give me a break guys. DAI is a legitimately good game. High review scores all over the place and high user scores as well. Hell it was voted by you guys as GOTY. So as far as I am concerned you have only yourself to blame.

And whoever said "boring characters" watch that BS of Twilight. Those are some boring characters. Not DAI.

I have to agree that the game is legitimate good. It IS being praised everywhere and it no doubt gives it legitimacy. That's what makes me sad, but I know I am in the minority.

The good stuff alone in the game makes it legitimate and I am happy that most people saw it. Does it have issues? YEs

Some bugs. Myself I noticed mainly some clipping issues.
Fetch quests. They don't bother me as much, especially after playing Origins 100 on my main OC.
You can't tell me about a boring story or characters, not when it is clear they put soo much work into it. Especially after a very specific cutscene.
But the issues are completely outweighed by the good. Just like every other good game this year.

Do i love the game? Yes. Did the Bioware check clear through, depositing another 1k in my account? Yes. Did they send me a free copy? Yes.

That was sarcastic btw. Just so you guys know. I know someone who works at Bioware, but all my attempts to get the guy to tell me stuff didnt work. Damned NDA.

Captcha: Time and Paper. Yes captcha that is what I need to break the guy from Bioware. Time and a ton of paper. BUt how to use said paper?

Just to clarify, the bugs I am talking about are not minor (which are expected in a game this size). Some people have the game crashing every five minutes or are unable to pass through certain points. I know that most people can only judge a game from their own perspective and that's fine, but the parade of technical issues at the Bioware forums is not normal.

 

[zinho73]

Dragon Age Inquisition won so many goty awards because it was the only AAA game this year with a legitimately great story. Not a 'good' story, not an 'entertaining' story like your Shadow of Mordors, Wolfensteins, and Far Cry 4's, but a great story. And do you know why it has a great story? Because they fucking tried, so few AAA devs even fucking try (Destiny, Call of Duty, etc). Trying, constitutes an attempt to flesh out the world, explain things, not be overly limited by self-censorship, and, above all else, actually pay and use writers and voice actors. Even if it's just exposition at some points it adds meaning to the world, meaning that so many games lack.

Inquisition is, by all accounts, next gen Skyrim and that's why I love it. It's a little janky here and there, but there are a ton of skills, quests, and things to explore. I also found the open world structure quite addicting. While it may seem like wow at the surface level, the auto attack isn't as mindless, there aren't 10 bears in 'the bear area' for no explicable reason, and the quests are voice acted and generally not grindy. And if the gameplay begins to wear you can always go and talk to someone, basically any named NPC has several lines of dialogue or more. It's just the perfectly addictive RPG and I've been playing it constantly since I got it.

They really pushed the envelope in the scope of the game.
I think the main story is weak, though.
That said - nobody builds a character through dialogue like Bioware. They really make you interested in hear everything the Character has to say. And this time, the writing and delivery remained mostly strong throughout the game. A very strong point indeed (unless the voice of your character changed midgame or when people started to refer to the Inquisitor as if he/she were of the opposite sex).

But I jest, as far as reasons to win the prize, story (weak, but above par for the year), characterization and dialogue are up there no doubt.

 

[Bat Vader]

Dragon Age 3 is NOT better the Dark Souls 2 in any way shape or form. How is the highest rated and most acclaimed game getting snubbed by a single play MMO from EA of all places. Oh right, because the media are a buncha paid off shills. Good job losing even more credibility.

Take a look at the GOTy of the year contest that was recently held here. Specifically the DS2 vs DA:I vote. More people voted for DA:I than DS2. You're basically saying stop liking what I don't like. I played DS and I liked it. I just liked DA:I more.

 

[Rabidkitten]

Dragon Age 3 is NOT better the Dark Souls 2 in any way shape or form. How is the highest rated and most acclaimed game getting snubbed by a single play MMO from EA of all places. Oh right, because the media are a buncha paid off shills. Good job losing even more credibility.

Take a look at the GOTy of the year contest that was recently held here. Specifically the DS2 vs DA:I vote. More people voted for DA:I than DS2. You're basically saying stop liking what I don't like. I played DS and I liked it. I just liked DA:I more.

The fact is basically the same as Dark Souls 1, far fewer people have played Dark Souls 2 then DA:I. Far far fewer. I'm certain most of the escapist staff or hell most of any game site staff has even played the game. Maybe the reviewers mostly have, but Dark Souls' niche nature often leaves many people to just not give it notice because they haven't even played it. Yahtzee himself avoided the game for ages, but when he played it, he admitted it was the best thing since tummy rubs. I would bet 1000 dollars that if you asked 1000 people who have beat both DS 2 and DA:I that Dark Souls 2 would be considered superior but 90 percent of the audience. But I assure you there are benefits the giving an EA game, game of the year because it helps bump their special GOTY editions, they need those awards and will pay for them.

 

[Sanunes]

The fact is basically the same as Dark Souls 1, far fewer people have played Dark Souls 2 then DA:I. Far far fewer. I'm certain most of the escapist staff or hell most of any game site staff has even played the game. Maybe the reviewers mostly have, but Dark Souls' niche nature often leaves many people to just not give it notice because they haven't even played it. Yahtzee himself avoided the game for ages, but when he played it, he admitted it was the best thing since tummy rubs. I would bet 1000 dollars that if you asked 1000 people who have beat both DS 2 and DA:I that Dark Souls 2 would be considered superior but 90 percent of the audience. But I assure you there are benefits the giving an EA game, game of the year because it helps bump their special GOTY editions, they need those awards and will pay for them.

The funny thing is if you look at all BioWare games they have never released a GOTY edition of the game aside from Dragon Age: Origins and that pre-dates a lot of EA stuff, people call them money grubbing for it because they have to pay for the DLC.

As far as comparing the games that is a pretty big assumption you are going on, firstly the two games are aimed at two different audiences and saying that one is superior because you say so doesn't make it so. If people aren't playing it, sometimes it could be because the game doesn't interest them. I know I don't want to play a game that is based on being punished for playing it and I think that is where Dark Souls in general makes it less attractive to people that want to play the game. Again speaking for myself I have a limited amount of time to play a game and I don't want to spend it wanting to break something or getting frustrated.