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

[RedDeadFred]

Calling Hearthstone a strategy game is stretching it somewhat. What happened to Beyond Earth? If Hearthstone belongs in the genre you'd be hard pressed to say that Civ doesn't.

I think a lot of people found Beyond Earth quite disappointing -myself included. IMO, it felt like a watered down Civ 5 with less personality (taking out the recognizable leaders, troops, locations, and wonders just makes the game feel a little empty to me) and more restrictive maps. I played one game of it and found myself just wanting to play Civ 5 instead. I'd say I regret my purchase of it, but it was gifted to me.

Hearthstone does have quite a lot of strategy to it. Yes, there's a lot of luck as well, but that's pretty much a given with card games. You have to know how to play against the different deck types, you have to be prepared to play around certain things, weigh the benefits of certain moves, and build decks to fit the meta that's around your rank on ladder. Obviously it doesn't have as much depth as many other strategy games, but it does everything it wants to do very well. Best of all, it is in fact totally possible to do well while going F2P.

 

[xscoot]

There is a lot I disagree with on this list, but I think most of it has been said already. However, there is one thing people are glossing over.

Aliens: Isolation was nominated for "Best Action/Adventure Game".

You had to use a survival horror game with a focus on stealth to pad out Action/Adventure? Even though you only had 3 nominations per genre?

These GOTY awards aren't bad because you picked the wrong winners. It was bad because the entire way it was setup is just wrong.

 

[zinho73]

I fully understand why DAI inquisition won best RPG. And it makes me very, very, sad.
I also fully understand why The Binding of Isaac: rebirth wasn't even nominated, which making me even sadder.

And calling dragon age combat exciting is a severe case of premature tactical ejaculation. If you get excited that easily you will never have the endurance to get to the good stuff. Hold your horses, Escapist, hold your horses.

 

[Naraku578]

Best rpg nomination Bravely Default..... WHAT THE HELL

That game was terrible in every sense.

The gameplay was boring and INCREDIBLY grindy, heck even the boss fights were boring.

The story was awful in every way imaginable, NO ONE was likely, everyone you play as has the depth of a childs wading pool and the big evil "insert nation here"... well http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=082514, yes that bad.

In the end it was a boring and unispired game, I CANNOT understand why anyone ever stood up for this game.


Can someone tell me why anyone liked this game? is it nostalgia?

 

[Ghadente]

sorry but as great as Winter Soldier is, GotG was greater. WS easily 2nd place though.

 

[NRVNQSR86]

LOL... With such a shitty nomination list to start with, it's no wonder such an subpar game as DA:I did win... There are few games on that list that really have the ability on all of their released platforms to 'catch' the player... DA:I absolutely does not, not matter how blind Tito and other game journalists remain to the pure and utter facts.

 

[ryazoph]

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

what?

no. I'm not even sure why it's a category to begin with, there can't be much innovation in table top games.

 

[AntiChri5]

Nice to see the site being called out for picking DA:I as it's game of the year, especially considering DA:I just won the reader's choice tournament too. Not only have all the staff been bought out but the readers have too? *gasps* I really wonder when EA is going to send me my cheque...

It's beautiful, isn't it?

ONLY MY TASTES MATTER EVRYTHING ELSE IS WRONG BLRBLRBLRLRBBBBBLR

 

[SilverUchiha]

Alien Isolation is Action/Adventure? It's a fucking horror game. Mostly the Amnesia-style horror game where you spend most of the time running away from the monster. There's no action-adventure in that at all! And, again, Bayonetta 2 wasn't even nominated for this category (or any category) when it was one of the best games of the year. I won't fault Mordor for winning, but I still think it didn't deserve it as the only worthwhile feature was the nemesis system, which is really the only distraction from the generic revenge-story being thrown in our faces and the Batman-Arkham-style combat. Yeah, it pulls all those off well, but I wouldn't say enough to justify "Action Game of the Year".

 

[Ragnoon]

Awww...Wolfenstein didn't win best shooter? Geez it seems like I'm the only one who played that game. Well, one other guy here has as well. He'll show up.

You called?!, I too was disappointed. Then again, that is my opinion, just like all these awards are. I loved TNO so damn much. It showed that fps can still be fun while maintaining what the series became famous for.

 

[zumbledum]

pretty good set of reasons why journalists shouldnt make gaming top lists though it was nice to see Hannibal get some recognition. but far cry best shooter and hearthstone is a strategy game? but dragon age goty and best rpg? is this a console only list or was that just plain paid for? if divintity or wasteland isnt your pick your just plain wrong

 

[Bat Vader]

Divinity Original Sin, Shadowrun Dragonfall and Wasteland 2 didn't even get a damn nomination for best RPG? Now that's just bullshit, no way around it. Atleast Barely Default was mentioned. And for shooters no Titanfall or Advanced Warfare? I know it's cool to shit on CoD but this one was like the best one since 4 (not to mention god awful ones like MW3 got awards for no reason) and Titanfall, as underwhelming as it was for some, is still a really good FPS (and talking about underwhelming, Destiny? Fucking Destiny? Really?).

But the most insulting in this whole lineup is the action part. The word action by this point is synonymous with Platinum Games, and their big game this year was Bayonetta 2, action game extravaganza, character action galore and it didn't even get a mention? That category should always be won by the Platinum game released that year. Shame on y'all, atleast pad out your list of nominees with a few more worthy titles.

Also casual card game nominated as a strategy game and DAI as GOTY is just wrong. Not even worth discussing.

How is DA:I getting GOTY here wrong? The Escapist community voted and more of the community liked DA:I. Just because you dislike the result doesn't make it wrong. Your opinion isn't any more or less important than the opinions of the people who voted for it.

 

[Bat Vader]

LOL... With such a shitty nomination list to start with, it's no wonder such an subpar game as DA:I did win... There are few games on that list that really have the ability on all of their released platforms to 'catch' the player... DA:I absolutely does not, not matter how blind Tito and other game journalists remain to the pure and utter facts.

DA:I also won GOTY of the year from the Reader's Choice Awards that was held here recently. It won by a good margin too. I would have to disagree with you and say that it does have the ability to catch the player.

 

[zinho73]

Divinity Original Sin, Shadowrun Dragonfall and Wasteland 2 didn't even get a damn nomination for best RPG? Now that's just bullshit, no way around it. Atleast Barely Default was mentioned. And for shooters no Titanfall or Advanced Warfare? I know it's cool to shit on CoD but this one was like the best one since 4 (not to mention god awful ones like MW3 got awards for no reason) and Titanfall, as underwhelming as it was for some, is still a really good FPS (and talking about underwhelming, Destiny? Fucking Destiny? Really?).

But the most insulting in this whole lineup is the action part. The word action by this point is synonymous with Platinum Games, and their big game this year was Bayonetta 2, action game extravaganza, character action galore and it didn't even get a mention? That category should always be won by the Platinum game released that year. Shame on y'all, atleast pad out your list of nominees with a few more worthy titles.

Also casual card game nominated as a strategy game and DAI as GOTY is just wrong. Not even worth discussing.

How is DA:I getting GOTY here wrong? The Escapist community voted and more of the community liked DA:I. Just because you dislike the result doesn't make it wrong. Your opinion isn't any more or less important than the opinions of the people who voted for it.

It is not wrong.
But it sure is disappointing. Dragon Age Inquisition is a dumb game: great graphics and good dialogue surrounded by technical problems, bloated MMO design, poor PC interface and a bare-bones combat system. It can be mindless fun and it sure is for a lot of people, but in the past, games had to have much more substance to be considered Game of The Year.

Divinity and Wasteland do not have the production values but are way more consistent in their design, although they are much harder to get into.

A most fair prize for Dragon Age Inquisition would be (and I am not even being sarcastic here) Best Casual Game of The Year: anyone that can understand English can play it and have some dumb fun - nothing wrong with that, I like it on that light.

But saying it is more than that is sad because it shows that the audience standards are very low nowadays.

 

[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.

 

[zinho73]

Man there are some serious butthurt snobs in this thread. "My favorite game didn't win? It's because they're all a bunch of biased casuals. My tastes are too elite for such an out of touch website. *adjusts fedora and scratches scaley patch under neckbeard*"

Hannibal was excellent this year and I'm dying to see what they do for season 3. And Ms. Marvel is not only a fantastic comic, it's like it was written for me personally. Ties to the greater universe, but not bogged down by the events of a million other series I don't want to read.

Being casual is not a bad thing. The more casual approach is producing some very popular games.
There is nothing wrong in liking those games and there is nothing wrong in finding disappointment due to the lack of features or depth.
What is wrong is not respecting one opinion or the other.

It is a fact the DAI is full of technical problems (there are thousands of complaints in the tech forums at bioware).
It is a fact that the PC interface is bad and do not play to the PC strengths.
It is a fact that the party control in combat is, to put it mildly, less reliable, than in the other two games of the series.
It is a fact the game borrows from MMOs the quest structure and the endless gathering of materials.

It is also a fact that a lot of people, including reviewers, do not care about those things. These people have different standards than some others - and THEY ARE NOT WRONG because of that. That's just how things is.

If I were a reviewer i would not give a perfect score to a game that I adore if it were a resource hog because the producer wanted the game out before Xmas. I would factor this, some reviewers won't.

Frankly, it is quite easy to see why people do not like DAI, there is nothing snobbish about it. This does not stops the game to be very good and enjoyable in other areas (or even in the areas mostly criticized).

 

[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.

 

[Haru17]

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.