Since we're only just over a month away from 2015, let's start to discuss GOTY contenders and their counterparts in awful games. Since we're so far away I suggest ignoring categories and just focussing on games that you have either had a great time with or which have lessened your faith in humanity.
I'll start.
GOTY Contendors:
-Bloodborne; Lovecraftian, fast paced Dark Souls made by the same guy who directed DS1 and Demons Souls? Oh my yes... I adore nearly everything about the game except for how the fast healing kind of makes PVP a grind. Everything else in the game makes my blood sing in joy (the blood, that intoxicating aroma...)
-The Witcher Three; Since this is on everyone's lists this year... I don't think I need to outline much into it. Suffice to say that in many ways it is the new high water mark in what an open world RPG can deliver and it doesn't hurt that I love the characters, scenery, combat and the quests.
-Grey Goo; An astonishingly good RTS that came utterly out of left field to really surprise me with the complete difference in gameplay styles of the three factions.
-Tales from the Borderlands; A game that lives up to the comedic potential of Borderlands where the actual Borderlands games don't, a great romp through one of TellTale's plots and genuinely good in it's storytelling.
-Kerbal Space Program; It counts! It came out of Beta this year! KSP is one of the best 'simulation' games ever, it never takes everything too seriously and yet it's got such good orbital mechanics that I've seen professors use it to teach them to students.
-Vermintide; It's Warhammer Fantasy's setting hosting a perfect example of horde based gameplay? Oh yes oh yes oh yes. The way the Grimoire system works to allow players to alter the game difficulty on the fly is a lovely addition as is the focus on melee combat where you have to be able to take hits in order to deal them out. The use of classes with wholly different abilities and equipment also serves to make the game less like L4D2 and more like a tactical RPG in some ways.
Worst Game contenders:
-Star Wars Battlefront; Hear me out here, the game LOOKS gorgeous, however, it's got less features, content and replayability than either Battlefield 4 made by Dice, or Battlefront 2 which came out 10 years ago. And that's just not RIGHT.
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5; even IGN gave this game a 3.5/10 and it cost $60 at launch... Need I say more?
-Assasin's Creed Syndicate; Showing the devs have learned NOTHING from Unity, The game somehow manages to be even more simplified and more grindy than it's predecessor while retaining the ghastly levels of bugs seen in Unity.
EDIT: -Arkham Knight; The bloody game STILL doesn't work and I tried to forget it....
Also Rans:
-Fallout 4; I'm going to be skinned alive for this but I despise a lot of Fallout 4 and love a lot of it in equal measure. It's a Fallout game so unless Bethesda managed to UTTERLY ruin the setting I was going to enjoy it a bit, however a lot of mechanics were never fleshed out and ended up being time sinks, there only being 1 major town is stifling, the dialog wheel makes me want to hurl a brick at my PC monitor when my character does something ridiculous and the UI in general is abysmal for a company that produced once of the greatest PC games of all time (Morrowind). However, armour and weapon customization is good if a little weird how hard it is to get screws, and the story isn't as utterly awful as Skyrim's or Fallout 3's so... 1 step forwards 2 steps sideways 3 steps back?
-Just Cause 3; Still undecided so far since I haven't been able to go hands on with it myself, but everything I've seen about it makes me thing that it might be one of the best, most fun experiences I can have with my PC, yes Yahtzee, even more than a force feedback codpiece or TF2. Leaving it here since it's a contender but the game may slide off here when I get to play it.
I'll start.
GOTY Contendors:
-Bloodborne; Lovecraftian, fast paced Dark Souls made by the same guy who directed DS1 and Demons Souls? Oh my yes... I adore nearly everything about the game except for how the fast healing kind of makes PVP a grind. Everything else in the game makes my blood sing in joy (the blood, that intoxicating aroma...)
-The Witcher Three; Since this is on everyone's lists this year... I don't think I need to outline much into it. Suffice to say that in many ways it is the new high water mark in what an open world RPG can deliver and it doesn't hurt that I love the characters, scenery, combat and the quests.
-Grey Goo; An astonishingly good RTS that came utterly out of left field to really surprise me with the complete difference in gameplay styles of the three factions.
-Tales from the Borderlands; A game that lives up to the comedic potential of Borderlands where the actual Borderlands games don't, a great romp through one of TellTale's plots and genuinely good in it's storytelling.
-Kerbal Space Program; It counts! It came out of Beta this year! KSP is one of the best 'simulation' games ever, it never takes everything too seriously and yet it's got such good orbital mechanics that I've seen professors use it to teach them to students.
-Vermintide; It's Warhammer Fantasy's setting hosting a perfect example of horde based gameplay? Oh yes oh yes oh yes. The way the Grimoire system works to allow players to alter the game difficulty on the fly is a lovely addition as is the focus on melee combat where you have to be able to take hits in order to deal them out. The use of classes with wholly different abilities and equipment also serves to make the game less like L4D2 and more like a tactical RPG in some ways.
Worst Game contenders:
-Star Wars Battlefront; Hear me out here, the game LOOKS gorgeous, however, it's got less features, content and replayability than either Battlefield 4 made by Dice, or Battlefront 2 which came out 10 years ago. And that's just not RIGHT.
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5; even IGN gave this game a 3.5/10 and it cost $60 at launch... Need I say more?
-Assasin's Creed Syndicate; Showing the devs have learned NOTHING from Unity, The game somehow manages to be even more simplified and more grindy than it's predecessor while retaining the ghastly levels of bugs seen in Unity.
EDIT: -Arkham Knight; The bloody game STILL doesn't work and I tried to forget it....
Also Rans:
-Fallout 4; I'm going to be skinned alive for this but I despise a lot of Fallout 4 and love a lot of it in equal measure. It's a Fallout game so unless Bethesda managed to UTTERLY ruin the setting I was going to enjoy it a bit, however a lot of mechanics were never fleshed out and ended up being time sinks, there only being 1 major town is stifling, the dialog wheel makes me want to hurl a brick at my PC monitor when my character does something ridiculous and the UI in general is abysmal for a company that produced once of the greatest PC games of all time (Morrowind). However, armour and weapon customization is good if a little weird how hard it is to get screws, and the story isn't as utterly awful as Skyrim's or Fallout 3's so... 1 step forwards 2 steps sideways 3 steps back?
-Just Cause 3; Still undecided so far since I haven't been able to go hands on with it myself, but everything I've seen about it makes me thing that it might be one of the best, most fun experiences I can have with my PC, yes Yahtzee, even more than a force feedback codpiece or TF2. Leaving it here since it's a contender but the game may slide off here when I get to play it.
